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SimpleFTP 1.0 This week Malibutu Software released SimpleFTP 1.0 by Rasmus Lindén, a descriptively named freeware FTP client. They are a lot FTP clients available for OS X, including some very good free ones, so I was interested to see if SimpleFTP had any advantages to recommend it. 
SimpleFTP is, well, simple. It is small to download, quick to start up, easy to configure, and has an Aqua-attractive interface. It also supports encrypted bookmarks if that's important to you. However, I found it relatively slow, and not very informative and the upload/download progress feedback department. Its scrolling through FTP server directories was also sluggish and a bit erratic. 
SimpleFTP works, and it seemed stable, so if you just want a bare bones OS X FTP client, it may be worth checking out. 
System requirements:
SimpleFTP is freeware
Captain FTP 1.3.2 While I was at it, I decided to install the latest version upgrade of Captain FTP, one of the other freeware OS X FTP clients I referred to above. Captain FTP is one of the most stylish and attractive FTP clients available at any price, with tastefully-styled interface that I think is drop-dead gorgeous.  Captain FTP also works well, and brings up the big Applelinks graphics server directory faster than any other FTP client I've used. The address book is attractive, convenient, and intuitive to configure, and the user interface works for me.  The only complaint I have with Captain FTP is that progress monitoring feedback, while more informative than that of SimpleFTP, is not as helpful as the excellent system used by Vicom FTP Client, the free version of which is my FTP client of choice in OS 9. However, Captain FTP remains favorite OS X FTP client. 
Captain FTP features include:
New in version 1.3.2:
Major Bug Fixes:
System requirements: Captain FTP is free for private/educational use -- $25 for commercial/corporate use For more information, visit: Fast enough OS X 10.2 & Wallstreet Modem Screenshot as PDF Printing in Jaguar Jaguar and OS9/Classic Printing in Xv2 Re: Anti-aliasing Re: Re: Printing in Jaguar OS X Odyssey - Unsanity Haxies cause 10.2 to slowdown? Jaguar FW - Jaguar supports Hawaiian Netscape speed From Jonathan Kurtzman On my cable connection - with a brand new modem, which makes a difference - Netscape 7 on OS9 and OSX loads pages instantly or almost instantly. I mean specifically that once the website responds, the entire page appears on screen. Can't control how long it takes for the site to respond. IE is significantly slower. A page that takes 1 sec in Netscape takes 3 minimum in IE. This means the pages render as fast as they do on PC's. My only problem with Netscape has been stability; a weird crash left it unable to generate a navigator window even after quitting and restarting. IE also crashes but it doesn't get that messed up. Jonathan
Thanks for the perspective of a broadband user, Jonathan.
Charles From James Strickland In your OS X Odyssey 160 you made the following statement about Netscape and Mozilla. It's a very hassle-free to switch between the two browsers, as they both access the same Mozilla folder in the Documents folder for preferences; Bookmarks, etc. files, although that means you can't have both running at the same time. While I have never experienced any problems switching between the two applications I must point out that the folks at Netscape vehemently state that a profile should never be shared between Mozilla and Netscape. My guess is that they see a potential problem since Netscape is usually a couple of builds behind Mozilla. I just thought you might want to know before someone from Netscape sends you a nasty-gram about that statement. Jim Strickland
Hi Jim;
Yes, I recall reading that caveat somewhere in the netscape bumf. However, I've been switching promiscuously between Mozilla and Netscape 6/7 with the same mozilla folder for over a year, and have not noticed any problems. Both browsers are rock-stable in either OS 9 or OS X.
