Hey, look, fellas. Why can't we users be systematic about this Tiger release? Apple lists 200+ new features in Tiger, and I don't doubt there are dozens of good ones, dozens of ho-hums, and a large number that will be of interest to some of us, not to all of us.
Instead of skipping around with whatever each of us looked at yesterday, why not assign an official thread to each one of them. Let the enthusiasts praise them, the nit-pickers belittle them, and we all learn together?
Unless we do something like that, we are going to end up like Photoshop, with seven hundred instructions that are too much for anyone to master.
I'm beginning the project (for myself) with the first one on the list --Auto-Update LDAP Cards. I assigned it to my secretary to find out what in the world is LDAP, what's a good one and what's a bad one, how hard is it to use, what's the value of auto-update, etc etc. I gave her the list of members of a club I belong to and told her to try it out. If it works, I'll tell everybody, and if it doesn't, my public comments will be restrained. On to the next one, 240 to go.
Time to quit whining that the lowest end computer of the lineup has less hardware acceleration than the faster machines.
Well, you know, someone asked why people were concerned about the lack of an apparently irrelevant piece of eye candy on the Mac mini. I had second throughts about posting, because I had been told that Mac users tended to be kind of like sportscar drivers, with a bit of an attitude about less worthy "toys"... but I hadn't seen a lot of it before, even when my Mac was a Beige G3 and all the "big boys" had G4s, so I didn't actually expect to run into it just for explaining a point of view.
As for the margins on the mini, there's nothing in it that's particularly unusual: it's basically a stripped down iBook in a desktop case.
Quote:
If I am not mistaken, the end result is supposed to be the same whether something gets done in software or in hardware.
Apparently not, or there wouldn't be a difference in the behaviour of Dashboard on the mini. Now, as I said, this is a relatively minor effect... but it's clearly not "the same result". What else is going to depend on advanced GPU features, down the road?
You can control-click or right-click on preference panes to remove them from the system preferences.
I think Apple needs to create a tour telling people about these niceties - .Mac tutorials aren't enough.
Yeah...Seriously. They need:
Apple Guides
Balloons
Hints. Remember those? Finder hints? I learned all the keyboard shortcuts and a bunch of other cool things in this little gem, in the Help Menu of System 7. This is one area OS X took a HUGE step back in. Help, and teaching new users how to use Macs. I mean if they are keeping the one button mouse around for newbies, how about...a tutorial Help system? HTML Help is only for reference, in other words, people that know what they're looking for. And it can't circle things on the screen, etc.
2. It doesn't work in Safari. According to Stumble Upon, it's because Safari doesn't provide something. Unless it's money they mean, I suggest Safari either get with it or supply it's own Stumble Upon (gives you a chance to vote on your reaction; the marketplace soon elevates the good ones above the bad ones)
3. That those of us who are interested in sifting through Tiger form a group, and then our various ideas can be voted up or down.
4. If Safari can't or won't, try Firefox. But be careful, it's very addicting.
2. It doesn't work in Safari. According to Stumble Upon, it's because Safari doesn't provide something. Unless it's money they mean, I suggest Safari either get with it or supply it's own Stumble Upon (gives you a chance to vote on your reaction; the marketplace soon elevates the good ones above the bad ones)
Apparently not, or there wouldn't be a difference in the behaviour of Dashboard on the mini. Now, as I said, this is a relatively minor effect... but it's clearly not "the same result". What else is going to depend on advanced GPU features, down the road?
I am not a Mac coder so I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I don't believe the ripple effect depends on advanced GPU features. CoreImage could do that in software. The issue is that they deliberately turned off the ripple effect when there is no HW acceleration. It could be to prevent slowdown or to sell more computers. However, I recall I coded very similar but fullscreen effects on my 233MHz PII over five years ago, so I also have a hunch on which reason was on top of their mind.
