Another "good" example of how not to design an interface:
Any dialog box with more than one row of tabs (strike 1) will move the rows around, so that the one you click on becomes the front row. Of course, if you missed the one you were looking for (see Fitt's Law) the original target has been moved by the OS. As if it were designed to frustrate users.
And an overloaded NT server has terrible mouse control, so missing your target is more likely than expected.
Re:Not Mac OS X, just Darwin
on
MacOSX and X11
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· Score: 1
I'm not sure how I did it, but I did manage to kill the entire GUI to OS X/DP4. I wasn't trying to, or I'd have notes on how it was accomplished.
What I ended up with was a 21" monitor displaying a tcsh prompt. Kinda silly really, but there it was. Everything in the BSD layer seemed to have worked, but I needed to get into my email (and we're standardized, for the time being, on Outlook and Exchange) and our POP services are spotty (see above).
I tried VirtualPC 3.0 under OS X DP3 with no luck. It terminate upon launch with a message indicating that "this version of Virtual PC does not run in the Classic environment" (or somesuch).
Given how much work Apple has done with Classic integration into DP4, particularly the fact that Classic apps show up in the dock along with the native apps, I expect VirtualPC for OSX to run very smoothly. And I'd really like to see Windows apps show up along with Mac apps in the dock. But we'll just have to wait and see.
Bundles can also be access with a "View as Folder" option. It's hidden on the "Get Info" palette, but it is there. I haven't looked at a packed in a terminal window yet.
Netscape shipped a lot of really crappy builds for the Mac. I tried every single release of Netscape between 4.05 and 4.7 And until they got to 4.7, there wasn't a single one stable enough to use (and 4.72 really works). That's not Apple's fault, Microsoft managed to put out a very stable browser for the Mac (no, really) with the 4.01 release of IE (4.0 was okay, but needed the patch).
I'm eagerly awaiting a Mozilla build for OS X. I'm using OmniWeb 4.0b3 and IE 5.1b1 right now. It's kinda nice watching explorer crash, and just relaunching it again because there is absolutley no way for it to mess with anything else.
They do have incentive for releasing new versions. Upgrade dollars. If you don't update the OS, then your customers won't have anything to buy. Your revenue will come only from new customers, and that's not enough. Note Microsoft's shift towards application rental - which guarantees an excellent cash flow (unless they fail miserably)
Ghost ? A Mac ? No, it's rather easier than that (cheaper too): Configure (but do not personalize a Mac). Boot it from a system CD, copy hard drive to an Appleshare volume. Next Mac: reformat the drive and copy the previous image down. Presto ! And requires no additional software.
Re:sigh, this is nothing new...
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Copyrant
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· Score: 1
And Apple clued in a few years ago. I just pulled out a CD from a G4, and it's clearly labelled "Software Install or Restore".
And an Apple can boot from the CD, install, hit the LAN (Appletalk only) and apply the updates your admins have collected. Very handy.
And Apple's installer is very nice: very granular, you can pick which *fonts* you want installed. And your selections can be saved so a custom install can be easily repeated on another machine.
2) The gui runs on top of the kernel. There is a terminal app available (in the dock by default for the Admin account). Much like how Linux boots into KDE or Gnome. OS X just hides all the text messages at startup (by default)
The M$ commercials have been bugging me for weeks now. I'd gotten used to the IBM ads; mostly because they were "if you've got, or want, a clue about the Net, call IBM." The ultimate IBM e-business ad was the punk kid walking the through grocery store, stuffing his jacket. As he leaves the store, there's a beep and flash of light and the security guard trailing along reminds him to take his receipt. That's convenience, and IBM is pushing a particular vision of the future. M$ has a slightly different message:
If you're clueless about the net, call M$."
[suit being taunted at an airport boarding terminal] Don't know anything about e-business ? Call M$ ! We'll help you!"
All their ads are like that, some clueless PHB urged to turn to Microsoft for a solution. And not the faintest hint that what that solution might be.
And the ad for their new censorware product ? Have they even decided which of the products already on the market they'll buy ? But the ads are running already. I suspect they're hoping people will be afraid that their kids will become porn-surffing, mp3 listening punks if Microsoft gets broken up.
Still, it is kinda fun to watch 'em squirm in public like this.
And they distributed it as a.exe file. Executable files are verbotten on my network these days. Self-extracting archives are all well and good, but we deploy WinZip as part of our standard build, so we've educated all of our users to delete self-extracting archives and ask for a less-risky file.
Or somebody here would have run WinZip on it, and never seen the EULA... And all becuase of a weak security environment created by Microsoft. And to view docs on an extension to a security protocol. Very ironic.
MS had a lot of nerve asking people to trust an executable in this security climate.
On the plus side, NVIDIA is copping to their mistake. This is an example of how best to handle this sort of situation: polite emails to the company, gentle inquiries from the press, and open acknowledgement to the community that a mistake was made. This is how the Community should handle a minor violation (now, if the Win2K TCP/IP stack contains some GPL'd code... cry havok and all that).
