- apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

ooops, sorry. "Dell" should have read "NativeAMD machine". My apologies.
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

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INTEREST: Micorosoft Vista on a Dell and Vista on MacBook with BootCamp v1.1.2
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

...from: http://blog.smalldog.com/article/482/windows-vista-on-a-pc-vs-an-apple Windows Vista on a PC vs. an Apple By Jimmy(a)Smalldog.com I’ve been playing with the RTM of Windows Vista for a couple weeks now (available to businesses and MSDN users) and I’ve actually enjoyed it quite a lot. The install process is quick and most of my drivers were installed. I think I had to install the latest NVIDIA drivers on my PC but other then that it caught everything else. It even worked when I plugged the computer into my HDTV. There was one major issue I came across though. It was my sound. I have on-board nForce4 audio and it works really nice for the first 20 minutes or so. When I am in the middle of watching a movie or listening to music it will start to sound really funky and crackles. I’ve looked all over the internet for a fix and asked all my friends who might know something about the issue. Apparently it was a known issue and that NVIDIA would release some Vista compatible drivers. Mind you Vista hasn’t been released to consumers yet. I am not really sure what drivers were auto-installed when I initially installed Vista but they weren’t very good. I then tried to use my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 PCI card and that was a complete failure. I read multiple threads on the Creative message boards that talked about installing some other driver called kX and supposedly that would fix the issue but I couldn’t get it to work whatsoever. I then read on another website about how the Realtek drivers might work, and without actually checking to see if my board was using the Realtek chip I downloaded and installed the Realtek software and installed it. It didn’t work at all so I was about to give up. My last attempt was downloading the Vista RC1 drivers from NVIDIAs website. I un-installed my current drivers and re-installed with the RC1 drivers. I’ve been watching a movie in Media Center for 30 minutes or so now and I haven’t had any major issues. I did notice that the sound got distorted when I was moving the volume up or down. That was all on a PC. AMD Athlon64 3500+, 2GBs RAM, DFI LanParty UT nF4, SATA Drives. I would have thought that it would have worked with no hitches. Guess not. I had to go through ALL of that just to get my sound working. I don’t think it would be proper to blame this on Microsoft/Windows though. I think it’s the fact that NVIDIA hasn’t provided me or other NVIDIA audio users with the appropriate drivers for my sound card. Windows Vista is final, it’s ready to go out to customers and NVIDIA isn’t keeping up with their drivers. So where does Apple come in here… I have Vista installed on 2 machines, the one in the previous paragraph and this one; an Apple MacBook 2.0GHz Core Duo, 2GBs RAM, 80GB HDD. My first attempt to install Windows Vista on a Macintosh was through Parallels. It work perfectly fine minus the fact that I didn’t get the Aero (glassy windows) effects. Other then that it worked great and I had no issues with it. I really wanted the pretty eye-candy so I installed Boot Camp (v1.1.2) and popped in the Vista installation DVD. Rebooted and installed Vista, no issues at all. I had made a drivers CD from the Boot Camp application, so after the Vista install I stuck that in and went through the drivers installation. No problem there either. Those drivers are also meant for Windows XP not Vista, yet they worked great for the most of it. There’s only a couple things I know that aren’t working. These things I didn’t even expect to work and seem more like “extras”. The iSight, Bluetooth, double finger scrolling, screen brightness and volume control via the F keys. It’s not like major things aren’t working. Sound, airport, some Apple keyboard functions, Aero glass, Ethernet, and battery functions are all working. How is it that my Apple computer works 100x better with Windows Vista then my PC?! I do hope that Apple releases some Windows Vista compatible drivers for their computers. I see no reason why they won’t although it may not be until January 30th, 2007 or later since that’s when Microsoft will release Vista to consumers. I am sure NVIDIA will be releasing an update for Vista soon enough.

