You may have no reason to switch. I use OS X on a dual G4 and love every minute of it, but I do extensive GUI work in java and web application design in Dreamweaver, these GUI tools look and behave so well in OS X that work is a joy.
If I was a sys admin or someone else who spent all my time in a terminal, I'd have no reason to switch.
That being said, I'm loving the attention the OS is getting here on slashdot. Is it a perfect OS? No freakin way, but it's also not the total waste some of these trolls who've never actually booted it up are making it out to be.
Those 'non-unix' ways of doing things are to support backward compatibility mostly with older apps and previous OS versins (ie 'classic'). If you're going to be lagacy-free, and chances are you will if you're switching from unix, getting around the differences is pretty easy: I always hide files with the ".", I always use unix style symlinks, except for quick and dirty desktop shortcuts, when I might use alias.
The only thing that surprised me was cp and mv, which didn't copy Mac 'resource forks' but these aren't used in OS X native apps, so it's probably a non-issue.
The tips in this article seemed very helpful to me, I think I may order the book.
OK, time to blow all my karma in one shot, but how the hell does this rate redundant? At the time of its posting it was the only comment attempting to draw the thread into a more meaningful discussion on social engineering vis-a-vis worms and virii. Sure we all know that its a key element in the spread of such things, but this is a new example to evaluate. Just because we've heard the term before means we can't discuss it ever again?
Or is it because the thought that a psychology degree may be more important that all of our computer science put together that frightens you?
Listen, this is a hole in network security that will never be plugged. Short of disconnecting all our boxes, I defy anyone to describe an effective way to fight against it.
Just a couple weeks ago I was reading an interview with Kevin Mitnick (linked from right here in/.) where he commented on the importance of social engineering in hacking.
Seems like this is perfect proof - we've been so trained to blindly accept EULAS in our software, sometimes on a daily basis, that this hole was wide open.
If you read the fine print, only WINDOWS users are allowed the priviledge of paying for Listen.com's 'service', so the 'day has come' for them I guess (any Windows users want to comment). Fact is, I don't download copywritten material I don't already own, but even if I wanted to buy Listen.com's music, I can't.
A while back I worked for a software company that specialized in data-gathering tools. The issue of copyright infringement came up alot. Our lawyers explained that the test was whether the system in question had "substantial non-infringing uses". Since a lot of post-Napster P2P networks allow generic sharing (news, chat, media of all types) one could argue that many of them meet that test.
This completely ignores the argument that specific tools don't perform illegal acts, people do. But I guess it's oh so much harder to actually prosecute people according to real laws, when we can just make up a law du jour to go after the hardware and infrastructure. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but if their claim is accepted, and since P2P networks operate over TCP/IP, therefore TCP/IP should be illegal as well, and all DDOS attacks are hereby rendered legal and in support of the legal disruption of P2P traffic!
...I must wiegh in on the side of posters who have mentioned starting in our own backyard. As a father of two, I am quite concerned, for example, about public schools and technology resources. Even in affluent areas, the resources available are poor, I can only imagine the need in the inner city.
I have little free time, but would love to donate IT skills to local organizations aimed at improving the education level of our children. Before the obligatory 'check Google' responses, note that I did, but was overwhelmed by the 265,000+ 'hits' no matter how I narrowed my search.
Ideas like yours are valid. I imagine that far more people would volunteer, if it were simply easier to do so. Being able to volunteer within your own area of interest would draw out even more of these 'closet' volunteers!
This conversation overheard outside Steve Jobs' Cupertino office...
MINION: Master, your plan is unfolding nicely, Microsoft and the Free Software community are locked in mortal combat!
THE INSANELY GREAT ONE: (Steepling his fingers) Yes, this is perhaps my most diabolical plan ever, while these fools argue, I shall take over the world!!! (Maniacal laughter). Now, leave me...there is much to do...
Other posts have mentioned the many sources of information available, I myself am also partial to Don Norman's work (The design of everyday things). I would also study the work of his associate and a usability expert, Jakob Nielsen. Although he focuses mainly on web interfaces, the core concepts can be applied to any UI design.
