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MacWorld Expo Report, Part II
Yesterday, I reported on the Jobs keynote and his ability to expand his reality field to encompass and entire ballroom. Today, do people still feel energized by his talk? Some were still pumped just to a part of the show, gasping and oo'ing and enjoying the melodrama of it all, but the next day there was a collective vibe of "well, was that it?". This is not to say that they were disappointed by it, but they perhaps wanted something more. The rumors had been flying for months about a flat screen iMac, and since that was what Apple brought forward, it was going to been seen as an evolutional, and thus anti-climactic, step, even if it was daringly packaged.
Many noted that they were expecting a speed bump for the G4 towers, but with Seybold coming up in February, many expect Apple to announce their tower update then to a more professional audience.
At the Tuesday keynote "The Power of X", Phil Shiller and Avie Tevanian talked about OS X and what it means to apple and to the future of the Macintosh platform. Apple is stressing how stable and crash proof OS X is and what this can means to the "Apple Faithful". They discussed the kernel, the media layers, security and the user interface and how it all works together. What they've done with their BSD derived core is really impressive. As part of the keynote, Tweak Films showed off an OS X based deep ocean wave visualization app that they assert they ported from Unix in weeks, with significant functionality gains.
The show floor itself was bouncy fun. For me it was a nice change from the austerity of a Linux exposition and it's focus on sheer functionality, capability and commerce. Large exhibitors included Alias|WaveFront, Adobe (not having anyone at this conference arrested, I noted), FileMaker pro, Microsoft and a number of other software development houses. As I walked the floor, I made a mental note of applications that were available for both Windows and the Macintosh. The reality is that there isn't much that is specifically for the Mac intosh, with the obvious exception of the hardware from apple, with all the vendors one ends up asking, what is unique here?
What Apple has that is unique, and sadly Windows and Linux both lack, is cohesion. Everyone with devices and software for the Mac seem to work so well with each other and the OS. We should strive to emulate that cohesion whenever practical for open source software. Before, the apple story was cohesion without stability or power. Now, with BSD at it's core, you can bet that Apple will be able to attack Windows, SUN and Linux on the power front. A year from now it will be interesting to see how many people are running apache to serve pages from their Apple machines, and I will be unsurprised if someone is giving an apache serving presentation at the next Apple WWDC.
Please note that I have posted some pictures of my trip to MacWorld, with some pictures of the new iMac and of the keynote.
I gotta say, that running Virtual PC on one of those, would certainly solve a lot of my problems.
Join the Free Software Foundation
I believe this to be not because MS are big, but because they have not been original nor innovative enough to make their customers and users anxiously await the next release. Typically the Linux user knows a lot more about his system, compiling software, configuration etc than the windows users where it's already done for them. The Linux user stays more up to date about what's happening in the community. As does Mac users, new designs, innovative interfaces, ease of use and a powerful platform creates a stronger sense of community spirit than "GODAMN /%&#/%& Word crashed again" ever will.
I am a Linux newbie and have used Macs VERY little, but, those OSes / platforms are a whole lot more interesting to follow than Windows. Oh? What's that? New Windows release? So soon? Oh, so they've basically pathed it and applied makeup, wow...
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
For nearly 24 years now Apple has been in business. Maybe 25. For 19 years Apple has been making UIs. For something like 17 or 16 of those years, Microsoft has been copying Apple; if not copying per feature, copying per functionality. More or less, Apple unleashed UIs and mice, with the Lisa, in 1983.
Why the heck do Linux developers copy Windows? A copy of a copy? Why not *pick* to copy Apple's HCI and adopt it for the Linux desktop? It's been finalized for *years*. It's not new. It's older than Linux itself, I think. Especially now that Apple has more or less relegated OS 9 to standby status, many people are mourning the loss of their great OS.
At this rate, Windows will copy OS X, and then Linux will copy Windows...
At least *learn* everything Apple has so daringly decided to throw away with OS 9, and then start adopting OS Xisms, and shortcircuit Windows *altogether*.
Of course, the problem is that most people don't have access to a Mac and don't know what it's like to use a Mac and don't understand the Mac gestalt, otherwise they'd be using Macs already...
GPL Deconstructed
http://www.aliaswavefront.com/freemaya. This looks too, too cool. A free, non-crippled version of Maya for home use. You can't use it in any commercial setting, and there will be a maya watermark in the videos it produces, but even so, to have such an amazing app available for free is something truly awesome.
