Slashdot Mirror

from CNET:

After Jobs' presentation, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller addressed the issue of running Windows on Macs, saying there are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel-based Mac. "That doesn't preclude someone from running it on a Mac. They probably will," he said. "We won't do anything to preclude that."

However, Schiller said the company does not plan to let people run Mac OS X on other computer makers' hardware. "We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac."

now this sounds like an EULA/Support restriction to me, but who knows?

"We will not allow running Mac OS X on anything other than an Apple Mac."

Late Friday afternoon, C|Net News published an extremely valuable trade secret about Apple and Intel, days before Apple was scheduled to announce it ( Apple to Ditch IBM, Switch to Intel Chips ). So, where's the friggin' lawsuit against C|Net to find out who leaked? Where is the judge who is going to claim that what C|Net published was "stolen property"?

From: http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/2005/06 /05/apple_intel_wheres_the_lawsuit_against_cnet.ph p

Late Friday afternoon, C|Net News published an extremely valuable trade secret about Apple and Intel, days before Apple was scheduled to announce it ( Apple to Ditch IBM, Switch to Intel Chips ). So, where's the friggin' lawsuit against C|Net to find out who leaked? Where is the judge who is going to claim that what C|Net published was "stolen property"?

From: http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/2005/06 /05/apple_intel_wheres_the_lawsuit_against_cnet.ph p

Check out these

http://www.notesys.com/Copies/CNET%207Sep00%20IBM% 20Dell%20Wireless.htm

Dell and IBM were duking it out for for honors of first Windows laptop with wireless a year after Apple had already offered it.

I'm not sure whether Apple make their own firewire controllers but they DID invent the technology:

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-271986.html?legacy=c net

Finally it is clear to people who have been around for a while that Apple created the template from which almost all laptops are cut today. Check out this article that names the Powerbook 100 as the top gadget of all time.

http://www.mobilemagazine.com/archives/2005/03/the _top_100_gad_1.html

Admittedly blind fanboyism is not very informative but neither is denying credit where it is due.

... but seeing an article about LFS in the index section feels like travelling back in time.

If only there were something like an article about Apple switching to Intel below, the effect would be complete...

Ah. Shame that they'll be switching to Intel chips pretty soon, then.

Don't forget that this transition will likely be taking place from mid-2006 (low end) to mid-2007 (high end). From the article (dual-core 65nm Pentium M) inside the PowerBook.

• Marc Andreessen made 100s of millions of dollars shortly after graduating from UIUC. Today's graduates of the same university face moving back in with their parents. "Fuck that, I got mine!"
• Brian Behlendorf decided he'd rather go to India to recruit software engineers than help out the graduating classes of 2001-2004 here in the US.
• Robert Malda stood idly by and said NOTHING while his company offshored its flagship product.
• Linux Lab set up shop in Bangalore!

Miguel de Icaza, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, and Linus Torvalds all got rich off the Open Source Movement. What do you have to look forward to?

will apple announces a rather odd strategy shift on monday?

http://news.com.com/Apple+to+ditch+IBM%2C+switch+t o+Intel+chips/2100-1006_3-5731398.html?tag=nefd.le de

My guess is that The deal will be a manufacturing deal.

intel might make chips for apple, but I doubt they are going to be X86 chips. It's probably going to be a powerpc variant. I don't think apple can afford to get all thier developers to port everything to a differant platform. again. all thier users to change all the hardware, again. this would be the 4th major development-architectural shift in 20 years. mot68K to PPC macos to OSX and now a move to X86?! no freaking way.

what will apple get out of this?

virtually Unlimited chip production - no more production hickups like there were with motorola and IBM. no more relience on IBM (who are more focused of microsoft+sony's gaming platforms) and cheaper prices for chips.

what will intel get out of this move?

experiance in the powerPC architecture, needed since MS moves into ppc usage maybe a way for a future x-box design win? apple as a client. maybe an inroad to apple's ipod architecture (the portalplayer chip is an arm varient, aswell as dec's strongar.. sorry, intel's Xscale.)

we'll see.

it started at 500M or so

USD150M

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-202143.html?legacy=c net

link

This means that Apple is either about to fuck over IBM or they are about to switch to AMD chips and the industry heard "intel" when what was said was "PC Architecture"

Don't forget that this transition will likely be taking place from mid-2006 (low end) to mid-2007 (high end). From the article:

Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007, sources said.

