The great Mac boot debate

Will Intel Macs boot Windows XP?

New Intel Mac don't have a BIOS, but use the newer Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) boot manager. Which some say will not work in XP.

Intels Australian office says that motherboards using the Intel 945 chipset (which is assumed to be used in the new MacBooks, support EFI and can boot XP.)

The guys at ArsTechnica were unsuccessful in getting a 17" CoreDuo iMac to boot the Windows Xp or Windows Vista installers.

arstechnica.com - iMac CoreDuo Review

Windows Vista will have support for EFI

One guy claims to have figured out how to get into the EFI on the Mac

Accessing iMac EFI

Claims problem with supporting Vista is that there is no support for UDF or El Torito volumes. It seems only GPT (GUID partition table) and APM (Apple Partition Map?) is supported.

OpenOSX claims they are achieving "nearly native" performance on Intel Macs with OpenOSX WinTel 2.0 - a PC emulator.

Microsoft says they will work with Apple to develop and Intel based version of PowerPC for the Mac

MIcrosoft halts Media Player Development for OS X

When were they actively developing it? We have been stuck with version 9 since 2003

Media Player 9 for OS X will still be available for download.

Their site now also links to the free Filp4Mac for OS X. Filp4Mac enables WindowsMedia playback in QuickTime.

Flip4Mac

I have not had much success with Filp4Mac in the past.

Hidden Message tells hackers, "Don't steal OS X".

The new version of OS 10.4.4 for Intel contains a file called 'Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext'.

/System/Library/Extensions/Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext

inside the file it says:

--------------------------------------------------

<key>_name</key>
<string>Dont Steal Mac OS X</string>
[...]
<string>Copyright (c) 2006 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.

<string>The purpose of this Apple software is to protect Apple copyrighted
materials from unauthorized copying and use. You may not copy, modify,
reverse engineer, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense,
transfer or redistribute this file, in whole or in part. If you have
obtained a copy of this Apple software and do not have a valid license
from Apple Computer to use it, please immediately destroy or delete it
from your computer.</string>

--------------------------------------------------

Jobs suggests reflection on Michael Dells 1997 statement

In 1997 after Jobs return to Apple Michael Dell was asked what he would do to "fix" Apple. He responded by saying, ""I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

Last week after Apples market capitalization went to $72.13 billion, passing Dell's value of $71.97 billion, Steve Jobs sent an email to employees offering a retrospective response.

"Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve."

Mac Sales subdued in 4th Quarter, but profits still up.

Apple sold 1.25 million Macs in the 4th quarter, just a 1 percent increase over the previous quarter. Plus they had an extra 14th week.

Many people were waiting for the Intel Macs

Despite the slow unit sales, Apple still posted the highest revenue and earnings in Company history.

Revenue of US$5.75 billion and a net quarterly profit of $565 million

According to COO Tim Cook, Apple will likely not be able to meet demand for the MacBook Pro.

In a statement Jobs said, "We are working on more wonderful products for 2006, and I can't wait to see what our customers think of them"

Many rumors expect more new announcements soon. Possibly on or before Apples 30th anniversary on April 1st.

Apple yields to Mini Store pressure and adds warning

Apple made an update to the store and now the Mini Store displays a message and confirmation before it is activated for the first time.

There are still many critics who wonder if even turning it off will stop the flow of information.

Apple/Sony BMG real a deal for iTunes Australia

iTunes Australia has finally reached an agreement to sell Sony BMG music.

Apple to only sell Pro apps via Bundle

Apple planned to no longer offer Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, or Motion as standalone products.

Final Cut Studio Universal (Universal) and Final Cut Studio 1.1 (PowerPC) will be the only option at $1300. Beginning in March.

Owners of DVD Studio Pro, Motion, or Soundtrack Pro will be eligible to upgrade $200. Owners of Final Cut Pro 5 can upgrade for $100.

Owners of the current suite can "cross-grade" to the Universal version for $50

Apple opening second Canadian retail store

Eaton Center in Toronto is going to be the new home of an Apple retail store

Post MacWorld TidBits

Intel Macs are FAST. Especially in boot times and when running native apps. Rosetta seems to be OK for most apps. Photoshop takes a good performance hit, but is useable. FinalCut, Logic don't even try it.

Intel iMac boot times seem to be in the 20 sec range on average. Smoking.

Intel Macs DO NOT support Classic.

Intel Macs include support for 802.11a as well as b and g.

New iMac also appear to be quieter, with less fan noise.

There is a iMac disassembly with gory picts because they are from the front. The Intel processor is in a socket (possible upgrading?)