After all the patterns and charts, you'll have to start somewhere - and simple is better. Here I think you can derive some benefit from agile methods like eXtreme Programming, which, among many other things, emphasize continuous user-involvement and development over many iterations, with each iteration resulting in a product that can be touched and observed by users. Breaking down a hugely complex UI into interlocking pieces, then developing it piece by piece, testing all the while, will definately help.
Then kick in your usability program. Although emulating successful interfaces (many have been mentioned in these posts) can get you a certain ways, the biggest mistake I've seen in projects is that the end-user of the application is NEVER consulted during development. Certainly you won't let your users design the UI, but you should set up a program whereby you observe them attempting to use what you have designed, keep a thick skin, and be willing to change things that don't work.
Usability testing does not have to be complex, expensive or even terribly scientific, there are plenty of resources (Google is your friend). You could start with the Nielsen Norman Group
AOL was my very first Internet provider. I outgrew them pretty quick and now I can't say I'm not a little happy that the outlook is poor for them. Since the Time Warner merger I've been more worried about that media conglomerate than Microsoft.
I suggest that a single corporation controlling what format your word-processing documents are in, or how you browse the files on your hard disk is at least marginally less dangerous than one which controls virtually every media entry point into your home! A huge number of American homes get almost every piece of information the average user knows how to retrieve via some channel touched by the AOL/Time Warner machine... scary...
I would be happy to such a consolidation of media power go away, if that actually happens.
tgd is right about alot of things. I have felt no pinch from the bursting bubble from a standard of living perspective - I've moved jobs several times, I *have* lost my glossy position as CTO of a startup and gone back to coding. But I didn't take a pay cut, and guess what, I'm happier coding!
It's true that alot of marginal 'talent' is suffering, and its true that even some razor sharp people are on the sidelines. In the 'good old days' you could be brilliant, but a complete asshole and get 100 job-offers a day, these days companies are more conservative and choosy, they'll take a highly competent person who'll fit in well with the team over a brilliant loner every time nowadays - I've seen it with my own eyes.
I think we ALL need to do a little more introspection in the post-boom days, whether you're an ex-barista-javascript expert, or an MIT trained phd.
I'm hoping that he is referring to illegal pornography as well as the questionable tactics of legal porn operations. However the existence of legal pornography on the Internet, as one poster already mentioned, is a reflection of demand by Internet users. It is not in and of itself, a disappointing use of the Internet.
Any student studying modern business in school today should be *studying* the porn phenomenon on the Internet - it is one of the most perfect examples of capitalism, and the economic law of "supply and demand", that the Internet has to offer!
Or, to put it in more familiar terms:
1) Install Server 2) Take photos of naked people 3) Profit!
"Stop grasping at poorly formed logical straws that may make you feel superior but don't make any difference to the world."
What! This flies in the face of everything/. stands for!
On Topic: I agree with one of more subtle points of Cringley's article, namely that too many times, too much effort is put into defending our particular means of protesting or otherwise demonstrating our discontent regarding a bad law, or other action. This in-fighting is counterproductive to the ultimate goal.
As to the DMCA, I heartily disagree with it as implemented, but I am not as worried about it as others. It is like a poorly built dam, it will hold for a while, but the immense pressure of the water behind it will cause cracks and channels, the water wants to be free, and ultimately the dam fails. For every scientist working on new watermarking, scrambling, or encryption techniques, for every entreprenuer making a business of tracking and enforcement, there are thousands, even tens of thousands, of people dedicated to circumventing those efforts. They are the water behind the dam.
I am enjoying the fact that your consideration of a Mac as your next primary laptop has resulted in the second highest comment-count on the front page today, behind only Favorite Windows OSS by a slim margin.
I wanted to leave this one alone, I really did... but...
I have a dual-gig G4 and it kicks ass. It's not a 2.5 ghz screamer, but it's plenty faster than the 1.25 Ghz Windwoes box I left behind.
"The menu bar is fixed at the top of the primary screen with only one showing at a time."
Uh, this is a Mac - did you do any research before buying it, this has always been the way Macs work, and many of us like it that way.
