It’s true

I’m sitting here at the Apple booth at the Technology and Learning Conference in Grand Forks and just got the word that all the rumors are true: Apple is switching to Intel-based processors. It turns out that Apple has secretly been running OS X for Intel hardware for years now. (That was widely rumored.) The Apple guys here are stunned and are unsure of the implications. I’m sure everyone associated with Mac hardware and software will be debating the wisdom of this decision vigorously over the coming months. I would have preferred AMD over Intel, but Steve never called me to ask my opinion.

On the “pro” side of the ledger, Apple gets arguably high performance processors in larger volumes at lower prices. This will let them sell their hardware more cheaply. Millions of consumers get more choices. That’s a good thing. Many people fed up with viruses and spyware have undoubtedly been considering a jump to to OS X. Now they can do it without buying new hardware. Jobs told the crowd at his keynote that a developer release of OS 10.4.1 for Intel would be available immediately with a consumer version to follow in about a year. Wow.

On the “con” side, Apple may have trouble selling hardware this year in the transition. Some people may choose to wait for the Intel boxes before making a big purchase. (On the other hand, some may be suspicious of first generation OS X on Intel and buy now.) Apple’s tech support nightmares just magnified 100× with this announcement. One of the things that has made Mac hardware “just work” has been that the environment was so tightly controlled. Will Apple commit to making OS X work on every cheap NIC and video card on the market?

It’s going to be a very interesting few weeks in geekdom as this decision gets played out in every conceivable way. And you thought Monday morning quarterbacks were tough on football teams? This is going to be interesting.