Benelux Report on The PowerPC 601(TM) chip.

from: Apple Computer Benelux, edition 2, January 1994

This newsletter does not contain confidential information and can be distributed freely to any person who is interested in PowerPC technology.

The text was taken from a mailing by Brocom Micro b.v., The Netherlands.

This message was distributed by A.C.VANDERHAM@ET.TUDELFT.NL, in real life André van der Ham. My remarks are flagged by Dré. Opinions expressed are my own.

INTRO DATE SET TO: 14th OF MARCH 1994!


The PowerPC processor is going to reinvent the Macintosh and be a big boost to Apple's competitiveness. A leap in performance gives us the flexibility to offer new ways to interface with humans and technologies. - Adam Lavine, CEO of Specular International.

Ever since John Warnock, our President and CEO, came raving about a Macintosh with PowerPC demonstration, we have been very excited and committed to this platform. - Steve Guttman, senior Product Marketing Manager, Adobe Systems.


This issue of Report on PowerPC wil focus mainly on the software side of Macintosh with PowerPC.


Table of Contents

  • Hardware Upgrades
  • Running Software
  • Compatibility tests
  • PowerPC Native applications

  • Upgrades

    In our first edition of Benelux Report on PowerPC, the possibility of a low-cost processor upgrade was mentioned. There is an add-in processor upgrade card, that fits into the Macintosh Quadra 950, 900, 800, 700, 650 and 610 models, as well as the Centris 650 and 610 computers.

    This processor card will provide customers with a low-cost upgrade option. The processor upgrade card takes advantage of the Processor Direct Slot (PDS) in these Macintosh 68040-based systems. With the addition of this processor upgrade, the PowerPC 601 chip takes over all processing, disabling the 68040, while doubling the clock-speed of the host system. For example, when upgrading a Quadra 700, which runs at 25 MHz, the PowerPC 601 processor will run at 50 MHz. This upgrade will give the user a performance increase of 2-5 times the original Quadra 700. At start-up, the user can make the choice between the 68040 and the PowerPC 601 processor. Dré: So you can always switch back if software doesn't work on the new platform.

    Software

    Optimized Applications

    PowerPC technology will create the foundation for a new generation of faster, more powerful Macintosh software. It will allow developers to add more value to existing applications and create breakthrough programs that open new personal computing markets.

    To take advantage of the tremendous power of the PowerPC chip, programs have to be rewritten or recompiled into native PowerPC code, instead of the 680x0 code that programs are written in today. Apple has put in place special developer programs to have as many optimized-for-PowerPC applications as possible.

    At introduction of the Macintosh systems with the PowerPC, we believe that there will be at least 30 of the most important applications available in optimized code. There will be key optimized applications available in each catagory: word processing, page-layout, graphics, image editing, 3D graphics, databases, spreadsheets, office productivity, animation, etc. During 1994, hundreds of applications will be shipping.

    An excerpt of applications that will be available at or shortly after intro of the PowerPC based Macintosh systems is added at the bottom of this newsletter.

    First Results

    The first results of these optimized applications are very encouraging. Just to give an example: a pre-alpha code of ArchiCAD is running on PowerPC. Certain parts of the code have been benchmarked against the Quadra 840AV and the Quadra 950. The biggest performance improvement was shown by the operation Remove hidden lines, which took 1619 seconds (27 minutes) on a Quadra 950, 1352 seconds (22.5 minutes) on a Quadra 840AV (Dré: the fastest Mac around) and only 169 seconds (2.8 minutes) on a Macintosh with PowerPC. Yes, more than 8 times faster than the 950 and 7x a Quadra 840AV. On average the PowerPC-based Macintosh was 5 times faster than a Quadra 950. Dré: According to my sources: the PowerPC 601 Mac is, on average, roughly 4 times faster than a Quadra 840.

    Developing for the PowerPC

    First of all it is key to remember that virtually all existing Macintosh applications run without any change on our PowerPC platform Dré: I would think that would be too good to be true, even Think C 5.0.3 bombs on my new Mac LC 475. Many developers are committed to optimize their software for PowerPC, to be able to improve the performance or to implement new functionality, like direct manipulation, drag windows (not out-lines), etc.

