Jul 11, 2016 All replies. Some older Apps were based on what is called PowerPC coded software, and Lion OS X is no longer compatible with those Power PC based Apps. So your two choices are basically to either buy a newer Lion compatible version of each of those Apps Or to remove Lion and reinstall Snow Leopard which is compatible with PPC Apps.
- The Power Mac G5 was one of the last PowerPC machines Apple produced and sold. It remains a capable computer today. It remains a capable computer today. This website is dedicated to the venerable machine, providing users with information on available hardware and software choices for their G5.
- People look at the Mac mini as a excellent home computer or to make a super cool TV Media Center Setup, or even go to the extreme and use one as a server for 30+ iMacs! All of these design terms were the same during the PowerPC era of time! At the end of the day, Apple is still the one to beat!
- Vintage Macintosh Software. This is a copy of Mac OS 9.2.2 included on the MDD bundled Software Restore CDs which is able to boot these G4 models into OS 9 (FireWire 400 models only). It can also be used as Classic Mode on any PowerMac running Mac OS X 10.1-10.4.
- PowerPC was the cornerstone of AIM's PReP and Common Hardware Reference Platform initiatives in the 1990s. Originally intended for personal computers, the architecture is well known for being used by Apple's Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac, iBook, and Xserve lines from 1994 until 2006, when Apple migrated to Intel's x86.
The Power Mac G5, the last model of the series.
The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. as part of its Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006.
Described by MacWorld Magazine as 'The most important technical evolution of the Macintosh since the Mac II debuted in 1987,'[1] the Power Macintosh was Apple's first computer to use a PowerPC processor. Software written for the Motorola 68030 and 68040 processors that were used in Macintoshes up to that point would not run on the PowerPC natively, so a Mac 68k emulator was included with System 7.1.2. While the emulator provided good compatibility with existing Macintosh software, performance was about one-third slower than comparable Macintosh Quadra machines.[1]
The Power Macintosh replaced the Quadra in Apple's lineup, and were initially sold in the same enclosures.[2] Over the next twelve years, the Power Macintosh evolved through a succession of enclosure designs, a rename to 'Power Mac', five major generations of PowerPC chips, and a great deal of press coverage, design accolades, and controversy about performance claims. The Power Mac was discontinued as part of Apple's transition to Intel processors, making way for its replacement, the Mac Pro.
- 1History
- 2Models
- 2.11994-1997
History[edit]
Early forays into RISC architecture (1988-1990)[edit]
The first Power Macintosh models were released in March 1994, but the development of Power Macintosh technology dates back to mid-1988.
Jean-Louis Gassée, president of Apple's product division, started the 'Jaguar' project with the goal of creating a computer that would not only be the fastest desktop computer on the market, but would also accept commands by talking to the computer.[3] This was originally envisioned to be a new computer line altogether, not a Macintosh, and the Jaguar team was initially kept independent of the Macintosh team. This separation included operating system development, with the newly-conceived 'Pink' being the platform for the new computer. Jaguar was also not intended to be a high-volume, mainstream system. Gassée's preference, as it was with the upcoming Macintosh IIfx, was to create a product that would compete in the high-end workstation market, previously not an area of strength for Apple. The decision to use RISC architecture was representative of a shift in the computer industry in 1987 and 1988, where RISC-based systems from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and IBM were significantly outpacing the performance offered by systems based on Motorola's 68020 and 68030 processors and Intel's 80386 and 80486CPUs.[4] Initially, Apple invested considerable time and effort in an attempt to create their own RISC CPU in a project code-named 'Aquarius', even to a point where a Cray-1 supercomputer was purchased to assist with designing the chip. The company lacked the financial and manufacturing resources to produce a working product and the project was cancelled in 1989.[5]
By early 1990, Apple was in contact with a number of RISC vendors to find a suitable hardware partner. The team that had created the IIfx independently started experimenting with creating a new Macintosh product that would combine a Motorola 68030 processor with an AMD Am29000 (29k) RISC chip. Apple had already released a product built on the 29k called 'Macintosh Display Card 8•24 GC', a so-called 'Macintosh Toolbox accelerator' NuBus card that provided significantly faster drawing routines than those included on the Macintosh ROM.[6] The team's experiments resulted in a 68020 emulator implemented in RISC, but the 29k project was dropped in mid-1990 due to financial infeasibility.
Apple had initially looked at processors such as those from MIPS Technologies, Sun, and Acorn Computers (whose ARM architecture RISC processors would end up being used in the 1993 Apple Newton, 2001 iPod, and 2007 iPhone), as well as the Intel i860. Negotiations with Sun included the condition that Sun would use the Macintosh interface for its SPARC workstation computers in exchange for Apple using Sun's SPARC processors in Macintosh workstations; the deal fell through due to Apple's concern that Sun could not produce enough processors. Negotiations with MIPS to use the R4000 processor also included the condition that the Macintosh interface would be available as an alternative to Advanced Computing Environment. This deal also fell through due to Microsoft being a major partner in the ACE Consortium, as well as concerns about manufacturing capability. The Intel i860 was eliminated from consideration due to its high complexity. Apple did not consider IBM's POWER1 processor as an option, believing that IBM would not be willing to license it to third parties.
Motorola 88110 RISC CPU
In mid-1990, Apple chose the Motorola 88110, an as yet unfinished chip that combined the 88100 CPU and 88200 FPU into a single package.[3]:7 For the rest of the year, Apple's engineers developed a 68k emulator that would work with this future chip. This project became known as 'RLC', short form 'RISC LC', a play on the name of Apple's upcoming Macintosh LC computer. By January 1991, the engineering team had produced a prototype of a Macintosh LC with its 68020 CPU being swapped out for an 88100 and a 68020 emulator. This prototype was able to use an unmodified Macintosh Toolbox ROM and could boot into System 7. A few months later, a second prototype was created, utilizing a Macintosh IIsi case with the now-completed Motorola 88100 chip.[3]:10-11
Jaguar wasn't initially intended to be a high-volume mainstream system. Instead, mass-market RISC systems would follow sometime later. After Gassée left Apple in early 1990, the goal of the Jaguar project was refocused to be a mainstream Macintosh system instead of a new platform. The Jaguar project was folded into the Macintosh team in early 1991.[3]:10 While the Jaguar project itself never came to fruition, and Taligent never resulted in a functional operating system, many of the elements originally developed by the Jaguar hardware and software teams were brought to market in mid-1993 with the Centris 660AV and Quadra 840AV, including the Apple Adjustable Keyboard, Apple AudioVision 14 Display, GeoPort, and PlainTalk.[7] The new case designs introduced with the Centris 610 and Quadra 800 had also originated in the Jaguar team.
Development and partnership with IBM (1991-1993)[edit]
By mid-1991, there was internal concern at Apple that the 88100 may not be the correct processor to move forward with as no other computer manufacturers had committed to using the processor.[3]:11 Using IBM's POWER was again considered, but it was a seven-chip design at the time, which was not desirable from a cost perspective. Engineers from Apple and IBM's Advanced Workstations and Systems Division met in Austin, Texas to discuss creating a single-chip version of IBM's POWER1 RISC architecture. Motorola was also present at Apple's request. IBM had already been working on such a chip, called the RISC Single Chip (RSC), in an effort to reduce production cost of their entry-level RS/6000 workstation systems.[3]:7 In these meetings, a number of changes were proposed to RSC that would facilitate lower costs, lower power usage, and higher yield production suitable for both the Macintosh and future RS/6000 products.
