While OS X is as stable as any other *nixy system, if aqua poops out on you it is essentially a crash, as there are no virtual consoles or key combinations that get you out of it. If you go to this page [cartoonnetwork.com] the flash content will freeze the desktop (using internet explorer). In linux, you can simply go to a different virtual console and kill stuff, but in OS X you have to SSH in from another box or reboot.
I just went there, and I didn't lock up (I'm running OS X 10.0.4 and IE 5.1b1). In fact the page is still loaded in another window.
But I have had the GUI lock up on me a few times, and some type of keyboard shortcut to kill it would be nice, since Option-Command-Escape won't always pop up the Force Quit window...
I don't think it's worth the hassle of having stories look like this: "I think [their]* doing a good job"
* the homonym "there" was replaced with the grammically correct "their"
Still incorrect! That should be the contraction for "they are"... "*They're* doing a good job"
Or like Microsoft...config functions in control panels, in exploder, My Computer-> Manage->{pick one}, Network->properties->Local Area Network->properties->TCP/IP->properties, Taskbar->properties, etc, etc. Like a normal OS.
Good example! OS X has everything in one place, in "System Preferences"
I run OS X mostly on my G4 (the one I'm typing this on), but still run LinixPPC on my old PowerComputing clone, updated with a 450MHz G3 card.
Heee, I noticed that the reason IBM was getting involved was because its a PowerPC chip inside...
yeah, I know there's a lot more to a box than the CPU, but...
I just posted that very question. The GameCube is like an iMac... G3 chip and ATI graphics...
Some of us really don't mind spending the extra money on Macs.
The one point that a lot of people miss, is that Mac users use Macs because we like the OS, so we have to use Apple hardware. Which is fine, because it works well, is fast, and looks cool too! PC users seem more concerned with hardware, and if you use Linux as your OS of choice, you can run on either PPC or x86 hardware.
Right now I run OS X most of the time on my G4/466, but I'm a graphic artist and use Macs (and PCs) all day. Apple hardware does cost more, but think of it this way... some people spend more money on nice cars too. Is a BMW really worth more then a Ford? I'd say so. You pay for quality, or even just good design.
And if the author were is an "obvious Mac lover" he *definitely* would not say:..."The Rhapsody OS metamorphosed into the Apple OS X, incorporating elements of the previous OS 8 as well."...
as the Rhapsody OS metamorphosed into "Mac OS X" (Apple is the company), incorporating elements of *OS 9*. Having a broken link means nothing
Actually, he is kind of correct, but got mixed up a bit... Rhapsody was System 8, not OS 8. Mac OS 8 was originally named System 7.7. I think Apple renamed it OS 8, to make it sound like something newer, but didn't call it System 8 so people wouldn't think it was Rhapsody. While it's true that parts of System 8 made it into Mac OS 9, OS X is usually thought to be the descendant to Rhapsody... even though it's really just NeXTSTEP with a face lift.
Clearly, however, Mac OS 8's "Platinum" appearance was from Rhapsody/System 8.
I hate when people call Apple "Mac" and vice versa!
Not so; I dislike paying too much for a computer that will not perform as well as the computers I build for myself. If I could affordably build my own Mac, I might... I'd run Linux on it, though.
I guess this is the point a lot of people don't get. Most people buy Macs because we like the OS. We have to buy the hardware because that's what the OS runs on. The hardware works well, gives very few problems, looks cool, and is very fast. If you want to run IRIX you have to buy an SGI...
I think a lot of PC users care more for the hardware, and if you like Windows, fine. If you use Linux then you do have more choices, and yes, Apple hardware is more expensive. I also run Linux on one of my Macs (a clone, but not on my G4, because of OpenFirmware issues with booting). I find that Linux is not as fast on PPC as Mac OS is, but is plenty fast on x86 hardware. I suppose I would run Linux on PC hardware, and not mind. I just don't like Windows very much.
Actually Palm's first product was Grafitti for Newton
Palm was started by ex apple people... many of which were from the Newton project. Also Newtons used the ARM processor, that many PDAs now use, and you see Palm just said they will start using it too. The Newton was too big, and too expensive, but every one I ever used was much cooler then my Palm is.
"Both Windows and the Mac owe much to the research at Xerox PARC. And some of the well-loved Mac interface widgets were invented at Microsoft when they wrote Word and Excel; the flow of ideas wasn't one-way."
