Re: wxWidgets and universal binaries
By: Nightfox to Mercyful Fate on Wed Mar 03 2010 07:27 am

There are on the Mac. When Apple switched to using Intel processors, they created what they call "Universal Binaries", which are Mac application bundles that include an Intel-compiled version and PowerPC-compiled version; when the user runs the app, Mac OS X will run the appropriate one compiled for the processor used in the computer. "Universal Binary" is the term officially used by Apple for this type of application; it doesn't

I'm replying to a 10 year old message just to say "and here we are again." It's 2020 and we're back to Universal Binaries so code can run on both Intel and the Apple Silicon. All the benchmarks show the Apple M1 running emulated Intel faster then Intel chips! Crazy.

Bob Roberts

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Re: wxWidgets and universal binaries
By: Bob Roberts to Nightfox on Thu Dec 31 2020 09:37 am

I'm replying to a 10 year old message just to say "and here we are again." It's 2020 and we're back to Universal Binaries so code can run on both Intel and the Apple Silicon. All the benchmarks show the Apple M1 running emulated Intel faster then Intel chips! Crazy.

I've heard Apple's M1 processors have been getting really good performance numbers. I was skeptical about Apple developing an ARM-based processor to compete with Intel, but I guess Apple wouldn't have done it unless they knew they could make one with some serious performance.

I used to work at Intel, and I still think it's interesting to see how the various processor/computing companies are doing. And I had used AMD for a long time in the past too, so I don't consider myself biased in any way as a former Intel employee. I built a new PC in 2019 with an Intel processor, but considering I couldn't get the Intel employee discount on the Intel processor I bought, I kinda wish I had gone with AMD, considering their new processors at the time.

I've heard Microsoft is making a version of Windows 10 for ARM too, with a regular desktop mode and an emulator to run 32-bit Intel x86 apps on ARM. It will be interesting to see where things go in the industry. If ARM gets more of a hold in the computer industry, I'm wondering how the custom-built PC market will be affected. I'd hope people will still be able to buy PC parts and build their own PC for a long time.

Nightfox

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Re: wxWidgets and universal binaries
By: Nightfox to Bob Roberts on Wed Jan 20 2021 12:35 pm

I've heard Microsoft is making a version of Windows 10 for ARM too, with a regular desktop mode and an emulator to run 32-bit Intel x86 apps on ARM. It will be interesting to see where things go in the industry. If ARM gets more of a hold in the computer industry, I'm wondering how the custom-built PC market will be affected. I'd hope people will still be able to buy PC parts and build their own PC for a long time.

I think (and hope) that there will always be a market for the home-brew PC, build from parts. I think the market is strong enough that the manufacturers will continue to provide options, such as high-spec video cards, memory, motherboards and processors. My guess is that one of the chip manufacturers will release a line of ARM processors for this market -- if ARM really does catch on.

Intel seems to be in a spot of trouble at the moment, with one Hedge fund pushing them to outsource their manufaturing to other fabs... a new batch of rumors indicates they will outsource their 5nm i3 chip manufacturing to TSMC. I wonder if Intel will simply become a brand name on someone elses chips?


Bob Roberts

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Re: wxWidgets and universal binaries
By: Bob Roberts to Nightfox on Thu Jan 21 2021 10:06 am

I think (and hope) that there will always be a market for the home-brew PC, build from parts. I think the market is strong enough that the manufacturers will continue to provide options, such as high-spec video cards, memory, motherboards and processors. My guess is that one of the chip manufacturers will release a line of ARM processors for this market -- if ARM really does catch on.

I also think there should still be a market for home-built PCs. If ARM does catch on more, I think there would have to be a standard for ARM chips to be minimally compatible with consumer operating systems & software. My understanding is ARM only makes processor designs, and companies can take those designs and build on them to make their own processors, which I think Apple has done with their new M1 processor they're now using in their Mac systems.

Intel seems to be in a spot of trouble at the moment, with one Hedge fund pushing them to outsource their manufaturing to other fabs... a new batch of rumors indicates they will outsource their 5nm i3 chip manufacturing to TSMC.

I've heard that too. (I actually worked at Intel until December 2019, and I thought it was interesting to see them change direction as they were struggling. I also noticed there was some turnover as several senior leaders at Intel had left, and there was one in particular who was there for only about a year or so before leaving. I've also heard Intel has decided to replace their current CEO Bob Swan, who has only been Intel's CEO officially for about 2 years now, after being an interim CEO after Brian Krzanich was kicked out).

I wonder if Intel will simply become a brand name on someone elses
chips?

I doubt that. I've heard AMD relies on TSMC (I think) for their chip manufacturing, but they're still AMD-branded chips.

Nightfox

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