In early July, executives at the three companies reached an agreement[8] which was formally announced to the public in October.[9] In addition to the new RISC architecture, which was given the name PowerPC, this 'AIM alliance' had several goals, including creating an operating system based on Pink, an object-oriented scripting language called ScriptX, and a cross-platform media player called the Kaleida Media Player. Of the alliance, John Sculley said, 'The Macintosh strategy paid off very well for us in the 1980s, but we didn't think we could establish the next generation of computing by using that model in the 1990s. Working with IBM, and making it available to everyone, we can have a much wider impact with these technologies than we did with the Macintosh.'[10]
Introduction to differential equations pdf. INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS 5 A few minutes of thought reveals the answer: More generally, the solution to any y = Ce2x equation of the form y0= ky (where k is a constant) is y = Cekx. So this is the general solution to the given equation. Introduction to Differential Equations Jeffrey R. Chasnov Adapted for Coursera: Differential Equations for Engineers Click to view a promotional video The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Development of the PowerPC 601 chip started in October 1991 and was completed in 21 months, with volume production starting in July 1993.[3]:17 The first computers to ship with a PowerPC chip were a line of IBM RS/6000 workstations in September 1993.[11] Many Macintosh application developers used these machines for development of the initial PowerPC ports of their products, as Macintosh-based PowerPC development tools were not ready. The PowerPC 603 (which focused on lowering power usage) and 604 (which focused on high performance) projects were also underway at the same time.
In July 1992, the decision was made to scale back the ambition of the initial system software release; instead of attempting to create a completely new kernel, Apple focused on producing a version of System 7 where portions of the existing Macintosh Toolbox ROM were rewritten to use native PowerPC code instead of emulating a 680x0. This provided a significant performance boost for certain highly utilized parts of the operating system, particularly QuickDraw.
The first public demonstration of the new Power Macintosh — specifically, a prototype of what would become the Power Macintosh 6100 – was at an Apple Pacific sales meeting in Hawaii in October 1992.[3]:23 The demo was a success, and in the following months, the product plan expanded to include three models: the entry-level 6100, a mid-range 7100 housed in the Macintosh IIvx's desktop case, and a high-end 8100 based on the Quadra 800's mini-tower case. A fourth project, the Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card, was started in July 1993 with the goal of providing a straightforward upgrade path to owners of Centris- and Quadra-based Macintosh computers.[3]:23 The importance of this was especially significant for the Quadra 700, 900 and 950, which were not going to receive full logic board replacements. Computers upgraded in this fashion received new names such as 'Power Macintosh Q650' and 'Power Macintosh 900'.
Release and reception (1994-1995)[edit]
Front view of a Power Macintosh 8100/80AV, the most powerful first-generation Power Macintosh.
The original plan was to release the first Power Macintosh machine on January 24, 1994, exactly ten years after the release of the first Macintosh.[3]:26 Ian Diery, who was EVP and general manager of the Personal Computer Division at the time, moved the release date back to March 14 in order to give manufacturing enough time to build enough machines to fill the sales channels, and to ensure that the Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card would be available at the same time. This was a departure from prior practice at Apple; they had typically released upgrade packages months after the introduction of new Macintoshes.
The Power Macintosh was formally introduced at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan on March 14. Pre-orders for the new Power Macintosh models were brisk, with an announced 150,000 machines already having been sold by that date.[12] MacWorld's review of the 6100/60 noted that 'Not only has Apple finally regained the performance lead it lost about eight years ago when PCs appeared using Intel's 80386 CPU, but it has pushed far ahead.'[13] Performance of 680x0 software is slower due to the emulation layer, but MacWorld's benchmarks showed noticeably faster CPU, disk, video and floating point performance than the Quadra 610 it replaced. By January 1995, Apple had sold 1 million Power Macintosh systems.
Speed-bumped versions of the Power Macintosh line were introduced at the beginning of 1995, followed in April by the first PowerPC 603 models: an all-in-one model called the Power Macintosh 5200 LC and a replacement for the Quadra 630 called the Power Macintosh 6200. Performa variants of these machines were sold as well, continuing the practice of re-branding other Macintosh models for sale in department stores and big-box electronics retailers. While the 5200 LC was well-received by critics for its design, performance, and cost, both it and the 6200 suffered from stability issues (and in the case of the 5200, display issues as well) that could only be solved by bringing the machine to an Apple dealer for replacement parts.[14]
By mid-1995, the burgeoning Power Macintosh line had all but completely supplanted every prior Macintosh line, with only the high-end Quadra 950 and two low-cost education models (the all-in-one Macintosh LC 580 and desktop LC 630) remaining in production. The competitive marketplace for 'accelerator cards' that had existed for earlier Macintosh systems largely disappeared due to the comparatively low price of Apple's Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card (US$600).[15]DayStar Digital sold upgrade cards for the IIci and various Quadra models, and full motherboard replacements were available from Apple as well. Macintosh clones from companies like DayStar Digital and Power Computing were also coming to the market at this time, undercutting Apple's prices.
Transition to standardized hardware (1995-1999)[edit]
Rear view of a Power Macintosh 7500/100.
When the Power Macintosh was introduced, it included the same internal and external expansion connections as other Macintosh models, all of which (save for audio input and output) were either wholly proprietary to, or largely exclusive to Apple computers. Over the next five years, Apple replaced all these ports with industry-standard connectors.
The first generation of Power Macintoshes had shipped with NuBus, but by the end of 1993 it was becoming clear that Intel's PCI bus was going to be the widely adopted future of internal expansion.[16] Apple's position as a relatively small player in the larger personal computer market meant that few device manufacturers invested in creating both NuBus- and PCI-compatible versions of their cards. The first PCI-based system was the range-topping Power Macintosh 9500, introduced in May 1995. This was followed shortly afterwards by the introduction of the 'Power Surge' line of second-generation Power Macintosh systems – the Power Macintosh 7200, 7500 and 8500. The 8500 and 9500 were built around the new PowerPC 604, offering speeds starting at 120 MHz.[17]InfoWorld's review of the 8500 showed a speed improvement in their 'business applications suite' benchmark from 10 minutes with the 8100/100, to 7:37 for the 8500/120. They also noted that the 8500 runs an average of 24 to 44 percent faster than a similarly-clocked Intel Pentium chip, increasing to double on graphics and publishing tasks.
The transition to PCI continued into 1996, with the introduction of the all-in-one 5400, desktop 6300/160 (usually sold as a Performa 6360), and mini-tower 6400 models. The success of the Macintosh clone market also prompted Apple to produce its own inexpensive machine using parts and production techniques that were common in both the clone market and the Wintel desktop market at the time. The Power Macintosh 4400 (sold as a 7220 in Asia and Australia) employed bent sheet metal instead of plastic for its case internals, and included a standard ATX power supply instead of a switched-mode power supply that was standard with Apple computers up to that point.
Alongside the transition to PCI, Apple began a gradual transition away from SCSI hard disks to IDE as a cost-saving measure, both for themselves and for users who wanted to upgrade their hard drives. The low-end 5200 and 6200 were the first to adopt IDE internal drives, though Apple's proprietary 25-pin external SCSI connector remained. The beige Power Macintosh G3 models being the last to include SCSI drives as standard, and it was the last Macintosh to include the external SCSI connector. When the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) was introduced in early 1999, the port was replaced by two FireWire 400 ports. The Blue and White G3 was also the last Macintosh to include Apple Desktop Bus ports, a proprietary technology created by Steve Wozniak to connect keyboards, mice and software protection dongles such as those from Avid Technology.[18] Two USB ports were also included, making this the only Power Macintosh to include both ADB and USB.
