'Mactivists' support switchover to Intel

"Macmadant" was not happy about Apple's decision to team up with Intel, the world's largest semiconductor group. A self-professed "newbie" on the MacRumors website, he decried Apple's betrayal of its faithful customers and pledged never to use a Mac again.

He was not the only MacRumor visitor who expressed shock that Apple had joined forces with Intel, which has long provided microprocessors for PCs that run Microsoft's Windows operating system.

There were also grumbles that Apple, which played up its unique technology and style, had gone over to the "dark side".

But then a remarkable thing happened. Other MacRumor visitors began to stick up for Apple and, over time, it became more apparent that many Apple users were prepared to give the company the benefit of the doubt.

Many suggested they had been assuaged by Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and chief executive, who on Monday took to the stage to explain his decision. Jobs argued that the performance of Intel's new chips would be superior to those from IBM, which currently supplies microprocessors for Apple's desktops.

He said high-performance low-power chips would enable Apple to build "exciting products". He also laid out a two-year transition plan; announced special kits for third-party software developers and unveiled software that will enable programs from old IBM-based systems to run on Intel-based Macs. His presentation to software developers in San Francisco seems to have done the trick. The mood was upbeat and the reaction soon filtered onto the internet. "I think this is going to be great for Apple," wrote "Fender 2112" on MacRumors.

Others were more emphatic, arguing that the OSX operating system was the heart and soul of the Apple experience and that moving to Intel chips would make that experience better.

Apple have still to convince many customers whose faith is shaken, but many others are giving Jobs a chance to prove that switching to Intel was the right choice.