Mac Pro, Mac OS X Virtual Desktops Announced at WWDC 647
haym37 writes "Of the many announcements yet to come at WWDC, the first is the announcement of the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro contains two Intel Xeons, up to 3 GHz, and is supposed to be 1.6x to 2.1x the speed of the PowerMac G5 quad. It can hold up to 2 TB of internal storage and up to 16 GB of memory. The graphics card can be up to a Radeon x1900 or an FX4500. The case will be the same as the PowerMac." MacRumors.com is providing running coverage from the floor (Note: "[U]pdates will be automatically inserted at the top of the updates section. Do not reload manually."), including another announcement that OS X will include virtual desktops. What a great idea!
My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll go through my impressions mostly in order (I'm writing this in TextEdit as I follow the keynote). Not much surprise in the Mac Pro department (although it's nice to hear that they are actually cheaper). The pure 64-bit OS was predicted and is unsurprising. I like the little jabs at Microsoft. It's one thing to say "MS steals from us" but to put up comparison shots is just great, after all the features are just implemented so closely. The price comparisons were neat, but I wonder how long they will hold (I don't think Dell will take it in stride, their prices will get adjusted I'm betting).
I've gotta say I love the idea of Time Machine. I'm glad they put that in there. Considering how little hard drive space the average person uses compared to how much space is in new computers, this is an excellent feature. Now I don't have to use some stupid 3rd party program any more. I question the interface a little though.
They are building Front Row into Leopard. That's kind of neat, although I don't see myself using it right now. Still, if I was in a dorm and had my iMac or something I bet it would be great.
Spaces! Seems like the true virtual desktops that everyone has been asking for. I like the idea that you can pre-create a space and then launch it and it will bring those apps up (if I'm reading about it right). That would be fantastic.
I'm glad they improved Spotlight. It is a tiny bit pokey on my 1.67 GHz G4. To use it as an application launcher is great. I used it that way for a while but it was just too slow, so I started using Quicksilver (although I don't use any of QS's advanced features). The ability to search across your home network is KILLER and would save my parents SO MUCH TIME from how they do things on Windows.
CoreAnimation looks interesting and I bet a few people will do some incredible stuff with it, although it's also one of those features I can see being abused. I found it very interesting they promoted Universal Access. You never hear about that in the Windows world (I know it's there, it just doesn't ever seem to be talked about on mainstream sites).
Moving ToDos into Mail is interesting. The idea that ToDos can be moved into multiple applications and they all talk with the same database is quite nice. I'm sure quite a few people will like the stationary idea, but to me e-mail is best as plain text. I can only see that ending up like looking at my little sister's AIM conversations. You want to talk about eye-bleeding-color-schemes (and they say men have no sense of color). Notes is great too. I've been using the scheme that I've used since I was on Windows (type them out in TextEdit or NotePad and just save 'em). Still, having the pictures in there well and making it look like the iWeb templates is nice. I haven't seen any other e-mail software really try something like that (not that I've looked).
Note: iWeb needs a SERIOUS update. It really proves the "Apple 1.0" theory.
I've got to say, these improvements to iCal and iMail just make me want a new Newton all the more. My Windows Mobile 2k3 device is just so clunky compared to iCal or the Newtons of olde.
Web Clip looks killer. That is just a great feature. I have quite a few sites where I only look at one little portion and to be able to bring up Dashboard and see that portion would be great. Only Apple seems to make it that easy for an end user. Why go search to see if someone has made the widget you need when you can do it yourself so easily? "See Grandma, computers aren't so scary."
Being able to show photos to people over an iChat chat is great.
My only real complaints with OS X as it is now are kind of minor. Dashboard sucks up WAY too much CPU (especially when starting). I'd like to see finder be multi-threaded, you can occasionally see it need it. I'd like to see a special button put on the MacBooks to activate Expose. Using F9-F12 is clumsy when F9 and F10 are already bound to something else and you have to hit "function". Using the screen corners just c
Photocopied! (Score:5, Insightful)
Too bad about natural virtualization in OS X though. At least VM Ware is now coming to the party.
I'm a mac fanboy but (Score:5, Insightful)
It just seems like they are stretching with Leopard. They promoted the hell out of tiger before the WWDC where it was first shown off, and for good reason. I personally will be sticking with Tiger till my next mac, which won't be till 2008 provided my powerbook doesn't get stolen.
Why criticise? (Score:5, Insightful)
I just hope they get around to copying window shading, window tabbing and focus on mouse as fast as possible.
