Ok, so across the world Snow Leopard is becoming available as I write.
Apple is billing this as an operating system release without major features. For once a computer company is underselling. Make no mistake this is a major improvement for all owners of an Intel Mac, and further argument to upgrade for all those still on PPC. This is a faster, slicker, more organised OS than Leopard. Snow Leopard is dramatically faster. Apple have also snuck a few really cool features in below the radar.
One they should be singing from the rooftops is the improvement to 'Services' - those little add-ons that applications could add to the contextual menu. First, they are now contextual - if you have a piece of text selected then you won't be offered the possibility of calculating a disk image checksum. Second, you can easily write them yourself using Automator.
Just to make sure you get the best from AppleScript, Automator and Services Apple have built a new website to explain it all to you, provide some neat tools and some even better training - the Services training features some nice video's with Sal Soghoian, AppleScript guru now a Product Manager at Apple for all things automatic. Visit http://www.macosxautomation.com/ and enjoy.
By the way, is it only me or do Apple's support and documentation websites just make everyone else's seem amateur and garish by comparison. Mac OS X Automation is a perfect example - apart from a legal disclaimer that mentions Apple and the Apple logo discreetly visible in the top right corner you would be hard pressed to realise this is an Apple built website. It's just a site chock full of good information well presented.
But I digress. Many others will write reviews of the new OS, I just wanted to share a little of my joy with you.
Showing posts with label Macintosh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macintosh. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Hey Steve, here's ten bucks, buy a clue!
Just last Friday Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was asked about the big mo’ that Apple has been getting lately. Ballmer’s first crack was to point to recent data showing Apple having a sales slump. "Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction," Ballmer said, via webcast. "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."
Great commentary, Steve. First, everyone is having a sales slump. Second, Apple is slumping back in market share towards where they were two years ago. They still have more market share than then. Third, if you take out the netbook sales (incredibly low margin) then Apple’s share is about even or a little better.
Now let’s get down to the core of your argument. Apple buyer’s are paying $500 extra for the logo. The first point is the number, $500 is a huge exaggeration. If you look at similar specs for similar machines the price difference is usually less than $100 in the US market. Apple just don’t compete at the bottom end - my partner has an Acer laptop that was “cheaper” by far than a Mac, but it comes with only 512Mb of RAM and a slow, small hard drive (hey, it was before we met, she didn’t know any better.) To get it up to decent spec machine now it would end up costing more than if she had bought a MacBook in the first place.
Second thing you might like to think about Mr Ballmer is that right now people in the netbook market can buy a Dell Mini 9 for $249 running Ubuntu Linux or pay 20% more for Windows XP. That’s right, they can save 20% by not buying your product. Notice that I said XP, no one wants your latest operating system at this end of the market as it requires too much hard disk space and wants a high end graphics card and a high end processor with more RAM before it runs at a reasonable speed. Oh, and in case you are wondering some hackers have made it possible to run Apple’s latest, OS X 10.5, on the netbook and it runs extremely well.
Third, you might like to think about what you get for that extra money when you buy Macintosh. Apple computer design is better than the average PC, they look better, the keyboard is a little better. Then you get to the advantages of buying a computer from a company that controls both the hardware and software. On a Mac plug and play works better. The integration also means that you have considerably less problems with drivers. It also means that driver updates are delivered automatically and well tested as part of operating system updates.
So yes, Mr Ballmer, it costs a little more for a Mac. Mac users just know that it is worth the money. Over the three or four year life of a computer it doesn’t take too many crashes, too many lost documents before Windows costs me more in time than that $100.
Great commentary, Steve. First, everyone is having a sales slump. Second, Apple is slumping back in market share towards where they were two years ago. They still have more market share than then. Third, if you take out the netbook sales (incredibly low margin) then Apple’s share is about even or a little better.
Now let’s get down to the core of your argument. Apple buyer’s are paying $500 extra for the logo. The first point is the number, $500 is a huge exaggeration. If you look at similar specs for similar machines the price difference is usually less than $100 in the US market. Apple just don’t compete at the bottom end - my partner has an Acer laptop that was “cheaper” by far than a Mac, but it comes with only 512Mb of RAM and a slow, small hard drive (hey, it was before we met, she didn’t know any better.) To get it up to decent spec machine now it would end up costing more than if she had bought a MacBook in the first place.
