iMac G5 and Universal Binaries

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iMac G5 and Universal Binaries

I presume that future versions of Mac software (photoshop, etc.) will be released as Universal Binaries so that they can run on the Intel Macs. Will my iMac G5 be able to run these Universal Binary versions, and if so, will they run slower on the G5 than they would on the Intel Macs? thanks for any info.

iMac 20" iSight, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Feb 17, 2006 7:46 AM

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Answer 1

Duane

Level 10

124,267 points

Feb 17, 2006 7:56 AM in response to ProfGuy

ProfGuy, Welcome to the discussion area!

"Universal Binaries" means that it will execute on both Intel and PowerPC processors. Therefore it will run on your iMac G5.

...will they run slower on the G5 than they would on the Intel Macs?

That will depend on the software, but since the Intel iMac is advertised as 2X faster than the iMac G5... I would expect it to run slower on the iMac G5 than on the Intel iMac.

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Answer 2

ProfGuy Author

Level 1

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Feb 17, 2006 8:24 AM in response to Duane

Hi Duane,

Thanks for the quick reply. I hoped that was what "universal binaries" meant, but I wasn't sure. What I meant to ask regarding speed was whether compiling a program as a universal binary will cause it to run more slowly that if it were compiled as a G5 only program.

ProfGuy

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Answer 3

Feb 17, 2006 8:26 AM in response to ProfGuy

No, the universal program (apple is trying to discourage the use of "binary" for some reason) is a basically a package containing two separate programs, one for each processor, so it shouldn't make any difference at all.

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