    Recompilation of applications is easy. In our experience, revising 500,000 lines of source-code takes 3-5 days. For an average application it takes 1 to 3 months to compile, test & debug, optimize for speed and prepare to ship. Dré: Most vendors will be selling packages including both the 680x0 version and the PowerPC version of the sofware, so you can decide which machine to run it on.

    What about the system software?

    A Macintosh with PowerPC is first of all a Macintosh, running Mac OS 7.1. In our Macintosh architecture, the toolbox has always been very important. Every Macintosh application makes use of the tools (=subroutines) in this toolbox. For instance: every program uses QuickDraw routines to draw anything on the screen (lines, boxes, characters, opening windows, etc). The most important tools in our toolbox have been rewritten to optimized PowerPC code, like QuickDraw and QuickTime. In this way, even normal Macintosh programs (written for 680x0 systems) can benifit from the PowerPC performance and every time Apple is bringing out new versions of its operating system, including more tools in optimized code, every application will improve in performance.

    Benelux Activities

    In the past couple of weeks, we have been seeding evaluation units of PowerPC-based Macintosh systems to major accounts. The purpose of these seedings was to test the compatibility. The results of these tests were very promising. Our customers were extremely satisfied with the compatibility.

    The same excellent results are found during the tests in out compatibility labs in Brussels and Zeist. Many developers and distributers took the opportunity to test their applications and NO incompatibilities were found.

    PowerPC Native applications: first customer shipments

    Developer        Application                 Target intro date (4-3-94)
                                                (mentioned by developer)
    

    AutoDesk         AutoCad                     Intro
    Artwork          ArtPro 1.3                  Intro (1)
    AS-PLUS          AS-PLUS Accounting          Q394* (2)
    B&E Software     Ragtime                     Intro
    Blyth            Omnis 7                     Intro
    Cambridge        Chemdraw                    Intro
    Canto            Cirrus                      Intro
    Claris           Filemaker Pro               Q3*
    Claris           Works                       Intro
    ACI              4D Server                   Intro(?)
    ACI              4D Compiler                 Intro
    Adobe            Acrobat                     June
    Adobe            Photoshop                   June
    Adobe            Premiere                    May
    Aldus            Pagemaker                   Intro(?)
    Aldus            Persuasion                  Intro
    Aldus            Freehand                    Intro
    Dantz            Retrospect                  Intro
    Deneba           Canvas                      Q3*
    Fractal Design   Painter                     Intro
    Frame            FrameMaker                  Intro
    GraphiSoft       ArchiCAD                    Intro
    GraphiSoft       ZOOM                        Intro
    GraphiSoft       Azimuth                     Intro
    Gryphon          Morph                       Intro
    Insignia         SoftWindows                 Intro
    Lotus            cc:Mail/Notes               Intro(?)
    MacroMedia       Director                    Intro
    Maxis            SimCity                     Intro
    Merlijn          Merlijn software            Q2*(2)
    MicroSoft        Excel                       Q2*(?)
    MicroSoft        FoxBase                     Intro
    MicroSoft        Word                        Q3*
    National Instr.  Lab View                    Intro
    Novell           IPX Servers                 Intro
    ON Technology    Meeting Maker               Intro
    Pixar            Mac Renderman               Intro
    Quark            XPress                      Intro(?)
    Route66          SignPost                    Intro(2)
    RasterOps        MoviePack                   Intro
    Specular         Collage                     Intro
    Specular         Infini-D                    Intro
    Strata           Stratavision 3D             Intro
    VICOM            Multiterm Blue/Plus/TCP/VT  Intro
    VideoFusion      Fusion Recorder             Intro
    VideoFusion      QuickFlix                   Intro
    Wave Research    FileWave                    Q3*(1)
    Wolfram Research Mathematica                 Intro
    WordPerfect      Office                      Intro(?)
    WordPerfect      WordPerfect                 Intro
    

    (1) Belgian developer

    (2) Dutch developer

    *) Dré: Q stands for quarter

    This list is just an excerpt. Over 80 applications will be ready at intro (according to the developers).

    PowerPC team: Jo Algoed, Mark Butje, Paul Van Cotthem, Mark Erwich, Laurens Lijding, Filip Maene, Josaine Morel, Rob Pols, Hans Slierendregt, Chris Van Roey, Gustaaf Vossenaar, Griet Van der Weken.

    Report on PowerPC: Mark Butje, Filip Maene.

    More About the PowerPC

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