I arrived at the Southampton Apple store at about 3pm and joined the queue as soon as it was set up. And I have to say that the queue was a really great social atmosphere and that everyone there was really friendly and I must thank great high wolf from macrumors forums for doing a drinks run. Also, it was really cool that the Apple store employees handed out chocolates and water- it certainly makes a change from many companies launch night arrangements. (I’m looking at you Sony)

Saturday: MacLiveExpo

Due to several thousand football fans and a line closure it took well over an hour and a half on the tubes (mostly packed) to reach the expo. There was some interesting loot to be picked up, namely some nice juggling balls from Konica Minolta- now if everyone did that I wouldn’t have been able to get home due to a vast surplus of said juggling balls. There was an interesting showing of Leopard by Apple, which would have been more interesting if I’d seen it prior to launch- but my fears that Time Machine would need a dedicated drive were put to rest. It only needs free space on a not-booted HFS+ journaled disk. There were some very good hardware deals going on at the show, and if you can pick up the early bird free tickets and get a reasonably direct train then it’s probably a good idea to buy a mac there. Unless you’re taking the tube, then it would be buying a mac for a random stranger on your train.

As for Leopard itself; the new dock (the non-3d one that is) is shiny and Mail is a lot more responsive and powerful, and is now no longer embarrassing to search for emails with.

Wow.

That is all.

To me, the BBC seems like the perfect institution to develop a DRM technology which is moderately open and least inconvenient to the user- although I cannot see the difference between them broadcasting an open MPEG2 stream using DVB and them broadcasting an open MPEG4 one using http.

I know that there are major legal differences between broadcasting it over the internet and over DVB, and that the files can be downloaded in faster than real time, but this does not have to be combatted by a completely opaque, utterly intrusive platform which will eventually lead to a locked down media file which can only be watched at it’s leisure and the viewers expense.

It seems to me as if the BBC is in a unique position here, where they have the chance to be able to redefine internet television with an open standard which allows all broadcasters to reach their audiences using whatever platform, whatever player. If this becomes the new distribution platform for television- then copyright law in Great Britain should recognise it as analogous to television and appreciate that it will have the same problem with copying that modern television does- which are insignificant to the BBCs DVD sales.

And I’m not the only person who would buy something I especially enjoyed on DVD, because the BBC have some really great stuff, and after all, every television owner in the country paid for it.

Anyway, to those of you unlucky enough to be using WINXP: gorge yourself on some telly.

In almost equally exciting news (for you perhaps, but personally I find this much more exciting) my electric guitar has recently arrived. And it is awesome. Unfortunately it did arrive a few days later than originally hoped- but otherwise Thomann have been exceptionally good value and lots of help when I ordered.

Paranoid.

So when my ibook kernal panics within minutes of booting, I panic. Then I google. Then I disable the Airport chip. ‘Sallright I can live without wireless until Summer and I’ve the time to get AppleCare to service it (it’s in daily use and mission critical).

Then, it crashed. And the screen didn’t come back on when I rebooted. And removed the battery. And rebooted. And remembered. A reboot holding on to the left side of the button was enough to get the not so aptly named ‘mr-t’ back on its’ feet for long enough to get the important files off (and still going). I’m taking it in to AppleCare (because they cancelled computer collection) on Monday, and if there’s no improvement. I’ll be getting a thinkpad.

Silly wordpress, this should work better now.

21. Copious Amount of Freeware While it is true that Download.com lists less freeware for the Mac, I highly doubt that you will find yourself using or even having installed all of these 50,000 pieces of freeware. Since MacOSX is mostly POSIX compatible, it can easily run most open source software. And the mac developer community is vibrant and the quality of software for the Mac is generally higher.
22. What is it With Steve Jobs? They trust Ballmer more than Jobs? What can I say?
    
