Saturday, May 12, 2001
Top Stories
News Feed
Just because the (human) editor is away doesn't mean that the robots have stopped working. Check out "News Feed", where our robots gather all the latest news from some of the best news sites such as MacNN, Wired News, and The Register. All on one single web page.
Thursday, May 10, 2001
Top Stories
School District Buys 23,000 Laptops
Since teachers will be getting their computers early, they will have the summer to decide how to use them in their courses for next year.
News
Opinion
Macs For Schools: The cMac
Apple can do better by thinking a bit less differently on the low end.
The Fruity Ways Of PC Marketing
Clearly the strategy is more to do with marketing than sales, however the move raises an important question: just what is the right mix of retail stores and resellers for PC manufacturers?
The Multiprocessor Option
A multiprocessor on a chip design would give Apple the edge it has lacked since the AMD Athlon appeared.
Review
Digital Photography Not Always A Snap
Adobe's answer: the new Photoshop Elements, targeted at amateurs who hope to design snazzy print and Web graphics. Based on the Photoshop core engine but at a far more palatable $99, Elements replaces a "lite" program known as Photoshop Limited Edition.
Wintel
WinXP To Be Best, Fastest Selling OS In History - By Order
nescapably, this means that any plans to kick the launch back into 2002 are now definitely off. And if something bad enough to screw up the rollout happens, then assuredly somebody will pay.
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
Top Stories
Reeducating School Boards About Macs
Apple faces a battle to convince administrators to choose Macs over PCs. Here's where you come in.
Farewell CRT
It was the ultimate over-engineered, over-incompatible, over-priced CRT display.
Reader Report: McLean, VA, Apple Store
For scale, I paced off the length of the wall and it was almost exactly as long as the next three "regular" mall stores combined and about half of the size of the LLBean on that floor.
Apple Store Location: Black Barrier, Ethernet Installed, & Nosy Neighbors
Although we could not see directly inside the store, it was apparent that it was very bright in light and white color, from being able to see through cracks in the construction wall and on its outer sides.
A Firsthand Look At The Apple Store
Definitely borrowing some from the Gap's clean look.
News
Mixed Marks On Giving Laptops To Students
As more schools adopt the idea, debate ensues - even in Microsoft country.
Next, Wireless Surfing From Orchard Road
All they need to do is plug a special card into their portable computer, and subscribe to the new service.
Dell's Unsure Opportunity
Dell Computer's move into the small and midsize business market—a clear shift away from its traditional large-enterprise focus—was probably inevitable, given the slowing growth in the heavily saturated corporate PC market.
New Metrowerks CodeWarrior At WWDC
Would You Like An iMac With That Cinnabon?
Visitors to the Apple stores may not so much "Shop Different" as "Browse Different."
Ambrosia Updates To OS X
Ambrosia Software has recently updated their progress logs with more news concerning the upcoming titles EV Nova and Coldstone.
AvantGo Connect/Conduit 4.0 Released
Mozilla 0.9 Milestone Build Posted
Jobs Challenges Dell To Debate
Apple CEO Steve Jobs told CNBC that he would like to publicly debate Dell on the merits of their respective notebook computers.
Opinion
Should You Run Linux Instead Of OS X?
The focus of the Mac community these days is on OS†X, and understandably so, but it should not be forgotten that there is another route to utilizing the power and stability of Unix on a Mac platform — the PowerPC Linux variants.
Apple Fights To Rule Schools
The new iBook certainly appeals to educators, but is it enough to help Apple beat Dell and recapture the sector's top PC sales spot?
Review
Monopoly
If youíre a fan of Monopoly then thereís no doubt that youíll get a lot of enjoyment out of this game, and particularly if youíre used to the American board or you live in one of the ten cities for which a custom board is available.
The Great LCD Vs. CRT Monitor Debate
Yes, the LCD costs more, but if up front cost was the only object, we would all be using cheap-o PC boxes.
