Very nice illustrated tutorial of how disk images work!
Hey guys, are .aiff's considered to be a Mac file format? I think they are. (They're a sound file by the by)
they certainly dont seem as popular on pcs. pcs are more likely to use .wav files (which isnt exactly the same as an aiff, but they are both huge audio files). i used to think the 'a' stood for 'apple', apparently its 'audio' or something lame like that.
Short for Audio Interchange File Format, a common format for storing and transmitting sampled sound. The format was developed by Apple Computer and is the standard audio format for Macintosh computers. It is also used by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI).
AIFF files generally end with a .AIF or .IEF extension.
The AIFF format does not support data compression so AIFF files tend to be large. However, there is another format called AIFF-Compressed (AIFF-C or AIFC) that supports compression ratios as high as 6:1.
.dmg seems much more complicated... I used it a couple of times on the Mac we have at work... and I was kinda annoyed its so complicated. Even tar.gz is easier to use when I'm in BSD... They should have stuck with something more accepted like iso, bin/cue, mds, or tar.gz
.dmg seems much more complicated... I used it a couple of times on the Mac we have at work... and I was kinda annoyed its so complicated. Even tar.gz is easier to use when I'm in BSD... They should have stuck with something more accepted like iso, bin/cue, mds, or tar.gz
When you stick a CD into a Mac, the raw tracks appear as AIFFs. But if AIFF is a Mac file format, does that mean the tracks appear as some other format (like WAV) if you stick the same CD into a Win box? I always thought AIFF was the universal standard for uncompressed digital music, but I've never ripped onto a PC.
What's any different between that and opening an archive?
You double-click, it appears.
Is that really that confusing?
Maybe it's not confusing to seasoned Mac OS X users such as ourselves, but there are extra steps here and I can imagine them being confusing ones.
The DMG mounts another icon on the desktop (or at the Computer level or in the Finder sidebar). How many Windows users know what a disk image is? How many novice computer users in general? Not many, I suspect.
I'm a new user and I download five programs from MacUpdate in DMG format. Not only do I have five DMG files on the Desktop, I now also have five new drive icons. Clutter alert! I manage to figure out that the new icons correspond to what I downloaded; so, I trash the DMG files, thinking they're like ZIPs and that I don't need them any more now that they've been expanded. Being a new Mac OS X user, I don't know how disk images work. I run the programs from the DMGs, thinking they act like regular folders since, again, I've never seen anything else like them before. The next time I log out or reboot, my programs' folders are gone! All of them! Now I have to download them again. What happened?!
I can imagine several other scenarios where DMGs can be confusing. Disk images, by far, are probably one of the more confusing items to new Mac OS X users, especially if they don't have an experienced user to hand-hold them and explain what everything does.
I had sorta the same thing happen to me when I downloaded Firebird to the Mac at work. It can be quite confusing at first even to a seasoned computer user, since no other OS does it like that.
Hurm - I guess my usual litmus test of user understanding (dear ol' "I know I've had a Mac for six years, but I need to buy more RAM because it says my disk is full" Mom) failed in this case - she didn't blink an eye at disk images. "Oh, it's like a disk." "Yup!" "Neat. I suppose I need to hang onto that file though, huh?" "Yup!" "Okay, thanks."
Well, I mean to a new user to computers, disk images would make more sense then to someone who has used rars, zips, and tars. I assumed before I used OSX that it would use stanard Unix tar.gz
Thats why for me and others something are sorta confusing when getting used to OSX
When you stick a CD into a Mac, the raw tracks appear as AIFFs. But if AIFF is a Mac file format, does that mean the tracks appear as some other format (like WAV) if you stick the same CD into a Win box? I always thought AIFF was the universal standard for uncompressed digital music, but I've never ripped onto a PC.
I've seen audio CDs on my Windows box have the .cda extension, but that wasn't always the case IIRC. I thought AIFF stood for Audio Industry File Format or something like that, not a n Apple format. NeXT's default audio format was AIFF. I thought Macs used something else for a time. My memory fades...
Good lord. Why cant I just download soemthing to the desktop and drag it over to the hard drive or folder and be done with it? Throw out the .zip file and thats it.
Why couldnt Apple do it the easy way, or can it not be done in unix?
Im going into OSX full bore and right now Im not a happy camper. Im just glad i got my imac for free.
Ill keep plugging away, but OS9 required very little effort to learn. I know, I know, its gone get over it, but this DMG crap on top of the GUI inconsistencies is odd for Apple.
love the .dmg, open the disk image, drag the application to the applications folder which is in the same window BTW, and drop it. it is so easy a stupid ape could figure it out.
Hasn't Apple always used disk images? In OS 9 they looked like floppy disks.
And count me on the list of those who love .dmg's.
In OS9, you downloaded a zip file, double clicked on it and there was the app, ready to be dragged wherever you want. Trash the zip file and that was that.
