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8-bit graphic goodness for your desktop
Freaky Fonts has a collection of retro-gaming wallpaper images up on their site which prove that simplicity can still kick butt. These work really well because they aren't so busy that your icons get lost in the background, plus they look snazzy to boot. When's the last time you had an image from H.E.R.O. on your computer? What about Super Zaxxon? Dang, time to fire up MAME for some gaming.Check out the whole set of eleven here, and decorate your desktop to your heart's content. Got a favorite video game desktop image? Tell us about it.
AMD breaks out the cigars for its very first 65nm chips
As evidenced by a certain recent trouncing, that 65nm stuff is the real deal. Now AMD has joined the party, with a nice little collection of Athlon 64 X2 dual-core desktop processors. The X2 4000+, 4400+, 4800+ and 5000+ are all available now, and priced from $169 to $301 -- the same as those 90nm forebears which the new chips are replacing. Of course, it'd kill AMD to hand out an actual GHZ number, so we're in the dark as far as that's concerned. What we do know is that AMD is boasting its lineup consumes half the power of that of Intel's Core 2 Duo chips, which seems quite the claim, but we're no watt experts. Apparently when pushed to full strength, power and heat exceeds that of Intel's chips, but when they aren't busy, the chips idle at 3.8 watts, compared to the 14.3 watts of Core 2 Duo. An actual test of real-world power consumption is a bit hard to do, and AMD's Jack Huynh says "We don't want to get caught in the processor technology game." Which he ironically follows with "We have superior power management features than our competition." Which is it going to be, Jack? Luckily, benchmark wizards will sort all of this out in a few weeks, and until then you can take solace in the fact that these are some great processors at a great price. Notebook chips should follow in the first half of 2007, and AMD is hoping to be fully caught up with Intel in 18 months at the next milestone: 45nm.[Via ExtremeTech; thanks Ivana]
Visage Login - customize Mac OS X's login screen
If the design of Apple's Mac OS X login screen just isn't floatin' yer boat, Visage Login might be worth a look. With two separate versions - one for 10.4 and another for 10.1-10.3 - this is one of the few apps I remember where 10.3 users have some features to brag about over Tiger users. As an app for 10.4 Tiger, Visage Login allows you to alter the login screen's logo and desktop image, while a preference pane for 10.1-10.3 has the ability to run screen savers as your desktop background, personalize system alerts, randomize the login screen background, and more.Visage Login is shareware with a fully-functioning 3 day demo. A single license costs a mere $4.95, while a 50+ machine license for businesses and corporations is $29.95.[via digg]
TUAW Desktop of the Week - Happy Puppy
Since we've already taken care of the holiday-themed Desktop of the Week, we can get back to the fundamentals of the ideal desktop like function, form - and a happy puppy! Flickr user bc_lau wins the award for *almost* making me spit out my morning coffee with a desktop like this.Besides a happy puppy (sure, that could be a yawn, but 'happy' is more fun), bc_lau is clearly a freak for at-a-glance information and statistics. The first row of transparent info (two clocks, the date, the temp, and current iTunes track) is the work of Panic's Stattoo. The second row, with system statistics like CPU usage, hard drive space and temperatures is the iStat 2.0 application we're such big fans of here at TUAW (both as an app and as widgets). As one comment on this photo at Flickr already states, bc_lau gets bonus points for using a Boba Fett Dock icon for Safari.If you'd like to see your unique, functional or otherwise interesting desktop featured in our TUAW Desktops of the Week series, check out past featured desktops as well as the original post for the rules and to get an idea of what we're looking for. Then, upload your desktop screenshot to our TUAW Desktops Flickr group. We'll feature one or more desktops each weekend, giving credit to the desktop owner, wallpaper creator and any apps featured in the screenshot. Keep those desktops rolling in!
