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Run Mac OS X on a PC - Special Report
It's Legal to Run OS X on PCs with EFI-X Dongle EFI-X Co-Creator Asserts
Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro Don't Work Quite So Well With Windows
The Average User Feels Little Or No "Apple tax"
An $800 MacBook would be 'the height of folly' - report
Are Cheaper Macs Critical To Apple's Survival In The Current Economic Condition?
The Case For An Apple Netbook
Does New Nvidia Motherboard Offer Clue To Mac mini's Future?
Upgrading a MacBook Pro's hard drive
Eee PC series to get Windows 7 but not Vista, says CEO
Yale MBA Dean To Found Apple University
Steve Jobs to Wall Street: Apple Is Positioned To Ride Economic Storm
In Praise Of A Sinful Apple
Apple Device Sized Between iPhone, MacBook Detected Online
MacDev 2009: A European Conference For Mac
The Mac Night Owl: Apple Stays the Course
Run Mac OS X on a PC - Special Report
The Register's Brian Hurley says:
Want to run Mac OS X on a PC? Perhaps you don't want to pay the premium for Apple's hardware - or Apple doesn't make the kind of computer you need, such as a netbook. Because of its native roots in Motorola and PowerPC code, this has traditionally required instruction level emulation. Two things have changed. Apple based Mac OS X on NeXT code, which could run on Intel. And since 2006 Apple has been making Intel PCs. In theory, installing Mac OS X on a PC is much easier.....
Should you try this? As a minimum, I'd recommend the following: You are comfortable editing BIOS settings and knowing the details of your hardware and chipsets. You're not afraid of the Unix command line (not a definite requirement, but many of the troubleshooting guides out there mention it, so you'll probably have to use it at some point). And probably the most important: You have a lot of time.....
To read more, click here.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/20/macosx_on_a_pc/
It's Legal to Run OS X on PCs with EFI-X Dongle EFI-X Co-Creator Asserts
Softpedia's Filip Truta reports:
Muzzle, a Dutch Hackintosh community site, has posted an interview with Davide Rutigliano, the co-creator of the EFI-X hack dongle and CEO of Art Studios Entertainment Media. Davide weighs in on the legality of the product and on what its future may be. Clearly a PC running Mac OS X is an intriguing subject, so we encourage you to read on.
The EFi-X dongle is the last step towards porting Mac OS X to the PC without leaving anything important behind. Certain system requirements have to be met, of course, but if you pack the necessary hardware, reviewers say the experience is much better than with a typical Hackintosh. In fact, some say it works perfectly! Think this sounds too good to be true, or... legal? Think again, says Davide.....
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6obo39
Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro Don't Work Quite So Well With Windows
MobileComputing's Julian Prokaza says:
As part of our testing of the new "unibody" Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops, we installed Windows Vista via Boot Camp so that we could run our standard set of PC benchmarks. Both laptops run Vista quite happily and the bundled MacOS X DVD installs the necessary drivers. So far, so good...
However, a couple of issues have cropped up in Windows Vista and both appear to be related to the drivers for the new nVidia GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics chipsets.....
The other problem is that battery life under Windows is terrible....
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5lqhqe
The Average User Feels Little Or No "Apple tax"
ZNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes reports:
Yesterday Ed Bott put numbers to the "Apple tax" and came to the bottom line conclusion that switching to Apple would be "in the ballpark of $500." Sure, he put together a vaguely straw man argument in places, and chose to pick commercial Mac software where free software existed, but overall his argument is pretty solid....
If you're a power user and you digital life exists in an ecosystem dominated by one OS then there will always a cost associated with any major change..... Even switching versions is expensive. I know for a fact that switching from XP to Vista wasn't a "free" process for me, and I'm sure that Ed paid for the privilege too.....
I know that it's fun to have the occasional chat about the "Apple tax" (or for that matter the "Microsoft tax"), but the fact is that the whole thing is over-hyped, particularly when you consider Apple home user/college student/I wanna be cool audience. In fact, your average Mac user feels little or no "Apple tax"......
Apple tax, TOC, proprietary formats … your average user that's migrating to the Mac platform doesn't care about any of this. They just see Macs as being cool, and maybe offering fewer headaches that the Windows platform does.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2824
An $800 MacBook would be 'the height of folly' - report
Appleinsider's Prince McLean says:
Had Apple succumb to calls from industry watchers to release a new MacBook at or below the $800 price point, it would have amounted to "a value-destroying event of epic proportions," according to a newly published analysis.
In a report released Wednesday, Needham & Co's Conor Irvine and Charles Wolf, one of the more colorful analysts covering Apple today, commended Apple for avoiding the "folly in pricing for market share," and instead sticking to its roots as a value-driven organization that produces world class, differentiated products a cut above the rest of the industry.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5u8soe
Are Cheaper Macs Critical To Apple's Survival In The Current Economic Condition?