Another port that was retired during this time is the Apple Attachment Unit Interface. This was a proprietary version of the industry-standard Attachment Unit Interface connector for 10BASE5 Ethernet that Apple had created to avoid confusion with the 15-pin connector that Apple used for connecting external displays.[19] The AAUI port required a costly external transceiver to connect to a network. By the early 1990s, the networking industry was coalescing around the 10BASE-T connector, leading Apple to include this port alongside AAUI in mid-1995, starting with the Power Macintosh 9500. The Power Macintosh G3 excluded the AAUI port.
The Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) was released in the second half of 1999; it was the first Power Macintosh to include only industry-standard internal and external expansion. For some years afterwards, a number of third parties created dongles that provided backwards compatibility to users of newer Power Mac systems with old hardware. This included companies like Griffin Technology, MacAlly Perhiperals, Rose Electronics and many others. In some cases, these companies produced adapters that matched the aesthetic design of the Power Mac.[20]
Industrial design and the Megahertz Myth (1999-2002)[edit]
A complete Power Mac G4 Cube system, including a 17' Apple Studio Display, Harman Kardon speakers, keyboard, and mouse.
Shortly after Steve Jobs' return to Apple in 1997, Jony Ive was appointed senior vice president of industrial design. Building on the critical and commercial success of the iMac, Ive and his team created an entirely new case design for the Power Macintosh G3, combining many of the aesthetic principles of the iMac (curves, translucent plastics, use of color) with the ease-of-access characteristics of the company's popular 'Outrigger' Macintosh models from previous years. The result was the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White), a machine that received considerable plaudits from reviewers, including PC Magazine's Technical Excellence Award for 1999.[21] 'The Power Mac provides the fastest access to the insides of a computer we've ever seen,' they wrote. 'Just lift a handle and a hinged door reveals everything inside.' This case design, code-named 'El Capitan',[22] was retained through the entire lifetime of the Power Mac G4. The introduction of the Blue and White G3 mini-tower also marked the end of the desktop and all-in-one Power Macintosh case designs, the latter being replaced by the iMac.
A second model called the Power Mac G4 Cube was introduced in 2000, which fitted the specifications of a mid-range Power Mac G4 into a cube less than 9' in each axis. This model was on sale for about a year before being discontinued, and was not considered a sales success (150,000 units were sold, about one-third of Apple's projections),[23] but the distinctive design of both the computer and its accompanying Harman Kardon speakers prompted the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to retain them in their collection.[24]
The PowerPC chips in the G3 and G4 became a central part of Apple's branding and marketing for the Power Macintosh. For example, the Blue and White G3 features the letters 'G3' on the side that are fully one-third the height of the entire case, a significant departure from the small labels typically used on prior Macintosh computers. And when the Power Mac G4 was introduced, print ads included pictures of the G4 chip and mentioned its AltiVec instruction set by its own marketing name, 'Velocity Engine'.[25] A related element of Apple's marketing strategy, especially after mid-2001, was to highlight what they described as the 'Megahertz myth', challenging the belief that a processor's clock speed is directly correlated with performance. This had become important with the introduction of Intel's Pentium 4, which featured significantly higher clock speeds than competing chips from Sun, IBM, and AMD, but without a corresponding performance benefit.
The company's public presentations -- Stevenotes in particular—often featured lengthy segments pitting a high-powered Compaq or Dell computer against the Power Macintosh in a series of benchmarks and scripted tasks, usually in Adobe Photoshop.[26] These presentations often showed the Power Macintosh besting Intel's Pentium chips by margins significantly exceeding 50%, but independent benchmarks did not bear this out. InfoWorld reviewer Jennifer Plonka reported that the 400 MHz G3 was 11% slower than a comparably-specced Pentium II-450 in an Office applications suite test, while Photoshop 5.0 was faster by 26%.[27] And in 2003, Maximum PC ran a variety of gaming, Photoshop and LightWave 3D benchmarks, and reported that the Dual 1.25 GHz G4 system was about half the speed of a dual-processor Intel Xeon Prestonia 2.8 GHz system.[28] A related criticism leveled at Power Mac systems from this time, particularly the G4 Mirrored Drive Doors, was the increased fan noise level compared to older systems.[29][30]
The Power Mac G5 and the end of Power (2003-2006)[edit]
By the time the Power Mac G5 was unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in July 2003, Apple's desktop range had fallen significantly behind competing computers in performance. The G5 closed much of this gap by moving to the PowerPC 970 processor with clock speeds up to 2.0 GHz, and a full 64-bit architecture. It also introduced a significantly revised enclosure design, replacing the use of plastics with anodized aluminum alloy. Because of the front panel's visual similarity to a grater, the Power Mac G5 came to be known as the 'Cheese Grater Mac'.[31]
Reviews were generally positive. InfoWorld described the G5 as 'Apple's best work yet', and said it 'delivers on the present need for rapid computing, deep multitasking, and responsive user interfaces — as well as the future need for mainstream computers that rapidly process and analyze massive data sets.'[32] PC Magazine again awarded the Power Mac G5 with its Award for Technical Excellence for 2003.[33] However, the G5's heavy weight (10 pounds more than the previous year's Quicksilver Power Mac G4), limited internal expansion options, issues with ground loop, and noise in the single-processor models' power supply units resulted in significant criticism of the product.[34] Apple also continued to make unsubstantiated performance claims about the new Power Mac. This resulted in the Advertising Standards Authority for the United Kingdom banning Apple from using the phrase 'the world's fastest, most powerful personal computer' to describe the Power Mac G5 after independent tests carried out by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre determined the claim to be false.[35] Another claim made by Steve Jobs at the 2003 Worldwide Developers Conference was that the company would be selling a 3 GHz G5 by mid-2004; this never happened.[36]
Three generations of Power Mac G5 were released before it was discontinued during Apple's transition to Intel processors. The announcement of the transition came in mid-2005, but the third generation of G5 systems was introduced towards the end of 2005. Most notably in this generation was the introduction of a Quad-core 2.5 GHz system. Not only was this the first Apple computer with four processing cores, it was the first to incorporate PCI Express instead of PCI-X for internal expansion.[37] It also required an IEC 60320 C19 power connector that was more common on rackmounted server hardware, instead of the industry-standard C13 connector used with personal computers.
The official end to the Power Macintosh line came at the 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference, where Phil Schiller introduced its replacement, the Mac Pro. The G5's enclosure design was retained for the Mac Pro and continued to be used for seven more years, making it among the longest-lived designs in Apple's history.[38]
Models[edit]
The Power Macintosh models can be broadly classified into two categories, depending on whether they were released before or after Apple introduced its 'four quadrant' product strategy in 1998. Before the introduction of the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) in 1999, Apple had shipped Power Macintosh-labelled machines in nine different form factors, some of which were carry-overs from pre-PowerPC product lines, such as the Quadra/Centris 610 and the IIvx. This was reduced to one model in the new product strategy, with the exception of the Power Mac G4 Cube in 2000 and 2001.
1994-1997[edit]
Apple named Power Macintosh models from this period after the first pre-PowerPC model of Macintosh to use a particular form factor, followed by a slash and the speed of the CPU. For example, the Power Macintosh 6300/120 uses the Quadra 630's form factor and has a 120 MHz CPU.
