Mac OS X glitch: Renaming a file

Since I switched to Mac OS X my machine is giving me lot of opportunities to demystify the it just works Apple motto.

I already talked about that in my previous post, but few minutes ago I experienced another glitch: something as simple as renaming a file is causing trouble to the Finder that get confused on where place the textfield where to enter the new filename.

A similar glitch happens also with Xcode, it has sometimes troubles matching the cursor position on the screen with the actual cursor position in the file.

Please Cupertino, fix it!

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Install Fedora 10 through VMware Fusion 2.0

Hi guys, lots of time passed since I posted on this blog so, here I come.

Just like my friends matteo, tciddanniw and wisher I have lots of stuff to do including university courses’ projects. In order to develop some of them I need to run Linux and as you probably know I am a Mac OS X user so, having only a single notebook, I need to run some virtual machines in order to accomplish my tasks (I don’t consider dual-boot - or worse triple-boot - as a solution, just like my friend wisher).

This time I’m going to use Fedora 10 so, let’s start. First of all, what we need?

• Mac OS X 10.5;
• VMware Fusion 2.0.4 (this version corrects a pretty serious security issue);
• Fedora 10.

In contrast with Ubuntu, VMware Fusion doesn’t have a predefined profile for Fedora so you have to choose one; I chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 64-bit (because I’m using Fedora 10 x86-64, choose the profile according to the architecture you chose to use). Now you can modify the profile of the virtual machine as you like (I assigned 2 virtual cores, reserved 512 MB of RAM and created an incremental SCSI hard disk of 64 GB).

Now you can boot the virtual machine and install the operating system just like you would do if you’re dealing with a real machine; the installation is straightforward and I don’t think you need my directions. When the installation is completed I recommend you to fully update the operating system (if you are installing Fedora 10 right now you need patience due to the pretty high amount of updates available).

The installation of the VMware Tools is the most tricky part, anyway it is still simple. First of all you need some packages to build VMware Tools so, open a Terminal windows, elevate your permission with the su command and then type:

yum install gcc make kernel-devel

I advise you not to close the Terminal window, you will need it in a few seconds. Select Install VMware Tools from Virtual Machine menu, a mounted DVD should appear on your desktop, double-click on it to enter and then copy the archive containing VMware Tools (if you're using VMware Fusion 2.0.4 the archive name is VMwareTools-7.9.3-159196.tar.gz) on a local folder such as ~/Downloads. Unpack VMware Tools (either using the Terminal or the Graphical User Interface) and get to the resulting folder using the Terminal window you used before (which should be an elevated Terminal). To install VMware Tools you need to type:

./vmware-install.pl

answer yes to all questions except for the one that talls: “The configuration file /etc/X11/xorg.conf can not be found. Do you want to create a new one? (yes/no) [yes]” here you have to answer no because Fedora 10 doesn't use the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to store X's configuration.

When the installation finished you only have to restart the virtual machine and enjoy your virtualized operating system.

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Taskbar versus Dock, are they really the same thing?!

Today I won’t write anything about my experience using Windows 7 Beta 1 on my MacBook cause it goes to well and there are no problems to report.

Today I’m posting a link to a wonderful article I read in which the author talk about Windows’s taskbar, Windows 7’s “superbar” and Mac OS X’s dock. I couldn’t be that much clear to expose the exact same idea and to prove that the brand new Windows 7’s “superbar” isn’t a copy of Mac OS X’s dock.

Paradigms lost: The Windows 7 Taskbar versus the OS X Dock

See you!

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Snow Leopard details

One of the most incredible rumor for Apple's WWDC 2008 was a new version of Mac OS X called "Snow Leopard".

Such rumor has been confirmed by Steve Jobs on stage and by a press release yesterday.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard will not bring any new end-user feature but it will focus on performance and lay the foundations for the next releases.

...What does it mean in practice? We' have gathered all the information appeared on various websites:

• New Quicktime ("Quicktime X"): this is one of the oldest pieces of Mac OS X; even if you have never opened Quicktime a part of Quicktime is loaded, for example, in Safari whenever you watch movies. Quicktime has been the source for various security holes and hopefully Apple is going to rewrite it from scratch. Quicktime X is going to deliver better performance and support to the latest codecs.
• Hard drive space used by Mac OS X: dramatically reduced; this is a very good news: every major OS update has stolen hundreds MBs of my hard drive space.
• Out-of-the-box Microsoft Exchange support: just like the iPhone now also your Mac will be able to talk to Exchange servers.
• Extended 64-bit support: Leopard support for 64-bit processors will be extended to more layers of the OS. Maximum RAM allowed will be 16 TB (16384 GB)
• Multicore support made much easier for developers: thanks to a new technology called "Grand Central" developers will be able to easily build applications that take advantage of all the power of the multicore technology; tasks will be allocated to different cores (and different processor) automatically, optimizing the processing power.
• Safari 4: one of the applications that Mac users use the most and, at the same time, one of the most hated. Safari 4 will bring better JavaScript support with an amazingly fast engine (called SquirrelFish)
• You probably know that Mac OS X already optimizes your Mac's resources dividing the load between the processor (CPU) and the GPU (used for all the graphical rendering); with Snow Leopard developers will be able to exploit GPU (that are rapidly becoming as fast as processors) power for general-purpose computing. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) makes it possible for developers to efficiently tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit (GPU).
• PowerPC support dropped. I think that Apple is going to make Mac OS X much faster; dropping PowerPC support would make it easier (less work). Moreover the Snow Leopard beta handed to developers at WWDC is Intel-only.

