If I Liked Windows, I'd Save $800!

[Bill in NC]

After the move to Sandy Bridge, I bet there will be PC laptops 'accidentally' compatible with Hackintoshery...

(i.e. 'download this driver package to a USB stick, boot from it, then install SL from the retail CD')

[kap]

How much faster is USB 3 compared to USB 2?
Apple is lagging behind because it's cost-saving or in the process of producing a super duper FW?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

kap wrote: How much faster is USB 3 compared to USB 2?

USB 3 is supposed to be about 10 times as fast as USB 2 (~6 times faster than FW800). The first round of products last year ran into problems because they were hitting the bandwidth limits of SATA 2.0.

kap wrote: Apple is lagging behind because it's cost-saving or in the process of producing a super duper FW?

I do not think it is cost-saving, more like they hoped to transistion to Light Peak from FW before USB 3 took off. Light Peak is supposed to be a "super duper FW," but it will apparently not be here for at least another year, and in an intermediate form (copper instead of optical).

[Article Accelerator]

kap wrote:
How much faster is USB 3 compared to USB 2?

Real world: USB3 currently is anywhere from 'a bit' to about 2x faster than FireWire 800 (vs. the theoretical 6x speed increase) and 3x to 5x faster than USB2 (vs. the theoretical 10x speed increase):

http://www.barefeats.com/hard136.html

Apple is lagging behind because it's cost-saving or in the process of producing a super duper FW?

Apple is neither "lagging behind" nor apparently pursuing a super duper FireWire: There are currently no computers available with integrated USB3 support; Apple will likely support Light Peak as its next interface.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Article Accelerator wrote:
...There are currently no computers available with integrated USB3 support...

Is this wrong? Sandy Bridge to get USB 3.0 support

I really expected native USB 3 on the new Intel motherboards and have a little hope left that it is actually there. What version of Light Peak do you think Apple will support first, copper or optical?

[Article Accelerator]

Thanks for the link, FHM. I guess we'll know about native USB3 support shortly.

The situation with Light Peak is very confusing. I hope Apple goes with the 'full package," i.e. protocol + optical physical layer. I don't like transitional solutions or work-arounds.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Yeah, Light Peak over copper is kind of an oxymoron.