From what I have learned here there is the extra step of dragging the app out of the virtual hard disk. Doesnt make much sense to me, but neither does the popularity of Tom Cruise.
In OS9, you downloaded a zip file, double clicked on it and there was the app, ready to be dragged wherever you want. Trash the zip file and that was that.
From what I have learned here there is the extra step of dragging the app out of the virtual hard disk.
You're confused. Not all software for OS X is delivered in a DMG file. Not all OS 9 software wasn't delivered in a DMG file. The downloading and installing of software for both systems is exactly the same, it's just that the delivery method use now is more often than not a DMG file.
If you download a 'zip' file, things work just like you're used to. If in OS 9 you download a DMG file, things will work just like they're working in OS X.
This isn't an OS 9 vs. OS X fight you're waging, it's a zip vs. DMG battle. You prefer zip files and how they act. That's completely separate from the operating system. The question you should be asking is why do software developers now distribute their software in DMG files instead of zip files.
I can imagine Apple didn't like their users having to constantly upgrade their 'unzip' software and getting spammed with offers for pay software in the process. That's very windows-ish and un-Mac like.
I have a question. I consider myself reasonably intelligent, how would someone know to take the app out of that HD image before trashing the .dmg? And how would anyone instinctively know that they had to take the image out of that icon? It seems odd to me, but what it is is what it be I guess.
At least I know what to do now thanks to you guys. I appreciate all the info.
Quote:
Originally posted by bunge
You're confused. Not all software for OS X is delivered in a DMG file. Not all OS 9 software wasn't delivered in a DMG file. The downloading and installing of software for both systems is exactly the same, it's just that the delivery method use now is more often than not a DMG file.
If you download a 'zip' file, things work just like you're used to. If in OS 9 you download a DMG file, things will work just like they're working in OS X.
This isn't an OS 9 vs. OS X fight you're waging, it's a zip vs. DMG battle. You prefer zip files and how they act. That's completely separate from the operating system. The question you should be asking is why do software developers now distribute their software in DMG files instead of zip files.
I can imagine Apple didn't like their users having to constantly upgrade their 'unzip' software and getting spammed with offers for pay software in the process. That's very windows-ish and un-Mac like.
Well, Apple has 3 (really 4) recommendations for this issue:
1. The Read Me file should say as much.
2. For self-contained applications, Apple encourages the developer to use a custom background that directs the user. Most of my apps have a custom background/scene that the application icon its in, and a little note in the background picture about dropping the application into your Apps folder and/or hard drive. They should also have the Read Me, and sometimes a couple of goodies (samples, tutorials, etc.) in the scene too.
3. For apps that install files outside the application bundle itself, it will direct the user to choose the place to install the app. This option is often abused by the big developers who throw associated app folders where they don't belong: the main Library folder, the user's Documents folder, etc.
The fourth is that Software Update will install programs to the Applications folder automatically. But that's really outside the issue.
Comments
Originally posted by drewprops
Very nice illustrated tutorial of how disk images work!
Hey guys, are .aiff's considered to be a Mac file format? I think they are. (They're a sound file by the by)
they certainly dont seem as popular on pcs. pcs are more likely to use .wav files (which isnt exactly the same as an aiff, but they are both huge audio files). i used to think the 'a' stood for 'apple', apparently its 'audio' or something lame like that.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/AIFF.html
Short for Audio Interchange File Format, a common format for storing and transmitting sampled sound. The format was developed by Apple Computer and is the standard audio format for Macintosh computers. It is also used by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI).
AIFF files generally end with a .AIF or .IEF extension.
The AIFF format does not support data compression so AIFF files tend to be large. However, there is another format called AIFF-Compressed (AIFF-C or AIFC) that supports compression ratios as high as 6:1.
Just personal opinion.
Originally posted by scavanger
.dmg seems much more complicated... I used it a couple of times on the Mac we have at work... and I was kinda annoyed its so complicated. Even tar.gz is easier to use when I'm in BSD... They should have stuck with something more accepted like iso, bin/cue, mds, or tar.gz
Just personal opinion.
What do you find complicated about them?
You double-click, it appears.
Is that really that confusing?
Originally posted by MCQ
Assuming Webopedia is correct, it is a Mac file format.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/AIFF.html
When you stick a CD into a Mac, the raw tracks appear as AIFFs. But if AIFF is a Mac file format, does that mean the tracks appear as some other format (like WAV) if you stick the same CD into a Win box? I always thought AIFF was the universal standard for uncompressed digital music, but I've never ripped onto a PC.
Originally posted by Kickaha
What's any different between that and opening an archive?
You double-click, it appears.
Is that really that confusing?
Maybe it's not confusing to seasoned Mac OS X users such as ourselves, but there are extra steps here and I can imagine them being confusing ones.