Snow Leopard is scheduled to ship in a year from now: hopefully we will get a deeper insight in January 2009 (at MacWorld) and have it installed on our Macs in summer 2009.

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Leopard vs Vista: the OS war is back

It is strange to say but, once in his life, Steve Ballmer is right.

Recentely he said that "Vista is still a work-in-progress OS"; today Popular Mechanics has posted a comparison between Mac OS X Leopard and Windows Vista.

The result is that Apple's operating system has blown away the unsuccessful and much criticized competitor: on Macs every tasks is performed faster, programs run quicker and even Windows Vista becomes more responsive than on a PC with the same technical specifications.

Last but not least, Popular Mechanics shows that Macs are even cheaper than most PCs!

Here is their verdict:

The Verdict

Mac: In both the laptop and desktop showdowns, Apple’s computers were the winners. [.....] In our speed trials, however, Leopard OS trounced Vista in all-important tasks such as boot-up, shutdown and program-launch times. We [...] found that both Apple computers ran Vista faster than our PCs did.

PC: Simply put, Vista proved to be a more sluggish operating system than Leopard. [.....] the Gateway One actually costs $300 more than an iMac. That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway’s, purchase a copy of Vista to boot—and still save $100.

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Composition made only of Mac OS sounds (much better than the Windows version)

If you like me were waiting for a response to this, well... here it is!

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Which operating system needs to be restarted?

Every time I talk with a UNIX zealot about the advantages and the drawbacks of Windows he always says: "Windows needs to be often restarted".
Recently I was reading about MacBook Air anche RemoteDisc and I had to notice that if you install RemoteDisc services on a Mac you need to restart the Mac before using RD... well this is not necessary if you install the same services on you Windows PC!
So, which operating system needs to be restarted?! It seems that it isn't Windows!

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Is the MacBook Air killing CDs?

Well, I must admit it: I hate CDs and I hate DVDs; I have always hated them because they're so big (12-cm diameter!) and so easily damageable. In a word made of iPod nanos they just look old and oversized.But... can one live without CDs and DVDs? I guess this is what Steve Jobs must have asked himself when the MacBook Air project started.
Why do computers have an optical drive?
1.  The first reason is to play and rip music CDs: but we have been having the cheap and cool iTunes Store for quite a long time now and well... it is a great alternative (even if I'd prefer lossless songs); moreover, thanks to the iPod (and MP3 players in general), we won't miss the bulky CD players.
2. Then we play DVDs: will we really do that anymore with Digital Copy and the iTunes Rental service?
3. We also use CDs and DVDs to backup our documents: but simply this is so unnatural! Taking a CD/DVD, initializing it (if it's "RW") and burning it is just a tedious operation: my last "optical" backup is now three years old. Luckly we have Time Machine (and Time Capsule): everything is much easier (and sometimes even fun!).
4.  Last but not least: we use our optical drive to install software; whether it is called Leopard or Microsoft Office we use a CD/DVD to install it. I think this is the only point where CDs and DVDs win: inserting a disc and double-clicking the installer is idiot-proof, everything feels natural; on the other side Remote Disc requires so much setup, certainly too much for a novice (think about your mum!).

So... is Remote Disc the solution to software installation?
I guess not; but I strongly believe that Apple is conscious of this fact and won't leave things as they are.
I think that the next step will be the disappearance of software sold on CD/DVD: Apple already has the technology to deliver stuff via the Internet and I don't think it will miss the chance to innovate once again.

When that happens, CD will be definitely killed. 

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Mac OS X is coming on every PC?!

Technorati Tags: Apple, Mac OS X

What do you think if I say "Apple would decide to release Mac OS X not only for its Mac but available on every PC"? You sure think I'm crazy. If you think so or that I'm just joking I'll show you that I have some evidence. Follow me.

Mac Intel

What a better excuse to develop a version of Mac OS X for Intel's processors than use Intel's x86 and x86-64 architectures on Macs? Note that Apple is developing Mac OS X for x86 architecture for long time (Steve Jobs said that in the first keynote in which he spoke about Mac Intel) before releasing it with its Intel-based Mac. Moreover, as "hackintosh" proofs the only things that constrains Mac OS X to run only on Macs is its EULA.

Some weeks ago Apple announce Mac OS X Server virtualization support that means Mac OS X can run on virtualized hardware (Parallels is now working on a server version of its hypervisor virtualization solution). Unfortunately virtualization is allowed only on Macs and the only limit is the EULA again (a German hacker claim the possibility to run an unmodified Mac OS X with Qemu on its GNU/Linux-box).

Closing the OS using software lock is not a valid idea (iPhone is a good sample), if Apple wants, it can even earn something releasing Mac OS X for every PC.

Anti-piracy

This is another proof. Why Apple should use a WGA-like tool to check its products?

If they would go on selling hardware and software there is no need for that. Anti-piracy tool comes in hand only if you sell hardware and software separately.

Apple survival

Is someone wondering about Apple survival?! I think it's not a problem at all.

I'm an Apple user and I bought a Mac more than 1 year ago. I bought a Mac not for Mac OS X, I bought it because it's a wonderful piece of hardware. In addition Apple is well known for the iPod (wonderful product that allow Apple to earn lots of money) and soon iPhone will become an important product too (with the release of the SDK iPhone will definitely become competitive).

Spreading Mac OS X will only increase Apple software sales due to their qualities (ok, ok... not all Apple software, I'm talking about Apple professional software). Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio, Aperture etc... are wonderful products and they are already well known!

Then... I think tons of people would try Mac OS X (especially software developers for its cross-platform softwares) and as a consequence they will probably buy a Mac!

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