Cool Mac Gear

Most everyone who has used the Classic Mac OS for any time is familiar with the ubiquitous Stuffit file compression formats identified by the suffixes .sit and .sea, and Internet users will also have encountered .bin and .hqx files when downloading software. Then there is the .zip compression format that is dominant in the PC world, but has also been available to Mac users for years.

However, users of OS X, which is a Unix variant, will frequently encounter a gaggle of additional file compression formats, such as .gz, .pkg, .tar, .smi, and .dmg.

Aladdin's wonderful free Stuffit Expander file decompression utility can still handle most of these formats, and comes bundled with OS X, although Apple's Disk Copy utility is also needed for .dmg files. Most of the time you will proceed much as you did in OS 9 it when dealing with compressed files in OS X.

In many cases, your browser will automatically launch Stuffit Expander and Disk Copy as necessary when a file download is finished. Failing that, usually double-clicking the compressed file will launch the helper application(s) and commence the decompression process. You can also drag-and-drop the compressed file icon on the Stuffit Expander icon (it's convenient to keep an alias of Stuffit Expander on the Desktop or in your downloads folder for this purpose). Another way is to select the compressed file from Stuffit Expander's Expand command in its File menu.

You can also use Unix keyboard commands for decompressing Unix files, but that's beyond the scope of this column and my expertise.

Here's a recap of file compression formats you will encounter in OS X.

.bin - Binary file format, a common Internet encoding format for the Mac

.hqx - Binhex encoding, another common Internet encoding format for the Mac

.sit - Stuffit proprietary compression format, the defacto standard compression format in the Mac world

.sea - Self Expanding Archive, similar to .sit except that it can be decompressed without a decompression tool application. Just double-click to decompress.

.dmg - Disk Image file format, a disk image that must be mounted using Apple's Disk Copy utility

.smi - Self Mounting Image, analogous to the .sea Stuffit files; can be mounted without a helper utility

.gz (also sometimes just .z) - Unix compression format - the most common compression format for Unix files

.tar - Tape Archives format, originally intended for archiving to tape, but commonly used in the Unix world for archiving files or directories of files in a single fil,e which is then often further compressed for storage or distribution.

.pkg - the Package format, installed with an application installer

RE: Hard Drive Partitioning in OS X

From The Tilghman

Regarding the user having trouble with moving Mail.app to a separate folder, here is a possible solution.

Note that this may be too advanced for some users, but it will work.

Create a symlink (NOT an alias) from the new location to the original location, e.g.

tilghman@imac:/Applications$ ln -s Internet/Mail.app/ Mail.app tilghman@imac:/Applications$ ls -l Mail.app/ lrwxrwxr-x 1 tilghman admin 15 Jul 27 09:08 Mail.app -> Internet/Mail.app/

This will allow package installers to transparently find the new application location.
Now, of course, it appears that we have Mail.app in two different locations, so we
need to hide the symlink from the GUI:

tilghman@imac:/Applications$ echo 'Mail.app' >>.hidden

Logout (or force-quit Finder), so that the system will read the new .hidden file and
you're done.

-Tilghman

OS X and fonts

From: Chris Long

Hey C:

After countless HOURS and HOURS of monkeying around in OSX.1.5 (learned a lot!) I rebooted into OS9.2 just now for reasons I need not go in to (alright -- it's font mangement again) and I'm reminded once again of the speed difference ... 9.2 is SNAPPY and X is kinda thick and slow.

Sigh.

But I'm liking OSX more and more ... I'm genuinely excited about Jaguar ... can't wait. just gotta resolve this font problem -- for those of us who load & unload buckets fulla fonts on a regular basis, NOT having a font util is absurd ... and I've searched the web AT LENGTH for a solution ... suitcase and font reserve (the 2 biggies) both apparently have major problems ... I'm at a loss, other than OS9.2 :-)

Later, bud.

C

Some quick comments on your comments on MWNY :)

From Bryan Dyck

Hi!

Sorry for the bizarre subject line, but I think it fairly quickly sums this email up... hopefully without causing undue panic about potential flames. :)

At any rate, I noticed a couple days back on AppleLinks that you made a quick rundown of Jobs' keynote and the technologies that are forthcoming in Jaguar (Jag-wire, if you're a true Jobs fan, I suppose). You and a reader who wrote in were fairly quick to pan Rendezvous as more of a "ho-hum, interesting but not immediately useful to me" technology, and on that, I must politely disagree with both of you. :)

I had written up something that summed up my thoughts on why Rendezvous is so much more than just a way to do away with configuring network printers (which _is_ generally a hassle, by the way - I've done it for several true network printers [ie. they're connected directly via Ethernet], and it's always very fiddly at the least, and a nightmare at worst.), but I'm glad I held off on sending it, because I just ran across a couple of very interesting articles on Rendezvous (which is actually based on work being done by the ZEROCONF working group at the IETF).

