SAN FRANCISCO - In a risky move that could further shrink its minuscule slice of the PC market, Apple Computer Inc. announced plans Monday to switch its Macintosh computers to the same Intel Corp. chips used in systems that run Microsoft Windows.
Apple, which for years suggested its users “Think Different,” will join all other PC makers in using microprocessors built on an architecture that took root in 1981 and eventually turned Apple into a niche player.
By moving to Intel chips, Apple is abandoning the so-called PowerPC architecture that it developed with IBM Corp. and Motorola Inc. in the early 1990s.
Over the years, Apple touted PowerPC as more powerful than the processors that run Windows PCs, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs even comparing some Macs to supercomputers.
...
