« 19. Oktober 2003 - 25. Oktober 2003 | Start | 2. November 2003 - 8. November 2003 »

1.11.2003

'Wo ist was' in 10.3

So einige gewohnte Funktionalitäten aus Jaguar haben sich in 10.3 an andere, mal mehr, mal weniger sinnvolle Orte begeben. Hier eine kleine Liste, um wirres Gesuche zu ersparen (stark angelehnt an diesen macfixit-Artikel):

Disk Copy ist nun im Disk Utility (Festplattendienstprogramm) untergebracht, zu finden unter Applications (Programme) -->Utilities (Dienstprogramme) -->Disk Utility (Festplattendienstprogramm)

Process Viewer und CPU Monitor sind in den erheblich brauchbareren Activity Viewer (Aktivitäts-Anzeige) eingeflossen, ebenfalls im Utilities Folder.

Der Apple System Profiler heißt nun einfach nur noch System Profiler (und findet sich nach wie vor im Utilites Folder)

Aus dem Print Center wurde das Printer Setup Utility ((Drucker Dienstprogramm).

Key Caps gibt es nicht mehr (wer daran denkt, kann es sich allerdings aus Jaguar rüberkopieren, es läuft angeblich einwandfrei unter X.3), dafür kann man per Syseinstellungen --> International (Landeseinstellungen) --> Input Menu (Tastaturmenü) den Keyboard Viewer (Tastaturübersicht) auswählen, hat dann allerdings ständig eine Flagge im Menü.

Login Items sind nun in den Syseinstellungen unter Accounts (Benutzer) --> Startup Items (Startobjekte).

Internet Einstellungen sind nun in Safari bzw. mail.app, wer diese allerdings lieber selbst programmunabhängig festlegt, dürfte mit More Internet gut beraten sein (mehr über das Verschwinden der Interneteinstellungen bei chaff).

Und die eigenständige schwebende Analog Uhr ist nun in die Datum&Uhrzeiteinstellungen integriert (unter Uhr, 'Darstellen in Fenster').


Wer noch weiteres vermisst, oder anderes gefunden hat, bitte einfach in die immer willkommenen Kommentare schreiben (man muss sich nicht registrieren und die email und URL-Angabe ist natürlich optional)...

Posted by Leo at 14:36 | Permalink | Kommentare (2) | TrackBack (0)

31.10.2003

Apples Statement zu Sicherheitslücken in OS X

Apple liefert nun ein Statement zu den angeblichen Sicherheitslücken unter OS X (bis 10.2.8):

"Apple's policy is to quickly address significant vulnerabilities in past releases of Mac OS X wherever feasible," Apple said in a statement given to MacCentral. "The shipment of Panther does not change this policy. Apple has an excellent track record of working with CERT and the open source community to proactively identify and correct potential vulnerabilities."
Nachzulesen bei MacCentral.

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10.3 Himmel und Hölle

An Expose, Fast User Switching und all den anderen grandiosen und augengefälligen Neuigkeiten in 10.3 kann man sich natürlich zur Genüge erfreuen, aber richtige Systemzufriedenheit stellt sich erst durch die Details ein.
So wird z.B. endlich in Passworteingabefeldern per Zeichen auf eine gedrückte Caps-Lock Taste hingewiesen (das funktioniert nicht nur beim Login, sondern zumindest auch in Safari):

loginzoid.jpg

Außerdem lässt sich Software Update pausieren und verschwundene Server bereiten wohl auch keine Aufregung mehr.

Dafür sorgt das momentane FireWire-Fiasko mit Panther für genügend graue Haare, ich bin heilfroh, dass meine ONE FW 400 Platte heil über das Update gelangt ist (war allerdings dabei auch nicht angeschlossen).

Posted by Leo at 16:48 | Permalink | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack (0)

30.10.2003

'Expect to see a lot more G5 clusters'

dr_v_1.jpg'The world's largest switcher' Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan (Direktor der Terascale Computing Facility an der Virginia Tech University) erzählte auf der O'Reilly Mac OS X Konferenz von seiner Power Mac G5 Bestellung:
"On June 23 Apple announced the G5. Varadarajan said that contrary to rumors, it was the first that they had heard about it as well. On June 26 they told Apple they were interested in placing a "fairly large order". A day later he flew to California and met with Apple. One of their first questions was how long he'd been a Mac owner. Varadarajan said he never had one. Twenty-four hours later Apple committed. Starting on September 5, the G5's arrived in Virginia. An audience member asked if he'd made the purchase through the Apple store. Varadarajan smiled and said that actually, yes, he had."
Varadarajan reported that "our latest numbers are 9.555 tera and we still have more tricks left. We are hoping for another 10 percent boost to become the first academic machine to cross 10 tera. The last ratings put us at number three worldwide."
Im Moment läuft der Cluster übrigens noch unter X.2.7, soll aber in den nächsten Wochen 'pantherized' werden.