    Dance, Monkeyboy, Dance?
23. The Menu is Where? Where it has always been. The Mac interface predates the Windows one and the menu bar adheres far better to Fitts law than the Windows one. Just imagine an MDI that fills the whole screen (and lacks the fugly background), that’s more the Mac idea.
24. Full Selection of Peripherals. The Mac would really benefit
25. Build Your Own Computer. Point 6, the third time. Besides, personal taste is generally subjective, but it isn’t beige.
26. The Apps Don’t Crash!Far more common (to crash) than a PC! I laugh. Sh*t shovelling the registry to increase MTBBSOD was amongst the reason I switched. If Mac Apps crash- I ask you to name them. It may take a reboot for you, but with my mac I can ‘killall’ the app before it takes the kernal down.
27. Tablets and Touchscreens. I want a tablet macbook. So do many mac users. I hope Apple make one. These guys do however.
28. You don’t need as much RAM. The Mac implementation of VM may leave lot’s to be desired. However, lower system overheads mean you don’t need as much RAM on a MAC as a PC. 512mb is powering my mini quite happily on the latest OSX and software. My friend just put another 2gb in his Vista box to make it run. Sheeowsh.
29. A Mac’s Delete Key Doesn’t Delete. Yes it does, it just deleted what I was about to call you for mistaking the UI for the file browser. Besides, it’s actually a forwards backspace key. Although, I have to admit that this quirk annoyed me for a while. Also command-delete works.
30. Apple Doesn’t Like Meddling. No, they don’t. Getting into an EMI shell means that you can easily brick a system. If you’re really hellbent on doing it: there’s a program called rEFIt to do the job.
31. PCs are greener. Who’d of thought? Greenpeace bashing a popular company? The lower power requirements and the non presence of an identifyable Vista Upgrade layer in our tips.
32. Best for Begginers. PCPRO beleive that PCs are best for begginers. The real world doesn’t. After switching my grandparents to use Macs, they get far more out of their computers. There was no problem with having to perform a solid day of maintenance on their computer 6 months later running complex updates etc. on their machine. And I remote controll it through VNC.

Well, to be brutally frank this was the worst PCPRO that I have ever read. Ever. Over the time I have read it, it has changed. It’s also a lot smaller nowadays. The articles comparing PCs to Mac are incredibly bigoted. Now the only reason that I’ll pick up a copy is to read the Real World Computing and it’s Open Source section. (Page 184.) Interestingly, there is more MacOSX in their Real World Computing than their feature piece.

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11. Sensible Support Costs
    PCPRO have made a valid point here; the support plans available for Macs is far less than a PC. However, Apple products have almost always placed in the top 5 for fewest product returns. Also, where they state that most computer shops only service PC’s- they are only counting the PC worlds anti-mac bias. It’s possible to find a shop to service your apple gear.
12. Microsoft’s on your team. No they’re not. With activation and Windows Genuine Are You A Thief? Microsoft are clearly not on your team.
13. Black’s still the new black
    In making this point, PCPRO are implying that Macs are quick to go out of fashion. Then how come older macs can still sell for very respectable prices (far more than equally old PCs).
14. The CD-ROM has an eject button.
    I suppose it does, but then again which is best is entirely a matter of preference. And it’s notable to say that most Macs nowadays use slot-loading drives, which are naturally more convenient to eject via software.
15. No Confusing Version Numbers.
    Apple only sell one version of OSX, and for PCPROs claim that updating it breaks that; well, that’s ridiculous. For those confused: here it is. 10.x.y x= the version of OSX, there’s a new version every 1-3 years. y= “service pack” there are 10 of these between two versions and usually bring new features to OSX.
16. What the hell was that?/The Apple start up tone irritates the PCPRO editor?
    Then hold mute as you boot. Apple have used sampled sounds since the Apple II- and the current start up sound is about 16 years old. Also, Windows has an equally jarring sound to a mac user.
17. Cheap OEM Versions
    This is covered in point 6. Because you cannot build a mac from scratch, then you do not qualify for OEM. The closest you’ll see to an OEM copy is pre-installed on every new macintosh. There’s no arbitrary be a geek and buy a mouse discount.
18. Far Better Media Capability
    Currently MCE is superior to Front Row at acting like a £1000 video recorder. For one, I’m happy that my dedicated DVR unit does this without making toast and catching virii. Also when you buy a Mac TV-Tuner it is likely to be from Elgato who offer very good software to do just that. (Apart from the virii.)
19. IT Support Expertise
    For a magazine which has always seemed to be for professionals in the IT industry, the idea of becoming the ‘gold dust’ of support professionals must be enthralling. Same goes for programmers, you also need less support on the mac.
20. Not So Insecure.
    PCPRO argues that a PC with latest service packs and antivirus is unlikely to get a virus. This may be true, but Windows insistence on patching is very annoying to a power user like myself. I want the only update traffic to be the update list and update files, not the entire UI. Also, the antivirus software is not infallible and requires constant updates to be this secure. Also, MAC OSX is more secure by design- not additional measures.

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This post will be furnished with appropriate links and pictures when available as this is from the currently on sale June edition (152).

