Blake Patterson

The Register has an interesting article online discussing the reasons why OS X feels sluggish, even on the fastest G4's. One big reason? Finder is a Carbon app--not a "full on" Cocoa application. Also, Jobs and Tevanian address speed issues in a small keynote speech...

There's a great article over at O'Reilly entitled Build Your First Cocoa App, which walks you through doing just that. If you installed the Dev Tools that come with OS X you can follow this guide and, without writing a single line of code, create a simple Cocoa application. It's a great introduction to the power and versatility that's offered by App Kit and Cocoa. This is the first of a series ...

Living only about 20 minutes from Tysons Corner Center, I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Apple Store yesterday, during its grand opening. I arrived at 2pm and took my place in line. An hour and fifteen minutes later I was admitted, by the guards standing watch, into the store. It was worth the wait. Apple's high-design store layout felt much more like a modern-art gallery than...

It seems that yesterday Apple, quietly, made available the OS X v10.0.3 update (see TIL here). As per normal, update your system through the System Preferences update tool. ...

In case you haven't heard, at today's Apple Event, Steve Jobs made a few new product announcements. First, Apple released a new iBook based on a G3 500Mhz processor, the lowend model retailing for $1,299. (Check the Apple Store for other config info and prices.) The 4.9lb, 1.35"-thick laptop sports a 12.1" LCD screen with a resolution of 1024x768 and is made of polycarbonate plastic, but it loo...

Even with the recent OS X v10.0.1 upgrade, we're at a rather early point in the life of OS X. We can expect a bit of additional speed with each minor upgrade Apple releases, I'd wager. But I was surprised to note that, in working with my NeXTSTATION Turbo Color workstation (68040 @ 33Mz, 32MB RAM, running NeXTSTEP v3.3) this weekend, NeXT applications and the OS in general do indeed feel signifi...

As some of our readers may be aware, OS X is based on the legendary NeXTSTEP operating system. I've got a NeXT machine sitting here next to my G3 400, but sadly, most OS X users do not. As such, while enjoying the evolution of NeXTSTEP on their Macs, they do not miss certain nicities of NeXTSTEP that, having fallen through the cracks, are absent from OS X. One of the things that NeXTSTEP...

Cortland writes "Many sources point to a Newton returning. Sure, there have been many rumors before, but this one looks better then ever. With new iBooks proven from apple.com in its Apple Store without iBooks, and OSX advertised like crazy, and many leaks that a new PDA from apple are here, it looks like something good. From a rumor monitor, seeing what comes true and doesn't, this ...

Super news! A group of object oriented software engineers known as Develux has OS X ports of three Tux the (Linux) Penguin games to OS X: Tux Racer, Tux Kart, and Tuxedo T Pengiun - A Quest for Herring. These are some of the finer OpenGL games developed for Linux, and now we can give 'em a shot! The OS X translation is quite impressive. Hit their site and grab your downloads (screenshots...

I just received an e-mail from Dan, Initio's support guru, letting me know that indeed Initio has released beta OS X drivers for their Miles UltraWide SCSI board (PCI). I have been awaiting these since before the public beta and must say, they seem to work like a charm! It's quite nice having access to my 10,000 RPM UW drive again! I'll reiterate that they are beta drivers, and as such have...

Maybe....maybe not. You decide ...

I ran across a rather bizarre "mouse" that's awfully pen-like, on NewsForge. The Ullman Mouse is rather non-traditional, works with most machine types (including Mac), and is your personal warrior, protecting you from the horrors of the dreaded Mouse Arm Syndrome. Interesting...

xvlfaf writes "I am in final assembly for Xerox Digital Copiers. These things use PPC chips from Motorola to run the scanner/printer functions. We have been hearing rumors that AMD will be taking over prodution of the PPC soon. I'm not high up enough to confirm this. Does anyone have any inside info from AMD or Motorola to confirm this? I have also heard rumors that OS X is...

"Frankly, I think it's a piece of crap." ...so says Torvalds in his new autobiography Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary, as reported on /.. Torvalds, who Jobs asked to join Apple in their effort to create OS X back in '97, feels that the Mach microkernel, at the heart of OS X, is riddled with design mistakes. Take a look at the ZDNet UK article in...

Well, I snagged MacOS X today! After typing this, I'll get to the install. Quite the story... I called all the local Staples and one said that they had OS X in-stock, and when I asked if I could come grab a copy, I was told, "sure." So, I cancelled my Cyberian Outpost order and headed on over there. As I walked up to the guy I apparently spoke to on the phone, I could see that he, another...

A reader reports that "Downslam has broken off negotions with Real Networks because the cost to use Real for the music distribution will be about the cost of a shuttle mission. Instead they plan to hold a press conference next week to announce that they will be using Quicktime Server and OS X Server for everything. Downsalm and Apple may make some other announcement at the NAB show in Las...

On a messageboard somewhere, Arn just ran across this impressive screenshot of a MacOS X telnet window, demonstrating more complex translucency and shadowing than we've seen elsewhere. Note the varying degree of shadow under the body of the window vs. the title bar vs. (and this is particularly cool) the text itself. Nice stuff! ...

Mark Watson writes " Thought you'd be interested in this: I called Apple on Friday for some help with my PB 5300 and the technician I talked to said they are offering another upgrade for all PB 5300/190's. I was told the program doesnt start til Monday (3-5-01), so I have to call back then. They said I would need to call the Apple Store and tell them I want to get the upgrade. This...

asurace writes "Wincent.org gets another first look at a MacOS X build.They write "After our little iTunes coup earlier today we have barely any energy left at all to devote to writing up 4K60 - the latest OS X build that we've had the pleasure of examining here on wincent.org... but here it is, and we can say with utmost certainty that this is the most reassuring build from Apple that we've yet ...

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