Auch in der eWeek berichtet man über das verstärkte Interesse an Apple aus dem Bildungsbereich:
"There is a lot of interest in Macs because everyone sitting in this domain of scientific computing realizes that here you have a processor that can really do numericals," he said. "It can do numericals better than anybody out there, and that's what they care about."

Mehr über die Konferenz auch bei Wired:
"O'Reilly suggested that networking technologies like Rendezvous or iChat buddy lists should be built into all of Apple's software. If instant messaging were added to the Address Book function included with OS X, the result would be something like Friendster, the wildly popular dating/socializing network, O'Reilly said.
"The reason I'm excited about Apple is I think they are a real leader in this area, but they are not thinking hard enough how to complete the picture," he chided.

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X.3 Tricks: Adressbuch + Dock

Sehr praktisch heute bei macosxhints (die übrigens eine eigene Seite mit hervorragenden und ständig aktualisierten 10.3 Tricks haben):
Nummer 1: Um sich im Adressbuch die zugehörigen Gruppen zu einem bestimmten Kontakt anzeigen zu lassen, muss man nur den entsprechenden Kontakt auswählen und option (aka alt, aka Badewannentaste!) drücken und schon wird sanft markiert, in welchen Gruppen diese Person einsortiert ist.
Sieht übrigens so aus:

groupmark.jpg

Nummer 2: Man kann nun ins Dock minimierte Fenster per Rechtsklick (oder natürlich auch control-klick) schließen. Funktioniert im Moment leider ausschließlich bei Finder-Fenstern, aber es lässt hoffen!

Posted by Leo at 10:56 | Permalink | Kommentare (7) | TrackBack (1)

Neuartige Sicherheitslücken in OS X

ZDNet berichtet von Sicherheitswarnungen für OS X, herausgegeben von @Stake, die angeblich nur alle X Versionen bis 10.2.8 betreffen sollen (nachdem es für 10.3 ja gestern gerade ein Patch gegeben hatte), woraus empört gefolgert wird, dass Apple nun wohl vorhaben sollte, Geld für ein sicheres System zu verlangen (in Form des Upgrades auf Panther).
Wer kurz in seinem Gedächtnis kramt, wird sich vielleicht erinnern, dass @stake Ende September in die Schlagzeilen geriet, weil einem Angestellten, der an einer Microsoft kritischen Studie mitgearbeitet hatte, fristlos gekündigt wurde (nachzulesen bei heise, auch bei mir seinerzeit verlinkt).

Entsprechend gibt es eine kritische Anmerkung bei macdailynews:
"Microsoft has been taking quite a hit recently, and rightly so, for it's swiss cheese security in Windows as users of the OS are pummeled with worms, viruses, and patches seemingly weekly. Reports of Windows users seriously considering switching to the Mac are growing in tech discussion boards around the Web.
Stories like Walt Mossberg's recent article for The Wall Street Journal, "If You're Getting Tired Of Fighting Viruses, Consider a New Mac," are springing up in various media outlets around the world. So, now we have @Stake issuing "Mac OS X advisories" that don't amount to a hill of beans compared to Windows endemic flaws? Makes you wonder why, doesn't it?"

Und bei Apple-X.net handelt man ausführlich die einzelnen 'Sicherheitslücken' ab und kommt zu folgendem Schluss:
"Good luck though, compared to the rash of constant advisories on MS software, it would take a major landslide of new issues on the Mac to come anywhere near the holes in Windows. Cheap attempt to slander OS X or legitimate worries? Personally, I would tend to think the first, especially with the fact that none of these "holes" in OS X can be found in Panther (which is still getting the last wrinkles worked out) and no example code has been shown for these vulnerabilities to be seen by others of the security community. "Proof of Concept" code is a pretty standard practice when announcing security holes in software, that way others can validate your find as well as work towards a fix in a more accurate way. @Stake used to provide such code back in the day. Interesting that they are not doing so now, isn't it. Well, in the end, you have to decide what you think for yourself. I just hope this has given you a more balanced perspective to make the decision from."

