wwdc2009
Latest
Snow Leopard: Party like it's 1998
On October 17, 1998 Apple released Mac OS 8.5, the first operating system that ran solely on Macintoshes with PowerPC processors. As far as system software upgrades go, this was the end of the line for any Mac built before the Power Macintosh 6100, introduced in March 1994. Earlier Macs ran on some variation of 680x0 processors and were supported mostly via emulation in a PowerPC environment. Emulation works, but it also slows things down. By 1998, Apple decided it just couldn't support 680X0 emulation for a number of reasons, but chiefly among them was speed. What happened was just what you would expect. In user groups, USENET and the Internet (which was only starting to explode), apoplectic non-PowerPC Mac owners threatened class action lawsuits and the rending of garments. Of course, most Power Mac users loved the newfound speed introduced in Mac OS 8.5, thanks to code optimized for PowerPC processors and jettisoned emulation support. It took Apple only four years to introduce the PowerPC chip and make any Mac without it obsolete. Technology moved on. In September Apple will release Snow Leopard, which will only run on Intel based Macs, thus cutting off PowerPC support. This time it took eleven years from inception to extinction (well, three for the Intel transition), but even so I can hear the hue and cry machine cranking up. Once again, the major reason for dropping legacy support is speed. Technology has moved on. Whenever something like this happens there is a potential for a marketing meltdown, but this time Apple is doing something brilliant. It is going to sell Snow Leopard for $29. When I saw this on the video stream of the WWDC keynote address my jaw dropped, my eyes glazed and only later did it start making sense to me. Apple first introduced Mac OS X in 2001, and excluding the free update to Mac OS X 10.1 from Mac OS X 10.0, a new version of the OS has been released roughly every 18 months, always at a price of $129. The sales pitch is always the same: with each new version, OS X gets new features and an "enhanced computing experience" which largely depended upon how much you like the new features. Mac OS X 10.6 will be the fifth major release in eight years, and some users are complaining about feature overload. There will always be users who want four ways to do the same thing, but for others, feature-laden releases are overwhelming and the glimmer and excitement of a new OS X release has faded. What a perfect time to work under the hood, set up the core of the operating system for the future and stabilize what's already there! But of course you can't make everyone happy. I would expect a large group of users to not be mollified by a nicer QuickTime and an improvement to Stacks. In effect, where's the beef? The beef is under the hood this time.
Engadget Podcast 150 - 06.12.2009
It's the big one-five-zero, people, and you know what that means: absolutely nothing. We've got news to talk about, after all -- we'll leave the extensive accolades and embarrassing praise for the history books. If you hadn't guessed, this week's show is a bit heavy on the Apple sauce, so the squeamish should turn away before it's too late. Those inclined, however, to dive into MacBook SKUs and wax philosophical about the iPhone as a platform will likely get their money's worth. It'll be fun, we promise. Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Producer: Trent Wolbe Song: Fat Boys - Stick 'Em 00:01:20 - Archos rolls out Archos 10s, Archos 13 laptops, Classmate-based student PC 00:02:40 - Phil Schiller keynote live from WWDC 2009 00:05:06 - Apple's 8GB iPhone 3G falls to $99 on contract 00:05:20 - Apple shows iPhone OS 3.0 at WWDC, hits devices June 17th 00:05:30 - Find My iPhone is live, totally found our iPhone 00:06:00 - iPhone 3G S processor specs: 600MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM 00:22:40 - iPhone 3G S announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, June 19th 00:42:40 - Apple's new MacBook family: non-removable batteries, lower prices 00:50:00 - Apple's new MacBook Pro family unboxing and hands-on! 01:01:47 - Apple shipping Snow Leopard in September, $29 upgrade 01:06:38 - Jon Rubinstein takes over as Palm CEO 01:08:32 - Roger McNamee says Pre launch was a "dream come true," hints that all Palm devices will have physical keyboards 01:16:22 - Palm Pre goes on sale nationwide, line forms on the right Subscribe to the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast 1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com. Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
OS 10.6: PowerPC officially left behind