What? No SLI configurations available? (Score:2, Insightful)
Too bad; I was hoping to replace my gaming machine and my Mac with a single machine that would be the best of both worlds... Looks like I'll have to wait for rev. B and hope that Apple wakes up and includes this technology.
Re:Underwhelming.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Core Animation? Maybe nice, I'd have to see. It sounds like they're really going after Adobe with that one though; I hope it doesn't backfire...
Mail stationary? I hated that 'feature' in Outlook Express a decade ago, and I can't imagine not hating it today.
The most disappointing thing was the lack of Core 2 MacBooks. I was planning on ordering one this evening. The Mac Pros look nice, but I can't imagine buying a desktop in 2006.
Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:3, Insightful)
who fired their design team? I mean, Apple hasn't released a new form factor since the Mac mini... two years ago now, nearly? And I understand that there are technical challenges with making the transition to Intel, and that the Mac Pro is all new on the inside even if its little different on the outside.... but... Apple's products used to be items to be lusted over because of their looks alone.
The only new look from the Intel transition is the MacBook (not Pro) and... its almost uninspiring. Its like they took an iBook and flattened it a little... and while it is a pretty sexy form factor, its not like the days of yore when the PowerBooks were new and beautiful (and now you can get the SAME enclosure, almost unaltered, in a MacBook Pro, 3 years later), the iMac went from cute to beautiful, etc.
And I don't buy that Apple's worried about scaring away people with new form factors with the Intel transition - I mean, would anybody REALLY be that surprised by a new physical enclosure? I mean, really?
Sure, there are issues to be sorted out - MacBooks yellowing, MBPs burning at corona-like temperatures... but I feel like these are start up issues that would be the same whether Apple played it safe with new form factors or not.
So it looks like OS X is less about the new shiny than before, and their hardware's less about the shiny than before. Before, OS X and Apple's hardware were both technically advanced AND beautiful - why is Apple just saying "job's done, lets move on" with the beauty aspect?
Tim
Re:disappointed -- rumor sites are their worst ene (Score:3, Insightful)
+1, Insightful
This is a developer's conference, not E3.
Re:While I'm impressed with what Apple is offering (Score:1, Insightful)
I would assume that all the fun user stuff wasn't shown due to Microsoft's "photocopiers".
What does this mean for current machines? (Score:3, Insightful)
all well... no since in worrying too much about something that might not be an issue and that you have no control over.
Re:My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:2, Insightful)
First of all, why post in this particular thread? Your issues are unrelated to this.
Sure, the hardware _could_ be easily abused, but as of yet it isn't. So all your speculations, whilst nice, remain nothing more than that.
And yes, each chip has a unique serial number. Which is more or less the point. Of a _serial_ number. That it is different, unique. So you can track its production history if it decides to fail, for instance.
Bye for now!
Sounds like a nice GUI for versioning though (Score:5, Insightful)
I was actually pretty glad to see Time Machine as the file versioning coming in Vista was the one thing I was wishing I could get in Leopord, and did not expect to see.
Re:Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm a mac fanboy but (Score:2, Insightful)
world wide DEVELOPER conference (Score:5, Insightful)
"xcode 3.0 released today"
k2r
Re:Underwhelming.. (Score:2, Insightful)
I think if they want to do a versioning FS they'll go to ZFS.
Re:My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Time Machine == ZFS ? (Score:3, Insightful)
I suspect they may still be gnawing on ZFS for a future version, but for now it would appear the "Time Machine" is built on top of HFS+, since there is no talk of reformatting your drives to take advantage of the new feature.
As well, the keynote mentioned that Time Machine could also be used to back up a file system to another hard drive, which is not exactly what ZFS is or does, and will be interesting to see how they implement it-- I've been looking for a Retrospect [emcinsignia.com] replacement for quite a while, and if Time Machine can do the backups to /dev/sa0, then I'm done.
Re:Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:5, Insightful)
When Apple adopted the G3 in the PowerMac, they kept the Beige style case for a generation before releasing the B&W G3 case.
When Apple adopted the G4 in the PowerMac, they kept the G3 style case but changed it's color to silver
When Apple moved to the G5 PowerMac they moved to a new style case, but now that they have switched to Intel they kept the G5 style case (at least for now)
When Apple released a new iBook, it was with a G3; it was upgraded to the G4 with no real changes, and then when they moved to the Intel CPU it remained essentially the same, with only the keyboard being brand new.
