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Apple's Last PowerPC Temptation
Appreciating Updates, Anticipating ApTel Line
Flock: My New Web Browser
Motorola admits the ROKR doesn't ROLL
How Big a Hard Drive Can I Put in My iMac, eMac, or Power Mac?
With iPod Convergence Comes Obsolescence
Why Worms Shun Apple's OSX
Apple admits SuperDrive 8x media reliability glitch
Evidence of MacTel Issue Problem
eWeek: OpenOffice.org 2.0 Has Edge Over StarOffice Cousin
Publish: Solutions to Three Common PDF Problems
eWeek: Internet TV Provokes Changes in Telecom Laws
eWeek: OpenOffice Packs a Powerful New Database Punch
Publish: Wikipedia Tests Limits of User-Defined Content
The Tech Night Owl: The Unexpected Return to Cox


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Apple's Last PowerPC Temptation

Blogger Anand Lal Shimpi says:

All of Apple's new Power Mac G5s feature dual-core processors, but what it allows Apple to do is outfit the lower end Power Mac G5s with only a single processor and still offer the same number of concurrently executable threads as the older dual processor G5s. Granted you do lose some performance because the two cores now must share a single FSB, whereas the older dual processor machines had an independent FSB per processor. But any performance loss you'd see there is more than made up by the fact that each core now gets a full 1MB L2 cache.

The previous G5 cores were stuck with a relatively small (by today's standards) 512KB cache. It made the 90nm G5 die very small, but it also meant that performance wasn't as good as it could have been. One thing Johan found in his investigations with the G5 was that memory latency was pretty bad, and a small L2 cache does nothing to hide that.

For the two lower end G5s, the fact that the single CPUs are now dual core doesn't mean much, but the move to a 1MB L2 cache per core should result in a tangible performance increase in a lot of scenarios.

Apple does give up a bit of clock speed at the high end by moving to dual core, with the fastest G5 now topping out at 2.5GHz vs. 2.7GHz. The larger L2 cache will make up for some of that difference, but not all. Obviously the high end G5 now offers more than just a faster clock speed....

For the full commentary, visit:
http://anandtech.com/weblog/default.aspx?bid=255






Appreciating Updates, Anticipating ApTel Line

TechNewsWorld's Rob Enderle says:

We are anticipating that many of Apple's laptop products will simply no longer have an optical drive of any kind but instead will have a multiple format flash reader slot and an iPod docking port. When docked, future iPods will have access to some notebook functions and be usable as a secondary display.

.....While PowerBooks are beginning to look somewhat dated because they have been around for so long with little change, in many ways they still look more advanced than many of their WinTel counterparts.....

Other topics discussed:

The Beginning of the End for Optical Drives

As Apple has been first to move to 3.5-inch floppies and then away from them we are expecting Apple to be the first to move aggressively away from optical drives to other alternatives. Some of those alternatives will be the more integrated use of iPods, other flash-based devices, and an updated iTunes.

2006 Apple Laptops

.....A stronger tie-in to the ever more PDA-like iPod and stronger ties to iTunes like backend services should be present as well. This is where Apple will be taking its biggest gambles and, at least for now, those gambles look like good ones to me.

'06 iBooks

As we have seen with the iPod, black is the new white. Expect Apple to begin the iBook's color transition next year. The black iPods out now give us a sense of what they'll be looking to accomplish......

2006 PowerBooks

PowerBooks will likely shift to a darker metallic or graphite finish..... The new PowerBooks line should also expand to the first 19-inch wide screen format product in the segment and the possibility of the first dual processor dual core laptop as well in this format.

PowerBook displays will probably be among the first to get LED backlighting....

Desktop Lines

Desktop hardware will be visibly changed as well as Intel favors BTX designs for cooling and noise containment. What's new in this area is small form factor, high performance products.....

2006 Mac Minis

Starting with the Mac Mini we will see improved graphics performance which will be exploited in the Mac OS updated designed to run against Windows Vista......

Death of the eMac?

CRTs aren't working well in education anymore thanks to disposal fees and weight issues. Expect a Mac Mini variant to move into this space.....

2006 iMacs

Moving on to the iMac, expect another design change.....

2006 G?

The new G5 desktop, which will get a name change, will drop a little in size and get the biggest performance jump of any of the platforms......

'06 Apple Monitors

I'm expecting Apple to expand their line to include a 45-inch LCD display with LED lighting......

For full details and discussion, visit
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/46861.html







Flock: My New Web Browser

PowerPage's Jason D. O'Grady says:

I've been a Firefox user for quite a while but have been getting more than a little tired of a few issues with it. For example, you can't press the up arrow key to jump to the beginning of a text field and new windows can take eight to 10 seconds to open. Firefox issues notwithstanding, I've found my new Web browser: Flock.

Flock is a new browser that's built on the Mozilla code base, but it's more than that. The coolest new features in Flock are built around social networking, and I don't mean that you can find an Internet date with it, either.....

For the full commentary, visit:
http://www.powerpage.org/archives/2005/10/flock_my_new_we.html






Motorola admits the ROKR doesn't ROLL

PCPro's Simon Aughton reports:

Motorola's chief executive has admitted that the company may have got it wrong with the recently released, iTunes-compatible ROKR phone.

