Friday, November 7, 2003
Top Stories
Filevault Headache Hits FCP
Apple advises users to "keep media and capture preferences outside of your home directory if you use FileVault and Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express".
Panther/FireWire Drive Problems: Apple's Statement; More Firmware Updates; LaCie Comments; Recommendations; More
Our reports on FireWire hard drive problems with Panther continue today with updated announcements from Apple, additional statements and firmware updates from drive vendors, comments and information from LaCie, and some more MacFixIt recommendations.
News
Apple To Open First Oregon Retail Store This Month
The Apple Store is located at the Washington Square shopping center.
Your 99c Belong To The RIAA — Steve Obs
So now we have it on record: the music store is a loss leader.
Apple Changes Tack On Channel
Apple has "fundamentally" changed its sales process, the way it deals with both the channel, and how it delivers products to market, says Apple's executive VP of worldwide sales and operations, Tim Cook.
Apple Corners Canada Schools Market
Apple now has almost half of Canada's education market, according to Apple's executive VP of worldwide sales and operations, Tim Cook.
Adobe: Use PCs Instead Of Macs, Round II
The Next Big Things
"Steve Jobs has come along and made it simple for us."
iPod Seen As Apple's Growth Engine
Move over Mac. iPod, Apple's slim digital music player, is the engine that will drive the company's future growth, company officials said yesterday.
Stalemate On Digital Content?
Incompatible anticopying technologies known as digital rights management (DRM) are being applied to everything from music files to Microsoft Word documents, and the lack of rules that can make these schemes work together is increasingly prompting calls for a standards revolution.
Panther Bug: Is It Really Dead?
The nasty hard-drive-eating bug in Panther has been resolved, according to Apple Computer. But some experts say poppycock — upgrading to the latest version of Mac OS X is like playing Russian roulette with your data.
McDonald's: No iTunes Deal To Announce
"There are no agreements to announce, so anything else is pure speculation."
Opinion
Looking For Mac Content? Try Reading Blogs
We now have a seemingly inexhaustible resource for more Mac information, blogs full of speculation, commentary, insider stuff and programming notes.
Apple Gets The Little Things Right
I'm not sure Apple products have made it to the "insanely great" standard set by CEO Steve Jobs, but they are very good. If you haven't checked out a Mac lately, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you see.
Apple's Glass Is More Than Half Full With .Mac
While I think it's great that many people are renewing, I think the bigger question will be how many of those 86-87% who renewed this year will renew next year if the support and services aren't beefed up.
Is It Possible To Make Money Developing OS X Applications
Yes, it's possible. But, before you start, here's some advice.
Is Apple's Quality Control Going Down The Tubes?
Sometimes, I feel Apple could try a little harder to get it right the first time. A few of those early product defects are a bit much.
Review
Panther Two Weeks Later
Make sure your FireWire 800 drive gets the latest firmware, stay clear of FileVault for now, and confirm that the drivers for your peripherals are compatible. You get past these simple requirements, and I have no qualms about recommending that you begin a belated celebration of the Night of the Panther.
First Impressions On iBook G4/933
So basically, this is a new design material wise.
Keynote 1.1: Worth The Price?
I found the appearance of the presentation so compelling that I felt as if the purchase price was justified.
Sidetrack
WHY THE WEBSITE "LOW END MAC" HASN'T BEEN UPDATED LATELY : Dan Knight tells why.
STILL NOT SURE WHETHER TO UPGRADE : Seems like Apple is not going to issue any patches for the Panther/FireWire problem, but is relying on third-party drive manufacturers to patch. And so far, I haven't hear anything from Maxtor, the disk where I use for backups and large (iMovie) files.
Panther is tempting — just the "Fast User Switching" feature alone is enough to justify the price — but now I am having my doubts.
I'll probably still go ahead, but will need to rethink my back-up strategy.
THOSE THREE LETTERS : Just when Apple goes full steam ahead with the idea of file extensions, Longhorn — the next version of Windows — has the capability to finally drop the idea of file extensions.
NEW TOY ALERT : For those who are (unfortunately) using Windows, here's a new toy for your playtime: Google Deskbar.
GROUP BY APPLICATIONS? HOW 1984 : Windows XP's "Group Similar Taskbar Buttons" is an interesting feature, except that what I wanted is a "Group by Projects" feature.
RUMORS DU JOUR : Yes, claims Mac Rumors, McDonald's is planning for some tunes giveaway.
And, yes, the Cube is finally returning.
Wintel
Virus Writers Dismiss Microsoft's Bounty Fund
Reward program is a marketing stunt that will have no deterrent effect.
Tablet PC Troubles — Fingers Point At Microsoft
One year after Microsoft launched its tablet PC operating system, sales have been disappointing, the choice of models is still poor, and software developers have no incentive to create specialist applications, according to a report by research firm Canalys.
Microsoft Ends Silence On Hotmail Domain SNAFU
"Microsoft has resolved this issue. We have put processes in place to ensure there is no recurrence of this eventuality."
Microsoft Settles Lawsuit With North Carolina
Under the settlement, North Carolina residents who bought Microsoft Windows, Office or standalone Word or Excel products between Dec. 9, 1995, and Dec. 31, 2002, can apply for vouchers that may be used to buy desktop or notebook computers, software or select peripherals from any manufacturer, Microsoft said in a statement Thursday.
Plan A For Microsoft
Is Microsoft's new version of Windows a radical innovation or a return to the company's winner-take-all software strategy from a decade ago?
Microsoft Forgets To Renew Hotmail.co.uk Domain
Gap In WIndows Lets In Pop-Ups, Says FTC
People with Microsoft Windows on their PCs should turn off a little-used feature that could allow unscrupulous marketers to bombard them with unwanted "pop-up" ads, U.S. regulators said Thursday.