Who told you that the xServe uses an Intel CPU? That is simply not true. Apple has never used an Intel CPU for any computer, and I don't believe for a second that they're about to start now.

You should do your homework.

annoucement at the WWDC in SF....The dual core mobile Intel chips rock and this will ensure a future it seems IBM can't deliver!! WOW if it is true http://news.com.com/Apple+to+ditch+IBM%2C+switch+t o+Intel+chips/2100-1006_3-5731398.html?tag=nefd.le de OS X on Dell here is comes!

I happen to be a very good friend of the guy who started LinuxFund several years ago, an MBA named Benjamin Cox. Though, since he likes setting up businesses more than running them, he stepped down some time ago -- he's currently starting up a used book store in Israel, while doing all kinds of international business for a steel-drilling company off the coast of Gibraltor that he co-founded. So, yes, he's an old school entrepreneur. And he's also done all kinds of random cool stuff, while he was at LinuxFund (http://news.com.com/2100-1040-231179.html?legacy= cnet for example). Here's a news article from it's founding: http://features.linuxtoday.com/developer/199908270 0210NW

The basic premise is this: members get a MasterCard (with a Tux on it!), and a small portion of all the purchases they make on it goes to LinuxFund. And, yes, even Linus Torvalds has one of these credit cards. Sadly, no, I don't, as I didn't meet him until after he left LinuxFund (though I wouldn't mind one!).

Every so often, the members of the LinuxFund then vote on where this money goes. They give a bunch of small grants (generally only 4 digits) to worthy OSS projects, like Xiph, bittorrent development, etc. Therein lies the problem... Since the LinuxFund is defunct, there aren't really any regular meetings for the membership.

But, as the precedence has always been that the members vote on where the money goes, it would make sense that there should be some kind of voting system on what to do with the remaining money. Knowing the spirit that this was created in, it should probably go to some kind of other Linux/Unix grant providing thing... Maybe to start ups, or as University Scholarship money...

Heh. Maybe I should ask Benjamin... *eyes clock* Stupid 10 hour time difference.

Any bets on when the PS3 supports iTunes and the iPod?

Users with a computer running Mac OS X can already use iTunes software but not iTMS.

Downloading DRMd video and downloading it to your PSP?

Why not just stick to un-DRM'd works?

A Playstation3 with a browser, email client, and OpenOffice, Quicken, and TurboTax would what about 99% of what people use home computers for. They would also be pretty hard to write a virus or malware for.

Would the browser's Java VM support Java 3D technology and gamepad input? If not, then it wouldn't replace the PC for independent gaming.

Hope they are alteast trying ! http://news.com.com/EU+puts+funds+toward+global+re search+on+open+source/2100-7344_3-5721867.html http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,3902465 3,39130772,00.htm http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activitie s/opensource/index_en.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/26/eu_grant_o ss/

According to cnn, the opening that was being talked about was an opening on MSIE, not on IIS. These frames could be used in malicious attacks that take advantage of a flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that the company patched last December.
IOW, the opening that everybody is talking about is on the client, not on the server. At this time, I would not trust anything that is coming from MS (or the news). The news will probably go after MS, while MS will try to spin it in their favor. Personally, I suspect that MS actually tried to spin by implying that the missing patch was on the server, and the reporters did not pay attention. Anymore it seems like most reporters miss the real stories.

This strikes me as something close to an exit strategy by way of diversification for Sun. Their core server business is seriously erroding and under attack from all sides. This gives them potentially two things. First, a way to provide integrated product lines. Servers and storage are complementary businesses and I could see Sun offering tightly bundled turnkey installations. Second, this gets Sun a profit center to keep them afloat as they transition their business model.

