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• Columnists Hold Forth On OS X And The OS Classic Legacy
Go2Mac Associate Editor Peter Kirn says that "10.1 is beautiful, fast and elegant. It also remains just plain incompatible with a lot of the things that are the reason we own Macs." Things still missing in X 10.1 according to Kirn, who notes that "OS X won't be truly ready until the day comes when we NEVER see the Mac OS 9 startup screen": • Lack of documentation
BusinessWeek's Charles Haddad says "The new OS X operating system is a triumph, but Jobs & Co. need to keep its predecessor on life support until Mac heads get the message." Haddad says that "too many users -- and too many programs -- are still dependent on OS 9... Now OS X is out, works brilliantly, and yet Apple won't designate it as the default system on new Macs....
"An increasingly antiquated operating system doesn't fit that focused strategy. Not only is it a drain on engineering talent, it's also a distraction the company can ill afford." Well, that may be true, but OS 9 is a "distraction" a lot of us still need. I'm "dependent" on OS 9 because I DEPEND on OS 9, and X simply won't do the job I need it to do yet. When it's ready, I'll switch, but it's not, for reasons cited by Peter Kirn above and a few others particular to my own computing requirements. One point upon which I agree with Mr. Haddad is the dubiousness of MS Office for X being the great white hope for mass OS X adoption. That's certainly not what's holding me back. I don't use Microsoft software on principle. And as Haddad notes, "Microsoft is asking a whopping $450 for the full version and nearly $300 to upgrade [of Office]." That's mighty expensive Kool-Aid.
International Data Group (IDG) has announced that it has become the sole owner of Mac Publishing, LLC, previously a joint venture between IDG and Ziff Davis Media Inc. "The decision to fully incorporate the Mac Publishing properties into our established global Macworld product line reflects IDG's commitment to the Mac market, our belief in its future, and our strategy of delivering our content across print, online and event platforms," said Kelly Conlin, IDG president and CEO. "IDG advertisers will benefit by having access to over 2.5 million of the industry's most influential Macintosh buyers through IDG's Macworld products in 11 countries worldwide." "IDG has demonstrated consistent commitment to the Apple marketplace since the early 80s, providing information on the Apple II market," stated Colin Crawford, President and CEO of Mac Publishing. "Given IDG's continued dedication to this market, I'm extremely pleased to be able to bring the Macworld publication back to the IDG family." Macworld magazine was founded by IDG Founder and Chairman, Patrick McGovern in conjunction with the first public unveiling of the Macintosh platform in 1984. Macworld is currently published by IDG in eleven countries including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.K. For more information, visit:
Hardly a day passes lately that I don't encounter a PC guru advising denizens of the Dark Side not to upgrade to Windows XP Low End PC's Michelle Klein-Hass calls XP "A 'Must Not' Upgrade." "What does make sense," says Klein-Hass, "particularly if you have a Pentium 233MMX or better with 64 MB RAM or better is Windows 2000 Pro, the 'elder brother' of XP. 2000 Pro has definite advantages over DOS-based Windows for even modest machines -- if you can give it enough RAM....
"The Windows 2000 experience will only be enhanced by the arrival of XP, because all the neato-spiffy-cool devices that will run on XP will also run on 2K, because the driver model is the same. If a device needs something else from XP, other than a common driver model, you might have problems." And you will avoid all those "really nasty things included in XP for no good purpose other than content and copy control. The new version of Windows Media Player is crippled in its ability to rip audio from CDs to MP3. If you want to use it for playback of DVDs, you will have to feed it a third-party codec." All this negative critique of XP by Windows gurus reminds me of Oscar Wilde's quip about Bernard Shaw: "He hasn't an enemy in the world; and his friends don't like him."
A new customer story3 posted on the Apple Science & Technology web site highlights Michael Love's work at Cornell University. Dr. Love is a protein crystallography researcher using a Power Mac G4 mini-cluster and also founded the GNU-Darwin project to bring open-source research tools to the Mac platform. “I’m a longtime Mac user and also somewhat of a UNIX aficionado,” says Dr. Love. “With the availability of Mac OS X, I can do everything on my preferred computer — the Mac.” In his lab, Dr. Love runs two dual-processor Power Mac G4 computers as a parallel processing mini-cluster. At home, he has an Apple iBook and another Power Mac G4. The cluster gives him all the power and speed he needs for protein crystallography, while costing far less than high-end UNIX workstations. You can check it out at:
Sun Microsystems says that in the first week of availability, more than 200,000 users downloaded the early access version of StarOffice 6.0 office productivity software suite from its Web site (http://www.sun.com/staroffice). "This response demonstrates the global demand for a standards-based, multi-platform office productivity suite free from restrictive licenses and aggressive pricing schemes." Sun says in a release In a thinly veiled reference to Microsoft Office, which StarOffice has in its crosshairs, Mike Rogers, Sun's vice president and general manager Webtop Applications Group commented: "Clearly, there was a strong pent up demand for a compelling office suite based on open standards, multi-platform technology without having to pay an outrageous price." StarOffice 6.0 software is a full-featured, low-cost office productivity suite that runs on Sun's own Solaris Operating Environment, Linux and Microsoft Windows, including XP. The office productivity suite is ideal for small businesses, educational institutions, government and enterprises with multiplatform needs or budget constraints. StarOffice 6.0 software supports XML as the default file format, providing users the ability to use widely-available tools to open, edit and save StarOffice files. Customers also have access to robust Microsoft Office import and export filters, including support for Office XP, redesigned dialog boxes, additional templates, graphics, clipart and enhanced help. The Asian language versions of StarOffice 6.0 software, known as StarSuite(TM) 6.0 software, add support for Korean, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) languages. Additionally, the integrated desktop has been removed to support the native desktop environment such as GNOME, CDE and Windows. The general release is scheduled for the first half of 2002. If only there was a Mac version (work on an Open Source port of StarOffice to Mac OS X is reportedly in progress). StarOffice software offers a full-featured, multi-platform office suite with word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, Web-publishing, charting, formula-editing and database applications that offer businesses and individuals an alternative to proprietary office suites. For complete information on accessing the StarOffice 6.0 early access, visit:
The Financial Post's Robert Thompson reports that:
"Major recording companies have reached a preliminary agreement with song publishers that should remove a major roadblock in the launching of Internet music services.
"Under the pact, the Recording Industry Association of America will pay The Harry Fox Agency Inc., the licensing unit of the National Music Publishers' Association, US$1-million toward potential royalties from online music services." For the full report with analyst commentary, visit here.
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