Chinese company releases $203 desktop PC
If there's any effect that NickNeg's OLPC has had on the global market for cheap computer hardware, it's that other companies are now trying to get a piece of the low-cost computer pie. At first, there was the (now defunct) AMD PIC, followed by the upstart underdog, the Intel Classmate PC, both of which kinda sorta tried to go head-to-head with the OLPC (among others). Now China's trying to get in the game too, and has just released a new 1600 yuan ($203) computer made by the Jiangsu Menglong Science and Technology Company. The Agence France Presse reports that the unnamed computer, which is powered by the 750MHz 64-bit homegrown Codson IIE chip, comes with a 40GB hard drive and 256MB of RAM. While you've got to BYO keyboard, mouse, and monitor for now, if these same Chinese brainiacs ever manage to swing a laptop out of this or any of the other ultra low-cost Chinese PCs like it, NickNeg may actually have some real competition on his hands.[Via Engadget Chinese]
AMD shows off their "Barcelona" quad-core chip designs
If you're not super excited by technical chip jargon like "advanced branch prediction" and "sideband stack optimizer," you might want to skip this one over, but for you chipheads out there, AMD has just unveiled the nitty gritty specs behind their forthcoming Barcelona quad-core processors. Built on a 65nm SOI process, the new chips will take the place of AMD's Opteron line, and will power workstations and servers sometime mid-2007 before the technology trickles down to consumer versions of the chips. AMD couldn't help but take a little pot-shot at Intel for their quad-core systems, which they claim are just two dual-core CPUs packed together, but we're pretty sure most consumers are going to be more concerned with performance, price and performance per watt than semantics. AMD hasn't provided any benchmarks yet, but we'll all be watching closely, since they're currently playing catchup to Intel on most of those fronts.[Via Slashdot]
Microsoft, please fix Remote Desktop Connection for Mac
I live something of a double life. By night I am a highly influential, and very sexy, Apple blogger/pundit but by day I am a highly skilled Windows System Administrator (though I'm still very sexy). Thanks to the confluence of a nice boss and Intel Macs I am able to do all my work on a shiny new MacBook Pro. However, there is one application that I find myself using, and cursing, on a daily basis: Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection.Don't get me wrong, I think it is fantastic that MS makes this program available for the Mac, but it just wasn't created for someone who needs to connect to multiple Windows machines in any way. I know that the MacBU is hard at work on a Universal version of Remote Desktop Connection, so I thought I would list my major gripes with the program to help them focus on what I want (and isn't that what they truly care about?): No concurrent connections: Often, I need to log into more than one Windows machine at the same time. This is very easy to do within Windows itself, thanks to the magic of MMCs (that's Microsoft Management Consoles to you), but nearly impossible using RDC on the Mac. The client only supports one connection at a time, so you're out of luck if you are troubleshooting a cluster with 2 Windows nodes. The work around is to create a number of duplicates of the program itself, so you can have multiple copies of the app running. This is lame. Disconnecting from a remote machine quits the app: This is the most annoying aspect of RDC. So, I can't connect to more than one machine at the same time, no big deal. I'll just connect to one after the other. Sadly, RDC quits the moment you disconnect from a remote machine. This means you need to relaunch the program to connect to another machine. This is stupid. Other than those two major complaints, I am very happy with RDC and hope to see a number of improvements in the forthcoming update (No, I don't have any idea when it is coming out).
Get that distraction-free, uncluttered desktop with latest MacBreak
It seems there are two slowly diverging schools of thought in terms of working on a Mac: to multi-task, or not to. While an independent (though Apple-commissioned) study has been released supporting the increased productivity theory via larger displays and more stuff on-screen at once, not everyone sits in the same camp. Merlin Mann of 43folders is one of those campers who is thinking different, and Russell from our sister-blog DV Guru dropped a note to say the latest episode of MacBreak (iTS link) features Leo and Mr. Mann waxing ecstatic on all things uncluttered and distraction-free. They cover techniques and tweaks for clearing your workspace in the Finder, as well as using 3rd party tools like our TUAW-favorite Quicksilver, Spirited Away (which we've covered) and MenuShade from Nullriver Software (scroll down, it's under their Open Source section).While I myself am firmly rooted in the 'more on screen = productivity' camp, I am a big fan of enabling users to work the way they need to, and I think this is a nice, quick video (it's only 4:20) to get started with the digital zen art of working clutter-free.
Nifty countdown timer for your desktop [update 1]
Filed in our "pretty nifty" folder, this desktop application will place a countdown timer to the Wii's launch in plain view, to be ogled by all the computer-using fanboys in the vicinity. We understand that not all of you may sit in front of a huge clock, just staring for hours, for fear of making the almost-criminal amount of time left until the console's launch go that much slower, as well as just plain old having better things to do, so that's why we bring you links to cool things like this. It's kind of our thing.For those of you on Macs and in other regions: Europe Japan Australia United States [Update: Added in links for countdown clocks in other regions than the US for Mac users. Thanks Vidar!]