The "Amazing" iBook Is Now A PowerBook In All But Name
This will be less of an issue with OS X, which uses a larger fonts and easily resizable Finder/Dock icons, but it may be a bit of a problem for those of us with aging eyes running the classic Mac OS.
Wintel
Why Is Open Source A Threat To Microsoft
If you read Microsoft's position on open source last week, it appears as if Microsoft wants to have it both ways. That is, their stand in this particular case seems to be determined by whether or not they would benefit from it.
WinXP - Burn Baby, Burn...
Microsoft's decision to make Windows Media Player 8 a WinXP-only product was made, the company explains, because, er, only WinXP supports cool features like CD burning.
WinXP To Launch On October 26: Coders Go On War Footing
The company intends to nail its colours to the mast with an official announcement of this tomorrow (Wednesday) and has put the XP team on a war footing - six days a week working is now required for all Windows division staff.
Intel Itanium To Launch 29 May
Pentium 4 Xeon Chips Delayed A Few Weeks
Intel has delayed by a few weeks the introduction of the first Xeon server chips based on the Pentium 4 design.
Windows 2000 Clock Ticking Down
Companies that don't start Windows 2000 upgrades by the end of the quarter should scrap their plans, a market research company warned Tuesday.
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
Top Stories
Apple Computer Launches Retailer In Tysons
Apple Computer is opening its first retail store on Saturday, May 19, in Tysons Corner, according to an invitation sent to media today.
News
Interview: Tim Wood, OmniGroup
The Omni Group, a small software development company best known among OS X early adopters as the creator of popular web browser OmniWeb, is also quietly engaged in the process of bringing some of the hottest games to the new platform.
Myst III: Exile Hits Stores Today
Myst III: Exile once again pulls you into the world of Atrus, writer of Ages, who you must help recover a linking book stolen by Saavedro.
Line Up! Apple To Open First Retail Store
Apple Computer has confirmed the launch of its first retail store, in what is expected to become a nationwide chain of outlets.
Sifl N Olly's Liam Lynch
"There is no question that I would run for my Mac — it has all my ideas, my images, my sounds, my scripts, movies, schedules. It's my other brain."
Opinion
Mac OS 9.2: What Does It Mean?
Just like they gave pre-PPC machines MacOS 8.1, Apple has been planning to give pre-G3 machines a nice, stable, and "completed" version of OS 9.
Are Apple's New Hardware Designs Too Conservative?
Has our favorite fruit company discovered that its customers want their computers to look like computers and not square toaster ovens? Or is Jonathan Ive and crew busy creating the next great industrial design, something that amaze even the jaded technology journalist, inspire endless debates in chat rooms, and perhaps, at the same time, fly off the shelves of your favorite Mac dealer?
Review
Is Final Cut Pro 2.0 Significantly Faster Than 1.2.5?
Apple's Updated iBook Has Appealing Size, Price
Are you in the market for an entry-level laptop? Apple Computer just made your search easier or more agonizing, depending on which side you take in the eternal Macintosh vs. Windows debate.
A Student's Laptop
The iBook may seem like just a drop in the bucket in the notebook market for some. But for myself - a mac user, and student, I have seen nothing that is more revolutionary from my perspective.
Wintel
CD Program Making Users Burn
A popular program used by people writing and copying CDs is causing a large number of systems running Windows 2000 to crash.
The Fire In The Dell
"Could the latest Dell recall just be Mike Dell panicking, after all his trumpeting about having swiped the education crown from Apple?"
Toshiba Taps Transmeta For Mini-Notebook
Transmeta, facing increased competition from established chipmakers, scored a timely victory Monday with the announcement that Toshiba will use the company's Crusoe chip.
Microsoft Releases New Server Software Kit
The Server Appliance Kit is software that lets server makers pluck only the software modules they need from the fuller version of Windows 2000 to make these server appliances. Linux and FreeBSD are competing operating systems used for similar jobs.