It's not news. It was just less than a year ago that we initially announced that Snow Leopard would likely be Intel-only. Still, it was a report based off an initial developer's release of the software, and PowerPC users prayed that maybe it was a mistake. Maybe Apple would change its mind and toss a bone at these faithful users of Macs-gone-by. But, the emerging reality showed that Apple has left its PowerPC days behind. In February, we reported on how GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature was Intel-only. In addition to that, not every feature in iPhoto was available to PowerPC users. During that same month, we reported that even more G4 systems were being added to Apple's vintage and obsolete lists. Now the writing is fully on the wall for PowerPC users. The official release of tech specs for Snow Leopard indicates that it is an Intel-only release, meaning that if you do want to go past Leopard, you'll have to upgrade. There are still a lot of PowerPC users out there, and they're still very good machines... but are owners of older Macs going to be satisfied without the latest OS? Answer our poll or let us know in the comments: what does Snow Leopard mean to PPC owners? %Poll-31002%
Expanding Apple's Pro line of 'Books
Long ago, before Intel had stolen Apple's heart, there was a time when a certain company's line of "Pro" notebooks consisted of three model lines. These three PowerBooks were differentiated by screen size and, at the time, they were 12-inches, 15-inches, and 17-inches. Fast forward a few years to Monday's WWDC '09 keynote, Apple surprised us all and moved the 13" aluminum MacBooks up a few notches in the product line. As we reported Monday, the 13" aluminum MacBook now has a little "Pro" attached to the end of it. Thus, the differentiating factor between the MacBook and MacBook Pro line is (again) based on building material (plastic or aluminum). With the disappearance of the ExpressCard slot from the majority of the Pro line (except the 17"), even the expandability story becomes similar across the model lines. Some will try to tell you that Apple has muddied the waters and tarnished the "Pro" branding by re-badging the 13" aluminum MacBook as a professional model. I, however, disagree; I believe that up until yesterday, the MacBook waters were muddy and Apple has finally cleared things up. It makes perfect sense that Apple would include the 13" aluminum MacBook in the Pro line -- it fits right in with the Apple "rule of threes" -- given that there were previously three models of professional notebooks. It has been said that one of the differentiating factors between the professional and consumer laptops was the presence of a dedicated graphics card. If you'll recall, however, the 12" PowerBook G4 actually featured an NVIDIA graphics processor with shared virtual memory from the main system. This is extremely similar to the 13" MacBook Pro and the entry-level 15" MacBook Pro. These two models also feature NVIDIA processors with shared virtual memory, although they do lack the dual graphics chip capabilities of the higher-end models. My belief is that Apple was wrong for ever releasing the 13" aluminum 'Book as anything other than a professional model. Ever since the Intel switch heralded the death of the 12" notebook, I have longed for Apple to provide a replacement. When the unibody line of notebooks was first released, the 13" MacBook Pro of my dreams had been born. It may have been missing a few important letters at the time but Monday's WWDC keynote address rectified that problem. As Christina so eloquently put it, "It used to make sense to differentiate between a consumer-focused laptop and a laptop aimed at professionals... Continuing to brand nearly-identical products differently doesn't make a lot of sense." I agree with her on this, which is why I believe the re-branding of the 13" MacBook is a good idea. In my opinion, the white, plastic MacBook and the aluminum MacBook falling under the same moniker was a little non-sensical. Moving the aluminum MacBook up to the Pro line was a logical step for that piece of hardware. Further, I think the fact that there is only a single model in the MacBook family points to the possible release of a future product slotted below the current 13" MacBook. Whether that is the fabled Apple netbook or the iTablet is yet to be seen. It is simply my opinion that the single consumer product rationale in the MacBook line is not going to last. When you're out there mulling over the question of whether Apple's professional products have any significance in their name or not consider this: it doesn't matter. That's right, at the end of the day it all boils down to choice. Whether you think Apple made the right call or not is pretty insignificant in the face of having several different options from which to choose.Update: As noted by commenter Tom , the PowerBook G4 never used shared system memory in any model. It had a dedicated GPU and dedicated VRAM whereas the "entry-level" MacBook Pros feature only a dedicated GPU and shared RAM. It is worth pointing out, though, that the iBook G4 also featured a dedicated GPU/VRAM combo which made the iBook G4 and entry-level PowerBook G4 very similar in terms of graphics-processing power.