I hate to break it to you, but they didn't write Word or Excel, they bought them. If you look it up, you will see that Apple hired M$ to write business software for the Mac. They gave M$ a Mac and the necessary code base. Word was on the Mac first (I have Word 1.0 on some of my old Macs), and M$ asked Apple if they could license the GUI elements for a PC version. Apple said "no way" and M$ said they would take the ball home and not play anymore. So Apple agreed just for the first version of Windows, so Word would run on DOS in it's GUI form. M$ was supposed to stop using the Apple code after Windows 1.0, but didn't, which brought on the first Apple law suit. Apple lost, and the rest is history. But when Win 95 came out, Apple figured they had enough of a case against M$, so we had that historic moment when M$ "invested" a large chunk of money in Apple, which we all know was an out of court settlement for patent infringement. This is why Apple got access to M$ patents in the patent cross licensing deal. Apple has quit a bit more patents then M$ does also, by the way.
You still see early Apple GUI things like the tool bar from MacPaint in Photoshop etc.
"Errr, the Mac Portable was definetely a latecomer in the laptop segment being released in 1989. Toshiba brought out its first laptop in 1985, the T1100. See this page for details: "
I own a MacPortable... it's so big no one would ever call it a lap top! It's more along the lines of the first Portable PC, the Compaq... it's like a Portable Typewriter. The Compaq was like a small suitcase.
By the way, Sony was the one that took the Apple designed motherboard, and shrunk it down to the first PowerBook model for Apple. Acer (blech) also used to make PowerBooks for Apple.
IBM invented the hard drive way before the PC market, Apple had computers with hard drives... I have a few early MacPluses with hard drives (external) and even the Lisa had a hard drive, as did many Apple IIs.
The Motorola 68020 was 32-bit... Macs (and I suppose Amigas? I'm not an Amiga expert...) had 32-bit processors and most versions of Mac OS were at least 24-bit, and after System 7 were 32-bit. PCs were still running 16-bit Windows 3.0 then on16-bit CPUs.
Most Macs had Math Coprocessors, as either a separate Motorola chip, or on the CPU.
Macs, since the Mac II, always had separate graphic cards (Apple called them Display Cards) and they were usually an item you had to buy seperately (that was a stupid move) and even the Macs with built in graphics used accelerated chip sets from ATi, mostly.
PCI? OK, maybe. Apple was using NuBus, which had some interesting qualities, like Plug and Play ROMs on the cards to identify them to the Mac and load drivers. But Apple has been using PCI cards for quite a while now.
True multitasking PC OS? That sure wasn't Windows! UNIX I suppose. OS X (BSD/NeXTSTEP/Mach) does this just fine, and better then Windows.
There is some benefit to the old Mac OS way though. If you run audio and midi programs, the fact that the program can totally take over the CPU makes for good timing and low latency.
There were Macs with dual CPUs... I used to use a PowerMac 9500 at work with 2,180 MHz PowerPC 604e chips. It was faster then the dual 250 MHz SGI Indy we had next to it. And a few thousand dollars cheaper too! Daystar made dual and quad CPU Mac clones, even before the Mac Clone Era (RIP)
"They've been about dumbing down computers so that "the rest of us" can use them. "
Linus Torvalds was quoted as saying the only thing he liked about Mac OS was the GUI and the ease of use, so I guess not everyone thinks is been dumbed down.
"Most of the non-Intel PC and workstation companies are starting to disappear now, a decade later. DEC? Dead. SGI? Nearly dead. Sun? Losing marketshare quickly to Microsoft, of all people. Cray? Dead. (No pun intended. RIP Seymour Cray). Who's left, really? Hewlett-Packard, who's now working with Intel? Motorola, who is known mostly for cell phones and embedded chips? The future doesn't look so bright to me. "
You forgot IBM, whos real computers, like the new ASCII White, are non Intel... PowerPC ya know;-)
Even thought Apple paid Xerox, Apple invented a lot of the standard GUI elements we use today, like pulldown menus, and had been working on their own GUI prior to the XeroxPARC visit, due to the fact that some Apple people used to work at Xerox.
Apple Corps (Apple Records) originally sued Apple Computer, because of another first... the Mac could play and record audio. The alert sound "Sosume" was named in tribute to this! The dispute was over the name "Apple: of course, but Apple Computer agreed to not go into the recording business. I think later because every major recording studio uses Macs Apple Corps went after them again.
