Below you will find a list of links relating to OS X which includes both server
and client versions. Like our popular G4
News and Information Page, the Mac OS X News and Information
Page is intended as a one stop launching point, in this case
for all information pertaining to Apple's next OS. New news
links will be added to the top of each area. If you have a
news item relating to Mac OS X Server or Client, mail
it to us and we will add it.
After
Photoshop Serious alternatives for the Adobe behemoth
are cropping up in Mac OS X
InterMapper
3.5 adds Mac OS X support, more - InterMapper enables
network administrators and system managers to monitor Web,
e-mail, DNS and other servers, as well as routers and switching
equipment. The software monitors LAN and WAN links to detect
trouble on the network, and alerts the network manager if
any problems erupt
OS
X Music and Audio: When will it be Ready to Rock? - Rumors
that OS X "isn't a real time operating system" and that no
music and audio developers are committed to bringing their
apps to X are simply misinformed. Every single developer I
spoke with plans to bring their applications and drivers to
OS X -- it's simply a matter of when. If anything, developers
are impatient to begin work on OS X, but need Apple to finish
its audio and MIDI drivers and documentation firs
Flash
for OS X at Flashforward keynote - Macromedia President
Kevin Lynch showed off Sitespring, an upcoming application
for collaborative Web development. He also offered a sneak
peak of the Flash authoring environment running native on
Mac OS X.
MacLinkPlus
Deluxe optimized for Mac OS X - MacLinkPlus Deluxe 13
for the Macintosh is now available from DataViz -- and it's
been optimized for Mac OS X. It includes support for the latest
versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, as found in Office 2001
and Office XP
XMorph
designed to let you change OS X appearance - XMorph 1.5
from Cornabyte is a tool for changing the operating system's
appearance/theme. It can read the TPKG format and can import
.theme files and .rsrc files for use in themes. XMorph lets
you choose between three different Genie effects, and can
change the transparency of the Terminal
More
on Mac OS X and music - Our July 2 article on "Mac OS
X and Music" was well received and garnered lots of questions
and feedback. We also received a few questions from Mac OS
X using music fans that we will attempt to answer in this
article.
X
on X - I read an article the other day that predicted
Apple wouldn't be able to keep advanced Mac OS X users because
they would learn Unix and move on to a more professional system.
I disagree
Corel
Brings Bryce To OS X - Corel has released their popular
and powerful 3D landscape and animation tool, Bryce 5, for
Mac OS X. Bryce allows users to create breathtaking 3D landscapes
by including editors for trees, terrain, and other visual
aspects. Bryce is a major application in the 3D market
A
Better Finder Rename Comes To OS X - PublicSpace has released
an OS X version of their popular Finder utility, A Better
Finder Rename. Version 4.0 Preview 1 for Mac OS X allows users
to easily and quickly rename large numbers of files from a
single location
Two
Cheers for Mac OS X - I've been using OS X on a daily
basis for the last month, running on Apple's spiffy G4 PowerBook
laptop, and I believe it will be a blessing for consumers.
It may even boost the fortunes of Apple Computer, but not
without a lot more hard work
InDesign
and Illustrator to be first Adobe OS X apps - Adobe Vice
President of Marketing Cross Media Publishing Susan Altman
Prescott reiterated her company's commitment to its Macintosh
customers and Apple's Mac OS X operating system.
Group
opens new open-source channels to Mac OS X - In a move
that combines open-source Unix technologies from inside and
outside Apple Computer Inc.'s campus, a small, independent
group has brought the FreeBSD "ports system" to Darwin, the
open-source core of Mac OS X
Dock
Got You Down? Try LaunchBar - For those users looking
for a more efficient way to handle the opening of files and
applications in OS X, Objective Development has a program
for you. LaunchBar, currently in beta format, provides a new
way of accessing the content of your hard drive
WebObjects
OS X updated - Apple has released the first update of
WebObjects 5.0 for Mac OS X Server 10.0.4 and Mac OS X 10.0.4
BareBones'
X-utility move - The utility supplements OS X's built-in
Show Info command, helping it provide more information about
files and folders contained on the hard drive
iBooks
and Sleep Under OS X - Reader Sam Chambers has encountered
a problem with OS X and the Sleep command with the new iBooks.
This is a known problem that many people had hoped was fixed
with OS X 10.0.4. Perhaps not, though
Unix
Tutorial #1: How OS X (and Unix!) Saved my Butt - I needed
to create an email with a list of directories I had on my
CD-ROM drive, but there were over a hundred directories. The
Mac OS has no way of generating a text file list of the contents
of a directory, so I was faced with typing in the list of
directories by hand into my text editor. Being the consumate
HTML developer, I loathed the idea of having to lift a finger
to do any actual work! I wanted the computer to do this for
me.