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INTEREST: Microsoft suit in Iowa for antitrust violations
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

...from: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=macintosh&articleId=9005873&taxono myId=123 [...] The case, filed in February 2000, charges that Microsoft used its monopoly position to overcharge Iowans for its software. Held in the Polk County District Court in Des Moines, it is one of two remaining antitrust cases -- the state of Mississippi's case is the other -- brought by the U.S. government and multiple states against Microsoft starting in the late 1990s. In 2004, Microsoft settled a class-action lawsuit accusing it of overcharging customers in California for $1.1 billion. That same year, it was also hit by a $613 million fine by the European Commission for monopolistic behavior for its free bundling of Windows Media Player with Windows. Microsoft, which has appealed the ruling, was hit by a further $356 million fine in October for failing to comply with the ruling. ....As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from [James] Allchin [- Microsoft's chief of development and other Microsoft executives..... Longtime Windows development chief James Allchin wrote in a January 2004 e-mail to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and company co-founder Bill Gates that the software vendor had "lost sight" of customers' needs and said he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft. "In my view, we lost our way," Allchin, the co-president of Microsoft's platform and services division, wrote in an e-mail dated Jan. 7, 2004. The e-mail was presented as evidence late last week in the Iowa antitrust trial, Comes v. Microsoft Corp. .....As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from Allchin and other Microsoft executives. Ironically, Allchin himself is quoted in two internal memos directing employees to get rid of all e-mails after 30 days. "This is not something you get to decide," he wrote on Jan. 23, 2000. "This is company policy. Do not think this is something that only applies to a few people. Do not think it will be okay if I do this, it hasn't caused any problems so far. Do not archive your mail. Do not be foolish. 30 days." [...]

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FYI: Microsoft pulls Mac security update
by Noel Friesen 13 Dec '06

13 Dec '06

Info here: http://news.com.com/Microsoft+pulls+Mac+security+update/2100-1002_3-6143403… ================================= Noel Friesen, Faculty of Science Computing Coordinator Rm. 231C Machray Hall, Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3T 2N2 Ph: (204) 474-6602 Fax: (204) 474-7618 Email: Noel_Friesen(a)umanitoba.ca

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INTEREST: 176 Newspapers to Form a Partnership With Yahoo
by billing 28 Nov '06

28 Nov '06

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/technology/20yahoo.html?th&emc=th By MIGUEL HELFT and STEVE LOHR Published: November 20, 2006 A consortium of seven newspaper chains representing 176 daily papers across the country is announcing a broad partnership with Yahoo to share content, advertising and technology, another sign that the wary newspaper business is increasingly willing to shake hands with the technology companies they once saw as a threat. In the first phase of the deal, the newspaper companies will begin posting their employment classified ads on Yahoo’s classified jobs site, HotJobs, and start using HotJobs technology to run their own online career ads. But the long-term goal of the alliance with Yahoo, according to one senior executive at a participating newspaper company, is to be able to have the content of these newspapers tagged and optimized for searching and indexing by Yahoo. In that way, local news — one of the pillars of the newspaper business — would become part of a large information network that would increase usefulness for readers and value to advertisers. [...] The agreement could also come at an opportune time for Yahoo, which is seeking to regain the confidence of investors and the luster it has lost with some marketers. The deal could also help position the company as a willing partner for traditional media companies, an effective counterpunch to a deal its archrival, Google, signed with 50 papers a few weeks ago, and could help it capture a larger portion of the fragmented local advertising market. For the newspapers, which have struggled in recent years as readers and advertisers have flocked to the Internet, the deal represents an effort to earn a greater share of the fast-growing amount spent online on all types of ads [...]

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INTEREST: Hands on: A Mac fan takes on [Microsoft's] Vista
by billing 17 Nov '06

