Well, Quartz is what Apple built when they decided they didn't want to pay fees to Adobe for Display Postscript. So quartz could be called "Display PDF" were it not for the legal issues (and for the fact that SJ prefers cool names for the technologies).
There's an example program there for changing LaF on the fly and checking which ones are available. It's meant to be used for aqua-metal but can be useful in any platform.
Anybody else would like Apple to bundle a whole bunch of browsers with Mac OS X? There's a number of arrangements to be made so it is made clear that Apple isn't responsible for anything but Safari, but it could be easily done.
It would also be a good PR move. Bundle Safari, Omniweb, Chimera, IE (yuck), iCab and even Opera (demo version) with the OS, and let people decide what they like best. Everyone competes on mostly equal ground, and Apple looks like the Good Guys(tm)
It should be perfectly able (as long as you get the ADC->VGA and DVI->VGA adaptors).
You can even add a third (and fourth?) monitor by plugging a second card in a PCI slot.
Plus you might still keep considering that PB12", if you can get a good price for your iBook 2nd hand. I know I'm selling one for around ?1000 right now (you probably will get less in the US, but then again the new computer will also be almost 20% less).
Altivec IS a set of SIMD instructions for PowerPC. It processes data as 128 bit chunks either as integers or 32 bit floats (no doubles, which is a problem for some scientific applications).
Unfortunately, as happens with these things (even in Wintel, where it's worse as there's been MMX, SSE, SSE2 and probably some more) is that there's few tasks optimized for it. Those tasks where the macs were competitive were probably optimized for Altivec (Photoshop mostly). Even then the slow memory bus often means the processor crunches data far faster than it can be fed once the caches run out.
The IBM 970 is probably going to blow away Photoshop speed benchmarks, as it does Altivec AND has a proper bus speed.
I think this one goes to show more the fact that the current mac processors have such a lame memory bus than anything else. Most of the tests involve moving around GB to no end and there the PCs have a clear advantage (thanks to Motorola's ignorance of things like DDR memory and the like).
The crippled DDR support of modern PowerMacs (and the last Powerbooks) helps only when doing a variety of memory tasks simultaneously, as the processors are still fed at single speed.
The problem with buying apple is that I doubt that anyone has got a clue about what they could do with it after purchase. It is quite a rarity in today's market, and so doesn't fit with anyone's plans right now.
In my experience (500 MHz white iBook, the one with the lame 66 MHz system bus) Safari runs circles around IE and Mozilla (slightly faster than Chimera and Omniweb, although Chimera is better in some complex javascript sites).
Actually for what it's used (GUI programs), Objective-C does a far better work of it than the overengineered nightmare that is C++ (and I LIKE C++).
And BTW, you can use all your C++ code in a Cocoa program. I know for sure I do. You program the interface in Objective-C, and the guts in C++. The best tool for each job.
FYI CodeWarrior is already supporting code completion for C and C++, although not for Objective-C yet. They still have some way to go (particularly if there's templates in the mix) but otherwise it works really well.
As for Project Builder, you don't get code completion, but you get it for free so can't complain;)
Oh yeah, but the other 10% are the ones that do the interesting programs that 90% of the people use;)
I don't think Apple is particularly obsessed about getting VB developers to migrate at any rate...
The XBox is on equal (or superior) footing as the Gamecube only in the US and the UK. Elsewhere, it's getting quite trounced in the fight for the 2nd place (with PS2 clearly far away in the 1st).
The US is the biggest video game market in the World, but not by far the only one...
iCal isn't open source, but it does all its communications using standard protocols, so it's the next best thing. In theory it would be very easy to integrate iCal with a (yet to be built AFAIK) open source server.
Just thought it was worth noticing.
I believe 10.2 improved & centralized address book can be automatically backed up to.Mac, which I guess would go a long way towards what you want. It's probably also possible to do the same with other services (Apple is kind enough to let that be done with most net-connected programs, although it's sometimes a little obscure to know how to).
So in any case check out 10.2 and look for it, as it's probably there.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, Quartz is what Apple built when they decided they didn't want to pay fees to Adobe for Display Postscript. So quartz could be called "Display PDF" were it not for the legal issues (and for the fact that SJ prefers cool names for the technologies).
Personally, I think Nintendo will be going out of business for a long time yet.
They do earn gazillions. They just seem to have a perception problem right now.
There's probably low level stuff needed to get the DRMed files to work properly and that they cannot afford to expose. Too bad :(
Uh, being nitpicky. Apple has its own web browser FRONT END. The back end is the open source KHTML.