I own a MacPortable (backlit model), and I think it's only about 12 LB., but I may be wrong...
Apple invented FireWire with TexasInstruments.
While Apple did indeed make the first PDA, the Palm connection goes a little deeper, because palm was started by ex apple people, most likely a lot of the Newton team.
CoroSync is way important in my field in publishing. Windows didn't get system wide color management until Windows 2000.
Also let us not forget that Apple used a mouse before any one else. And had things like build in SCSI standard. Also even though there were software titles on CD for PCs, Apple started shipping Macs with standard CD-ROM drives before most PC makers.
Slashdot Mirror
I just went there, and I didn't lock up (I'm running OS X 10.0.4 and IE 5.1b1). In fact the page is still loaded in another window.
But I have had the GUI lock up on me a few times, and some type of keyboard shortcut to kill it would be nice, since Option-Command-Escape won't always pop up the Force Quit window...
Still incorrect! That should be the contraction for "they are"... "*They're* doing a good job"
Same reason someone might use Linux for everything?
God forbid that someone might prefer to use a particular OS! ;-)
Good example! OS X has everything in one place, in "System Preferences"
I run OS X mostly on my G4 (the one I'm typing this on), but still run LinixPPC on my old PowerComputing clone, updated with a 450MHz G3 card.
The Search for Planet X
I just posted that very question. The GameCube is like an iMac... G3 chip and ATI graphics...
Wonder if it would run Mac OS X or LinuxPPC? ;)
No, it's $1690.
The one point that a lot of people miss, is that Mac users use Macs because we like the OS, so we have to use Apple hardware. Which is fine, because it works well, is fast, and looks cool too! PC users seem more concerned with hardware, and if you use Linux as your OS of choice, you can run on either PPC or x86 hardware.
Right now I run OS X most of the time on my G4/466, but I'm a graphic artist and use Macs (and PCs) all day. Apple hardware does cost more, but think of it this way ... some people spend more money on nice cars too. Is a BMW really worth more then a Ford? I'd say so. You pay for quality, or even just good design.
Actually, he is kind of correct, but got mixed up a bit... Rhapsody was System 8, not OS 8. Mac OS 8 was originally named System 7.7. I think Apple renamed it OS 8, to make it sound like something newer, but didn't call it System 8 so people wouldn't think it was Rhapsody. While it's true that parts of System 8 made it into Mac OS 9, OS X is usually thought to be the descendant to Rhapsody ... even though it's really just NeXTSTEP with a face lift.
Clearly, however, Mac OS 8's "Platinum" appearance was from Rhapsody/System 8.
I hate when people call Apple "Mac" and vice versa!
I guess this is the point a lot of people don't get. Most people buy Macs because we like the OS. We have to buy the hardware because that's what the OS runs on. The hardware works well, gives very few problems, looks cool, and is very fast. If you want to run IRIX you have to buy an SGI...
I think a lot of PC users care more for the hardware, and if you like Windows, fine. If you use Linux then you do have more choices, and yes, Apple hardware is more expensive. I also run Linux on one of my Macs (a clone, but not on my G4, because of OpenFirmware issues with booting). I find that Linux is not as fast on PPC as Mac OS is, but is plenty fast on x86 hardware. I suppose I would run Linux on PC hardware, and not mind. I just don't like Windows very much.
Palm was started by ex apple people... many of which were from the Newton project. Also Newtons used the ARM processor, that many PDAs now use, and you see Palm just said they will start using it too. The Newton was too big, and too expensive, but every one I ever used was much cooler then my Palm is.
"Both Windows and the Mac owe much to the research at Xerox PARC. And some of the well-loved Mac interface widgets were invented at Microsoft when they wrote Word and Excel; the flow of ideas wasn't one-way."
I hate to break it to you, but they didn't write Word or Excel, they bought them. If you look it up, you will see that Apple hired M$ to write business software for the Mac. They gave M$ a Mac and the necessary code base. Word was on the Mac first (I have Word 1.0 on some of my old Macs), and M$ asked Apple if they could license the GUI elements for a PC version. Apple said "no way" and M$ said they would take the ball home and not play anymore. So Apple agreed just for the first version of Windows, so Word would run on DOS in it's GUI form. M$ was supposed to stop using the Apple code after Windows 1.0, but didn't, which brought on the first Apple law suit. Apple lost, and the rest is history. But when Win 95 came out, Apple figured they had enough of a case against M$, so we had that historic moment when M$ "invested" a large chunk of money in Apple, which we all know was an out of court settlement for patent infringement. This is why Apple got access to M$ patents in the patent cross licensing deal. Apple has quit a bit more patents then M$ does also, by the way.