17 Nov '06

...from: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003672&pageNumber=1 Lots of bling make Vista eye-candy, but function doesn't always follow form September 27, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Earlier this month, when I found I could install Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) on my MacBook Pro, I quickly took the plunge, practically chortling at the thought that my dual-core laptop could run Microsoft's next operating system. What better way to show that when you buy a Mac you get two computers in one? I've been using Vista off and on for a couple of weeks now, but I'm not chortling as much. The MacBook Pro is fine. Yes, it runs hotter than normal on Vista, and battery life is greatly reduced. That's no surprise. Vista isn't exactly optimized for Mac use, and the drivers that Apple supplies with its Boot Camp software don't work in Microsoft's upcoming operating system. (I had to install a small third-party app, Apple Mouse, to enable a right-click function in Vista on the Macbook Pro.) I'm assuming that by the time Vista is out, Apple will be ready. And with the exception of a few such glitches along the way, Vista RC1 (Build 5600) has been generally stable: No blue screens of death, no untoward infections that I'm aware of. A lot of applications I use regularly -- the Firefox browser, iTunes, Quicktime -- work just fine in Vista. [...] They'll also likely be delighted by the fact that Microsoft has slammed the door on some of the more glaring security holes that have plagued XP users for years. The inclusion of Windows Defender to help keep malware at bay will be welcomed by users. But I doubt they'll be nearly as content with the way Vista constantly reminds you that you're safe. I'm talking here, of course, about UAC, which a number of Vista reviewers, including Computerworld's own Scot Finnie, have already criticized for its intrusiveness. [...] I see the same issue -- good idea, so-so implementation -- with Internet Explorer 7. One of the biggest advances touted in Microsoft's long-overdue update to its Web browser is the addition of tabs. I use tabs daily, constantly shifting back and forth between Web pages. In fact, the easiest way for me to scan a large number of sites quickly is to launch a folder of URLs, with each one opening up in its own tab. IE7 lets you open links in a tab, to [...]. After configuring the confusing user interface Microsoft has slapped on its browser, you can add a folder of links to the links toolbar, just as you can with Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox and a host of other browsers. [...] So if I turn off UAC, ignore the sidebar gadgets and skip IE7, what am I left with in Vista? A new operating system that is more secure than its predecessor, looks great on the surface and no doubt has a plethora of under-the-hood changes, but one that leaves the casual user frequently frustrated. I joked with a Computerworld colleague that I'd wrap up my report by noting that users who like Windows XP will love Vista. Noting the various issues Vista presents, he shot back: "Don't be so sure."

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Apple Boot Camp update
by Doug Hamilton 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

Apple revised their Boot Camp product today: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ Summary of changes: -Boot Camp 1.1.2 beta includes: -Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers -Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes -Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk -Support for built-in iSight cameras -Support for built-in microphones -Support for the Apple USB Modem -Trackpad scrolling and right-click support on Apple Laptops -Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys -Improved International Apple keyboard support Boot Camp 1.1.2 beta contains several updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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Core 2 Duo MacBook-Pro and iMac ... 3GB RAM Max. why?
by Doug Hamilton 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

Hello, Just in case any of you were wondering why Apple's new 64-bit Core 2 Duo MacBook-Pro and iMac products are limited to 3GB of RAM (1GB + 2GB) instead of a seemingly more normal 4GB maximum (2GB + 2GB) here is the technical answer: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20061027080510835 In the article above, they make the following insightful comment. "This is not a Mac-specific issue, and it calls into question the claims some other manufacturers are making about 945PM chipset-based models being able to accept 4 GB of RAM. For example, HP's Compaq NC8430 makes use of the Intel 945PM chipset, and claims a maximum of 4 GB RAM with no caveats listed." Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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MacBook Pro now updates to Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
by Doug Hamilton 24 Oct '06

24 Oct '06

Hello, Thought that the group would like to know that this morning Apple upgraded their MacBook Pro products to Core 2 Duo. http://www.apple.com/ca/macbookpro/ Please note that this does NOT include the MacBook product line. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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BOOTCAMP: fyi - VISTA licencing and virtualization
by billing 23 Oct '06

23 Oct '06

...from: http://forum.hardmac.com/index.php?showtopic=159&st=0&p=917&#entry917 and http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2164 It seems that, when Microsoft's new OS - VISTA - ships, only the premium versions (there are 4 all together: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate) are authorized to run in a virtual environment. The Software Licence Terms for VISTA that Microsoft has published at: http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Home% 20Basic_English_6d3e0409-7a2c-4239-b850-d41210b71b13.pdf ...state that "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system" for both MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME BASIC and MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM. Wheres the wording for MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE indicates that " You may use " ULTIMATE in a virtual environment. Wayne

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