Though it might not be advertised as such, this might be akin to a reverse acquisition since StorageTek is profitable and Sun isn't. It's interesting, though not surprising, that Sun had to pay cash. Their stock isn't worth much these days and no one is going to lend them money with a BB+ credit rating.

I thought Yahoo pledged that they would creat no more products or services until all there current ones were 100% firefox compatible? Launch.yahoo.com still doesn't work with firefox. Now I question their integrity.
http://news.com.com/Yahoo+pledges+full+Firefox+com patibility/2100-1032_3-5623838.html/

This strikes me as something close to an exit strategy by way of diversification for Sun. Their core server business is seriously erroding and under attack from all sides. This gives them potentially two things. First, a way to provide integrated product lines. Servers and storage are complementary businesses and I could see Sun offering tightly bundled turnkey installations. Second, this gets Sun a profit center to keep them afloat as they transition their business model.

Though it might not be advertised as such, this might be akin to a reverse acquisition since StorageTek is profitable and Sun isn't. It's interesting, though not surprising, that Sun had to pay cash. Their stock isn't worth much these days and no one is going to lend them money with a BB+ credit rating.

I've been trying to remember the details of when MS did this once before. They intentionally messed up backwards compatibility in Office and created a huge mess, and eventually had to fix it. They had "compatibility" for old versions back then, too.

I think this is it: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-279619.html

I totally agree. They'll be infected with patents so open source projects cannot use them. Or maybe it'll be the new DRM they're working on for office. Any cracking or hacking of that would violate the DMCA.

Microsoft loves being open in a draconian and monopolistic sort of way.

...now that they've all but killed off all of the commercial, vendor-supported competition.

And whatever happened to Office Integrated Rights Management, essentially a DRM for Office documents (New Office locks down documents) that (of course) requires a Windows server to administer, and only works with Microsoft Office? You don't think that they're just going to let that go by the wayside, do you?

And what about patents?

Sure, OpenOffice is great, but commercial enterprises will stick with commercial solutions for which there is support. And yes, this could be built for something like OpenOffice (and indeed exists for StarOffice), just as it has been for Red Hat, but I can't see this as anything more than a much belated, empty gesture on Microsoft's part. This sums it up: "Microsoft is doing this as a way to protect its presence on the desktop." Microsoft even dug up Charles Goldfarb, "co-inventor of the concept of markup languages", for its press release to say, "Making XML the default Office file format is, for me, the culmination of a 35-year dream," Charles F. Goldfarb, the inventor of the markup language technology, said in a statement released by Microsoft. Nice touch.

Also, "Microsoft Ends Era Of Closed File Formats" is a little overreaching, don't you think? They're looking for the biggest lock-in of all with the proprietary Windows Media formats. Microsoft wants to be everywhere there is any kind of media, and it's NOT open. Boy, I can't wait to live in a world where Microsoft controls and meters content and has everyone from the end consumer to cable, satellite, and telecom operators, movie and TV production houses, and everyone in between by the balls, which is exactly what will happen if they get their way. (And submission to SMPTE *hardly* means anything. Standards are standards AFTER they've been vetted by standards bodies, have had the patent searches and pools completed, etc., and have been, you know, actually approved. Not when they've been "submitted for consideration". Further, that gesture is nothing more than an attempt to get pinhead PHB-type managers and executives on board with Microsoft when their technical underlings are pulling for open standards like H.264 - then Microsoft can shoot back to the management, Hey, we're just as open as the MPEG family of standards! Look, we even submitted our codec to SMPTE! It's not our fault they take so long to approve things! Do you really want all that H-dot-whatever-gobbledeygook that your oddball IT guys are talking about? After all, that's what *Apple* uses. You don't want an Apple technology, do you? Go with us; you know Microsoft is the right choice for your 18-million-customer cable service! Utter bullshit. And ignores the fact that all of the codec improvements and tools will NOT be open; the SMPTE submission is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to put Windows Media everywhere as well by claiming to be "open" when they're anything but.)

http://news.com.com/Slimmer+tube+TVs+to+challenge+ flat+panels/2100-1041_3-5458670.html

"A 30-inch-tube television from Samsung Electronics will be about 16 inches thick, deeper than a flat panel set but about the same size as the typical stand on a flat-panel television, a Samsung executive said."

