The development toolkit for Apple's Intel-Mac has been given to developers though the new Mac will not be released until the midyear of 2006, according to media report.

The toolkit (Apple's developing platform, ADP2,1) shows configuration of the first Intel-Mac computer has been confirmed. The Intel-Mac will adopt Intel Pentium 4 3.6 GHz processor with 2MB cache memory, supporting 800 MHz FSB.

Like other Mac computers, the new Mac will run Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger operating system (OS). But PSP has been modified to allow users to disable or enable multithreading technology.

The new Mac adopts Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator 800 visual card, and the interactive digital visual system supporting the visual card is from Silicon Image Orion ADD2-N Dual Pad x16.

No other information is found on the motherboard except the word "Barracuda". The internal structure is basically the same with the Power Mac G5, but the electric fan is a little different.

Aside from Mac OS X , Microsoft's Windows XP can run on the new Mac too. But compatibility problem still exists on the visual card. In addition, the XP sets the default resolution 800X600 for the 23-inch Cinema monitor, which makes full screen display impossible for users however they adjust the resolution.

As for running the Mac OS X system on non-Apple hardware, tests made on Dell and other computers show an error will occur as the computer starts up, saying Darwin X86 does not support the hardware.

Sources say Apple will put an EDID chip on the motherboard of the new Mac. Mac OS X must first communicate with the chip before it can start normally. This is quite similar with the softdog for hardware and is limited to a certain extent theoretically.

By People's Daily Online