Still not Universal Binary 
Very very bad news!!
Not having a universal binary at release is fine. Maya is a BIG sprawling mess of a program I’m sure.
Autodesk’s decision not to announce ANYTHING regarding a Universal Binary version? That’s the bad news.
And no native 64 bit support for the mac pro 
No universal binary:
As of right now, the only Intel native Apple computers are consumer models (iMac, mini, MacBook) and laptops (MacBookPro). Autodesk has always certified the professional model tower.
I don’t believe there is an Apple machine on the certified hardware list that is not a tower. Maya 8 certified hardware only includes the “PowerMac G5”.
That does not mean a G5 based iMac. If it does run on an iMac (probably fine) Autodesk will not support any troubleshooting on the machine.
No 64-bit:
The Mac OS is not true 64-bit yet. Leopard will be the first tru 64-bit OS. I know there are programs that can run in 64-bit mode now- but that is command line only. Anything using a GUI is 32-bit on Mac OS X.
Autodesk made a 64 bit version for Windows and Linux. It will follow on the Mac when the OS can handle it. Soon, my friends, soon.
Wait a second. The Intel tower is already being delivered.
Vue 6 and ZBrush 2.5 (and others, I am sure) advertise being optimized for 64-bit Macs. What does that mean if not that they use the new capabilities that 64-bit offers?
I don’t know about those specific apps, but I am led to believe that GUI apps CAN already use 64-bit functionality in Tiger. It’s just via a transitional method that’s awkward for the developer: the graphical app must initiate an invisible non-GUI process to do the 64-bit work, while letting the user interact with a 32-bit front end.
As of Leopard, OS X will apparently be far ahead of even Vista in 64-bit capability: Vista 64-bit is supposedly an optional separate install, and if you choose it, 32-bit apps are second-class citizens that run at a penalty. And worse yet, your 32-bit drivers won’t run. This can be a big barrier to adopting 64-bit computing if you’re a Windows users.
Leopard on the other hand has a much more complete implementation (for both G5 and Intel) that removes the barriers to 64-bit adoptions. And thus removes the barriers to 64-bit development: ANYONE can buy/use your 64-bit app. Not just people who chose a special install. In Leopard, 32-bit apps still run normally, right alongside 64-bit apps–which now can be fully-GUI apps. And unlike with Vista, 32-bit drivers will still run. So while Windows users with 64-bit chips will often NOT be running 64-bit Vista… anyone running Leopard on a 64-bit Mac has a 64-bit OS. It’s not a choice, and it has no penalty like 64-bit Windows has.
That’s my understanding.
Yes, but the Intel tower came out after Maya 8 was released. Unless Apple provided them with Intel 64-bit machines to test on (I hope they did) - we may not be seeing a real UB or 64-bit version of Maya for some time.
I don’t believe zBrush is 64-bit enhanced for Mac.
The Vue “optimized for G5” line found here:
is pretty vague. It could mean it is optimized for various parts of the processor, but I do not know if they made something hat accesses command line stuff to render in 64-bit.
Morgan- I believe you are correct. I also think that having a unified system and the fact that Alias switched to Xcode as their dev platform for the Mac well before the “Mactels” came along will be a good thing for Mac Maya users. It really is a lot simpler to program in one environment, then export a UB with PPC and Intel compatiblity checked.
I just hope Turtle Render and Renderman have Mac 64-bit aware versions. I want to get some real use out of my G5.