IBM Announces Mac OS X Compilers

How much improved performance is there in real world applications.

Great! Now one can only hope that the majority of apps will be compiled using these compilers. I bet Photoshop CS could see a huge boost in performance for example.

new compilers for OS X, by IBM, should boost developer confidence...
Supercomputers, V-Tech, X-grid
New x-serves
Downloadable and "music in your pocket" dominance

it is shaping up to be a good year for Apple!!!!

404 on the C++ link

Will we have to wait till next year's 10.4 or could Apple release a new build of Panther?

This is a great step in the right direction towards more optimized PPC code. GCC is a truely great compiler, but there was never any doubt in my mind that it was not the most optimized. It just stands to reason that if you build specifically for the PPC ISA is should do very well. I'm really excited to start seeing some comparisons.

But, does anyone know if/when these compilers will support Obj-C? Without this functionality I won't be able to use them myself, and I suspect that many developers will be in the same boat.

Originally posted by MikeAtari
Will we have to wait till next year's 10.4 or could Apple release a new build of Panther?

Unless the XL compilers can be integrated into the XCode IDE, I seriously doubt that you will see Apple using them anytime soon. Let's be realistic here.

Are the prices stated somewhere? Did't see'em anywhere at least for the Fortran compiler (or am I going blind?).

Originally posted by MattMass
This is a great step in the right direction towards more optimized PPC code. GCC is a truely great compiler, but there was never any doubt in my mind that it was not the most optimized. It just stands to reason that if you build specifically for the PPC ISA is should do very well. I'm really excited to start seeing some comparisons.

But, does anyone know if/when these compilers will support Obj-C? Without this functionality I won't be able to use them myself, and I suspect that many developers will be in the same boat.

XL supports Objective C.
This has already been covered on slashdot.

In some old beta tests of XL.
It was showing a 30-45% performance increase on the G4.

Either way any app compiled will it will see a big performance increase.

Originally posted by etep
Are the prices stated somewhere? Did't see'em anywhere at least for the Fortran compiler (or am I going blind?).

It's $499 for a single seat license which is over $500+ cheaper the the complier for AIX.