I am not a Mac coder so I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I don't believe the ripple effect depends on advanced GPU features. CoreImage could do that in software. The issue is that they deliberately turned off the ripple effect when there is no HW acceleration. It could be to prevent slowdown or to sell more computers. However, I recall I coded very similar but fullscreen effects on my 233MHz PII over five years ago, so I also have a hunch on which reason was on top of their mind.
Users do not want a ripple effect that uses CPU. That's why they turned it off. Users with a better GPU can appreciate these transitions. I don't think it would encourage many to upgrade - it's the speed of window resizes under Quartz that makes it more appealing.
Users do not want a ripple effect that uses CPU. That's why they turned it off. Users with a better GPU can appreciate these transitions. I don't think it would encourage many to upgrade - it's the speed of window resizes under Quartz that makes it more appealing.
Many users do not know what Quartz is, or that it could affect window resize speed.
If it was about slow machines and users not wanting to put a small amount of processor power to the ripple effect task (momentarily and infrequently - remember where the effect is used), then I would imagine Apple put in a setting to turn the effect on or off, and on slow machines the default would be off.
No, I still believe it's about selling new computers period.
Many users do not know what Quartz is, or that it could affect window resize speed.
If it was about slow machines and users not wanting to put a small amount of processor power to the ripple effect task (momentarily and infrequently - remember where the effect is used), then I would imagine Apple put in a setting to turn the effect on or off, and on slow machines the default would be off.
No, I still believe it's about selling new computers period.
I think Apple turned of Quartz altogether on inadequate GPU machines (a 400MHz G4 with 16MB VRAM supports Quartz Extreme) because they didn't want to slow od computers down further.
Is a pretty transition seriously going to encourage someone to upgrade over speed? Apple has used a lot of space on its website in the past showing the speed increase on an iMac with Panther and then Panther with Quartz. That's what would encourage me to get a better GPU not a ripple or a cube effect.
I agree Apple want to sell more computers - but not with transitions - with speed.
Comments
Instead of skipping around with whatever each of us looked at yesterday, why not assign an official thread to each one of them. Let the enthusiasts praise them, the nit-pickers belittle them, and we all learn together?
Unless we do something like that, we are going to end up like Photoshop, with seven hundred instructions that are too much for anyone to master.
I'm beginning the project (for myself) with the first one on the list --Auto-Update LDAP Cards. I assigned it to my secretary to find out what in the world is LDAP, what's a good one and what's a bad one, how hard is it to use, what's the value of auto-update, etc etc. I gave her the list of members of a club I belong to and told her to try it out. If it works, I'll tell everybody, and if it doesn't, my public comments will be restrained. On to the next one, 240 to go.
Originally posted by Gon
Time to quit whining that the lowest end computer of the lineup has less hardware acceleration than the faster machines.
Well, you know, someone asked why people were concerned about the lack of an apparently irrelevant piece of eye candy on the Mac mini. I had second throughts about posting, because I had been told that Mac users tended to be kind of like sportscar drivers, with a bit of an attitude about less worthy "toys"... but I hadn't seen a lot of it before, even when my Mac was a Beige G3 and all the "big boys" had G4s, so I didn't actually expect to run into it just for explaining a point of view.
As for the margins on the mini, there's nothing in it that's particularly unusual: it's basically a stripped down iBook in a desktop case.
If I am not mistaken, the end result is supposed to be the same whether something gets done in software or in hardware.
Apparently not, or there wouldn't be a difference in the behaviour of Dashboard on the mini. Now, as I said, this is a relatively minor effect... but it's clearly not "the same result". What else is going to depend on advanced GPU features, down the road?
Another cool thing:
You can control-click or right-click on preference panes to remove them from the system preferences.
I think Apple needs to create a tour telling people about these niceties - .Mac tutorials aren't enough.
Yeah...Seriously. They need:
Apple Guides
Balloons
Hints. Remember those? Finder hints? I learned all the keyboard shortcuts and a bunch of other cool things in this little gem, in the Help Menu of System 7. This is one area OS X took a HUGE step back in. Help, and teaching new users how to use Macs. I mean if they are keeping the one button mouse around for newbies, how about...a tutorial Help system? HTML Help is only for reference, in other words, people that know what they're looking for. And it can't circle things on the screen, etc.
