Apple

I’ve been a Mac user since 1991, so it’s inevitable that I’d have this as a category.

Trying to get caught up

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So far, I’ve found two (and only two) downsides to the new computer.

Firstly, I need to get used to having a single monitor again. I’ve been using a dual-monitor setup for the past few years with my old Mac, using two 17\” CRT monitors. Once was an old Apple monitor that used the old proprietary Apple monitor connector, and the other was a standard VGA monitor attacheched to a VGA port on a second video card.

I can’t do this on the new machine, though. While its video card has two ports, and will drive two monitors quite comfortably, one port is the new ADC port for Apple’s LCD screens, and the other is a DVI port for non-Apple LCD screens. The machine came with a DVI to VGA adaptor, so I can run one of my 17\” monitors, but that’s it. I’ll get used to it, it’s just feeling a bit cramped right now, and I keep losing windows.

Guess what just rocketed to the top of my wish list? ;)

Secondly, after spending the weekend getting things set up and configured on the new machine — and doing a fair amount of playing and marvelling at the new goodies — I’m way behind in reading all of my usual websites. Uff-da.

So, things have been a little slow for the past few days, but I’m working on getting back up to speed. Small prices to pay, really.

Excluding OS X?

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So I’m in the midst of getting my new machine all configured the way I like it, installing software, drivers, etc. I use a Microsoft Office Keyboard (that’s discontinued), so I hit Microsoft’s keyboard pages to download the software. As I was working my way through the download process (verify system requirements, choose your product, choose your OS, choose your language, and download), I was presented with these choices when choosing my operating system:

Mac OS 10.1 - 10.2.x (excluding OS X)

Anybody want to take a stab at explaining to me just what operating system Microsoft thinks I’m running on my Mac that has a version number equal to or greater than 10.0, and yet excludes OS X?

My new toy!

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So today was the big day — new computers for both Prarie and me! Prairie got a new iMac (which came with all sorts of other goodies), and I got my G5. Once we got home and unloaded the car, we had to memorialize the occasion…

All of our new goodies...

I opened mine up first — I’d been waiting for this for a while, and there was only room on the bed for one of us to unpack at a time, so Prairie was kind enough to let me dive in first. After a minor incident with the knife I used to slit the tape on the box (it’s okay, I didn’t really need that part of my fingertip anyway), I got to see in person what I’d been drooling over online for the past few months.

Two! Count them! Two! Ah ha ha ha ha!

And, just a few minutes later, everything was plugged in and I was up and running. I haven’t installed any really processor intensive applications yet, but even with just poking around at the basic stuff that comes pre-installed, this is so much nicer than my old machine. I’m definitely looking forward to taxing it a bit more in the future — right now, the biggest speed test I’ve had has been with opening iPhoto. On my old G3, with an iPhoto library pushing 2000 photos, it was a good minute or two for the application to open and be ready to use. On the G5? Roughly three seconds.

Oh, and I was highly amused by this. Never having unpacked an iMac before, I wasn’t expecting to see this, but from what we could see when we opened up Prairie’s box — it’s a boy!

It's a boy!

Geek porn!

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Cute girl + Dual 2.0 Ghz PowerMac G5 = Geek Porn! ;)

If all goes well, I should be doing this very thing this weekend. ‘Cept I won’t be nearly as photogenic while doing it. And I don’t think I’d look as good in that dress. Other than that, though, it’ll be exactly the same. Really.

Credit where credit is due

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Wil’s request for a WMV-to-Qicktime converter reminded me of something that I’ve had rattling around in my head for a bit.

I’m fairly obvious about having a strong anti-Microsoft bias. However, I do have to admit (and really don’t mind doing so) that the Macintosh team at Microsoft does some truly kick-ass work. Nearly everything that MS has produced for the Mac in the past few years has been fairly impressive. Even with as much as I bash Internet Explorer in all its variations, when IE 5 for Mac OS X was released, it was the best browser on the market. The fact that it’s since been superceded by other browsers and subsequently abandoned by Microsoft isn’t the fault of the Mac team there, I’m sure.

What popped this into my head a couple weeks ago was, of all things, the driver software for the Microsoft Office keyboard, Intellitype Pro. Where the PC version of the software is its own standalone application, the Mac version of the software integrates right into the OS X control panel. More of a standout feature, though, is the fact that on the Mac, you can assign special functions to all the extra special keys on an application-by-application basis — something which I hardly thought about until I tried to do the same thing on my PC and discovered that it wasn’t possible. Score one more for the Mac team.

All that said, though, there is one glaring exception to the rule — and that’s the Mac version of Windows Media Player. Horrid little application, that one. I’m more surprised when I find a .wmv file that it can open, and even then, performace (at least on my 350Mhz G3) is abysmal. At least that’s the only stumbling block I’ve seen from them. I can’t say that I’m too distraught over having limited-to-nonexistant Windows Media functionality on my Mac, anyway.

So, that’s it, really. Kudos to the Microsoft at Mac team. Now, why don’t you all go tell the rest of the company how to write decent software? ;)

(Oh, and incidentally, I was also looking for a WMV-to-Quicktime converter a couple weeks ago, and found diddley.)

Bugfixes are good

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Well, that was a nice surprise. I just updated my Mac to OS X 10.2.8, and on restart, discovered a bug fix.