Hitachi's PriusOne and PriusAIR do the Merom bump
So in addition to the Prius K series of laptops, Hitachi brought the Core 2 Duo to their Prius Air type R and Prius One Desktop W. At the top of the Air type R series is the AR35RS2 Windows Media Center PC which features a 26-inch LCD with 1360x768 resolution, 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo E6300, Intel G965 Express graphics, 1GB memory (expandable to 2GB), 320GB of disk, dual-layer multi-drive, and integrated terrestrial digital TV tuner. That model demands ¥340,000 (about $2,930) and ready to ship October 26. Sure, lesser configs are available for less with a 19-inch display and Pentium 4524, but why settle? The Prius One type W also got a shot of Merom for more all-in-one PC fun. This series comes in W and S flavors with the AW37W2S bringing a 20-inch 1360x768 display, 1.66HGz Core 2 Duo T5500, Intel 945GM Express graphics, 1GB memory (2GB max) that generous 320GB of disk, dual-layer multi-drive, and integrated digital/analog TV tuner which provides a TV-mode to view the boob while the computer is off. The S brings much the same only with a lowly (and much cheaper) Celeron M 410 proc and 17-inch 1280x1024 display. Expect to fork over about ¥290,000 (about $2,499) for the W or ¥210,000 (about $1,810) for the S when they drop in September. Picture of the Air after the break.
His Steveness in desktop format
If you really like Steve Jobs (and I mean really like him) then your Mac isn't complete without this desktop from Deviant Art member *tumb. Personally, I think it is a little creepy but who am I to judge your obsession with everyone's favorite iCEO?
New Parallels Desktop beta enables better USB, performance, integration
Parallels must have been missing their beta days, as they have already announced a new beta version of their Desktop software at WWDC today that brings quite a few much-requests updates. Parallels Desktop, in case you haven't been following the Mac web the last few months, is virtualization software which enables users to run Windows and other OSes inside of Mac OS X on Intel Macs.At the top of the list of updates is much-improved USB performance and broader device support, including Windows Mobile 5 devices. Fleshing out the list is "substantially" improved Mac OS X performance while running a virtual machine (which is a different OS, like Windows. We've explained virtual machines before in our Parallels Desktop How To), improved graphic performance, complete keyboard support including the Eject key and shift key mapping for non-English layouts, Unicode path support, improved shared folder performance and, of course, minor bug fixes.This is, or will be, a free update for paid users once it goes official. For now, users can download the beta the Parallels Desktop update page.
Apple unveils dual Xeon-based Mac Pro
Well, Apple's transition to Intel is finally complete for consumers. After the PowerBook got transformed into the MacBook Pro, the iBook into the MacBook, and the iMac and Mac mini got Intel makeovers, it was time to attack the pro desktop segment, a place where only Intel's Core 2-based Xeon "Woodcrest" processors could manage. The Mac Pro, possibly Apple's worst kept secret in the last couple of years picks up where the Power Cheesegrater Power Mac G5 left off, with the same cheese grating action, but a whole lot more under the hood. Of course, headlining is the 64bit dual-core Xeon with 4MB shared L2 cache across the board, topping out at 3GHz. The performance per watt is supposedly 3x that of the G5, and Apple is stuffing a pair of the chips in each new Mac Pro. Thanks to the heat decrease, there's room for four internal HDDs, along with the dual disk drives that were rumored. The base configuration goes for $2500, and features dual dual-core 2.6GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB HDD, NVIDIA's GeForce 7300GT with 256MB of RAM, and a 16x SuperDrive. If "barebones" isn't quite your style, Apple has a spankin' 4,976,640 configurations to choose from, ramping up to a ATi Radeon 1900 or Quadro FX 4500 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 2TB of disk space.
WiLMa - location-based settings
WiLMa is a utility for adjusting various settings like Mail servers, default printers and even desktop wallpaper based on which Location you're using (check your Apple menu if you're unfamiliar with the Location menu). WiLMa can even open and close applications and set a default network to join. If you're a nomad who bounces from places like work, school, home and who knows where else, this could be quite a handy utility, though it isn't without at least one disadvantage: it runs as an application, which means you need to have it in your dock if its corresponding menubar item will be accessible. Location X, by comparison, is more of a daemon that runs in the background, watching which Location you're using and automatically adjusting these settings to your preferences, without the need for an app to run in the dock.Of course, with WiLMa's more attractive $12 price tag (Location X is $20), Universal Binary status and unique features, WiLMa definitely has a good thing going for it. A demo is available from Codehackers.
Change desktop wallpaper with an Automator action
Sometimes randomly rotating your desktop wallpaper through the Desktop System Preferences pane is just a little overkill. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a simple drag-and-drop Automator action for setting your own wallpaper whenever your heart desired a change of pace? Then why not use this macosxhints post to make one. A few simple steps creates an action that you save as an app somewhere (I named my action 'Wallpaper') and simply link to in your Dock. For added convenience I saved it as a Finder plugin so I can right-click any picture I find to quickly chose Automator > Wallpaper from the context menu. Handy.As an extra tip: make sure you turn off automatic wallpaper rotation in the Desktop Preferences pane if it's on. Otherwise, at least from my testing, this action won't work.