Second thing you might like to think about Mr Ballmer is that right now people in the netbook market can buy a Dell Mini 9 for $249 running Ubuntu Linux or pay 20% more for Windows XP. That’s right, they can save 20% by not buying your product. Notice that I said XP, no one wants your latest operating system at this end of the market as it requires too much hard disk space and wants a high end graphics card and a high end processor with more RAM before it runs at a reasonable speed. Oh, and in case you are wondering some hackers have made it possible to run Apple’s latest, OS X 10.5, on the netbook and it runs extremely well.
Third, you might like to think about what you get for that extra money when you buy Macintosh. Apple computer design is better than the average PC, they look better, the keyboard is a little better. Then you get to the advantages of buying a computer from a company that controls both the hardware and software. On a Mac plug and play works better. The integration also means that you have considerably less problems with drivers. It also means that driver updates are delivered automatically and well tested as part of operating system updates.
So yes, Mr Ballmer, it costs a little more for a Mac. Mac users just know that it is worth the money. Over the three or four year life of a computer it doesn’t take too many crashes, too many lost documents before Windows costs me more in time than that $100.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Ooooh, Bento 2, pretty!!
I have to admit to being a total database geek. I spent a number of years working with various database libraries for C, including a couple of strong SQL ones. I spent a number of years working with FileMaker and I'm a big fan of it. Tha'ts not to say I don't constantly gripe about FileMaker and have a fairly long wish list, just that I think it is one of the best database systems out there for fast development of applications.
I've also seen a lot of users out there build FileMaker apps themselves. They go to the "Corporate Applications" or "Enterprise Applications" team to be told that it will be two years before they get a product so they build something to "get the job done" in FileMaker and three years down the track Exterprise Applications complain that they are using an "unsupported" product.
I did see one large enterprise that had a small FileMaker Pro development team to support sers in this and they could then show Enterprise Applications a working prototype with screens and reports the users liked. Halved the time it took EA to implement
In support one of the things that constantly amazes you is how many people are using huge spreadsheets to handle data. I remember one guy who insisted on downgrading his version of Office because the new Excel would only support 32,760 odd rows and that was smaller than his data set.
These users need a tool that is simpler than FileMaker Pro, easily imports data from Excel and provides real database power. Exactly the market that FileMaker Inc. are targetting with Bento 2.
The first version was a good tool, version two is that much better - particularly at the critical task of importing from spreadsheets.
It even has the facility to view, edit and otherwise use your iCal and Address Book data. Mail integration is there but needs a little more work - at the moment you can only link to messages that have to be opened in Mail.
It looks good, is certainly usable and has some good templates. Recommended for everyone currently using Excel for data. If you are, or otherwise want an easy to use database system go to FileMaker's Bento overview where you can get more details, view some stuff, download a demo or buy it.
I've also seen a lot of users out there build FileMaker apps themselves. They go to the "Corporate Applications" or "Enterprise Applications" team to be told that it will be two years before they get a product so they build something to "get the job done" in FileMaker and three years down the track Exterprise Applications complain that they are using an "unsupported" product.
I did see one large enterprise that had a small FileMaker Pro development team to support sers in this and they could then show Enterprise Applications a working prototype with screens and reports the users liked. Halved the time it took EA to implement
In support one of the things that constantly amazes you is how many people are using huge spreadsheets to handle data. I remember one guy who insisted on downgrading his version of Office because the new Excel would only support 32,760 odd rows and that was smaller than his data set.
These users need a tool that is simpler than FileMaker Pro, easily imports data from Excel and provides real database power. Exactly the market that FileMaker Inc. are targetting with Bento 2.
The first version was a good tool, version two is that much better - particularly at the critical task of importing from spreadsheets.
It even has the facility to view, edit and otherwise use your iCal and Address Book data. Mail integration is there but needs a little more work - at the moment you can only link to messages that have to be opened in Mail.
