[linux-audio-dev] New powermacs?

[Ivica Bukvic]

Hi all,

Just heard the news (rumors) of new Macs that are going to hit the
streets on Monday. Seems like Apple is finally going to catch-up with
the PC world: there's talk of using IBM's PowerPC 970 64-bit CPU's.
Makes me wonder what repercussions this will have on the whole LAD/LAU
community, considering that they supposedly will have built-in optical
audio I/O and with the recent announcement of Trolltech to make OS X Qt
GPL-ed, leaves less and less advantages in Linux's favor (apart from the
obvious untouchable open architecture and perhaps faster growing
user-base -- according to recent news, can't remember where I exactly I
read it tho, sale of factory-built Linux boxes should surpass Apple's
this year, and that does not even include people with home-built
machines and dual-booters).

Please don't get me wrong. I am still in favor of Linux, obviously due
to its open architecture. But at the same time I am becoming a bit weary
of having to "hack" my advanced audio settings rather than use
user-friendly tools. That, coupled with still anemic direct vendor hw
driver support has really made me pay closer attention on Macs (as scary
as that sounds). Yet, I feel such a sense of accomplishment when my
Linux purrs just right with my desktop being uniquely configured and
tailored to my needs. After all, I am a geek. :-) And the inner struggle
goes on...

Anyone care to comment or (please) dissuade me from potentially making a
costly mistake? ;-)

Ivica Ico Bukvic, composer & multimedia sculptor
http://meowing.ccm.uc.edu/~ico