Apple Archive

Despite publicly saying that the top-line 17" PowerBook would be available in February, Apple executives privately told dealers in a meeting at Macworld Expo on January 8 not to expect the product until mid-March, if not later into April -- Apple's fiscal third-quarter. Customers only in the last 10 days are now being told the same information. In an official press release dated January 7, Apple clearly states, "The new 17-inch PowerBook G4 is expected to be available in February..." This is a blow to many customers who have ordered the 17" model 1,5 moths ago already, because the 17" is intended mostly as a desktop replacement, so it is kind of urgent for most customers to have it on time.

With Microsoft buying Virtual PC, which lets Macs run Windows wares, Apple's independence may well rest with programs such as Bochs. Read the article at BusinessWeek. OSCast has a similar editorial as well, in Mpeg4 audio format.

Apple's Safari web browser will soon be equipped with a tabbed browsing feature, the notoriously precise Think Secret has confirmed. New pre-release betas that are being tested include this capability (after activating it from a debug menu), which is one of the most anticipated additions to the upstart browser.

"Whether they like many of Apple's decisions or not, many Mac users remain committed to the company; Can Apple keep pushing this envelope? Over the past six months several pricing decisions by Apple Computer Inc. have tested the loyalty of its customers. Each time, indignant Mac users have lambasted the company in online forums, only to be scolded by Apple defenders." Read the first article at SunSpot. "OS X is a stable operating system, but when things go wrong you should have the right tools to get it back to normal." Read the second article at Bangkokpost.

Apple today released version 0.2-beta of its X11 for MacOSX, which allows X11-based apps to run side-by-side with native OSX applications while it makes it easier to port X11 apps to the Mac. The new beta adds several enhancements and bug fixes (fixes the Fink library problem among other things). On other Mac-related news, MSN for OSX is nearing release while Internet Explorer 6 is on hold by Microsoft, ThinkSecret reports. Additionally, Apple seeded a new Java 1.4.1 preview to devs.

My CTX AMD K6-300/128 MB RAM/3 GB drive laptop is obviously at the end of its life. I was in the "shopping" process for a laptop for 2 months now, and I considered a number of PC laptops, including the Compaq Presario 1525US. At the end, I decided to get the new 12" Powerbook, came in last week, and I am since then using it as my primary machine. Here is what I think about it.

As we already mentioned yesterday, now from MacMinute: "Apple today announced a new Spring line of iMacs, a new 17-inch widescreen model featuring a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and 133 MHz system bus; 256MB of Double Data Rate (DDR) memory; a faster 4x SuperDrive for playing and burning CDs and DVDs; and internal support for AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth, for US$1,799. The new 15-inch flat panel model features an 800 MHz G4 processor and is now priced at $1,299. Apple also announced lower pricing on its line of eMac computers, dropping the prices to $999 and $1,299."

The new iMac models are primarily speed-bump editions with the addition of Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme support (does not include the cards). The models will range in price from US$999 to $1700. In addition, Apple will not be upgrading the eMac line, but will instead lower prices of existing models to stay more competitive. ThinkSecret also has some exclusive info on the 10.2.4 release.

Apple has posted a chart in its Applecare Knowledge Base that outlines which Mac will support which releases of Mac OS 9, all the way up to the current machines which will not boot into OS 9 at all.

Apple Computer on Tuesday harvested a new crop of Power Macs outfitted with faster processors and lower prices on some configurations. The high-end system tops out with twin 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 processors. The new low-end Power Mac costs $1,499--a $200 reduction over the previous starter system--and packs a single 1GHz processor. But the megahertz boost and price cut is a trade-off. The previous entry-level Mac packed dual 867MHz processors.

"Apple needed to ensure that Microsoft would continue to provide MS Office for Mac, or we were dead," Fred Anderson, Apple's chief financial officer, testified in U.S. District Court. "They were threatening to abandon the Mac." When the five-year deal expired last summer, neither company expressed interest in renewing it. Pundits speculated then that Microsoft was planning to abandon the Mac. Now, it appears the opposite is true.

"Apple Computer has quietly extended an overture to the Unix community, with the release of software that would make it easier for Unix applications to run on the Mac operating system." Read the interesting article at News.com. "The XFree86 Project had been working on a port for OS X, and Apple "took the ball and ran with it a little further and integrated it more tightly into the system. We also made it easier to download," Apple's Brian Croll said." NewsFactor has a similar story too. Update: Another Mac editorial today, this time a bit more controversial though.

We recently reported on the possibility of Apple acquiring Gobe Productive 3, and we suggested caution on the rumors. Yesterday, MacRumors quoted Bob Hearn regarding the issue (ex-Claris/Gobe employee), who says that the 3 ex-Gobe employees now at Apple, have nothing to do with a possible GP3 port, and they don't even work on AppleWorks' codebase (ex-ClarisWorks, which was also developed by Gobe back in the day as "Claris Inc"), but on other projects. Surfing around the MacRumors site, I came across an article regarding the USB-2 status on Macs. On other office suite news, OpenOffice.org 1.0.2 is available (release notes here) but no official announcement is out yet.

"I'm a switcher. My main personal computer system is now an Apple Macintosh. It began innocently enough. Over a period of several months after Apple's new OS X Jaguar operating system was released last year, I tested a variety of iBooks, iMacs and G4s. I was playing with fire." Read the confession of a Detroit Free Press columnist who switches to the Mac.