The PowerBooks tell a similar story, moving to Titanium with the G4, then aluminum for several generations, the keeping the aluminum with the switch to Intel.
There is a reason to not redesign something: Less bugs, less cost, higher reliability. Wait until they work out all the kinks with the new CPUs, motherboards, and electrics, then introduce a new case with new problems.
Re:While I'm impressed with what Apple is offering (Score:5, Insightful)
Then there is the free built in video conferencing, desktop sharing, and remote access made possible with iChat.
And on top of that is the network capable Spotlight, allowing a private network to access public files from any machine... a great reason to have a second machine
Data is:
1) No longer trapped on a single machine (think end users who require floppies and CD-Rs to transfer files)
2) Data loss is less of an issue (think end users to delete whole directories by accident)
3) Remote access is easy (think end users who don't know how to use the Control Panel to update their settings)
Re:Sounds like a nice GUI for versioning though (Score:3, Insightful)
now if file versioning was in Linux natively, or Windows, or OS/2, or the Amiga, or some other desktop operating system like BeOS I'd think you'd have a point. But that's like saying the Honda Civic is cool but the GPS in it is late to the party because the Audi A8L has had it for 5 years. That's comparing two cars that aren't in the same class just like comparing a multi-user VMS box to a single user desktop.
I'm not saying versioning hasn't been done before, but when has it been native to the operating system itself? All I kept thinking about it was 'well, there goes the one redeeming features for
Re:Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:3, Insightful)
Good question. I'd have to guess that Apple's more concerned about getting the internal changes right than any new external stuff. And from a marketing perspective, it's easier for Apple to sell all-new Intel guts if we all see the same ol' iMac or Mac Mini on the outside.
And... iCal (Score:5, Insightful)
Here comes iCal, doing everything that Sunbird should have done several years ago. Here is the first chance at an "Outlook killer." Mail 3 & iCal = notes, to do, free/busy scheduling, auto scheduling, resource scheduling..
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/ical.html [apple.com]
The year of Linux on the Desktop? No. It's the decade of OS X taking over the desktop.
Re:Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:3, Insightful)
While certainly a large part of Apple stuff is the design, I don't honestly see the developer audience saying "Okay, the specs are nice, but... It's not PRETTY enough to handle my development work."
Release the heavy-duty stuff at developer conferences, and release the pretty stuff at consumer oriented shows - makes sense to me.
Re: Copying Scorecard (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:5, Insightful)
Protecting the Apple brand (Score:2, Insightful)
Now that the transition is over (no PPC macs left in the product lineup), expect a future release of the new generation of apple design (judging from the MacBook and Nano... I'm betting on black, which will be "the new white").
Re:My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:5, Insightful)
Time Machine (from what we've seen) is granular to individual files, and works transparently in the background every time you change a file.
Sheesh. You may as well claim that iTunes is an imitation of WMP.
Re:Who fired Apple's industrial design team? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not saying I'm in this "change is scary and bad" camp but there are a lot of folk living there.
Its funny and insightfull.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Come-on apple. There is a middle ground between "pro" and "home"
Oh no, the Finder the Finder! (Score:2, Insightful)
Okay, I scanned down the comments here and saw people complain about not overhauling the finder. People want...
Am I the only person here who loves the Mac's Finder for what it is? Clean. Spatial. Mouse-driven, including Exposé gestures. I can't keep my file organized on a Windows machine. Windows' file organization makes me feel chlostrophobic and I lose stuff. With a Mac, I stay organized.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Re:Oh no, the Finder the Finder! (Score:3, Insightful)
1)Get rid of spatial and give me an Explorer hierarchy!
The current OS X Finder isn't spatial. At all. If you turn off the toolbar, it kind of pretends to be spatial a little bit, but it's still not. The easiest way to tell is the following: Will Finder show the same folder in two different windows? If so, it's not spatial. (And, yes, Finder will... even in the psuedo-spatial mode.)
In addition to that, if you *do* set Finder to psuedo-spatial mode, it'll get turned off the next time you download and open a disk image that wasn't set as psuedo-spatial. Sometimes it'll just randomly get turned off for no reason at all, or at least no reason I can tell, even if you set "open all windows like this". At best, it's buggy, and at worst, it's so poorly designed that it's almost impossible to tell if a given window will open spatial or not when you double-click the folder.
