Posts Tagged ‘Mac OS X’
TAB – It’s The Little Things: Command Line Improvements to Mac OS X
In General on Thursday, 21 May 2009 at 13:12TAB – Apple Mac OS X Window Management: Way Ahead of Windows 7
In General on Wednesday, 18 February 2009 at 15:47Much is being made lately of Microsoft Windows 7 and it’s new taskbar. I’ve been running the beta myself and consider it a nice improvement over Vista. One of the improvements is in the area of window management. The new taskbar shows previews of all the open windows in an app when you hover the mouse over it, and will switch to that window if you click it.
While the above is nice, I’ve seen a few comparisons of this windows management to that of Apple’s Dock. The problem there is that OS X’s windows management is not handled by the Dock. About the only “window management” you get from the dock is that if you right-click an icon the popup menu will list open windows. Big deal.
If you want to compare Windows 7’s windows management to that of OS X, then you have to compare the new taskbar features to that of Apple’s Expose and Spaces. In this comparison, in my opinion, Windows 7 falls far short…
TAB – Apple and Microsoft: The Difference in OS Sales Models
In General on Friday, 26 December 2008 at 16:16In a previous article I discussed Apple’s approach to cloning and how far they should go in shutting down that business. This led to the question “why can’t I just buy Mac OS X and install it on any hardware I want?”, which led to a pretty typical answer that the boxed OS X is sold as an upgrade, not a new (or full) license. This answer is sometimes challenged, and brings up the idea of what an “upgrade” is in the Mac world as opposed to Microsoft.
This is not an Apple vs. Microsoft argument. It simply attempts to outline the difference in each one’s approach to OS sales, and why each uses the sales model it does. Rather than claim one is “right”, I believe each is right for the business model it supports.
TAB – Vista Internet Use Up (and Mac Down) in October
In General on Tuesday, 4 November 2008 at 14:12Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt comments on the latest Internet market share numbers from Net Applications. Seems Vista got a bump in October while the Mac went down, and he’s curious as to why.
Can Apple Advertise the Mac Like the iPhone? No.
In General on Tuesday, 13 May 2008 at 22:20Three new ‘Get a Mac’ ads are available (I love Group and Sad Song). I love this campaign, but in various blog comments I see statements about how they’re not good enough, and that Apple should advertise the Mac like they do the iPhone. In fact, I’ve seen comments like this since Apple began advertising the iPhone.
This isn’t likely to happen because there’s no GUI advantage of the Mac over Windows that can easily be portrayed in a 30-second spot.
Thoughts on Business Switching Windows Desktops to Linux Instead of Mac OS.
In General on Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 22:35There’s an article on Roughly Drafted about a pilot program at IBM “designed to study the possibility of moving significant numbers of employees to the Mac platform.”
The article is a worthwhile read, and includes comments from users in the program, and what IBM’s next steps will be.
What I’m writing about is not RD’s article, or even the program itself, but rather a comment made by a user in the program:
The Era of Consumer Computing: Of Apple, Microsoft, and the Future.
In General on Wednesday, 2 April 2008 at 22:21Bear with me a bit as I lead into what gives this article its title.
If you check my About page, you’ll see that since August of last year I’ve switched my household entirely to Apple. A 24-inch iMac Extreme, a 2.2 GHz MacBook, a Time Capsule 500GB, an Airport Express, and just last week an iPod touch.
In short, I spent a reasonable chunk of change, but it was time for new computers and I wanted to upgrade to “n” networking, etc. The time was right and I went back to Apple after many years of them, frankly, not making a computer I wanted.
Windows SuperSite Blog Tries to Explain Mac Fanatics.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 25 February 2008 at 23:03[UPDATE:] The original headline was “John Dvorak Writing For Windows SuperSite?”. Reader Scott took me to task for using a headline and premise that substitutes John’s work for Paul’s. His comment struck me, and I realized he was right. My critique of Paul’s post is still 100% valid, but the over-the-top headline and two-sentence opening have been struck. Also, my apologies to both John Dvorak and Paul Thurrott for the mis-characterization.
