Like it or not, I think this kind of product is the future of home computing. Microsoft has started giving PC makers suggestions on what their computers should look like, and they look a lot like this. Ultra small form factor, flat panel display, and everything hooking up through USB or Firewire. This particular design might be a bit fanciful for a laptop, but this is probably similar to what desktops will look like in a few years.
Personally, I won't mind. The spec sounds a lot like the Apple G4 Cube, which is what I'm using quite happily right now. Small and quiet == good. What about expansion? Really, you don't need expansion slots anymore. Virtually everything you need can be done through FireWire or USB. If this is the future, then it looks pretty good to me.
I'll get modded down for this, but here goes: As an OS X user, I don't particularly see much point in switching to Mandrake. I mean, I've already got a real *nix that runs all of my unix apps, is open source where it counts, and has a GUI that kicks ass. Really, what advantage does switching to Mandrake (or any Linux PPC) give me?
I think part of the appeal of Linux on PPC has always been to run a real OS on slick Apple hardware instead of the crufty P.O.S. that Apple was pushing. Six months ago, I would have been really excited to see Mandrake PPC. OS X changed that, though, and I don't think I'm alone here. Don't get me wrong. I love Mandrake, Linux, and the free software community, but I just don't see anything compelling about Linux PPC anymore now that all Macs come pre-installed with OS X.
You're right. It's still the best. Fun fact: Tora, Tora, Tora! not only told both sides, it actually had two full production teams. An American unit did the American scenes, and a Japanese unit did all of the Japanese scenes. Check out a review here. Also, they've released a collector's edition of this great film on DVD to capitalize on the new movie.
While I can see how this would be a concern for high-security environments, I don't think most of us home users really need to worry about it. With surfing and games, most of the info that I transmit is totally useless unless you know exactly what's on the screen at the time. At best, you're going to get my personal e-mails which are pretty darn boring.
Call me crazy, but I'll live with the tiny security risk if it means I don't have to get my lazy ass off the couch.
I think that the two companies are chasing different markets. Apple is currently trying to sell themselves as a "premium brand". Ultra-hip hardware (like the cube) with a really slick OS. AOL seems like more of a "lowest common denominator" company to me. Apple's trying to sell to elitists. AOL is trying to sell to the masses.
It's become rather fashionable to mock the foolishness of the dot-coms. How many of us were mocking them eighteen months ago? With all of the talk about the "New Economy" and the "Internet Revolution" I think all of us thought there was a chance that things had really changed.
Personally, I was offered a job at Oracle and a job at a startup at exactly the same time. The startup offered more pay, free training, a more relaxed atmosphere, more career mobility, and free lunch on Wednesdays. Which would you have picked? It really was a dream job. Inevitably perhaps, the company tanked and I got axed in the last round of layoffs. I still don't regret the choice. At least I can say that I was right there in the thick of it. The dot-com boom will end up in the history books, and it'll make some great stories to tell the grandkids.
Meanwhile, it stings a little to read constant mockery from people that were your ardent supporters last year. A lot of us got hurt when the bubble burst, and I'd rather see a helping hand extended than a middle finger.
that those of us that worked for a dot-com are spending a LOT less time at the office now.
Seriously though, when I was working at a startup, 50 hour weeks were the norm. After destroying my social life and physical health, I'm now looking for something where I can go home at 5:00 with everyone else. It turns out that there's more to life than work, after all.
What a troll. If Apple doesn't give anything back, what do you call Darwin? Last time I checked, Darwin was open source and free (as in beer). Apple's even provided us with an x86 version that they'll probably never see a dime from.
There's a big difference between "not giving anything at all" and "not open-sourcing Quicktime", which is all this guy seems to care about.
Sorry, but I don't think you have all the facts. According to Microsoft, the plan is to merge Windows authentication with Passport authentication. Follow the link and check out the bit about E-bay. Without using Passport, Windows XP will be either hamstrung or totally unusable. You'll probably also have the Passport TOS stuck into the Windows XP TOS, which would ban it in Maryland.
Since Passport is closely tied into.NET through "Hailstorm", this might mean that you won't be able to use any.NET products (like Windows XP) in Maryland either. In effect, Micro$oft might have shut themselves completely out of Maryland once.NET arrives. This is almost too good to be true.
Computers are already the slow link in the chain if you're using gigabit ethernet. If my math is correct, with Gig-E the NIC can receive data faster than a 100Mhz bus can throw it at the processor. Crazy.
