ffejbean noted that OSXTalk (hey, they run Slashcode!) has an article up noting that XFree86 and MacOS X are getting more and more friendly every day. Now you don't have to purchase a lame commercial binary, you can just install it yourself. If only those iCubes didn't cost twice what they should, this may just be a great platform yet. (BTW, I'm getting confused here, should I post this as Apple, X, or BSD? Ah well, close enough :)

If you have been interested in Apache on Apple's new OS X operating system, this article on Mac Central offers a short description on what is up with it. Even before this article I was (and still am) interested in seeing how hard it is going to be to keep your copy of Apache current. And just how many modifications were required to make it work with OS X?

Dean Siren asks: "Now that Apple has released the Quicktime 5 Public Preview, they've upgraded their video codec to Sorenson 3 from Sorenson 2 which Jeremy Neish says pales in comparison to MPEG4 and its derivatives. So, how well does Sorenson 3 compete against MPEG4 as far as quality per bitrate, processor demand, compression times, and streaming are concerned? Can Apple now stay ahead of DivX, Windows Media Player 7 and Real Player 8?" Neish notes that none of the latest codecs are not compatible with Unix so only Mac and Windows users get to take advantage of the latest in digital video formats. When someone gets around to fixing this, then I can again get excited about Quicktime, until then it's just another format to me (and yet another reason why I have to have a Windows box lying around).

grossdog writes: "Feed Magazine has an article up by editor-in-chief Steven Johnson (author of Interface Culture) describing the OS X rollout as a cultural event -- the now manifestation of the same impulses that turned Sgt. Pepper and Exile on Main Street into touchstones. 'Seeing a brand new interface,' writes Johnson, 'is a little like seeing the new Audi TT, or the latest Alessi home appliance: You know you're going to be seeing these shapes and colors emulated for years to come.' In this sense OS X is an important milestone in OS development: Apple has set a new standard." This is a good piece. It talks about hype, media, and software. I don't think OSX is Sgt. Pepper. More like the Phantom Menace (technically amazing and very pretty, but will it have a plot, or just suck?).

scout.finch writes: "John Siracusa has just written a review of the new Mac OS X Public Beta over on Ars Technica. His thorough and unflinching reviews of previous developer releases have been the most accurate source of information on Mac OS X thus far, and this installation is no exception."

scout.finch writes: "Looks like Apple wasn't kidding. Their new front page proudly advertising "1-Click Buying" complete with registration mark." Very depressing. Usually I don't pay much attention to the stock market, but seeing what happened to Apple's stock this week... well, I don't feel bad for them at all. The more credit given to Amazon's lame patent, the harder it'll be to overturn.

Vizer writes: "Apple is shipping CDs with the development tools for MacOS X to its developers. Not only that, but the tools will be downloadable in mid-October. Details are on the Apple Developer Connection site. This jives well with what we've been told in the past by Apple, about how MacOS X will eventually ship as two CDs, one of which is just the basic user installation and the other CD full of developer tools.

And yes, developing for MacOS X is very familiar to anyone who has done some BSD programming, except that the paths are all different and HFS+ volumes are case-insensitive. Having the terminal window with access to various unix utilities is great, and nearly all of my un-ported apps run in the compatability environment without complaint. No OS crashes, no problems other than finding out where Apple hid all the preferences and utilities.

No, I don't want to go back."

acaben writes: "On MacSlash, we're running a story that gives more information on the Unix-ness of MacOS X, expounding on recent articles from MacWeek and Slashdot. With insightful commentary running from packaging applications to using X-Windows on the MacOS X Beta, we hope to shed some new light on the Unix aspects of the Public Beta."

bjtuna writes "According to this article at the Daily Daemon News, Apple's Darwin is booting on both Intel chips AND Connectix VirtualPC under MacOS." The screenshots are available as is the original link.

lythari writes "ZDNet is reporting that Apple's advertising agency is threatening several publications carrying Apple ads to stop printing Apple rumours or else Apple will stop advertising with them. " Hmmm...can you say "Bad Karma"?

zephc writes: "Apple has announced its iBooks, now with more RAM and DVD drive options, and (sweetness) Firewire (among other things)." Looks like it's at least three new models - and in other Mac Expo news, as promised OSX has been released in beta. Of course, it's a beta that costs $29.95 in the Apple Store, but whatever. MacNN has some coverage as well, as well as photos from the floor -- including the infamous flooding incident.

dburcaw writes: "PowerPC Linux developer Troy Benjegerdes just released the first patch adding SMP support for the brand new dual processor Power Macintosh G4 systems just hours before Steve Jobs is set to release the Mac OS X Public Beta at Apple Expo in Paris. This makes PowerPC Linux the first available operating system to contain full SMP support for the new machines. The patch and test binary kernel is available here."

