Clueless: What's an PowerPC anyway?

[peterwiehe]

Okay, now I am thinking if I might switch from x86 (PC) to PowerPC.

But on the net (US and de. Newsgroups, google, apple.com) I didn't find any basic info, what a PowerPC actually IS!?
I thought PowerPc means MOtorola 68k Processor, but can use PC hardware. Is that correct?

Can I replace my x86 mainboard by a PPC mainbaord and then
- reuse my VGA card, modem, etc.?
- run Mac OS X?

Kind regards
Peter Wiehe

[iamaboringperson]

Okay, now I am thinking if I might switch from x86 (PC) to PowerPC.

Great move!

But on the net (US and de. Newsgroups, google, apple.com) I didn't find any basic info, what a PowerPC actually IS!?
I thought PowerPc means MOtorola 68k Processor, but can use PC hardware. Is that correct?

IMHO it's one of my favorite CPU's!

It's a CPU architecture that is made by IBM and Motorola (or was)

Can I replace my x86 mainboard by a PPC mainbaord and then
- reuse my VGA card, modem, etc.?
- run Mac OS X?

If you get a Pegasos board for example you can use most of your existing hardware.
You probably can't use the modem if it's internal
If you run LInux you can certainly use your GFX card, if you run MorphOS you will be limited as to the brands and models of card you may use

Running Mac OS X, is possible - I think, using MOL under Linux!

[Blomberg]

PPC or PowerPC is NOT 68k.

They are manufactured by IBM and Motorola and can be found in Apple Macintosh'es and a bunch of embedded devices.

There are not a lot of PPC motherboards around, and not a lot of OS's for them either, AmigaOne and Pegasos are, in a way, pioneering the PPC motherboard + alternative OS idea (aside from Macs, of course)

[iamaboringperson]

http://www-3.ibm.com/chips/products/powerpc/

:-)

http://pegasosppc.com/processor.php

[alx]

Amiga Wiki: PowerPC

 :-)

---edit---

I thought PowerPc means MOtorola 68k Processor, but can use PC hardware. Is that correct?

The PPC is the successor to the 68k (made by motorolla (and IBM)) but AFAIK they're very different architectures.

Can I replace my x86 mainboard by a PPC mainbaord and then
- reuse my VGA card, modem, etc.?

You'd have to replace it with an AmigaONE mobo or Pegasos mobo.  Your cards may or may not be compatible, but as iama said, modems are a bit iffy with any alt OS.

- run Mac OS X?

The AmigaONE and Peg will run it under Linux, but not natively (you cannot build yourself a "Mac" that way)

[ksk]

LOad of info:
http://arstechnica.com/cpu/03q1/ppc970/ppc970-0.html
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3997

[iamaboringperson]

The PPC is the successor to the 68k (made by motorolla (and IBM)) but AFAIK they're very different architectures.

Completely different!!

They are completely incompatable.

[peterwiehe]

Thanks for all the useful links!

Okay, 680x0 instead of 68k (with different chipset/bus/everything of course).
(I guess incompatible like XT and 386+.)

Okay, I will forget about MacOS. It's not so cool anyway. There're a lot of other PPC OSs for OS adventurers.

Interesting to read in that article on OSNews (that was mentioned by ksk), that the x86 CPU is a sort of crappy coating around a cool RISC core!
Like a ferrari motor in a Chinese car! [Sorry to Chinese carmakers for the insult:) ]

Fine, I know a lot more now.

Kind regards
Peter Wiehe