Apple WWDC 2009: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Sure, Apple didn't really shock anyone with the announcement of the iPhone 3G S this morning at WWDC, but there was no shortage of news at the Moscone Center -- we also got new MacBooks, final Snow Leopard details, and a release date for iPhone OS 3.0. On the other hand, it wasn't all good news either: AT&T's iPhone upgrade pricing and service levels leave a lot to be desired, and Apple's unfortunate penchant for sealed-in batteries has finally hit the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Apple's posted its stream of the keynote if you want to relive things in real-time, but here's a quick rewind in case you missed anything:The good Current iPhone owners will get iPhone OS 3.0 for free, although some features like video recording and voice control are limited to the iPhone 3G S. It's not perfect, but we don't really complain about free. Snow Leopard upgrades will cost just $29, instead of the usual $129. The original 8GB iPhone 3G is now only $99 for new AT&T subscribers. That's definitely going to make some waves in the smartphone market. We'd have loved to see some external design improvements and maybe some more surprising features that weren't rumored, but overall the iPhone 3G S is definitely in the "good" column -- it's a solid set of improvements to an already very good platform. MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (including the new 13-inch Pro) specs have increased while prices have come down, and glory be, FireWire is back on everything but the Air. The bad As usual, iPod touch owners are going to get dinged $9.95 for the iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade. Hey Apple -- maybe switch these guys over to subscription accounting as well? Let's face it, "iPhone 3G S" is a pretty clunky name. Sure, it's nice that the MacBook Pros now have an SD card slot, but losing ExpressCard hurts. And why not a multicard reader? Pro DSLRs still use CF. The ugly Sure, new customers and qualified upgraders are getting some sweet pricing on iPhone hardware, but AT&T's basically flipping existing customers the bird -- they'll have to pay anywhere from $399 to a whopping $699 to get an iPhone 3G S. You'd think they'd have looked at how many people went from a first-gen iPhone to a 3G and realized those same people would want a 3G S, but apparently not. On top of that insult, AT&T isn't supporting all of iPhone OS 3.0's features out the gate: MMS is coming "later this summer," and tethering has been promised but there's no timeline and no pricing information. Thanks, AT&T. Sure, it's grand that the 15-inch MacBook Pro's battery now lasts for up to seven hours on a charge and won't lose capacity for five years, but a non-swappable battery on a workhorse professional machine just doesn't cut it for us. So all in all we'd say that the good outweighs the bad, although AT&T really disappointed here. Of course, that's just scratching the surface -- check out the rest of our coverage after the break and let us know what you think!
WWDC '09 keynote stream now available via QuickTime
With all the news floating around today about the new iPhone 3G S, and the updates on the release dates of iPhone 3.0 or Snow Leopard, you might feel deprived if you didn't get to make it out to this year's WWDC. Don't fret. You can now watch the keynote stream on the Apple website and see all of the announcements from the event. Click here to go to the stream page. You can view all of our coverage from this week on the TUAW WWDC page. Update: You should soon be able to download the keynote as a podcast from iTunes via the Apple Keynotes feed, which can be found here [click opens iTunes].
White MacBook last MacBook standing
Apple wasn't totally clear about this earlier, but it turns out all the unibody MacBook models are now MacBook Pros -- the only remaining "MacBook" is the white plastic number. That's definitely a big change from Cupertino's usual rigidly-maintained product matrix -- we'd say that the lower-end Pros with GeForce 9400M integrated graphics definitely blur the line between consumer and professional machines. Still, it's not hard to tell one from the other on the outside, at least: MacBooks are plastic and MacBook Pros are aluminum. We all straight?
Poll: iPhone 3GS or the Pre?