Mac
OS X: Terminal is Power - This article will explain a
little of the history behind Darwin and how Apple got into
licensing Open Source software. For those of you who can't
wait any longer to start pounding commands into Darwin, I
also included some goodies to start playing with at the end
of this article
Installing
OS X On a G3 Accelerated Power Mac 8500 - Fortunately,
Sonnet committed to bringing OS X to machines which had been
upgraded with most of their G3/G4 accelerators. I had been
monitoring their web site almost daily, keeping a keen eye
out for the latest news on their efforts. On June 20, my patience
and diligence was rewarded
Apple's
OS X: Magnet for Hackers? - Unlike users of Microsoft's
(Nasdaq: MSFT) ubiquitous Windows or even open-source Linux,
Macintosh users have been spared the Melissa or I Love You
viruses as well as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and Web
page defacements. But the newest Apple operating system release
has Mac users on the lookout for the same types of threats
MacPopUp
Carbonized - The Kanex Group has released MacPopUp 2.5,
the Mac OS X version of its instant-messaging solution
Vampire
releases Mac OS X version of PcConverter - The US$20 shareware
utility offers tools for converting files to and from a variety
of formats. You can use PcConverter to convert text files
(also RTF files) from Windows or Unix to the Mac. Or you can
use it to process custom database files or to automate the
conversion of text files to HTML
Oki offers
Mac OS X compatibility statement - Laurens V. has forwarded
us a note from Oki, a manufacturer of Mac-compatible printers,
regarding its current and planned support for Mac OS X.
Another
OS X Compatible HTML Editor Updated - PineHill Products
releases CreativePage 2.7, the powerful and customizable web
site creation package for the Mac OS and Mac OS X operating
systems
New
Note Pad For Outlining Ideas Released, OS X Compatible
- Pocket Software has released a new application for taking
notes and providing a way to easily outline ideas, PocketNotes.
While providing basic note pad features, PocketNotes is designed
to allow users to easily organize and outline ideas. According
to Pocket Software
X-rating
for Lara Croft - Aspyr has released an OS X-compatible
demo of the Tomb Raider: Chronicles. The demo has been Carbonized
- so will run on both Mac OS 9 and X.
Apple
Releases Mac OS X Server 10.0.4 Update - Apple has released
the 10.0.4 update for Mac OS X Server. The release includes
enhanced networking support, a security update for MySQL and
Samba (which provides Windows networking services), and more
MacGimp
whipped into shape for OS X - MacGimp is the OS X flavour
of GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). GIMP is well established
in the Linux/open source markets as the image-editing solution
of choice, offering many features common to Photoshop
Meet
NetBeans - When you first think of NetBeans, you probably
think "It's a Java IDE." Really, it breaks down into four
categories
How do I write
and run a Java program in Mac OS X? - Write once. Run
anywhere. That's the slogan for Java and the reason that it
has become one of the most popular computer languages ever.
Mac OS X integrates Java right into the core of the operating
system bringing Java on the Mac to a whole new level. All
of the tools required to write, compile and run Java are included
and preinstalled with the operating system. You can start
using Java right out of the box with Mac OS X. Here's how
OS
X flaws draw hackers' eyes - The rising popularity of
the current Mac OS X and the new operating system's foundation
in the ubiquitous Unix operating system have started to draw
the scrutiny of hackers and security experts. The result:
Electronic mailing lists dedicated to security are seeing
the first reports of Mac OS X vulnerabilities.
Strings
in Cocoa: Part I - We'll start today by dealing with the
various ways to create strings, and the basic manipulation
methods that allow us to extract substrings, and search and
compare strings too. However, before I get into that, I want
to start with a mini-lesson about another concept of object-oriented
programming: class clusters
Stitcher
sews up Mac version, OS X version coming - Stitcher can
be used to create high-resolution panoramas for print, architectural
visualization, feature film and TV effects, and cylindrical
and spherical panoramas for the Web. As the first RealViz
product for the Mac, Stitcher currently supports Mac OS 9
and is in beta for Mac OS X
Multi-lingual
HTML Editor Released For OS X - MAKI Enterprise has updated
their multi-lingual HTML editor, Muwse, to version 1.09. Muwse
allows users to easily create Web sites in a number of languages,
and the latest version is Carbonized to run natively under
Mac OS X
Xerox
announces OS X-compatible laser printer - Xerox has released
a new laser printer that may be of interest to those users
migrating to Mac OS X. The Phaser 860 is the company's latest
network color printer and it's Mac OS X compatible
Mac
OS X 10.1 not ready until September? - Mac OS X 10.1,
codenamed Puma, may not ship later this month at Macworld
Expo New York as many Apple watchers are expecting
Apple:
Developers supporting OS X - Based on a recently released
survey conducted at this year's Worldwide Developer Conference,
Apple says that developers are supporting its next generation
operating system. In fact, Apple says that more than 50 percent