Posted by Leo at 00:48 | Permalink | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack (0)

Dumm aussehen beim Telefonieren

sideG5.jpg

Nokia legt in großer Begeisterung über den umwerfenden Erfolg des N-Gage nach und stellt das 7700 vor, welches man sich genauso intelligent quer ans Ohr halten muss (auch bei mir einst verlinkt) und das sicher zu ähnlichen Freudensbekundungen taugt.
Auf lange Sicht werden wir wohl alle nur noch 'sidetalken', einen kleinen Vorgeschmack auf diese wunderbare Welt kann man schon jetzt bekommen:

sidecat.jpg

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29.10.2003

Einmal Steve sein (ausdrucken, aufsetzen)

jobs.jpg

(via macminute)

Posted by Leo at 19:43 | Permalink | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack (0)

Mittwochs-Mac0rama

Heute unter anderem:
Ein übersehenes revolutionäres Feature in Panther
Eine Apple vs. Entwickler Debatte
Eine Firma (Pixar) bewegt sich in Richtung OS X
Ein Apple in China
Ein 15" PowerBook Test
Mehrere Panther, iTMS, iPod Berichte + Tipps&Tricks
Ein Napster 2.0 Review
Sowie ein iPod Diebstahl als CNN-Meldung

Die Details gibt es wie gewohnt beim Weiterlesen...

"Nearly every Mac web site has posted some kind of Panther (X.3) review, and nearly all reviewers have missed the boat. The most revolutionary feature of Panther has been almost universally overlooked."

Das glaubt zumindest Jasyn Jones im MacObserver in einem auf alle Fälle lesenswerten Artikel.
--


Bei TidBITS.com liefert Adam Engst spannende Beobachtungen zu 10.3, unter anderem:

"Network Browser Done Right -- Despite excellent support for file sharing and networking, Apple has long had terrible interfaces for finding and connecting to network volumes. First the Chooser, then the Network Browser in Mac OS 9 (did anyone really bother with that?), and then the lousy Connect to Server dialog in Mac OS X. Panther finally moves in the right direction, using the previously superfluous Network icon at the top level of Finder windows as the starting point for network browsing for both Mac and Windows shared volumes (quite a number of which seem to be available in the hotel for the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, where I currently am). Select one and click the Connect button that appears to bring up a login dialog and from then on, that volume shows the full file hierarchy underneath."
--


Wer z.B. unter Jaguar LiteSwitch X in Benutzung hatte und nach dem Update auf Panther zum Wechseln der Anwendungen Command-Tab drückte, fand sich in mehr als gewohnter Umgebung wieder, was die Entwickler von LiteSwitch X veranlasste ein open memo an Apple zu posten:

"There is, however, one issue I must raise. It is regarding a specific feature introduced in Panther. As you are aware, keyboard application switching is significantly improved. What is disappointing is that this "improvement" is a near pixel duplication of a Proteron product, LiteSwitch X. And despite the obvious similarities, Proteron has received no recognition or credit."

In Erinnerung an die Watson-Sherlock Debatte, löste auch diese Anschuldigung weitreichende Kommentare aus, dazu besonders lesenswert Daring Fireball:

"If Caughron (Proteron) were right, that Apple has indeed ripped off an idea from an independent Mac developer, one would expect other independent Mac developers to be up in arms, no? But instead, they’re calling Caughron on his bluster."

Und bei Apple-X.net:

"If Proteron has any common sense whatsoever, they will drop this issue and continue to develop LiteSwitch X and promote it as a better product than what Panther has to offer. And it seems that it's a no-brainer that LiteSwitch X is better: Panther's application switcher doesn't offer nearly as many features as LiteSwitch X does. After the Sherlock 3 debacle, Karelia has decided to continue to enhance Watson and provide more functionality over Sherlock. That's a good move. So if Proteron wants to stay in business, it better follow the same path that Karelia did, instead of complaining without merit."
--


In der BusinessWeek mag man X.3 ebenfalls:

"Compared to Microsoft's hurry up-and-wait development process, where software-upgrade cycles are now measured in three-year increments, the rapid-fire OS improvements from Apple are refreshing. Panther is sort of like a York Peppermint Patty for your desktop. It's not alienware that turns the whole computing paradigm on its head. Rather, Panther is a familiar, friendly flavor -- only better. I'll buy that for $129, for sure."
--


Bei Wired berichtet Leander Kahney von seinen erheblich Problemen bei der Panther Installation, kommt dabei allerdings zu folgendem Fazit:

"Luckily, Panther was eventually installed and the files saved. And, I'm delighted to say, so far it's been worth all the pain it caused. Panther is speedy, stable, well-designed and good-looking. It's given new life to the nearly 2-year-old iBook (a 600-MHz G3 with a 14-inch screen)."
--


Pixar bewegt sich endlich in Richtung OS X, nachzulesen bei MacCentral:

"Before they began thinking about moving to Mac OS X, Benveniste said that the administrators at Pixar first reviewed their existing computer infrastructure. He said that the company was using 375 desktop Macs running Mac OS 9 and around 100 PowerBooks also running Mac OS 9. Pixar also had 500 computers running Linux that were slated to move to Mac OS X. Finally, the company runs about 125 computers running Windows.