Machines with 'AV' in their name denote variants that include extended audio-video capabilities.
Machines with 'PC Compatible' in their name include a separate card with an x86-compatible CPU; these models are therefore capable of running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications, typically Windows 3.1.
Machines with 'MP' in their name denote machines that include two CPUs.
These early models had two distinct generations. The first generation uses the PowerPC 601 and 603 processors and used the old NuBus expansion slots, while the second generation uses the faster 603e, 604 and 604e chips as well as industry-standard PCI expansion slots. The second generation also makes use of Open Firmware, allowing them to more easily boot alternate operating systems (including OS X via XPostFacto), though use of various hacks was still necessary.
PM 4400[edit]
The Power Macintosh 7220.
The PM 4400 is a desktop case with a height of 5.4 inches, suitable for horizontal placement with a monitor on top.
- Power Macintosh 4400/160, 200, 200 (PC Compatible) (Marketed as the Power Macintosh 7220 in some regions)
PM 5200[edit]
The PM 5200 is an all-in-one form factor with specifications and internal designs similar to the Quadra 630. Collectively these machines are sometimes referred to as the 'Power Macintosh/Performa 5000 series'.
- Power Macintosh 5200/75 LC
- Power Macintosh 5260/100, 120
- Power Macintosh 5300/100 LC
- Power Macintosh 5400/120, 180, 200
- Power Macintosh 5500/225, 250
Centris 610[edit]
The Power Macintosh 6100/66, a version of the first Macintosh to use a PowerPC processor.
The Centris 610 form factor is a low-profile 'pizza-box' design with a height of 3.4 inches, intended to be placed on a desktop with a monitor on top.
- Power Macintosh 6100/60, 60AV, 66, 66AV, 66 (DOS Compatible)
Quadra 630[edit]
The Quadra 630 form factor is a horizontally-oriented design with a height of 4.3 inches, suitable for placing a monitor on top.
- Power Macintosh 6200/75
- Power Macintosh 6300/120, 160
Performa 6400[edit]
The Performa 6400 form factor is a mini-tower design, suitable for being placed beside a monitor.
- Power Macintosh 6400/180, 200
- Power Macintosh 6500/225, 250, 275, 300
IIvx[edit]
The Power Macintosh 7100/66.
The IIvx form factor is a horizontally-oriented desktop form factor with a height of 6 inches, suitable for placing a monitor on top.
- Power Macintosh 7100/66, 66AV, 80, 80AV
PM 7500[edit]
The PM 7500 form factor is a horizontally-oriented desktop design with a height of 6.15 inches, suitable for placing a monitor on top.
- Power Macintosh 7200/75, 90, 120 (PC), 200 (PC)
- Power Macintosh 7300/166, 180 (PC), 200
- Power Macintosh 7500/100
- Power Macintosh 7600/120, 132, 200
Quadra 800[edit]
The Quadra 800 form factor is a mini-tower design, with a width of 7.7 inches.
The 8100/80AV, the first Power Macintosh based on the Quadra 800 form factor.
- Power Macintosh 8100/80, 80AV, 100, 100AV, 110, 110AV
- Power Macintosh 8115/110
- Power Macintosh 8200/100, 120
- Power Macintosh 8500/120, 132, 150, 180
- Power Macintosh 8515/120
PM 9600[edit]
The PM 9600 form factor is a mini-tower design with a width of 9.7 inches. Download 3ds max.
- Power Macintosh 8600/200, 250, 300
- Power Macintosh 9500/120, 132, 150, 180MP, 200
- Power Macintosh 9515/132
- Power Macintosh 9600/200, 200MP, 233, 300, 350
1997-2006[edit]
Starting with the Power Macintosh G3, Apple changed its product naming to include the generation of PowerPC CPU, with the name of the form factor or a key feature afterwards in brackets. The Power Mac G5's name was changed to incorporate the time period in which the model was released. The all-in-one models would eventually be spun off into the iMac line, whilst the compact form factor models would be spun off into the Mac Mini.
- Power Macintosh G3 (Desktop, Mini Tower, All-In-One, Blue and White)
- Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics, AGP Graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, Quicksilver, Quicksilver 2002, Mirrored Drive Doors, Mirrored Drive Doors FW800, Mirrored Drive Doors 2003)
- Power Mac G5 (original, June 2004, Late 2004, Early 2005, Late 2005)
Naming[edit]
The Power Mac brand name was used for Apple's high-end tower style computers, targeted primarily at businesses and creative professionals, in differentiation to their more compact 'iMac' line (intended for home use) and the 'eMac' line (for the education markets). They were usually equipped with Apple's newest technologies, and commanded the highest prices among Apple desktop models. Some Power Mac G4 and G5 models were offered in dual-processor configurations.
Prior to the Power Mac name change, certain Power Macintosh models were otherwise identical to their lower-cost re-branded siblings sold as the Macintosh LC and Macintosh Performa, as well as the dedicated Apple Workgroup Server and Macintosh Server G3 & G4 lines. Other past Macintosh lines which used PowerPC processors include the PowerBook 5300 and later models, iMac, iBook and Xserve as well as the Apple Network Server, which was not technically a Macintosh.
Advertising and marketing[edit]
Apple positioned the Power Macintosh as a high-end personal computer aimed at businesses and creative professionals with an advertising campaign consisting of several television commercials and print ads. The television commercials used the slogan 'The Future Is Better Than You Expected', featuring the first three Power Macintosh computers to showcase special features such as networking and MS-DOS compatibility.
In 1993 and 1994, a television advertising campaign created by BBDO aired with the slogan 'It does more, it costs less, it's that simple.'
See also[edit]
Timeline of Power Macintosh models
References[edit]
- ^ abMello, Adrian (April 1994). 'When Not To Buy A PowerMac'. MacWorld. pp. 21–22.
- ^'Quadra 800/840av and Power Mac 8100 Case'. lowendmac.
- ^ abcdefghijSomogyi, Stephan (August 1994). '1 - How We Got Here From There'. The PowerPC Macintosh Book - The Inside Story on the New RISC-Based Macintosh(PDF). Addison-Wesley. pp. 1–29. ISBN0-201-62650-0.
- ^Marshall, Martin (November 28, 1988). 'RISC - A fringe technology or the next rage in microcomputing?'. InfoWorld. Vol. 10 no. 48. pp. 41–46.
- ^Tom Hormby (February 22, 2006). 'Growing Apple with the Macintosh: The Sculley Years'. lowendmac.
- ^'Macintosh Display Card 8•24 GC'. lowendmac.
- ^'Tempest & Cyclone: the first Audio Video Macs'. storiesofapple.net. July 29, 2013.
- ^Coale, Kristi (July 8, 1991). 'Rivals IBM, Apple team up for open platform'. InfoWorld. Vol. 13 no. 27. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 1.
- ^Quinlan, Tom (October 7, 1991). 'IBM, Apple ink historic deal'. InfoWorld. Vol. 13 no. 40. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 1.
- ^Quinlan, Tom (August 5, 1991). 'Sculley stirs revolution'. InfoWorld. Vol. 13 no. 13. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. pp. 1, 111.
- ^Corcoran, Cate (September 27, 1993). 'First PowerPC system finally hits the street'. InfoWorld. Vol. 15 no. 39. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. pp. 1, 12.
- ^Quinlan, Tom (March 21, 1994). 'Power Macs an instant hit with Apple's core following'. InfoWorld. Vol. 16 no. 12. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 33.
