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ArsTechnica Posts Mac OS X 10.2 Review
hype7 writes "ArsTechnica have posted their review on Mac OS X 10.2. John Siracusa has been writing the reviews of Mac OS X since way back with the developer previews, and in my experience they've been the most thorough, thoughtful and unbiased reviews of Mac OS X on the web. Well worth a read." He does do a fine job; so if you needed one last fix of looks at Jaguar, here you go.
10.0.x were for the true bleeding edge.
10.1.x were for most Mac users.
10.2 is for every Mac user.
A fairly computer illerate mac user asked me about a week ago if they should get Jaguar (10.2). I replied "With 10.2, there is no reason anyone with a machine that Apple says can run OS X is not running it."
Unless you are running a specialized application that does not run under Classic, there is no reason not to be running OS X if your machine supports it.
The speed, support, and stability are all there to make this a great operating system.
The fact that I was able to throw in an old video card, a spare 100Base-T card and a USB card into my G4 at once and have them all immediately recognized and supported is simply amazing. Apple has done wonderful work with this transition.
And I have a two-button scroll optical mouse natively supported, for everyone who might chime in with that.
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
You can see he's UNIX/Mac hybrid user.
He tends to balance things out quite well without getting bogged down in stuff that is too far over people's heads or way below them. He strikes a good mix between the obvious and the not so obvious when it comes to what material to include in the text.
I agree with practically everything he commented on and although I haven't actually got a copy of Jaguar yet on my system, I've heard and read enough to know a great deal about it. This review has helped to outline some of the aspects not included in the mainstream reviews which, on the whole, tender to bend over backwards in Apple's favour.
The Finder and Metadata may sound old hat but they represent serious issues, as do the incorporation of the many missing featuress that are present in OS9.
It's good to see someone speaking out so openly on these subjects
John's review was very thorough, as usual. While the Mac enthusiast is bound to disagree with his overall sentiment, I think the review is a must-read for the deeply entrenched Linux fan.
I do think that he began picking at nits somewhat (who cares if people call it Jag-Wire), and ultimately, he drew all of his 10.2 comparisons on a combination of the earlier incarnations of itself (like 10.1) and some unknown ethereal ideal (like "PerfectOS, version 3").
The charts on window server performance with Quartz Extreme were pretty neat, and while the review does not offer an exhaustive look at Jaguar's new features, the information offered was remarkably detailed and helpful, which allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
I was really hoping to see more comparisons of OS X versus other Linux flavors, or even Windows or Solaris. Instead, the review often sounded almost adversarial and at least reactionary, which I could personally do without. Whether or not he had an axe to grind, John is a very talented writer and computer savant. This lengthy review is worth your time to read.
10.2 is oh so much nicer than previous releases, but I still wish for:
VT102 emulation (FKeys damnit) in terminal. GlTerm works for now. I guess.
At least an *option* for sloppy focus / click to raise - click-to-focus-and-raise just sucks ass.
Where is the 1400x1050 screen resolution? This res works just fine on my 19" Sony under Linux.
Can I please have a *global* icon size setting and a *global* view style - nav down through a folder heiarchy in 10.2 and the view will automagically switch from list view to icon view. Super annoying.
How about a 0-100% transparency setting for the dock.
An API for a real honest-to-god VWM. Space works for now. I guess.
If Apple are serious about wooing *nix users they really need to fix at least some of these. Most of these are minor issues and should be easily fixed. It's beyond me why they haven't been fixed yet.
(I didn't even bother to mention middle-mouse-button paste).
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - BF
The guy provides the most in-depth, unbiased technical review of Jaguar that I've seen to date. Overall his review is very positive and enthusiastic. But he also points out the things that still need fixing or improvement. As soon as you read that part, I'm sure your brain was thinking "Blasphemy! Must defend beloved, infallible OS!"
Puh-lease.
Sure, he gets a little nitpicky with a few problems that bother him personally, but the fact is that they remain problems that Apple needs to fix. You may not agree with everything he says either, but to dismiss the entire thing because he makes a few good points that expose weaknesses in your beloved platform is like walking around with blinders on.