Alright folks, we know you were all waiting to see Apple's hand before you made the big Pre / iPhone decision, and now you know -- so what's it going to be? Hardware keyboard and true multitasking or video recording and voice control? Sprint or AT&T? The Clash or The Sex Pistols? Let us know!%Poll-30937%
iPhone 3G S: Built for speed
It's no big surprise, and John Gruber even got the name right. Apple announced the new iPhone 3G S today, featuring faster processor speed, built-in video capture and editing, voice dialing and voice command, built-in compass, and of course it will be running iPhone 3.0. There's a much better camera in the iPhone 3G S as well. Here are the details:Price (new): 16GB -- US$199, 32GB -- US$299Capacity: 16GB or 32GBCase color: Black or WhiteDimensions: 4.5 inches x 2.4 inches x 0.48 inches (115.5 mm x 62.1 mm x 12.3 mm), 4.8 oz. (135 gms)Camera / Video: 3 megapixels Autofocus Tap to focus Video recording, VGA up to 30 fps with audio Photo and video geotagging iPhone and third-party application integration Cellular and Wireless: UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Location: Assisted GPS Digital compass Wi-Fi Cellular Power and Battery Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter Talk Time: 3G - Up to 5 hours, 2G - Up to 12 hours Standby time: Up to 300 hours Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G, Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi Video playback: Up to 10 hours Audio playback: Up to 30 hours More pricing information and details will be posted shortly here on TUAW.
iPhone 3G S announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, June 19
digg_url ='http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_3GS_announced'; As endlessly predicted, Apple's unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S -- the "s" stands for speed. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it's much, much faster -- some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance -- and just as expected, it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features. You're also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use. There are some surprises, too -- holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes, and Apple's touting a new "fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating." New and end-of-contract pricing is set at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB when it goes on sale June 19th Stateside and in 80 more countries in August -- and the current 8GB 3G will remain on sale for $99, effective immediately. You'll have to pay a bit more if you're mid-contract, though -- $299 for the 3G and $399/$499 for the 3G S. Other iPhone news from WWDC: Apple shows iPhone OS 3.0 at WWDC, hits devices June 17th Apple's 8GB iPhone 3G falls to $99 on contract Apple partners with TomTom to bring "real" navigation to iPhone Apple announces "Find My iPhone" phone-locating service Line 6 and Planet Waves brings guitar and amp control to iPhone ScrollMotion's Iceberg in-app bookstore announced for iPhone, ready to take on the Kindle? iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 3G S: the tale of the tape Other Apple news from WWDC: Apple's new MacBook family: non-removable batteries, lower prices Apple shipping Snow Leopard in September, $29 upgrade Apple digs into Microsoft at WWDC Safari 4 released today, offering 'unparalled speed' Read - Apple PR Read - AT&T PR with pricing info
iPhone 3GS announced: $199 16GB, $299 32GB, June 19th
As endlessly predicted, Apple's unveiled a new iPhone today at WWDC, the iPhone 3G S -- the "s" stands for speed. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it's much, much faster -- some tasks are almost four times faster. Data speeds are upped to 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and the camera is now a 3 megapixel unit with tap-to-autofocus and auto white balance -- and just as expected, it now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features. You're also getting a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and a new battery that offers 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi internet use. There are some surprises, too -- holding down the home button now enables a new voice control interface that lets you do everything from make calls to control iTunes, and Apple's touting a new "fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating." New and end-of-contract pricing is set at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB when it goes on sale June 19th Stateside and in 80 more countries in August -- and the current 8GB 3G will remain on sale for $99, effective immediately. You'll have to pay a bit more if you're mid-contract, though -- $299 for the 3G and $399/$499 for the 3G S. %Gallery-65463% Other iPhone news from WWDC: Apple shows iPhone OS 3.0 at WWDC, hits devices June 17th Apple's 8GB iPhone 3G falls to $99 on contract Apple partners with TomTom to bring "real" navigation to iPhone Apple announces "Find My iPhone" phone-locating service Line 6 and Planet Waves brings guitar and amp control to iPhone ScrollMotion's Iceberg in-app bookstore announced for iPhone, ready to take on the Kindle? iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 3G S: the tale of the tape Other Apple news from WWDC: Apple's new MacBook family: non-removable batteries, lower prices Apple shipping Snow Leopard in September, $29 upgrade Apple digs into Microsoft at WWDC Safari 4 released today, offering 'unparalled speed' Read - Apple PR Read - AT&T PR with pricing info
Apple's 8GB iPhone 3G falls to $99 on contract
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Apple_s_iPhone_3G_falls_to_99_on_contract'; No interest in the iPhone 3G S? How's about an 8GB iPhone 3G for $99 on a new 2-year AT&T contract? That's exactly what was just announced at WWDC 2009, and yes, this new price is effective today. We're guessing any remaining 16GB iPhone 3G units will be scrounged up at closeout rates as well. Oh, and if you're mid-contract on AT&T (with any phone), you'll be asked to shell out a whopping $299 for one of these 8GB units or $399 / $499 for the 16GB / 32GB iPhone 3G S. Frankly, that upgrade deal reeks compared to the offer that was passed along to those who upgraded from the iPhone to iPhone 3G (mid-contract users paid the same as new / renewing contract users), but then again, the original iPhone was only sold in unsubsidized (and thus, crazy expensive) form.Read - AT&T press releaseRead - Apple pre-order page
Phil Schiller keynote live from WWDC 2009
It's happening, if you hadn't noticed. Read after the break for live updates of all the keynote mayhem! iPhone OS 3.0, Snow Leopard and MacBook refreshes, just for starters.
