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A universal binary is, in Apple parlance, an executable file or application bundle that runs natively on either PowerPC or Intel-manufactured IA-32 or Intel 64-based Macintosh computers; it is an implementation of the concept more generally known as a fat binary. With the release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and before that, since the move to 64-bit architectures in general, some software publishers such as Mozilla have used the term ''Universal'' to refer to a fat binary that includes tailored builds for both i386 (32-bit Intel) and x86_64 systems. The same mechanism that is used to select between the PowerPC or Intel builds of an application is also used to select between the 32-bit or 64-bit builds of either PowerPC or Intel architectures. Apple, however, continues to require native compatibility with both PowerPC and Intel in order to grant third-party software publishers permission to use Apple's trademarks related to Universal binaries. At the same time, Apple does not specify whether or not such third-party software publishers must (or should) bundle separate builds for both the 32-bit and 64-bit variants of either architecture. The universal binary format was introduced at the 2005 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a means to ease the transition from the existing PowerPC architecture to systems based on Intel processors, which began shipping in 2006. Universal binaries typically include both PowerPC and x86 versions of a compiled application. The operating system detects a universal binary by its header, and executes the appropriate section for the architecture in use. This allows the application to run natively on any supported architecture, with no negative performance impact beyond an increase in the storage space taken up by the larger binary. Starting with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, only Intel-based Macs are supported, so software that specifically depends upon capabilities present only in OS X 10.6 or newer will only run on Intel-based Macs and therefore does not require Intel/PPC fat binaries. Additionally, starting with OS X Mountain Lion, only 64-bit Intel Macs are supported, so software that specifically depends on new features in OS X 10.8 or newer will only run on 64-bit processors and therefore does not require 32-bit/64-bit fat binaries. Presently, fat binaries would only be necessary for software that is designed to have backward compatibility with older versions of Mac OS X running on older hardware. ==Motivation== There are two general alternative solutions. The first is to simply provide two separate binaries, one compiled for the x86 architecture and one for the PowerPC architecture. However, this can be confusing to software users unfamiliar with the difference between the two, although the confusion can be remedied through improved documentation, or the use of hybrid CDs. The other alternative is to rely on emulation of one architecture by a system running the other architecture. This approach results in lower performance, and is generally regarded an interim solution to be used only until universal binaries or specifically compiled binaries are available (see Rosetta). Universal binaries are larger than single-platform binaries, because multiple copies of the compiled code must be stored. However, because some non-executable resources are shared by the two architectures, the size of the resulting universal binary can be, and usually is, smaller than both binaries combined. They also do not require extra RAM because only one of those two copies is loaded for execution. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Universal binary」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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