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Yesterday, Slashdot posted an intrigueing thread based on rumors that Apple may be considering a postponement of OS X only boot support in new Macs from the deadline of January 8, 2003 that was announced in September, to June, 2003, apparently in response to lobbying by the developers of QuarkXpress. According to one MacInTouch reader, Quark has been calling pro publishers woried about the lack of a Mac OS X-native version of its QuarkXPress DTP program; after talking it over with Quark, Apple has agreed to move back the Mac OS X-only deadline until June. There has also been a lot of negative feedback from Mac users in the publishing and education sectors. This morning, Nick de Plume of Think Secret also has posted an editorial on the topic, noting that the projected release date for QuarkXPress 6 for Mac OS X has been pushed back to the latter part of next year. Nick writes:
If it is true, IMHO it's good news. As frequent Odyssey contributor Chris Long observed a few days ago, using Quark in Classic Mode is horrible, even on a fast G4 Tower, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Many education-users have expressed dismay at the prospect of being blocked out of OS 9 in any new machines they might purchase after the first of the year. Very few school boards, or businesses for that matter, can afford to replace their entire fleet of computers in one swath. The downtime and training ramp-up associated would be too disruptive even if cost were not an object. Canada's largest school system, the Toronto District School Board, just announced a couple of weeks ago imposition a policy of a 7-year replacement cycle for computer hardware, which in the case of Macs would mean several years yet but using some computers that don't support OS X at all. As I have mentioned maintained since the OS 9 cut-off announcement, it is a misbegotten decision that will prove antagonistic to Apple's best business interests, as well as the interests of Mac consumers. If there is some revolution in motherboard architecture coming, or a new chipset that would make it difficult and uneconomic to engineer backward compatibility for OS 9 booting, then sure, but I can't conceive of that applying to the entire Mac lineup overnight. The word is that the cut-off of dual-booting will take the form of a gratuitous firmware block on holdover machines. I'm still skeptical that Steve Jobs and his brains trust can be persuaded to back down on this issue, but if they persevere, they will be shooting themselves in corporate foot. And some sort of under-the-table deal to continue OS 9 support exclusively for big corporate Quark-user customers would be unacceptable in terms of consumer equity. Even a postponement until June would be too early. OS X is simply not ready for a cold-turkey changeover, but more to the point, vast numbers of Mac users are not ready for a wholesale switch to OS X only. Kensington mouse followup
Chimera vs. MozillaFrom Mike Cohen Rendering speed isn't the only thing that counts. The general feel of the browser is also a major factor. Chimera feels fast and doesn't slow down the system. Mozilla's GUI feels sluggish and it also hogs CPU time.
Hi Mike;
That's my impression as well, although it's hard to argue with actual page download times.
However, Chimera and iCab both scroll a lot faster and more responsively than Mozilla on my machine.
Charles From Krishna M. Sadasivam Dear Charles, I know most people (myself included) only post to lodge complaints about companies, but I wanted to let everyone know that Kensington has done a great job in customer satisfaction. About a week ago, I wrote into your OSX Odyssey column affirming Jaguar's mouse misfiring problems. I later discovered it was my Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box Optical Pro which had a bad mouse button. I called up Kensington's support line, and after a little bit of automated phone menus, I spoke with a kind gentleman named Greg. I described the problem and he confirmed that others were having the same problems with it. He said he'd ship me out the new Kensington Optical Elite as a replacement, but said that the item was backordered. I indicated that i didn't mind waiting (I could hobble along with the stock Apple mouse). Imagine my surprise when I received a package today from Kensington. I hadn't expected such a prompt shipment. The new Optical Elite ROCKS!!! It's an excellent mouse, and I'd definitely recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone looking for a replacement mouse for their Mac. Kudos to Kensington for standing behind their product, and their outstanding customer service! Just a satisfied customer, Krishna
Krishna M. Sadasivam
Hi Krishna;
Always great to hear of a satusfactory customer service experience. Sounds like a nice mouse.
Charles
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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