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Apple Reveals Mac OS X 10.2, 17" iMac, Windows iPod
The Address Book is now system-wide, accessible from many applications, and even has Bluetooth integration. Jobs dialed his cell phone via Address Book, and then when someone called him back on that phone, the computer popped up with the caller's name in Address Book. He had the option to pick up the phone or reply with a short text message.
iSync is a new system for synching your contacts and calendars with GPRS cell phones, Palms, and iPods; so Palms and cell phones are now a part of the digital hub. The iSync program shows you connected devices, and allows configuration of what to sync, and when. The demo showed a complete sync of an address book on the computer to the cell phone, again over Bluetooth. iSync will also allow integration with .mac to update your contacts and calendars between multiple computers, and will be available as a free download in September.
The Mail app now has much better searching and spam filtering, and inline QuickTime (no, that won't be abused ...).
Rendezvous will allow such things as automatic accessing of other's playlists in iTunes, accessing USB printers on the network, and more, with "zero configuration" (I hope there is some configuration, so I can opt in or out of such things). Epson, HP, and Lexmark will have Rendezvous-compatible printers. Jobs didn't mention any way to share USB printers between Mac OS and Mac OS X.
iChat, the new instant messaging program, and iCal, the new shared calendar program, can work with the $100-per-year .mac subscription, or with the free AOL IM account and any web server. iChat will use Rendezvous for finding local users, and shared calendars can be sent via iChat or mail. iCal will ship in September, as a free download.
Sherlock 3 has been completely rewritten, using Internet services (SOAP? XML-RPC?) instead of trying to parse HTML. The demo showed movie listings with embedded trailers, eBay searches with intelligently organized information and pictures, Google image searching, and a Yellow Pages search that knows your ZIP code and sorts by distance, and shows directions and maps.
iTunes 3 is out today, with new features such as rating songs, keeping track of how often songs are played, playing back all songs at the same volume, integration with audible.com, and "Smart Playlists" with rulesets so they are automatically populated (e.g., "25 most played songs", or "500 MB of songs where playcount is 0", to play songs you've never listened to). It is only available for Mac OS X, and requires registration with an email address.
For the iPod, Apple lowered prices on the 5GB and 10GB models ($299, $399), and introduced a 20GB model ($499). The 10GB and 20GB have a solid state scroll wheel, a door to protect the FireWire port, a remote control, and a case. The playlist counts, Smart Playlists, and audible.com integration sync between the iPod and iTunes. Sound volume check has also been added to the iPod. The new 10GB model is 7.692 percent thinner than the previous version.
Also added to the iPod, in addition to the contacts, is calendars, synched with iCal, so it can really act as a PDA for most people. Jobs also announced Windows versions of iPod, synching with musicmatch and including a FireWire 6-to-4 pin cable.
The new iMac has a 17" widescreen display at 1440x900, with an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX, G4/800, and 80GB hard drive.
Jobs also noted that there are 2.5 million Mac OS X users, that 77 percent of owners of new Macs keep Mac OS X as the primary OS, and that they estimate there will be 5 million Mac OS X users by the end of the year, representing 20% of all Mac users using the new OS in the first 24 months.
Apple showed some new ads in the "Switch" campaign, including a student who lost her paper on Windows, a student whose CDs get messed up in his bag (although they didn't point out that he can use iPod under Windows now), and a comedian who ended his commercial with, "My name is Will Ferrell ... and I'm a porn actor."
What? The bug fixes cost HOW MUCH? How many times do I have to buy this damned OS?
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
So, I have an iBook. I got the iBook with OS 9 and OS X preloaded because Apple knew OS X was not quite good enough yet for sole use of that OS. I basically tested the software for Apple, and it does have some bugs, and it quite a bit slower than OS 9.
Now I have to pay to get an updated version?
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
You are sounding like one of those wacky open source advocates now. You should feel privleged that you can get such fine quality software for such a low price. Stop complaining!
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Wow, a 17inch iMac. Perhaps this would be cool if we put it in a time machine and shipped it back to 1997 (when 17" CRT monitors were considered cutting edge). Too bad all the iMac users have already suffered eye damage from watching iPorn on their using their fuzzy screened iMacs.
-Ramadanoman
Come on Apple...make OS/X for x86 already! For the non-computer-savy user, who would have no chance, it would be a great replacement to Windows.
One thing that keeps putting me off from seriously thinking about OS-X is that, wandering around Apple's web site, I see lots of iCandy touting all these entertaining apps, but I don't see much mention of lots of things that, as a linux/unix programmer, I'm accustomed to having.
/. is fun and probably even entertaining, but it's not an efficient way to get answers to such questions.
So, do they just use gcc, or does it come with the box? I can't tell. Do they include perl, tcl/tk, and python? I'd feel crippled without all of these. Do they include xterm, or do I have to use their clumsy "user friendly" terminal emulator?
Perhaps more to the point; is there some place at apple.com that I can go to find answers to this sort of question? Asking on
In the past, I've generally avoided Macs, because, well, I'm a programmer. A computer is something that I can program. Macs traditionally aren't computers; they are appliances for non-programmers.
Macs have not only lacked tools for programmers, but they've charged you a lot to get a development package. (And the results only run on a Mac.) Linux comes with lots of fancy - and portable - programming tools, so a programmer can jump right in and be productive without putting out big bucks for a "development" package.
So where can I read a list of the normal unix things that I'll find on OS-X?
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Since OSX is based on unix, can't it be made to work on a PC?
Wow. MacOS - Apple charging people for a free OS. iPod - Apple overcharging for devices you can get elsewhere. iTunes/iChat/iETC... - Apple copyware iCrap
The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected. -- Will Rogers