Apple’s four-core Power Mac G5 Quad, with two dual-core 64-bit PowerPC CPUs, is the fastest Mac ever made by a wide margin. That’s not just a benefit derived from its added cores. The Quad is a new, not evolved, architecture, and it’ll dust anything but a similarly-priced quad-core Opteron system. InfoWorld dubbed Quad its Workstation of the Year in 2005. You know all that. But I’ve never pointed out that Quad revitalizes a needed, yet neglected system category: The hybrid.A hybrid is a high-end client system with a design so advanced that it outguns many servers within striking distance of its price class. I gave Quad a healthy push into dual service by upgrading it to OS X Tiger Server and linking it directly (through a storage switch) to Xserve RAID. Neither move degraded foreground applications, but taking Quad hybrid allowed me to expand my LAN’s services without endangering or destabilizing my production Xserve G5.There are times when I want to use the likes of VPN, NFS, single sign-on and proxy services without having to detune my server or buy an O’Reilly book for each service. I can still wear the server administrator’s hat. When I have real work to do, as opposed to work I invent so I can write about it with empathy, administration is a barrier to productivity. I’d rather use OS X Server’s Server Administrator GUI and consolidated command line interface to set up and turn on services as I need them. For development, I don’t have to set up isolated, dummy services on the Xserve G5 to create a server-side development rig. Instead, I fire up the services on which my app relies directly on the Quad, and either shut them down or let them idle when I return to media work that requires real-time response. I have Quad set up to provide short-session LAN services like netinstall, scalable ad-hoc services like QuickTime Broadcaster and Xgrid, and controlled inbound WAN connections for VPN and FTP through my consumer broadband lines that come into play only when I’m on the road. These things require more bandwidth than brainpower, and Power Mac G5 Quad can big pump barrels of data without losing its train of thought even for a few milliseconds.Power Mac G5 Quad is not a server machine, and I’d never characterize it as one. Quad lacks Xserve’s detailed hardware health monitoring and reporting, front panel indicators, ready serviceability and rack chassis. That’s enough to bar Quad entry to most server rooms. But in my view, Quad exceeds the quality and durability standards common to PC servers in Xserve’s price range, and Apple doesn’t indulge in nickel-and-dime pricing.Power Mac G5 Quad is cheap considering its capabilities, and it’s still a bargain after you factor in $499 for a ten-user OS X Server license. Search around in PC-dom for four-core true workstations, and don’t forget to dial in all those options that bring the PC’s configuration in line with Power Mac G5 Quad’s specs. And then, if you have the nerve to be truly fair, tack on a copy of Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. I can say with no fear of contradiction that, whether used as a hybrid or as a straight workstation, the ultimate power user/developer/creative pro combo is Power Mac G5 Quad, Xserve RAID, 30-inch Cinema Display and OS X Tiger Server. You can’t get anywhere near it for the money. My conviction is rooted in experience. Anybody will say “wow!” to a Mac after a 2-4 week review cycle. Hanging with Power Mac G5 Quad since October has given me a chance to watch Apple’s best box shoulder a real, not simulated, heavy and expanding compute and throughput workload without creaking. I can see my remaining PowerPC machines–Xserve G5 and G4–quickly taking wing after their Intel replacements report for duty. But I don’t see a quick departure for Power Mac G5 Quad. I don’t see this box going genuinely obsolete for a long time to come, which makes it a smart investment. Software Development