Rather than support both the Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X environments, a conscious decision was made at Pixar to solely use Mac OS X once the majority of the software used at the company was OS X native. Benveniste said that the company finished its Mac OS X migration about eight months ago and only a handful of Macs in the company are now running Classic, and then only for specific applications."
--


Die Seattle Times über iTMS und iPod:

"Microsoft has criticized Apple's iTunes-iPod strategy for being "proprietary" or "closed" — working on a single device, with its own format. That may prove to be a weak argument to users battered by viruses, worms, crashes and reboots in the all-accommodating world of Windows. Faced with dozens of music players to choose from, the average consumer is going to want the one that actually works.

Apple may also be emboldened by Microsoft's antitrust settlement. Significantly, two days after the iTunes rollout, The Times' Brier Dudley reported that the Justice Department and state prosecutors had raised antitrust concerns about Microsoft's handling of music shopping in Windows. The subtext: Microsoft might want to think twice about offering a "Music for Windows" program."
--


Laut MacCentral will Muze (die Firma, die einen Großteil der Informationen im iTMS bereitstellt) das online-shopping Erlebnis weiter verbessern:

"Muze is also working on merchandising ideas to make online shopping more akin to a "good experience" in a brick-and-mortar store, Zullo said. The company hopes to work with Apple on this, he added.

"We're excited to be working with Apple, because they do things very, very well," Zullo said. "The computing and digital music experience is just a little bit different working on a Mac. For instance, if you objectively look at functionality, it's just more seamless on a Mac."
--


Ebenso bei MacCentral findet sich ein Blick auf Apple in China:

"Apple is doing better in China these days than in the past, though many problems, as well as opportunities, loom, according to Yan Feng, president of the Beijing Macintosh User Group and Apple User Groups Regional Liaison for Asia (except Japan).

He estimates that Apple has around a 2 percent marketshare in China. Not surprisingly, many of the users are designers and those who work in the publishing and advertising industries.

"But Macs are also used by die-hard Mac addicts, both local and expatriot," Feng told MacCentral. "There is no 'vacuum' of Mac addicts."
--


Die Chicago Sun-Times berichtet positiv über Panther:

"The next big rev of Windows is still a long ways off. Yet I have no earthly idea if in 2005 they'll be able to produce an OS to match the one that Apple had in 2003."
--


Reviews zu Napster 2.0, einmal 'voreingenommen' bei Apple-X.net:

"Here's a list of just a few things Napster 2.0 can't do, and that iTunes can:
Import CDs
Get CD track names
EQ
Smart Playlists
Visualizer
Convert many sound formats
Play WAVs and AIFFs
Listen to net radio for FREE
On launch searchs for music on your computer
And many more."

und bei 8bit Joystick.com:

"Calling a pay for play music store Napster is like using Chairman Mao to sell two hundred dollar basketball shoes. It is just not doing the brand justice. It has nothing in common with the first Napster except the name. This software has payment and copy usage controls built in from it's DNA."
--


"Thieves made off with a rapper's jewels and stole a pop star's computer, cell phone and iPod, from their hotel rooms in Las Vegas where they were attending the 2003 Radio Music Awards, police and a spokeswoman said Tuesday. "
Bemerkenswert deutliche Produktnennung, zu finden in einem CNN Artikel über einen Diebstahl bei Rapper Nelly.
(Karl Lagerfeld findet den iPod anscheinend auch 'wunderbar', was allerdings nicht zu dem Schluss führen sollte, dass er mit dem oben genannten Diebstahl auch nur irgendetwas zu tun haben könnte)
--


In der Macworld findet sich ein Test der 15" PowerBooks:

"The new 15-inch PowerBook G4s are impressive pieces of engineering, with stunningly bright screens, plenty of power, all the right ports, and a solid feel. We hope that by the time you read this, Apple will have worked out the kinks in the consistency of its PowerBooks, so the laptop you receive will be the laptop you love."
--


Interessante Kleinteile in loser Abfolge:

"Manche Mac OS X 10.3 Panther CDs defekt".

