Apple and Intel tryst

The speculation is running rampant in anticipation of an announcement  tomorrow of some kind about Apple using Intel chips and scrapping its long-time partnership with IBM. One thing for sure--Steve Jobs will be getting Intel chips at bargain basement prices. Intel is highly motivated to gain Apple as a customer, especially as AMD is gaining share in the x86 space, and Jobs is the most fearsome negotiator in the industry. Intel and AMD (as well as IBM) are both moving to 64-bit, multicore architectures that will provide more bang for the buck than simply doubling processors and increasing clock speed. There are more questions than answers at this point. According to our own CNET News.com, Apple will bring Intel chips to lower-end computers, such as the Mac Mini, in mid-2006 and then to higher-end Power Macs in mid-2007. Given the slow ramp predicted, there shouldn't be undo disruption for users and developers. Mac OS X already is capable of running on x86 systems. Will Apple allow the Mac OS X to run on any x86 system. No evidence of that possibility in Steve Jobs' past or present. Will users be able to run virtualized Windows on a Mac? Stay tuned...