imac
Latest
Switching on a large scale
For years now, Apple has been seen as the computer supplier to the education and creative markets, but not big business. That's why Aozora Bank's plans to replace almost all of their 2,300 desktop machines with Macs is getting some press. The cool thing is that the bank is already pretty Mac-friendly, and after this switch nearly 90% of their computers will be from Cupertino. The stability of the OS was given as the main reason for the migration.Let's hope things go well for Aozora Bank so that they may be an example of other members of big business.
30 years in Apple products: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Has it really been 30 years since two buddies named Steve sold off their prized possessions (Woz's HP calculator and Jobs' VW van) to raise money and launch a company? Has it really been 30 years since the two Steves, tired of selling blue boxes, built the Apple I and began selling it for $666.66? Yes, it has, and if you don't believe it, just compare Jobs' hairlines from '76 and today. And while the company has become known for many things, from its groundbreaking GUI to the iTunes Music Store, we know Apple has always been a hardware company at heart. So here's to you, Apple: the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly from the past 30 years. Happy Birthday.
Apples grow on trees
The Cult of Mac is pointing to the above photo from Badtech.org. Who knew iMacs and Powermacs would come from the same tree? There's no explanation for the photo, so it's pretty much a mystery. If you're familiar with this display, let us know!
Touchscreen Intel iMacs available
This is good news. We have several touchscreen-enabled Macs at my day job, all from Troll Touch. Earlier this week they announced that the 20" Intel iMac will be added to their lineup. Their system uses the Mac's existing screen, so there's nothing you need to attach to the front (that kids constantly pull off, prompting frequent recalibration). Like I said, I support several of these, and we've never had a problem. You can make use of the display with either a stylus or a finger.You can order a touch-enabled 17- or 20-inch iMac Core Duo directly from Troll Touch for $2,275US or $2,675US respectively, or they'll convert the one you already own for $869US and $1045US (including round trip shipping).[Via MacNN]
Roundup: what you are (or will be) doing with Windows on your Mac
While I'm sure the results will come as no surprise, I still wanted to do a roundup of our TUAW reader survey: What will you do with Windows on your Mac, as there were some interesting comments outside of the norm. Obviously, most of you are planning on using Windows solely to play games (which says something in and of itself about the utility of Windows), but I was more interested by the other uses you had in store, which include: AutoCAD/3D design .NET programming web development, testing IE sites those workplace-specific apps that simply don't have OS X counterparts - yet One commenter, Yaknowho, also brought up the idea of using Windows on a Mac to run some of the larger apps that haven't gone Universal yet, like Photoshop. I actually just touched on this topic over at The Unofficial Photoshop Weblog, where I found a few tests that show the MacBook Pro (ironically) not only runs Windows faster than most Core Duo PC notebooks, it also runs Photoshop - under Windows - faster than the competition as well.We live in a strange world when a Mac can run Windows faster than machines designed to run Windows.
Rig of the Day: Powerbook, MacBook, iMac, Newton
Remember our "Rig of the Day" feature? Yeah, me too. Today's entry features a Powerbook, a MacBook Pro, an iMac, an iPod and an oh-so-beautiful Newton 2100. Isn't it nice to see siblings getting along so well?"My New Improved Setup" posted by \~{Foolery}~/ . If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day (usually) to highlight.
TUAW poll results: XP on an iMac
We asked, you answered. How do you feel about XP on an Intel iMac? The results of our unscientific poll were as follows: 33% of respondents said "pretty cool" 26% of respondents thought the news was "freakin' sweet" 22% of respondents were indifferent towards the whole thing 16% of respondents were horrified by the news Me? I'm just waiting for the smack down from Apple legal.
TUAW Poll: XP on an iMac, What do you think?
