Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Thursday, January 10, 200
New Macs Before the Expo? What Is Apple Thinking?
Inside Intel's Harpertown Processor
It's Official: Dishwashers Are Great For Cleaning Keyboards - Commentary
Analyst: Apple is a full year ahead of competition
A Look At Free Software To Use On Your Mac.
Netscape Is Dead. What Mac Software Is Next To Die?
Apple Quietly Eliminates The Numeric Keypad From The MacBook Keyboard
Eight-core Xserve puts Apple back in the majors
About New Graphic Cards Available with the New Mac Pro
CompUSA Closures Halted by New Buyer - Saved by Apple's Macs and Tiger?
Best Buy's Apple Offerings Grow
Apple rejects call to join DRM alliance
Made the Move to Mac
SWsoft strokes Apple with Parallels Server beta
Revealed: USB 3.0 Jacks And Sockets
Apple to cut UK download prices
Apple cuts UK iTunes prices
Why Apple changed its tune in Europe
Has Apple Actually Licensed Fairplay to Fox?
Speed up Windows XP and Vista By Turning Off Unnecessary Services
eWEEK: Apple Bumps Mac Pros, Xserves to Eight Cores
Gene Steinberg meets authors Ted Landau and Joe Kissell, Ambrosia Software's Andrew Welch and HostICan's Denis Motova this week on The Tech Night Owl LIV
New Macs Before the Expo? What Is Apple Thinking?
Low End Mac's Dan Knight says:
Did it strike you as kind of odd that Apple would announce new Macs one week before the Macworld Expo? The more I think about it, the more it has me wondering. What is Apple thinking releasing the most powerful Mac and most powerful Xserve ever a week before the Expo?
The last Expo I attended seemed to be dominated by iPods, and last year's Expo was dominated by the iPhone. Even with the big hoopla about the Intel transition, the Mac seems to have taken a back seat at the Macworld Expo.
One possibility is that Apple has something so new and so different that they want to get the new Macs out of the way in advance...
That's one possibility, that Apple is going to embrace digital video and make the DVR another component in the digital hub, allowing users to record programs, port them to their computers and iPods, and who knows what else....
That's a possibility - a very real one - but I think the reason Apple unveiled the new Mac Pro and Xserve on Tuesday is so they won't steal the thunder from other new Macintosh computers.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/musings/08mm/macworld-expo-predictions.html
Inside Intel's Harpertown Processor
The Apple Core's Jason D. O'Grady says:
Apple yesterday announced significant updates to their Mac Pro and Xserve lines featuring Intel's "Harpertown" processor–but what's in a name?
Intel's quad-core Xeon 5400-series "Harpertown" processors run at up to 3.2GHz and are based on the new 45-nm Intel Core microarchitecture. The new chips are known for high performance and energy efficiency.
For the full report visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1158
It's Official: Dishwashers Are Great For Cleaning Keyboards - Commentary
Cult of Mac's Leander Kahney says:
Last month, after a couple of eggnogs at the office, I drenched my keyboard in a cup of coffee. Kind readers suggested running it through the dishwasher. Of course, putting keyboards in dishwashers is the kind of thing you read on the internet all the time, but never believe it actually works.
So, skeptical that it would work, I tried it myself.I'm happy to report that running a filthy, coffee-stained keyboard through the dishwasher works great. The keyboard is spotless, and it works perfectly.
[Editor's note: I'm delighted to hear that this worked for Leander. I'm still apprehensive about whether corrosion from residual moisture in the 'board might not take its toll over time. CM]
For the full commentary visit here:
http://cultofmac.com/?p=1625
Analyst: Apple is a full year ahead of competition
Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says:
As Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster walked the floors of the 2008 Consumer Electronics show he, like many other attendees, found himself thinking about Apple and Steve Jobs.
"While Apple was not at the show," he writes today in a report to clients, "the company's impact is felt at CES.".....