of developers that attended the show will release a product
for Mac OS X within the next six months
Apple
releases AppleWorks 6.2 for OS X - With the release of
version 6.2 AppleWorks adds the ability to automatically create
a document in PDF format for viewing and sharing over the
Internet. In addition, AppleWorks 6.2 includes DataViz file
translators, allowing users to open, save and share Microsoft
Word and Excel documents
Retrospect
OS X-beta double - Dantz has posted free beta versions
of Dantz Retrospect ¬ its system backup solution ¬ both for
Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server
Mac
OS X and Music: It's about time -- and timing - Apple's
strategy for an embedded music architecture in Mac OS X is
starting to emerge in the wake of the Worldwide Developer
Conference (WWDC) held in May
Mac
& Linux Users Vs. The Spanish Government - Think of a
tax service (IRS to US readers) that won°t make their online
calculation and payment tool available unless you work on
Windows: you actually need to get Virtual PC or go back to
paper, pencil, mistakes and queues... and you°re not paying
a penny less of tax, nor has Microsoft won any global tender
to be sole provider to the administration
OS
X Users to Get Finance Software with Quicken 2002 (with images)
- Quicken 2002 runs natively on Mac OS X, bringing another
leading app to the next-generation OS and providing OS X users
with a solid personal finance program. A source provided us
with several images of the new version in action,
Inside
Mesa for OS X - past, present and future - The first major
new office app for Apple's Mac OS X made its debut quietly
last week, and as you can see from the screenshots below,
it's very lovely indeed. But the Mesa spreadsheet actually
has an interesting history in its own right
Using
the Samsung Uproar MP3 Phone with Mac OS X - Alas, another
product without Mac support. Being a Mac user for my entire
computing life, I've heard it over and over again. But with
my Uproar phone, instead of bitching and whining, I decided
to do something about it. After a much wrestling on many fronts,
I'm able to use the Uproar with OS X. I've written a command
line utility to manage and transfer tracks to the phone
Mac
OS X hosts File - Are you tired of those in-your-face
popup ads? Let's nuke 'em. Here's how, the Mac OS X version
Is
BSD the tortoise? - I have to wonder whether all the leaps
that Linux has made in recent history will wind up being compared
against the slow, steady progress of the BSDs. The BSD-based
OSes all look to be doing better and better at the moment,
even without Linux's marketing fury behind them.
NECC:
Lucas Learning addresses future plans, Mac OS X - Lucas
Learning, which recently announced plans to exit the consumer
market, showcased its educational titles at this week's National
Educational Computing Conference (NECC) and also spoke with
MacCentral about its plans for the future, including the company's
view on Mac OS X
Hands-On
Mac OS X Training - These will be hands-on classes, with
one student per computer. Class size is limited to insure
that you get comfortable actually using OS X, instead of just
watching someone else use it
Updated
Beta Of OS X Word Processor Available - Stone Table Software
has released an updated beat version of Z-Write for Mac OS
X. Z-Write is a full-featured "non-linear" word processor,
allowing users to store a wide variety of information types
and formats in one file
Apple
OS X - Enemy of My Enemy - There have been calls for a
grassroots assault on Microsoft. The plan many are suggesting
is that Linux and Mac operating system users join forces
REVIEW:
Note Pad and Scrapbook in OS X - 27 Jun 12:34 Simon Aughton
REVIEW: Note Pad and Scrapbook in OS X Amongst the dozens of OS 9 features missing from OS X are two Mac stalwarts, the not-so-old Note Pad and the venerable Scrapbook. Shareware developers have therefore taken it upon themselves to provide an alternative and three products go a long way to achieving just that
Joy for Mac OS X - Joy for Mac OS X, the popular developer productivity and RAD tool by AAA+ Software, is now available in a new and improved version featuring full support for the new Mac OS X Project Builder
Picture Play for OS X - Picture Play is a Mac OS X application for creating collections of many images. It is basically an electronic collage
Mesa for OS X - P & L Software Ltd has announced a new release of its Mesa spreadsheet for Apple's Mac OS X operating system
Reg sinks claws into OS X paperbacks - Browsing through my favourite bookstore t'other day, I noticed that the once empty Macintosh section was now filled with shiny new titles offering to help anyone and everyone make the most of Mac OS X
"All your Unix belong to us" - With the release of OS X in March, Apple Computer effectively became the largest distributor of a Unix-based operating system in the world. Maybe with the hiring of Jordan Hubbard, Apple will finally grow a conscience about it and give something back to the open source community
Quick Tip - Nifty New Feature In Mac OS X 10.0.4 (With Pics) - Until now however, if you needed to force quit a Classic app, any attempt to do so basically shut down the entire Classic environment. We discovered that one of the undocumented features in Mac OS X 10.0.4 is the ability to force quit individual Classic apps without bringing down the entire environment.