Updated Mac laptops unveiled at WWDC 2009
For those of you avoiding the whole WWDC live-blogging sensation that's going on throughout the web, here's a little tidbit of information you may not yet know. Apple announced the immediate availability of a largely-refreshed MacBook line. New models include a refreshed 15" MacBook Pro, a new (actually refreshed) 13" MacBook Pro, and an updated MacBook Air.If you'll recall the 17" MacBook Pro has a fairly handsome battery that is built-in, recharges 1,000 times and lasts for 7 hours. That same battery can now be found in the 15" MacBook Pro and the 13" MacBook Pro. Apparently Apple really has a beef against user-replaceable batteries. But if they don't require recharging every 3 1/2 hours or die completely in 2 years, this may not be a bad thing.The 15" and 13" MacBook Pros now feature an SD card slot to be replacing the ExpressCard slot of yore. Personally, I have never found a use for the ExpressCard slot but I imagine those with mobile data packages will be less than stunned. For the Firewire crowd there's some good news, the 13" MacBook Pro now has FireWire (again) so we can all put our pitchforks down.The 15" MacBook Pro now starts at $1,699US featuring the 2.53GHZ Core 2 Duo and GeForce 9400 graphics only. Step-up models priced at $1,999 and $2,299 feature the 9400M and 9600M GT combo. $1,699US: 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, 250GB HDD $1,999US: 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT graphics, 320GB $2,299US: 2.80GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT graphics, 500GB HDD The 13" MacBook Pro is essentially a re-badged unibody MacBook but now featuring an SD card slot, Firewire, and the 7-hour battery hotness The new 13" MBP can be had with hard drives up to 500GB in capacity and RAM sizes up to 8GB. It didn't take long for the aluminum 13-incher to best its white sibling. $1,199US: 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, 160GB HDD $1,499US: 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, 250GB HDD The MacBook Air has also received a little love in terms of specs increase and price decrease: $1,499US: 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, 120GB HDD $1,799US: 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, 128GB SSD
Line 6 and Planet Waves brings guitar and amp control to iPhone
Apple's closing out the new application talk today at WWDC with a demo from Line 6 and Planet Waves, who have joined the Cupertino-based company in order to give your iPhone the ability to control your guitar and amplifier. Sadly, the wireless communication between the Line 6 Variax guitar and the iPhone on stage had some issues, though the folks assured us we could see more later on at Line 6's website. If this thing manages to function, it will also let you re-tune your six-string and change models on the fly. No word on price or availability just yet, but we'll let you know if either of those factoids appear.
Video: Apple partners with TomTom to bring "real" navigation to iPhone
This one sure took awhile to go from rumor to real, but at long last, authentic TomTom navigation has arrived on the iPhone. 'Course, we would've personally preferred the Garmin touch, but at this point, we can't really find it in our hearts to kvetch. The app shown at WWDC today was surprisingly slick, and while the robot voice didn't exactly get our juices flowing, the currently unpriced TomTom car kit is definitely a boon for those looking to avoid standalone PNDs. Apple has informed us that the application will surface "this summer," though it didn't mention a price; in other words, we can't imagine this being cheap. You think TomTom wants a $19 app undercutting its $300 navigation systems? Doubtful. Video of the new setup is after the break.
