GigaOM » Apple

VMware Virtualizing No-hack Leopard Server

Nick Santilli — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:58:08 +0000

The guys at VMware are supremely dedicated to bringing the best support for Virtualization that they can to the Apple platform. I’ve played with both Parallels and Fusion and the choice of the latter was an easy one for me. But the one sticking point tends to be Apple’s licensing of their operating system: They don’t like it running on non-Apple hardware.

But a change in licensing for the Server version of OS X has opened the door for virtualization. VMware is kicking it at Macworld San Francisco as I type this, and demoing their newly installed virtual machine, running OS X 10.5 Server all day long. They’re certain to clear that this is no hacked version of our beloved operating system, but a straight install from an Apple-licensed DVD, running within VMware’s Fusion Virtualization software. And Fusion supports 64 bit operating systems too, so Leopard Server is purring in all its glory.

This is big news, as it effectively enables users to run multiple instances of Leopard Server on a single machine. For Mac-based businesses, the environmental savings of this alone are huge! (Think, reduced power requirements and reduced cooling costs, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.)

If you’re at the Expo, check out the VMware booth and all the cool stuff they’ve got going on.

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Live Chat The Stevenote

Nick Santilli — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:50:47 +0000

While we here at The Apple Blog will be offering our 2 cents (not that you asked…) on tomorrow’s announcements during and following the Macworld Expo Keynote, you may be looking for the straight dirt as it drops. Well whether you’re at a computer, or sporting your iPhone (ok, or any other mobile with a browser) you’ll probably want to check out WebChattr’s coverage from the floor. Our boy Chris Holland has some cool mojo going on to bring the details to the masses in a format that will allow near instant updates in a web-based chat application – WebChattr!

Check out his page explaining the whole thing here. It sounds like an interesting solution, and more interactive than the typical, ‘stare at a blog waiting for it to update every 60 seconds’. Happy Stevenote Eve everyone!

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Rogue Amoeba’s Live Disc

Nick Santilli — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:35:07 +0000

Rogue Amoeba – makers of some stellar audio software – are gearing up for another Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and have added a new twist to the goodies they’ll be offering. In years past they (like many attending developers) have handed out CDs loaded with their many ‘wares for Expo-goers to try out. The big problem has always been that by the time software is printed to disc and delivered to the Expo, it’s likely that updates have already been made to the software. It’s not the end of the world by any means, but presents a speed bump for those ready to try out the fun new applications.

Enter ‘Live Disc’, Rogue Amoeba’s cool new innovation that [sort of] eliminates the possibility of delivering discs with out-of-date code. They give you the full story on their blog, but here’s the gist of it:

Live Disc presents a window much like a customized Finder window, with application icons that you can drag for copying or double-click for launching. The magic is, if a newer copy exists on our web server, it will copy or launch that version instead, seamlessly.

This a very cool idea – one I’d love to hear your take on if you pick one up at The Big Show in a couple weeks. The really neat part is that this solution was one that was conceived just to show off their real products! It’s not far-fetched that they could package this into an application of it’s own, and all as a byproduct of their main focus. Great work guys! It’s stuff like this that makes me excited to play on a Mac everyday.

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It’s Time to Cast Your Macworld Expo Predictions

Nick Santilli — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:23:16 +0000

In just a little over 2 weeks us Mac geeks get to have second Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or …) When Steve Jobs takes the stage to offer the first of his two major Keynotes each year. (Otherwise dubbed, ‘Stevenote’ by super Apple nerds.) There are likely to be some exciting new hardware announcements and maybe even some new software if we’ve been extra good all year.

After a friend started asking for my thoughts on what to expect, it got the obsessive compulsive (Apple) portion of my brain going. All day long I have been contemplating my buddy’s question, and just as I convince myself of one thing, I begin rethinking the possibilities again. So, based on little more than logic and hope, here are some of the things I think we might see on January Fifteenth.

Updated Displays – It’s been years since the current form factor came to light and there haven’t been any real changes to the line. I think built-in iSight cameras is a no-brainer at this point. Think we’ll see anything larger than 30″? I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple went nuts with a 42-incher…
Slimmer MacBooks – My feeling is this will affect the lower end of the notebook line, and not affect the Pro series ‘books. However I suspect the MacBook Pro line will see some spec bumps.
A Sleeker Mac Pro – With today’s technology getting smaller and smaller, I’d be surprised if the Mac Pro doesn’t begin to shrink somewhat in size. I know it needs room for its eleventy cooling fans, but c’mon! This isn’t based on any kind of information whatsoever, just a thought I had. Maybe it was a dream.
Revamped Apple TV – This is a super long shot. But seeing as this product is sort of the red-headed step child (no offense to all the RHS children out there) of the current line of Apple products, they could do well with a major overhaul of the box. I don’t put a lot of stock in this one, but why not throw it out there just in case?
One Last Thing – 3G iPhones available now. This isn’t my expectation, but rather that of my friend. (He really wants to wait for a 3G iPhone.) I feel it’s too early for the 3G to come available – I would think they would wait at least until the iPhone SDK is available to hype that angle, but what do I know? Still, that would be pretty sweet. (Should this happen, look for a decent drop in Edge iPhone prices.) Other enhancements to the forthcoming 3G iPhone? I think onboard GPS and at least a bit larger HDD are musts…

So there’s my list. Maybe it’s totally off base, but I’d be jazzed about some announcements like that. Who knows – maybe a brand new mystery device will instantly drain millions of nerds’ wallets… What do you think? Got any of your own predictions for the upcoming Macworld Expo?

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