Well pigs can fly and Satan is wearing a parka. Apple dropped a huge bomb shell today when it released the Public Beta of Boot Camp for Intel Macs. We now have official support from Apple for running Windows XP. Boot Camp burns a CD with all the Mac-specific drivers for Windows including Graphics, Networking, Audio, AirPort wireless, Bluetooth, The Eject key (on Apple keyboards), Brightness control for built-in displays. It also offers a startup disk control panel for Windows. To run it you will need an Intel Based Mac running OS 10.4.6, the latest firmware update, 10GB of free disk space, a blank CD and a copy of Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional. The software is available now, but will also be included in the upcoming Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. I am sure we will see a nice little surge in Intel based Mac sales too. Nice job Apple.

Update: I just placed an order for an Intel Mac Mini so I can do a review of Boot Camp. If anyone would like to donate (Use PayPal link on right-hand side.) to the show to help offset some of the cost I would appreciate it :)

Fund status: $498.00 (USD) out of $599.00

Update #2: Looks like there is now a virtualization product called Parallels that will eliminate the need for dual-booting. Once I have the Mini I should be able to install and test this method too. We will compare how each performs.

Well that didn’t take long. Here is probably the first report of a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on an Intel Mac using the new Boot Camp. Stay tuned for Viruses, Trojans and Spyware. Oh my!

In case you missed it, David Spade has a show over on Comedy Central called the Showbiz Show. On a recent episode he took aim at Apple’s iPod and our obsession with it. Not exactly a glowing endorsement for the iPod, but some pretty funny stuff. Check it out (sorry it’s in Windows Media format, of course).

Looks like the episode this clip is from is also available for purchase on

Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060401.mp3 [14.8mb 00:32:11 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 129. Apple Computer vs. Apple Corps. Round 3. iPod Update adds ability to set volume limits. New iTunes content, “Scrubs” and Season Pass buying options. Some big execs leaving Apple in March. FinalCut Studio Universal now shipping. OS X/Safari flaw results in the “image of death”. Follow-up on Motorola RAZR V3 Mac support. For Mac cellphone help check out MacNCell.com. Why can’t you watch videos with AirTunes audio? Help save the Daily Breakfast.

UPDATE: I just found out that the news of Fr. Roderick’s podcast being shut down by his Bishop was a horribly bad April Fools joke. Sorry. Please no one needs to send him any email.

New music, Freddie Goodtime by Jane Lui

Promo from The Downs FM

When the apocalypse comes… beep me.

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Congrats Apple! Thanks for 30 great years. And for those who don’t know, that “other” guy is Ronald Wayne, Apple’s 3rd founder.

(oh yeah, that’s why I can’t stand windows)
Every once in a while I hear Adam comment on Windows on the show. I’m also a Windows user/programmer at work, Mac user at home. Because I’m a pretty advanced computer user my PC rarely experiences any of the problems that Windows is known for. I don’t ever get viruses or worms, and I know how to keep things running pretty efficiently. That doesn’t mean I enjoy using windows, it just means that I can tolerate it while at work.

However I had a rude re-awakening the other day when I was asked to assist a family I know whose PC was “popping up black windows” everywhere. I have worked on their computer before and had to do a near-resurrection on it. Installing anti-virus, anti-spyware, removing administrator privileges etc…. And I had their computer running almost like new. That plus the addition of broadband internet service to make updates easier for them, lulled me into a state of ignorance, thinking that I was safe.

Well, I don’t even know how, but this time the computer was in worse shape then it was before. Every single toolbar, search assistant, online coupon, spyware product known to man was infesting their 700MHz Celeron PC. As I sat down to work on it, I thought to myself “Ah…yes, this is why I love my Mac”.

I think it’s easy to forget, as an advanced computer user, that the differences between Macs and PCs are much different when you don’t know what you’re doing. Advanced users can probably get done what they need to do on either because they know how to safely use a PC without messing it up. But to the average user, a PC is like walking through Central Park with $100 bills sticking out of your pockets. The entire world seems ready to mug you, and it’s entirely too easy to render your computer unusable. Unfortunately I think a lot of people just give up and use their computers less because of this. They don’t even know that it’s possible to have a computer that works with you instead of against you.