You still see early Apple GUI things like the tool bar from MacPaint in Photoshop etc.
"Errr, the Mac Portable was definetely a latecomer in the laptop segment being released in 1989. Toshiba brought out its first laptop in 1985, the T1100. See this page for details: "
I own a MacPortable... it's so big no one would ever call it a lap top! It's more along the lines of the first Portable PC, the Compaq... it's like a Portable Typewriter. The Compaq was like a small suitcase.
By the way, Sony was the one that took the Apple designed motherboard, and shrunk it down to the first PowerBook model for Apple. Acer (blech) also used to make PowerBooks for Apple.
Ummmmm OK ... let's see
IBM invented the hard drive way before the PC market, Apple had computers with hard drives... I have a few early MacPluses with hard drives (external) and even the Lisa had a hard drive, as did many Apple IIs.
The Motorola 68020 was 32-bit... Macs (and I suppose Amigas? I'm not an Amiga expert...) had 32-bit processors and most versions of Mac OS were at least 24-bit, and after System 7 were 32-bit. PCs were still running 16-bit Windows 3.0 then on16-bit CPUs.
Most Macs had Math Coprocessors, as either a separate Motorola chip, or on the CPU.
Macs, since the Mac II, always had separate graphic cards (Apple called them Display Cards) and they were usually an item you had to buy seperately (that was a stupid move) and even the Macs with built in graphics used accelerated chip sets from ATi, mostly.
PCI? OK, maybe. Apple was using NuBus, which had some interesting qualities, like Plug and Play ROMs on the cards to identify them to the Mac and load drivers. But Apple has been using PCI cards for quite a while now.
True multitasking PC OS? That sure wasn't Windows! UNIX I suppose. OS X (BSD/NeXTSTEP/Mach) does this just fine, and better then Windows.
There is some benefit to the old Mac OS way though. If you run audio and midi programs, the fact that the program can totally take over the CPU makes for good timing and low latency.
There were Macs with dual CPUs... I used to use a PowerMac 9500 at work with 2,180 MHz PowerPC 604e chips. It was faster then the dual 250 MHz SGI Indy we had next to it. And a few thousand dollars cheaper too! Daystar made dual and quad CPU Mac clones, even before the Mac Clone Era (RIP)
Next time do some research, OK?
"They've been about dumbing down computers so that "the rest of us" can use them. "
Linus Torvalds was quoted as saying the only thing he liked about Mac OS was the GUI and the ease of use, so I guess not everyone thinks is been dumbed down.
"Most of the non-Intel PC and workstation companies are starting to disappear now, a decade later. DEC? Dead. SGI? Nearly dead. Sun? Losing marketshare quickly to Microsoft, of all people. Cray? Dead. (No pun intended. RIP Seymour Cray). Who's left, really? Hewlett-Packard, who's now working with Intel? Motorola, who is known mostly for cell phones and embedded chips? The future doesn't look so bright to me. "
;-)
You forgot IBM, whos real computers, like the new ASCII White, are non Intel... PowerPC ya know
Also Cray is not dead yet (the company that is)
Some clarifications:
... the Mac could play and record audio. The alert sound "Sosume" was named in tribute to this! The dispute was over the name "Apple: of course, but Apple Computer agreed to not go into the recording business. I think later because every major recording studio uses Macs Apple Corps went after them again.
Even thought Apple paid Xerox, Apple invented a lot of the standard GUI elements we use today, like pulldown menus, and had been working on their own GUI prior to the XeroxPARC visit, due to the fact that some Apple people used to work at Xerox.
Apple Corps (Apple Records) originally sued Apple Computer, because of another first
I own a MacPortable (backlit model), and I think it's only about 12 LB., but I may be wrong...
Apple invented FireWire with TexasInstruments.
While Apple did indeed make the first PDA, the Palm connection goes a little deeper, because palm was started by ex apple people, most likely a lot of the Newton team.
CoroSync is way important in my field in publishing. Windows didn't get system wide color management until Windows 2000.
Also let us not forget that Apple used a mouse before any one else. And had things like build in SCSI standard. Also even though there were software titles on CD for PCs, Apple started shipping Macs with standard CD-ROM drives before most PC makers.