There’s a new article post on Paul’s SuperSite Blog for Windows attempting to explain Mac fanatics. Since it’s the usual Dvorak drivel I won’t link to it.
Problem is, I don’t see John’s name anywhere on it. Yet it fits his M.O. to a tee, so maybe he’s ghostwriting for Paul Thurrott?
Windows SuperSite is Bitter About Apple Delivering Fixes.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 11 February 2008 at 23:24
Paul Thurrott comments on Apple’s latest patch (10.5.2) for Leopard.
As expected from the Windows “SuperSite”, the spin is about how it’s actually a bad thing to get patches. The implication is that having to wait forever for any significant patch to, say, Vista must prove how good it is.
The Microsoft Security Redefinition Campaign Rolls Onward.
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 24 January 2008 at 11:40
Just as they did at the 90, 180, and 270-day mark, Microsoft has cherry-picked and juggled statistics to arrive at the conclusion that Vista is more secure than XP, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and Mac OS X. Oh please.
Windows SuperSite Has Fun With Headlines. So Do I.
In Uncategorized on Saturday, 15 December 2007 at 14:21
Paul Thurrott sometimes uses various headlines to take pot shots at Apple, so I just thought I’d chime in:
What Went Wrong With Vista? Two Apple-Bashers Take a Look.
In Uncategorized on Friday, 14 December 2007 at 12:06
Joe Wilcox of Microsoft Watch took time off from his recent Apple-bashing to reflect on Vista. Joe previously stated that Vista is fine now; the problems you read about were early issues that have been fixed. But he provides no details for this assertion, and given the continued flow of negative Vista press it seems no one else received the “fixes” Joe imagined. Still, Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, and others jumped on the bandwagon to declare Leopard the new Vista, though few actually believed the story.
Tech Headlines From The Last Week.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 5 December 2007 at 13:18No, Apple Should Not License Mac OS X For PCs.
In General on Friday, 16 November 2007 at 22:01
In a ZDNet article, David Berlind ponders whether Apple is getting dragged into licensing Mac OS X. After describing the hacking of OS X to install on various PC platforms and the popularity of it even in the face of Apple’s official position (he also includes the hacking of the iPhone), Berlind wonders:
“Back to OS X, perhaps its time for Apple to reconsider its Apple-hardware-only policy and once again look into licensing OS X. Clearly, now that the switch to the Intel platform is well behind us, and given the the success that hackers are having at “porting” the OS, there are no technical barriers.”
Nonsense.
Tech Headlines From The Last Week.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 12 November 2007 at 12:40
As I continue to fight off some sort of cold, or flu, or death, or whatever it is, it’s time for another review of recent headlines.
Mac OS X Leopard Changing Microsoft Bloggers Into Trolls.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 7 November 2007 at 21:30It’s amazing the amount of fecal matter the usual suspects are shoveling onto the Leopard FUD pile. They’re suffering from memory loss as well.
Microsoft Watcher, Win SuperSite Say Leopard Isn’t Better Than Vista.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 31 October 2007 at 20:29Joe Wilcox at Microsoft Watch wrote a screed about why Leopard isn’t better than Vista. I subscribe to the Watch feed, so I was a bit surprised and disappointed in how weakly the article was argued. I left a comment on the site, reproduced here:
Smug Ugly: Taking A Joke Too Seriously.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 29 October 2007 at 0:30
In case you hadn’t heard, the picture above represents the icon used by Apple to depict Windows shares on the network. A BSOD machine. Most people think this is humorous, as do I.
However, some people think it’s less so, and still others decided (incorrectly) it’s all about smugness. The post is ridiculous. For example, we get this:
Early Leopard Reviews: So Far, So Good.
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 25 October 2007 at 20:21
I wrote about a “first look” at Leopard earlier this week. Now the first wave of bona-fide Leopard reviews have come out, so let’s take a quick look…
A Quick Comparison: Early Vista And Mac OS X Leopard Looks.