"10.3: Play a movie on the desktop using Exposé".

"10.3: Make Exposé more powerful with Command-Tab".

"10.3: How to correctly extract Panther zip files".

"10.3: Share digital devices via Image Capture" (grandios und ansonsten vollkommen unbekannt bis jetzt!)

"Mac OS X 10.3: Slows or Stops Responding While Using VISE Installer".

Und warum man den IE unter X.3 immer noch mitinstallieren sollte:
"Mac OS to Lose Georgia and Verdana?"
--


Außerdem (Halb-)Wissenswertes aus dem Terminal - heute:
10/29 Stock Market Crash, 1929
(So einfach ist das).

Posted by Leo at 11:32 | Permalink | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack (0)

27.10.2003

MontagsMacorama

Heute unter anderem verlinkt: mac.ars über den Shuttle Mac, was Mac-Anwender über Longhorn wissen müssen, Diskussionen über FileVault, weitere sehr positive Presse über iTunes und Panther und wie man seinen Mac multilingual ausreizt. Die Details gibt es beim Weiterlesen...

Bei mac.ars wünscht man sich einmal mehr den monitorlosen Consumer-Mac:

"The second thing Apple needs to do is build a Shuttle PC. Make that a Shuttle Mac. The idea is not necessarily to rip off the Shuttle wholesale, but to build something comparable: a Mac with a small form factor, a PCI and AGP slot, a 2nd 3.5" HD bay and good looks. Put a 1.25 GHz G4 processor in there, an Airport Extreme Card, a combo drive, an ATI Radeon 9200, some DDR RAM, integrated Firewire 800, gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, and Bluetooth and they're all set. Price it competitively and watch them go flying off the store shelves.

"Psst . . . hey Eric!  They tried that already and called it the G4 Cube."

I'm not talking about another Cube. The Cube was priced much higher than the Shuttle Mac would be, and had no expansion slots (although Cubeowner.com will tell you how to upgrade the stock ATI Rage Pro 128 video card). Building an inexpensive Shuttle Mac would require a change of mindset at Apple. They would need to be willing to sacrifice margins for the sake of market share, something Apple has been reluctant to do for some time. Of course, high margins are integral to Apple's profitability. However, they have winners with the iPod and iTunes Music Store for Windows which should be able to offset enough of the revenue lost by lowering the price on a "Shuttle Mac."
--

Bei MacSlash ist inzwischen auch eine weitreichende Diskussion zu FileVault ausgebrochen.
--

In die unglaublich positive Berichterstattung über 10.3 hat sich ebenso Independent.co.uk eingereiht:

"Certainly I've spoken to a number of people inside companies big and small who now think that OSX is very interesting, not least because it lets them control both Windows and Unix systems remotely - and those are the backbone of most businesses."
--

Bei codepoetry findet sich ein Artikel mit der schönen Überschrift 'What Mac Users Need to Know About Windows Longhorn':

"Longhorn is not evil, and neither is Microsoft. They’ve done some nasty things and anyone who uses XP daily I pity, but as a company they really are trying (the engineers) to make life better for their users. They just had a bad OS to grow on. Hopefully this chance to better their OS will fuel a great new OS war and get both sides cooking again because it’s very easy to tell that by waiting so long they will lose customers to Panther and whatever is next (especially with Panther Server’s limited PDC abilities).
It’s going to be a good OS when it comes out. Until then, we can see what they will release by looking at Panther today."
--

Auch in der Washington Post freut man sich über das iTunes-iPod Gespann:

"Last, but most important, Apple simply provides a better music program, whose sole (but not surprising) shortfall is its lack of Windows Media compatibility. In iTunes, Apple has accomplished what has eluded the entire PC market -- it's shipped a free, elegant, easy-to-use program that copies CDs in either AAC or MP3 format, offers numerous, thoughtful ways to organize a music library, lets you buy music conveniently, plays back Web radio and burns CDs and even DVDs -- and does it all without turning your desktop into a billboard for other products and services."
--

Interessant für alle, die mit verschiedenen Sprachen auf dem Mac arbeiten wollen, dürfte 'Unleash your multilingual mac' sein:

"One of the best-kept secrets about MacOS is the built-in support it contains for reading and writing languages beyond English, including ones that use non-Latin scripts and characters. This document explains these capabilities and provides various resources to help users exploit them to the maximum degree possible."
Es werden im Detail 9er und X (inklusive Panther) abgehandelt.
--

Außerdem (Halb-)Wissenswertes aus dem Terminal - heute:
10/27 The first New York Subway is opened, 1904
(So einfach ist das).

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