As Munster puts it:
"We expect Apple's Macworld announcements (1/15) to set the bar for CES '09 — in other words, we see Apple as effectively one year ahead of its competition."
To read more, click here.
A Look At Free Software To Use On Your Mac.
Mac360's Alexis Kayhill says:
If you're like me, there's no month left at the end of your money. Of course, if you're like me then you're also nine and a half months pregnant.
Since all I can do is sit around and wait (and do a cute waddle towards the bathroom), I decided to see what's new and what's free in Mac software.
Guess what? I see a problem on the horizon. It's not that there are no free applications and utilities for the Mac. There's plenty. But relative to the number of software titles that we have to pay for, it seems that some free software is going commercial.
To read more, click here.
Netscape Is Dead. What Mac Software Is Next To Die?
Mac360's Alexis Kayhill says:
It came as no surprise. AOL stopped development on the Netscape browser.
Netscape, as we once knew it, is finally dead. For now. Why did Netscape last as long as it did? What software is next?.....
I've become more careful about which Mac software applications and utilities I use. If I invest time and money with new software and integrate it into my Mac life, then I want the software publisher to be around for a more than a few years....
[ Editor's note. Me too. CM ]
To read more, click here.
Apple Quietly Eliminates The Numeric Keypad From The MacBook Keyboard
MacUser's Aayush Arya says:
David Pogue, New York Times technology columnist and CBS news correspondent, just posted an entry on his blog letting us know that a reader's brand new MacBook shipped with a keyboard sans the Num Lock key and the numeric keypad (the tiny digits on some keys towards the left side of the keyboard that allow you to enter those numbers if Num Lock is switched on).
So quiet was this change that even support personnel that man the AppleCare telephone support lines were befuddled when Mr. Pogue contacted them. They had received no information about Apple planning to put this change into effect.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macuser.com/intel-macs/apple_quietly_eliminates_the_n.php?lsrc=murss
Eight-core Xserve puts Apple back in the majors
Infoworld's Tom Yager says:
Apple rarely lets any product sit still for long, so when something in Apple's lineup goes untouched for a while, it prompts speculation about Apple's commitment to it. Consider Xserve. I do, and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who does. Apple's Xserve went Intel with the rest of the Mac line, but instead of keeping pace with x86 rack server competitors and keeping up with Intel's latest silicon like its Mac client kin, Xserve hung back. It's been a two socket, four-core server in an eight-core world. Ever since the Intel transition, Apple's been quiet on the marketing front for Xserve, too. It looked like Apple might have relegated its server to the back burner, but that didn't jibe with the proud noise that Apple has made over OS X Server Leopard, its first true UNIX server OS. A shiny new OS on server hardware that had lost pace with the market? Perhaps Apple was quietly thinking what I've been quietly advising curious buyers to do: Use Mac Pro as a server instead. An eight-core Mac Pro makes a nice home for OS X Leopard Server.
For the full report visit here:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/yager/archives/2008/01/eight_core_xser.html
About New Graphic Cards Available with the New Mac Pro
Hardmac's Lionel reports:
Most of our readers did not follow the recent released in the GPU world. So we decided to bring some information about the 3 new graphic cards available with the new Mac Pro:
You can check it out at:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-01-09/#7585
CompUSA Closures Halted by New Buyer - Saved by Apple's Macs and Tiger?
PBCentral's Joe Leo says:
Did you hear that Apple may have saved the day for CompUSA due to Tiger and Macs? If you did, then you've got Macworld Expo 2008 fever clouding your mind. TigerDirect and Systemax Inc. are the key words here in this Cinderella story-like / last ditch effort comeback for the American tech "icon," far from having anything to do with Apple.
Mark Twain would have been proud. "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!" It's a wonder how this story was, buried, considering all the tech-related news this week.
To read more, click here.