Well, it's official. Two enterprising young geeks have gotten Windows XP to run on an Intel-based iMac. So, what do you think, dear readers? Are you excited about the prospect of being able to ditch your Windows box, KVM switch, miles of cables and all that hassle? Or, on the other hand, does the very idea of Windows running on that gorgeous machine just make your skin crawl? Perhaps you're somewhere in between. Let us know in the unofficial, unscientific poll. We'll post the results tomorrow. XP on iMac: Your response Freakin Sweet! Pretty Cool I'm indifferent It's horrible! Enough polls already
Windows XP on an iMac video
Engadget is pointing to a compelling video [video link] of Windows XP booting on an Intel-based iMac. You may be familiar with the contest offering a bounty for this feat. If narf2006 (the author of this video) has in fact gotten the job done, he's about 12 grand richer. We'll see what happens.
iMacs: an adventure in every port
Michael Heilmann, of Binary Bonsai, wonders about this particular piece of marketingspeak, and I'm right there with him. It doesn't even make sense!
Apple and Intel weren't kidding about "low power"
Tom Yager over at InfoWorld has performed some power tests on a 20" Dual Core iMac to discover that these machines in fact do not meet Apple's bold low-power specs - they surpass them. Apple lists the maximum power consumption of a 20" Dual Core iMac at 120 watts, while Tom's tests - even with both 2.0 GHz cores maxed at 100% CPU usage, 1 GB RAM, WiFi, BT, 128 MB graphics card and (oh yea) a 20" LCD - found the iMac drawing a steady 95 watts of power. Assuming that the typical LCD draws around 32 watts of power alone, that means the iMac - even at full throttle - is running as 63 watt personal computer. By comparison, Intel's old Pentium 4 architecture that still ships in many computers needs anywhere from 300-400 watt power supplies - and that's just for the computer itself, sans-display. I should know, I used to build them for a living.Ultimately, this should boil down to great news for the computing industry. Tom Yager's even so excited about the results that he's issued a friendly challenge to the PC market to find a machine that can claim the same stats. The one question that still bothers me about these new chips, however: why hasn't Apple placed at least an estimated battery life rating on the MacBook Pro?[via MacSlash]
When did you fall in love with the Mac?
Since it is Valentine's Day I thought it would be fun for folks to post about the moment that they fell in love with a Mac. I'll tell you that my first experiences with a Mac were in grammar school on an Apple II (who needs a hard disk?!) but the Mac that really got me was the iMac. This is the computer that reinvented what a computer could look like, helped Apple become an innovator again, and spurred people to put translucent plastic on everything.When did you fall in love with the Mac?
My iMac Core Duo's odd behavior
There are a few odd behaviors on my new iMac Core Duo that keep reappearing. One of the most noticeable has been a switch of the ColorSync profile of the machine to a non-native profile, followed by a complete inability to change the profile back or to create a new profile. I don't know if everyone with iMac Core Duos are experiencing this issue, if it is an odd bug brought on by my use of an external 24-inch Dell monitor as my main display and monitor spanning turned on, or if it's something brought on by the numerous Rosetta and Universal Binary programs I'm running. For all I know, it could be a side effect of playing World of Warcraft for hours on the machine.In any case, the fix for the problem would seem to be to run OnyX or Cocktail, repair all permissions and flush all the caches on the machine. This returns the ColorSync profiles to their defaults and allows me the ability to switch between the different profiles. Anyone else seeing this problem with their Intel-based Macs? It seems to recur about once a week for me. Any other peculiar bits of recurring odd behavior that you have noticed?