I’ve had an issue for a while now with my iPod where if I restart the machine with the iPod plugged in, it doesn’t behave correctly after the restart. It will mount to the Finder fine, but iTunes and iSync don’t recognize it at all. The only fix is to unmount and unplug it, shut down the machine, and then unplug the machine’s power cord and let it sit for five minutes before powering it on again — apparently this will clear a frozen FireWire port.

I forgot to unplug the iPod after installing the update tonight, though, and was pleasantly surprised to see iSync and iTunes launching after login, indicating that they saw the iPod without a hitch. Nice!

New PowerBooks!

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Well, it finally happened — Apple has finally updated their PowerBook line (Apple’s page isn’t updated yet, though — Steve’s still onstage giving the keynote speech at the Europe Apple Expo).

~~Since the keynote is still in progress, details are a bit sketchy, but~~

Here’s some key points of what MacRumors has posted so far:

  • The G5 will hit 3Ghz by the end of summer ’04.
  • iChat is based on standards and should be compatible with Windows software soon.
  • New 17\” PowerBook: 1.33GHz, 2GB RAM Max, \$2999. Mobility Radeon 9600. 2x Superdrive.
  • New 12\” PowerBook: 1GHz with 512k Cache, \$1599. GeForce FX GO, USB 2.0. Both available today. \$1799 12\”/Superdrive.
  • New 15\” PowerBook: Aluminum. Slot Loading Drive. Backlit Keyboard. 15.2\” TFT. 1.25GHz, G4. Up to 2GB DDR RAM 333MHz. Radeon Mobility, DVI, FW800, 2 USB, Airport Extreme. \$1999 Combodrive model. Superdrive for \$2599. One config has 1GHz, 60GB, 256MB. 1.25GHz has 512MB RAM and 80GB HD.
  • A New mouse and keyboard. No wire, but bluetooth. adaptive frequency hopping – a new technology to keep a better connection. 128-bit encryption.

Update:

Added links to Apple official product info pages and replaced Euro pricing with USD pricing.

20 Tips for new G5 owners

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This one’s mostly just for me — originally from Ken Tidwell and posted on MacInTouch, but as their archives can be difficult to search, I wanted to keep this around. If all goes well, it might come in handy in a couple weeks. ;)

  1. RAM must be added in pairs only…all models. Opinions vary, but 1gb \~ 2gb RAM seems to be a general minimum before these units really shine. […]

  2. Clean the cast aluminum exterior with iKlear from Apple, or a mild dishwashing detergent.

  3. PCI-X (1.8GHz and 2.0GHz G5s only) supports both PCI-X and PCI… but 3.3 volts only… not 5 V.

  4. The case latch can be used as a locking point for a security cable.

  5. Carbon Copy Cloner is a great tool for moving data from another Mac.

  6. Virtual PC (current version…6?) will not yet run on a G5.

  7. The OS shipping with the G5s at this time is an interim OS, and does not yet support the 64-bit capability of this machine. Give it another 2 to 4 months.

  8. FireWire 800 uses a different connector from FireWire 400 (and Sony’s 4-pin connector).

  9. The Sony DVD writer is not capable of handling DVD+R.

  10. The aluminum case inhibits Bluetooth and Airport signals…don’t forget to mount the external antenna(s).

  11. The G5 will automatically reduce processor speed in response to having the side cover(s) removed. There is also a system preference for selective control. From the G5 Developer Note:

    Fan speed control: The speeds of the fans are thermally controlled and are automatically set as low as possible to minimize noise. System performance can be specified by a “high/reduced/automatic” pulldown option provided in the Energy Saver Control pane in System Preferences.

  12. The rear video connector labeled DVI supports both DVI-I and DVI-D.

  13. The rear digital audio connection is a TOSLINK connector…be sure to buy optical cables that use the square (indexed) connector (not round) on at least one end.

  14. The four screws on the interior bulkhead near the drives are spares that are used when installing a second hard disk. [photo]

  15. The analog audio input on the rear can be used for directly connecting a microphone, which must be self-powered. [Apple’s G5 Developer Note, however, says:

    “The audio inputs are designed to accept high-level audio signals: 2.2 Vrms or +8 dbu, which is the standard output level from CD and DVD players. The output level of some consumer audio devices is lower, often 0.316 Vrms or -10 dbV. Sound recordings made on the Power Mac G5 with such low-level devices have more noise than those made with high-level devices.”

    -MacInTouch]

  16. The power supply is auto-ranging, meaning it will switch between two choices of voltages: 100-125V AC or 200-240V AC.

  17. The USB ports on the computer itself are USB 2.0, while the USB ports on the keyboard are USB 1.1.

  18. G5 owners interested or working with ‘High Throughput Computing’ are advised to check out Condor.

  19. G5’ers curious about 64-bit computing can start here: [Ars Technica 64-bit introduction]

  20. A good demo for friends and family is always a movie…stop by the Apple Quicktime site for latest trailers.

Apples for Alaskans

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Looks like high schoolers in Alaska’s Denali Borough School District will be getting Apple PowerBook G4 computers for their school year!

When school begins Sept. 15, the Denali Borough School District will become the first in Alaska to provide a laptop computer for every student in grades 9 through 12. A total of 129 laptop computers are being prepared to hand over to high schoolers at Tri-Valley, Anderson and Cantwell schools.

This “one-on-one initiative” is the result of a partnership between the Denali Borough School District and Apple Computer, and is based on programs in other states, particularly in Virginia and in Maine.

(via MacBytes)