[Nobody]

quote:

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Jobs calls the next step "X only." "It's time to drop OS 9," he said. "We can do things in X that we just can't do in 9 ... a hundred percent of what we're doing is X only." Cited Microsoft as an example of companies that are going X only.

Apple expects to see 5 million Mac OS X users by the end of the year. "These are the guys buying the application software," he said.

"Mac OS 9 isn't dead for our customers, but it is for [developers]. Today we say goodbye to Mac OS 9 for all future development," said Jobs.

"Mac OS 9 is survived by the next generation, OS X," said Jobs. (The crowd applauded.)

The event opened with a cathedral setting; a coffin on stage. Steve opened the coffin to reveal a Mac OS 9 box, and delivered a touching eulogy. "We are here today to mourn the passing of OS 9."

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Read more WWDC details.

[Nobody]

Classic has been dead for me since photoshop 7 came out rip classic images/icons/smile.gif images/icons/smile.gif

[Nobody]

Rejoice! I've been waiting for this for a while. I'm sure all the OS 9 diehards (and 8.6 purists) will cry out about this, but I'm glad.

[Nobody]

Since MacCentral is swamped and somewhat unreachable, here are just a few of the cooler things in Jaguar, with my comments in brackets:

• Mail is updated, with advanced rules and global searching, color highlighting and integrated spam filtering. [Yes! Global search and advanced rules were two biggies on my list]

• Quartz Extreme: Takes the compositing engine in Quartz, and accelerates it in graphics cards. Combines 2D, 3D and video in one hardware pipeline via OpenGL. "Everything on the screen is being drawn in hardware by OpenGL." Requires AGP 2x and 32MB of video RAM. [Yeeee ha! This should end the discussion abou slow window resizing and scrolling for those with supported hardware ... looks like I'll finally have a compelling reason to upgrade the G4/350 at work!]

• The Finder now features integrated search [no more Sherlock just to find a file!], multithreading support [end of the spinning beachball], automatic thumbnail creation [cool!], and spring loaded folders [one less OS 9 nigglet for people to identify.]

• Rackmount server - next week, Apple's introducing a new rackmount server for OS X Server applications [cool, now who will be first to introduce a Mac OS X hosting company!?]

• The new version is more network-friendly with Windows systems [hopefully, this means no more .DS_Store files on Windows servers when connecting!]

• USB Printer Sharing [yet one more OS 9 nigglet gone]

• Inkwell handwriting recognition technology [not sure how applicable this is for most people today, but it makes for interesting discussion of future Apple proudcts!]

I fully expect we'll have to pay for Jaguar upgrades, based simply on the amount of new content; this is not just a bug fix release. I may be totally wrong, but that's my guess ... and I don't care. I'm paying it, and I'd pay it today if they let me, almost regardless of what the amount is :-).

-rob.

[ 05-06-2002: Message edited by: griffman ]

[Nobody]

I think the biggest news was the announcement of Apple rackmount servers to be unveiled next week.

Looks like that motherboard auction had some substance behind it after all.

[Nobody]

Don't forget iChat! (AIM compatible)

[bil207]

Let me get this straight. The iBook that I purchased 3weeks ago and that Apple is still selling today wil not have be able to take advantage of "Quartz Extreme". I realize that Apple can not support some older hardware but this too much.

[Nobody]

There's debate on good 'ol /. about whether AGP 2x cards with less than 64Mb on card memory will be able to use some of the system's free memory to make up the shortfall.

[Nobody]

I've been burned by the "just bought, upgrade not applicable" issue more times than I care to count. Every time I think I about getting pissed off about it, I just remember my first rule of computing:

No matter what machine you buy today, it is guaranteed that a machine introduced tomorrow will have features today's machine doesn't, will run software that today's machine can't, and will do so for substantially less money.

I would ask what Apple should have done in this specific case? They have an entry-level iBook which ships with 8mb of VRAM. It has always shipped with 8mb of VRAM [fixed, thanks bookman!]. Today, they previewed a new version of the OS which will not be available until "late summer" (their words) which offers a feature that requires 32mb of VRAM. I'm sure there are strong technical reasons why 32mb of VRAM is required; after all, it would be in Apple's best interest to make this update (since it will be paid-for) appealing to as many people as possible.

So should Apple not offer the feature because some machines won't be able to take advantage of it? Hardly. Should they offer a new video card to all iBook owners? Not really a realistic option. Should they hold it back until it runs in 16mb? No way; other customers want it.

So what will they do? I would guess that, between now and then, we'll see iBooks available with 32mb VRAM cards. Maybe at the July Macworld, as that will probably still be two months (at least) before Jaguar ships. Then they can state that Jaguar will offer Quartz Extreme on "all currently shipping" Macs.

I realize it's frustrating, but it's the march of technology. I would love to hear a viable solution for Apple that wouldn't require them to go broke by free-updating existing iBooks. Do you have any thoughts? Also keep in mind that by the time Jaguar ships, your three-week old iBook will be more like five or six months old, which is somewhat of a long time in the computer-aging cycle. When my G4/733 turned three months, it was replaced by the G4/800 at half its price!

UPDATE: If you read Apple's new Jaguar page, this little blurb at the bottom explains exactly what's required:

quote:

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*nVidia: GeForce2MX, GeForce3, GeForce4 Ti, GeForce4 or GeForce4MX. ATI: any AGP Radeon card. 32MB VRAM recommended for optimum performance.

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So maybe it will do something on a 16mb card, but it specifcially lists "Radeon", and the iBook has (I think) the Mobility card ... of only 8mb, as bookman noted below :-)]

-rob.

[ 05-06-2002: Message edited by: griffman ]

[Nobody]

I don't know what to think. Griffman, you gave a lot of good reasons not to get mad about quartz exteme requiring 32mb VRAM, but something still bothers me. What is it about os xthat made it so impossible to provide what OS 9 and windows (since 95) provide, acceleration on ANY cards? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but as we all know, apple is in the hardware business. This seems like a nice incentive to upgrade one's machine. Like you said, however, by that time, any NEW mac will have a 32mb (at least) video card installed. Now, if I can just get rid of my cube so I can get a full tower with a 4x AGP port I'll be set. images/icons/shocked.gif

[Nobody]

Actually...the iBook only has 8 megs of VRAM.

[Nobody]

Two words: Transparency and shadows. Win95 and OS 9 only had to accelerate graphics in 2D; OS X has to do it in 3D. At least, that's my understanding of the main difference, as explained to me by someone much brighter than I am!

It makes some level of sense to me. In OS 9, all you really had to worry about was that top layer, and what pixels would become visible or buried at the edges. In OS X, you could have a near-infinite number of objects to track, as you can see through the windows. Think about the math and memory involved in accelerating the drawing routines for 15 stacked mostly-transparent terminal windows!

-rob.

[Nobody]

quote:

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Rackmount server - next week, Apple's introducing a new rackmount server for OS X Server applications [cool, now who will be first to introduce a Mac OS X hosting company!?]

---

Already exist through third parties....
http://www.gvstore.com/apg4wor733.html

And there are already hosts running/hosting OS X, though we're still on OS 9...

[Nobody]

Dave - I'm hoping that the new servers come out with more aggressive price points ... but I'm not sure if Apple's willing to risk people buying an ugly rack-mount and dropping it on the floor of their house if it's too much cheaper ;-). With the $1,000 Server product bundled, they could drop the hardware prices notably and still make decent margins. That would help move some more boxes!

-rob.