pimpbott writes "Apple is working with SoftwareToGo to install kiosks in CompUSA stores to deliver software on demand. Imagine walking into your local CompUSA and ordering some obscure title that nobody would ordinarily stock, paying for it, and walking out with a custom-burned CD-ROM. This not only gets more titles published and available to the public at large by reducing the need for expensive shelf space and other publishing costs, but it keeps embarassingly large, mostly empty software boxes from ending up in the landfill."

Dan Pouliot writes "I've been compiling a shootout of X vs. XP for some time, but I've finally given it it's own domain xvsxp.com. Sure, I prefer Macs, but I've tried to have this site be as objective (and thorough) a shootout as possible."

A user writes, "Apple has caught up with the times and updated their Java to 1.4.1, bringing it completely up to date with the newest release from Sun. It now takes advantage of Aqua and Quartz Extreme, is usable via Universal Access, and can be controlled through AppleScript." It provides 1149 new classes over 1.3.1, a new native I/O API, updated XML tools (SAX 1.0/2.0, DOM 1.0/2.0, XSLT), I18N and L10N enhancements for Unicode 3.0, regexes, IPv6, faster loading of applets, improved caching, storing of certs in the Keychain, faster UI, more Aqua-like UI ... and native Java applet support for Safari.

Milanek writes "The iBook/PowerBook battery seems to be permanently incapacitated by the 10.2.4 update. " I had this problem as well - had to get my battery replaced last week. It was a painless exchange, but still annonying.

Currawong writes "Apple's very delayed 3U XServe RAID box has quietly appeared on their web site with details. Most interesting being that it uses ATA100 drives, rather than the usual SCSI, making it a bargain at US$10,999 for 2.52TB, especially compared to similar devices that cost up to 10 times as much for the same storage capacity. In addition, ATTO announced at the same time a MacOSX only dual-channel fibre channel SCSI card."

WCityMike writes "Major Shawn Weed, an intelligence planner with the Third Infantry Division, eschewed his Panasonic Toughbook because it wasn't fast enough in processing giant satellite and reconnaissance images. He put in a requisition for and received a PowerBook G4, the only Apple currently being used in the entire Middle East theater. 'Frankly, lives are in the balance here, so the quicker I can get stuff done accurately, the better,' Weed says."

usermilk writes "Apple has released an update for iMovie 3. It provides improved performance and stability, you can get it from the Software Update preference pane." Hopefully this resolves many of the complaints about what could be a really cool program. maxentius writes "The beta .7 version of Camino has been released. Once Chimera, this tabbed browser and Apple's Safari might start a real browser war. Which one do you prefer?" And on that note, an anonymous user writes "Safari v64 is making the rounds according to macrumors. Safari v62 brought us Tabs, and this new version (v64) appears to provide increased stability, improved tab appearance, loading status for tabs, and enhanced autocomplete."

drunkToaster writes " Adobe's support pages note that Mac OS X 10.2.x fails to re-enable modifier keys after an authentication session. The keys are disabled during the user/password dance as a security measure. Adobe explains a workaround for the problem which drastically effects many of its applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc)." This makes no sense to me; I authenticate to various servers etc. all day long, and never have problems with modifier keys. The Adobe explanation seems wholly inadequate.

Disoriented writes "As a GUI designer and programmer I enjoy sites like this. The info here is fairly old, dating back to Classic Mac OS, but it illustrates the kind of details users look for in a well-polished GUI." Mac-centric, but there are good points made in here for anyone working on GUI applications -- less bitter than the Interface Hall of Shame, too ;)

louismg writes "BlueArc CTO Geoff Barrall, using a PC day in and day out, found things becoming progressively more difficult as they increased in complexity. After one final straw, he sought out an alternative, and switched to Mac OS X -- in a corporate environment. His column, titled 'Rethink Before You Reinstall' documents the challenges facing Mac OS X in enterprise, and how he has changed his views." We've not had a switcher/MS-bashing/Apple rules/etc. article in a little while, so here you are.

chipset writes "Found a way to hack the Belkin USB Wireless (802.11b) driver to allow other adapters to work. By using the Atmel Wan Driver page on SourceForge and these tips drivers can be modified to support other wireless adapters. This will get unsupported USB WLAN adapters working with the Mac."

*no comment* writes "Literally "garbage patent" that is, Apple was rewarded a patent for the "Garbage" icon in Mac OS X. The patent documents can be found at the USPTO by clicking here. More on this and other Apple patents are in this article over at the macobserver."

discstickers writes "The San Jose Mercury News is running an article about an Apple music service that might be ready to launch next month. $.99 a song with the ability to burn to CD doesn't sound too bad."

Rien writes "I saw this BusinessWeek article referenced over at MacSlash. The author makes the case for Apple utilizing the Bochs Open Source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator to help counter Microsoft's recent purchase of Virtual PC from Connectix." I looked at Bochs, and maybe I R Dum, but I couldn't figure out how to install Windows on it.

interdigitate writes " There is another piece of beta Mac OS X software called Romeo which also allows you to control your Mac using the Sony Ericsson T68i Phone. It works like the Sony Ericsson Clicker except it is freeware." For now, it does not support arbitrary AppleScripts like Clicker does, but it does allow using the phone as a remote mouse. Also note that Apple has put up a page of Clicker scripts.

90XDoubleSide writes "Apple has released Security Update 2003-03-03 (available through Software Update) which addresses the sendmail vulnerability reported earlier today, and includes a newer version of OpenSSL. Seems that Apple is getting much faster with their patches."

brarrr writes "I'm starting out in graduate school at the UW in Materials Science and Engineering and doing research on spin electronics. Results from this work have me searching for a Mac OS X plotting/graphing program for 2D data and there are many of them, but no useful comparison anywhere. What do you use? What do you recommend? Why? My uses will include plotting, presentation, curve fit, trendline analysis, and more. I've looked briefly at: pro Fit, gnuplot (difficult to use, not very professional output), Abscissa (site is down, cannot evaluate), SmileLab (not very robust), Tecplot, IGOR (so far the best looking, but expensive), and KaleidaGraph (difficult to use, feels poorly ported). So what works/doesn't work? And don't bother saying Excel...."

An anonymous reader writes "A BBC article talks about a project where a school bus with 21 Apple Power Macs is connected to the Internet using one 3G phone: 'On the bus, the phone is plugged into a laptop that acts as a server for other machines on board. Despite sharing the connection between 21 computers, the speed has impressed Mr Townsend. ''The service that children are getting through this phone is actually quicker than on their desktop machines in the school,'' he said.'"

Rosyna writes "Apple now allows the general public to recycle their Apple branded computers. It only costs thirty US dollars, too. The dumpster is still cheaper. More details at Apple's page and Metech's page."

g_adams27 writes "Sure, VersionTracker will keep you up-to-date with the latest useful software, but where can you go to get the latest updates on absolutely horrific software? Fear not! PerversionTracker has got you covered, with updates on the latest (and most worthless) Mac software." The best one is a review of Nisus E-mail via interpretive dance.