“Now that Macs have PC chips in them, they can run PC software.” Obvious, isn’t it. Except that someone recently managed to make the new Intel-based Mac run PC software, and it’s a big, big surprise, and it’s something many said would never happen.
The difference between a PC and a Mac used to be the processor. PCs had Intel chips, Macs had Power PC chips; nothing like each other. The new Macs have Intel chips in them, which is why most people assumed that they are, really, “just PCs.”
They aren’t. What they are, are Extensible Firmware Interface Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) machines. PCs, by contrast, are BIOS machines. They have a completely different way of starting up, and as recently as January, many well informed experts were quite sure the two systems couldn’t both exist on the same machine.
Others thought it must be possible.
So Colin Nederkoorn announced a competition, back in January, to see if you could run both forms of software on the same machine. Techweb, quoting Nederkoorn: “When the Intel Macs were announced, I expected Apple would have the foresight to make it easy to dual boot,” said Nederkoorn. “But then I found out that Apple was using EFI rather than a BIOS. One group said it should still be possible, while a whole other camp said it was impossible.”
To make it interesting, he put up cash; he put $100 into the kitty,and called for volunteers to put up more. With over $5,000 as a prize, the trick was tackled, and it’s been done.
According to Associated Press reporter May Wong, the prize was given to two San Francisco Bay Area software developers last week. Jesus Lopez, 33, of Alameda, was one; and Eric Wasserman, 41, of Berkeley was the other; apparently Lopez “did most of the technical work — spending late nights and weekends on the challenge — while Wasserman, a devoted Mac user, introduced him to the contest in February and supported him in the process.”
The software to do it is downloadable from the Windows XP on an Intel Mac Project. Don’t rush over there to download it, even if you actually have an Intel Mac, because (as you can see from the How To) it’s not for beginners.
Why do it? Mainly, because it’s a more elegant way of running both families of software – Windows and Mac – without having to buy two machines, and without having to load a huge “virtualisation” engine plus emulators, to manage it.
No doubt, Linux users will write in to explain politely that if we all used Linux we’d be able to use EFI anyway…
Microsoft appear to be trying the doors of the lucrative movie download business for the Xbox360 with the announcement of a video content deal with music label Epic Records.
Videos and “exclusive artist content” will also be made available for download from the Xbox site.
Epic has already dished out music videos for the Xbox 360 from the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Audioslave, and their catalogue also includes acts like Shakira, Matisyahu, Jennifer Lopez and Antipodean dandruff shakers, AC/DC.
Several forests are having to be torn down to supply Google with enough chequebooks to keep up with their current spending spree.
Bought for an undisclosed sum, a statement on @LastSoftware’s site details how they fluttered eyes at each other a wireframe table: “We got to know a bunch of Googlers while we were building the Google Earth plug-in for SketchUp, and it quickly became apparent that we could really stir things up together.”
“Google’s resources will allow us to serve our current users better, and Google’s reach will allow us to expose more people to SketchUp in one year than we could have touched in 10 years on our own,” he commented in a budsy message to customers.
The combination of SketchUp’s 3-Dimension models overlaid on Google Earth’s maps could serve up a competition busting offering, with the added detail offering real value to GPS users.
Microsoft is to release a suite of free parental controls and other safety measures designed to safeguard children on the Internet.
Kids definitely won’t like this, but the software also lets parents access their activity reports to check what they’ve been up to online.
Family Safety Settings will be available for any PC running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 as well as the upcoming Windows Vista operating system.
A new report by analyst firm Current Analysis claims that consumers are warming to Media Center PCs, with the entertainment-focused PCs grabbing eight per cent of the US retail market in January 2005, soaring 48 per cent in December.
However, tuner-toting Media PCs are already making a comeback, with the market share for TV tuner-equipped systems climbing from 8.7 per cent in October to 12.8 per cent last month.
“The upward TV tuner-clad trend is a small victory for Media Center with regard to the digital home,” she said, adding that the TV arena is a “pivotal turf in the war for the digital home because it offers the most opportunities for lucrative infrastructure and broadcast content.”
Microsoft first rolled out their Media Center Edition back in October 2002, but consumers have been sniffy because users weren’t inclined to buy the more expensive hardware needed to run the software – neither did the idea of watching TV on a clunky computer monitor seem particularly thrilling.
In what some are viewing as a challenge to Microsoft’s Office software, Google has dipped into its deep pockets and snapped up Upstartle, a small company best known for their online word-processor, Writely.
Blog announcements
“That could provide enough revenues to pay for the acquisition in months and provide an interesting diversion to keep Microsoft looking over its shoulder,” said Bradshaw and Mitchell, adding that Writely’s integrated collaboration and blogging tools could also prove useful resources for Google’s hugely popular Blogger service.
Microsoft has unveiled the official line up of the Windows Vista packages, with no less than six versions being available, all in 32 and 64-bit flavours.
All versions of the new OS will come with Internet Explorer 7.0, Vista desktop search, parental controls and Windows Defender anti-spyware technology.
The super-slick redesigned Windows Aero GIO promises to provide a ‘transparent glass’ design, with subtle effects such as dynamic reflections and smooth animations, along with Windows Flip and Flip 3D desktop navigation features.
All versions of Windows Vista are scheduled to be broadly available in the second half of 2006, with pricing to be announced.
The site formerly known as Ask Jeeves has retired its long serving butler, rebranded itself as ‘Ask.com’ and served up a new, simplified homepage offering access to new tools like enhanced maps, driving directions, encyclopaedia search and a Web-based desktop search.
Aerial photos can also be overlaid or combined with regular street views, with the option to print aerial shots for a fee.
Here’s an idea Ask.com – how about you include a help file to explain this to users, or, even better, give us the same goodies too?
Old Danny boy’s got his work cut out for him as Ask Jeeves has remained the least used among the largest search engines, way behind market leaders Google who currently hog an estimated 40 per cent of all queries.
Xara has been around for over a decade now, and although it may not be as well known as expensive rival programs like Illustrator and Freehand, it continues to offer astonishing value for money, providing ample power under the hood and enough tools to satisfy anything from graphic smudgers to arty pros.
Although it isn’t the most modern-looking of programs, Xara’s sheer simplicity and power makes it a far less daunting program to master compared to many high-end vector programs, with new users guided by a set of excellent help files and 80+ short movie tutorials.
Imported images can be resized, have text added and then exported as JPEGs with control over compression settings.
The verdict