In Uncategorized on Friday, 19 October 2007 at 21:04
InfoWorld published an article on Mac OS X Leopard, calling it “a beautiful upgrade.” What I really like about their take on Leopard is that it doesn’t just spend a few paragraphs re-hashing the “obvious” features, but rather dwells more on the overall operating system and its beauty-is-more-than-skin-deep quality:
What A Shock: Windows IT Pro Is Unimpressed With Leopard.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 16 October 2007 at 20:54
Paul Thurrott weighed in with his thoughts about Leopard on his clearly unbiased (cough) Windows IT Pro site. As usual, Microso–, er, Paul, figures there’s no sense beating around the bush so it starts with blatant lying right off the bat:
Gruber And Shipley: One SDK Over The Line.
In General on Friday, 21 September 2007 at 17:00
The old song reference (and showing my age) aside, John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote a comment today about Wil Shipley’s recent post about Apple.
Fun With Shilling: Paul Thurrott Edition.
In Uncategorized on Saturday, 1 September 2007 at 12:27
On Fridays, Paul Thurrott typically uses his Internet Nexus site to take quick shots (mostly at Apple) without actually having to write much. He does so by tossing snarky comments at headlines, apparently thinking because the word “fun” is in the headline it’s OK. Normally this is no big deal, but this week’s edition is especially egregious:
Finally! A PC that’s as good as a Mac!
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 14 August 2007 at 14:16
At last! Something that will make a PC as good as a Mac on the inside.
Now if we can only get some designers to perform similar magic on the outside…
Preparing a new Vista machine not quite like a Mac.
In General on Tuesday, 14 August 2007 at 13:43
Based on past experience, I plan to take my new iMac out of the box and be happily using it in less than 15 minutes. Windows XP isn’t quite that fast, but it’s not too bad.
Looks like Vista is worse:
Microsoft Windows security revisited: One reason I’m Macintosh bound.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 8 August 2007 at 23:07
I wrote about Microsoft’s latest security ploy last month (link at the end of this article). This is a “prequel” to that piece…
For the six years prior to January of this year, these were the perceptions about Microsoft Windows’ security:
1) It is weak.
2) XP SP2 is going to fix it.
3) It is weak.
4) Internet Explorer 7.0 is going to fix it.
5) It is weak.
6) Vista is going to fix it.
Those are simple, but they sum it up well.
A look at Computerworld’s article on Net Applications’ market share data.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 23 July 2007 at 23:15
Computerworld has an article that tells us Vista use has grown while Mac OS X has remained flat.
The majority of new PCs sold since the end of January have Vista on them, yet Computerworld seems genuinely excited that Vista’s browser use has increased rather rapidly:
ZDNet to readers: Leopard’s not like Vista; you just can’t read.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 at 19:45
In a previous post I wrote about a horrendous article on ZDNet saying they believed Apple’s Leopard operating system looks like Vista. The article was filled with such misinformation and outright ridiculous statements that most who commented or blogged on the topic called the author on it, as you might expect.
ZDNet has a vision problem: Sees Vista for Leopard.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 12 June 2007 at 14:19
It’s Mary Jo Foley on ZDNet, and this time she’s exceeded herself. How can any self-respecting Microsoft fan not cringe when reading this drivel? I’ve taken her to task before, but this one sets new records.
Mary, just because you’ve got “an unblinking eye on Microsoft” doesn’t mean you can’t, you know, at least glance at Apple now and then.
A disagreement with Daring Fireball’s take on Apple’s WWDC07 keynote
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 12 June 2007 at 11:34
Jon Gruber’s Daring Fireball is an excellent site, and highly recommended. However, in an article yesterday he posted some thoughts on Steve Jobs’ WWDC Keynote, and I must say I do not agree with many of his comments.
Jon outlines three main points from the keynote:
Apple WWDC rumors end; reality begins.
In General on Monday, 11 June 2007 at 12:00
As specified in a previous post, the supposedly exposed keynote presentation from yesterday was a fake. No surprise, there. So, what did we get?
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