Am I the only person here who loves the Mac's Finder for what it is? Clean. Spatial. Mouse-driven,
I'm presuming that you've never used Classic MacOS. The Finder in system 8.5 and later was brilliant... seriously brilliant. I still long for pop-up folders, a feature which has never been replaced after being removed. (And no, Apple, context-clicking folders in the Dock is NOT the same.) It was fast, it was clean, it was beautiful, and it worked. It was also 100% spatial, in a way no other OS has ever been.
The reason most Mac users say the Finder sucks ass is, because compared to the Finder in system 9.2.2, it *does* suck ass. Finder has gone WAY downhill while everything else in the OS has been progressing at record speed, and it's almost ridiculously stupid at this point.
Oh, I should mention that the Spotlight interface on Finder windows is terrible.
I can't keep my file organized on a Windows machine. Windows' file organization makes me feel chlostrophobic and I lose stuff.
Yes, but Windows Explorer can connect to file servers without spacing out (most of the time.)
It has Filmstrip view, which I find extremely handy... to the point that I'll use Windows File Sharing so I can connect to my Mac's photo directory and use Filmstrip view to organize things.
Explorer doesn't completely clog your CPU up while creating image previews, and it creates all the previews instead of just giving up halfway through the window like Finder does.
Explorer doesn't randomly forget your window settings, like Finder does.
Explorer gives you more options on which application should be used to open files.
Explorer handles printers much nicer, IMO. (Except it still doesn't allow dragging a print job from one printer to another, but neither does any OS.)
When Explorer creates invisible files, it doesn't show them to other OSes when file-sharing.
Sure, Explorer has quirks... personally I hate "Explorer.exe" mode, and I hate how Control Panel windows don't have entries in the task bar... but it's actually pretty good.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Even if you disagree with everything I've just typed, you have to admit that Finder's handling of network folders is broken.
Re:FP? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:30" Cinema Display price reduction (Score:2, Insightful)
On the other hand, the Dell has analog VGA, S-video, and composite inputs, while the Apple has only the DVI. And $460 is still much less than $699. Somehow, I find it hard to justify $250 for Firewire ports, nicer enclosure, and just possibly some barely perceptible difference in the contrast or backlighting.
The US$300 models typically have analog VGA only.
Re:Photocopied! (Score:3, Insightful)
I guess that means you use an OS where drag'n'drop doesn't work too well.
Re:My keynote thoughts so far... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, there's inventing something and then there is skillfully integrating it into a GUI that's easy enough to use that your mom can (and will) use it. An implementation may be the bee's knees in terms of what it can theoretically do, but if it's too hard (read: not click-and-drool dead simple) to use, then for 95% of the people out there it might as well not exist.
That said, I wonder how Time Machine will affect system performance for developers... will I need to disable it to avoid losing all my drive spacing to useless copies of obsolete object files? And if it does its synchronization action every day at midnight, does that mean that it won't work on my Mac that I power down when I leave the office?
Re:Apple pages (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, that omission seems rather conspicuous. It's almost as if Apple has something to hide.
Oh wait, Jobs said they do!
My money's on significant improvements to the Finder, and they didn't want to show it off because they don't want Microsoft stealing it yet. I'm hoping they fix network integration; I have all kinds of weird problems accessing SMB volumes, and FTP has never really worked at all. But I'm sure there are all kinds of UI improvements they've been working on, that they want to keep under wraps. I certainly hope so - Lord knows there's room for improvement in that area!
Re:And... iCal (Score:3, Insightful)
Virtual Desktops (Score:2, Insightful)
So to the original poster's sarcasm I offer this counter:
Who's implementation of Virtual Desktops is that cool, that user friendly and that well done? If not, who will be the first X related desktop to pull off copying Spaces? Will you submit that article?
Just wondering.
Re:virtual desktops: confusing or not (Score:3, Insightful)
Those problems are intrinsic to virtual desktops. The whole point of virtual desktops is to make some (and usually most) of the user's working data invisible at any given time, and any time you make information invisible, you impose a load on the user's memory. In most cases, people switching between apps do so because they're trying to accomplish something and their minds are focused on doing that job, not on remembering how all the offscreen information is arranged. The 'what I'm doing right now' task and the 'keeping the virtual desktop organized' tasks end up competing for the user's mental resources.
It takes skill to use virtual desktops effectively and efficiently. Most casual computer users lack those skills, and for those people, the virtual desktop environment ends up being more of a nuisance than it's worth.
Re:Photocopied! (Score:3, Insightful)