Monday, May 7, 2001
Top Stories
Deft Strategy: Apple's Steve Jobs Is Pulling The Company Back From The Brink Again
Remarkably enough, the Cupertino company has seemingly turned itself around just by getting its own act together, without waiting for renewed growth in the overall economy and any sharp upturn in demand for PCs — and without huge job cuts or eliminating major projects.
Microsoft Mac Unit Focuses On Profits, Not Politics
Microsoft Corp. has a message for all those who still see the software giant as a rival to Apple Computer Corp.: Get over it.
Opinion
Low End Mac Or OS X?
I suspect "classic" Mac OS users will band together and keep things working for years to come, but expect to be increasingly marginalized.
Review
Five Pounds Of Genius
The new iBook is exactly what the Macintosh platform needed.
Wintel
Intel Key To Compaq's Skinny-server Diet
Intel is a key partner in Compaq Computer's plan to build servers that cram hundreds of CPUs into just a few square feet of floor space, the companies plan to announce Monday.
Sunday, May 6, 2001
Top Stories
Envelope, Please: Winning Video Editor Is...
I would have to say that not only does the iMovie2 system beat out the competition in terms of power, it also brings to its users the full spectrum of a leading-edge Macintosh computer with all its other functions.
News
The Week In Review: Is It Hot In Here?
Personal computer makers hoped the market for laptops would heat up with the introduction of a revamped iBook, but things may have got a little too hot for Dell Computer.
Readers: New iBooks Begin Shipping
Apple Retail Store Rumors Heat Up
Talk about perhaps the worst kept secret in Apple's history.
Wintel
Microsoft Shelves Office XP Subscription Plan
Microsoft has temporarily nixed a controversial plan to sell Office XP on a subscription basis to some U.S. customers.
Saturday, May 5, 2001
Top Stories
Creative Labs Blindly Marches Forward Into Macintosh Arena
They need to understand the Mac market is wholly unlike the one they've been leading in the PC arena. Apple needs to bend over backwards to assist Creative in making sure SoundBlaster Live! works with their computers or beef up the built in capabilities themselves to satisfy that niche.
QuickTime 5.0
As a player, QuickTime is so far behind the times that it's virtually prehistoric. Its inability to play audio CDs without some file conversion monkey business should steer you to WMP instead. Mac heads, look to RealPlayer.
News
Digital Gadgets The Answer To Computer Slump
Sony and its main competitor for video supremacy, Apple, both market themselves as niche products aimed at a more polished crowd than average PC users.
Opinion
And The Children Shall Lead Them...
Apple's market share is stagnant, and it's clear they are betting that their educational initiatives will boost market share. They are evidently hoping that our children will lead the way to the Mac's resurgence in the years to come.
Wintel
Lessons Of "Love" Virus Still Sinking In
Intel, AMD Sign New Licensing Deal
A source familiar with the deal said it is essentially similar to the last one, which calls for Intel to receive royalties from AMD. Intel has patents covering aspects of the x86 instruction set used in processors for Windows-based PCs.
Floppy Drive: Vestigial Organ Of The PC
While many folks in the computer business will tell you that the floppy is either dying, dead or outright buried, some old standards die hard.
Friday, May 4, 2001
Top Stories
Apple Bakes The Other Box Makers
I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that the Street doesn't understand Apple Computer.
Computer-Mouse Inventor Still Obscure After 20 Years
Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Invent the computer mouse and the world will all but forget your name.
News
Mac OS X For Web Developers
When Apple released Mac OS X 10.0 to the world on March 24, 2001, it ushered in an operating system that marked the most significant break with Apple's past since the introduction of the first Macintosh in 1984. 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.
Macworld Awards 2001 Winners
While we await the promised "avalanche" of OS X-optimized products this summer, Macworld editors and readers have been considering the year's best products.
Content Management For Mac
Not many CMS can sit comfortably on a Mac platform, Roxen does it naturally.
Media Players To Play Important Role In Microsoft, Apple OS Strategies
Despite losing market share, Apple has decided to stay in the fight and keep the MacOS relevant in a multimedia world.