I absolutely love the Mac platform. Mac OS X is, far and away, the best OS I've ever used (out of all flavors of Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, IRIX, HPUX, AIX, Solaris, VMS, DOS, OS/2, BeOS, you name it). Like you, I tend to be quick to defend Apple and Mac OS X against FUD and damaging misinformation. Case in point: the graphic designer at my wife's job has to use dialup to get his email because the MCSE network guys said "Macs can't network." I hear that all the time - Macs can't do this, Macs can't do that - and have to correct it. Sometimes it's infuriating to see the ignorant biases against the Mac platform.
But this particular review is very well researched and thought out - and accurate! The shortcomings he lists are, indeed, shortcomings. I really hope the engineers at Apple read every one of his reviews and take them into account - the next version of Mac OS X will be that much better because of it. Imagine that - as good as Jaguar is, imagine having something even better. Great, isn't it?
Say hello to zMac.
"With 10.2, there is no reason anyone with a machine that Apple says can run OS X is not running it."
I have a feeling that I've seen it officially
stated somewhere that Blue and White G3's with
DVD drives and hardware decoding don't have DVD
playback under 10.2.
For me, that's a perfectly good reason not to run OS X.
Of all the system architecture pundits I've read, Siracusa is the most literate and intelligent. But he has a certain tendency to get bogged down in minor details and issues. Which keeps him from developing much influence outside the Mac user community. Which is a pity.
I can think of many reasons why "every" Mac user should not upgrade just yet. Maybe after 10.2.1 or 10.2.2.
For starters, there are still some basic things missing, or at very least not "user friendly". I spent a long time trying to figure out how to make Jaguar print to a Windows printer. Apple has been VERY careful about not saying Jaguar can do that, and rather goes with the more general statement of "Windows network compatibility".
It came down to me having to create a symbolic link between a samba utility and a CUPS directory. This is not something I would consider ready for every Mac user.
There's also some issues with applications becoming buggy with the release of Jaguar. Even Virtual PC is problematic since I updated to Jaguar. Is this Apple or Jaguar's fault. Not really, but updating to Jaguar IS the cause of some of my problems and instabilities with applications.
So, I'd say "every Mac user" should wait for 10.2.1 or 10.2.2...or at VERY least, wait for applications that you might use to release their updates for Jaguar compatibility.
And as for my background, I came through the Linux route, have several years experience as a *nix sys admin (small [.com startup] and big [IBM] systems). And now, I'm a senior software engineer.
Just my $0.02.
-Alex
The article comments on how Apple has gone out of its way to break third party menu extras and how apple blocks full functionality of a dock replacement.
.NET so that windows apps could be ported more easily... Apple would provide hardware, a kernal, and a PDF windowing system, but a third party would control the UI...
I don't mean to be an apologist for apple, but I can see a valid reason for doing this. I think apple wants to prevent any third party from replacing the dock (a menu extra could replace the dock). If a third party dock becomes very popular developers may decide to develop for it rather than use apple's dock and apple's APIs. Some sort of super-dock (or super-menu) could hijack OS X software development by offering extra functionality in an API that Apple doesn't have.
Say some developer decided to embrace and extend OS X by replacing the dock with a "task bar" that mimicked the windows look and feel and implemented
I know this is being paranoid... but I think it's reasonable for apple to keep control of the dock and the menu extras until they feel that their software has matured.
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
For the most part it's supposed to be harware specific build to support the new machines.
On MacSlash, until Siracusa sees the light shining out of my ass on the evils of HFS+ metadata, he's just one more Mac bigot.
The way Classic MacOS worked with regard to file types was unforgivable. That he wants them to go back to it is ludicrous. I don't care about file type being encoded in the filename; it's better than letting a publisher tell you with what program you will read their documents.
--Matthew
This article, though very thorough from a geek's p.o.v., almost completely ignores the graphic design/creative market. What about printer support/scanner support/Quark support/XTension support/Acrobat Distiller support/speed improvements for design apps? That's the stuff that's going to sell 10.2 to the already-Mac-user crowd. I need that to convince my boss that it's not just a great OS for home, but also work. I need justification for an OS 9 creative office to upgrade to the goodness that is OS X.
