[OS X TeX] PPC to Intel

[Gerben Wierda]

> ...and so the question, for those who know best, will the transition
> from PowerPC to Intel be painless, as far as TeX (and all the related
> apps
> that we so cherish) is concerned?

Regarding the backend most people use on Mac OS X: I have already a report
that TeX Live compiles fine on an Intellimac. In howfar i-Installer is
portable I do not know yet (because that depends in howfar Apple has good
ports for the Mac OS X 10.2 frameworks i-Installer uses) but normally it
should just work. Unless someone pays $999 for me to use an evaluation
system for the coming 2 years I will not have access to an Intellimac
soon. But it is likely I will  buy an Intellimac if they produce something
good.

What might happen is that I have to drop support for Mac OS X 10.2 accross
the board. Dropping 10.2 might enable me to support autehticating proxies
etc, so it is also a potential good thing.

I am likely going to work on getting Apple to produce an improved
Installer engine for 10.5 Leopard, so what might happen is that
i-Installer would disappear entirely and be replaced by Apple's own.
(Here's to hoping that is going to happen)

Relax all, we have a year of hammering this out before the first systems
are out there.

G

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