On the down side, Nvidia has a binary that should have its source released. All of it, if I recall the GPL correctly. And there isn't any indication that this will happen. I don't even see any mention that Nvidia will be withdrawing the binary from distribution. "as soon as possible doesn't imply "let me just call the webmaster and have that file deleted".
I assume that they want to keep their drivers closed source out of some concern for trade secrets, or other similar corporate logic. As I interpret the GPL, they can't consider that code a trade secret any longer; some of it is GPL, and that's a virus of some potency.
Slashdot Mirror
btw: I want to see a source on this
- A *bad* version of the classic battle game
- A mediocre adventure element
- A really annoying resource management element (must fly to a system to control the colony).
0.05 Stars. Maz sez forget it !XCOM: A full, working version of this was on the PC Gamer July disk, along with Wing Commander and a buncha other stuff.
Rememeber, if the gameplay isn't better than the graffics - bitch to the publisher, the retailer, online reviews, wwwhatever it takes.
This is why I don't mind the paltry selection of Mac games, I only need a few GOOD games not thousands that don't even rate a negative review.
Definitely try and find copies of the Lupin III movies, they're outrageously entertaining.
The LAPD got caught trying to frame a guilty man.
"Mommy, if you were in a German scheisse video, you'd IM me, right ?"
"Of course, hon"
Any dialog box with more than one row of tabs (strike 1) will move the rows around, so that the one you click on becomes the front row. Of course, if you missed the one you were looking for (see Fitt's Law) the original target has been moved by the OS. As if it were designed to frustrate users.
And an overloaded NT server has terrible mouse control, so missing your target is more likely than expected.
What I ended up with was a 21" monitor displaying a tcsh prompt. Kinda silly really, but there it was. Everything in the BSD layer seemed to have worked, but I needed to get into my email (and we're standardized, for the time being, on Outlook and Exchange) and our POP services are spotty (see above).
Now that's just teasing ! What were the ten points, and which did each of the governments in question satisfy ?
Given how much work Apple has done with Classic integration into DP4, particularly the fact that Classic apps show up in the dock along with the native apps, I expect VirtualPC for OSX to run very smoothly. And I'd really like to see Windows apps show up along with Mac apps in the dock. But we'll just have to wait and see.
And btw, Office98 runs just fine in Classic.
Bundles can also be access with a "View as Folder" option. It's hidden on the "Get Info" palette, but it is there. I haven't looked at a packed in a terminal window yet.
I'm eagerly awaiting a Mozilla build for OS X. I'm using OmniWeb 4.0b3 and IE 5.1b1 right now. It's kinda nice watching explorer crash, and just relaunching it again because there is absolutley no way for it to mess with anything else.
And lets face it, (Windows 1.0 )needed work.
msconfig is your friend
Ghost ? A Mac ? No, it's rather easier than that (cheaper too): Configure (but do not personalize a Mac). Boot it from a system CD, copy hard drive to an Appleshare volume. Next Mac: reformat the drive and copy the previous image down. Presto ! And requires no additional software.
And an Apple can boot from the CD, install, hit the LAN (Appletalk only) and apply the updates your admins have collected. Very handy.
And Apple's installer is very nice: very granular, you can pick which *fonts* you want installed. And your selections can be saved so a custom install can be easily repeated on another machine.
It's legal under current copyright law, RIAA may not like it, but they can't have half a loaf in this circumstance.
There is a way to hack out the ad banners. But you'll have to watch ads while you're looking for the method :-)
2) The gui runs on top of the kernel. There is a terminal app available (in the dock by default for the Admin account). Much like how Linux boots into KDE or Gnome. OS X just hides all the text messages at startup (by default)
or a systems admin who has to support Win98 machines...
[suit being taunted at an airport boarding terminal] Don't know anything about e-business ? Call M$ ! We'll help you!"
All their ads are like that, some clueless PHB urged to turn to Microsoft for a solution. And not the faintest hint that what that solution might be.
And the ad for their new censorware product ? Have they even decided which of the products already on the market they'll buy ? But the ads are running already. I suspect they're hoping people will be afraid that their kids will become porn-surffing, mp3 listening punks if Microsoft gets broken up.
Still, it is kinda fun to watch 'em squirm in public like this.
Or somebody here would have run WinZip on it, and never seen the EULA... And all becuase of a weak security environment created by Microsoft. And to view docs on an extension to a security protocol. Very ironic.
MS had a lot of nerve asking people to trust an executable in this security climate.
They're promising these will be playable on the Mac soon. WTF ? Shockwave runs on the Mac, does anybody know what in Shockwave isn't cross-platform ?
On the down side, Nvidia has a binary that should have its source released. All of it, if I recall the GPL correctly. And there isn't any indication that this will happen. I don't even see any mention that Nvidia will be withdrawing the binary from distribution. "as soon as possible doesn't imply "let me just call the webmaster and have that file deleted".
I assume that they want to keep their drivers closed source out of some concern for trade secrets, or other similar corporate logic. As I interpret the GPL, they can't consider that code a trade secret any longer; some of it is GPL, and that's a virus of some potency.
Ten Tons Of Flax !!!