Tag Archives: os x

Shipping Seven is a Fraud.

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A blog titled Shipping Seven has gotten a lot of traffic recently for their article about Windows 7 and the MinWin kernel – namely, how they’re actually one and the same. The argument offered by “Soma” is that Windows Vista’s kernel (which is what Windows 7 will be built on) is MinWin ad that it’s already on every Vista desktop out there.

Whether or not MinWin is the very same kernel that went into Vista or not is officially unknown at the moment; but what we do know is that Shipping Seven is either one huge fake, or else that the Windows core programmers at Microsoft are so stupid that they don’t know the first thing about coding, kernels, operating systems and compilers.

The post at Shipping Seven is littered from beginning to end with fallacies, lies, and incorrect deductions that anyone with even the most basic coding skills would know better than to ever post, especially not when attempting to pass it off as the work of some of the more talented coders out there.

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How-To: Revert the Mac OS X 10.5 Opaque Menu Bar Hack

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If you’ve been using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 or 10.5.1 and had previously used the Terminal to make your menu bar opaque, you’re going to notice that something is slightly out-of-order when you upgrade to 10.5.2. Basically, what happens, is the old menu bar opacity hack still works in 10.5.2, but it looks slightly odd; and seeing as the update has the functionality built right in, you might as well just revert the hack.

Reverting the hack is simple. First of all, open a Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and in the console type the following commands:

sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables'

sudo plutil -convert xml1 /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer.plist

sudo chmod 644 /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer.plist

This will delete the hack parameter, convert the com.apple.WindowServer.plist file back to a readable XML format, and then reset the permissions on the file.

Once you’ve reverted the hack, restart the computer, and then you can go ahead and upgrade to 10.5.2. If you’re already running 10.5.2, you can change the menu bar opacity option in System Preferences > Desktop and Screen Saver (the nice thing about this is that it is on-the-fly, no need to restart any more).

Mac OS X 10.5.2 Released, Biggest Update in Apple History

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Following right on the heels of Windows Vista SP1 RTM, Apple has seemingly one-upped Microsoft by releasing OS X 10.5.2 – the biggest update to OS X ever – effective immediately and available to all.

The release documentation for the OS X 10.5.2 build can be found at the Apple site, and it contains all the gory details about this whopping update. It’s 343 MiB (for comparison, Vista SP1 x86/x64 RTM are 434/726 MiB, but they contain plenty more changes) and contains a number of important fixes.

At the moment, you can download the update via OS X’s “Software Update” feature or directly from Apple’s OS X downloads site here. Updates are also available for OS X Server, the direct download link can be found here (382 MiB).

10.5.2 ships with several important security updates that were not previously disclosed/patched as well – if you don’t intend on updating to 10.5.2 anytime soon, you should definitely grab the standalone security update found here.

15 Years to Pick an OS

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For the last 15 years, I have been a Windows user and developer. I’ve owned several different computers, all running one version of Windows or another, and sometimes I’d even do a little bit of dabbling in Linux, but for the most part I’ve always felt that Windows could be better. The user interface lacks consistency, and personally I feel that with Windows Vista, things are going down hill.

I was set to build a new computer for myself at the end of February, but I realized soon after I had finished finalizing the specification that I would need to run Windows Vista 64-bit on it in order to take full advantage of my hardware. I’m not much of a fan of Windows Vista 64-bit, due to all of the issues between 32-bit and 64-bit executables and the headaches of 32-bit vs. 64-bit Internet Explorer. After considering many things, like what I plan on doing with my computer, I changed my mind on building that system, in fact I’ve completely crossed it off of my list.

Let me tell you, I never thought I’d see the day where I actually managed to pull this one off…

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Things to Think About When Switching to a Mac

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If you are a die-hard Windows user and are considering jumping over to the other side of the fence (don’t worry, many of us have had this feeling at one point or another), you may be wondering, “are there any good reasons for me to switch?” or “what software can I use on the Mac to replace the software that I use on my PC?”

Fear no more. I’ve written this article with the potential Mac “switcher” in mind. I’ve been a long-time Windows-user myself, and have only recently made the switch to what, in my personal opinion, is a better overall platform.