Apple hires open-source leader - Apple Computer has hired Jordan Hubbard, founder and leader of the effort behind the open-source FreeBSD version of Unix, to work on Apple's operating system derived in part from FreeBSD
OS X Compatible HTML Editor Updated - [11:00 AM CDT] OS X Compatible HTML Editor Updated by Staff Split Software has updated their recently released HTML editor, NetSmith, to version 1.1. NetSmith is a full-featured Web authoring tool providing users with the ability to easily apply formatting and styles to various aspects of a Web site
SmartDisk Releases New iBook Charger Bay - [10:00 AM CDT] SmartDisk Releases New iBook Charger Bay by Staff Building off of the iBook's popularity in the education market, SmartDisk has released a new Charger Bay for Apple's latest laptop offering. The SmartDisk VST Charger Bay allows users to easily and securely store and charge their iBook
Corel Releases Bryce 5 For OS X - Throwing their hat into the OS X ring, Corel has announced that their powerful and popular 3D application, Bryce 5, will soon be available for Mac OS X. Bryce allows users to create visually stunning 3D landscapes and animations
App For Creating 3D Mesh Models Updated, Gains OS X Compatibility - Codenautics Software has updated their tool for creating 3D mesh models, Meshwork, to version 1.8. Meshwork allows users to easily create 3D mesh models for use in computer games, presentations, or Web sites
What's New & Improved In Mac OS X 10.0.4 - The biggest noticeable improvements appear to be a much faster Finder, a much more efficient Classic environment, better Dock performance, and more
How do I force a folder to open into a new window in the Finder? - If you hold down the Apple key (aka the Command key) when you double-click on a folder it will open the folder in a new window instead of replacing the contents of the current window
Finder 10.0: Foundering Flop But With Fantastic Future? - Unlike other aspects of Mac OS X, opinions on the Finder tend to be much less controversial. Agreement is almost universal: it sucks. But rather than just list the flaws of the Finder one by one, I want to take a different angle this time. Although I will mention the problems and issues with the current Finder build, my main goal here will be to talk about how Apple can address these faults and how they can turn the Finder into something that is a revolutionary leap beyond that which came before
Mac OS X and Toasters - I hate to be a nag, but have you done a firewall for your Mac yet? If you have, congratulations. Now you have partial protection from hackers and malcontents. If you haven't, well, times are going to get interesting for you, I guarantee it
Quake 3 1.29f Speed Tests: Mac OS X vs. Classic w/ GeForce3 - Release 1.29f is the first release that runs natively within Mac OS X. The release as been widely anticipated as it's expected
that a Mac OS X version would improve performance for Mac gamers. Combined with Mac OS X features such as symmetric multiprocessing and improved OpenGL 3D graphics, Mac OS X promises great things for 3D games
Apple Updates Mac OS X To Version 10.0.4 (ReadMe Included) - Apple has released the long awaited update to Mac OS X, version 10.0.4. The new update includes improved Classic performance, security enhancements, support for Apple's new 17" flat panel display, and more
Mac OS X's Finder: Cocoa rewrite not the answer - Apple should have written Finder using OS X's other API, Cocoa. But is that really the case? Certainly Carbon seems to be getting all the bad press, while Cocoa is being held up as some sort of shining beacon lighting the way to 'true' Mac OS X native apps
BBEdit 6.1 for Mac OS X - Understandably, many Mac OS X users are anxious for Microsoft Word to be Carbonized. I wouldn't mind seeing it myself. But since I'm a web author, MS Word isn't my critical text application -- BBEdit is. And BBEdit is ready to roll right now on Mac OS X
Is OS X On Track? - Apple is currently behind. We'll all have to cross our fingers that the company gets back on track between now and MacWorld New York.
The Command Line Makes Your Mac More Powerful - The commands and responses may be bewildering at first, but even the most visually oriented user should consider learning this lingo--some tasks can be accomplished much more quickly in the command line, and some are possible only in the command line
An Interview with the Authors of Learning Cocoa - Apple Computer recently teamed up with O'Reilly & Associates to publish books aimed at Macintosh developers and administrators. O'Reilly is working with Apple to produce titles on Mac OS X, Apple's new operating system--a move consistent with O'Reilly's commitment to the Open Source Movement
Creating a Color Meter Using Cocoa - In this column we°re going to create a simple Cocoa application that will allow us to explore how we interact with interfaces and obtain information from user controls
Looking For A Good, Free OS X Spreadsheet? Welcome Mesa! - you buy and use Office 2001 under Classic mode. Or, you can wait for the release of Office for OS X, some time this Fall, but if you want an advance peek at a Cocoa spreadsheet, with a long history on the Mac and other operating systems, check out Mesa
OS X Tip - Force Quit Apps From The Dock (With Pic) - If you are using, say, Internet Explorer and your cursor turns into the Spinning Wheel of Death, but the rest of your apps remain responsive, you probably need to Force Quit Internet Explorer. The two most common ways to do that are ...
Apple padlocks UI decor - APPLE HAS TALKED a lot about how Mac OS X demonstrates the company's belief in the open-source business model, but its treatment of a group of free-software developers suggests that the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker actually wants to put a few more locks on its traditionally closed box
OS X Developer tools - step in right direction - By providing powerful development tools at no cost, and making them very accessible, Apple is promoting development for Mac OS X. While this won't necessarily increase the commercial apps for Mac OS X, it will increase the amount of shareware and open source software available for Mac OS X.