- ^Gruman, Galen (June 1994). 'Power Macintosh 6100/60'. MacWorld Magazine. pp. 56–57.
- ^Pogue, David (January 1997). Macworld Mac Secrets (4th ed)(PDF). Hungry Minds. p. Chapter 13 - The PowerPC Macs: Model by Model, pg. 450. ISBN0764540068.
- ^Gruman, Galen (February 1995). 'Making the move to Power Mac'. pp. 92–102.Cite magazine requires
|magazine=
(help) - ^Corcoran, Cate (November 15, 1993). 'PCI chip-set market expands'. InfoWorld Magazine. Vol. 15 no. 46. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- ^Epler, Anita (August 7, 1995). 'Apple's PCI risk'. InfoWorld Magazine. pp. 1, 80. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- ^'Identifying the System ID, Dongle Serial Number and Dongle Type on Avid Editing Products'. root6. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^'Apple's AAUI Ethernet Connector'. Low End Mac. September 4, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^'Rose Electronics ADB to USB converter, ADB MD4 to USB Type B'. KVM Switches Online | KVMSO.com. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^PC Magazine. Ziff Davis, Inc. December 14, 1999. p. 109.
- ^'Stories of Apple – Ten years ago: the Power Macintosh G3 Blue & White'. www.storiesofapple.net. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^'Today in Apple history: End of the line for Power Mac G4 Cube | Cult of Mac'. Cult of Mac. July 3, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^'The Collection | MoMA'. The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^'The Mothership Apple Advertising and Brochure Gallery 8'. www.macmothership.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^Zisman, Alan (August 21, 2006). ''Twice as Fast': Did Apple Lie or Just Carefully Select Its Truths?'. lowendmac.com.
- ^Plonka, Jennifer (March 15, 1999). 'Apple's G3 increases corporate appeal'. InfoWorld. pp. 37, 40.
- ^'Speed Trials'. Maximum PC. March 2003. pp. 22–28.
- ^'Hands on with the Power Mac G4/867'. Macworld. September 25, 2001. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^Sanford, Glen D. 'Power Macintosh G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)'. apple-history.com. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^'The Cheese Grater Mac Pro – 512 Pixels'. 512pixels.net. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ^Yager, Tom (December 31, 2003). 'Power Mac G5 is Apple's best work yet'. InfoWorld. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^'PC Magazine'. Ziff Davis, Inc. December 30, 2003. p. 84.Cite magazine requires
|magazine=
(help) - ^'Apple versus the analog monster'. Ars Technica. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^'Watchdog bans Apple Power Mac G5 ads'. November 11, 2003. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^'New G5s announced; no 3GHz or G5 laptops 'any time soon''. Macworld. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^'Power Mac G5 Quad (Late 2005)'. Low End Mac. October 19, 2005. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- ^Edwards, Benj (June 22, 2013). 'Ten years in the shadow of the Power Mac G5'. MacWorld.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Power Macintosh. |
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Power_Macintosh&oldid=916358368'
Designer | AIM |
---|---|
Bits | 32-bit/64-bit (32 → 64) |
Introduced | 1992; 27 years ago |
Version | 2.02[1] |
Design | RISC |
Type | Load-store |
Encoding | Fixed/Variable (Book E) |
Branching | Condition code |
Endianness | Big/Bi |
Extensions | AltiVec, APU |
Registers | |
32 GPR, 32 FPR |
IBM PowerPC 601 microprocessor
PowerPC (with the backronymPerformance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC, as an evolving instruction set, has since 2006 been named Power ISA, while the old name lives on as a trademark for some implementations of Power Architecture-based processors.
PowerPC was the cornerstone of AIM's PReP and Common Hardware Reference Platform initiatives in the 1990s. Originally intended for personal computers, the architecture is well known for being used by Apple's Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac, iBook, and Xserve lines from 1994 until 2006, when Apple migrated to Intel's x86. It has since become a niche in personal computers, but remains popular for embedded and high-performance processors. Its use in 7th generation of video game consoles and embedded applications provided an array of uses. In addition, PowerPC CPUs are still used in AmigaOne and third party AmigaOS 4 personal computers.
PowerPC is largely based on IBM's earlier POWER instruction set architecture, and retains a high level of compatibility with it; the architectures have remained close enough that the same programs and operating systems will run on both if some care is taken in preparation; newer chips in the POWER series use the Power ISA.
- 1History
- 2Design features
- 4Operating systems
- 5Licensees
History[edit]
The history of RISC began with IBM's 801 research project, on which John Cocke was the lead developer, where he developed the concepts of RISC in 1975–78. 801-based microprocessors were used in a number of IBM embedded products, eventually becoming the 16-register IBM ROMP processor used in the IBM RT PC. The RT PC was a rapid design implementing the RISC architecture. Between the years of 1982–1984, IBM started a project to build the fastest microprocessor on the market; this new 32-bit architecture became referred to as the America Project throughout its development cycle, which lasted for approximately 5–6 years. The result is the POWER instruction set architecture, introduced with the RISC System/6000 in early 1990.
The original POWER microprocessor, one of the first superscalar RISC implementations, is a high performance, multi-chip design. IBM soon realized that a single-chip microprocessor was needed in order to scale its RS/6000 line from lower-end to high-end machines. Work began on a one-chip POWER microprocessor, designated the RSC (RISC Single Chip). In early 1991, IBM realized its design could potentially become a high-volume microprocessor used across the industry.
Apple and Motorola involvement[edit]
Apple had already realized the limitations and risks of its dependency upon a single CPU vendor at a time when Motorola was falling behind on delivering the 68040 CPU. Furthermore, Apple had conducted its own research and made an experimental quad-core CPU design called Aquarius,[2]:86-90 which convinced the company's technology leadership that the future of computing was in the RISC methodology.[2]:287-288 IBM approached Apple with the goal of collaborating on the development of a family of single-chip microprocessors based on the POWER architecture. Soon after, Apple, being one of Motorola's largest customers of desktop-class microprocessors,[3] asked Motorola to join the discussions due to their long relationship, Motorola having had more extensive experience with manufacturing high-volume microprocessors than IBM, and to form a second source for the microprocessors. This three-way collaboration between Apple, IBM, and Motorola became known as the AIM alliance.
In 1991, the PowerPC was just one facet of a larger alliance among these three companies. At the time, most of the personal computer industry was shipping systems based on the Intel 80386 and 80486 chips, which have a complex instruction set computer (CISC) architecture, and development of the Pentium processor was well underway. The PowerPC chip was one of several joint ventures involving the three alliance members, in their efforts to counter the growing Microsoft-Intel dominance of personal computing.
For Motorola, POWER looked like an unbelievable deal. It allowed the company to sell a widely tested and powerful RISC CPU for little design cash on its own part. It also maintained ties with an important customer, Apple, and seemed to offer the possibility of adding IBM too, which might buy smaller versions from Motorola instead of making its own.
At this point Motorola already had its own RISC design in the form of the 88000, which was doing poorly in the market. Motorola was doing well with its 68000 family and the majority of the funding was focused on this. The 88000 effort was somewhat starved for resources.
The 88000 was already in production, however; Data General was shipping 88000 machines and Apple already had 88000 prototype machines running. The 88000 had also achieved a number of embedded design wins in telecom applications. If the new POWER one-chip version could be made bus-compatible at a hardware level with the 88000, that would allow both Apple and Motorola to bring machines to market far faster since they would not have to redesign their board architecture.