Multiple paragraphs on the Terminal app (though useful) don't help sell it to the installed Mac user base that MS complains hasn't Switched. A little more info for the right demographics would be great.
Not when you consider that John overlooked some state of this release. He could have waited for the first update and done the world a bigger favor.
... let's get down to the nitty gritty. Jaguar marks
the first public release of these APIs, and there are several fairly
big known problems and issues already that we want you to be aware of.
The largest number of issues are in the filesystem generation code.
Read this from the disc recording developer list...
==============
First things first
Known issues in 6C115:
(1) [Content] ISO-9660/Joliet broken - there are problems in the ISO/Joliet structures written to disc which make files deeper than the root directory unreadable on Windows 2000 and XP. (Specifically, the parent directory pointers in the path table are incorrect.) Some ISO-9660/Joliet implementations can read these discs successfully, but you should not rely upon them to work everywhere.
(2) [Content] Virtual filesystem hierarchies broken - the APIs to create and burn virtual hierarchies (DRFile.h, DRFolder.h, DRContentFile.h, and DRContentFolder.h) do not work. You will get an error when burning, and in some cases may crash due to a bad pointer reference inside the filesystem generator.
(3) [Content] HFS+ CDs report a (harmless) "bitmap needs minor repair" when run through Disk First Aid.
(4) [CoreEngine, DiscRecUI] Certain notifications having to do with the drive tray state may not be sent. When a disc is ejected via the keyboard eject button, or when the tray is opened via the front panel eject button on the drive, you are supposed to get a device status changed notification, but won't. This is visible in the DiscRecording UI components as well; we're waiting on a bugfix and an additional feature from IOKit before this will work.
(5) [Content] Virtual links (symlinks, aliases) are mostly untested and may not work correctly. (6) [Content] UDF is not yet available in the first release.
(7) [DiscRecUI] Carbon/C APIs to the UI components are not yet available in the first release.
That's all I have on my notepad at the moment. The good news is, the first three have been fixed already and scheduled for release with the first Jaguar update. I don't have timeframes available for when, other than "soon". The remainder are being worked on but I don't have timeframes available for those either.
defaults write com.apple.Terminal TerminalOpaqueness 0.0
When you open a new terminal it will be 100% transparent. any value between 0.0 and 1.0 (0% to 100%) will change the opaqueness.
Apple iPhone Rumors Resurface
I was foolish enough to attempt it without Quartz Extreme running "Flurry"... Let's just say I got to know the SPoD (Spinning Pizza of Death) more intimately than I had ever anticipated...
I hate Grammar Nazi's
Well, I dunno about all your tweaks to the base system. I'd be concerned about what happens when you update. I tried modifying "Apple" system files, and it bit me in the ass when something I'd done was reverted with an update. They are getting better about having "user" protected areas for system wide configurations, but still need to work on it (configurable system wide cshrc would be nice).
g _in_ja guar.html
l
Anyway... I should have posted the relevant links. Here they are.
Configuring cups for SMB:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/OSX/cups_printin
Additional good quality drivers for CUPS:
http://www.allosx.com/1030154694/index_htm
In that second page, you can search for "Alex S" and see a post I made that also lists a sample of the SMB URL. I followed the instructions of the first link (up to creating the symbolic link). I then installed the additional drivers of the second link. This increases the options for available printers (by a LOT).
I then used the "OptionKey + AddButton" method for adding a printer in the Print Center with the "Advanced" mode being available. I like gimp-print's instructions for adding a printer more than the first link's steps. BUT, you need to do that symbolic link think in the first one, to get the Samba option.
I hope that helps.
-Alex
Darn, did it again... here are clickable links. :)
a guar.html
Configuring cups for SMB:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/OSX/cups_printing_in_j
Additional good quality drivers for CUPS:
http://www.allosx.com/1030154694/index_html
I just like plain text... easier to type stuff in.
