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The Cocoa Conundrum
When it comes to software on the Mac platform it's a mixed bag. I don't mean like on Windows, where the bag is full of snakes, scorpions, rusty blades, and the occasional bit of peach. Software on the Mac has been in flux for a decade. When Apple bought NeXT, most of us figured Copland was dead in the water (and it was). Personally, I wish we'd seen OpenDoc come to fruition, but that comes from years of dealing with bloatware. OS X pushed the "Classic" Mac OS further and further into the shadows, until, with the advent of Intel Macs, it's pretty much dying off... Read the fine print on these Leopard features for developers, and you'll realize how dead "Classic" really is. Perhaps we should call it "Relic."Now ask anyone (well, almost anyone) who's coded Cocoa apps and they'll tell you it's lovely. Shoot, Apple's so proud of the frameworks they provide for devs, they even touted a new one, Core Animation, as one of the 10 things coming in Leopard. But we're still living a dual-existence (triple or quadruple or more, if you get technical) in that you have Cocoa apps, and you have the non-Cocoa apps. Perhaps you know about Java, which is what Limewire uses. Or X11's ability to run apps like GIMP. Both of those have their quirks. Java apps can be all over the place, and X11 doesn't integrate the UI of OSX, among other issues. Carbon is a mix of old-skool API's (implemented in good ol' C if I recall), and permeates Mac apps like Office and Photoshop, where a teardown/rebuild would be too unwieldy. There's also the fact that key apps like Finder and QuickTime are Carbon enough to still have some legacy code from way back when, which might account for some of their quirks too... No holy wars about Cocoa vs. Carbon, OK? I'm with David Weiss on this one. So you have Cocoa, Carbon and everything else.Getting granular for a moment, look at a tale of two browsers: Safari vs. Firefox. Safari is a Cocoa app, and it is tightly integrated with OS X tools. It maintains the ability to look up words in the Dictionary app with a right-click, and access the OS X Keychain. Firefox is not a (full) Cocoa app, and you can't niftily use a keyboard shortcut to look up a word, nor will it store passwords in Keychain. I've learned to use this "wall" to my advantage. Since the passwords are stored differently, I can automatically log in to systems (like gmail) using two accounts simultaneously. I use my business gmail on one browser, and personal on the other. Unfortunately, you're limited to 3, as all Firefox-based browsers will share their version of Keychain, and all Webkit-derived browsers use Keychain. I say three, because Opera stands alone (and doesn't always play nice with Gmail). There's the conundrum: to the average user, they don't care, but when little non-Cocoa quirks appear, they scratch their heads and wonder why the Mac doesn't just "do stuff" one standard way.Keep reading for my take on shareware, freeware, and malware in OS X...
Rapidweaver 3.5 is available
Woo, it's about time! It sure seemed like I've been using the public beta of version 3.5 for quite a long time. For the unfamiliar, Rapidweaver is the WYSIWYG web editor by Realmac Software that does, in fact, make things super easy. Create and maintain a blog (complete with podcast), photo and/or movie galleries, contact page and more with ease. No coding is necessary, but you're welcome to it if that's your thing. Changes in version 3.5 include: Universal A slew of new templates (I've complained bout Rapidweaver's base templates before. Some of the new ones are pretty nice). New UI Permalinks in the blog (Finally!) SFTP supports There's more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. This is a free update for registered users. Rapidweaver requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later and costs $39.95US for a single license.
Sandvox 1.0.2 with new features, demo screencast, intro pricing ends soon
Karelia Software has updated Sandvox, their feature-packed WYSIWYG web design app, to version 1.0.2, bringing a few new features to the table such as a much-requested Format menu. Of course, other bug fixes and the like are included, so check out the release notes for the full details.In addition to a one-hundredth of a point update, Karelia Software has also created a demo screencast for Sandvox which takes (potential) users through the site creation process and demos the many features Sandvox has to offer, such as adding weblogs and photo albums, as well as the Pro feature lineup. Along with the screencast, Karelia Software has also updated their online documentation with "How do I?", troubleshooting and reference sections. Last on the Sandvox update is the impending doom of their introductory pricing offer. Presently, a single regular Sandvox license goes for $39 USD, while the Pro version is $69 USD - but only until Friday, June 16th. I couldn't track down what these prices will bump up to, but I'm sure they'll make these look like a good deal. Get it while it's hot.
Sandvox 1.0 official release
I'm really glad to see all this innovation in WYSIWYG web editing software, and from my experience, Sandvox from Karelia Software is poised to lead the pack. Yes, I've been going on about how excited I am about the iWeb 1.1 update, but after playing with Sandvox's beta editions, I'm going to give this official 1.0 release a good run-through, as it offers quite a bit of power and some nice tricks that other products like RapidWeaver and iWeb can't claim.The feature that impresses me the most about Sandvox is their innovative "Pagelets" feature. Pagelets are small chunks of rich content that you can simply drag and drop around your site's theme. Don't like where your blogroll is? Just drag its pagelet somewhere else. Pagelets in the pro version can also allow you to insert your own HTML and even PHP code into any portion of your site or sidebar. Speaking of site themes: Sandvox's are stellar, and a bit more creative than iWeb's. Sandvox comes with two dozen themes, with more available.Sandvox also does a lot of the, dare I say, 'standard' WYSIWYG web design-ish stuff that I've come to expect on the Apple platform. You can drag your audio podcasts into a Sandvox site and get them submitted to the iTMS, as well as drag images from iPhoto, etc.Overall, despite lightning striking twice for Karelia Software, Sandvox looks like a solid product that presents a strong array of features for the WYSIWYG designer that demands a little more from their web design app.
Sandvox beta updated, full version "this quarter"
Karelia Software has released beta 14 of Sandvox, their WYSIWYG web editor for the Mac. Sandvox makes drag-and-drop web assembly a snap, with photo galleries and blogging plus del.icio.us, Flickr and Digg integration. There's more, of course, and you can get the full run down here. Karelia has promised that a full version will be made available this quarter in both a basic and pro version. Pricing is yet to be announced. I'm looking forward to it.