Apple Releases Apple DVD Player 2.4
Apple has released a new version of Apple DVD Player. The new version, 2.4, is ready for download from Apple's Software Downloads Web site and may also be available for download using Mac OS 9's Software Update control panel.
Just How Small Is The New iBook?
iBook's First UK Showing
The first UK outing for Appleís new iBook consumer and education Mac portable will be tonight at the Macworld Awards 2001.
Opinion
Unleash The Power Of The Dock
Now, it's time that the rest of developers (and that includes Apple's very own) to catch up and move forward.
ZDNet Spreading FUD About Apple?
Apple has given back exactly what was asked of them by the BSD community. Evan is asking them to give back more than they have taken.
Users Savvy On Mac Service
To get the real skinny on stores in your area, your best bet is word of mouth — survey your Mac-using friends and colleagues about their experience, or check with your local Mac user group.
Rabid Anti-Apple Commentator Loves iBook, Pro-Apple Analyst Doesn't Get It
"Think Different" Soundbites Not Enough
It's not that people don't know about Macs, but that they know just enough to be dangerous: they know Macs are incompatible with PCs. Macs are easier to use and might be better, but they also "know" that Macs are more expensive than PCs.
Tell Me About OS X - *NIX, UNIX Or Trademark Violation?
Because the Open Group is aware of Apple's usage of the term and because no such legal action has been made known to the public or press, I believe the conclusions are obvious.
Review
All The Questions (And Answers) You Could Ever Ask About The New iBook
My OS Xperiences
Yes, OS†X does need work. However, I am willing to overlook that for now so that I can use an incredibly advanced, stable operating system with a GUI that looks absolutely beautiful.
Serving Up The Home
Though the price is high, Servio appears to be at the head of the pack in what is likely to become an increasingly necessary product segment as more of our lives revolve around digital information.
Titanium An Unalloyed Success
Besides being the coolest portable on the market, it really is one of the best laptops available from any vendor and is a worthy competitor to all of the current Windows-based portables.
New iBook: Pros And Cons
The new iBook is cool, no doubt. But does it measure up? In a word, yes.
FireWire "Flames Out" On PowerBooks
The sustained data transfer speed on the PowerBook and iBook is much lower than any desktop model of Macintosh including iMacs and older Power Macs.
Wintel
Microsoft: Free-Software Licenses Are The Devil's Work!
Bill Gates and Co. say open-source software harms technological innovation — but the attack from Redmond could easily backfire.
MS: Don't Call Our Extended Source-Code Licenses 'Open'
Microsoft is planning to broaden its existing source-code licensing agreements further later this year, adding two new programs that seemingly take a page from the open-source playbook.
Cost-Cutting To Be "Ruthless," Dell Exec Says
A top Dell Computer executive said Thursday that the company will be "ruthless" about cutting costs, but declined to comment on speculation about more layoffs.
Compaq Vows No Retreat In Price War
Compaq Computer Chairman Michael Capellas said Thursday his company will continue to compete with Dell Computer and other rivals by slashing prices on key computer lines in a battle for market share.
Microsoft Raps Open-Source Approach
Microsoft on Thursday stepped up its long-running battle against the open-source software movement as one of its chief strategists compared the movement to business practices that helped sink hundreds of dot-coms.
Sony Edges Out PC Competitors
The notebook market is hurting, but Sony feels no pain.
Leaked Nvidia Drivers Boost Pentium 4 Performance
MS To Tout 'Shared Source Philosophy', Compares GNU To Bubble Economy
Microsoft's PR machine has been tipping off selected journalists about a 'relaxation' of its closed source policy today. But Linux's own PR rottweiler Eric Raymond appears to have gotten his retaliation in first.
MS Backs Down On Win2002 Server AD Limits
The feedback Microsoft got from both testers and customers (who were sneaked to by people like us) is thought to have been heavily negative. This has resulted in the removal of the proposed limit of two Active Directory servers per network for Windows 2002 Server.