MacUser's Aayush Arya says:
Ever since the rumor sites pulled the rumor of a $799 MacBook out of thin air, the Mac web was abuzz with rampant speculation about its theorized impending appearance at the recent Apple special notebook event.
When such a product didn't materialize, the Apple stock took another beating and the analysts came out of the woodwork, donning their Expert Hats and suggesting that lowering the price of entry for MacBooks to $800 would propel Apple into the magical land of all-encompassing market share, huge profits, and cute ponies.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macuser.com/hardware/are_cheaper_macs_critical_to_a.php?lsrc=murss
The Case For An Apple Netbook
Macworld's Peter Cohen says:
One of Steve Jobs' sound bites from his appearance on the quarterly conference call with financial analysts Tuesday has been repeated several times since then: "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk."
Maybe Apple needs to take more of a look around at the rest of the industry, then, because there certainly are computers in the $500 and less category that aren't pieces of junk. And Apple could do better than the competition, I'm sure.....
I admit that I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve a bit, here. I've taken some guff around the office for my abiding love of Apple's eMate 300....
The eMate 300 cost $800 when it debuted more than a decade ago. I wonder how much less it would cost if Apple today made an equivalent device, based around the work that it's done with the iPhone and the MacBook....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/136310/2008/10/netbook.html
Does New Nvidia Motherboard Offer Clue To Mac mini's Future?
Macworld's Peter Cohen says:
Nvidia this week introduced a desktop variation of the same motherboard design that debuted as part of Apple's new MacBook and MacBook Pro last week. Introduced Monday, the new GeForce 9-Series motherboards are coming from leading PC manufacturers this month.
Apple's newest MacBook and MacBook Pro systems both share a motherboard design that features a motherboard-based graphics processing unit, or, in Nvidia's parlance, an mGPU. This enables the machines to work faster than previous MacBook systems could while still conserving energy, without having excessively slow integrated graphics..... The MacBook Pro also adds a discrete Nvidia graphics processor that users can turn on and off using Energy Saver controls if they prefer to have faster graphics....
Companies Nvidia has announced that are manufacturing the motherboard include ASUS and Foxconn, two frequent manufacturing partners of Apple's.
These last two items may provide some clues to the future of the long lamented Mac mini, which, according to one report, may be on its way out - at least in its current form.....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/136288/2008/10/nvidia_macmini.html
Upgrading a MacBook Pro's hard drive
Macworld's Christopher Breen says:
Reader Matthew Thomas would like to upgrade his late-2006 MacBook Pro. He writes:
I am currently using a 15" Macbook Pro 2.33GHz and I've run out of hard drive space. I came across this article at Macworld, and will attempt to swap my hard drive, following the iFixit guide. My question is, for my laptop model, is there a maximum capacity of hard drive that it can take? Would I be able to put in say, a 320GB or 500GB hard drive?
Yes. Currently your MacBook Pro (which is the same model I have) will hold up to a 500GB hard drive, but that's not a hard limit. If someone can make a hard drive of a larger capacity that fits in your MacBook, you could use it.....
To read more, click here.
http://www.macworld.com/article/136307/2008/10/upgradembphd.html
Eee PC series to get Windows 7 but not Vista, says CEO
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
Asus CEO Jerry Shen has denied claims that consumers are sending back more Linux netbooks than they're returning Windows-based models.
Speaking in an interview with Laptop Magazine, Shen said return rates were the same for both operating systems.
It has been claimed that vendors say Linux returns are higher. That's not entirely surprising, perhaps, and no reflection on Linux but on non-technical buyers' expectations that any computer they buy will automatically run Windows apps out of the box.....
....Shen said the Eee line will gain Windows 7 "in the second half of next year".
"For now it will be Linux and XP and then Windows 7 and not Vista," he said.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/asus_ceo_shen_speaks_out/
Yale MBA Dean To Found Apple University
CNet's Tom Krazit reports:
Apple has hired the dean of Yale's School of Management to head up a new program called Apple University.
It's not clear exactly what Joel Podolny will be working on at Apple, but a note from Yale President Richard Levin to students announcing Podolny's departure said he would be leading "educational initiatives at Apple." He'll join the company in early 2009, but Apple representatives are not commenting on what he'll have on his plate, according to The Wall Street Journal.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5qnrsw
Steve Jobs to Wall Street: Apple Is Positioned To Ride Economic Storm
ZNET's Sam Diaz reports:
Apparently, Steve Jobs still has what it takes to sell Apple - even to battered-down Wall Street.