1. Service Packs Really Don’t cost £90.
   Although 10.1 was released in 2001, OS9.2 was still in service until 2002 and an upgrade from 10.0 was given for free. 10.2 however can not be considered a service pack, and neither can 10.3. With each incorporating major performance leaps on the last, and graphical user interface overhauls. In fact, 10.2 bought Quartz Extreme- speeding up the UI considerably, and 10.3 carried the idea of Exposé which has just been poorly copied in Vistas Super Alt Tab. Tiger bought more stability and fine tuning, if any could be compared to a service pack, but I challenge you to find one with as many new features. Also, Apple release the 10.x.x releases for free- and these are the truer companion to the windows service pack. I’d also like to note speeds ups in each version, and far greater support for older machines.
2. No Price Premiums for Flashy Designs
   Apple are not trying to undercut the PC market to gain dominance. That’s not their plan, if you want to compare Apple to a PC manufacturer then pick a high end one. Also, they live longer than PCs and although you may have to splash out more for a Mac- you’ll replace it less often than a comparible PC.
3. Thousands of Decent Games
   Yes, Windows has the stranglehold on the PC gaming market. But with the new intel chipsets, more and more developers are making mac games now. Yes, you can run windows on a mac too. And if you’re dead set on upgrading your graphics hardware: then don’t be scared.
4. Two Mouse Buttons
   Welcome to 2007, as suprising as it seems MacOSX has full right mouse button support. The mighty mouse as they say may not by default use it, but it’s there for anyone who wants it. I’ve got used to the control-right click for the ibook and it no longer bothers me- I do hope they put some sort of way of determining which side of the button was pushed on their newer laptops though.
5. Broadband just works here too.
   With the advent of wireless broadband, USB modems are dying out and configuration is web based. And the wireless management for Macs is miles simpler than for windows.
6. Tailor made systems
   As far as I’m aware- most desktop macs are upgradeable and use ZIF. There are many valid claims that having only a few hardware configurations is a bad thing, but this adds to OS stability immeasurably.
7. Macs are months behind
   So be it. What it can do is what matters, when a machine will last 4 years then being up to the minute isn’t so important. Although, I’ve yet to see an 8-core desktop windows machine (without a server liscence).
8. Life beyond 1st January
   How important a factor is the date of the yearly trade show? If you want to get the latest, then ask for the macbook to be saved until after mac world. It’s an annoying business practice, but then again- it is legal.
9. Superior Search Abilities
   Why PCPRO threw in “I hate the Finder, the Zoom button and window resising is different” under this title bemuses me.
10. Saftey in Numbers
    Apple isn’t small. They have an $80 billion market cap. Sony are apparently more prone to experiment with a much larger cap of $50 billion. (That’s leaving the PS3 = sinking ship thing out). No. Apple aren’t going to drop OSX any time soon.

11-22 will be posted on Thurday the 20th of April.

1. My Adium set up: as you can see this offers little clue as to who’s online apart from their avatar(display picture, buddy icon etc.) However, I find that this approach uses far less screen space than having their name displayed. Growl is highly utilised with this approach as I assoiciate their icon when they log in, or mouse-over to find it. It’s also set to auto-hide on the left hand side of my screen.
2. iClip4, this is essentially a multi-clipboard, which; for me is essential. I use it at the bottom of my screen where the Dock would usually go, and although it’s slightly sluggish on my PPC mac mini- it’s reasonable.
3. The precise location of the dock- right and bottom aligned. (Using deeper) Small icons, hiding on and no magnification.
4. Cytv this lets me watch tv on my ibook, whilst the tuner is plugged into my mac mini.
   
5. Letterbox Mail plugin, because I spent too much time in Outlook 2003 before switching. Quicksilver and Visor. Emminently neccessary. Visor especially for living in a terminal window.

Anyways, go and take a look.

In the mid nineties a product between Apple and BT sprung up, the Apple Interactive Television Box [wikipedia] this was to fufill BTs desire for a set top box that was connected to and received content from the internet. Or more specifically; certain BT servers. This would work over ADSL and serve the user with television and games etc.

Apart from its obvious similarities with the yet unreleased iTV from Apple. Being another set top box which uses content from the internet on television, however this is buffered on a macintosh computer. This I beleive is more similar to the BT HOME HUB[homehub webpage].

The home hub is a device which acts as an ADSL router with wireless VOIP handset, and also sets out to fufill many of the aims they had for the ITVB- albeit without the all in one aspect. But most importantly it has in its future plans an online television distribution system.

So, in conclusion; to say that the iTV is an updated ITVB is short sighted. The Apple Interactive Television Box (to give it its’ full name) has led to Apple and their parter in the matter BT to re attempt this internet linked video box just over 12 years later, is not a re-hash but merely re attempting when the market is right.