January 17, 2006
Intel Ad a clone?
Some astute viewers have noticed that the new Intel ad from Apple looks very similar to a music video from the Postal Service. Watch them side by side and judge for yourself.
Posted by mcneal at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
UM Grants.gov Mac Information
UM's Division of Research Development and Administration ( DDRA ) has posted information on accessing grants.gov via your mac.
Posted by mcneal at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
UM Sophos Anti-Virus installer ready for testing
From Janet Eaton:
ITCS invites those of you with Macintosh computers to try out Sophos Anti-Virus for Macintosh. We expect to begin announcing it to the entire U-M community within the next week or so.Please review the documentation and then install and set up the software on your Macintosh computer. Instructions for downloading the software are provided in the documentation. Let us know if you encounter any difficulties or if the documentation needs any changes.
Posted by mcneal at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2006
Washingtonpost.com exploring Apple patching speed?
Brian Krebs, a reporter for Washingtonpost.com, sent out a request to the kerberos@mit.edu mailing list asking for "the exact dates" that some security issues were reported to Apple.
Brian authored a "longitudinal study of of Redmond's patch process to see whether the company was indeed getting more nimble at fixing security problems" and my guess he's about to do the same thing with Apple.
It will be interesting to see if he's touches on the issues of distributing open-source software as a commercial release.
Posted by mcneal at 01:47 PM | Comments (1)
WorkPerfect files on OS X
Corel's old WordPerfect 3.5e was one of the last reasons I kept Classic around on my machine. I've recently discovered that the free NeoOffice/J application does a great job of handling WordPerfect documents in OS X, complete with footnotes and other embellishments.
Posted by laustin at 01:04 PM | Comments (3)
Imaging update
On the MacEnterprise list, Eric Zelenka has given a couple of clarifications about imaging the new Intel hardware.
- Apple "plan[s] to make [OS X] Universal in the future. Unfortunately you have to use two separate images for now."
- "Mac OS X Server v10.4.4 supports multiple "default" images, one for each architecture (PowerPC or Intel). So it is possible for a PowerPC system to hold down 'N' and you'll get one image, and on an Intel system you'll get a different image."
Posted by mcneal at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2006
Microsoft halts development of Windows Media Player for the Mac
CNET News is reporting that Microsoft is no longer developing Windows Media Player for OS X. As an alternative, they are directing users to Flip4Mac, a free plug-in for QuickTime Player.
The current version of Media Player will remain available for download.
Posted by mcneal at 09:02 AM | Comments (1)
Garmin GPS Products For Mac OS X
According to MacSlash, Garmin has announced that it will be making its GPS units compatible with OS X 10.4.
Posted by mcneal at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2006
NetBoot-ing/NetInstall-ing Intel-baded Macs
Eric Zelenka, Sr. Product Line Manager, Server & Storage Software Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple Computer, via the MacEnterprise Mailinglist:
The new Intel-based Macs use a next generation pre-boot technology developed by Intel called EFI. EFI provides a superior booting experience and includes features such as a larger ROM, richer graphics support, full IP stack, dynamic boot volume picker, quicker startup times and even some cool feature such as the ability to an Apple Remote to remotely control boot options.One of the benefits of EFI is dramatically faster boot times for NetBoot systems. Our internal tests show that in most situations booting of an Intel-based Mac is 2-3 times faster than the older Open Firmware-based systems.
To NetBoot or NetInstall an Intel-based Mac you need to deploy Mac OS X Server v10.4.4. Mac OS X Server v10.4.4 includes an updated System Image Utility for creating NetBoot and NetInstall images of Intel-based Macs. Separate disk images are required for PowerPC-based Macintosh computers and Intel-based Macintosh computers.
Posted by mcneal at 10:30 AM | Comments (1)
TSM on 10.4
In October 2005, IBM released a new TSM client for the Mac that supports 10.4. The client only works with Tivoli Storage Manager server Version 5.2.2 and above. ( ITCS is currently running TSM server 5.2.2 ).
Some new features of this version include:
- The Tivoli Storage Manager Macintosh Client now uses UNIX file paths for options, schedules, and file system names on the Tivoli Storage Manager server.
- The Tivoli Storage Manager Macintosh client can back up and restore Extended Attribute data.
More details can be found in the readme.
Posted by mcneal at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)