Q: Until now, all IBM PCs ran on Intel chips. Why did IBM back the PowerPC?
A: PowerPC chips have several advantages. They use less energy. They work faster than most Intel chips. And they're about half the size of Intel's state-of-the-art Pentium chip. Michael Slater, of Microprocessor Report, estimates the PowerPC 601 costs only $ 76 to make vs. $ 483 for the Pentium. Plus, by making the chip itself, IBM can exert more control over its design.
Q: Will IBM still sell Intel-based PCs?
A: Yes. IBM's PC division will sell two kinds of PCs, putting IBM in the unusual position of competing against itself.
Q: Who makes the chips?
A: IBM has the exclusive rights to make the first chip to market, the PowerPC 601. It is producing the chip in its Burlington, Vt., plant, and supplying the partners. Motorola and IBM will make future PowerPC chips, and will compete -- on price and service -- for sales to other companies.
Q: How will Apple's Power Macs differ from IBM's Power PCs?
A: Though they use the same chip, they will run on entirely different operating systems. Macs will run on Apple's famous System 7, its user-friendly graphics-based design. IBM's PCs will come with any of several operating systems, including OS/2 and Windows NT -- both used mainly in computers aimed at engineers and scientists. The IBM models and Power Macs will run a wide range of software, but programs designed for a specific operating system will perform the best on that machine.
Q: What functions will PowerPC-based computers excel at?
A: Multimedia or combining computer graphics with data, sound, video and animation. In this area, "it's the next great thing," says Bill Machrone, vice president of technology at information services firm, Ziff-Davis.
Q: What does Motorola gain?
A. It wants to steal market share from Intel, which controls 85% of the $ 8 billion U.S. microprocessor market. Phil Pompa, marketing director for the PowerPC at Motorola, says the company can capture 30% of the market within five years. "We set out to make this a two-horse race," says Jim Venable, a Motorola marketing manager.
Q: Why is the PowerPC chip creating such a stir?
A: This new microprocessor -- developed by Apple, Motorola and IBM -- is based on a technology called Reduced Instruction Set Computing. RISC chips are essentially streamlined, simplified microprocessors, which offer considerably more processing power using fewer transistors.