Article #1 - Rendezvous: It's Like a Backstage Pass to the Future: http://www.gaeldesign.com/ib/me.7.1.02.php?page=1

Article #2 - an interview with Stuart Cheshire, chairman of the ZeroConf group and employed by Apple to help create Rendezvous: http://www.gaeldesign.com/ib/mw0702_stuart.php

Personally, I feel - as the writer and interviewee in the above articles do - that Rendezvous could be a very exciting technology, and, if ZeroConf (Zero Configuration Networking) becomes a reality, have far-reaching implications in regards to how we view networks and networked devices.

I hope you have time to read the articles - they're quite interesting. At any rate, thanks for getting this far. :) Keep up the great work!

Cheers,
Bryan Dyck

Hi Brian;

Thanks for the links.

What I said was:

"Perhaps an exciting innovation for some. I'm quite happy with my existing little Ethernet network, but I do very little printing."

Charles

Re: Odyssey 146 - Will Jaguar Be Worth $129

From David Chilstrom

I realize that in Odyssey 146 you asked the question "Will Jaguar Be Worth $129" with no intention but to answer that question for yourself only. You were sharing one man's process of discerning "objective value" based on your own personal, subjective criteria. For Windows users Jaguar is worth a big fat zero. Same goes for all pre G3 users except the most daring. And, of course, certain indigenous peoples might find the box pretty but otherwise for them Jaguar will be a pass. For some Mac users who do qualify, $129 is way too much to spend on any software, while for others it's an absolute steal. My view of the operating system is that it's the single most important software on your computer. It enables every other application and provides essential support services. Compared to many software upgrades that offer relatively modest enhancements to a single application for hundreds of dollars, the "tariff for Jaguar" looks like a bargain to me. Those who don't wish to pay the tariff are presumably happy with what they now have and that's good to.

While there are plenty of major features in Jaguar to get all frothy about, there are a lot of cool little tweaks that look to be very interesting. Ever wonder what that useless Network icon in the Finder is for? You'll find out in Jaguar as that icon will reveal other Macs and Windows machines on the network you can connect to. Want a free FTP client that works exactly like the FInder? You're lookin at another feature of the Finder in OS X. And, if you dislike the sparse file info in the column view preview, it gets better in Jaguar.

Jaguar's Mail offers a tweak that is sweet, auto-saving open draft messages on quitting the application and re-opening them at next launch. The minimalist Preview App gets a nifty little toolbar and file preview slide-out window. Those of us maddened by Print Center's incapability to even recall the last printer you printed to will be pleased to know that 10.2 saves custom settings when printing.

Users with video hardware supported by Quartz Extreme and to a lesser degree G4 users, should seriously consider parting with $129 for a significant performance improvement. The boost for us G3 users will be more subtle, though I expect the multi-threaded Finder will be significantly faster for all of us.

Speaking of the Finder, spring-loaded folders have returned with a vengeance and the "Get Info" window has been substantially improved so that those niggly file permissions are managed more easily. What I really love is how the find function is fully integrated into the Finder. I've never been happy with Find in any version of the Finder, as it has always been a separate application (Find File, then Sherlock) which was bolted onto the Finder via a menu command. At last, a Finder that can actually find files!

Fans of Karelia's wonderful Watson application are sure to dig Apple's blatant rip-off Sherlock 3. Watson is a substantially faster way to access the various internet information sources it culls from then to visit the separate pages individually in a browser. It's a brilliant innovation for which Apple is rewarding Karelia by torpedoing Watson with Sherlock 3. Shades of Microsoft!

Apple's first take on the Address Book was awfully lame. In Jaguar, they get it right. The beauty of Address Book is that it offers a single, powerful central database for contacts available to any application that deals with people (i.e. personal info managers, calendars, e-mail, etc.) Contact data entered once in the Address Book can be shared between any application that supports it and other devices like the iPod, Palm, etc.

If you have other devices than a Mac to share data with, you'll want iSync and apparently it only works with Jaguar. So to with iCal, where the calendar sharing particularly looks most interesting. Group calendar systems can be quite spendy and the iCal approach to managing personal and group calendars could be quite valuable.

For users of OS X's mail application, the huge improvements to the rules function and the wonderful junk mail handling are very welcome enhancements. Also, the integration of mail with Apple's iChat brings an interesting dimension to e-mail. If, when reading an e-mail, I notice the sender is currently online, it's easy to open a chat with them instead of back and forth with e-mail. It's a nice system level integration of related applications which makes a lot of sense. Chat isn't something I'd normally use much, but as an easy alternative to e-mail I just might.

Some current OS X users are upset that those joining the OS X party at the eleventh hour are getting this upgrade for the same price as us veterans. Do I feel cheated as a faithful OS X user who suffered the public beta, endured 10.0 and found fulfillment in 10.1? Not in the least. I'm glad that Apple is offering everyone an upgrade to a great OS at a very reasonable price.

David Chilstrom

Hi David;

I intended the article as a catalyst for discussion. You have responded admirably.

One note; I think the strongest objectors are those who recently bought new Macs or shelled out for OS X 10.1. It would have been a nice gesture for Apple to have given a retroactive discount for a couple of months back, rather than just from the announcement.

Charles

The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/

CM

Charles W. Moore