If you run iTunes or QuickTime on your Windows PC, but not Safari, you might have seen an uninvited guest show up in the Apple Software Update earlier this week. Yes, Apple thinks you need yet another browser. They tried to slip the new Safari 3.1 in for iTunes owners, a move that has some Windows users up in arms.
Cybernet reminds us that this wasn't quite unexpected -- Steve did say that Apple had made inroads on Windows with iTunes, and that they planned to use those inroads to send Safari around. The only problem is that, while yes, the button and the text do say "Install," the program is usually used for "updating" software, and so getting new software with the deal wasn't something a lot of users expected. And users who don't do anything but the default (I can guarantee you that, since I bought my mother an iPod for Christmas, my parents now have Safari 3.1 installed on their PC, despite the fact that they still aren't quite sure how that Firefox I installed for them works), are basically getting software they didn't plan to have.
Sneaky unwanted software scheme, or just a not-so-subtle hint to Windows users that they could be using a better browser? You decide. I just know that I'm going to be paying a little closer attention to exactly what my Software "Update" is updating (or "installing") from now on.
Just a quick little video to brighten up your dull Monday– Anthony Cumia from the Opie & Anthony Show demonstrates the correct method to ensure a successful Windows Vista installation.
It appears the just-released Windows Vista RC2 and the latest Boot Camp 1.1.1 don't play well for some reason. I just tried installing it to round up that Vista + Intel Mac post I've been working on, but the Vista installation process kept telling me it wasn't happy with the drive Boot Camp creates, and thus wouldn't touch it even after formatting.
This is extra strange, as the RC1 installed and worked on Intel Macs just fine, and as far as I know, Boot Camp 1.1.1 has been updated for full compatibility with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs like the one I'm typing this on. What broke since RC1, how and whodunit (it was Ballmer in the meeting room with the office chair!) are a mystery to me, but what about you guys? Anyone else know what's going on?
A blog post that has risen through the digg ranks reports that a pre-RC1 release of Vista (build 5536) can now be installed easily on Intel Macs via Boot Camp. No more messy instructions, just a good clean install and (apparently) smooth running. Reports indicate that most of the fancy schmancy Aero effects are supported, even on a regular MacBook (Aero, for those who don't know, is a hardware-intensive new UI for Windows Vista with a lot of flashy effects and Transparency Everywhere™ technology).
Microsoft has announced a Release Candidate 1 of Vista for September, for which we believe another public rollout and serial code registration process will be available. Those who manage to get ahold of a copy of build 5536 will need a registration code from the recently-closed beta 2 offering in order to install it.
While we aren't quite sure how Microsoft worked around the EFI limitation in Vista (EFI support was axed along with many other features some time ago), but this Vista + Intel Macs development is good news for anyone who needs to build apps and test websites for Microsoft's new Windows version.
Apple has updated Boot Camp to version 1.0.2 beta (remember: it's been a beta all along), but seems to have forgotten to release any details of what this update is all about. I couldn't track anything down at Apple's Downloads or Support sites, and even the VersionTracker entry notes that the MacFixIt ninjas came up empty as well. They managed to install the new version on a MacBook Pro without a hitch and settle for assuming that new Windows XP drivers are included with this version. They recommend installing the new version and burning a new drivers CD, then booting into Windows and re-installing the drivers.
I'd try this out myself, but I decided the other day that I don't need any of the advantages that Boot Camp offers over Parallels (such as USB and true video card support), so I'm blowing away my Boot Camp Windows partition and reclaiming that space for a compress-able Parallels installation. Now I just need to find my Windows CDs in a townhouse we still haven't finished unpacking and moving into.
Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test (remember: Mac minis have slower laptop hard drives than desktop PowerMacs), but it also runs cooler, due to the new architecture of these Core 2 Duo (code name: Merom) Intel chips.
Given reports like this of these new chips, we might as well talk about the elephant in the room: if these reports of cooler running and even more powerful chips so soon from Intel are true, I foresee a lot of criticism of Apple jumping the gun on cramming Intel chips into their present lineup, in light of all these complaints about heat.
Parallels sure has been busy these last couple of weeks, as they have now produced a beta of VM Compactor for Intel-based Macs (as well as Windows and
Linux), an app that helps optimize VMs (virtual machines) and compresses the amount of physical disk space they use.
The nice thing about VM Compactor is that it can help optimize VMs created with software other than their own
Workstation, such as Microsoft's Virtual PC and VMware's Workstation.