"OSX is also very unstable. IT freezes all the time. "
What version were you running, the 10.0 beta? Mine never freezes and is the most stable and robust OS I have ever used, possibly discounting Linux with no X running.
"And forget about doing any kind of development on that platform. All of the tools out there really blow!"
This is an unreal statement. Let me see, for web developers there's ALL The Macromedia stuff (Dreamwever/Fireworks/Flash/Freehand, etc) and other smaller packages; for C/C++ there's Codewarrior and others, for Java, it has a 1.3 JDK with 1.4 coming soon, plus there's a little IDE called Borland JBuilder and a dozen open source projects. It has all the unix utils you want, a gcc compiler and more. In my opinion, while maybe not a perfect gaming platform, it is near-perfect for a software developer.
So please, if you like what you're using, that's great - but before completely ripping a particular piece of software or hardware, at least check your facts.
Re:Thinking about switching... just need some advi
on
Flirting With Mac OS X
·
· Score: 1
I made the switch after being a Windows developer for 12 years and had many of the same fears -- ALL of them *groundless* - let me be very clear: I LOVE OS X.
I don't know what the poster who said VPV wasn't worth it was trying to do with it (games? graphic art?), but I use VPC from my dual-gig-G4 for some basic legacy tasks that I need Win32 for, one of which is maintaining an old Front Page web site... I've NEVER had a problem with it - for basic things like poking around a network or using basic office apps its fine, feels like about a pentium 300-400 mhz.
Microsoft's RDC doesn't work on dual-proc Macs, but its nice; even nicer would be springing some $$ for Timbuktu, which is remote desktop between Win and Mac and vice versa.
I recommend switching, I'll never go back...
Re:Not now, guys!? Please consider NOT switching.
on
Flirting With Mac OS X
·
· Score: 1
Whoa! Last I checked, oss was about more than Linux -- in fact,/. is about more than Linux!
Users of OS X *are* in the game precisely because the OS allows them to both participate and contribute to virtually every project out there.
Besides, Steve Ballmer tells me "Linux isn't going to go away" and he's really smart and rich, right;-)
To Hemos and Taco, I say: DO IT DO IT DO IT, there's room for *both* of the world's best OSs in the/. 'community'.
As a past member of that community (over a decade, MCSD, MCT, MCP, etc...) I can tell you that Microsoft counts amongst it's developer community anyone who ever wrote a Word macro, so the numbers DO NOT dwarf the open source community! At least not when you measure skill levels, they're <opinion>probably about the same</opinion>.
As to the availability of developer documentation, you have a point (a little) - it isn't as centralized, but that is merely a feature of the distributed nature of oss development - once you get into the zen of how things work (and learn that Google is your best friend) there's nothing you can't find docs and samples on.
Before you flame, me - MS was berry, berry good to me, I made a bunch of money writing Windows apps and, in no small part because of that, was able to leave Windows behind and focus on writing java for lots of platforms, and my new love, Mac OS X.
As an interested observer (I use OS X instead of Windows *or* Linux) this seems like good news. While many posts here were getting into religious flame-wars, I noticed this:
"Linux is a serious competitor,"
"We have to compete with free software, on value, but in a smart way."
"Linux isn't going to go away"
In just the first paragraph, we have the CEO of the worlds most powerful technology company acknowledging, for all the world to see, that Linux is a serious competitor that is here to stay!
Congratulations to the Linux community for doing what no private company has been able to do - if M$ is serious, this can only be good for computer users in general.
That is what I thought OSS was about, choice and competition in the marketplace driving all participants to create greater value for the user. Please keep in mind that it is NOT about the obliteration of Microsoft - thousands of men and women, and *their children and families* work for or are supported in some way by that company - they can't all be demons from hell! Can they?
We *already* have a user-friendly unix... Can you say mac OS X?
Linux, too will get better and better, regardless of the NY Times position, the change is underway, Windows already has some serious competition, the rank-and-file user is simply exposed to too much of MS' marketing blitz to know about it.
I was a Windows user since the beginning, I will NEVER go back now.
Slashdot Mirror
You may have no reason to switch. I use OS X on a dual G4 and love every minute of it, but I do extensive GUI work in java and web application design in Dreamweaver, these GUI tools look and behave so well in OS X that work is a joy.