Intel iMac Disassembly

iSuppli has done a cost breakdown of the components in the new iMac and estimates Apples build of materials (BOM) cost at about $900 with the processor running $265

Meanwhile many listeners report that iMac prices have not stayed the same in all countries

In the UK the G5 is £899 and the Intel £929.

It is the same price in France, but different prices in Japan

MacBook Pros reportedly still get VERY hot.

iLife and iWork in new mini packaging. Apple stores are going to redo shelves.

Josh points out a $9.95 iLife up to Date program if you purchased in new Mac since January 10th. The program ends on March 31, 2006.

iLife Up-to-Date

GarageBand iChat recording works kind of. Sound in iChat needs to be improved. Also, if you crash during a recording you still lose everything.

iPhoto is crashing on me sometimes. Also if you rotate a photo and email it it doesn't maintain the rotate.

iPhoto camera import now does not seem to look for duplicates. It used to ask and now it just imports.

iPhoto can subscribe to "other" RSS feeds. Flickr at least.

iTunes now offers direct iPod video conversion. Select video, right+click and choose 'Convert selection for iPod'

ITunes now allows you to set individual podcasts to be protected from auto deletion. Right+Click and choose "Do not auto delete".

iTunes sharing now supports videos.

iTunes now supports sending audio to multiple Airport Express base stations (latest Airport firmware required)

Airfoil 2 from Rouge Amoeba also added this functionality, plus it supports audio from all sources on your Mac

http://www.rougeamoeba.com/

iWeb is super easy. Very little customization. Adds new and ugly URLs (web.mac.com).

http://web.mac.com/username/iWeb/Site/

iWeb stuff does not show up in your .Mac admin? Does this mean Apple will offer free iWeb hosting?

The reason the new Apple ad resembles the Postal Service music video is they were done by the same director.

Subscribing to Photocasts from Windows

Play question from Jim

There are some complaints about the RSS that is being generated. Dave Winer, the father of RSS, has commented on the errors

When I ran a test feed through feedvalidator.org, it returned 7 errors.

There seems to be some tricks you can do to make it work:

Change the photocast.mac.com to web.mac.com to avoid check.

Run the resulting feed URL through Feedburner and then use that URL from Windows.

www.feedburner.com

Try Mozilla Thunderbird:

www.mozilla.org

1. Create a New Account (RSS News & Blogs).

2. Enter Account Name (whatever you want to call it).

3. Click Finish.

4. Click on the account in the left hand menu, select manage subscriptions on the right.

5. Click Add and subscribe to an rss feed using the web.mac.com convention.

6. If you are using a username and password, you will be prompted to enter it.

7. Now when you launch thunderbird any posts to the feed will show up.

How to move Podcast subscriptions between computers in iTunes

Listener Robert wanted to know if this was possible in iTunes

1) In iTunes, Command+Click (Right+Click) the Podcast Library (in the left column). Then choose Export Song List...

2) Change the format to OPML and then name and export that file.

3) Transfer the resulting OPML file to the other system.

4) In iTunes on the new system choose File-->Import and select the OPML file. Now iTunes will ask you to confirm adding the subscriptions.

Review Logitech Stereo USB Headset 250

Play review from Daniel

Logitech Stereo USB Headset 250 ($39.99 USD)

Logitech Stereo USB Headset 250

Another Uninstaller, Yank.

Yank 1.0 from Matterform

Yank Uninstaller - matterform.com—index.php

Alternative to AppZapper. I like AppZapper, but some complain it leaves some items behind. It is more than a Spotlight search.

www.appzapper.com

This one monitors what you install and take notes of what was changed.

If you have something installed previously they have a web service where users can upload and download "Yank files" for different apps.

Video playback issues after iPod 1.1 update

I am seeing many reports and have experienced them myself

Seems to effect "home" encoded video and podcasts, but not Apple purchased video

Won't play or drops out video and audio continues to play.

So far only fix is to revert using the CD that came with your iPod or get the iPod 2005-11-17 updater

iPod 2005-11-17 Updater

Backlight issue may be a feature, not a bug.

Auto word completion "feature" solved

Listener Daniel discovered the reason why pressing Apple + . in the text fields of some Apps will enable a word auto complete dropdown.

"I've had a quick look and tracked it to a method from NSTextView
class called – complete:. In the documentation it say to invoke
complete you need to press F5 key and sure enough that has the same
effect as apple + . !"

Interestingly the feature only works with a blank NSTextView object which is why it won't work if you paste the text or if reply to an email.