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AltiVecTM Technology is generating considerable interest in press. This section includes links to a number of recent articles on AltiVec Technology. The technical focus and level of detail varies widely across these articles so there should be something for everybody.
To avoid potential confusion, please note that Apple and Motorola use different names for the same things. The microprocessor which Apple refers to as 'G4' is called the PowerPC 7400 by Motorola. Also, Apple uses the term 'Velocity Engine' to refer to the 128-bit vector engine which implements AltiVec technology in the microprocessor.
(1) First look at an Apple G4 with the AltiVec Processor
by Mathew File
Linux Journal
June 2001
The author highlights his experience installing Linux and compiling software on his new Apple G4. 
(2) Compiler extensions alter AltiVec
by Kalpesh Gala, Motorola
and Mike Haden, Green Hills Software
EE Times - November 13, 2000
To take full advantage of AltiVec, programmers need advanced compiler technology to handle vector extensions to high-level languages (HLLs). Such compilers exist, but further enhancements are possible. The next generation of compilers should be able to autovectorize existing code into highly optimized vectorized code.
(3) AltiVec G4 bridges the CPU/DSP gap
by: David Lieberman
Electronic Engineering Times
November 8, 1999
BOSTON - Mercury Computer Systems' and Sky Computer's announcements of AltiVec-based boards came at nearly the same time as Motorola's introduction of its AltiVec chip, also known as the G4 and the PowerPC MPC7400. A number of other board companies reacted immediately by throwing their hats into the ring, and others are sure to follow.
(4) AltiVec versus KNI (MMX2: How do they compare?
By: David K. Every
MacKiDo.com
Both KNI and AltiVec are SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) implementations, or they are also called (short) Vector Processors. What they do is to allow a single instruction to work with multiple pieces of data at once (instead of one at a time), so they can do 8 things (or sometimes as much as 32 things) at once. Each piece of data, or path through an instruction, is called a vector.
(5) Moto flexes powerful, 'Pentium-crushing' G4
By Darrell Dunn
Electronic Buyers' News
09/01/99
Motorola Inc.'s answer to the Pentium III, the multimedia-intensive G4 PowerPC, may well be a knockout punch from the standpoint of performance.
�It blows away the Pentium III; and in terms of multimedia, it blows away anything on the street,� said analyst Will Strauss of Forward Concepts Co., Tempe, Ariz.
(6) Apple pulls it off
By Matthew Rothenberg, MacWEEK.com
September 3, 1999
Talk about a last-minute save! With the introduction of the Power Mac G4 line at this week's Seybold Seminars in San Francisco, the Mac's handling of heavy-duty graphics files again vaulted ahead of the Pentium III-based competition
(7) Apple unveils PowerPC G4
By Craig Matsumoto
EE Times
(08/31/99, 3:31 p.m. EDT)
SAN FRANCISCO - Claiming ownership to a """"supercomputer on a chip,"""" Apple Computer Inc. revealed details of the PowerPC G4 processor Tuesday (Aug. 31) at the Seybold trade show here.
At the heart of the processor is what interim CEO Steve Jobs dubbed the 128-bit Velocity Engine, which presumably refers to the AltiVec instruction set drafted by Motorola Inc.
(8) What's AltiVec? How does it work?
By: David K. Every �Copyright 1999
Motorola just announced AltiVec extensions for the PowerPC family. The extensions are somewhat comparable to the MMX extensions in the Pentium family. But, while MMX injects ""fun"" into your computer, AltiVec focuses on performance.
(9) Motorola, IBM have big PowerPC plans
By Jim Davis
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 5, 1999, 1:20 p.m. PT
Motorola and IBM are writing a new chapter in the book on PowerPC architecture that the companies hope will make forthcoming products a bestseller in the market for embedded processors.
Motorola and IBM said the new architecture, code-named ""Book E,"" will help standardize certain basic elements of PowerPC chips in both companies' product lines, while simultaneously increasing the ease for each to customize chips.