Velocity Micro hooks up Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme
The flood of Core 2 desktops continues with Velocity Micro being the latest to get in on on the party, announcing that both Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme options are now available in a whole slew of its systems. The basic Core 2 Duo processor gets slotted in Velocity Micro's lower-end ProMagix and Vector lines of desktops, while the beefier Raptor DCX, Gamers' Edge PCX, and ProMagix systems get the high-end Core 2 Extreme as an option. You can get any of 'em pre-built or customized to your liking from Velocity Micro or from Best Buy online, both of whom are now taking pre-orders. Or if you can wait a bit, you can grab one off the shelf when they hit Best Buy retail stores on August 7th. Five bucks to the first person to ride theirs home like a skateboard.
Samsung's Core 2 Duo-powered BZ60 desktop
With Intel formally rolling out its Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors today, we were expecting to see more new machines with these chips besides the Gateways we brought you earlier, and our friends over at Samsung did not disappoint. The Korean manufacturer has just announced a new desktop known as the BZ60, which rocks the 1.86GHz E6300 variety of Core 2 Duo, and also throws down nVIDIA GeForce 6200 graphics, 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, and a capacious 320GB SATA2 hard drive. As far as pricing and availability goes, well, we have no clue about the former, and the latter is rather inconsequential considering that this model will probably never make it stateside. Stay tuned, because new dual-core models -- ones that you will be able to purchase -- should be coming at a fast and furious pace in the coming hours and days...
Dell cops to XPS 700 delays
Apparently consumers who ordered Dell's XPS 700 gaming PC have not yet received their machines in the mail, and in the face of increasing complaints, the company has finally come clean on the issue. According to Dell's new one2one blog, the Pentium D- and Pentium Extreme-powered versions of the tower have indeed been delayed, though no specific reason is given -- all that's being said is that inadequate processor inventory is not to blame. While Dell isn't currently providing customers with a solid ship date, folks who ordered their 700 prior to July 18th will receive either a free upgrade to a Core 2 Duo CPU or a gift card for some unknown amount as a bribe to keep them from canceling their orders big thanks for being so patient. If you already have one of these desktops on order, expect to receive a call from Dell customer service in the coming days outlining your options and presumably apologizing for keeping you waiting. And if you haven't already ordered one, well, maybe you can get a good deal on an XPS 600 Renegade on eBay.
Dell expands recycling program, no purchase required
PC manufacturers and governments alike are catching on to the fact that the average, well-meaning consumption sloth would love to recycle their gear, as long as it's free and someone else does the work. Dell, Apple and others offer programs which allow free recycling of product with the purchase of new, presumably, replacement gear. Now Dell has one-upped the industry by allowing Dell owners to arrange for free-pickup of any Dell-branded product, anytime -- no purchase required. After Dell customers enter their asset tag(s) on Dell's recycling website, they simply print out the pre-paid air bill and follow the instructions to pack and schedule the collection of their equipment. Yeah, ok, there's still effort involved and there's always the risk of your Ditty ending up in the digital dump, but until toll-booth operators or other robotic life forms can be dispatched, it's about as close to effortless as your gonna get.[Via CNET]
Dell's EV-DO ExpressCard coming this week
ExpressCard-equipped laptop owners who have been patiently waiting to add cellular broadband to their rigs have finally been rewarded in the form of Dell's Wireless 5700 card, which will reportedly be available by the end of the week. Using Verizon's high-speed EV-DO network, the card -- which is a rebranded version of Novatel's Merlin XV620 -- offers theoretical speeds of up to 2.4Mbps, but in reality you should see somewhere between 500Kbps and 1Mbps -- still fast enough for most of your mobile browsing, gaming, and VoIP needs. Unfortunately for the Apple faithful, while the card will work in any Windows laptop with the proper slot, MacBook Pros won't be able to take advantage of 3G until the proper drivers are released. The Dell Wireless 5700 Mobile Broadband ExpressCard will sell for $179 -- which includes one free month of EV-DO service -- but after you get hooked, you'll have to shell out either $80 per month or $60 if you have a voice plan.Update: Great news for Macheads. It seems that the just-released 10.4.7 update to OS X includes the necessary drivers to support this device, so start breaking out those credit cards, MacBook Pro owners.