Introduction to Major Flat Panel Display Technologies

CNET News.com also reported this last Thursday.

Perhaps it is related to the current marketing blitz or which ever budget is getting Chairman Bill's mug on the cover of every magazine and MS the topic of every third CNet article.

There's everything from robotic lawnmowers to the upcoming Scooba mopbot.

Does anyone remember the dreadful FishPC iMac wannabe, not to be confused with the eMachines iMac knockoff?

Such as this one. Its premise is non-new, but still important: the most likely way for Microsoft to lose its dominance of desktop computing is for there to be a fundamental shift in the way people do desktop computing. As long as desktop computing == PCs, Microsoft will be able to leverage technological lockin and captive customer base to control the market. (Assuming those evil socialist-liberals don't return to power long enough to succeed in breaking up MS.) But if people start using network appliances instead of PCs, Windows is in trouble, because manufacturers are not going to pay stiff license fees for an OS that basically sucks as a thin client platform.

Previous appliances, such as Audrey, have failed, partly because they cost too much, but also because they assumed an Internet infrastructure that wasn't in place. The infrastructure still isn't in place, but it seems to be getting there. And maybe new technology will bring down the cost of appliances, though TFA doesn't really make a good case for that.

Which is all kind of ironic. PCs become dominant as the most standard implementation of the "open" system concept that goes back to the Apple II. Wozniak invented that kind of system because he wanted a platform for geeks like himself to "plug in" new kinds of hardware and software. Now gatekeeper for the most common version of that platform is a huge monopoly most geeks hate -- and the only way to deprive them of their role a universal gatekeeper is to invent a new kind of platform that is much less hackable.

Right, Microsoft "gifts" often come with ugly strings attached.

Case in point: in exchange for a grant of merely $2.3 million, U. Waterloo agreed to no longer teach C++ and to teach Microsoft's C# instead. Details from CNet: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949945.html

I pray such "gifts" aren't coming to Berkeley: http://www.cheesebikini.com/archives/001061.html

Did you see the pic of Bush checking out a bio alternative (here). He didn't look impressed. <cynicism>Wonder why?</cynicism>

That's not it at all. In fact, after XP was announced, business didn't upgrade their 2000 clients in anticipation of waiting to upgrade to XP.

XP incinerated previous records and sold 17 million copies in its first two months.

I am not bashing MS, but it seems from what I have seen that XP is incredibly vulnerable to attack.

What you have seen? Which of the two do you use? Neither? Speculation is one thing. Making an argument is another. I've seen much the opposite. Granted, there have been issues, and SP2 threw in some additional kinks, but the ones complaining the loudest appear to be those that don't even use Windows!

I'm sure they can too, they figured out how to charge my state for more licenses than there were employees.

Apple is only alive in its current state of health today because they took a monetary injection from Microsoft

Really? Well, you probably didn't dwell on the point for brevity but I'd just like to expand that a little lest it become misleading.

According to this article the deal helped to deflect anti trust charges from Microsoft, as the deal included continuation of Office for Mac, and it was also a settlement over disputes with Apple, after MS stole Quicktime code.

The justification for hating Microsoft is just that, a justification for hating Microsoft.

Some people 'hate' Microsoft simply because they dominate using unethical methods and that dominance with their mediocre products threatens the existence of more ethical companies with better products. It's better to deal with an ethical company because then you're less likely to get burnt.

With respect to India doing this, they're falling for the idea that free beats paid and that the fine points of useability and logical sense and stability will sort themselves out on the backs of the adopters.

I agree that there are plenty of people who champion Linux to such a degree that they pretend it's always easier and better. However, I wouldn't be too unkind about that because that 'faith' serves a function; it helps keep the focus and momentum. Linux has great potential to go much much further.

But if we simply sit back and 'rationally' dismiss Linux because sound doesn't work properly, that would be a poor analysis for it ignores the vast potential.

