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Recognizing this, Apple has made Java a core component of Mac OS X. Mac OS X includes the full version of Java 2, Standard Edition, version 1.4.2 -- meaning you have the Java Developer Kit (JDK) and the HotSpot virtual machine (VM) without downloading...

Just to clarify so we don't have to say "should" anymore: I have a compaq e500 p3 700mhz laptop that has no problem running iTunes.

According to Apple you need Windows XP or 2000, 500mhz, 128megs, and of course a hard drive of sufficient size to store whatever music you have.

There are so many over-simplifications implied in your statement that the only real answer to your question is: No, that isn't it.

I'll take over simplifications before incorrect details, any day.

MacOS X does have a BSD-ish layer in it, but much of MacOS X (and the programs on top) is not necessarily built on top of that layer.

Huh? The OSX kernel is based on the Mach kernel with parts of FreeBSD kernels ported in to that. The traditional UNIX userspace utilities are mostly BSD derived.

It is a very complex topic.

Well thank bloody Christ we have you explaining it, hey!

The better statement would be: MacOS X was built on top of NeXT OS, which derived much of its base from *BSD (mostly FreeBSD 3.x, but some OpenBSD).

NeXT OS, first released in 1989 (thats nineteen EIGHTY nine) with the last release in 1995 had some of its base from OpenBSD, which was not first released October 1996?

Riiiiiightttt...

"Read" this, it has pretty pictures.

The even have it listed on the Mac mini accessories page http://www.apple.com.au/macmini/accessories.html

Called the M-Audio Transit http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main .html it provides digital audio out and analog audio out for less than $100. Time to put your money where your mouth is?

Could you cluster a few of these things together...and run the mac server version of OSX? Just thinking off the top of my head with no research yet...

Based on the way Picasa looks, compared with Apple's iPhoto, I'd guess A browser from Google would look something like Safari.

I was going to work a joke into this but nothing comes to mind.

Based on the way Picasa looks, compared with Apple's iPhoto, I'd guess A browser from Google would look something like Safari.

I was going to work a joke into this but nothing comes to mind.

Well, 10.3 had bits of FreeBSD 5 in it according to Apple's page for it.

And according to the tiger preview page it's based on FreeBSD 5.x - so that would probably be 5.2.1.

Well, 10.3 had bits of FreeBSD 5 in it according to Apple's page for it.

And according to the tiger preview page it's based on FreeBSD 5.x - so that would probably be 5.2.1.

So I've just checked iTunes 4.6 and it appears to NOT break iTunes sharing, unlike last time.

I've updated my iTunes webpage to mention this.

Anyhow, one really cool feature that it seems to add for that AirTunes stuff is the ability to 'push' music upwards, rather than just pull down. This will allow one to control remote devices (what music is playing). Now I just can't wait to get my hands on an (Australian) AirPort Express device to reverse it. I can already think of a tonne of applications for this.

It would seem these updates arent the 970fx's where hoping for.
Looking here and hereit seems there still using the 130nm process. If they were putting in the 90nm chips you would think this is something they'd highlight.

It would seem these updates arent the 970fx's where hoping for.
Looking here and hereit seems there still using the 130nm process. If they were putting in the 90nm chips you would think this is something they'd highlight.

You mean like having the guy who plays Frodo appear in the iLife '04 video, for example? Or were you thinking of golum dancing in silhouette with an ipod?

From Apple's iPod tech specs page.

Windows requirements and software: PC with built-in FireWire or USB 2.04, or Windows-certified FireWire or USB 2.0 card; Windows 2000 or Windows XP Home or Professional; CD includes MUSICMATCH Jukebox Plus 7.5 software.

You should have read the requirements before you bought the iPod.

Here's some:

1. Web Objects
2. Open Directory
3. Article on Support for Web Standards (HTML, XHTML, etc.)

Enough for now - I have better things to do. Next time, feel free to search Google for this stuff on your own. Takes about 5 minutes to grab the basics. In each and every instance above, it talks about partial/complete implementation and the things they built on to extend the original standard. Which is the point. Enjoy.

Hard to believe the parent was modded as "insightful".

Cool! Where are the numbers to support [Mac Total Cost of Ownership lower than Windows]? Probably isn't going to cut it. [More uncontrolled ranting...]

Sad, people never learned to search the internet before pressing the flame button. There are a lot of studies that support Cringley's statement etc., and you'd be hard pressed to find a single study in the reverse!

BTW, I've seen studies supporting Linux as having a good TCO vs. Windows NT. I've never seen a study comparing Linux vs Mac TCO on desktop, and there are only a few studies comparing Linux vs Mac TCO in servers (the Mac usually comes out on top, but the studies are recent and may have bias).

"$1599US for a powerbook12 is $2451 australian, with a direct currency conversion - something that will always be under the real cost due to importing, our taxes etc."