The reasons I hate Leopard - Opinion
diaryofasinner.com's Judas says:
Leading up to it's release, Leopard (Mac OS X, 10.5) was not seen as a huge upgrade like some of the previous releases, but it did contain some cool new features. While Apple touted over 300 new features, upgrades like Path Bar and the New Airport Menu are hardly features to be crowing about. While many have upgraded smooth and seamlessly, some have downgraded to 10.4 or have stuck with the issues, hoping Apple will release an update to ease their woes. So why should anybody upgrade to the new system? Good question!
Many of the people that I know who upgraded have had little to no problems with Leopard. The rest however, have suffered nightmare after nightmare with this new system. I thought I got off scot-free after I installed and everything seemed to be working, then I got into it and I have not been happy since....
....It really seems they are making it more PC centric to try and woo the ignorant Windows users who have ignored and slandered Apple for years. I say screw them, let them figure out the OS by themselves, it's really not that hard, millions of Mac users have done it before them, there is no reason Apple should cater to them now.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.diaryofasinner.com/2008/01/09/the-reasons-i-hate-leopard/
Best Buy's Apple Offerings Grow
The Street's Scott Moritz reports:
Based on conversations with Best Buy executives at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, UBS analysts said the retail giant plans to expand its Mac sales to 500 stores in the coming year. Best Buy currently sells Macs in about 270 stores and is a leading seller of iPods in all 900 of its stores, according to UBS.
To read more, click here.
Apple rejects call to join DRM alliance
PCPro's Simon Aughton reports:
NBC has formed a coalition of companies including AT&T, Microsoft, Philips and SanDisk who will co-operate on the development of DRM technologies such as fingerprinting to prevent the swapping of copyright material.
According to the Financial Times, NBC invited Apple to discuss measures for preventing the copying of content to its various media players, notably iPods, an invitation that the FT says Apple rejected.
For the full report click here.
Made the Move to Mac
newton.typepad.com says:
I have been using Windows now for nearly 20 years and PCs for over 25. This October my Dell refused to come out of standby mode, which forces me to reboot every single time I leave the building with my laptop. After all those years of blue screens, hanging on large PowerPoint presentations, hanging on network connections, waiting for the laptop to come up when I press the On button, I finally gave up. I ordered a Mac.
I would say half of Alfresco now have Macs. Matt Asay must own Apple shares as he has been the key sales person for all those Macs. The sales organization in the US all have Macs and a lot of the developers are now transitioning to Macs. A lot of our customers are also using Macs. When you look at the pain of transitioning to Vista versus just leaving Microsoft behind, it becomes a much easier decision.
I must say the transition hasn't been too difficult. The first thing you notice is how much faster the Mac is for doing all sorts of things. Coming out of sleep is so instantaneous that it seems like it was on all the time. The user interface takes a little getting use to, but it doesn't look as bad as moving to Vista. Transferring files is much faster....
To read more, click here.
http://newton.typepad.com/content/2008/01/made-the-move-t.html
SWsoft strokes Apple with Parallels Server beta
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
SWsoft has issued the sort of anticipated beta release of a hypervisor-style server virtualization product - Parallels Server.
We say sort of anticipated because it's not at all clear how SWsoft's latest play will be received by the market. To date, the company has focused on selling server virtualization software (Virtuozzo) that relied on so-called containers where a customer can run many virtual systems on top of a single copy of an operating system. Now, SWsoft hopes to play in the more mainstream hypervisor-based part of the virtualization market already packed full of options from companies such as VMware, Citrix (XenSource) and Virtual Iron. (Microsoft will soon ship a hypervisor-based product as well.)
SWsoft - which plans to change its name to Parallels - has tried to separate itself from competitors with the beta version of Parallels Server by emphasizing support for systems running Mac OS X and the ability to pick from a pair of hypervisor models.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/beta_parallels_server/
Revealed: USB 3.0 Jacks And Sockets
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
USB 3.0, the upcoming version of the universal add-on standard re-engineered for the HD era, made a small appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It wasn't demonstrated in operation, but we did get to see what the new connectors look like.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_usb_3_revealed/
Apple to cut UK download prices
The BBC reports:
Music downloads in the UK will be cheaper within six months
Apple has announced that it will cut the price it charges for music downloads in the UK from its iTunes music store within the next six months.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7178651.stm
Apple cuts UK iTunes prices
The Register's John Oates reports:
The European Commission has ended its antitrust investigation into Apple after the computing giant agreed to cut the price UK consumers pay to download music for their iPods.