If you're coming from abroad, there is no real option to fly to San Jose cheaply. Not like I didn't lose my non-refundable ticket anyway...
*Raises hand*
Look around developer.apple.com
There's an example program there for changing LaF on the fly and checking which ones are available. It's meant to be used for aqua-metal but can be useful in any platform.
Anybody else would like Apple to bundle a whole bunch of browsers with Mac OS X? There's a number of arrangements to be made so it is made clear that Apple isn't responsible for anything but Safari, but it could be easily done.
It would also be a good PR move. Bundle Safari, Omniweb, Chimera, IE (yuck), iCab and even Opera (demo version) with the OS, and let people decide what they like best. Everyone competes on mostly equal ground, and Apple looks like the Good Guys(tm)
It should be perfectly able (as long as you get the ADC->VGA and DVI->VGA adaptors).
You can even add a third (and fourth?) monitor by plugging a second card in a PCI slot.
Plus you might still keep considering that PB12", if you can get a good price for your iBook 2nd hand. I know I'm selling one for around ?1000 right now (you probably will get less in the US, but then again the new computer will also be almost 20% less).
It is supported by any card supported by apple (I know, oxymoron) that has T&L and at least 16MB of VRAM (32 recommended).
Which includes everything ATI from the Radeon forward.
Altivec IS a set of SIMD instructions for PowerPC. It processes data as 128 bit chunks either as integers or 32 bit floats (no doubles, which is a problem for some scientific applications).
Unfortunately, as happens with these things (even in Wintel, where it's worse as there's been MMX, SSE, SSE2 and probably some more) is that there's few tasks optimized for it. Those tasks where the macs were competitive were probably optimized for Altivec (Photoshop mostly). Even then the slow memory bus often means the processor crunches data far faster than it can be fed once the caches run out.
The IBM 970 is probably going to blow away Photoshop speed benchmarks, as it does Altivec AND has a proper bus speed.
I think this one goes to show more the fact that the current mac processors have such a lame memory bus than anything else. Most of the tests involve moving around GB to no end and there the PCs have a clear advantage (thanks to Motorola's ignorance of things like DDR memory and the like).
The crippled DDR support of modern PowerMacs (and the last Powerbooks) helps only when doing a variety of memory tasks simultaneously, as the processors are still fed at single speed.
The problem with buying apple is that I doubt that anyone has got a clue about what they could do with it after purchase. It is quite a rarity in today's market, and so doesn't fit with anyone's plans right now.
In my experience (500 MHz white iBook, the one with the lame 66 MHz system bus) Safari runs circles around IE and Mozilla (slightly faster than Chimera and Omniweb, although Chimera is better in some complex javascript sites).
Load the thing to the brim with RAM and anything with a G3/400 or more is good enough for non-number-crunching application use.
If you want games of pro-apps, you'll need some more, but for many users it's ok with that.
And BTW, you can use all your C++ code in a Cocoa program. I know for sure I do. You program the interface in Objective-C, and the guts in C++. The best tool for each job.
FYI CodeWarrior is already supporting code completion for C and C++, although not for Objective-C yet. They still have some way to go (particularly if there's templates in the mix) but otherwise it works really well. As for Project Builder, you don't get code completion, but you get it for free so can't complain ;)
Oh yeah, but the other 10% are the ones that do the interesting programs that 90% of the people use ;)
I don't think Apple is particularly obsessed about getting VB developers to migrate at any rate...
The XBox is on equal (or superior) footing as the Gamecube only in the US and the UK. Elsewhere, it's getting quite trounced in the fight for the 2nd place (with PS2 clearly far away in the 1st). The US is the biggest video game market in the World, but not by far the only one...
It actually doesn't need to copy the songs. Have a look at the preferences and you can turn that off. iPhoto, though, is another matter.
If it weren't too long for it, your entire post would become my sig. I think I'll make a poster out of it or something to the effect ;P
iCal isn't open source, but it does all its communications using standard protocols, so it's the next best thing. In theory it would be very easy to integrate iCal with a (yet to be built AFAIK) open source server. Just thought it was worth noticing.
I believe 10.2 improved & centralized address book can be automatically backed up to .Mac, which I guess would go a long way towards what you want. It's probably also possible to do the same with other services (Apple is kind enough to let that be done with most net-connected programs, although it's sometimes a little obscure to know how to).
So in any case check out 10.2 and look for it, as it's probably there.