Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Friday, May 9, 2008
Leopard At 6 Months: Does It Live Up To The Early Hype?
The New Rules For Buying A Mac - Busting The Most Common Mac Shopping Myths
How Psystar's Computer Measures Up To A Mac
500 MHz iMac with Panther Great for Internet, Watching Video, and More
Hitachi Slips Past Fujitsu With Speedy 320GB Laptop Drive
Britannica Opens Kimono, Reveals Widgets
Mac OS X Gets First Open-source Virtualisation Tool
Boomerang: The Blue and White Power Mac G3 That Kept Coming Back
Apple offers $45 credit for Canadian owners of older iPods
Where Is Europe's Google?
Back-Up Your Mac, Effortlessly
Leopard At 6 Months: Does It Live Up To The Early Hype?
Computerworld's Michael DeAgonia has posted a detailed profile of Leopard's progress in its first sisx months:
It has been just over six months since Mac OS X "Leopard" first shipped, bringing with it a slew of new features, a tweaked user interface, revamped underpinnings, and - as is often the case - a healthy batch of complaints from users about problems. At the time, some in the Macintosh community even argued that Apple's new operating system was released before it was ready for prime time.
Free IT resource
Given that this was the first major update of the Mac operating system since early 2005 and that it had already been delayed once -- from April to late October - Apple clearly didn't want to announce another delay. But did the company do a rush job in an effort to push its crown jewel out the door?
[Editor's note: Given the bugginess of the .0 and .1 releases, one has to deduce yes. ]
....With two major updates now under its belt (a third update is due out soon) as well as the release of numerous code tweaks and security fixes, Leopard has gained ground and maturity and has grown into a solid computing platform....
Six months after its release, debates about whether Leopard is a worthy upgrade have largely vanished. Even large companies are checking it out...
Though Apple's hardware is what so often draws a crowd ... that hardware is just a collection of parts. Leopard is the heart and soul of the Mac.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/05/08/Leopard-at-6-months_1.html
The New Rules For Buying A Mac - Busting The Most Common Mac Shopping Myths
Macworld's Jonathan Seff and Jason Snell say that the "rules" governing how we approach purchasing a Mac have shifted:
The world has a lot of unwritten rules: In social etiquette. In baseball. And in buying computers. For years, we have unquestioningly followed numerous unwritten rules when buying a Mac. Like many customs, these rules were once based on a foundation of facts and reason. But in the past few years, many longstanding Mac truths have been upended.....
In other words, the old rules no longer apply. If you're planning on buying a new Mac, you need facts about the modern lineup - so you can choose the computer that's right for you.
In this article, we take a look at some common assumptions and explain whether they align with today's realities....
Check out the old vs. the new here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133150/2008/05/macbuying.html
How Psystar's Computer Measures Up To A Mac
Macworld's James Galbraith reports:
What do you get when you install Mac OS X on a generic Intel-powered computer with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor? A system that, performance-wise, falls somewhere between a Mac mini and a low-end iMac, according to our testing.
At any rate, that was what happened when we ran Psystar's controversial Open Computer through our battery of benchmark tests. Using our Speedmark tool for benchmarking new and upgraded systems, Psystar's would-be Mac clone runs about 28-percent faster than a 2GHz Mac mini but 8-percent slower than the new entry-level iMac.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133365/2008/05/psystar_benchmarks.html
500 MHz iMac with Panther Great for Internet, Watching Video, and More
Low End Mac's Carl Nygren says:
You may have read my iBook article, where I shared my story of getting a Graphite iBook SE, complete with manuals and recovery discs, for a bare $50. I sure was lucky.
Well, it's happened again. I was offered a 500 MHz iMac G3 DV SE with 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB drive for $65. Lucky, eh? I simply couldn't say no...
....I only need one word: awesome. Panther runs great on it, with the only flaw being that Safari won't let me access my school's Citrix network. I have to use the obsolete Internet Explorer 5 for that - but it works....
And, of course, the DVD movies work fine too. I can even hook the iMac up to my 32" JVC television by using the VGA port.