You've criticised the making of assumptions, but making assumptions is sometimes the smart thing to do when creating something new. If we'd all taken your 'sober' attitude, Linux would have died out years ago.

"Does anyone really care about writing for a webbrowser with a marketshare ceiling of ~3%?"

Yes, when that 3% tends to include the smartest and wealthiest among us:

. . . And it turns out that users of Apple computers are a more desirable demographic to advertisers than are PC users.

"With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both online and offline," says NetRatings director and principal analyst T.S. Kelly.

The report notes that Mac computer users tend to be creative, loyal and tech-savvy. . . .

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-943519.html?tag=fd_t op
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/jul02/ju l22/1_mon/news4monday.html
http://www.internetnews.com/stats/article.php/1403 581
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2002/07/15.1.sh tml

If you read the counter argument posted here it shows that the flag can be bypassed by simply ignoring it, the stream isn't even decrypted, it's the home electronics that we own that will do the policing for us. So they'll give rise to the beast that is mythTV since it'll become more popular in the underground for decrypting this broadcast flag should it ever get approved. Hell it might not even break the DMCA since the stream isn't encrypted. (although I'm sure they'll find a way to make it illegal)

An opposing piece by tech attorney Jim Burger.

Errrrr, there are the industry leader in blade severs.... http://news.com.com/Dell%2C+HP+gain+on+IBM+in+serv er+market/2100-1010_3-5721535.html?tag=cd.top ... in terms of revenue.

In TFA, notice the second picture in the slideshow http://news.com.com/Photo+Scanner+searches+through +clothing/2009-7348_3-5718274-2.html?tag=st.next

It shows the person's skin in most all places ( chest, legs, back, even the outline of his ear) but not the FEET. Does this screening not work through leather?

Whatever the material of the model's shoe, it definately does not seem to show the outline of his feet.

In the second image (http://news.com.com/Photo+Scanner+searches+throug h+clothing/2009-7348_3-5718274-2.html?tag=st.next)
you can see quite clearly that the radar apparently doesn't go through shoe leather.

Doesn't that sort of nullify the whole system?

...that ALL Xbox 360 gameplay demos were actually run on Apple Power Mac G5s.

Seems like they'd have prototypes at least stable enough to demo at the premier gaming and entertainment show of the year for something that's supposed to ship in less than a couple quarters...

In fact, I can't believe that TIME and all of the huge mainstream coverage that Xbox 360 has gotten hasn't mentioned this. All many of the articles say is that the Xbox 360 is using "a processor from IBM", something likely to not raise most anyone's eyebrows.

But to not mention that Microsoft's multi-billion dollar entry into the next generation of console gaming, heavily watched by many investors and financial sectors, uses the processor family that *Macs* have used since 1994, and most closely related to Apple's current computers, so closely, in fact, that their own Xbox 360 development and demos runs directly on Power Macs? I mean, yeah, I realize that Microsoft or anyone using the best processor architecture for a particular application isn't news; but Microsoft using *Macs* to develop AND demo their next generation console isn't worth a mention to anyone but C|Net?

It's just FUD. Probably from IPv6 fan-boys.

But don't take it from me. Take it from the guy who runs the organisation that gives out addresses to India and China.

I'm so glad you posted a link to something that actually mentioned this. OK, it says, "create characters similar in appearance to those in the Walt Disney film "Toy Story." which doesn't go along with people always saying, "Remember when Sony said they could render Toy Story in real time on the PS2."

Now let me bring to your attention an Xbox article. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-250632.html?legacy=c net Check it out, especially this part:
"One of the basic premises of the Xbox is to put the power in the hands of the artist," Blackley said, which is why Xbox developers "are achieving a level of visual detail you really get in 'Toy Story.'"

So Microsoft and Sony said almost the exact same thing about Toy Story. I'm going to bookmark these two links and spam them about any time I see someone talk about how Sony said they could bust out Toy Story on the PS2. Search for it on google, it's like the #1 response to people dogging on the PS3/PS2 media hype.