Apple said it would cut UK prices to bring them into line with the rest of Europe. But it warned record labels:
Apple currently must pay some record labels more to distribute their music in the UK than it pays them to distribute the same music elsewhere in Europe. Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that does not lower its wholesale prices in the UK to the pan-European level within six months.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/apple_cuts_uk_prices/
Why Apple changed its tune in Europe
Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says:
The news this morning that the European Commission has dropped its unfair pricing case against Apple raises the question about how the company got into this mess in the first place.
The issue stems from a basic discrepancy: British customers have been paying 79 pence per song on iTunes (about $1.63 in today's currency market) while the rest of Europe was paying .99 euros — roughly 20% less.
To read more, click here.
Has Apple Actually Licensed Fairplay to Fox?
BusinessWeek's Peter Burrows says:
That would seem to be the logical conclusion, given reports (first broken by the Financial Times on Dec. 27) that Apple has agreed to let 20th Century Fox include a Fairplay-compliant copy of its movies on its DVDs. The idea is that people who buy the DVDs would be able to rip them to iTunes, without having to monkey with often-illegal third party tools. Evidently, if this image posted at macrumors.com is legit, this will indeed be among Apple's announcements at Macworld next week (Read more on this at Wired's Epicenter blog, here).
To read more, click here.
Speed up Windows XP and Vista By Turning Off Unnecessary Services
CNet's Dennis O'Reilly says:
The fact is, you don't need all of the services that Windows starts automatically when it boots. Disabling the non-essential services frees up memory and processor cycles for more important tasks. The trick is knowing which of Windows' automatic services you can do without: disabling the wrong service can render your system unusable. If you're careful, you can figure out which automatically enabled services your PC can do without.
Things would be so much simpler if I could just list which services to disable, but each Windows configuration is unique, so there's no way to predict which ones are required on your system. That's why I rely on sites such as Charles Sparks' BlackViper.com.
For the full report click here.
eWEEK: Apple Bumps Mac Pros, Xserves to Eight Cores
A week before the Macworld Expo, Apple rolls out its "fastest Macs ever."
To read more, go to: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2246854,00.asp?sp=0&kc=DTEWK010908APPL
eWEEK: How to Check the Health of a Unix/Linux Server
Everybody knows that regular automobile maintenance improves a car's reliability, improves mileage and extends the life of the vehicle. Neal Nelson, president of Neal Nelson & Associates explains that the same is true of computer systems.
To read more, click here.
Gene Steinberg meets authors Ted Landau and Joe Kissell, Ambrosia Software's Andrew Welch and HostICan's Denis Motova this week on The Tech Night Owl LIV
During this week's all-star episode, the Night Owl spends extended face and talk time with the iPhone. You'll hear from noted Mac guru Ted Landau on the nitty-gritty of Apple's hot-selling gadget. In addition, HostICan's Denis Motova joins Gene in our new "Tech Junkies" segment to do a hands-on comparison between the iPhone and the Blackberry.
In another segment, author Joe Kissell will give you the inside details on how best to install Leopard on your Mac, and about proper backup steps. You'll also hear from long-time shareware publisher Andrew Welch, of Ambrosia Software, who will talk about his company's latest products, including WireTap Studio, the very same application we use to record many of the interviews you hear on this show.
You can tune into the broadcast Thursday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern, at:
http://www.techbroadcasting.com
Our new chat room will also be open for listener participation. An archive of the show will be available for downloading and listening at your convenience within four hours after the original broadcast.
You can also access our show's Podcast feed, now available at:
http://www.techbroadcasting.com/nightowl.xml
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