EventDV.net: The Event Videographer's Resource

Avid Technology, Inc. has announced its plans to expand the wide range of video and audio content creation solutions that will be available for Intel-based Mac systems, including the new Mac Pro workstation introduced last week at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WDCC). The Avid Video division expects to deliver new versions of its Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer systems for all Intel-based Macs by December.

Following the arrival of the new Mac Pro workstation, Avid's Audio Division, Digidesign, expects to release a compatible update to its acclaimed Pro ToolsHD 7.2 software in September. Full qualification for the existing Intel-based Mac versions of Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M-Powered on the new Mac Pro workstation is also expected in December, although preliminary testing indicates that both applications will run without problems. In addition, Digidesign's business unit, M-Audio, expects to qualify various hardware interfaces for the Mac Pro workstation by December. A wide range of Digidesign(R) and M-Audio(R) systems are already compatible with the Intel-based computers that Apple released earlier this year.

In addition to continuing development on Intel-based Mac systems, Avid's video and audio businesses plan to maintain backward compatibility with PowerPC-based Mac systems. Avid and its businesses also expect to support future versions of the Mac OS, including the forthcoming Leopard OS announced this week at the Apple WWDC. Specific timing for Leopard OS support will be announced after Apple begins shipping the new OS some time in 2007.