Mac OS X Diary: The Final Frontier - I'm the guy who threw up his hands a couple of weeks ago when my partner -- a man with a bachelor's of science degree who's written a Unix-based OS -- had trouble installing OS X on a 233MHz iMac. I'm also the person who wondered what kind of problems a new computer user such as my 73-year-old grandmother would face with OS X if the next-generation operating system was causing these kind of headaches for my partner and me. Still, I installed it on her iMac -- and not because I've magically transformed into the world's cruelest grandson. Instead, the more I think about it, the more I believe OS X may be an ideal operating system for new computer users
InsideX: State of the OS: 10.0.3 - Here we are, three update iterations into Mac OS X. Is it ready for average Mac users yet? No. The more I work with it and delve into its details, the more I come to that conclusion. Mac OS X needs maturity. I'm not interested in slagging it, or coming up with nags and whines to throw in Apple's face. The fact is that this is one incredibly complex operating system, and Apple is still trying to pull it together into something Mac users will actually like, not merely tolerate
Building Building GD on Mac OS X 10.x - GD is a set of utilities for creating and manipulating JPEG and PNG images, as well as libraries for adding graphics support to other applications, notably PHP and Perl. The compile is fairly straightforward, but requires a couple of additional libraries be installed first (isn't that always the way?)
Windows XP hits where Apple's Aqua misses? - I'm going to get a lot of stick for this, but it has to be said: Mac OS X's Aqua user interface isn't the revolutionary leap forward Apple thinks it is
Two More for X: Symantec Updates Software Latest Versions of Norton AntiVirus, Personal Firewall to Run Natively in New OS
Mac OS X Little Black Book - A few books on Mac OS X are already available. One of the first, if not the first, is Gene Steinberg's Mac OS X Little Black Book. We purchased Gene's book in late May to read on a two week trip that included two gruelingly long airplane flights
Email Servers and Mac OS X - Are you becoming frustrated trying to make your Mac OS X machine act as a proper email server? Have you been considering turning your Mac into an email server but you were not sure where to start? Are you intimidated by sendmail? This suite of documents may help
Unix for the Rest of Us - How is it that this OS, billed by Steve Jobs as Apple's code base for the next decade, is built on a core that's decades old? To some, it might seem strange that such an important strategic building block depends on seemingly ancient technology
How "Human" Is The Mac OS X Interface? - So what does the human interface of Mac OS X look like now, three months down the track? What can be said about the controversial dock, the menus, the Finder? These are the questions that I will address in this column. I'm not concerned here with technical interface issues, such as the lack of speed and the lack of threading in the Finder; rather I'm interested in discussing the interface paradigm shifts that Apple's new OS has brought with it
Carbonize Your Canvas - Next Version of Deneba Illustration and Layout App to Run on OS X
QT Authoring on Native Mac OS X - I don't want to run Classic when I'm on the go with my laptop. After all, I'm just a writer with a mere 192 Mbytes of RAM. I can't afford to be opening up Classic willy nilly unless I really need to. I want to work as much as I can in native Mac OS X, at least on the PowerBook. It's too late to turn back now.
Apple climbs a mountain - Out in the main office, Mac OS 9.1 continues to be in the mainstream, which is probably only to be expected for mission critical stuff on which most folk tend towards severe conservatism, but use of OS X is obviously growing quickly.
The OS X User's Duty: Improve Performance - My mailbox overflowed this week with e-mail from readers questioning my authority on OS X. Apparently, my foolishly overlooking the minimum RAM requirements for OS X fired many of you up, and led you to conclude my iMac troubles were due to a lack of RAM. Let me assure you, that wasn't the problem. Unless that RAM was bad, it would not affect the startup of my iMac, OS X or no OS X
Xfree86 4.1.0, OS X Instructions Posted - The X Window Server system, Xfree86, has been updated to 4.1.0. Xfree86 is an implimentation of the X Window server, which allows users to compile and run applications written for the X Window server on a wide variety of Unix based operating systems, for OS X
Cocoa Carbon Classic and Compatibility - Today, Mac OS X seems exceptionally stable and usable. However, there still remains a considerable number of Mac users who are hesitant to switch to Apple's shiny new operating system. It leaves one asking, why would anyone choose to stay with Mac OS 9 and below? There is an important reason for that choice, but there is little Apple can do about it. Here's why.
Mac OS X crashes: Radeon not guilty - Fellow Mac OS X adopters who have bought - or are thinking of buying - ATI's retail Radeon graphics card can rest assured: Radeon Mac Edition is supported by Mac OS X - despite all my curmudgeonly complaints that it wasn't
Fair Game: What OS X Means for Gaming on the Mac - This is the first of two parts on OS X and gaming on the Mac. This installment focuses on how games are ported to the Mac, while Part Two will cover OSX's impact on gaming development
WWDC Fires Up Java on Mac OS X - Without any introduction, Steve Jobs walks onstage holding a Mac OS X box. He begins by saying how glad he is not to be talking about some future OS but about the currently shipping Mac OS X. He smiles and explains that he's been back at Apple for almost four years and that the "biggest reason I came [back] was I didn't want to use Windows for the rest of my life."