First and foremost, Apple computers are not the cheapest on the planet, but you definitely get what you pay for. You’re probably wondering, “is it really worth spending so much on a computer?” This is really up to personal preference and budget, however I do feel that it is a great investment, as a Mac will last you several years, not to mention that Macs have a very high resale value. You could turn around in 2 years and sell your Mac for close to what you paid for it then and buy a new one. You just can’t do that with a traditional or OEM PC, because they lose value from the day you purchase it.

When you consider making an investment such as this, make sure that you pick out a Mac that’s right for you. There’s nothing worse than purchasing a computer that you’re not going to be satisfied with. First, you need to decide if you are going to be doing any traveling or moving around with your Mac. If you are, you’d most likely want to look at getting a portable Mac, but if all your computing is done from the comfort of your home office (or bedroom), then a desktop Mac will be fine.

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EasyBCD 1.7 Released & Up for Download!

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 Go and grab yourself a fresh, hot, right-out-of-the-compiler copy of EasyBCD 1.7 before your old bootloader realizes what hit it! Another release of EasyBCD is now available after months of beta testing and – in true NeoSmart fashion - brings dozens of new features and innovative ideas to the table; this time with even more versatility than ever.

Yes, there was a name change. Those of you keeping track of our beta builds are almost certainly wondering what happened to EasyBCD 1.61. To be totally honest here, it was supposed to be released 4 months ago – soon after the 1.6 release back in May. But we got caught up adding a couple of tiny features here and there, and before we knew it, we had a full-blown new version at our hands and not knowing what to do with it – so it’s just shipped as EasyBCD 1.7.

Want to support further development of EasyBCD?

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EasyBCD 1.6 Released!

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It’s been a while, though we haven’t really noticed. The EasyBCD 1.5x line has worked loyally and without complaint for the past 7 months, and it’s time to put it to rest. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 8 months now since EasyBCD 1.5 went gold in October of 2006 – and since then its popularity has just soared beyond all expectations.

Today we’re proud to announce the availability of EasyBCD 1.6 to the general public. It’s been a rough, long road developing the 1.6 line, but we hope you’ll find it worth the wait. With 1 million+ EasyBCD users strong, we’ve learned a thing or two about compatibility and standards – or rather shall we say the lack of them. What worked for 98% of EasyBCD users didn’t work for the remaining two percent, and NeoSmart Technologies doesn’t accept anything less than perfection – that’s why EasyBCD 1.6 goes the extra mile.

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Why Apple Delayed Leopard for the iPhone

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Yesterday’s news: Apple [[AAPL]] takes developers off of OS X 10.5 “Leopard” to hurry up and meet iPhone deadlines.

Today’s news: Why they did it.

This decision was not about (not) missing deadlines for contracts with Cingular, not allocating enough resources to iPhone in the first place, or otherwise neglecting to do the right stuff at the managerial level – iPhone was delayed, yet Apple chose to trade in an iPhone delay for a 4-month postponement of OS X Leopard. Why would they do that? Is iPhone really a bigger deal than OS X 10.5? Does Apple care more about the iPhone than Leopard?

Apple is notoriously quiet about the future of their products – especially their operating system, OS X. While Leopard is but a bump to the minor version of Mac OS 10, it’s supposed to be a big deal. It’s certainly hyped-up for a lot longer than the actual iPhone – both in and out of Apple. So why this “sudden” shift in priorities? The answer is rather clear, and even self-explanatory.

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EasyBCD 1.5: Multi/Dual-Boot Vista, Linux, Mac OS X, & BSD!

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Important! Upgrade immediately and read the docs to make it work!!!

We’ve done it! NeoSmart Technologies has built a better mousetrap, and it’s a beauty. EasyBCD 1.5 is the first and only application to allow users of Microsoft’s new OS complete compatibility with any other OS they might be using! It doesn’t make a difference if it’s Mac OS X or Linux, BSD or Unix; EasyBCD 1.5 means you can boot into it! For too long have Vista’s beta testers been locked-in to Windows simply because nothing else can be easily booted into, but not anymore!

Windows Vista’s new bootmanager is a double-edged sword. It’s one of the most powerful booting scripts in existence, and a far cry from the very limiting boot.ini of legacy Windows operating systems. But at the same time, Microsoft shows its disregard for other simultaneously installed operating systems. It overwrites the MBR without a second thought, and doesn’t provide any means for users of alternate operating systems and boot managers to use their old system. That’s where EasyBCD 1.5 comes in!

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