It's amazing the things that have changed in just the last 48 hours when it comes to computing. Apple has finally done what pundits and users have begged for for years and years. They're dumping IBM and embracing Intel. What does that mean? Maybe not much, when it comes to the average user. Since they've licensed a technology they are calling Rosetta which will allow Intel based Mac's to run PowerPC based code seamlessly the change will be as painless (or even more painless) than the transition from OS 9 to OS X. For developers it means more work, but from the buzz I've seen from developers at the Apple WWDC who have had the opportunity to play with an Intel based Mac it won't be nearly as bad as they feared. Many things will just recompile, but even those that will require non-trivial conversions will be much, much easier than first expected.
So should I scrap my plans to buy a new Mac in the next few months? Nah. The PowerPC's will be supported through at least one more iteration of the OS, and developers will probably be developing for them at least that long. But I can't wait to get my hands on an Intel Mac Powerbook running at 4.7GHz - with a dual core processor. :)
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