The result of these various requirements is the PowerPC (performance computing) specification. The differences between the earlier POWER instruction set and that of PowerPC is outlined in Appendix E of the manual for PowerPC ISA v.2.02.[4]
Operating systems[edit]
Since 1991, IBM had a long-standing desire for a unifying operating system that would simultaneously host all existing operating systems as personalities upon one microkernel. From 1991 to 1995, the company designed and aggressively evangelized what would become Workplace OS, primarily targeting PowerPC.[2]:290-291
When the first PowerPC products reached the market, they were met with enthusiasm. In addition to Apple, both IBM and the Motorola Computer Group offered systems built around the processors. Microsoft released Windows NT 3.51 for the architecture, which was used in Motorola's PowerPC servers, and Sun Microsystems offered a version of its Solaris OS. IBM ported its AIXUnix. Workplace OS featured a new port of OS/2 (with Intel emulation for application compatibility), pending a successful launch of the PowerPC 620. Throughout the mid-1990s, PowerPC processors achieved benchmark test scores that matched or exceeded those of the fastest x86 CPUs.
Ultimately, demand for the new architecture on the desktop never truly materialized. Windows, OS/2, and Sun customers, faced with the lack of application software for the PowerPC, almost universally ignored the chip. IBM's Workplace OS platform (and thus, OS/2 for PowerPC) was summarily canceled upon its first developers' release in December 1995 due to the simultaneous buggy launch of the PowerPC 620. The PowerPC versions of Solaris and Windows were discontinued after only a brief period on the market. Only on the Macintosh, due to Apple's persistence, did the PowerPC gain traction. To Apple, the performance of the PowerPC was a bright spot in the face of increased competition from Windows 95 and Windows NT-based PCs.
With the cancellation of Workplace OS, the general PowerPC platform (especially AIM's Common Hardware Reference Platform) was instead seen as a hardware-only compromise to run many operating systems one at a time upon a single unifying vendor-neutral hardware platform.[2]:287-288
In parallel with the alliance between IBM and Motorola, both companies had development efforts underway internally. The PowerQUICC line was the result of this work inside Motorola. The 4xx series of embedded processors was underway inside IBM. The IBM embedded processor business grew to nearly US$100 million in revenue and attracted hundreds of customers.
The development of the PowerPC is centered at an Austin, Texas, facility called the Somerset Design Center. The building is named after the site in Arthurian legend where warring forces put aside their swords, and members of the three teams that staff the building say the spirit that inspired the name has been a key factor in the project's success thus far.
Powerpc Archive
— MacWeek[5]
Part of the culture here is not to have an IBM or Motorola or Apple culture, but to have our own.
— Motorola's Russell Stanphill, codirector of Somerset[5]
Breakup of AIM[edit]
Toward the close of the decade, manufacturing issues began plaguing the AIM alliance in much the same way they did Motorola, which consistently pushed back deployments of new processors for Apple and other vendors: first from Motorola in the 1990s with the PowerPC 7xx and 74xx processors, and IBM with the 64-bit PowerPC 970 processor in 2003. In 2004, Motorola exited the chip manufacturing business by spinning off its semiconductor business as an independent company called Freescale Semiconductor. Around the same time, IBM exited the 32-bit embedded processor market by selling its line of PowerPC products to Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC) and focusing on 64-bit chip designs, while maintaining its commitment of PowerPC CPUs toward game console makers such as Nintendo's GameCube and Wii, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, of which the latter two both use 64-bit processors. In 2005, Apple announced they would no longer use PowerPC processors in their Apple Macintosh computers, favoring Intel-produced processors instead, citing the performance limitations of the chip for future personal computer hardware specifically related to heat generation and energy usage, as well as the inability of IBM to move the 970 processor to the 3 GHz range. The IBM-Freescale alliance was replaced by an open standards body called Power.org. Power.org operates under the governance of the IEEE with IBM continuing to use and evolve the PowerPC processor on game consoles and Freescale Semiconductor focusing solely on embedded devices.
A schematic showing the evolution of the different POWER, PowerPC and PowerISAs
IBM continues to develop PowerPC microprocessor cores for use in their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) offerings. Many high volume applications embed PowerPC cores.
The PowerPC specification is now handled by Power.org where IBM, Freescale, and AMCC are members. PowerPC, Cell and POWER processors are now jointly marketed as the Power Architecture. Power.org released a unified ISA, combining POWER and PowerPC ISAs into the new Power ISA v.2.03 specification and a new reference platform for servers called PAPR (Power Architecture Platform Reference).
As of 2015, IBM's POWER microprocessors, which implement the Power ISA, are used by IBM in their IBM Power Systems, running IBM i, AIX, and Linux.
Generations[edit]
Many PowerPC designs are named and labeled by their apparent technology generation. That began with the 'G3', which was an internal project name inside AIM for the development of what would become the PowerPC 750 family.[6] Apple popularized the term 'G3' when they introduced Power Mac G3 and PowerBook G3 at an event at 10 November 1997. Motorola and Apple liked the moniker and used the term 'G4' for the 7400 family introduced in 1998[7][8] and the Power Mac G4 in 1999.
At the time the G4 was launched, Motorola categorized all their PowerPC models (former, current and future) according to what generation they adhered to, even renaming the older 603e core 'G2'. Motorola had a G5 project that never came to fruition, but the name stuck and Apple reused it when the 970 family launched in 2003 even if those were designed and built by IBM.
- PowerPC generations according to Motorola, ca 2000.[9]
- G1 - The 601, 500 and 800 family processors
- G2 - The 602, 603, 604, 620, 8200 and 5000 families
- G3 - The 750 and 8300 families
- G4 - The 7400 and 8400* families
- G5 - The 7500* and 8500 families (Motorola didn't use the G5 moniker after Apple usurped the name)
- G6 - The 7600*
- (*) These designs didn't become real products.
Design features[edit]
POWER, PowerPC, and Power ISA architectures |
---|
Freescale (formerly Motorola) |
|
IBM |
|
IBM/Nintendo |
Other |
Related links |
Cancelled in gray, historic in italic |
The PowerPC is designed along RISC principles, and allows for a superscalar implementation. Versions of the design exist in both 32-bit and 64-bit implementations. Starting with the basic POWER specification, the PowerPC added:
- Support for operation in both big-endian and little-endian modes; the PowerPC can switch from one mode to the other at run-time (see below). This feature is not supported in the PowerPC 970.
- Single-precision forms of some floating point instructions, in addition to double-precision forms
- Additional floating point instructions at the behest of Apple
- A complete 64-bit specification that is backward compatible with the 32-bit mode
- A fused multiply–add
- A paged memory management architecture that is used extensively in server and PC systems.
- Addition of a new memory management architecture called Book-E, replacing the conventional paged memory management architecture for embedded applications. Book-E is application software compatible with existing PowerPC implementations, but needs minor changes to the operating system.
Some instructions present in the POWER instruction set were deemed too complex and were removed in the PowerPC architecture. Some removed instructions could be emulated by the operating system if necessary. The removed instructions are:
- Load and store instructions for the quad-precision floating-point data type
- String instructions.
Endian modes[edit]
Most PowerPC chips switch endianness via a bit in the MSR (machine state register), with a second bit provided to allow the OS to run with a different endianness. Accesses to the 'inverted page table' (a hash table that functions as a TLB with off-chip storage) are always done in big-endian mode. The processor starts in big-endian mode.