For the past week or so, there's been a lot of chatter about the state of the economy and what sort of impact it might have on companies during the holiday quarter. Apple, like many others, is walking blind into the storm, uncertain of what's ahead. So, to make sure that investors don't start getting too nervous about the outlook for Apple, the company called in the big guy - Mr. Jobs himself - to get on the line with analysts during the company's quarterly earnings call and answer the questions that are weighing heavy on their minds.....
For the full report visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10527
In Praise Of A Sinful Apple
ZDNet.co.uk says:
There are many good criticisms of Apple to be made. The company is arrogant. It is unresponsive to consumer wishes. It exploits open source. It is manipulative, secretive and uncompromising, with staff and customers alike.
It is also hugely successful, by dint of creating outstanding products sold through outstanding marketing, putting quality and usability at a premium in a market that often appears to forget about such virtues altogether. Yesterday's quarterly figures demonstrate how well that works.....
For the full report visit here:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002982,39525478,00.htm
Apple Device Sized Between iPhone, MacBook Detected Online
Appleinsider's Aidan Malley reports:
Apple chief Steve Jobs' has dismissed any immediate plans to enter the netbook field, but a new discovery online points to a mystery device with a resolution in between its pocketable devices and its notebooks.
While expanding an article on Jobs' wait-and-see approach to netbooks, which are described as part of a young field, New York Times technology writer John Markoff remarked on Wednesday that a search engine firm has noticed an "unannounced product" from Apple in its web visit logs.
The company has asked not to have its name revealed but is willing to say the alleged hardware has a display resolution somewhere between iPhone 3G's 480x320 and the 1280x800 of the 13-inch MacBook. The device name itself is also kept secret......
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/67dq5k
MacDev 2009: A European Conference For Mac
[Press Release]
On the 16th and 17th of April 2009 The Mac Developer Network (MDN) with Steve Scott (Scotty) and Tim Isted will be hosting the UK's only independent Mac Developer Conference and we have very imaginatively called it MacDev 2009 (Europe).
The conference is designed for experienced Mac Developers who want to spend 2 days together geeking out while being educated by some of the worlds top Mac Developers. Booking opens to MDN members on the 20th October 2008 and for everyone else on the 1st of November.
Conference Details
Speakers
We have gathered together a fantastic collection of speakers from the USA, Europe and the UK currently including Bill Dudney, Matt Gemmell, Mike Lee, Graham Lee, Drew McCormack, Philippe Mougin, Andre Pang, Fraser Speirs and Marcus Zarra. Profiles of these speakers can be seen at the end of this release.
Sessions
The conference will consist of 11 one hour sessions. All the sessions will be at an intermediate or advanced level, no beginners stuff here I'm afraid. Each session will be designed to be as broadly relevant as possible while maintaining our desire to be a conference for experienced Mac Developers.
Pricing
The early booking price for the conference is just 399 + VAT (Rising to 499 + VAT after 31st Jan 2009). The conference price includes 1 night's accommodation, and all your meals during the conference.
Workshops
We are also holding a number of pre-conference workshops running from 10am to 5pm on the 15th April 2009 (You must attend the full conference to book a workshop place).
Workshop 1
User Interfaces with Mike Lee. This workshop will spend the day looking at how decisions should be made when designing user interfaces.
Workshop 2
Core Data with Marcus Zarra. This workshop will spend the day looking at practical issues of using Core Data in your applications.
Workshop 3
iPhone Development for Mac Developers with Bill Dudney. If you are an experienced Mac Developer looking to write your first iPhone application Bill will spend a day helping you get up to speed.
The Venue
MacDev 2009 is being held at Conference Hertfordshire's de Havilland Centre in Hatfield about 5 miles north of the M25 Junction 23 in South East England. Situated only 25 minutes from London by train, 10 minutes from the M1 and M25, and 30 minutes from Luton and Stansted airports, the conference campus features modern, state-of-the-art conference facilities, conveniently located all on the one site. There is ample free parking available, and Hatfield train station is only minutes away by taxi/shuttle bus.
Delegates be staying in single en-suite bedrooms with everybody who is attending the conference housed within one building, only steps away from the main conference seminar and lecture rooms. Each bedroom offers an internet connection, telephone and small refrigerator.
Conference sessions will take place in one of the purpose-built lecture theatres, with comfortable, tiered seating, air-conditioning and a full host of AV equipment. There are also additional rooms available nearby for 'quiet' work should delegates need them.
The conference ticket includes all meals throughout the day, all available in the on-site restaurant, including a self-service 2-course lunch, a fully-served 3-course dinner, and a choice of full English or Continental breakfast. Alcoholic drinks may be purchased, either with food in the restaurant or in the conference Bar after dinner.
