Apple has confirmed today, during the World Wide Developer Conference 2005 opening keynote, that it's going to switch to Intel's architecture in a phased transition that will last about two years.

The transition should be finnished in late 2007 according to Steve Jobs, while the first Intel-based Mac will come as soon as early next year.

Developers will get access to a new version of XCode 2.1 as soon as today through the Apple Developer Connection web site. Premium members will also be able to order an Intel development kit which includes an Intel based Mac a preview of Mac OS X 10.4.1 for Intel and xCode 2.1.

More details will be published in our full report of the event coming very soon. Meanwhile, you may take a look on our live transcript available at MacScoop.com [1].