It looks good, is certainly usable and has some good templates. Recommended for everyone currently using Excel for data. If you are, or otherwise want an easy to use database system go to FileMaker's Bento overview where you can get more details, view some stuff, download a demo or buy it.
Friday, August 29, 2008
New Tutorial at Macintosh Tech People
I’ve posted a new tutorial in the Macintosh Tech People wiki, “Safe, Secure Image Serving with Mac OS X Server.”
It details the method I’ve developed for using NetBoot and NetRestore to allow imaging Macs across a wide campus by a number of different groups while limiting access to the core setup of your Server. Hope you find it useful.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Mac Tech People launches (sort of)
Recently I sent out the following email to a number of people. I thought I'd repost it here. If you're interested in building a first class resource for Macintosh support and tech folk join me.
Hi,
I've recently been thinking about the gathering places for Mac technical people in the net – what is available and what is missing. So what is missing?
I've wanted a good blog that gives me just the news on tools for administering and supporting Macs.
I've wanted a wiki with well written articles telling me what I need to know to deploy or support Mac systems, particularly in the middle of a Windows centred world, or that I can point desktop support staff to when they need answers. Good answers that link to further information when they need it.
I've wanted a discussion forum to get together with my peers to talk about possible solutions to some of the harder problems.
I want to do this in a place uncluttered by discussion of the best way to replace the Dock or the best application for running "Getting Things Done".
At work we have a wiki that is starting to contain some good quality how-to articles. Problem is you need to be senior IT staff to read it. No junior staff and certainly no one outside the organisation can read it, so what's the point? I'd prefer to contribute to somewhere I can send less skilled support staff.
Where can you find it?
I've been looking for a website that included a technical wiki as well as a forum and news. Most of the sites with forums are pitched at mid level Mac users operating on their own computer or there are a few that cater to the huge organisation looking after hundreds of Macs where infrastructure can be devoted to supporting them. Where are the places for people supporting anything from a dozen to a several hundred Macs, often in the middle of a larger Windows infrastructure? Most of the news sites offer more rumour and gossip than solid news about the tools we use.
I've started the task!
I've come up with a concept for a website designed to fill the void. I've built a site that uses WordPress with SimpleForum integrated with Dokuwiki. I even have single sign on tieing both together. I've also registered a domain name – mactechpeople.com .
What am I offering you? I'm offering you the opportunity to help shape the final concept and design of the site – how to break up the forums into topics, how to break up the wiki into topics, what sort of membership we might want to invite or attract.
You will also gain a place on the net to share your technical knowledge with the right people and get the right answers to our shared problems.
Come help build it!
In return I'd like your assistance in populating the wiki with some good reference material. I'd like your help in fashioning a good discussion forum.
I will provide the place for you to do it. You don't even have to be a great writer – since this is a wiki we can all help each other improve the quality – personally I have more than a decade's experience writing and editing documentation and magazines. If you provide the information I can help with writing skills.
At the moment I'm limiting this offer to a small number of people who will become moderators of the site. Get in on the ground floor and create something useful for yourself and others.
Register now
At the moment I'm keeping the site quiet so go to http://www.mactechpeople.com and register. You will then receive an email from me telling you of your acceptance into the beta program once I upgrade you to moderator. You can have a look at the design, see some of my articles in the wiki and post your thoughts in the forum.
While you're waiting for that email you might think of one or two people you know who'd also benefit from joining the beta program, perhaps you feel you can't contribute. Feel free to pass this offer along to – just make sure you've registered first. You wouldn't want them to take the last spot offered ahead of you.
Yours,
Tony Williams
Hi,
I've recently been thinking about the gathering places for Mac technical people in the net – what is available and what is missing. So what is missing?
I've wanted a good blog that gives me just the news on tools for administering and supporting Macs.
I've wanted a wiki with well written articles telling me what I need to know to deploy or support Mac systems, particularly in the middle of a Windows centred world, or that I can point desktop support staff to when they need answers. Good answers that link to further information when they need it.
I've wanted a discussion forum to get together with my peers to talk about possible solutions to some of the harder problems.
I want to do this in a place uncluttered by discussion of the best way to replace the Dock or the best application for running "Getting Things Done".