All conference delegates will have access to the Sports Village during their stay, also conveniently located within the same campus. Facilities on offer here include a swimming pool, 100-station fitness centre, squash and badminton courts, cricket and football pitches, and even a 12 metre climbing wall.
Speaker Profiles
Bill Dudney
Bill Dudney is a software developer and entrepreneur currently building software for the Mac and iPhone. Bill started his computing career on a NeXT cube with a magneto-optical drive running NeXTStep 0.9. He's the author of iPhone SDK Development and Core Animation for OS X. He has several iPhone applications currently selling on the App Store.
Matt Gemmell
Matt Legend Gemmell is a freelance Mac OS X and iPhone developer based in Edinburgh in the UK. Matt has been developing for Mac OS X since 10.0 Developer Preview 4 in late 2000. Matt is a prolific contributor to the Cocoa open source community and focuses primarily on intuitive interaction and interface design. Matt has source code in use in more than 60 third-party applications (that he knows of; likely many, many more).
Mike Lee
Mike Lee, the World's Toughest Programmer, is the founder and CEO of United Lemur, a philanthropic revolution disguised as a software company. Mike also cofounded Tapulous, whose titles include Tap Tap Revenge and Twinkle. Prior to iPhone, Mike cut his teeth - and won an Apple Design Award - at Seattle-based Delicious Monster Software. Mike is originally from Honolulu, is a popular blogger and occasional pundit.
Graham Lee
Graham is a senior software engineer at Sophos, where he is the technical lead for the Mac team. He has spoken at numerous Mac and UNIX user groups, and is an active member of the Mac community, being on the committee for the Oxford Mac User Group and a co-founder of the Swindon branch of CocoaHeads, a worldwide Mac developer gathering. Before joining Sophos in 2007 he studied Physics at Oxford University, where he is currently reading for an MSc in software engineering. Graham believes that many problems can be solved by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.
Drew McCormack
Drew McCormack is a scientific programmer and researcher in the Theoretical Chemistry Department of the Free University in Amsterdam. His interest in computing is broad, ranging from High Performance Computing in Fortran, to Python scripting, and Cocoa development for the Mac and iPhone. He is a board member and regular contributor on the MacResearch web site, and develops the Cocoa flash card application 'Mental Case' in his spare time. Drew has written articles and tutorials on Cocoa development for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), O'Reilly's Mac Dev Center, and MacResearch.org, and co-authored the book 'Beginning Mac OS X Programming' with Mike Trent.
Philippe Mougin
Philippe Mougin, a long-time Mac OS X and NeXTSTEP developer, is the creator of F-Script, a dynamic language and interactive environment for Cocoa. Philippe is also the co-author of "Become an Xcoder" and of a number of publications and talks in the fields of Mac OS X development, dynamic languages and enterprise systems.
Andre Pang
After being distracted with the underground demoscene and music, Andre studied Computing Science & Psychology at the University of New South Wales in his home town. There, he found his love for coding, functional programming languages, open source, Linux, and learning about what makes people tick. In 2002, Andre discovered Mac OS X (Jaguar, for the curious folks) and Cocoa, and became the Mac lead at a number of projects such as Annodex and cineSync. Andre is currently living a nomadic lifestyle at Realmac Software working on RapidWeaver and LittleSnapper.
Fraser Speirs
Fraser Speirs is a Mac OS X and iPhone Developer and Director of Connected Flow, Ltd. On Mac OS X, he is best known for the FlickrExport plugins for iPhoto and Aperture. On iPhone OS, his Flickr client Exposure has consistently been one of the most popular photography applications on the App Store. In the past, Fraser has written for O'Reilly Media's Mac Developer Journal and blogged at MacDevCenter. He has also worked on the LHC Computing Grid project to support the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN.
Marcus Zarra
Marcus S. Zarra is the owner of Zarra Studios LLC and the creator of seSales and iWeb Buddy as well as being a co-author of "Cocoa Is My Girlfriend", a wildly popular blog covering all aspects of Cocoa development. Marcus has been developing software since the mid-1980s and has written software in all of the major technological fields. Marcus has been using Core Data since its original release in OS X 10.4 Tiger and has released numerous applications and papers covering all of the topics of Core Data.
Conference Website:
http://www.macdeveurope.com/
The Mac Developer Network:
http://www.mac-developer-network.com Conference
Pricing :
http://www.mac-developer-network.com/conference/prices/
The Mac Night Owl: Apple Stays the Course
One line still used by politicians running for reelection is that they did a good job and want to continue to perform in a similar fashion, to stay the course. That is, unless things are going badly, in which case they try to reinvent themselves as reformers, who will fight all those big, bad politicians.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2008/10/apple-stays-the-course/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/rss
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http://www.macnightowl.com/atom
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