Missing Some OS 9 Features In OS X? Try X-Assist - Sure, there are some new, interesting features in Mac OS X, but some may long for some of the navigation features available under OS 9. OS X has a Dock, and an Apple menu, but they don't offer the same functionality the good ol' Application and Apple Menu of OS 9. All is not lost however, because you can add some of this functionality back into OS X with X-Assist
Using a Dedicated Swapfile Partition to Speed Up MacOS X - One of my biggest gripes with MacOS X is that although the Aqua interface is beautiful, it requires tons of overhead and a very fast processor to keep things moving along. While there are a few tactics that work well in speeding up MacOS X including turning off Finder zoom rects, adding more physical RAM, regularly defragmenting the drive and reducing display colors to thousands, the single most effective procedure I have come across is to dedicate a partition to the vitrual memory swap file used by the BSD subsystem
Mac OS X: Reg box stable - at last... - Two issues face anyone migrating to Mac OS X: ensuring the system is sufficiently stable and feature-equipped to be used on a solid, day-to-day basis, and having the applications to do productive work. As reinstall followed crash followed reinstall followed crash, I began to wonder whether I'd even have to worry about the second point
The Whole Widget - If the majority of users shouldn't be using OS X yet (as the OS is an early-adopter release), then in what fashion would these users be using OS X? Is the software merely something to wet the users' appetite, so that they might wait in greater anticipation for "the real thing?" Why would any developer change their adoption plan for what many are calling a "practice" OS?
Mac OS X: The Trauma Of Change - In all the excitement, I didn't notice that Mac OS X doesn't appear to have an uninstall utility. My further investigation only confirmed that there isn't one, unless you consider Wipe 'n' Load a legitimate option. Good protocol would suggest that an uninstall option should be part of every software package. That said, I positively endorse OS X and encourage you to work through the teething pains if you've upgraded recently
Desktop Freedom - Like many things, you need a personal reason why you want to upgrade to OS X. Mine was all about reliability. Sure, I love the interface too, and the way Finder works, but those were icing on the cake for me. Remember that I had the warm-up experience of OS X Beta as well, where I learned how things worked
A Piece of Cake With Cocoa - Steve Jobs is banking that programmers will acquire a taste for this easy-to-use package of OS X software-development tools
Mac OS X Server can meet all your business neeeds - At first glance, one might be quick to summarize OS X Server as OS X with a collection of add-on Apple and third-party tools. The reality though is that this is a completely integrated package and not just an ad-hoc collection of tools. For years, users have been asking for "Enterprise-class" server hardware and software. Apple is finally delivering on one of these. OS X server has enough functionality and features to easily supplant Windows 2000 and Linux in most situations and is well worth a look for any Mac-based business
Cocoa Dreams - Rather than chanting monks of the Mac, I find a fractious and argumentative bunch, as often up in arms against Apple Computer as they are singing it's praise, and the general respect afforded Steve Jobs is tempered by doubts and accusations that sometimes border on the libelous. Especially now, while we're all caught up in the upheaval of changing our operating system from the hallowed classic to the brand new Unix based model, I find a tremendous tension between Cupertino and the Macintosh army
The OS X Curmudgeon Grumbles Again, Part 2 - First, I have used OS X -- not a lot, but my son has been running it on his Lombard PowerBook since the developer preview builds of early 2000. It's been his main working system since the public beta was released last summer, so I have a fairly extensive and comprehensive reference to draw on
Mac developers offer WWDC perspectives - Attendees of this year's World Wide Developers' Conference, Apple Computer Inc.'s annual assemblage for those who build applications for the Macintosh, are noticing marked differences in the company's stances on such issues as Java and games
Building Apache 1.3.19 and PHP 4.0 for Mac OS X 1.0 - Open source software is always evolving, and so it isn't a huge surprise that since Apple sent the Mac OS X golden master to pressing Apache has been updated once again. However, it is somewhat surprising that none of Apple's downloadable updates have included an upgraded version of Apache (with PHP working, since PHP is broken in the release). So, we can build it ourselves
The Best Way To Optimize Mac OS X - One of the biggest and most oft-voiced criticisms of the new OS is its lack of speed and responsiveness. Despite all the good things about Mac OS X many users find themselves switching back to Mac OS 9 because they are frustrated. "Things are simply faster in 9", they say. "I spend half of my time watching the spinning rainbow (busy) cursor," they say. In this edition of Hot Cocoa I will talk about some ways in which I personally have overcome these frustrations
Creating Photorealistic Icons for Mac OS X - "Who cares about icons?" you may be thinking to yourself. Remember that icons not only represent your application, but they are your brand, your identity. They have always been an important part of the Macintosh experience, but in Mac OS X, the size and prominence of icons is elevated to a level never seen before in an operating system
Mac Technologies Enabled for Java - For more than a year now, Apple has hammered the message of wanting to make Mac OS X the premier desktop for running Java applications. In general, that seemed to mean that apps would look prettier when running with the Aqua look-and-feel, and that performance would be a priority -- both of those are laudable goals. Now the Apple engineers have opened up a whole new range of possibilities by wrapping some of the Mac OS X APIs into JavaBeans
Finally, made-for-Mac OS X applications turn the corner - One of my biggest complaints has been the dearth of made-for-Mac OS X applications; I devoted an entire column to that subject last March. Now, I'm happy to report, things are changing for the better. Since then, hundreds of programs have been released that are made for Mac OS X
Big Mac Heart Attack - Finally! I found a way to crash Mac OS X! Twice! It wasn't easy
First Images of Warcraft III on OS X - Close on the heels of E3 and during WWDC it seems the perfect time for Blizzard to release more Warcraft III screen shots -- and these were taken on a Mac, with the game running native in OS X
Mac OS X interface makes other OSs look bland - Living in Apple's new operating system for a month was not something I had planned. But after I started using Mac OS X's fluid, jewel-like "Aqua" interface, the rest of the computing world began to look homely
Cocoa Vs. Carbon? - With Mac OS X, there are a number of frameworks that can access the functionality of the system. So many in fact, that a fair share of Monday's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) sessions were devoted to explaining the four primary frameworks of Java, BSD, Carbon, and Cocoa and how they fit together
Java Plays Prominent Role at WWDC 2001 - At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2001), Steve Naroff, Apple's senior director of Java technologies and core tools, gave developers an overview of Java support on Mac OS X. Naroff wants to be known as a developer too, and not just a director. So the introductory slide also listed him as "Dynamic Object Dweeb."
