Many observers consider that move an acknowledgment that PowerPC performance has been stagnant compared with blistering competitors, such as the Athlon. Unfortunately, the current Mac OS largely ignores the possible benefits of running two processors, so the performance advantage is completely unnoticeable to the average user. But performance isn't the only thing Mac designers should be thinking of. Business applications are increasingly Windows only. Microsoft Office for the Mac is a special case, a suite of products so essential to the Mac's ongoing survival that many doubt Apple could survive if Microsoft decided to kill it.
Dire times call for bold solutions.
It may seem unimaginable, but consider what would happen if Apple were to drop the PowerPC and build a Macintosh around an Athlon chip. Suddenly, the Mac would be a serious solution for everyone, since it would be the most universally compatible computer on the planet. Given that the next iteration of the Macintosh operating system, OS X, is based on Unix and can also compile and run Unix applications, the upshot is that virtually all available software would run in native mode on an Athlon-powered Macintosh. The strategic advantages don't end there. If we're to conclude anything about OS X from the beta version released earlier this summer, it's that Apple is committed to reestablishing its leadership in interface design.