Still, the Australian base powerbook12 is $3995. $1500+ difference.

Sure, that's still a huge markup of over $600, but it's not quite the $1500 figure you came up with.

I was browsing www.apple.com.au and noticed the change of one of their disclaimers to: "Don't steal CONTENT." (See here -- bottom of page).

I was browsing www.apple.com.au and noticed the change of one of their disclaimers to: "Don't steal CONTENT." (See here -- bottom of page).

Thank you for trying not to flame. I try too ;-)

"we want a computer we can take apart and fiddle around with. Macs just can't do this."

This is silly. The only Macs that you can't take apart are the low-end stuff. What geek is happy with low-end anyway? The Towers are very easy to open up. For christ's sake, they won *design awards* for how easy they are to open up. Besides the motherboard, there really isn't much that you can't upgrade/fiddle with. Just last week I went to a local computer fair (PC stuff) and bought the cheapest 60GB ATA drive I could find. I stuck it in the slave drive bay and formated it. The whole operation took about 5 minutes. Not many people want to do complete motherboard swaps or want to build their own computer. Please tell me: what do you want to fiddle around with exactly?

I'm trying not to flame here but I'm sick of people making vague comments about why Macs aren't as good as PCs (we need a better name for this, wintel/lintel doesn't cut it). Here are some classics (not saying that you believe all of them):

• They're too expensive - show me a comparable *pre-built* PC (ie. Compaq/Dell) with a significantly lower price. The TCO of Macs is actually sometimes lower than PCs. You have to take service/maintenance costs into account as well as the purchase price. Note: that's an Apple link but they didn't do the study.
• You can't upgrade them - already answered this one.
• No applications - this tends to be a Windows zealot comment. All the good stuff is on the Mac (well the stuff I use anyway :-).
• Not open source - Apple has made Mac OS X as open source as they can (Darwin) without loosing money to cheap knock-offs. They can't release the crown jewels, they are a for-profit company.
• One button mouse - For once I agree. Apple mice should be two button but, by default, make both buttons do the same thing (left button) to be easy on newbies. The experienced user can "turn on" the right button. "Just buy a 2 button mouse" doesn't help notebook users who don't want stuff hanging off their machine.

I've missed some I'm sure. The Mac has some very real cons (working VNC would be nice, one that actually displays the cursor!), and I don't mind people griping about them but these are just FUD.

So that I'm not completely off topic, the guy that wrote the Mac OS X on Intel article is right. Unless Apple starts becoming a software company, this isn't going to happen. Apple is even more of a hardware company now than it was 5 years ago. Apple is giving away software for free and charging a lot less for Mac OS X than they could.

They seem to be reverting to their pre-system 7 days, where you bought a Mac and all the Apple software was free. IIRC, system 7 was the first MacOS they charged for.

I hope that wasn't a flame :-)

Are you taking about the pre-May 2001 iBooks? Yeah, they're pretty toilet-seat looking, but the new one looks pretty nice indeed :)

They tried locking people up.

They even tried using Disney cartoons.

Now, they've taken it to a new level:

For legal or rightholder-authorised copying only. Don't steal music.

Politely asking.(#6, down the bottom).

Video cameras have become incredibly small over the past few years, not only that but also power usage has dropped dramatically! Here is a "videoBug" that is small and light enough to put on your flag/whip antenna. Super Circuits Video Bug.

Perhaps you could wire up a few of these with some switches on the handlebars to send them power and feed video input to the digitizer. HeadCam, RackCam, AxilCam, ... It would be cool if you could let someone toggle the camera input remotely!

If you have the budget and want to do high speed relay links via a support vehicle, then have a look at:

Radio Based Communications

At the high end are 115k spread spectrum RF modems from FreeWave. Upto 20 mile range, I believe they were used on an Everest expedition. One of them has adjustable range so you can operate it legally in restricted areas without a license. They also have repeaters ... Of course the more range/bandwidth the more current used to transmit, so pick your comms accordingly! Doing streaming video through a cellular modem might yeild very poor frame rates and/or low res, but then again you have to think of your target audience. Do you wan't to serve people with high speed connections as well as people on dialup? With a high speed link you could do both and also perhaps do higher quality one image at a time pages for people on slow links.

Off the shelf computer notebooks/pads chew up batteries pretty quickly. Of course they also offer off the shelf video encoding solutions. Apple's powerbooks might give you the greatest run time(dual battery) and also with the ability to encode the video, they also have firewire which would let you hook up some lightweight digital video cameras! Hmm, image stablization would be kinda nice too! Apple Power Book. This would put you in the "pannier" solution space though!.

If you want to get exotic on the power supply then check out some of the recent breakthroughs in gel pack based power supplies, they get at least twice the KWhr/Kg ratio over Lithium-Ion.