It's already been noted that the Pentium IV kicks ass at Quake. Big deal. It almost seems that the P4 has been engineered specifically to play Quake III Team Arena at the expense of everything else. Run any other application, and a 1.3 Ghz Athlon will take the Pentium out behind the barn and beat it.
Frankly, I'm baffled by this. Apple seems hell-bent on reserving the exclusive right to theme their OS. They even went so far as to patent GUI theme engines. So why the hell don't they release their own themes? Aqua's pretty and all, but if you're running OS X that's your only option. This "I'm not playing, but I won't let you play either" attitude is just frustrating.
If PBS relied on commercial advertising it would destroy the goal of providing unbiased public television. Once you rely on corporate sponsorship, you can't criticize your sponsors for fear of losing your funding. Look at the castrated news from the corporate networks. They're afraid to discuss any meaty issues (gun control, environmental regulations, campaign finance reform, etc.) because they can't risk offending any of the corporate advertisers. Because PBS doesn't rely on ads, they can show whatever they want without worrying about going under.
I expect that we have reached the end of computing history. Things do not move forward now, and computers do all we need them too.
Nice troll. True, Moore's law may eventually break down, but it seems ridiculous to say that hardware innovation will stop. People have been saying this kind of thing forever: In 1899 Charles Duell (Head of the U.S. Patent Office) said, "Everything that can be invented has been invented." In 1981 Bill Gates said, "640K ought to be enough for anybody." In 1996, John Horgan (Senior writer for Scientific American) wrote a book called "The End of Science?".
Invention slows down sometimes, but it never stops.
...he bashed the Mach microkernel. That's an important distinction. ZDNet is selectively reporting slanted facts to make a hot story. Let's not turn this into an unnecessary holy war.
On a side note, isn't one of the features of a microkernel architecture that you can replace the microkernel? Does anyone else know about the viability of replacing Mach with something better?
Apps in OS X use an API called Cocoa or Carbon (I forget which).
Actually, both are valid APIs in OS X. Carbon apps run in both OS X and OS 9. Cocoa is the whiz-bang OS X only API that's mostly based on the NeXT stuff.
Err... That's not at all impressive. Even NT can do that...
True, but I managed to crash OS 9 twice in the fifteen minutes before I installed OS X. BTW, what are "bundles"?
Bundles are big metafiles that contain everything a program needs. Executables, data, config information, plugins, whatever. You can even include seperate versions for OS 9 and OS X. To install a program you just drag and drop the bundle into your Applications folder. Kinda like RPMs for Linux (sorta). I used to be a Windows guy, and it's pretty refreshing not to have to deal with all the InstallShield/Uninstall crap that never totally works right.
Which BSD are you comparing it to? Darwin has a different architecture than FreeBSD, but according to Wilfredo Sanchez they used NetBSD as their reference platform for Darwin. Darwin is it's own animal, but it's definitely part of the BSD family.
Desktop OSes, however (I'm thinking BeOS, MacOS, WinNT) don't have the same layering scheme as *nix "desktops." The operating system is the graphical environment, something which *nix differentiates into an application.
Actually, all desktop operating systems run the GUI as an application. It's just a question of whether you can turn the damn thing off. One of the reasons I love OS X is because all of the layers are distinct and I can choose to run a straight command line or full GUI at my discretion. I'd still call it a "desktop OS" though...
I suspect that a lot of people might lay out the bucks for no-ad TV
They already do. HBO, Showtime, Playboy, etc. all use this business model quite successfully. Interestingly enough, so does PBS if you stop to think about it. People are always willing to pay for premium content if the price is right.
As a beginning programmer, I'm not sure that I agree with Mr. Van Rossum pushing Python as a first language. When I started to learn C a couple of months ago, I found it extremely frustrating. It was awkward, difficult, and unforgiving. One afternoon I stumbled on Python, and thought it was perfect! Easy, quick, and not as fussy about types! I showed it to one of my co-workers, and he gave me some advice. He said, "Forget it. Go back to C. Weakly typed languages like Python and Perl allow you to get away with a lot of sloppy coding. If you learn with a ballbuster like C, you don't have to unlearn bad habits later on."
Just two months later, I agree with him. I've learned an awful lot because I've had to wrestle with C. I'm not sure that I would understand the fundamentals as well with a high level language like Python, and the only way to become a wizard is to know the fundamentals. I'm still new at this though, so take this with a grain of salt.
