kenjisan

Cross-platform rosetta stone?

Wired News: Step Toward Universal Computing

Reading this article, I got the surreal feeling I usually associate with dreaming. You know the one: someone has just told you that not only have you inherited $77 million, but you've also been granted the ability to fly. It's cool, right, but then you wake up and it's not cool. Well, I feel I'm having one of those dreams right now.

Transitive Corp. claims they have developed a universal emulator and the ability for any program to be used on any platform. Not impressed? Not only does QuickTransit fully utilize your computer's graphics card (something SoftPC has stumbled with), but it also supports "about 80 percent computational performance on the main processor." They claim there is no noticeable loss of performance. Still not impressed? They claim the "hardware virtualizor" works seamlessly. Analyst Jim Turley reports, "It's remarkable because it's unremarkable (to see it in action): It just works."

Will this spell "the end" for Mac/PC fisticuffs? Will I really get to play RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 on my Mac? And all you PC users, Marathon could finally be yours.

I don't really know. I'm not even sure if this is a dream or not. I could be waking up here momentarily, shaking my head over all the wonderful things that could have been...