In little-endian mode, the three lowest-order bits of the effective address are exclusive-ORed with a three bit value selected by the length of the operand. This is enough to appear fully little-endian to normal software. An operating system will see a warped view of the world when it accesses external chips such as video and network hardware. Fixing this warped view requires that the motherboard perform an unconditional 64-bit byte swap on all data entering or leaving the processor. Endianness thus becomes a property of the motherboard. An OS that operates in little-endian mode on a big-endian motherboard must both swap bytes and undo the exclusive-OR when accessing little-endian chips.
AltiVec operations, despite being 128-bit, are treated as if they were 64-bit. This allows for compatibility with little-endian motherboards that were designed prior to AltiVec.
An interesting side effect of this implementation is that a program can store a 64-bit value (the longest operand format) to memory while in one endian mode, switch modes, and read back the same 64-bit value without seeing a change of byte order. This will not be the case if the motherboard is switched at the same time.
Mercury Systems and Matrox ran the PowerPC in little-endian mode. This was done so that PowerPC devices serving as co-processors on PCI boards could share data structures with host computers based on x86. Both PCI and x86 are little-endian. OS/2 and Windows NT for PowerPC ran the processor in little-endian mode while Solaris, AIX and Linux ran in big endian.[10]
Some of IBM's embedded PowerPC chips use a per-page endianness bit. None of the previous applies to them.
Implementations[edit]
IBM PowerPC 604e 200 MHz
Custom PowerPC CPU from the Nintendo Wii video game console
The Freescale XPC855T Service Processor of a SunSunFire V20z
The first implementation of the architecture was the PowerPC 601, released in 1992, based on the RSC, implementing a hybrid of the POWER1 and PowerPC instructions. This allowed the chip to be used by IBM in their existing POWER1-based platforms, although it also meant some slight pain when switching to the 2nd generation 'pure' PowerPC designs. Apple continued work on a new line of Macintosh computers based on the chip, and eventually released them as the 601-based Power Macintosh on March 14, 1994.
IBM also had a full line of PowerPC based desktops built and ready to ship; unfortunately, the operating system that IBM had intended to run on these desktops—MicrosoftWindows NT—was not complete by early 1993, when the machines were ready for marketing. Accordingly, and further because IBM had developed animosity toward Microsoft, IBM decided to port OS/2 to the PowerPC in the form of Workplace OS. This new software platform spent three years (1992 to 1995) in development and was canceled with the December 1995 developer release, because of the disappointing launch of the PowerPC 620. For this reason, the IBM PowerPC desktops did not ship, although the reference design (codenamed Sandalbow) based on the PowerPC 601 CPU was released as an RS/6000 model (Byte's April 1994 issue included an extensive article about the Apple and IBM PowerPC desktops).
Apple, which also lacked a PowerPC based OS, took a different route. Utilizing the portability platform yielded by the secret Star Trek project, the company ported the essential pieces of their Mac OS operating system to the PowerPC architecture, and further wrote a 68k emulator that could run 68k based applications and the parts of the OS that had not been rewritten.
The second generation was 'pure' and includes the 'low end' PowerPC 603 and 'high end' PowerPC 604. The 603 is notable due to its very low cost and power consumption. This was a deliberate design goal on Motorola's part, who used the 603 project to build the basic core for all future generations of PPC chips. Apple tried to use the 603 in a new laptop design but was unable due to the small 8 KiB level 1 cache. The 68000 emulator in the Mac OS could not fit in 8 KiB and thus slowed the computer drastically.[11][12] The 603e solved this problem by having a 16 KiB L1 cache, which allowed the emulator to run efficiently.
In 1993, developers at IBM's Essex Junction, Burlington, Vermont facility started to work on a version of the PowerPC that would support the Intel x86 instruction set directly on the CPU. While this was just one of several concurrent power architecture projects that IBM was working on, this chip began to be known inside IBM and by the media as the PowerPC 615. Profitability concerns and rumors of performance issues in the switching between the x86 and native PowerPC instruction sets resulted in the project being canceled in 1995 after only a limited number of chips were produced for in-house testing. Aside the rumors, the switching process took only 5 cycles, or the amount of time needed for the processor to empty its instruction pipeline. Microsoft also aided the processor's demise by refusing to support the PowerPC mode.[13]
The first 64-bit implementation is the PowerPC 620, but it appears to have seen little use because Apple didn't want to buy it and because, with its large die area, it was too costly for the embedded market. It was later and slower than promised, and IBM used their own POWER3 design instead, offering no 64-bit 'small' version until the late-2002 introduction of the PowerPC 970. The 970 is a 64-bit processor derived from the POWER4 server processor. To create it, the POWER4 core was modified to be backward-compatible with 32-bit PowerPC processors, and a vector unit (similar to the AltiVec extensions in Motorola's 74xx series) was added.
IBM's RS64 processors are a family of chips implementing the 'Amazon' variant of the PowerPC architecture. These processors are used in the RS/6000 and AS/400 computer families; the Amazon architecture includes proprietary extensions used by AS/400.[14] The POWER4 and later POWER processors implement the Amazon architecture and replaced the RS64 chips in the RS/6000 and AS/400 families.
IBM developed a separate product line called the '4xx' line focused on the embedded market. These designs included the 401, 403, 405, 440, and 460. In 2004, IBM sold their 4xx product line to Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC). AMCC continues to develop new high performance products, partly based on IBM's technology, along with technology that was developed within AMCC. These products focus on a variety of applications including networking, wireless, storage, printing/imaging and industrial automation.
Numerically, the PowerPC is mostly found in controllers in cars. For the automotive market, Freescale Semiconductor initially offered many variations called the MPC5xx family such as the MPC555, built on a variation of the 601 core called the 8xx and designed in Israel by MSIL (Motorola Silicon Israel Limited). The 601 core is single issue, meaning it can only issue one instruction in a clock cycle. To this they add various bits of custom hardware, to allow for I/O on the one chip. In 2004, the next-generation four-digit 55xx devices were launched for the automotive market. These use the newer e200 series of PowerPC cores.
Networking is another area where embedded PowerPC processors are found in large numbers. MSIL took the QUICC engine from the MC68302 and made the PowerQUICC MPC860. This was a very famous processor used in many Cisco edge routers in the late 1990s. Variants of the PowerQUICC include the MPC850, and the MPC823/MPC823e. All variants include a separate RISC microengine called the CPM that offloads communications processing tasks from the central processor and has functions for DMA. The follow-on chip from this family, the MPC8260, has a 603e-based core and a different CPM.
Honda also uses PowerPC processors for ASIMO.[15]
In 2003, BAE SYSTEMS Platform Solutions delivered the Vehicle-Management Computer for the F-35 fighter jet. This platform consists of dual PowerPCs made by Freescale in a triple redundant setup.[16]
Operating systems[edit]
Operating systems that work on the PowerPC architecture are generally divided into those that are oriented toward the general-purpose PowerPC systems, and those oriented toward the embedded PowerPC systems.
Operating systems with native support[edit]
- Apple classic Mac OS starting with System 7.1.2; and Copland, the original and canceled attempt at Mac OS 8
- BeOS R5 Pro (BeBox, Macintosh and clones)
- Haiku, experimental[17]
- IBM i; formerly named i5/OS, originally OS/400
- Inferno; from Bell Labs and maintained by Vita Nuova Holdings
- POSIX: Unix, Unix-like
- Apple Mac OS X through Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8
- Workplace OS, including a port of OS/2
- FreeBSD, 32-bit and 64-bit ports[18]
- NetBSD, port designations for PowerPC systems
- ofppc released[19]
- macppc released[20]
- evbppc released[21]
- prep released[22]
- mvmeppc released[23]
- bebox experimental[24]
- amigappc very experimental[25]
- OpenBSD, 32-bit macppc released port[26]
- Linux
- CRUX PPC, with 32/64-bit releases[27] supported through release 2.0.1.1. Support was dropped from subsequent releases.