Apple announces "Find My iPhone" phone-locating service
We've already had a pretty good idea about what's in store for iPhone OS 3.0, but Apple naturally still had a few tricks up its sleeve, and one of the most impressive is the new "Find My iPhone" service to help you locate your lost phone. While complete details are still a bit light, the service will apparently let you login into your MobileMe account and instantly show your iPhone on a map, and even send a message to the phone and force it to play a sound whether it's in silent mode or not. As if that wasn't enough, you can also use the Remote Wipe feature to erase all the data on the iPhone from afar and restore it to the factory settings. We guess the electric shock will have to wait for for iPhone 4.0.
Apple shipping Snow Leopard in September, $29 upgrade
After showing off Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" at last year's WWDC, Apple is finally ready to ship it out the door this coming September, for a quite reasonable upgrade fee of $29 for Leopard users (as opposed to the regular $129 for larger refreshes). Folks who buy a Leopard machine between now and December can get the upgrade for $10 in shipping. While the added feature list is relatively slim, and there are few surprises between what was confirmed last year and the various leaks from developer previews, Apple's still giving users and developers some fun new tech to play with -- particularly the GPU-exploiting OpenCL, and the Grand Central Dispatch tech for developers to ease application optimization for multi-core processors. Pretty nerdy stuff, but if it makes our Dashboard Sudoku Widgets run faster, we can hardly complain. Other updates to the OS Apple is trotting out at WWDC: Apple rewrote the Finder, while keeping it mostly the same on the surface, for a bunch of "little benefits." Tweaks include faster Quick Look previews and Spotlight searches. There's built-in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 support in the OS, including Mail, Calendar and Address Book syncing. QuickTime X has a new "modern foundation," HTTP streaming and a whole new look. Users can record and trim video, and upload to sharing sites like MobileMe and YouTube. Snow Leopard has half the footprint of Leopard, amounting to 6GB in savings and 45% faster installs. New trackpads can handle handwriting recognition now, and there's new text selection "AI." There's also support for wireless Braille accessories (pictured). Safari 4 is available for Windows, Leopard and Tiger, but Snow Leopard adds "Crash Resistance," which keeps browser and tabs intact even if a plugin crashes -- user just refreshes the page. 64-bit version does JavaScript 50% faster. All core apps are 64-bit, and performance improvements abound. Mail boasts 85% faster message loads and 90% faster loads, while Time Machine has a 50% faster initial backup time. Update: More Snow Leopard additions and refinements are detailed here. Highlights we've spotted so far include Text Expander-style capabilities in Text Edit and Mail, and three finger and four finger multitouch gesture support for older (pre unibody) MacBooks! [Thanks, Jakob]
Safari 4 released today, offering 'unparalled speed'
Among the torrent of news is the announcement that Safari 4 ships today, boasting "unparalleled speed," especially when compared to IE8 (this is Apple talking, not us). Included in the new browser is a full history search, featuring a cover flow view of the user's browsing history (as well as a full spotlight search). And it looks like they've thought a lot about the browser when building the new OS -- In Snow Leopard, Safari runs as a 64-bit application, "boosting performance by up to 50 percent." Also in SL, Safari plug-ins run as separate processes. When a plug-in crashes, the browser remains intact, meaning you can just reload the page, not the browser itself. Available today (as in, right now) for Leopard, Tiger, and -- of course -- Windows.
Apple digs into Microsoft at WWDC
Apple may have plenty of announcements of its own to make at this year's WWDC, but it looks like it just couldn't help itself from taking a few jabs at Microsoft as well. Doing the honors was Bertrand Serlet, who took the stage by saying "what a sharp contrast with Vista our OS is," and only got rolling from there, pointing out "what a big hole Microsoft has dug," and adding that "they're trying to get out of it with Windows 7." Of course, Serlet didn't have many good things to say about Windows 7 either, which he says has "even more complexity" than Vista because it's just based on the "same old tech as Vista."
