macOS Archive

The latest release of Mac-On-Linux now includes MacOS X support. Check out these screenshots of MacOSX 10.2, also known as Jaguar, running under Linux. Please note that Mac-On-Linux is not an emulator, but it's more like VMWare, therefore, it can only run on some PPC hardware.

Mac OS X users know when a product doesn't quite "feel right", and so do product reviewers. Despite the similarities that seem to exist between the Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000 and Windows XP user interfaces (UI) and the Aqua interface of Mac OS X, there are significant appearance and behavioral differences. A successful Windows to Mac OS X transition requires abandoning key elements of the Windows user experience in favor of the Mac OS X alternatives. This document outlines typical areas of concern when porting a Microsoft Windows application to Mac OS X, and provides guidance for transitioning to the Mac OS X UI.

"From the moment Mac OS X was announced, one of its most compelling features for me was its ability to run Mac and Unix software at the same time. It meant I wouldn't have to keep multiple systems around, booting into one or the other as needed. And now, with the release of version 10.2 (aka Jaguar), OS X is a better Unix than ever. Make no mistake: Mac OS X has been a real Unix from the start, albeit one that could actually run desktop apps like Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and BBEdit, and let you play Warcraft III and (soon) Halo. But now, Jaguar's Unix underpinnings have been given a much-needed refresh." Read the editorial at ZDNet.

I arrive home to find a spiffy package from ADC... Look it's Jaguar! The excitement was racing to install this upgrade but then I thought what about my data? I wanted to partition my drive differently for Jaguar so I did what I would do on any of my systems. I tared my home directory double checking the file contents to make sure I got all my hidden files. I then uploaded the tar to my server via scp and checked the md5sum of the file. Everything looked good I was ready to go!

"Using Mac OS X is like touring a land of fabulous ancient treasures - with a tourist authority that's still busy renovating them, and that hasn't quite completed the infrastructure. The sights can be breathtaking, but the roads are potholed and incomplete, and sometimes you have to get out and push." Read the review at TheRegister. More than 100,000 copies of OS X 10.2 are sold worldwide during its first weekend, and 50,000 people visited company stores Friday night, ZDNews reports.

Almost a year after our much discussed Mac OS X 10.1 review, it is time to write down our impressions from the new version of OSX, Jaguar 10.2. Is Jaguar worth the full $129 USD? Dive in for more. Update: Slashdot seems to agree with our review, at least on the backwards compatibility issue.

"The rev formerly known as Pinot has been renamed Panther, sources reported, hinting that the faux-fur motif of the Jaguar release will continue when Panther ships in early 2003. Sources this month told eWEEK that the Panther release will mark another step away from MacOS 9, the "classic" MacOS that Apple continues to upgrade for compatibility with older applications. They said Apple is planning to "block" next-generation Macs preloaded with Panther from booting into MacOS 9 although the company will continue to support applications running within MacOSX's Classic environment." The report can be found at eWeek. In other Mac news, Microsoft is readying MSN for OSX.

Tim O'Reilly made an informal survey of some members of the Geek Elite and confirmed that Mac OS X has generated significant enthusiasm. He also found that Linux and Unix users are even more likely than sold school Mac users to make the switch to OS X. Read more at O'Reilly's Mac Dev Center.

The exclusive news we broke last Monday, regarding gobeProductive going GPL in the very near future, have been going around the biggest sites on the web. We hear that the C++ source code of GP3 is of exceptional quality, and its creators are hoping into a broad participation of developers after its release. Because of its very clean codebase, GP3 is many times smaller and easier to handle, programming-wise, compared to, let's say, OpenOffice.org. We asked Bruce Hammond, now CEO of FreeRadicalSoftware, regarding the general portability of the software and the possibility of an OSX port. Bruce replied: "A port to OS-X is possible and very likely in the near future (8 month timeframe). We are starting a project to clean up the cross-platform engine and make moving GP to new platforms simpler."

"Although it's been quite some time since MacOS X first hit the shelves, and although many hordes of users have made their homes on the system, MacOS 10.2 is the first version of X that I would really recommend for someone to use. MacOS versions 10.0 and 10.1 had vast amounts of potential, yet they remained nothing to write home to mom about. Finally Apple has capitalized on their potential, and created a system that is refined, streamlined, and ready to take out of the oven." Read the preview over at ArtificialCheese. In the meantime, SpyMac listed a number of incompatibilities between Jaguar 10.2 and previous versions of OSX (which are pretty natural to occure when you bump up a whole new version of an OS, especially when using a very different version of the compiler). I could add one more to the list.

In light of all the controversy surrounding the price of Apple's new OSX 10.2 Jaguar upgrade scheme, it is interesting that is today obtainable from Amazon.com for $79 USD ($129 - $50 rebate). On a related note, Macintouch is reporting that Apple is extending the MacOSX Up-to-Date and MacOSX Server Up-to-Date programs to include Jaguar Server upgrades for just $19.95 in response to intense criticism. Apple also added that people who bought MacOSX 10.1 retail in its own box, can get an upgrade if purchased July 17 or later.

A lot has been said about the roots of Mac OS X and there is quite some confusion about its exact Unix geneology. We asked Jordan Hubbard, engineering manager of the BSD Technologies Group at Apple and one of the most important figures throughout the FreeBSD history, about the older releases of OSX, the current one and the future ones, and this is what he replied to us: "The earliest releases were based on FreeBSD 3.2 and NetBSD, though I'm not as clear on what version of NetBSD was used. For 10.2, we did a massive re-sync with FreeBSD 4.4 and 4.5 and regard FreeBSD as the primary reference code base going forward." Update: Read for some more clarifications from Jordan. Update 2: More updates from Jordan! Read on.

ThinkSecret covers the new MacOSX version, codenamed Jaguar, by publishing an article on what is new and on the kind of updates are to be expected at the end of this summer. There are also a bunch of screenshots included in the article. Part I and Part II.

"The widely anticipated update to Apple Computer's Mac OS X will appear earlier than expected, sources say, which is good news for the company in a tough year." Read the report at News.com.