(I'm not sure at all of the platforms supported, though... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.)
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
*grin*
Oh well.
It's still a serious question. Has no one ever considered that, when developing a UI, that you should try to beat the king of the hill, not match king of the hill?
Where Windows is king of the hill in mass, and Mac is king of the hill in skill or something.
GPL Deconstructed
Apple is moving in the right direction In the 80-90s apple grabbed many artists and musicans with its beautiful multimedia software. Still to this day, many musicians I know will not touch anything that is not an Apple. Put recently, I've seen musicians switching over to windows because of the huge popularity. Still there are enough musicians and artists interested, and a few other niche folk to keep Apple afloat. In this game however, marketshare is important and they need more customers. Where to get them?
Windows has business pretty well covered. Even though it might not be the best option for the business, people know the software. Suits like what's comfortable. Sure apple might get a few of the suits, but not very many, they really just don't care.
What market is left? Well geeks naturally! I've had a chance to use OS X a bit, and I think its a very nice OS. You can definitly see the UNIX incooperated and it still supports tons of old Mac software. Well Linux is really just UNIX anyhow but for an x86. Who cares what the processor is so long as it plays l33t games. Plus as geeks we like sticking it to Intel as well, and frankly I'm ok with that.
I like where Apple is going and if they would let me build my own system, drill a few holes in the side and overclock the processor into toast... I'd already have one.
Rob
Is that there are so few thing needing to work together. Every now and then Apple decides that certain hardware are too old and will not be supported by the latest OS. Whereas Linux has support for hardware that's pushing 20 years old, not to mention the various hardware platforms it works on.
The same can be said about the apps - I'd bet if we round up all the Gnome and KDE developers and hold a gun to their heads and get them to develop a single GUI environment that breaks any compatibility with X Windows they deem fit, they can come up something just as cohesive.
Kill'em! Kill'em all!
Well nuts, there went my rant. Stole it from me whole cloth.
Well, I have more rants than just that... like how I wish more of the OS/2 technology saw emulation in other systems, since I've long felt that it was the best PC operating system. The object technology simply made for a more pleasant experience, whether you were doing basic things like surfing the web, or scripting your environment like a good little *nix weenie, or doing office work.
MacOS provides a different set of pleasant user experiences, a generally more consistent set, but nonetheless it lacks a number of things OS/2 had.
And all the people working on KDE and Gnome blithely ignore them all, and try to copy - feature for feature, and with less original thought than Microsoft used in following Apple - Microsoft's interface.
--Matthew
I think the point is that community is, or at least should be, important.
By extension: where does a Linux user go for help? Well, there's always the local LUG, and Apple has had user groups for some time. If you're a Windows user, and you need help, you can try a local teenager, anonymous online help forums, your vendor, or MS itself; the latter 2 most likely require your credit card. Community is important because it provides a source of free, hopefully helpful support.
Second: OK, admittedly, a group of people getting together and talking about Word macros seems a little silly. But since Microsoft is so (cough) innovative, shouldn't there be groups of people who get together to push forward this innovation, sharing and promoting the general use and utility of the platform? It is kinda hard when you can't share your source code, and not everyone can easily afford the compiler suite. Although that's just my opinion. But the real point is, don't Windows users do things *besides* play video games and type Word documents? Don't people want to share things like security techniques, usability improvements, "howtos", and other stuff? Aren't there Windows users out there doing really innovative things with their hardware and software, and want to share and enjoy?
I suppose not; community in the Windows world comes at a price. Involvement in the platform is non-existant. It is, after all, just an operating system, not a lifestyle, and there's plenty of community to be had (and opinion to be decided for me) from ZDnet and the rest.
Still; I've met lots of really cool people at LUGs, and I'm sure there's people with similar feelings about Apple user groups. Too bad for Windows; you're just another product activation key in the pool.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
Yes OSX is probaly the best alternative to windows. The problem, however, is that Steve Jobs needs to port it to PC's, otherwise it will always just be a niche.
This funky message board is just another example of why open source and home brewed apps dont quite make the grade.
That's exactly what I do. I'm currently running Civ3 in its own window that way. The terminal window gives me access to UNIX, and I have all my productivity applications accessible through the dock.
I think what Apple is doing is great. They took a "crappy" OS (no flames please, I am talking about technical standpoint - cooperative multitasking and lack of memory protection are necessities) and thre it away, to be replaced by something Entirely New.