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Like it or not, I think this kind of product is the future of home computing. Microsoft has started giving PC makers suggestions on what their computers should look like, and they look a lot like this. Ultra small form factor, flat panel display, and everything hooking up through USB or Firewire. This particular design might be a bit fanciful for a laptop, but this is probably similar to what desktops will look like in a few years.
Personally, I won't mind. The spec sounds a lot like the Apple G4 Cube, which is what I'm using quite happily right now. Small and quiet == good. What about expansion? Really, you don't need expansion slots anymore. Virtually everything you need can be done through FireWire or USB. If this is the future, then it looks pretty good to me.
I'll get modded down for this, but here goes:
As an OS X user, I don't particularly see much point in switching to Mandrake. I mean, I've already got a real *nix that runs all of my unix apps, is open source where it counts, and has a GUI that kicks ass. Really, what advantage does switching to Mandrake (or any Linux PPC) give me?
I think part of the appeal of Linux on PPC has always been to run a real OS on slick Apple hardware instead of the crufty P.O.S. that Apple was pushing. Six months ago, I would have been really excited to see Mandrake PPC. OS X changed that, though, and I don't think I'm alone here. Don't get me wrong. I love Mandrake, Linux, and the free software community, but I just don't see anything compelling about Linux PPC anymore now that all Macs come pre-installed with OS X.
You're right. It's still the best. Fun fact: Tora, Tora, Tora! not only told both sides, it actually had two full production teams. An American unit did the American scenes, and a Japanese unit did all of the Japanese scenes. Check out a review here. Also, they've released a collector's edition of this great film on DVD to capitalize on the new movie.
While I can see how this would be a concern for high-security environments, I don't think most of us home users really need to worry about it. With surfing and games, most of the info that I transmit is totally useless unless you know exactly what's on the screen at the time. At best, you're going to get my personal e-mails which are pretty darn boring.
Call me crazy, but I'll live with the tiny security risk if it means I don't have to get my lazy ass off the couch.
I think that the two companies are chasing different markets. Apple is currently trying to sell themselves as a "premium brand". Ultra-hip hardware (like the cube) with a really slick OS. AOL seems like more of a "lowest common denominator" company to me. Apple's trying to sell to elitists. AOL is trying to sell to the masses.
It's become rather fashionable to mock the foolishness of the dot-coms. How many of us were mocking them eighteen months ago? With all of the talk about the "New Economy" and the "Internet Revolution" I think all of us thought there was a chance that things had really changed.
Personally, I was offered a job at Oracle and a job at a startup at exactly the same time. The startup offered more pay, free training, a more relaxed atmosphere, more career mobility, and free lunch on Wednesdays. Which would you have picked? It really was a dream job. Inevitably perhaps, the company tanked and I got axed in the last round of layoffs. I still don't regret the choice. At least I can say that I was right there in the thick of it. The dot-com boom will end up in the history books, and it'll make some great stories to tell the grandkids.
Meanwhile, it stings a little to read constant mockery from people that were your ardent supporters last year. A lot of us got hurt when the bubble burst, and I'd rather see a helping hand extended than a middle finger.
that those of us that worked for a dot-com are spending a LOT less time at the office now.
Seriously though, when I was working at a startup, 50 hour weeks were the norm. After destroying my social life and physical health, I'm now looking for something where I can go home at 5:00 with everyone else. It turns out that there's more to life than work, after all.
What a troll. If Apple doesn't give anything back, what do you call Darwin? Last time I checked, Darwin was open source and free (as in beer). Apple's even provided us with an x86 version that they'll probably never see a dime from.
There's a big difference between "not giving anything at all" and "not open-sourcing Quicktime", which is all this guy seems to care about.
Sorry, but I don't think you have all the facts. According to Microsoft, the plan is to merge Windows authentication with Passport authentication. Follow the link and check out the bit about E-bay. Without using Passport, Windows XP will be either hamstrung or totally unusable. You'll probably also have the Passport TOS stuck into the Windows XP TOS, which would ban it in Maryland.
Since Passport is closely tied into .NET through "Hailstorm", this might mean that you won't be able to use any .NET products (like Windows XP) in Maryland either. In effect, Micro$oft might have shut themselves completely out of Maryland once .NET arrives. This is almost too good to be true.