Building Apache, MySQL, and PHP on Mac OS X - The BSD core in Mac OS X allows for any program that is able to be compiled on Linux, BSD, or any other UNIX or UNIX derivative to be compiled and run in Mac OS X. The fusion of the Mac OS's ease of use with the power of UNIX has attracted much attention from the open source community, and many open source developers have worked to make sure their projects will work well on the new system
MacAddict Tips for Mac OS X - We asked the folks at MacAddict if
we could reprint one of their lists, and they gave us a big thumbs up. I chose "10 Ways to Customize OS X" because I wanted to include a little something for everyone
Platform Agnostic - We believe that running on OS X may be an important feature for, our primary target market, publishing companies. Many publishing companies are Mac-only shops. Many are moving forward to the new OS X and will want to include it in their web publishing plans. In testing on the new OS X we came across a surprising speed differential between Macs and Windows PCs
Jobs to Developers: No Time Like the Present - Jobs was speaking to a sympathetic house. As soon as the doors opened 15 minutes before the keynote started, the crowd rushed in -- stampeded, actually -- obviously anxious to be as close to the stage as possible to get the latest news
Apple offers free OS X upgrades for new Mac buyers - Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced yesterday during his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference that Apple is now shipping all Macs both with Mac OS X and Mac OS 9.1 pre-installed.
Games Demonstrated on OS X at WWDC - the games being demonstrated on the latest Apple hardware at the World Wide Developer's Conference, just getting underway. Among the list of games running natively on Apple's next-gen OS you will find American McGee's Alice, Oni, Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
WWDC Keynote - The temperature outside was soaring to 95, but a fire blazed inside the San Jose Convention Center, setting the scene for a Fireside Chat by Steve Jobs, opening event of Apples 2001 Worldwide Developers Conference. The keynote also starred Avie Tevanian, Apple senior VP of software engineering, and his teams creation, Mac OS X
Relational Databases and Mac OS X, Part 2 - As Mac users confront the geeky realities associated with Unix as the core of Mac OS X, they may not be aware of their newly acquired capability to run powerful relational database software. In part one of this article, I discussed the basics of how relational databases work (see TidBITS-580). This week, I want to cover some commercial and open-source databases currently available for Mac OS X.
WWDC - Apple Unveils New OS X Server - At today's World Wide Developers Conference Apple has released the next version of their OS X Server software. Based on OS X 10.0 and the Aqua GUI, OS X Server offers users and system administrators a full array of powerful network management and maintenance tools. Including Apache, WebObjects 5, Samba, and the QuickTime Streaming Server
Mac OS X: Then And Now - My first observation is to note how the Mac press toned down its criticism. I remember the massively pessimistic opinions when Apple unveiled Aqua and demonstrated the new OS. It became even more sour when the public beta landed on people's drives. If words could kill, I think that many Mac fans' outbursts would have ripped Steve Jobs apart, into small pieces
Build Your First Cocoa App - In this article, I want to get you started using the developer tools, with a bit of exposure to Project Builder, but more specifically Interface Builder. We will also create our first Cocoa application, which I think you will find to be quite rich in functionality despite its unique nature -- that is, it requires no coding on your part at all
Will OS X's Unix roots help Apple grow? - By choosing to build Mac OS X on Unix, the company opens up thousands of new applications to Mac owners--potentially expanding Apple's market share--and gives Unix developers access to a lucrative new audience
Apple installs OS X on all new Macs - Apple Computer has started installing the new Mac OS X operating system on all of its new computers, CEO Steve Jobs told developers at a conference here Monday
Cro-Mag Rally Updates for OS X - Pangea Software has released a minor update for their action racer Cro-Mag Rally which improves the function of the game under OS X
Making The Most Of Mail.app - Part 2: Mail Preferences - This week we are going to dive a little deeper into OS X's Mail.app and talk about the application's preferences. This column is targeted more toward the user that is just getting his or her feet wet with OS X, or someone who has not spent a lot of time with Mail
Unix is Complex - most of the opinions about OS X today are moot: without Apple shipping OS X as the default OS on all Macs, most popular applications running only in Classic, critical hardware drivers absent, major features like DVD movie playing missing, and lots of bugs and potential interface changes, OS X is in a state of transition. It won't be more or less "finished" (and comparable to OS 9 for real work) for a least a year. Until then, everything about OS
X is like reviewing beta software.
