macOS Archive

Mac.Ars: Three Years of Mac OS X

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-25 macOS 68 Comments

Has it been three years already? A quick glance at the calendar tells us that the date is March 24, 2004, three years to the day after Mac OS X 10.0 began shipping. Join Mac.Ars in a trip down memory lane as they look at three years of Unix-y/NeXT-y/pinstripe-y goodness on the Macintosh.

Apple Updates Xgrid Clustering Software

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-24 macOS 14 Comments

Apple has released Xgrid Preview 2, the latest version of its powerful computational clustering software that turns a group of Macs into a supercomputer.

How Secure Is OS X?

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-22 macOS 40 Comments

What is the big picture when it comes to Apple security? Is OS X safe enough to be a viable contender for running public Web sites and general enterprise applications? Read the article at NewsFactor.

Xserve RAID Admin Tools 1.3 released

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-19 macOS 2 Comments

Apple has released Xserve RAID Admin Tools 1.3, an update to its Java-based remote management software for setting up and monitoring storage volumes on the Xserve. Read the report at MacMinute.

Are You Talking to Me? Speech on Mac OS X

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-18 macOS 27 Comments

Apple's recent announcement of Spoken Interface has moved speech recognition to the forefront. However, Mac OS X has included speech recognition and synthesis technologies for quite some time, and in this article MacDevCenter delves into the often misunderstood world of talking to your Mac.

Apple Developing Remote Desktop 2

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-17 macOS 24 Comments

Apple is developing a major upgrade to Remote Desktop, the company's desktop management and screen-sharing software, Think Secret has learned. Sources said Apple Remote Desktop 2 will boast standards-based reporting, task scheduling, VNC support, and other new features.

Apple ‘Spoken Interface’ Technology Coming

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-17 macOS 19 Comments

At the 19th annual Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, which is taking place this week in Los Angeles, Apple announced "Spoken Interface," an upcoming Mac OS X feature that allows those with visual and learning disabilities to use a Mac through speech, audible cues and keyboard navigation. Read more at MacMinute.

Mac OS X 10.3.3 and Server Update Released

Submitted by Cyrune 2004-03-15 macOS 46 Comments

Apple released MacOSX 10.3.3 via the Software Update pref. panel. More info & changelog here.

Review: CodeTek VirtualDesktop Pro 3.0

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-24 macOS 39 Comments

One of the features geeks really miss on OSX's Unix environment are the virtual screens. Apple tried to address this need with the introduction of the excellent Expose, but all things fair, Expose doesn't do the same thing. CodeTek is the main company which has addressed this need on Mac OS X for two years now. Recently, they released their third major version of VirtualDesktop in two flavors, Pro & Lite.

Apple’s OSX to Include Voice Navigation & Embedded Applications?

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-23 macOS 35 Comments

"Apple is about to show off just how innovative it can really be. Without giving it all away, we’ve decided it would be great to goose the Mac faithful a bit with a peek into what will most assuredly be the biggest advance in OS X’s short history." Read the (unconfirmed) report at MacNet2. In the meantime, Apple released a new Panther security update.

Mac OS X 10.4 – Potential Deal-makers

Guest post by Søren Friis Østergaard 2004-02-23 macOS 63 Comments

Apple has introduced many improvements that goes beyond small incremental improvements to existing technologies (think Quartz Extreme, Rendezvous etc.). They have succeeded in integrating complex technologies without the complexity.

Next Mac OS X to be Metadata-driven?

Submitted by smashIt 2004-02-20 macOS 34 Comments

The (unconfirmed) info says that Mac OS X 10.4 will go "further than anticipated", introducing not only a "database-driven" new Finder (possibly similar to BeOS' Tracker) --although the file system itself will still be HFS+-- but also a wide support for file metadata. Please note that both the BeFS (and quite possibly this Apple implementation) is not similar to Longhorn's WinFS (apples & oranges). All this is not a surprise for us, as the people who were behind the same realization on BeOS --Dominic Giampaolo and Pavel Cisler-- today work at key positions at Apple Computer in the file system and Finder areas respectively. Pavel is also known for the Gnome Nautilus work while Dominic's legendary book "Practical File System Design with the Be File System" was recently released for free as a PDF. Enjoy!

Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.3.3 build 7F32

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-19 macOS 18 Comments

On Wednesday, Apple provided developers with a new pre-release seed of OSX 10.3.3, sources said.

Apple Releases Bluetooth and iSync Updates for OSX

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-18 macOS 3 Comments

The two updates, available from the system update preference pane, add support for more Symbian OS smart phones and the iPod mini, as well as stability improvements and they provides enhanced stability for Bluetooth connections to some Symbian OS mobile phones. On other Apple news, the OmniGroup released the second public beta of their popular web browser OmniWeb 5.0.

MPT on Mac OS X’s Usability and User Interface

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-16 macOS 75 Comments

"I got my new iBook a couple of days ago, and finally tried this “Mac OS X” thing for the first time. After doing all the software updates, this is what I found." Well-known usability hacker Mattew Thomas (mostly of Mozilla fame) gives his two cents on Mac OS X.

Mac OS X Panther: Room for Improvement

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-16 macOS 51 Comments

"I love my black cat. It has served me well since October with its new Finder, refined interface, Fast User Switching, and Exposé. I love Panther so much that I am willing to debate until the wee hours of the night with PC Zealots and die hard Classic supporters about its merits. Even in all of its glory, however, there is always room for improvement." Read the suggested improvements article at MacZealots.com.

Home Automation with Mac OS X, Part 1

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-14 macOS 7 Comments

When some people hear the words "home automation," they think about the Jetsons or multi-million-dollar concept homes of the future. Others think home automation is just a geek fantasy that wouldn't add any real value to their lives. Read the article at MacDevCenter.

Getting to Grips with Mac OS X Panther

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-04 macOS 18 Comments

"I installed OS X10.3 over a month ago and have begun to get to grips with most of the changes from 10.2.x (Jaguar). Some I like _ but not all. One improvement with 10.2.3 was better memory management. I had been running close to the limits but now have a reasonable amount spare in normal operating conditions." Read the article at BangkokPost.

Java, Safari Updates for Mac OS X Panther Released

Submitted by Peter Olsen 2004-02-02 macOS 35 Comments

MacMinute reports that Apple has released Java 1.4.2 for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. According to the release notes, the update provides support for Sun's Java 1.4.2 APIs, and includes enhancements to drawing performance and stability for both Java applications and Java applets. Java 1.4.2 is available via the Mac OS X Software Update preference pane. Apple on Monday also released Safari 1.2.

Apple Seeds Mac OS X 10.3.3 to Developers

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 macOS 30 Comments

Apple continued the further development of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther this week with the first seedings of Mac OS X 10.3.3 build 7F24 and Safari 1.2 build 125. Meanwhile, the latest version of Safari boasts the ability to use the tab key to cycle through form elements and hyperlinks, in addition to sporting a beefed up download manager supporting resuming downloads. The browser update will also deliver improved performance and the ability to view image dimensions, sources said.