For more information, visit:
http://lowendmac.com/myturn/0805my/nygren-imac.html
Hitachi Slips Past Fujitsu With Speedy 320GB Laptop Drive
The Register's Austin Modine reports:
Hitachi is updating its TravelStar laptop hard drive range with a more capacious 320GB disk that spins at 7,200rpm.
The refresh follows Fujitsu's announcement of its own 320GB, 7,200rpm notebook disk drive, for which the company staked a "world's first" claim back in March.
As we pointed out then - the timing left an opening for a rival hard drive makers to swoop in and beat Fujisu to market. Here's that prophesy fulfilled on cue. Fujitsu says its MHZ2 BJ 320GB will go on sale at the end of June. Hitachi is shipping its version now.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/08/hitachi_travelstar_7k320/
Britannica Opens Kimono, Reveals Widgets
The Register's Andrew Orlowski reports:
Britannica is opening up its content for use by publishers - including amateurs - but insists it isn't threatened by the world's biggest compendium of unusually-shaped vegetables.*
"We don't think there's any threat right now," Britannica Inc's president Jorge Cauz told us recently. But he acknowledged that Britannica's material needs to have a much higher web profile.
Hence the new WebShare program, which soft launched last month and is now official. This allows bloggers and commercial publishers to use Britannica material, either via an embedded widget or a URL.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/08/britannica_widgets/
Mac OS X Gets First Open-source Virtualisation Tool
ZDNet.co.uk's Matthew Broersma reports:
Sun has released a major update to its open-source desktop virtualisation tool xVM VirtualBox, adding support for Mac OS X and Solaris host operating systems, in addition to other improvements.
Software makers such as Parallels have been making Mac OS X virtualisation software for some time, but Sun is the first to release an open-source virtualisation product for the platform....
The free, open-source version is available for download, and Sun also sells a version under a proprietary licence with additional features such as USB support and a Remote Display Protocol (RDP) server.
The proprietary version is also available as a free download, but only for personal use; business users must purchase licences.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39412998,00.htm
Boomerang: The Blue and White Power Mac G3 That Kept Coming Back
Low End Mac's Charles Webb says:
This is a story about a Blue & White Power Mac G3, which eventually became known as Boomerang. I purchased this machine in the summer of 2003 after my first Mac (an iMac DV SE) died. I was in the middle of switching over from Windows and had just started to teach myself video editing, so I needed something with FireWire and decent hardware - for cheap.
So this is where my time with Boomerang began. I don't know how it spent the first four years of its existence, but it was mine now, and our journey would be unique, to say the least.....
After nearly 10 years of service, countless roles and makeovers, a once great Mac has been permanently retired. It had a good run.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/cwebb/08cw/boomerang-power-mac-g3.html
Apple offers $45 credit for Canadian owners of older iPods
The Montreal Gazette's Irwin Block reports:
Following two class-action lawsuits, Apple Canada Inc. is offering $45 credits to Canadian residents who own a new first-, second- or third-generation iPod purchased before June 24, 2004.
The proposed settlement, including payment of legal fees, is the result of two iPod owners suing because rechargeable batteries in the second year of use conked out after just three hours, contrary to the advertised claim of eight hours between recharges.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html
Information on how to obtain or file a claim is available at: http://www.trudeljohnston.com , http://www.legaladvocates.ca or http://www.appleipodsettlement.com
Where Is Europe's Google?
InformationWeek's Andrew Conry-Murray says:
Or Microsoft or Cisco or VMware or...? A Swiss technologist's book says a culture that values risk-taking is Europe's missing ingredient.
London may be eclipsing Wall Street as the world financial capital, and the euro is trouncing the dollar, but Europe has yet to prove the equal of the United States in technological innovation.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/05/where_is_europe.html
Back-Up Your Mac, Effortlessly
The New York Times' David Pogue says:
Well, I'm finally ready to write my review of the Time Capsule.
I've loved the concept ever since Apple announced it. So much, in fact, that I actually bought one. (Apple: "Mr. Pogue? We'd like to loan you a Time Capsule to review." Me: "Actually, that won't be necessary.")
Imagine a Wi-Fi base station, of the sort that turns your home into a wireless hot spot, with a huge hard drive inside (and, mercifully, no power brick–just a slender power cable)....
For the full review visit here:
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/back-up-your-mac-effortlessly/
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