Apple Archive

Ever since Apple introduced G5's towers, many have asked if the company would eventually release an XServe based on the fast new processor. Although Apple hasn't said anything officially, it would appear that the company made them available to select individuals for testing purposes. A support message posted on the new XGrid mailing list is very telling. A brief osViews post has all the details.

Apple is developing a distributed/parallel computing solution called Xgrid, according to ThinkSecret. Apple recently put up a mailing list, "xgrid-users". According to the page, the mailing list is for discussion regarding use and deployment of Xgrid. No archived messages exist. The page describes Xgrid as "Apple's solution for parallel and distributed high performance computing."

Apple discontined its "Switcher" ad campaign a few months ago, amid speculation that it was not performing as well as hoped. Though we still may not see anymore stoned girls extolling the virtues of Macs on TV anymore, Apple has posted several new Switcher stories on its web site.

"It's clear from two weeks of testing that Apple's new Power Mac G5 dual 2-GHz machine is the fastest thing the company has ever produced. And while you can debate benchmarks until eternity, it certainly appears poised to meet or beat anything now out on the Windows side." Read the review at ComputerWorld. In the meantime, according to sources, Apple plans to offer new iBooks soon.

"Apple would like more market share, but making the 'best personal computer' is top goal", Apple CEO Steve Jobs said recently. Additionally, the Mac OS X 10.2.8 update was released internally late last week, sources confirmed to ThinkSecret. Sources also speculated that the update will be provided to users Monday or next week. Separately, Apple seeded build 7B72 of Panther Server to developers on Thursday, posting two installation discs as well as a Server Admin CD.

PC Magazine has reviewed Apple's new dual 2 GHz G5 PowerMac. They say that the performance of Apple's new top of the line workstation is "generally as fast as the best Intel-based workstations currently available". Read the review over at PC Magazine.

Yesterday IBM published a story on their Intranet promoting their Technology Group and their relationship to Apple with regard to the PowerPC 970. This article has been made available to MacRumors. The item offers some unique insight into Apple, and their relationship with IBM as well as Apple's thoughts on the alternative, Intel.

"Macworld Lab's first test results are in on all of Apple's new Power Mac G5 towers. We've tested all three models, and found them be clearly faster than the previous generation of Power Macs. The two single-processor models are generally as fast or faster than the top-of-the-line dual-processor 1.42GHz Power Mac G4, and the dual-processor 2GHz Power Mac G5 is clearly the reigning Mac speed king by a wide margin." Read it at MacWorld.

Chad Dickerson, CTO at InfoWorld, takes a ride with a forgotten 450 Mhz G4 Mac on his workplace and moves it home. Soon, he would be so impressed that the Mac would replace his Linux home server and one of his two Windows PCs. Last week, Chad gave us his opinion regarding Linux too.

Apple CFO Fred Anderson yesterday led a corporate update at the Smith Barney Citigroup Tech Conference. Anderson said that Apple was in an incredibly strong financial position with over $4.5 billion in cash and only $300 million in long-term debt, which is due in February of next year. Apple has managed to survive the downturn by using innovation, he said.

From Mac news site MacMinute: "Victor Kulesh today announced the release of Veta Universal Palm Edition, which will turn a Bluetooth-enabled Palm PDA into a wireless remote control for your Mac. "Now users can use their Tungsten T Palms to remotely control many applications such as iTunes, Keynote, DVD Player and even the mouse on their computers." Veta Universal Palm Edition is priced at US$10."

From Mac news site MacMinute: "Bare Feats has published a performance comparison of all three Power Mac G5 models. "It looks like the Dual G5 2GHz has the best bang for the buck," the site reports. "The average speed advantage over the G5 1.8GHz is 45%. Yet it only costs 25% more (factory standard configuration).""

Apple news from around the web: "Apple seeds Panther build 7B44, Server, Xcode", "Apple Issues New G5 Benchmarks", "Dual-2GHz G5 to reach education buyers first", "Apple forms new Enterprise sales group", "Virtual PC not compatible with G5 yet".

Rumors have been flying about new 15" Powerbooks, and now we learn that Steve Jobs will be giving a keynote speech at Apple Expo 2003 in Paris on September 16. Though I'm sure it's being saved for one of Steve's "and one more thing" zingers at the end of the speech, it's pretty likely that new 15" Powerbooks (still with a G4, but with illuminated keyboard) will be released.