Charles From Dan Knight
Yes, that was me. Under the classic Mac OS, 300 MHz is definitely adequate. 400 MHz and beyond is nice -- don't get me wrong -- but beyond a 300 MHz or so G3, the user and the mastery of the OS become bottlenecks, not the hardware or OS. The only reason my TiBook runs at 400 MHz is that Apple gave no slower, less expensive alternative. I'd guess that OS X ups the ante. We don't have Jaguar yet, but my wife finds 10.1.5 sluggish on her 600 MHz iBook, I find it okay on my 400 MHz G4 TiBook, and my son finds it slow on our beige G3/266. I'd peg 400 MHz G4/500 MHz G3 as the adequate level for OS X, especially based on what I'm reading about Jaguar. I don't have much Windows experience, so I can't comment on how Win98, NT, Me, and XP compare, but Win98 seemed to reach the very comfortable level somewhere in the ballpark of a 700 MHz Pentium III. I'd guess that Me is similar, and the "industrial strength" NT and XP would be more demanding, possibly wanting a 1 GHz machine to really function comfortably. All of this hilights OS bloat -- the more background tasks and the nicer the graphics, the more horsepower the user loses to eye candy. I remember when a 16 MHz Mac was fast under System 6 or an AT class computer seemed screamingly fast under DOS 3.3. Usability is a personal measure, but I suspect my figures would be +/- 50% what most users would come up with.
Dan Knight
Hi Dan;
I agree. Of course, the Linux folks tout their version of Unix's modest processor demands as an advantage over either Windows or the Mac OS.
On a personsl, philosophical level, something in me objects to a lot of processor capacity being eaten up by what is essentially gimmickry and eye-candy. I really LIKED the Zen-simplicity if System 6. ;-)
Charles From Stephen Fisher Loaded 10.2 on my Wallstreet over the weekend. Works fine, although not surprisingly a bit slow. Only issue I've had is I can't get the sound on the internal modem to work. Squawk is nice sometimes to judge if it's connecting vs. line problem. I'm on a dial-up. Have turned sound on under network system prefs. Everything is checked appropriately in Sound control panel and sound works fine elsewhere. Just not on the modem. Anyone else have this problem or a fix? Stephen Fisher
Hi Stephen;
This seems to be a fairly common bug afflicting PowerBooks in OS X. I even experienced it on my Pismo with one of the 10.1 builds, although the sound is fine now with 10.1.4.
Not sure what the solution is.
Charles From Jay Scheuerle Hi Charles, What would make screenshots saved as a PDF worthwhile was if they captured vector information, such as text or captures of Flash sites, but this is not the case. It seems to be misdirected overkill to use this format for a solely bitmap capture. - j
Hi Jay;
Does seem like using an eight pound maul hammer to swat flies. I hope (and expect) that someone will come out with a hack that will allow one to specify a less heavy-duty screenshot format in Jaguar.
Charles From Tim Priest Hi Charles Re 10.2! I hope Apple isn't seriously thinking that printing in Jaguar is now GOOD! It is an abomination. Not only is it slow on three different printers at work (Tek 780, 840 and HP 5000) it is bloody horrible to set-up, there is no easy visualisation for jobs and when things fail (like today the HP 5000 had a paper jam) there is no feedback AT ALL! It just sat at 13% complete doing nothing. Not too mention the slow speed that it seems to spool pages to the queue. Granted this is a beige G3 but this is abysmal Apple has to reassess what they consider to be intuitive and good in printing. At the moment 10.2's print is below par and so far below the ease of OS 9 I can't believe it. Jag has fixed much. If they can fix printing and implement visualisation for open items in the finder, I will be sold!
Regards
Hi Tim;
I do very little printing, and have never printed from OS x because my old ImageWriter II (!) is not supported at all.
However, your experience is more evidence that OS 9 is not dead yet.
Charles From David Meyer I make no claims of expertise, here, but Classic mode is alive and well in Jaguar. I run SETI@home, Folding@home, Netscape7, IE, MailSmith, and a bunch of utilities under Jaguar. OK, there's also Diablo 2 - LoD and WarCraft 3. Then there's Bridge, Civ2, Solitaire 'til Dawn, and a couple other items that have yet to be updated even to Carbon. I assure you they work fine. Another user (there are four accounts on my QuickSilver) uses Netscape 4.7x to access his web mail and he has not complained to me. We have both noticed the much improved load time for Classic. My wife is less happy with the upgrade. I did not locate the 'Keep user preferences' button when I upgraded her iMac and she lost some stuff. This despite the fact that I dumped her stuff to CD and opted for 'Archive' when I did it. Took me some time to get that system back on line, too. Good thing she was on vacation at the time. Anyway, we are having problems finding some of her nested mailboxes. She uses Apple's (BSD's? NeXT's?) Mail program. She likes the new filtering system but would prefer that it took some positive ACTION beyond just coloring suspect messages like baby poop. Maybe we just need to investigate further. From dxtr Hi Charles, For Paul Delcour who asked the following; - Cannot get my Laserwriter 360 to work: in the printing centre no printers appear. Have no clue what to do. Browsed the net for answers: no go.