Under the Desktop: Should You Upgrade to Mac OS X? - Under the Desktop: Should You Upgrade to Mac OS X? It's easy to get caught up in the Mac OS X frenzy, but does it make sense to install this new operating system? David Morgenstern advises looking at your workflow and pain tolerance before taking the plunge
Mac OS X and Battery Life - I received a note from Peter Fraterdeus, who is a longtime Mac user, developer, and Linux webmaster, saying that he had some insights into the battery drain problem on laptops running early versions of Mac OS X. Peter ran some tests and was willing to share his discoveries with the O'Reilly audience
Lynch blazes trail on OS X - With FreeHand 10 first past the post in the race to port a major application to Mac OS X, Macromedia is helping to bed-down Apple's next-generation operating system. Here, in an exclusive interview with Macworld news editor JONNY EVANS, Macromedia president of products, Kevin Lynch speaks about Mac OS X, as well as throwing light on Internet trends, and the past, present and future of the company
Relational Databases and Mac OS X, Part 1 - Love it or hate it, Mac OS X ships with Unix under its hood. As a user, I worry the Mac experience could degrade into editing brittle text configuration files and typing obscure and unforgiving commands. As a programmer, I'm overjoyed because we Mac users now have access to certain industrial-strength software. This is the type of software that drives Fortune 500 companies, calculates extremely complex chemical reactions, and generates the movies we watch. Since I don't make movies and I'm not a scientist, I'm most interested in the business side of this software. In particular, I'm interested in relational databases
Writers' Talk With Guest Wil Shipley - We thought that the OmniGroup president, Wil Shipley, who designed and coded the UIs and front-ends for OmniWeb, would be a terrific guest on Writers' Talk. Wil agreed to join Aqua columnist Alan Graham and me for a chat about his OmniWeb browser
Apple - Mac OS X - FreeHand - Todays illustrators face a dizzying array of publishing options from static print images to dynamic Web animations. Professional tools should make your life easier. FreeHand 10 on Mac OS X does.
Mac OS X's Command Line -- What's All The Fuss About? - Debates have long raged between advocates of CLIs and those of GUIs (a good source of info on GUI design is David K. Every's MacKiDo Web site). On one side, staunch CLI aficionados argue that there is nothing that can't be done with a CLI and that certain operations are undeniably faster. On the other, GUI devotees point to the Mac's ease of use and take a line of argument very similar to that of the CLI cognoscenti: they say there's nothing a GUI can't do and there are some things that are much easier and faster
The Multiprocessor Option - Apple has not been too strong in the multiprocessor area. Up to the launch of OS X, there was no Mac operating system with good multitasking, let alone strong multiprocessor support. A multiprocessor system can speed up individual applications if they are multithreaded, but the easiest speedup you can get from extra processors is running multitasking more effectively. OS X has the potential to turn the situation around
Tell Me about OS X - *NIX, UNIX or Trademark Violation? - Ever since Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) introduced OS X, there have been a handful of individuals who've debated whether Apple's latest operating system -- which incorporates technologies from both Apple's Open Source Darwin Operating System, as well as those from BSD -- is in fact a true UNIX operating system
Making The Most Mail.app - Part I: Accounts & Mailboxes - I imagine that most of you reading this column have taken a stab at using Apple's included Mail application as your OS X e-mail client. While mail is not the perfect solution for the uber-mailers amongst us, it is a solid application and will serve the basic needs of most OS X users. This column is going to provide an overview of Mail, as well as a few hints to get the most from the new application
Mac OS X for Web Developers - The biggest change, at least as far as Web developers are concerned, was to the Web serving side of things, which is a whole different ballgame under Mac OS X.
A New Millennium For The Macintosh? - We're finally in the new millennium, and Apple has marked the occasion with the release of its new operating system--the much-discussed OS X. Since the Macintosh rarely gets the sort of IT executive attention its users say it should, the advent of a new operating system offers a good juncture to review the state of Macs in the enterprise Internet world.
To OS X or not to OS X: that is the question - With all the hype about OS X, many of us are asking one important question: should I or shouldn°t I upgrade to OS X? Here are some pros and cons
Mining for Quartz in Cocoa - Documentation Overview - Apple's Quartz drawing technology is accessible through various interfaces, which are all together very convenient to use and extremely powerful. Although a lot of documentation about Quartz is provided with the Developer Tools (included with MacOS X) as well as available online, much of this information is currently difficult to find
Can Apple score a perfect ten? - OS X - pronounced "ten" - has been delivered with a minimum of fuss and fanfare. A beta version of the software, released last October, was greeted with cautious approval by the Macintosh faithful. Now we have the real thing. And it's not bad
What Does This Mac OS X 10.0.3 Update Do Anyway? - We reported yesterday that Apple had released an update to Mac OS X bringing it to version 10.0.3. However, Apple's own update page had mixed up information on what the update did
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