The DMG mounts another icon on the desktop (or at the Computer level or in the Finder sidebar). How many Windows users know what a disk image is? How many novice computer users in general? Not many, I suspect.
I'm a new user and I download five programs from MacUpdate in DMG format. Not only do I have five DMG files on the Desktop, I now also have five new drive icons. Clutter alert! I manage to figure out that the new icons correspond to what I downloaded; so, I trash the DMG files, thinking they're like ZIPs and that I don't need them any more now that they've been expanded. Being a new Mac OS X user, I don't know how disk images work. I run the programs from the DMGs, thinking they act like regular folders since, again, I've never seen anything else like them before. The next time I log out or reboot, my programs' folders are gone! All of them! Now I have to download them again. What happened?!
I can imagine several other scenarios where DMGs can be confusing. Disk images, by far, are probably one of the more confusing items to new Mac OS X users, especially if they don't have an experienced user to hand-hold them and explain what everything does.
Thats why for me and others something are sorta confusing when getting used to OSX
Originally posted by Towel
When you stick a CD into a Mac, the raw tracks appear as AIFFs. But if AIFF is a Mac file format, does that mean the tracks appear as some other format (like WAV) if you stick the same CD into a Win box? I always thought AIFF was the universal standard for uncompressed digital music, but I've never ripped onto a PC.
I've seen audio CDs on my Windows box have the .cda extension, but that wasn't always the case IIRC. I thought AIFF stood for Audio Industry File Format or something like that, not a n Apple format. NeXT's default audio format was AIFF. I thought Macs used something else for a time. My memory fades...
Why couldnt Apple do it the easy way, or can it not be done in unix?
Im going into OSX full bore and right now Im not a happy camper. Im just glad i got my imac for free.
Ill keep plugging away, but OS9 required very little effort to learn. I know, I know, its gone get over it, but this DMG crap on top of the GUI inconsistencies is odd for Apple.
And count me on the list of those who love .dmg's.
Originally posted by k squared
Hasn't Apple always used disk images? In OS 9 they looked like floppy disks.
And count me on the list of those who love .dmg's.
In OS9, you downloaded a zip file, double clicked on it and there was the app, ready to be dragged wherever you want. Trash the zip file and that was that.
From what I have learned here there is the extra step of dragging the app out of the virtual hard disk. Doesnt make much sense to me, but neither does the popularity of Tom Cruise.
Originally posted by steve666
In OS9, you downloaded a zip file, double clicked on it and there was the app, ready to be dragged wherever you want. Trash the zip file and that was that.
From what I have learned here there is the extra step of dragging the app out of the virtual hard disk.
You're confused. Not all software for OS X is delivered in a DMG file. Not all OS 9 software wasn't delivered in a DMG file. The downloading and installing of software for both systems is exactly the same, it's just that the delivery method use now is more often than not a DMG file.
If you download a 'zip' file, things work just like you're used to. If in OS 9 you download a DMG file, things will work just like they're working in OS X.
This isn't an OS 9 vs. OS X fight you're waging, it's a zip vs. DMG battle. You prefer zip files and how they act. That's completely separate from the operating system. The question you should be asking is why do software developers now distribute their software in DMG files instead of zip files.
I can imagine Apple didn't like their users having to constantly upgrade their 'unzip' software and getting spammed with offers for pay software in the process. That's very windows-ish and un-Mac like.
At least I know what to do now thanks to you guys. I appreciate all the info.
Originally posted by bunge
You're confused. Not all software for OS X is delivered in a DMG file. Not all OS 9 software wasn't delivered in a DMG file. The downloading and installing of software for both systems is exactly the same, it's just that the delivery method use now is more often than not a DMG file.
If you download a 'zip' file, things work just like you're used to. If in OS 9 you download a DMG file, things will work just like they're working in OS X.
This isn't an OS 9 vs. OS X fight you're waging, it's a zip vs. DMG battle. You prefer zip files and how they act. That's completely separate from the operating system. The question you should be asking is why do software developers now distribute their software in DMG files instead of zip files.
I can imagine Apple didn't like their users having to constantly upgrade their 'unzip' software and getting spammed with offers for pay software in the process. That's very windows-ish and un-Mac like.
1. The Read Me file should say as much.
2. For self-contained applications, Apple encourages the developer to use a custom background that directs the user. Most of my apps have a custom background/scene that the application icon its in, and a little note in the background picture about dropping the application into your Apps folder and/or hard drive. They should also have the Read Me, and sometimes a couple of goodies (samples, tutorials, etc.) in the scene too.
3. For apps that install files outside the application bundle itself, it will direct the user to choose the place to install the app. This option is often abused by the big developers who throw associated app folders where they don't belong: the main Library folder, the user's Documents folder, etc.
The fourth is that Software Update will install programs to the Applications folder automatically. But that's really outside the issue.