Of course UNIX has been around. NeXT has been around. But UNIX is not exactly known for its grand UIs. So what Apple seems to be doing is to learn the whole UI part again. They have some starting pointers from their experience, but I think it's actually great that they didn't do a 1:1 port of their interface to BSD. They could've done that, you know, just add AquaCandy to OS9 and there you go.
OSX shipped with a relatively basic UI. It ahd bugs. It was slow. Then came the updates, and sicne 10.1 it runs okay, 10.1.1 and 10.1.2 did further improvements to a point where I would call it "ready for the masses" (as Apple does, now, too, as Steve announced on the keynote). And now that their system runs well enough, they're going to add in all the features that really make sense (spring loaded folders seem to be a good addition, and so on).
This is how I think it has to be done: Get the system stable, usable, and efficent, THEN add features. Other vendors (I shan't name names, you know who they are) add features upon features while their platforms have been unstable for the past 10 years and they never got the bugs worked out.
I really hope that Apple will not make ANY compromises with OSX. If the longtime Apple users bitch and moan, let them. Listen to them, too. But don't add (or remove) a feature just because some people scream loudly (the whole file extension debate being a good example).
Regarding Apache for MacOS X - it is installed by default, and individual users can share "~/Sites" (equivalent to ~/public_html) using the GUI control panel.
The best part about this is that Apple configured httpd.conf so that it includes the appropriate user configs as extra files; you can edit httpd.conf yourself without fear of the changes being lost. Furthermore, you can replace the apache binaries if you need to upgrade. Apple provides ( understand ) an apache module to better work with the non-case sensitive file system which should also work with newer versions, but worst case is that this is lost.
I added Tomcat yesterady, apache.org have a binary download.
GregOK, after seeing the pictures taken by the author of the article, I do now admit that the new Mac is pretty darn cool piece of hardware.
Personally, with my PC, I've learned to appreciate USB and 1394. I now longer buy internal periferals except for audio card, video card, HD, and CD-ROM drive. It's just too time consuming for me to open the box and install stuff. Plug and play serial buses is what I, as a professional, appreciate. I also find the floppy drive useless and totally unreliable. The only time it's useful is on an obsolete machine that can't boot from CD. That's it.
So therefore, I've come to the conclusion that Apple is doing all the right things.
One thing I always wondered:
Isn't OSX's dispay engine vector based? Very cool but isn't that a fairly big disadvantage when it comes to display photographic images like jpg's etc? Do they have a way around it or am I wrong in general?
if (!signature) { throw std::runtime_error("No sig!"); }
People join user groups for more than tech support. People join user groups because they are proud to be users. They want to meet other users, because they hope to meet interesting people like themselves.
Why are there no masses of Windows fanatics? For the same reason that there are no masses of fanatical Yugo owners. There are Volkswagen clubs and such for other manufacturers.
For the most part, people use Windows because they have to or because they haven't used the alternatives. They usually don't do it by choice. They usually aren't proud of it, and they would usually rather NOT hang out with other Windows users.
t'nera semordnilap
, Apple's really firing on all cylinders these days, but don't forget that a little over four years ago things weren't quite so rosey, and it was pretty common to speculate just when Apple would expire.
As a long standing Mac user, I remember those days clearly.
Threats cause folks - the so-called Macfaithful in this case - to join together against the preceived danger. Call it a herd instinct, a crowd mentality, whatever; external threats focus your attention.
The Windows crowd is dominant now, and hence have no reason to exhibit such unity.
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That's funny. My office used to be 100% mac and is now 80% Windows. Our servers run AIX and Solaris except for the NT file server. You know what? Everything is much faster, much more stable, and generally we are much more productive. The best part is that someone can't just boot up my computer and get access to everything. We have login's now. I'm sure that OSX has this also but Mac didn't have it before. So your story means just about as much to me as mine does to everybody else.
I always thought it was:
:)
Mac Faithful
Linux Geek
Microsoft Certified
Also, Microsoft is the Company, Linux is the Movement, and Apple is the Mothership
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
He must have had the same experience that I did. It was like they carpeted over a previous show without breaking it down first. I nearly faceplanted about nine times just walking around. I swear one of the lumps under the carpet was human-sized. Anyone seen Woz recently? I'm beginning to worry.
"I like to play with things a while... before annihilation!" Ming the Merciless