Thursday, May 3, 2001
Top Stories
How Jobs May Outfox Gates
Signing up much of the digital-camera market is a coup for Apple. It's the kind of maneuver Gates would have loved to announce himself, with great fanfare, at the convention. Ditto for RealNetworks. Instead, Jobs outfoxed Gates and Glaser.
Why The New iBook Is Right For You
The new iBook is simply the best consumer laptop on the market today. Dell, Compaq and the others should be ashamed they haven't come close to building a laptop this cool and this price. Yet, Apple seems to do the amazing—there's that word—as a matter of course.
News
An Apple For The Teacher
Apple takes an important step back to its reading, writing, and arithmetic roots.
Good News From A Graphic Interface
The G4's speed impressed all members of the team. The 733 MHz G4 PowerPC chip is able to execute more than 1 billion floating-point operations per second (one gigaflop).
Fetch 4.0 Released, Fully OS X Compatible
Fetch was one of the original FTP programs for the modern Mac, and the latest version adds full OS X compatibility, enhanced handling of resumable downloads, and enhanced usability features.
Opera Tech Preview 3 Adds Java Support
The new preview adds Java support and JavaScript error-dialog.
Analysts Chime In On New iBook
While impressed by the new iBook, five analysts interviewed by ON24 say they don't expect the product will add much to Apple's bottom line.
Apple Makes OS X Ad-Compliant
Apple was widely criticised for omitting the capability from the initial OS X release in March - particularly as it meant that Apple could only fulfill two thirds of the promise it makes made in its global ad campaign - 'Rip. Mix. Burn' - in its new OS.
Opinion
The Firmware Police
The blame does not rest entirely with Apple but, for the most part, with the RAM vendors and their suppliers.
Getting It Right
The reason that I believe that multiprocessor systems will be important for the future is that CPU speed is rapidly outpacing DRAM speed, to the extent that most current processors spend as much time waiting for RAM as processing.
Open Source's Black Hole
At Apple, free software goes in but it doesn't come out.
Review
Configuring Your iBook
If you don't need to watch DVDs or burn CDs in the field, the CD-ROM iBook for $1,299 is an impressive bargain.
Apple's OS X - Yet Another Beta
iBook 2001: Japanese Reaction
They may finally have the PowerBoook 2400 replacement they have been waiting for.
Wintel
Compatibility Woes Plague Windows 2002
According to a copy of the Whistler server Beta 2 release notes viewed by Ziff Davis, quite a few of Microsoft's own .Net server applications aren't working at all at this point.
.NET - Milestone Or Gallstone?
There is little or no indication that this latest "innovation" from Microsoft will be anything more than another revenue trap for the consumer dollar.
Don't Let Go Of Windows 95
In my opinion, people who are still using Windows 95 are among the smartest people on the planet.
Intel Designers Feel The Heat
High-tech is hot. But that isn't such a good thing, according to Patrick Gelsinger, a vice president at Intel and self-described "chief geek" at the chip company. Heat, he says, represents the biggest obstacle to building personal computers that are a magnitude more powerful than today's PCs.
AMD Makes More Stealth Price Cuts
Although Advanced Micro Devices has said it won't engage in a price war with Intel, the chipmaker is quietly discounting its processors to keep up with its rival.
Intel To Keep Hiring Overseas
Intel said Wednesday it would continue to hire people at its units outside the United States, despite 5,000 job cuts announced earlier this year as a result of a slowing economy.
Gates To Sell 8 Million Microsoft Shares
Gates reported the planned sales in regulatory filings and listed the aggregate market value of the shares at about $553 million. The executive, one of the world's richest people, regularly sells shares in the Redmond, Wash.-based company that he helped start.
Wednesday, May 2, 2001
Top Stories
Apple Unwraps Thinner, Cheaper iBooks
The new iBook has a 500MHz PowerPC G3 processor, weighs 4.9 pounds—2 pounds lighter than its predecessor—and is considerably thinner at 1.3 inches thick.
