Posted on 05 November 2007 by Mark Knowles
Apple has jumped the gun with the release of their new Operating system, Leopard. My sources at Apple (who will remain nameless) tell me there are two reasons for this. One, the software engineers responsible had been “stolen” to complete the iPhone firmware updates in Apple’s ongoing battle with the hackers, and Two, the OS had already been delayed for too long and it was felt that Leopard should be let out of the cage without further delay, even though there were known issues. Here are five reasons to wait for 10.5.1
- Installation problems. Despite many naysayers accusing people of creating problems where there are none, a good proportion of upgrades did not go well, and even Apple is admitting there is a problem. According to Apple, “After completing an upgrade installation of Leopard and restarting the computer, a “blue screen” may appear for an extended period of time.” The solution? “Reinstall Leopard (recommended)”
- Disk utility issues. Despite doing a clean “erase and install” many people are reporting slow or non-existent reformatting.
- Printer drivers. Due to a late alteration to Leopard’s print utility, many manufacturers were caught on the hop and are rushing to redo their printer drivers. There are known issues with certain Lexmark, Epson and HP printers, either with direct connections or through Airport Extreme.
- Firefox. Firefox 2.0.0.9 is not fully functional. Mostly minor bugs but some embedded media will fail and no drop down menus at certain sites. According to Firefox, it’s “Nothing to lose your sleep to, but in this case the fix won’t come until Firefox 3. Think 2008.”
- Photoshop. Older versions of Photoshop will not work, and a fix is unlikely.
Me, I think it’s well-named, a big pussycat with a temperamental nature. I’m already having a love/hate relationship with Leopard, so look out for “The Top Five Reasons to Upgrade to Leopard Today.”
Posted on 02 November 2007 by Mark Knowles
Apple’s new OS, 10.5 or Leopard has some interesting new features. Time Machine stores an up-to-date copy of all your Mac’s files on an external hard drive, personal file sharing volume, or Mac OS X Server. That includes system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies, and documents.
That would be everything, right down to the way your desktop looked at a given time. It is possible to restore any backup, from any particular time, or be selective and just restore a single file or photo, or whatever you wish.
You don’t even have to do any work. The first time you plug an external drive in to your computer, Leopard asks if you want to use that as a backup, hit “Yes” and it’s taken care of automatically.
You can literally go back in time and see how your computer looked on a given date, and the user interface is possibly the coolest looking piece of software I have seen. Looking down a tunnel into the past, you can pick which version to look at, scroll through the items on the desktop or stored in the hard drive, pick what you want and restore, or not. Here’s a screen shot of Time Machine in action.
I love it. In fact, it almost makes up for the insane amount of time I had to waste installing Leopard in the first place. Pity I can’t go back in time and change that….….Or maybe I can.
Posted on 14 October 2007 by Mark Knowles
After a positive response to my article about the Gold MacBook pro, I thought I would have a look around and see what other expensive toys might be competing for the title of “most desirable Christmas present,” this year.
Hammacher Schlemmer have a good selection and top of my list has got to be the Studio Quality Triode-Tube iPod speakers.
That’s right, these are tube based speakers made specifically for the iPod. These were developed and built by German audio technicians and the system consists of an aluminum-encased amplifier housing four powerful Class-A tubes which glow gently as they generate warm, low-octave sound that is virtually distortion-free. The tube amplifier smoothes over distortions found in modern digital recordings while helping to compensate and minimize the quality loss inherent in compressed audio such as MP3s, and in addition to the iPod line-in jack, a second audio-in port allows you to connect a CD player, satellite radio, or other audio component. The matching double-cone, full-range speakers designed solely for use with this system faithfully generate warm, realistic tones using a single, highly synchronized chassis per speaker (reducing ill-timed and out of phase audio.)
As any audio buff knows, the only way to get the best out of any recorded music is to play it through a tube amp. TheGrizz is right, these are way more practical than the gold Macbook. But when I checked, guess what? At $3,999.95, they have sold out already.
Other iPod Speakers from amazon.com:
Posted on 09 October 2007 by Mark Knowles
Who on earth could possibly want a diamond Encrusted Apple-logoed, gold-plated MacBook Pro? Me, me, me! I hear you cry. Me too I’m afraid. One look at these photos persuaded me it’s the only way to go. The Apple logo is made from diamonds and the entire thing is gold plated with a hand-painted color matched keyboard. I want one so bad it’s almost painful. I’m not so sure I’d be comfortable using it in public, but what the hey!I dread to think how much one of these things costs, but Computer Choppers in Oregon will be happy to quote you a price. They will also quote for sapphires, platinum or whatever else takes your fancy.
They seem a little worried about Apple suing them for reproducing their logo, but I don’t think it’s a major concern.
Well, at least that solves my usual problem of what I want for Christmas, it’s no competition this year, a 24-karat MacBook Pro. Easy. Let’s see if I can persuade my wife it’s a good investment. If any one has any suggestions as to the logic I could use to achieve that goal, please leave me a comment, because I don’t think, “If you really loved me, you would buy me one,” is going to fly this time. Just look at these photos, and tell me you don’t want one.