1. Everybody try Stumble Upon.
2. It doesn't work in Safari. According to Stumble Upon, it's because Safari doesn't provide something. Unless it's money they mean, I suggest Safari either get with it or supply it's own Stumble Upon (gives you a chance to vote on your reaction; the marketplace soon elevates the good ones above the bad ones)
3. That those of us who are interested in sifting through Tiger form a group, and then our various ideas can be voted up or down.
4. If Safari can't or won't, try Firefox. But be careful, it's very addicting.
Originally posted by Kesh
Here's what impressed me the most: I get nearly an hour more battery life out of my Powerbook with Tiger than I did with Jaguar.
I've noticed this as well - I'm on one of the new PowerBooks and Panther to Tiger is a noticeable improvement on battery and speed.
Originally posted by gfisher
I'd like to suggest:
1. Everybody try Stumble Upon.
2. It doesn't work in Safari. According to Stumble Upon, it's because Safari doesn't provide something. Unless it's money they mean, I suggest Safari either get with it or supply it's own Stumble Upon (gives you a chance to vote on your reaction; the marketplace soon elevates the good ones above the bad ones)
Stumble Upon:
Originally posted by johnq
Stumble Upon:
stumble upon is cool - but slightly distracting.
Originally posted by resuna
Apparently not, or there wouldn't be a difference in the behaviour of Dashboard on the mini. Now, as I said, this is a relatively minor effect... but it's clearly not "the same result". What else is going to depend on advanced GPU features, down the road?
I am not a Mac coder so I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I don't believe the ripple effect depends on advanced GPU features. CoreImage could do that in software. The issue is that they deliberately turned off the ripple effect when there is no HW acceleration. It could be to prevent slowdown or to sell more computers. However, I recall I coded very similar but fullscreen effects on my 233MHz PII over five years ago, so I also have a hunch on which reason was on top of their mind.
Originally posted by Gon
I am not a Mac coder so I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I don't believe the ripple effect depends on advanced GPU features. CoreImage could do that in software. The issue is that they deliberately turned off the ripple effect when there is no HW acceleration. It could be to prevent slowdown or to sell more computers. However, I recall I coded very similar but fullscreen effects on my 233MHz PII over five years ago, so I also have a hunch on which reason was on top of their mind.
Users do not want a ripple effect that uses CPU. That's why they turned it off. Users with a better GPU can appreciate these transitions. I don't think it would encourage many to upgrade - it's the speed of window resizes under Quartz that makes it more appealing.
Originally posted by MacCrazy
Users do not want a ripple effect that uses CPU. That's why they turned it off. Users with a better GPU can appreciate these transitions. I don't think it would encourage many to upgrade - it's the speed of window resizes under Quartz that makes it more appealing.
Many users do not know what Quartz is, or that it could affect window resize speed.
If it was about slow machines and users not wanting to put a small amount of processor power to the ripple effect task (momentarily and infrequently - remember where the effect is used), then I would imagine Apple put in a setting to turn the effect on or off, and on slow machines the default would be off.
No, I still believe it's about selling new computers period.
Originally posted by Gon
Many users do not know what Quartz is, or that it could affect window resize speed.
If it was about slow machines and users not wanting to put a small amount of processor power to the ripple effect task (momentarily and infrequently - remember where the effect is used), then I would imagine Apple put in a setting to turn the effect on or off, and on slow machines the default would be off.
No, I still believe it's about selling new computers period.
I think Apple turned of Quartz altogether on inadequate GPU machines (a 400MHz G4 with 16MB VRAM supports Quartz Extreme) because they didn't want to slow od computers down further.
Is a pretty transition seriously going to encourage someone to upgrade over speed? Apple has used a lot of space on its website in the past showing the speed increase on an iMac with Panther and then Panther with Quartz. That's what would encourage me to get a better GPU not a ripple or a cube effect.
I agree Apple want to sell more computers - but not with transitions - with speed.