Cheers,
-Alex
Filename extensions where invented back in command line days. They made a certain amount of sense when you didn't have a lot of different file types, or a robust file system for keeping track of them. Now you have dozens and dozens of file types.
File extensions are just not adequate to record this level of information. Too many have multiple meanings. (My favorite example is .WMZ, which means "Compressed Skin" to a certain media player and "Compressed graphic metafile" to a certain office suite -- both from the same company!) And how are users supposed to deal with them? If you have to specify an extension every time you copy or rename a file, Captain Murphy will make sure you get it wrong at the worst possible time. (Even worse for non-techies, who often don't know/forget that extensions are important, or can't remember all the ones they need to know.) If you leave it up the system, you're at the mercy of applications that play with extension associations without telling you and that impose "descriptions" that are more advertisements than useful classifications.
If there are problems with the way Classic does metadata, that's an implementation issue, not a flaw in the concept. Anyway, is file-type fascism on the Mac any worse that extension stealing on Windows?
If I have an issue with Siracusa about metadata, it's that his arguments on the subject tend to wander into obscure abstractions and complicated psychophilosophical rants. Computer science has some arcane roots, but computer people are a pragmatic bunch -- you can only convince them with specifics.
I have to comment on your use of the word "bigot". My American Heritage Dictionary defines "bigot" as "One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ." Dismissing other people's opinions by with simplistic stereotypes and scatological insults would seem to fit that definition.
Known issues in 6C115:
(1) [Content] ISO-9660/Joliet broken
Say, a question for you. Why is there zero discussion of Mt Rainier support on the DiscRecording list? I understand that fixing 9660 is more important, but Rainier should at least be in development by now.
Even if that's not what you meant to say, somebody had to shoot down your linkage of metadata technology with Mac true-believers. Look, every theory has its kneejerk, dittohead followers. Has nothing to do with whether the theory is right or wrong.
You said "Until Siracusa [figures out how dumb his opinions are] he's just one more Mac bigot". Only with a rude, contemptuous metaphor to express the concept in square brackets. Does anyone else here not see this as dismissal? Don't all raise your hands at once!First you identify Siracusa with his less intelligent followers, then you say, "it's not him, it's his followers." I think we need another Venn diagram.
As for your trauma in being forced to converse with uncritical Siracusa true-believers -- well, that doesn't mean you're not a bigot. You're still rudely dismissing Siracusa, you're just using the actions of other people to justify doing so. In other words you're a self-justifying bigot. Most bigots are.
OK, now that's actually a technical argument. And it's even a valid point. I have to confess ignorance of exactly how extensions work in OS X. I gather there are extension-handling feature that are better than those in Windows. But as long as a user can mung the data type of a file just by changing its name, I don't see how you can complete (or even mostly) avoid the problems I describe.How does Apple changing and API affect CD support in windows?
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
1) A result of the new UI where you navigate in a browser window. BTW command N never created a new file, it created a new folder.
2) I dunno, ask steve
3) A result of switching to the UNIX underlay. UNIX (being a CLI system) like Windows (based on a CLI system) use file extentions. Classic OS (not CLI based) never user a CLI thus never needed the extentions and could use a more reliable and superior system
4) Again, result of using UNIX. Compatibility mean using what's already standard. Sucks to not be proprietary anymore doesn't it? But that's what happens whne the PC whinners get their way. Besides, it's a small trade off.
5) First rule of thumb in mac OS, if it's an icon, double click. If it's anything else, single click.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
I never thought it wsa really confusing. You open up the preferences panel, and now you're in an application, therefore you have buttona. But maybe that's just me, maybe it really is confusing.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
I guess the only topic you really care about who, "Who's the biggest jerk." You'll excuse me if I go look for a more interesting topic...
That was being a jerk?
I'd hate to see what sort of words you reserve for punks that can't understand a technical discussion and instead go in for incessant personal attacks.
Oh yeah, you call those people fm6.
--Matthew
And I'll spare you the account of my tears of joy when USB printer sharing both a) worked again and b) was way more pleasant than under MacOS 9. Wow. You really have to see this to believe it.
Babar