PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC, as an evolving instruction set, has been named Power ISA since 2006, while the old name lives on as a trademark for some implementations of Power Architecture–based processors.
Originally intended for personal computers, the architecture is well known for being used by Apple's desktop and laptop lines from 1994 until 2006, and in several videogame consoles including Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, and Nintendo's GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. PowerPC was also used for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on Mars and a variety of satellites. It has since become a niche architecture for personal computers, particularly with AmigaOS 4 implementations, but remains popular for embedded systems.
PowerPC was the cornerstone of AIM's PReP and Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) initiatives in the 1990s. It is largely based on the earlier IBM POWER architecture, and retains a high level of compatibility with it; the architectures have remained close enough that the same programs and operating systems will run on both if some care is taken in preparation; newer chips in the Power series use the Power ISA.
^"PowerPC Architecture Book, Version 2.02". IBM. November 16, 2005. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020.
Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC, as an evolving instruction set, has been named Power ISA since 2006, while the old name lives on...
The PowerPC 600 family was the first family of PowerPC processors built. They were designed at the Somerset facility in Austin, Texas, jointly funded and...
The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola (spun off as Freescale Semiconductor...
PowerPC 970, PowerPC 970FX, and PowerPC 970MP are 64-bit PowerPC CPUs from IBM introduced in 2002. Apple branded the 970 as PowerPC G5 for its Power Mac...
PowerPC G4 is a designation formerly used by Apple to describe a fourth generation of 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors. Apple has applied this name to various...
The PowerPC 400 family is a line of 32-bit embedded RISC processor cores based on the PowerPC or Power ISA instruction set architectures. The cores are...
The Apple Network Server (ANS) was a line of PowerPC-based server computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1996...
PowerPC-only plug-ins will not work. While Intel Macs can run PowerPC, Intel, and universal binaries, PowerPC Macs support only universal and PowerPC...
floating-point unit. The PowerPC 601 was the first Mac processor to support the 32-bit PowerPC instruction set architecture. The PowerPC 604e was the first...
The following is a list of PowerPC processors. 601 50 and 66 MHz 602 consumer products (multiplexed data/address bus) 603/603e/603ev notebooks, embedded...
68LC040 processor, the 100 series PowerBooks span the entire Apple 68K line, with the 190 even upgradable to a PowerPC processor. In 1992, Apple released...
PCPowerPlay (PCPP) is Australia's only dedicated PC games magazine. PCPowerPlay focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on...
300 MHz. It features integrated 10/100 Ethernet. This is the PC counterpart of the RS/6000 PowerPC 604 processor at 100, 120 or 133 MHz ISA/PCI PReP architecture...
Apple's lineup to utilize the PowerPC 970 CPU, the others being the iMac G5 and the Xserve G5. Three generations of Power Mac G5 were released before it...
The PowerPC e500 is a 32-bit microprocessor core from Freescale Semiconductor. The core is compatible with the older PowerPC Book E specification as well...
processing units (CPUs) of Apple's line of Mac and Xserve computers from PowerPC processors over to Intel's x86-64 processors. The change was announced...
32-bit PowerPC machine code to 32-bit x86 code, allowing applications for PowerPC to run on Intel-based Macs without modification. Only PowerPC Macs can...
architecture (ISA), which evolved into PowerPC and later into Power ISA. In August 2019, IBM announced it would open source the Power ISA. As part of the move, it...
through a succession of enclosure designs, a rename to "Power Mac", five major generations of PowerPC chips, and a great deal of press coverage, design accolades...
developer that created SheepShaver), Fusion, PearPC and iFusion. The latter ran Classic Mac OS with a PowerPC "coprocessor" accelerator card. Using this method...
CyberPowerPC, also known as CyberPower, is an American personal computer retailer. It specializes in building and selling a wide range of (custom-built)...
and the now-defunct Power.org industry group. Power ISA is an evolution of the PowerPC ISA, created by the mergers of the core PowerPC ISA and the optional...
PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed...
The PowerPC e200 is a family of 32-bit Power ISA microprocessor cores developed by Freescale for primary use in automotive and industrial control systems...
IBM POWER architecture for backwards compatibility. The original IBM POWER architecture was then abandoned. PowerPC evolved into the third Power ISA in...
The first was from the Motorola 68000 series to PowerPC chips in 1994, and the second was from PowerPC to Intel processors using the x86 architecture in...
emulator: For PowerPC classic Mac OS PearPC Rosetta: Apple's emulator for PowerPC processors, built into Mac OS X WarpUP: Amiga system for PowerPC expansion...
and 1.8 GHz. QorIQ PowerPC e5500 powerpc-notebook.org homepage — The project to create a laptop based on the NXP QorIQ T2080, a PowerPC e6500 based processor...
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