At work we have a wiki that is starting to contain some good quality how-to articles. Problem is you need to be senior IT staff to read it. No junior staff and certainly no one outside the organisation can read it, so what's the point? I'd prefer to contribute to somewhere I can send less skilled support staff.
Where can you find it?
I've been looking for a website that included a technical wiki as well as a forum and news. Most of the sites with forums are pitched at mid level Mac users operating on their own computer or there are a few that cater to the huge organisation looking after hundreds of Macs where infrastructure can be devoted to supporting them. Where are the places for people supporting anything from a dozen to a several hundred Macs, often in the middle of a larger Windows infrastructure? Most of the news sites offer more rumour and gossip than solid news about the tools we use.
I've started the task!
I've come up with a concept for a website designed to fill the void. I've built a site that uses WordPress with SimpleForum integrated with Dokuwiki. I even have single sign on tieing both together. I've also registered a domain name – mactechpeople.com
What am I offering you? I'm offering you the opportunity to help shape the final concept and design of the site – how to break up the forums into topics, how to break up the wiki into topics, what sort of membership we might want to invite or attract.
You will also gain a place on the net to share your technical knowledge with the right people and get the right answers to our shared problems.
Come help build it!
In return I'd like your assistance in populating the wiki with some good reference material. I'd like your help in fashioning a good discussion forum.
I will provide the place for you to do it. You don't even have to be a great writer – since this is a wiki we can all help each other improve the quality – personally I have more than a decade's experience writing and editing documentation and magazines. If you provide the information I can help with writing skills.
At the moment I'm limiting this offer to a small number of people who will become moderators of the site. Get in on the ground floor and create something useful for yourself and others.
Register now
At the moment I'm keeping the site quiet so go to
While you're waiting for that email you might think of one or two people you know who'd also benefit from joining the beta program, perhaps you feel you can't contribute. Feel free to pass this offer along to – just make sure you've registered first. You wouldn't want them to take the last spot offered ahead of you.
Yours,
Tony Williams
Monday, May 26, 2008
Terminal Power
A friend recently asked me for some tips on using the command line on the Mac and so I put together some notes. I've expanded them and posted them to my Google Site.
I give some tips on using the Terminal application, a couple of good ways to improve your bash sessions, a couple of handy ways of opening a man page and point towards a bunch of useful commands to have a look at.
I will be having a lok at some of my own scripts and seeing what I use most and explaining a few of those commands in a followup soon.
I give some tips on using the Terminal application, a couple of good ways to improve your bash sessions, a couple of handy ways of opening a man page and point towards a bunch of useful commands to have a look at.
I will be having a lok at some of my own scripts and seeing what I use most and explaining a few of those commands in a followup soon.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Imaging a Macintosh for dual boot
I've been spending a lot of time working on ways of imaging a Mac so it has both OS X and Windows XP installed and ready to boot. Yes, I know there are easy ways, but I wanted a good one that left all the hard work to other people and software.
Let me define the problem a little better. I have labs containing Macs that have to end up as dual boot. The Mac OS X image is no real problem, it installs using NetBoot and NetRestore.
On the Windows side I want to use exactly the same image as the Windows PCs in the labs. This is stored on an Altiris server and deployed to the Dell PCs using PXE. I also didn't want to have to do anything to that image every time it changed. I wanted it straight off the same server as the PCs.
I've written some notes on how I did it and shoved them in my new Google Site. Google Sites isn't as pretty as Blogger but is much more handy for long articles and a complex site architecture. I'll be putting more things on it soon.
Let me define the problem a little better. I have labs containing Macs that have to end up as dual boot. The Mac OS X image is no real problem, it installs using NetBoot and NetRestore.
On the Windows side I want to use exactly the same image as the Windows PCs in the labs. This is stored on an Altiris server and deployed to the Dell PCs using PXE. I also didn't want to have to do anything to that image every time it changed. I wanted it straight off the same server as the PCs.
I've written some notes on how I did it and shoved them in my new Google Site. Google Sites isn't as pretty as Blogger but is much more handy for long articles and a complex site architecture. I'll be putting more things on it soon.
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