Ed Zander was responding to news that the number of people returning the phone is six times higher than normal according to American Technology Report.

For the full report, visit here.
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/79025/motorola-admits-the-rokr-doesnt-roll.html

How Big a Hard Drive Can I Put in My iMac, eMac, or Power Mac?

Low End Mac's Dan Knight says:

Q: Can I put a 160 GB or larger hard drive in my iMac, eMac, or Power Mac?

A: The short answer: Yes, you can.

The long answer: Yes, you can, but you may not be able to access more than 128 GB without some third-party assistance.

For the full report, visit here.
http://lowendmac.com/macdan/05/1024.html







With iPod Convergence Comes Obsolescence

Cox News Service's Don Fernandez says:

"It's brutal," said John Jackson, senior analyst at the Boston-based Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting agency. "You resign yourself to purchasing this thing knowing the next best thing will launch in a month or two. What do you do?"
<IMG>Click Here

The wicked pace of technological progress is resulting in brand-new products' appearing instantly obsolete. From cell phones to MP3 players -- and even televisions -- today's cutting edge is often dulled by the promise of what's next.

Faster generations with richer storage and more function are mere months away. Why settle for something that's already second best?

A better question: When is the time right to actually buy something?

It's a question that makes even manufacturers fret.

For the full commentary, visit:
http://www.macnewsworld.com/rsstory/46859.html






Why Worms Shun Apple's OSX

Businessweek's Stephen H. Wildstrom says:

Successful assaults by viruses and other malware on the Mac operating system are rare as it has better security and attackers are less keen....

There is endless debate among security experts about whether the paucity of successful assaults on Apple's OS X is attributable to better security or attackers' lack of interest in an operating system whose share of the market is in single digits. I think it's some of both.

For the full commentary, visit:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2005/tc20051024_411392.htm?site=cbs







Apple admits SuperDrive 8x media reliability glitch

The Register's Tony Smith reports:

Apple has finally coughed to the existence of a glitch numerous PowerBook G4 owners have been pointing out for months.

Says a recently published Apple Knowledge Base entry: "Some earlier PowerBook G4 computers that have a SuperDrive with a 2x [sic] DVD-R write speed may not be able to burn 8x DVD-R media reliably. Because of this, you should only use 2x or 4x DVD-R media."

For the full report, visit here.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/24/apple_superdrive_glitch/






Evidence of MacTel Issue Problem

ehMac says:

OK, it is a little anecdotal, I admit...but here it is. My Dad, who has never owned a Mac, finally got sick of viruses and marched off to the Apple Store (he lives in Dallas) to pick up an iBook. Before buying it, though, he asked one of the workers there if there would be any issues surrounding the 2006 release of the Intel chip equipped Macs. The worker shrugged his shoulders and says:

"Um, to be honest, we know absolutely nothing specifically about the new Macs."

For the full commentary, visit:
http://www.ehmac.ca/showthread.php?p=301441#post301441







eWeek: OpenOffice.org 2.0 Has Edge Over StarOffice Cousin

As alternatives to Microsoft's Office 2003, the free OpenOffice.org suite and low-cost StarOffice both have a lot to offer.

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1875491,00.asp






Publish: Solutions to Three Common PDF Problems

"Having problems with Word conversion to PDFs? Embedding fonts? PDF bookmarks? Here are some simple solutions and tips to help."

Read more at:
http://www.pdfzone.com/article2/0,,1875401,00.asp






eWeek: Internet TV Provokes Changes in Telecom Laws

"The regulatory structure for the cable TV industry is being toppled by new technologies, such as Internet Protocol TV, industry watchers warn, and a new regulatory regime needs to evolve, and quickly, to deal with the changes.

A panel of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday heard testimony from SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., two major phone companies that plan to deliver TV, and Internet access, via an IP network."

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1875361,00.asp






eWeek: OpenOffice Packs a Powerful New Database Punch

"OpenOffice.org's latest update includes a database that matches Microsoft's popular and competing Access database, experts say.

"It's definitely a big deal," said Stephen O'Grady, an analyst at the IT analysis firm RedMonk. "Now with the [OpenOffice.org Base], although I have not evaluated it to the extent that I can call it 100 percent at functional parity with Access, the interface is just as usable as Access. It's quite nice."

The first office application suite to feature native support for the OASIS-approved OpenDocument file format was released Thursday morning, one week following the project's fifth anniversary of its founding and after a delay caused by "show-stopping" software bugs."

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1875288,00.asp






Publish: Wikipedia Tests Limits of User-Defined Content

Opinion: We need to build systems into user-supplied content sites that provide the necessary checks and balances to create quality.

Read more at:
http://www.publish.com/article2/0,,1875124,00.asp

The Tech Night Owl: The Unexpected Return to Cox

When I first moved to Arizona in 1993, I ordered Cox cable for my TV, just like most of the other folks in my neighborhood. I never considered satellite TV even for a moment, but the reason escapes me now. Possibly this was before the satellite providers were required to carry local stations, and the prospect of having basic cable plus satellite, or, horror of horrors, installing an antenna didn't appeal to me.

Here's the link for this week's commentary:
http://www.technightowl.com/newsletters/2005/10/308.htm#cox

Note: You can also access our RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/index.xml



Charles W. Moore

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