- Debian:
- 32-bit powerpc a released port since potato[28] Support has been removed from Debian 9 Stretch[29]
- 64-bit big-endian ppc64[30] in mostly stalled development
- 64-bit little-endian ppc64le a released port since jessie
- Fedora with 32/64-bit ppc releases[31] up to version 12. PowerPC is a Fedora secondary architecture from Fedora 16 onwards.
- Gentoo Linux, with 32-bit ppc releases and 64-bit ppc64 releases[32]
- MintPPC, support for Old World and New World 32/64-bit Macs based on Linux Mint LXDE and Debian[33]
- MkLinux, Mach-kernel based distribution for older Macs, officially launched by Apple
- OpenSUSE, Full support for Old World and New World PowerMacs (32/64-bit), PS3 Cell, IBM POWER systems through the release of 11.1. Support was dropped from subsequent releases.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux, 32-bit ppc support was dropped following release of 5.11. Maintaining full support for 64-bit ppc64 in subsequent releases[34]
- Ubuntu, community supported for versions released after 6.10[35]
- Yellow Dog Linux, full support for 32/64-bit; PS3
- Solaris 2.5.1 PowerPC edition on the PReP platform
- OpenSolaris, experimental[36][37]
- Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0
- ReactOS, PowerPC port no longer under active development[38]
- CellOS for PlayStation 3
Embedded[edit]
- VxWorks 653
- LiveDevices RTA-OSEKLive
- Cisco AireOS
- PikeOS RTOS and virtualization platform from SYSGO
- ELinOS embedded Linux
- BlueCat embedded Linux from LynuxWorks
- Operating System Embedded (OSE) from ENEA AB
- Juniper NetworksJunos router and switch OS
- Deos[39]
- SCIOPTA[40] RTOS, certified according IEC61508, EN50128 and ISO26262
- Embedded PowerPC Operating System by IBM[41]
Licensees[edit]
Companies that have licensed the 64-bit POWER or 32-bit PowerPC from IBM include:
32-bit PowerPC[edit]
- Altera, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) manufacturer now Intel
- Apple ('A' in original AIM alliance), has switched to Intel in early 2006
- Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC)
- BAE Systems for RAD750 processor, used in spacecraft and planetary landers
- Cisco Systems for routers
- Culturecom for V-Dragon CPU
- Kumyoung used in karaoke player CPU (Muzen and Vivaus series)
- Motorola (was Freescale Semiconductor now NXP), as part of the original AIM alliance
- Rapport for Kilocore 1025 core CPU
- STMicroelectronics for the SPC5xx series
- Xilinx, FPGA maker, embedded PowerPC in the Virtex-II Pro, Virtex-4, and Virtex-5 FPGAs
64-bit PowerPC[edit]
Game consoles[edit]
PowerPC processors were used in a number of now-discontinued video game consoles:
- Bandai for its Bandai Pippin, designed by Apple Computer (1995)
- Microsoft, for the Xbox 360 processor, Xenon[42]
- Nintendo for the GameCube,[42]Wii, and Wii U processors
- Sony and Toshiba, for the Cell processor (inside the PlayStation 3 and other devices)[42]
Desktop computers[edit]
The Power architecture is currently used in the following desktop computers:
- Sam440ep, Sam440epFlex, based on an AMCC 440ep SoC, built by ACube Systems
- Sam460ex, based on an AMCC 460ex SoC, built by ACube Systems
- Nemo motherboard based around PA6T-1682M found in the AmigaOne X1000 from A-EON Technology
- Cyrus motherboard based around Freescale Qoriq P5020 found in the AmigaOne X5000 from A-EON Technology
- Tabor motherboard based around Freescale QorIQ P1022 found in the forthcoming AmigaOne A1222 from A-EON Technology
- Talos II and Blackbird mainboards/workstations, based around the IBM Power9 Sforza architecture, built by Raptor Computing Systems
Embedded applications[edit]
The Power architecture is currently used in the following embedded applications:
- National Instruments Smart Cameras for machine vision
- Mars rover Curiosity
See also[edit]
- Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP)
- Power Architecture Platform Reference (PAPR)
- PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP)
- RTEMS real-time operating system
- Vasm, a free assembler
References[edit]
- ^PowerPC Architecture Book, Version 2.02
- ^ abcdCarlton, Jim (1999) [1997]. Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania and Business Blunders. ISBN978-0099270737. OCLC925000937.
- ^'Tech Files Columns, 1987-1990'. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013.
- ^Book I: PowerPC User Instruction Set Architecture, Version 2.02
- ^ ab'Forces Gather for PowerPC Roundtable'. MacWeek. 7 (12). March 22, 1993. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- ^A G3 PowerPC superscalar low-power microprocessor
- ^G4 Is First PowerPC With AltiVec - Due Mid-1999, Motorola’s Next Chip Aims at Macintosh, NetworkingArchived April 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^PowerPC G4 Architecture White PaperArchived April 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^Fact Sheet - Motorola PowerPC ProcessorArchived April 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^OS/2 for PowerPC TidbitsArchived January 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^Linley Gwennap (February 27, 1997). 'Arthur Revitalizes PowerPC Line'(PDF). Microprocessor Report. Vol. 11 no. 2.
The 603’s tiny 8K caches were notoriously poor for Mac OS software, particularly for 68K emulation; even the 603e’s caches cause a significant performance hit at higher clock speeds. Given Arthur’s design target of 250 MHz and up, doubling the caches again made sense.
- ^Jansen, Daniel (2014). 'CPUs: PowerPC 603 and 603e'. Low End Mac. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
- ^'Microsoft killed the PowerPC 615'. The Register. October 1, 1998. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
- ^Adam T. Stallman; Frank G. Soltis (July 1, 1995). 'Inside the PowerPC AS'. System iNEWS Magazine. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013.
- ^'Latest robots fill helper, entertainer roles'. EETimes.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2004. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
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Further reading[edit]
- Weiss, Shlomo; Smith, James Edward (1994). POWER and PowerPC. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN978-1558602793.
- May, Cathy; et al. (1994). The PowerPC Architecture: A Specification for A New Family of RISC Processors (2nd ed.). Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. ISBN978-1-55860-316-5.
- Hoxey, Steve (editor) et al. The PowerPC Compiler Writer's Guide. Warthman Associates. ISBN0-9649654-0-2.
- Motorola. Programming Environments Manual for 32-bit Implementations of the PowerPC Architecture, a 640-page PDF manual. P/N MPCFPE32B/AD.
- IBM (2000). Book E: Enhanced PowerPC Architecture (3rd ed.)
- Duntemann, Jeff; Pronk, Ron (1994). Inside the PowerPC Revolution. Coriolis Group Books. ISBN978-1-883577-04-9.
- PowerPC Architecture, an IBM article giving POWER and PowerPC history
- Chakravarty, Dipto; Cannon, Casey (1994). PowerPC: Concepts, Architecture, and Design. McGraw Hill. ISBN9780070111929.
External links[edit]
- PPC Overview - an overview of PowerPC processors
- OS/2 Warp, PowerPC Edition review by Michal Necasek
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