Apple investigating iMac Core Duo video problems
Apparently some folks who have purchased Apple's new iMac Core Duo machines are experiencing video problems in Front Row -- particularly the appearance of horizontal lines during video playback. The problem reportedly affects iMac models with 256MB of VRAM, running build 8G1171 of Mac OS X v10.4.4. Seems the problem is so prevalent, Apple has actually acknowledged it in an e-mail to CRN:"Apple is aware of this issue and is looking into it. If a customer has any technical issues, they should contact AppleCare."Gee, thanks.Anyone here experiencing any video problems with one of them new iMacs? ConsumerMachine.com, a site blogging about the problem, believes the issue is fully software-related and has posted a possible fix -- let us know if you have any luck.[via Macworld UK]Update: Fixed the recepient of Apple's e-mail -- CRN, not ConsumerMachine.com
Apple products in the Engadget awards
Engadget has compiled their list of tech awards for 2005, as selected by the readers and Engadget editors. Categories ranged from "Gadget of the Year" to "Disappointment of the Year." Apple received six readers' choice awards (but no editors' picks, oddly enough). So, here's how Apple fared, as selected by Engadget readers: Gadget of the Year: Apple iPod 5G (Editors' pick: Xbox 360) Desktop of the Year: Apple Power Mac G5 Quad (Editors' pick: Sony RC series) Laptop of the Year: Apple Powerbook 15" (Editors' pick: IBM Thinkpad Z) Media PC of the Year: Apple iMac G5 with FrontRow (Editors' pick: Niveus Media K2) Portable Audio Device of the Year: iPod nano (Editors' pick: iRiver U10) Portable Video Device of the Year: Apple iPod 5G (Editors' pick: Cowon A2) While not really an Apple product, Disappointment of the Year went to the Motorola ROKR E1. I whole-heartedly agree.
Intel Macs can boot from USB drives
Last week Dan posted about the new complications of Intel OS X drives not being bootable on PowerPC Macs, and vice-versa. The report came from Jon 'Wolf' Rentzsch, who recently updated the originating post with some specifics about booting and partition schemes, with one fairly positive detail: Intel based Macs can boot from USB2 drives. While many in the Mac community prefer FireWire over USB2 for various reasons, this will nevertheless open the doors for OS X to be bootable from more external hard drives. What are the chances I can bring a slimmed down OS X installation along with me on a 2 or 4 GB USB2 flash drive? I guess a geek can dream.
Reviewing the Reviewers: iMac Core Duo
I did a review for Cinematical once, where I reviewed other people's reviews of a particular movie, comparing and contrasting with my own impressions; since the folks over at MacInTouch did some great groundwork on testing and reviewing the new iMac Core Duo, I thought I'd review their review, providing you with a slightly less polished, real world set of impressions on the different bits they cover without rehashing too much of what I've said before. So consider this post a companion post to theirs, a Mac-Internet group hug with the new iMac Core Duo in the middle, if you will. You'll find all the nitty gritty bits after the jump...
iMac on steriods
That's how Stephen Wildstrom describes the Intel iMacs, and it is a good thing they won't be competing in the upcoming Winter Olympics. Get it? Because of the steroids? Moving on...Wildstrom points that out the new iMacs are speed demons, but the real improvements will come along when developers have tweaked their code to take advantage of the new Intel architecture (check out some of the apps that have gone universal in our Universal Binary category).
Rig of the Day: Table Mac
Over the weekend I attached an external monitor to an old 333mhz iMac with a dead display. A few of you suggested that I transfer the iMac's innards to a new case, which I'll probably do, once I find the right case. Or, like themacguru did, I could just screw it to the underside of a table.Say hello to the Table Mac. With the board, power supply and a power strip attached to the table's underside and the monitor on top, form and function were joined. My only question: How did you handle heat with that thing?"Table Mac" posted by themacguru.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
iMac, meet display
The other day I posted about a reader who had removed the dead display from a Powerbook, and then connected it to an external display. While writing, I thought, "Well I have an old 333mhz iMac in the basement with a dead display. I wonder..."I opened up the iMac and removed the display connector. I attached an Apple Multiple Scan 1705 Display, booted the iMac and ta-da! It worked. When set to a resolution of 800x600, it looked perfect. See the picture to the right.I've since put the iMac under my work bench like a PC tower (upside down, since the bottom is off), with the big, 17" CRT above. New life for an old Mac! Next I'm going to put a hole in the bottom plastic so I can sit that iMac right side up. More pictures after the jump.