Apple Lands Mammoth iBook Deal: 23,000 iBooks Sold To One School District
Apple has announced what they say is the single largest education sale ever, and we believe them to be correct.
OS X, Take Three
The updates add stability to OS X applications, contain the latest version of the Internet file-transfer service, and give users the ability to burn custom music CDs.
News
Apple Retools iBook For School
The company has abandoned the curved shape of the original iBook, giving the new model the squared sides of its more powerful cousin, the G4 Titanium notebook.
Apple Posts iBook QuickTime Video
Best of all, though, it's got plenty of footage of the pretty little iBook in action, which should helpfully give some viewers a much better idea of what the new laptop looks like in real life.
What's New In The iBook? Here's A List For Easy Comparison
Apple Unveils New iBooks
Cute. There, I've said it.
Opinion
Review
The Disaster-Free Upgrade To Mac OS X
The point of the letter isn't to convince you to upgrade; it's to show you how to do so without dropping a stitch or sending your computing life into personal hell.
Comparing The New IceBook With The Pismo Powerbook
All-in-all, the year-old G3 powerbook is still quite competitive, but the new iBook is an amazing bundle of functionality at a good price.
iTools: Useful Web Services For Macs
Apple Computer's iTools service makes it easy for Macintosh users to get started with fun and useful Web projects.
Wintel
Connectix Previews Virtual Windows, Linux Even OS/2 Tech.
One PC, as many operating systems as you like - and no re-booting
Is Microsoft's WMP8 Merely Viral Marketing?
Writs add to reverse-bundle's allure
What Stock Is Bill Gates Buying These Days?
Microsoft recently ran a stock-picking contest for charity, inviting people to match wits online with company Chairman Bill Gates. Results from the first round show Gates may be better at building software than investing.
Microsoft To Reward Tattling Vendors
Microsoft wants to know if you're using its operating systems, and if you aren't, it's willing to pay your system vendor "valuable" prizes for turning you in.
Citigroup, Microsoft Ring Up Net-Pay Pact
As the online-payment industry strives to make money, Citigroup on Tuesday joined forces with Microsoft to extend its Net payment service to a larger audience.
Microsoft Races To Plug Web Security Hole
Microsoft announced a serious security hole Tuesday in its flagship Web server software and raced to convince system administrators to patch their Web servers before online vandals compromise their systems.
Tuesday, May 1, 2001
Top Stories
Group Fights Computer Switch
John Droz Jr. of Emerald Isle, a spokesman for a citizens group, took the issue before the Board of Commissioners last week. He questioned a plan to switch Carteret County schools from Macintosh computers to PCs and Microsoft Windows.
DVDs Aren't Ready For Home Movies Yet
The software will get better. I'm less hopeful that the computer and consumer electronics industries will end a long-running feud over recordable DVD formats.
Steve Jobs: The Graying Prince Of A Shrinking Kingdom
Older and smarter, the CEO whipped his company back into the black. Is Apple on the verge of big things, or is it becoming perfectly irrelevant?
News
Macs Vs. PCs In Carteret County
In Carteret County, NC, the school system is planning to transition from Macs to Wintel systems. But if they do, it won't be without a fight.
Titanium Run Over By A 1.7 Ton Car
This Titanium was run over by a 1.7 ton car - and still worked when plugged into an external monitor!
Suspense Builds For Apple Media Event
Is Apple Computer Inc. finally ready to cut the ribbon on its brick-and-mortar retail strategy?
Apple Names New Developer-relations Boss
Apple Computer Inc. on Monday named a veteran of two leading Mac developers to take charge of the company's relationship with its third parties.
Review
Toast 5 Tianium
If you do anything more than basic CD burning, you'll want the upgrade.
Looking Good In Print
Then Apple introduced the Macintosh computer in 1984 and changed publishing forever.
Apple iMac DV Special Edition (600 MHz; Graphite)
These changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but they make the iMac DV Special Edition a compelling choice for home and small-business users.
Power Mac G4s
Apple ships the two fastest Macs every. But which is faster?