Computers are already the slow link in the chain if you're using gigabit ethernet. If my math is correct, with Gig-E the NIC can receive data faster than a 100Mhz bus can throw it at the processor. Crazy.
It's already been noted that the Pentium IV kicks ass at Quake. Big deal. It almost seems that the P4 has been engineered specifically to play Quake III Team Arena at the expense of everything else. Run any other application, and a 1.3 Ghz Athlon will take the Pentium out behind the barn and beat it.
Frankly, I'm baffled by this. Apple seems hell-bent on reserving the exclusive right to theme their OS. They even went so far as to patent GUI theme engines. So why the hell don't they release their own themes? Aqua's pretty and all, but if you're running OS X that's your only option. This "I'm not playing, but I won't let you play either" attitude is just frustrating.
If PBS relied on commercial advertising it would destroy the goal of providing unbiased public television. Once you rely on corporate sponsorship, you can't criticize your sponsors for fear of losing your funding. Look at the castrated news from the corporate networks. They're afraid to discuss any meaty issues (gun control, environmental regulations, campaign finance reform, etc.) because they can't risk offending any of the corporate advertisers. Because PBS doesn't rely on ads, they can show whatever they want without worrying about going under.
Nice troll. True, Moore's law may eventually break down, but it seems ridiculous to say that hardware innovation will stop. People have been saying this kind of thing forever:
In 1899 Charles Duell (Head of the U.S. Patent Office) said, "Everything that can be invented has been invented."
In 1981 Bill Gates said, "640K ought to be enough for anybody."
In 1996, John Horgan (Senior writer for Scientific American) wrote a book called "The End of Science?".
Invention slows down sometimes, but it never stops.
Okay, I've been wondering about this for a while. The Xbox will:
Have an Intel processor (most likely a celeron).
Have an IDE hard drive.
Have a GeForce 3 for graphics
Run DirectX on Windows.
Have an ethernet port.
How is this any different from a PC? Maybe there's something I'm missing, but it looks a lot like a PC to me...
On a side note, isn't one of the features of a microkernel architecture that you can replace the microkernel? Does anyone else know about the viability of replacing Mach with something better?
Actually, both are valid APIs in OS X. Carbon apps run in both OS X and OS 9. Cocoa is the whiz-bang OS X only API that's mostly based on the NeXT stuff.
True, but I managed to crash OS 9 twice in the fifteen minutes before I installed OS X.
BTW, what are "bundles"?
Bundles are big metafiles that contain everything a program needs. Executables, data, config information, plugins, whatever. You can even include seperate versions for OS 9 and OS X. To install a program you just drag and drop the bundle into your Applications folder. Kinda like RPMs for Linux (sorta). I used to be a Windows guy, and it's pretty refreshing not to have to deal with all the InstallShield/Uninstall crap that never totally works right.
It's a Unix that my mom can use.
Which BSD are you comparing it to? Darwin has a different architecture than FreeBSD, but according to Wilfredo Sanchez they used NetBSD as their reference platform for Darwin. Darwin is it's own animal, but it's definitely part of the BSD family.
It's stable. I leave my computer on 24 hours a day and it hasn't crashed on me once or even gotten flaky.
It uses bundles for apps. Bundles kick ass.
It's flexible. Don't want to run Aqua? Want to run X? No problem.
Two words. Command Line.
Comes with Emacs and gcc.
Unicode to the bone.
The included dev tools are awesome.
Aqua's pretty. Sue me.
Sure, it's got some (minor) problems, but it was still enough to convert me from a raging x86 bigot to a Mac user. That's pretty damn good.
Actually, all desktop operating systems run the GUI as an application. It's just a question of whether you can turn the damn thing off. One of the reasons I love OS X is because all of the layers are distinct and I can choose to run a straight command line or full GUI at my discretion. I'd still call it a "desktop OS" though...
They already do. HBO, Showtime, Playboy, etc. all use this business model quite successfully. Interestingly enough, so does PBS if you stop to think about it. People are always willing to pay for premium content if the price is right.
He said, "Forget it. Go back to C. Weakly typed languages like Python and Perl allow you to get away with a lot of sloppy coding. If you learn with a ballbuster like C, you don't have to unlearn bad habits later on."
Just two months later, I agree with him. I've learned an awful lot because I've had to wrestle with C. I'm not sure that I would understand the fundamentals as well with a high level language like Python, and the only way to become a wizard is to know the fundamentals. I'm still new at this though, so take this with a grain of salt.