Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Top Stories
Students Rave Over iTunes Sharing Service
Weeks after Apple launched a Windows version of iTunes, many Stanford students have made the switch from traditional file-sharing programs to Apple's alternative, citing its speed, reliability and the fact that it is legal.
Can Panther Fit Into A Windows-Dominated World?
How does Apple, with Panther, fit into a world that is dominated by Windows and Microsoft? The answer: very quietly, but very, very thoroughly.
Online Music Business, Neither Quick Nor Sure
In the last month the music-downloading landscape online has shifted once more with these five major events, not all of them good.
News
Note To Developers: Apple Is Changing The Rules With Xcode
For Apple to compete with Windows, Mac developers have to have best-in-class developer tools. With Xcode, Apple has assured that this will be case. It may be subtle, but welcome to the revolution.
Apple.com Traffic Surges In Wake Of iTunes For Windows
Users flocked in to download the recently released iTunes for Windows software.
Microsoft Fires Employee Over G5 Photos, Blog
A Microsoft employee has been fired for his blog posting titled, Even Microsoft wants G5s, which includes photos of delivery of Power Mac G5s to Microsoft's Redmond Campus.
Supercomputer Spurs Scientific Computing On Macs
A recent supercomputing coup for Apple Computer Inc. may help the computer maker make larger inroads into high-performance, scientific computing.
Apple Charges US$129 For Security Fix
Apple has not yet released patches for the security issues. Internet security research company @Stake has advised Mac users to upgrade to Panther, which is not vulnerable to the identified flaws.
Sixth Anniversary Discounts At Apple Store
MacNN readers report that the Apple is offering special discounts to some of its Apple Store customers.
Student iTunes Usage Rising After KaZaA's Legal Demise
Many Columbia students seem to think the new iTunes is up to the task, though many Windows users on campus are unaware of the program's availability.
Spam Pitches Are Mutating Faster
Antispammers say spammers are rapidly creating and adapting new strategies to get past the growing numbers and types of filters protecting inboxes. Spam is evolving, they say, in reaction to antispam measures that range from the simple — such as keyword-blocking rules in an e-mail program and domain blacklists — to the technically clever, such as Bayesian filters that are now widely available in programs like AOL 9.0 and Apple Computer's Mail.
Diablo II Patch Improves OpenGL Performance, More
Despite the minor version increment, this is a major update to the perennial favorite action game, and at long last offers performance improvements for Mac users who prefer to use the game's hardware-based graphics acceleration.
Opinion
Ideas For The Post Panther Mac
The difference between local computers and those on the network must be minimized.
Upgrade Could Lead Apple To Bigger Bite Of Market
I think Panther is going to bring about a major increase in the number of people switching to Macs from Windows. Let's face it, Windows is a security nightmare.
The Panther Report: Is It Imitation Or Flattery?
One thing is to accept the inevitable and allow your product to have a short shelf life. Or, as Dan Wood did with Watson, add value to the program in the form of extra features and performance, so it would be still be worth paying for.
Review
Apple iTunes Music Store For Windows
The store contains the same clean, white-themed interface and easy navigation that made iTunes an instant hit when it was introduced. It also delivers very good jukebox capabilities that certainly give MusicMatch and Windows Media Player stiff competition.
NetNewsWire 1.0.6
There are so many good things to say about NetNewsWire that it is hard to find anything wrong with it.
Apple's Panther Makes The Grade
If for some reason you're a Mac user who's still clinging tenaciously to Mac OS 9, the time is right to let it go once and for all.
The Great Product Activation Massacre
One of the worst recent offenders is Macromedia, with a scheme so absurdly irritating that I have to speak up.
Attack Of The iPod Clones
For the first time, Apple has real competition in this market. I expect the Dell, and possibly even the Samsung, to steal sales from the iPod in a way that no previous competitor has been able to do.
Apple's Panther Outruns Jaguar
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.
Apple Update Has 'Em Standing In Line For Good Reason
Panther delivers considerable and assertive bang for the buck, tempting the sensible wheat side of you that wants new, useful features as well as the sugar-frosted side that wants everything to be fast, easy and cool. It's compelling; it will easily become the Mac's de facto OS by the end of the year.
Missing The Boat On Panther
Minor quibbles aside, the new Finder is a work of art.
Adventures In Broadband Video
If most of your remote workers use Macs, then look no further [than iSight]. However, on a mixed network, the camera will work well for the Mac users, but quality will decline a bit when they use other software to videoconference.
The New G4 iBooks And So Long G3
The introduction of these G4 iBooks narrows the gulf between PowerBooks and iBooks substantially, and Apple may be more than a bit worried that the new iBook will cannibalize PowerBook sales somewhat. They may have something to worry about.
Sidetrack
LEAK OF THE DAY : Apple G6 prototype discovered!
DOUBLE TROUBLE : Singapore may be the only city in the world which have a subway system run by two different operators. (The operators also run bus and taxi services.)
However, this may soon change, according to That this Straits Times report. The regulator, Ministry of Transport, is having second thoughts about forcing competition — when there cannot be competition. After all, there is only one single subway line at each location. I can't, for example, choose one subway operator over another on my daily commute.
The only competition may well be between subway trains and public buses. However, in their "wisdom", bus and subway operation at many locations are awarded to the same operator, citing "integration of services." So far, I've seen no evidence of this so-called "integration of services."
Wintel
MSN Continues Its Move Away From DSL
Microsoft is pulling out of its efforts to sell broadband Internet access to customers in SBC Communications' geographic market, the latest step by the software giant to refocus its broadband strategy.
Microsoft To Shoot Messenger In Next Update
Spam attacks and security vulnerabilities have prompted Microsoft to plan to turn off its troublesome Windows Messenger service in the next Windows XP update, a company representative said Tuesday.
Longhorn: Hurry Up And Wait
Given the company's track record with Longhorn's predecessors, Windows XP and Windows 2000, that means that two to three years is a likely time frame, meaning that Longhorn would debut in late 2005 to early 2006.
Microsoft Chalks Up More Class-Action Settlements
Microsoft said Tuesday that it had reached settlements totaling approximately $200 million in six class-action lawsuits involving antitrust claims and product pricing.
Longhorn Server On Tap
While the server version of Longhorn is part of Microsoft's plan, the company has said little about what it will offer and when it will arrive.
Gates Gambles On Longhorn
In some of the most difficult economic periods in high technology's history, the chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft appears undeterred in doing what he has done best: selling Windows.