If you aren't quite familiar with why
software like VM Compactor needs to exist, here's a quick example: with an app like Parallels' Workstation (which has
been creating so much buzz in the Mac world lately), you can install and run multiple operating systems, such as
Windows and Linux, inside of Mac OS X. This is referred to as 'virtualization' and is a bit different - and some would
say more useful for general tasks - from using something like Boot Camp which requires you to shut down Mac OS X in
order to boot into Windows.
Well, over time, these other OS installs, called 'virtual machines,' can begin
to take up extra and needless space on your hard drive, even when Parallels Workstation compacts and compresses their
installation after each time you finish using them. This is where VM Compactor comes in: its purpose is to clean up,
optimize and strip the fat out of these installs to make sure they run as well as possible and take up the least amount
of disk space necessary.
Parallels VM Compactor is in beta and offers a 30-trial, which suggests it should be available for retail
purchase within the next month.
Some might say that using Boot Camp to run Windows XP on a Mac is so last week. Some enterprising hackers at the OSx86 Project seem to agree, as they have
successfully gotten a preview version of Vista - Microsoft's upcoming Windows upgrade originally slated for 2003 - to
run on an Intel iMac. Apparently there's some odd install hiccups to tinker with, as Engadget notes, so it sounds like
this might not exactly be for the for the faint of heart Boot Camp Mac user.
Nevertheless, if you are the
lucky owner of an Intel Mac and have either a desire or a need to play with Windows Vista, check out this OSx86 Project thread.
Well I guess we know why the Apple Store was down earlier. Today, Apple introduced Remote Desktop 3, which is now a Universal Binary and includes over 50
new features that deliver better software distribution, asset management and remote assistance. Over 30 Automator
actions, remote Spotlight searching of multiple Tiger machines, a Dashboard observation widget and automatically
installing software on remote machines when they return online are at the top of the new feature buzz list, which
includes:
Remote Drag and Drop files and folders between local and remote computers
Remote Copy and Paste for simple transfer of text and images between local and remote computers
Persistent Task History and Task Templates to make it easy to save and replicate repetitive task
Curtain Mode to hide the desktop of a system while it is being controlled remotely
Application Usage
and User History Reports to track software compliance and monitor the use of unauthorized applications
Smart Computer Lists for dynamically managing systems based on specified criteria
AES 128-bit
encryption for secure communications between Apple Remote Desktop 3 and clients
Apple Remote Desktop 3 is
available immediately through the Apple Store for either $299 to manage up to
10 machines, or $499 for managing an unlimited number of machines.
So
the new Mac minis are cool, and Front Row leveraging Bonjour is just plain smart. But what about the rest of us who
can't afford to go out and buy yet another shiny new Apple product?
Behold: instructions for installing the latest version of Front Row (with Bonjour support) on
just about any Mac that can run 10.4.5 and iLife '06. A friend of mine turned me onto these instructions, and along
with his Salling Clicker-enabled mobile phone, he
has a pretty nice Front Row remote setup going on his 12" PowerBook. From the instructions it sounds like the
setup is pretty simple, but as usual: this isn't exactly supported or even condoned by Apple (and is illegal since
you're basically stealing Front Row and putting it on a non-Front Row Mac), so you're kinda on your own in case
something doesn't go as planned.
Last week I was listening to This Week in Tech, with the golden voice of Leo Laporte. Apparently Leo had refused a copy of os x86 that had been offered to him by some punk kids. Me? I love punk kids. They pay my bills (because I'm paid to teach them). So it was with great glee that one such punk kid let me know about a little experiment... He and some friends were going to put OS x86 on his Dell. He offered transportation to an undisclosed site where the grand plan would unfold, and I told him I'd check it out.
Brace yourself for a walk through the seamy underbelly of Macdom. Let's face it, all this business has Apple a little ruffled. And Mac purists just roll their eyes, knowing whatever comes out of Cupertino next year will be loads better than the VAIO's, Dells, and e-Machines currently sporting the little OS that could. I'm going to explain what we had to go through to get all this working, and what we had by the end of the day. Read on— if you dare!
It appears the just-released 
Parallels sure has been busy these last couple of weeks, as they have now produced a beta of 
So
the new Mac minis are cool, and Front Row leveraging Bonjour is just plain smart. But what about the rest of us who
can't afford to go out and buy yet another shiny new Apple product?
Last week I was listening to 
