Q: The announcement of NVIDIA OEM GeForce2 MX graphics on the latest Power Mac G4s is a very pleasant and welcome surprise to many Mac owners, particularly 3D gamers. Can you state NVIDIA's overall goal in coming to the Mac?
A: "3D graphics is growing to be one of the most important communications mediums in history. NVIDIAs long-term goal is to be the most important 3D graphics company in the world. Quite simply our strategy is to transform the worlds most important platforms and fundamentally deliver an extraordinary user experience. The Apple platform is without question one of the most important."
Q: Do GeForce2 MX graphics perform as well on the Mac as Wintels? Are there limitations specific to the Mac that hinders performance in any way?
A: "Since the GeForce2 MX chip is the same; there are no limitations specific to the Macintosh version. But the chip is only half the story. The other half is our driver and the NVIDIA unified driver architecture has enabled us to deploy a high performance part on Mac OS with full support for 3D technologies such as cube mapping and per pixel lighting and bump mapping, as well as 2D technologies like DVD and QuickTime acceleration."
Q: NVIDIA has faster graphic chips than the GeForce2 MX that are already deployed on Wintels. Are these coming to the Mac and when?
A: "The GeForce2 MX is the only member of NVIDIAs product line with inherent Mac support. We do plan on making our future products Apple ready."
Q: In your words, how does the GeForce2 MX compare with ATI's Radeon and former 3dfx's Voodoo5?
A: "We hate to compare ourselves to the competitor, preferring to let the consumer make their own decisions, but the performance of the GeForce2 MX on the Mac is more than competitive."
Q: Did the absorption of 3dfx by NVIDIA have anything to do with NVIDIA coming to the Mac or vice versa?
A: "A deal like this obviously takes time to complete, but we are not discussing the specifics of our negotiations. But I can honestly say that this "absorption" had nothing to do with NVIDIA entering the Mac market."
Q: Will NVIDIA be supporting the former 3dfx Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 cards that 3dfx designed specifically for the Mac?
A: "NVIDIA acquired 3dfxs core graphics business. We did not acquire any of their board business."
Q: Are there plans to offer NVIDIA graphics on other Apple computer models?
A: "Sorry, but we do not comment on future products. But I can say that we hope this is the first step in a long and prosperous relationship."
Q: Are there plans to offer NVIDIA graphics for installation in older Apple computers?
A: "That would involve end users being able to purchase a retail board. NVIDIA is a chip manufacturer and we do not sell boards."
Q: Is there anything that you would like to add that I haven't covered?
A: "This partnership represents another step in the evolution of NVIDIA. While we are expanding into other markets, we are still pushing the envelope of 3D graphics technology. We want to make our graphics technology available to everyone who can benefit from it. Apple users definitely fall into that category and we are thrilled about this partnership."
Macs Only!: Thank you very much.