Something tells me that UNIX compatibility had little to do with Mac OS X's growth in popularity. Most end users simply don't really care about the command line. Instead, I'd consider these to be the primary reasons why people started buying a lot more Mac's around 2007:

1) Windows Vista came out around this time, and many people didn't like it. Mac OS X looked like a good alternative in terms of both ease of use and better stability.
2) People were getting sick of seeing their Windows XP systems getting infected with malware, so they switched to the Mac where drive by malware downloads are less of a problem.
3) A lot of people wanted their computer to "just work" like their iPod did. Mac OS X just seemed easier to use to them.

This OS update is free for 10.8 and 10.9 users, no?

You really think so? I bet that Fox News would have a field day if they found out that Mrs. Obama only worked out twice a week considering how hard the administration has been pushing to get mandatory Phys Ed activity requirements in schools.

Likewise, I'm sure that other organizations would love to know how often they eat stuff like Fried Chicken in their private dining quarters as well.

This story isn't about the iOS version of the App Store, it's about the Mac OS X version.

Either way, it doesn't surprise me much. When I want a Mac version of an App, I just Google the product name and download the .dmg file from the vendor's download site.

The developers probably like it better that way anyway, since they don't have to wait for Apple to review product updates before they are posted AND they aren't giving Apple a 30% cut of any sales if I decide to buy it after the trial is up.

You better roll out another broadband option for your neighborhood before starting your "boycott", as The Cable Company (i.e. Verizon and AT&T) and The Phone Company (Time Warner and Comcast) are usually the only two broadband options available for most people.

I'd love to have a third fiber or wireless network option run by my local municipality, but I doubt that it's going to happen considering that the mayor and city council are probably getting campaign donations from the aforementioned Phone Company and Cable Company.

That appears to be run by OOKLA, the same guys who run Speedtest.net.

I don't trust Speedtest.net's results, either, as they seem to ALWAYS run at the maximum speed for the connection even when my Internet connection on sites like Youtube or Netflix is slow. I think that there is some shady content prioritization going on there.

True, but you're not going to find those Bushmasters for sale in Connecticut where new AR-15's have already been outlawed.

I think that the problem is that most people are using 3D printers now are engineers making prototype parts for machinery, which doesn't interest the mainstream.

Now, if you post a bunch of 3D printer template files for sex toys... now you'll get the mainstream's attention!

Wow... I almost see the great unwashed masses heading to Target now for "That there plastic dildo maker" Janet told me about :)

Personally, I think that the show would be a good idea if they found the right host and sponsors for it.

Instead, they try to turn a game programming show into "Hell's Kitchen" and failed miserably.

Someone should do a Kickstarter for another attempt of this show. I'll bet it would get funded.

You are assuming that most people still using XP at this point actually know how to burn a DVD from an .ISO image or make a bootable USB thumb drive to install Ubuntu themselves. That's kind of a dangerous thing to assume.

Yeah... the information they had on me was profoundly wrong.

They said that I was a single factory worker/tradesman making $25K to $50K a year, with an odd interest in cosmetics. Weird.

The information that they had on my car and house was accurate, though. They must get that info from my credit report.

I updated the info to (accurately) show that I was a married technical worker with a household income of $125K a year. That should make sure that I start getting better junk mail in the future :)

It sounds like Microsoft wants a three to six month jump on their competition for Windows 8.1 "Modern UI" apps.

Seems stupid to me, considering that most users aren't really buying into "Modern UI" anyway. I would want people filling their app store with as many launch day titles as possible to build legitimacy to the platform.

Yeah... how do these people plan on breaking up Microsoft, anyway? The only really profitable divisions are the Office division and Windows division... everything else is barely making a profit (Like the XBox division) or are losing money by the boatload (The tablet division, the phone division, Bing, etc.)

Unless you paired some of the unprofitable divisions with the profitable ones, things like Bing and the Surface would die immediately. While I'm sure that many Slashdot fans would cheer about that, it's probably not the best outcome for Microsoft.

By predicting that the Kickstarter is going to come up short of their goal, these armchair analysts have likely (and amusingly) impacted their own projections. Now that more people think that the project is going to fail, even fewer people will bother to invest in it. Depending on how many people read the article on Slashdot, it might cost Canonical another $500,000 to a million in contributions.

It's only a matter of time before Microsoft unloads all of these unsold Surface RT tablets for next to nothing, just like HP and Blackberry did with their failed tablet designs.

Anyone want to take a guess when the remaining Surface RT's will start showing up on liquidation sites like Woot for around $149? I'm thinking that they might make great door-busters for a Black Friday sale... you can finally get that person who's been drooling over your iPad a tablet of their own. Just don't be surprised if they hate you for being a cheap skate.