Ragtime (Free, Public BETA)

Based upon the paradigm of opendoc containers there is a long time player RAGTIME. Starting as a Mac only program it now is available for Mac and Windows alike. Version 6 is right now in (public) beta-testing. Ragtime 5.6 private is free
for anyone to use, within the limits of the free license.

What is RagTime?
First of all it is based upon the opendoc (CORBA) paradigm, meaning all files are containers whose content depends upon the program that acts upon it. In short RagTime is the complete office suite in one program, or the AppleWorks program for that matter but with qualities to stylesetting more compatible to QuarkXpress. To create a document you have to create a frame of a certain dimension and assign a content to it. Afterward you can manipulate the frame and the content as wanted, or even create a frame from a collection of line and bezier tools. Just do not forget to – after closing a frame up so it has one boundary – assign a content to it. Each file belongs in a so called container, each container can contain information of a particular nature: text/drawing/bitmaps/spreadsheet/movie/sound et-cetera.

RagTime completely supports AppleScript, there is a somewhat minute version on the windows platform but they will have to do with what that is. Ragtime also has built in scriptability so you can define on a frame a button to start certain actions, or connect to some remote ODBC-database. One press on a menu-item provides you with a presentation of your screen without ever leaving the program. Did I mention RagTime was the first program to allow you multiple languages on a single paragraph? Or different letter- directions for that matter? Left-right/right-left-bottom right-
top left. It will be supported. You like to rotate frames to create one A4 or a letter page two half size pages? Create the frames and rotate them and place them specifically with a precision to .01 inch and cm, and 0.01 degree in rotation. The best feature for creative people is the possibility to create a frame consisting of several bezier curves and close them, afterwards changing their shape to your liking and then making them contain a certain content: text/picture or what else you would like. It makes for nice decorative uses, and just your own imagination is the limiting part there. In short for a free program, this is a very well designed all in
one information processor. For a paid solution it gives you the best between word and quark, no more hassle to place a picture at a certain position, it is there and stays there and you can tell your text what to do: flow around it or skip below it. In short it starts to deliver where word stops and quark seems needed.

There is a really cool web site on Apple.com that a listener turned me on to and I can’t believe I had never seen it before. The Apple Student Gallery site features animations, films, photos and music from students around the world. Any student can submit their material for inclusion and I can’t believe this site is not more well known. The site offers the ability to rate the content and share it with others and some of the stuff on there is really interesting. If you have a moment and want to see what the youth of the world is up to on their Macs, I would encourage you to check it out.

Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060326.mp3 [17.6mb 00:38:30 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 128. Windows Vista delayed until 2007. Rumor of Virtualization technology in Leopard. US supports Apple in French DRM ruling. Adobe CEO reveals dates for Studio CS 3. Windows XP on Mac review and XP on Mac benchmarking. Warning on using Migration Assistant with Intel Macs. Question about Motorola RAZR V3 support in OS X and the longevity of software for PowerPC Macs. Airport Extreme Card antenna connector issue. Tip to securely empty the trash. Question on iTunes video playback performance vs. Quicktime.

New music, Tangerienes & Cigerettes by The Society of Rockets

Eh, what’s up Doc?

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Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060321.mp3 [21.1mb 00:46:06 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 127. Windows XP Boots on Intel Mac. User reports “torched” MacBook Pro MagSafe connector and reports of strange noises from MacBook Pros. First “full length” movie surfaces on iTunes. Apple posts new non-silhouette iPod Ad. NCAA Tournament on iTunes. Mac “rumors” roundup. XP on Mac, do we want it? Do we need it? Follow-up on Apples new India support facility. Tips on keeping up with software updates.

New music, Already Leaving by Tempus

Promos from The 7th Son Podcast Novel and GarageMac PodcastGarageMac Podcast

It seems to me the only thing you’ve learned is that Caesar is a “salad dressing dude.”

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