[KLUG Advocacy] the new macs

[Greg Mason]

On Wednesday, June 25, 2003, at 07:03  PM, Robert G. Brown wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Jun 2003 10:48:52 -0400, Adam Williams 
> <awilliam@whitemice.org> wrote:
>
>>> check out Apple.com. dual 2Ghz 64-bit IBM-powered monsters they are
>>> going to be shipping, starting september. Also, OS X 10.3, Panther,
>>> will be out in september. :) www.apple.com to see a side-view of one,
>>> click on it for the specs.
>> I looked at these, basically you are buying a stripped down RS/6000 
>> (now
>> called P* series) in a swanky "post-modern" (never understood that
>> adjective in this context) case.  These babies should FLY!  IDE drives
>> attached to something like this just turns the stomach, but Oh well.
>
> It'll get fixed at some point, that;'s my bet. Apple has shown a 
> tendency to
> go SCSI, and I bet they will again here, once/when it ships hot, and 
> the
> user base demands it (explicitly or implicitly).

it's serial ATA, 150 meg/sec. isn't that fast enough for desktop use? 
One thing I've noticed is that they've only got 2 internal HD bays, 
instead of the 4 that the Power Mac G4 had. I wonder when G5 XServes 
are coming out? :)
>
>>> http://www.apple.com/macosx/panther if you want to see features of 
>>> the
>>> new OS.
>>> Exposé looks like a MUCH cooler way to have 20 apps open than 
>>> multiple
>>> desktops. also, fast user switching has also made it to the mac, 
>>> with a
>>> cool 3D cube transition (like they already use in Apple Keynote).
> Coolness ain't utility. I'll jhave to see this before I see further 
> comment.
> I can switch desktops as fast as I can press the mouse buttons on far 
> less
> computer than this, and there I am...add ONE mouseclick to that and 
> it'[s
> probably not as facile.
You have to see it in motion to really get it. It's REALLY sweet. 
Multiple desktops would be nice, however. I like to separate different 
kind of projects on different desktops. For instance, downloading a 
bunch of ISO's and surfing for ISO's happens on one, and mail, etc. 
happens on others.
>
>> Maybe you can give us a demo?  Still have open dates in 2003. :)
> A good idea! These things have to be seen and played with to be
> appreciated.
If only I had the means to get one.... But I will be getting Panther 
for my iBook. it won't be as pretty as it would be on a G5 (some 
effects might not be smooth), but, yeah, I'll do a demo. It would have 
to be in December, is the 16th still open?

> And the more Linux and OS-X are around in similar environments, the 
> more
> applications will converge (like Open Office).
Open Office runs pretty well on apple's X11 (which is another thing 
included in Panther).  It's annoying how OpenOffice can't even use "PC" 
truetype fonts that are installed in Jaguar (or "JagWire" according to 
Steve Jobs). I like on SuSE, when I install the fonts, after SuSEConfig 
runs, that my fonts are available in every application, including OO, I 
don't have to config OO to look where the fonts are or anything, it 
just works.