If I was a sys admin or someone else who spent all my time in a terminal, I'd have no reason to switch.
That being said, I'm loving the attention the OS is getting here on slashdot. Is it a perfect OS? No freakin way, but it's also not the total waste some of these trolls who've never actually booted it up are making it out to be.
Those 'non-unix' ways of doing things are to support backward compatibility mostly with older apps and previous OS versins (ie 'classic'). If you're going to be lagacy-free, and chances are you will if you're switching from unix, getting around the differences is pretty easy: I always hide files with the ".", I always use unix style symlinks, except for quick and dirty desktop shortcuts, when I might use alias.
The only thing that surprised me was cp and mv, which didn't copy Mac 'resource forks' but these aren't used in OS X native apps, so it's probably a non-issue.
The tips in this article seemed very helpful to me, I think I may order the book.
I just plunked down a whopping $20 for Codetek's Virtual Desktop (www.codetek.com).
Its a damn fine piece of software and was the final addon that made Aqua perfect for me.
OK, time to blow all my karma in one shot, but how the hell does this rate redundant? At the time of its posting it was the only comment attempting to draw the thread into a more meaningful discussion on social engineering vis-a-vis worms and virii. Sure we all know that its a key element in the spread of such things, but this is a new example to evaluate. Just because we've heard the term before means we can't discuss it ever again?
Or is it because the thought that a psychology degree may be more important that all of our computer science put together that frightens you?
Listen, this is a hole in network security that will never be plugged. Short of disconnecting all our boxes, I defy anyone to describe an effective way to fight against it.
Just a couple weeks ago I was reading an interview with Kevin Mitnick (linked from right here in /.) where he commented on the importance of social engineering in hacking.
Seems like this is perfect proof - we've been so trained to blindly accept EULAS in our software, sometimes on a daily basis, that this hole was wide open.
Uh...
If you read the fine print, only WINDOWS users are allowed the priviledge of paying for Listen.com's 'service', so the 'day has come' for them I guess (any Windows users want to comment). Fact is, I don't download copywritten material I don't already own, but even if I wanted to buy Listen.com's music, I can't.
I doubt they have any real statistics at all.
A while back I worked for a software company that specialized in data-gathering tools. The issue of copyright infringement came up alot. Our lawyers explained that the test was whether the system in question had "substantial non-infringing uses". Since a lot of post-Napster P2P networks allow generic sharing (news, chat, media of all types) one could argue that many of them meet that test.
This completely ignores the argument that specific tools don't perform illegal acts, people do. But I guess it's oh so much harder to actually prosecute people according to real laws, when we can just make up a law du jour to go after the hardware and infrastructure. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but if their claim is accepted, and since P2P networks operate over TCP/IP, therefore TCP/IP should be illegal as well, and all DDOS attacks are hereby rendered legal and in support of the legal disruption of P2P traffic!
...I must wiegh in on the side of posters who have mentioned starting in our own backyard. As a father of two, I am quite concerned, for example, about public schools and technology resources. Even in affluent areas, the resources available are poor, I can only imagine the need in the inner city.
I have little free time, but would love to donate IT skills to local organizations aimed at improving the education level of our children. Before the obligatory 'check Google' responses, note that I did, but was overwhelmed by the 265,000+ 'hits' no matter how I narrowed my search.
Ideas like yours are valid. I imagine that far more people would volunteer, if it were simply easier to do so. Being able to volunteer within your own area of interest would draw out even more of these 'closet' volunteers!
I hope you keep at it.
This conversation overheard outside Steve Jobs' Cupertino office...
MINION: Master, your plan is unfolding nicely, Microsoft and the Free Software community are locked in mortal combat!
THE INSANELY GREAT ONE: (Steepling his fingers) Yes, this is perhaps my most diabolical plan ever, while these fools argue, I shall take over the world!!! (Maniacal laughter). Now, leave me...there is much to do...
"peek into where the light comes out while it's on to check for any dust specs that may be impacting the light's exit from the device"
Seems like staring into the business end of a laser, even a not "at all" bright one isn't a very retina-friendly activity.