Ruddy writes: "ZDNet has screenshots and a preview of Mac OSX beta being released Wednesday at the Apple Expo in Paris, as well as a list of some apps and utils that will ship on the beta CD (apparently no download). Some of the leaking details are a very NeXt-ish file browser, No Airport support yet, only partial USB and only partial Firewire; Full Java 2, Full OpenGL, Full SMP; Choice of Aqua or Graphite eye candies; New Dock choices; installing on G3 & G4s only--requiring the OEM video cards (no Voodoos or 3DFX) and single monitor systems only; installs alongside OS9 with no major speed hits for Classic apps. The screenshots look fab and it all sounds pretty heady except for the connectivity shortage, but will it look and feel? And will it plug and ...play? Highlights from the rollout will be webcast here starting Wednesday."

nutt writes "The MacSpeedZone's Apple Confidential column has a good Article which looks back at what happened to Apple's Star Trek project, (which was to "boldly go where no Mac had gone before." ... Intel hardware.) Its a very good read, and makes one wonder where Star Trek is now? The Article says the NDA's on the engineers was lifted in late 1997. It would be _very_ interesting if something like this could get out to the OSS. Note: Darwin currently compiles on Intel hardware."

beekman1 writes: "Stanford has up their first edition of Making the Macintosh. Where many articles deal with the political aspects of this period (Steve Jobs taking over, etc.) this one has the technical details like the evolution of the mouse from lab testing to production device. Link aquired from ArsTechnica"

whostudios asks: "Last year I bought two Apple Colorsync monitors which both died within 12 months. Both had a broken main delection board, and both were connected to blue and white G3's. Last week I bought myself a Sony G500 21" and in the box I found a special adapter which fixes some kind of a scan rate problem with G3's/G4's. Could this "problem" have something to do with my broken Colorsync monitors? I don't know anything about scan rates, but I read that the wrong scan rate could possibly damage a monitor..."

Carnage4Life writes:"Apple has found out the employee who leaked pictures of the PowerMac G4 Cube. So Apple has modified its original lawsuit against "unknown individual" for leaking trade secrets and changed the name to that of the employee in court filings. So as not to embarass any employees with the same name Apple has not revealed the employee's name as at now."

Stephen Beale of MacWeek writes: "Some key Linux developers, encouraged by the emergence of GNOME as the standard desktop environment for Linux and Unix, believe that Linux is poised to overtake the Macintosh as the primary challenger to Microsoft Windows. One, open source advocate Eric S. Raymond told MacWEEK that the Mac platform is 'a noble but doomed cause.' MacWEEK reporter David Read also spoke with Andy Hertzfeld of Eazel, a member of the original Mac development team, who agrees with Raymond that Linux is having a more profound influence on the industry than Apple. But he's more sanguine about Apple's prospects and told MacWEEK that his G4 Cube has just arrived. Mac users may not appreciate what amounts to anti-Mac 'trash talk' from a leading Linux advocate, but Raymond and Hertzfeld raise interesting issues about the competitive relationship between two alternatives to Microsoft Windows."

gwernol writes: "David Every has an interesting article over at MacWeek that asks the question: is UNIX an OS? Before you jump off the deep end, read the article. It's actually a pretty good discussion of what components a modern OS needs beyond a kernel and a shell. It also discusses Mac OS X, the forthcoming 'UNIX++' from Apple." At the very least, it should inspire some decent conversation.

antihero writes "The PowerBook Zone has some information for owners of PowerBook 5300s and 190s. They'll take those models and sell you one of the current models for $1800, about $700 cheaper than MSRP. This is to get these often-problematic models off the streets so Apple doesn't have to continue supporting them. These 5 year old models aren't worth much." This offer goes to August 31st.