CompuServe Messages

Power PC

    06-May-93 16:53:47
Sb: #98476-Power PC
Fm: Pat Augustine 73670,2200
To: Dave Cinege 70322,447
The Power PC is, as others have mentioned, a RISC chip based on IBM's RS/6000 chip. It is intended for use in the IBM/Apple alliance "new" system, using Taligent's PINK OS, though it will undoubtedly run DOS and MAC software as well (indeed, rumors of System 7 running on the RS/6000 are at least 6 months old now). Motorola was brought in to manufacture the chips, and possibly improve the design (though I doubt IBM would say so). Motorola is a full year ahead of schedule on the Power PC, while Pink remains nebulous. The Power PC is currently being listed in 4 different configurations. The inital release, the 601 will NOT be as powerful as a Pentium, though it will be faster than a 486. The later models, starting with the 603, I believe, are slated to be significantly more powerful than a Pentium. Because of the problems developing an object-oriented OS, it remains to be seen where the Power PC gets used. It is completely unrelated to either the 68K line or the 88K line.