Show proof from a reputable website quoting a sony rep saying that.

You won't be able to because you're just another poor victim of fanboys twisting facts around linkage

That is incredibly difficult to believe for many reasons. Let me count the ways....

1) 99% of today's software runs on x86. Nobody wants to dump all of their software and migrate to a new ISA. Why else would CPU manufacturers continue to support legacy x86 even at the cost of up to 10% of their area and power budget just to decode x86 CISC instructions to RISC u-ops
2) There is an enormous business infrastructure built around this. It would all but KILL microsoft's reputation in the business world
3) The vast majority of Microsoft's revenue is on x86 software. It would be suicide for them to "theoretically begin to endorse" a new PC architecture that a) does not have the capacity and credibility to supply the world with enough PCs (ever wondered why Dell doesn't source from AMD???), b) does not have enough software to satisfy the demand, c) doesn't even have an owner stepping up to the plate (didn't IBM just sell off its PC business to Lenovo), d) can't provide the lowest prices
4) Nature abhores a vacuum. Any number of software vendors would love to get a crack at the x86 market that Microsoft vacated. Again, this would be suicide for Microsoft.
5) Intel has plenty of internal software, drivers, development tools, etc, not to mention an absolutely enormous amount of open-source win32 software and linux software
6) Every consumer service provider and hardware vendor in the world supports WIN32 on x86. Microsoft would be starting a platform from scratch that nobody would buy because the market does not sell anything for it: a) IO devices, b) broadband/VoIP/VPN, c) all the software and games they are used to
7) Even IBM would be a fool to think they could survive without x86 platforms to install their software and services onto
8) Not to mention that what you are saying is far from original -- the market has been saying for YEARS and YEARS that Intel is doomed due to a narrow focus. And yet just last quarter, Intel reported record revenue and profit. Their stock is taking off as investors expect great future growth. More than ever before, even more than during the dot.com hayday. The continue to beat down AMD to lower market share. They have pommelled TMTA and Via into oblivion. Please tell me how lack of diversity has been hurting them. Their margins are still in the 60% range, they went through the entire dot-bomb without posting a single quarterly loss (unlike ANY other large tech company I can think of), they are the first to 30cm wafer production, first to 65nm geometry in volume
9) And they do diversify. They have revolutionized the laptop platform, all but taken over the high-performance (i.e. high-margin) PDA and portable computing marketplace. They are a market leader in NOR flash (again beating out AMD to the point where they must sell their flash devision, not the same definition of "do very well" you must be thinking of). http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20 050302net_a.htm
http://news.com.com/AMD+expects+flash+memory+to+hu rt+revenue/2100-1006_3-5521587.html
They are pushing WiMAX to the market as a viable competitor to both cellular technology and cable/dsl broadband, and they are the first to bring wimax silicon to the market http://www.intel.com/ca/pressroom/2005/0418.htm They have a single-chip cellular GPRS baseband and high-performance application processor for entering the phone/PDA market. http://www.intel.com/design/pca/prodbref/252336.ht m
10) Time and time again, Intel has proven its marketing and execution genious, bringing to market products that are not necessarily the most academically superior, but certainly

AMD made a great presentation for WinHEC ex

Wow, even after giving them the benefit of the doubt for jpeg artifacts, horrible lighting, and a crappy sub-vga camera... Doom 3 looks a lot better.

Most of the other posts in this have been marked flamebait.
Not all criticism of the playstation 3 is unfounded!

If you remember the hype for the PS2, its very obvious that what we see now is only hype as well. Sony claimed it would "render toy story 2 in realtime". I think we know how well that turned out.

Apple already uses Intel chips in their current hardware.

"You could already get a DVD player for less when it launched in japan, and when it launched in north america."

DVD players were are a LOT more expensive in Japan than in the USA. Don't believe me? READ.

"And the random rumor you are quoting was that MS needed to sell 4 games to make a profit, not sony"

It was not a random rumor, and it was not about Microsoft. The XBOX wasn't even out when this article was written. There was a lot of doom and gloom predicted for Sony over their Japan launch.