Thanks for the hearty guffaw!
Other posts have mentioned the many sources of information available, I myself am also partial to Don Norman's work (The design of everyday things). I would also study the work of his associate and a usability expert, Jakob Nielsen. Although he focuses mainly on web interfaces, the core concepts can be applied to any UI design.
After all the patterns and charts, you'll have to start somewhere - and simple is better. Here I think you can derive some benefit from agile methods like eXtreme Programming, which, among many other things, emphasize continuous user-involvement and development over many iterations, with each iteration resulting in a product that can be touched and observed by users. Breaking down a hugely complex UI into interlocking pieces, then developing it piece by piece, testing all the while, will definately help.
Then kick in your usability program. Although emulating successful interfaces (many have been mentioned in these posts) can get you a certain ways, the biggest mistake I've seen in projects is that the end-user of the application is NEVER consulted during development. Certainly you won't let your users design the UI, but you should set up a program whereby you observe them attempting to use what you have designed, keep a thick skin, and be willing to change things that don't work.
Usability testing does not have to be complex, expensive or even terribly scientific, there are plenty of resources (Google is your friend). You could start with the Nielsen Norman Group
AOL was my very first Internet provider. I outgrew them pretty quick and now I can't say I'm not a little happy that the outlook is poor for them. Since the Time Warner merger I've been more worried about that media conglomerate than Microsoft.
I suggest that a single corporation controlling what format your word-processing documents are in, or how you browse the files on your hard disk is at least marginally less dangerous than one which controls virtually every media entry point into your home! A huge number of American homes get almost every piece of information the average user knows how to retrieve via some channel touched by the AOL/Time Warner machine... scary...
I would be happy to such a consolidation of media power go away, if that actually happens.
Oh well, good Karma can't last forever...
tgd is right about alot of things. I have felt no pinch from the bursting bubble from a standard of living perspective - I've moved jobs several times, I *have* lost my glossy position as CTO of a startup and gone back to coding. But I didn't take a pay cut, and guess what, I'm happier coding!
It's true that alot of marginal 'talent' is suffering, and its true that even some razor sharp people are on the sidelines. In the 'good old days' you could be brilliant, but a complete asshole and get 100 job-offers a day, these days companies are more conservative and choosy, they'll take a highly competent person who'll fit in well with the team over a brilliant loner every time nowadays - I've seen it with my own eyes.
I think we ALL need to do a little more introspection in the post-boom days, whether you're an ex-barista-javascript expert, or an MIT trained phd.
I'm hoping that he is referring to illegal pornography as well as the questionable tactics of legal porn operations. However the existence of legal pornography on the Internet, as one poster already mentioned, is a reflection of demand by Internet users. It is not in and of itself, a disappointing use of the Internet.
Any student studying modern business in school today should be *studying* the porn phenomenon on the Internet - it is one of the most perfect examples of capitalism, and the economic law of "supply and demand", that the Internet has to offer!
Or, to put it in more familiar terms:
1) Install Server
2) Take photos of naked people
3) Profit!
"Stop grasping at poorly formed logical straws that may make you feel superior but don't make any difference to the world."
What! This flies in the face of everything /. stands for!
On Topic: I agree with one of more subtle points of Cringley's article, namely that too many times, too much effort is put into defending our particular means of protesting or otherwise demonstrating our discontent regarding a bad law, or other action. This in-fighting is counterproductive to the ultimate goal.
As to the DMCA, I heartily disagree with it as implemented, but I am not as worried about it as others. It is like a poorly built dam, it will hold for a while, but the immense pressure of the water behind it will cause cracks and channels, the water wants to be free, and ultimately the dam fails. For every scientist working on new watermarking, scrambling, or encryption techniques, for every entreprenuer making a business of tracking and enforcement, there are thousands, even tens of thousands, of people dedicated to circumventing those efforts. They are the water behind the dam.
I am enjoying the fact that your consideration of a Mac as your next primary laptop has resulted in the second highest comment-count on the front page today, behind only Favorite Windows OSS by a slim margin.
So please, tell us, what have you decided?
I wanted to leave this one alone, I really did... but...