I also have a LaserWriter Select 360 and here is how I got it to work. Make sure the printer is on.
That's what worked for me. As always your milage may vary. The important parts seem to be having AppleTalk and the Printer on first.
seeya
From Paul Delcour I can only turn off anti-aliassing for 12 point size or lower. All other sizes are always on. The standard setting best for CRT screens is with anti-aliassing on. I'm beginning to get used to it though, but I hate not having the option. I'll give Apple support a call about the printing. I'm seriously considering returning to OS9.2.2 since it was much snappier on my G3. I'll keep struggling. :-) Paul Delcour
Hi Paul;
If speed's an issue for you on the G3, then OS 9.2.2 is the clear ticket. It's MUCH faster (I estimate about 20 - 30 percent) on my Pismo than OS X 10.1.4. (See Dan Kinght's comments above)
Charles From Paul Delcour I seemd to have to have connected it wrongly. The cable I used was PC only and Mac software. No cable to be found which has Jaguar software: all companies are running way behind. An adapter by Belkin might do the trick, but that costs 130$. I have decided to go back to 9.9.2 since too many apps I use will never go Jaguar and on my G3 9.2.2. was very snappy agaisnt a sluggish Jaguar. :-) Paul Delcour
Hi Paul;
I find the difference in speed between OS 9.2.2 and OS X 10.1.4 on my Pismo substantial. Working in OS X is like trying to run a footrace with weights around your ankles. OS 9.2.2, by comparison, is like a good pair of light running shoes.
Charles ;-) OS X Odyssey - Unsanity Haxies cause 10.2 to slowdown? From Jonathan Tyzack Hi Charles, I thought you might like to know that there may be an issue with Unsanity's haxies causing 10.2 to slowdown (check the MacNN OS X Software board for a thread* on this). In my last e-mail to you, I commented that I hadn't really noticed a huge speedup with 10.2 on my 400MHz iMac. In actual fact, since then, things seemed to be getting slower and slower which was tremendously disappointing given the hype - applications like Address Book and Mail in particular were terrible... to cut a long story short, having seen the thread at MacNN, I uninstalled both Silk and WindowShadeX and the difference has proved phenomenal. I am belatedly experiencing what many others were raving about... 10.2 is now definitely faster than 10.1.5. Applications are launching quickly, scrolling and minimising are both much smoother, Address Book and Mail are now responsive, etc. I am unsure if the problem lies with all haxies (perhaps it is just those affecting text and windowing like Silk/WindowShadeX), but it is apparent that there was a large impact from the two that I used. A great shame and hopefully something that Unsanity can work out as I used the transparency effect of WindowShadeX constantly. :-( Cheers, Jonathan Note: If you want to provide a direct link, the address is http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=994905 Re: OS X Odyssey - Unsanity Haxies cause 10.2 to slowdown? From Jonathan Tyzack A follow up - it appears that the issue is with WindowShade X and that it is known about at Unsanity. There may be an update soon. Cheers, Jonathan Re: Re: Unsanity Haxies cause 10.2 to slowdown? From Jonathan Tyzack A further follow up - an update is out already(!) and it appears to fix the issue. :-) Cheers, Jonathan From John Dennis I thought you might like this article since you have a Pismo machine. http://www.whiterabbits.com/MacNetJournal/stories/2002/09/GradingJaguar.html From Greg Abbott I thought I would forward a Jaguar-related URL of interest. Apparently, OS 10.2 is the first operating system to properly support the Hawaiian language.
Check it out:
Greg Abbott
The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here: Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM
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