macOS Archive

Macworld goes undercover to reveal 40+ Mac OS X 10.3 Tips and Tricks here. Elsewhere, if you work in an environment where you need to manage a large number of Macs (such as in a classroom), you might want to take a look at Apple's Remote Desktop. Using this pricy but effective software, you can easily control and manage all of the Macs on the network. Also, MacOSRumors details some of the planned features and marketing points for Mac OS X 10.4 (preliminary code-name "Merlot").

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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!

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

"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.

"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.

"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.

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.