I have a dual-gig G4 and it kicks ass. It's not a 2.5 ghz screamer, but it's plenty faster than the 1.25 Ghz Windwoes box I left behind.
"The menu bar is fixed at the top of the primary screen with only one showing at a time."
Uh, this is a Mac - did you do any research before buying it, this has always been the way Macs work, and many of us like it that way.
"OSX is also very unstable. IT freezes all the time. "
What version were you running, the 10.0 beta? Mine never freezes and is the most stable and robust OS I have ever used, possibly discounting Linux with no X running.
"And forget about doing any kind of development on that platform. All of the tools out there really blow!"
This is an unreal statement. Let me see, for web developers there's ALL The Macromedia stuff (Dreamwever/Fireworks/Flash/Freehand, etc) and other smaller packages; for C/C++ there's Codewarrior and others, for Java, it has a 1.3 JDK with 1.4 coming soon, plus there's a little IDE called Borland JBuilder and a dozen open source projects. It has all the unix utils you want, a gcc compiler and more. In my opinion, while maybe not a perfect gaming platform, it is near-perfect for a software developer.
So please, if you like what you're using, that's great - but before completely ripping a particular piece of software or hardware, at least check your facts.
I made the switch after being a Windows developer for 12 years and had many of the same fears -- ALL of them *groundless* - let me be very clear: I LOVE OS X.
I don't know what the poster who said VPV wasn't worth it was trying to do with it (games? graphic art?), but I use VPC from my dual-gig-G4 for some basic legacy tasks that I need Win32 for, one of which is maintaining an old Front Page web site... I've NEVER had a problem with it - for basic things like poking around a network or using basic office apps its fine, feels like about a pentium 300-400 mhz.
Microsoft's RDC doesn't work on dual-proc Macs, but its nice; even nicer would be springing some $$ for Timbuktu, which is remote desktop between Win and Mac and vice versa.
I recommend switching, I'll never go back...
Whoa! Last I checked, oss was about more than Linux -- in fact, /. is about more than Linux!
/. 'community'.
Users of OS X *are* in the game precisely because the OS allows them to both participate and contribute to virtually every project out there.
Besides, Steve Ballmer tells me "Linux isn't going to go away" and he's really smart and rich, right;-)
To Hemos and Taco, I say: DO IT DO IT DO IT, there's room for *both* of the world's best OSs in the
As a past member of that community (over a decade, MCSD, MCT, MCP, etc...) I can tell you that Microsoft counts amongst it's developer community anyone who ever wrote a Word macro, so the numbers DO NOT dwarf the open source community! At least not when you measure skill levels, they're <opinion>probably about the same</opinion>.
As to the availability of developer documentation, you have a point (a little) - it isn't as centralized, but that is merely a feature of the distributed nature of oss development - once you get into the zen of how things work (and learn that Google is your best friend) there's nothing you can't find docs and samples on.
Before you flame, me - MS was berry, berry good to me, I made a bunch of money writing Windows apps and, in no small part because of that, was able to leave Windows behind and focus on writing java for lots of platforms, and my new love, Mac OS X.
As an interested observer (I use OS X instead of Windows *or* Linux) this seems like good news. While many posts here were getting into religious flame-wars, I noticed this:
"Linux is a serious competitor,"
"We have to compete with free software, on value, but in a smart way."
"Linux isn't going to go away"
In just the first paragraph, we have the CEO of the worlds most powerful technology company acknowledging, for all the world to see, that Linux is a serious competitor that is here to stay!
Congratulations to the Linux community for doing what no private company has been able to do - if M$ is serious, this can only be good for computer users in general.
That is what I thought OSS was about, choice and competition in the marketplace driving all participants to create greater value for the user. Please keep in mind that it is NOT about the obliteration of Microsoft - thousands of men and women, and *their children and families* work for or are supported in some way by that company - they can't all be demons from hell! Can they?
We *already* have a user-friendly unix... Can you say mac OS X?
Linux, too will get better and better, regardless of the NY Times position, the change is underway, Windows already has some serious competition, the rank-and-file user is simply exposed to too much of MS' marketing blitz to know about it.
I was a Windows user since the beginning, I will NEVER go back now.