News for Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Hereafter are the first reports about bugs/crashes/compatibility issues linked to the installation or use of Safari 4 beta:
- Let's starts with the most surprising one: Safari 4 beta is incompatible with Xcode. Once installed, Xcode will not be able to launch and run properly: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9054761. So, if you are a developer, do not install Safari 4 for the moment or on a different partition if you really want to use it
- If you face an "ERROR_SEC" during the installation, then you are not up to date with the security update released by Apple, so install them, including the Security Update 2009-001.
- If you have installed InputManagers with Safari 3, then uninstall them before installing Safari 4 or they will make the new version prompt for crash.
- Last but not least, one of our readers, reports that PC version of Safari 4 looks different than the version previously released to developers, and has some intriguing specifications for GPU; is it already pre-GPGPU?

The first beta version of Safari 4, the one distributed on the developer's website looked like the version for Mac although the buttons of minimize, maximize and close the window were "silver", not colored "a la" Windows. Now the new beta version for public usage is not functioning well with Windows XP, I think that it is due to the fact that this beta 2 version depends on off-board video card and some higher instructions than SSE such as SSE4. The browser runs a bit faster, of course, but it doesn't show the options that are announced on the download page of Safari 4.
....
After visiting the Apple's download page again, I noticed that there was a small link to warn the users that they need to have some graphic cards installed on their computers. My PC still has onboard graphic chip, and I am not going to make such investment for an old computer which I aim to replace with a new Mac mini.
It is very disappointing that Apple sacrificed the original look of the program that before never depended on off-board graphic chips.

During the night, Apple released a firmware update for its Apple TV without bringing much detail about the improvements brought by this new version. In addition, if you did not turn-ff the automatic auto-update feature and had installed Boxee on your Apple TV, you then know one feature of the new firmware version: it deletes Boxee!
As a reminder, Boxee is a neat "social media center" that let you watch videos on computers, as well as the Internet. You can also hook up with friends, share music and send recommendations. It can be installed on the apple TV without breaking any warranty, you simply need a USB stick (>512MB), and to download the new USB Creator app, in other words a hack that adds an additional menu options to the Apple TV menu and let you enjoy all features of Boxee. TUAW offers a procedure to get the system up and running in just a couple of minutes.
Such action from Apple will most likely push Boxee developers to go on the market with their own Boxee device, a set top box that might bring heaven more features that the current hack available on the Apple TV and other top boxes.

In a short press release, SFR announced that it will offer iPhone From April 8th. According to the company, 190.000 of its customers have expressed interest about the forthcoming bundled subscription plans.
If French consumers might have been expecting that competition between carriers for offering iPhone-bundle plans will bring price down, then it was a mistake... According to our sources, prices will be very similar (not to say identical) to those available from Orange. One will maybe have to wait for the third carriers Bouygues to expect a bit of competition, otherwise consumers might have no real choice, and for sure not driven on better price or better service. Another option is that Apple has made all companies signed a contract stating a minimal price for the iPhone, unlikely but still possible.

Many Mac users have been using software designed by Omni Group, such as OmniWeb. Today, the company announced that four of its popular shareware are now freeware:

The Omni Group has
released four of their software applications as freeware: OmniWeb, OmniDazzle, OmniDiskSweeper, and OmniObjectMeter. All versions are fully functional with no licensing restrictions, and are available at no cost from The Omni Group's website at http://www.omnigroup.com/.
"As a small company with limited resources, we have had to make some difficult decisions about where to focus our attention as our business continues to grow," said Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group. "By making these applications -- which are not currently under active development -- available as free downloads, we hope that more people are able to enjoy using them without the barrier of cost."

During years, the Mac has been considered by Autodesk as a marginal OS and hardware solution, not justifying the effort to maintain and/or develop Mac versions of their popular architecture solutions, regularly updated for Windows; while many architects are using Mac. So, it gave free room for other major players in the field, ArchiCAD and VectorWorks, to invest and share the Mac market.
Things might change. Already last January, Rob Hoffmann, Senior Product Marketing Manager 3D for Autodesk stated that "The Mac is just like any other platform within entertainment sharing the same roles as Windows and Linux."
Today, a rumor reports that Autodesk has told a group of journalists that they are making the line of Alias products available on the Mac OS X platform in a near future. For many of us, this is a sign that the Mac platform is back, not having to fight anymore to get developers interested in porting their solution to the platform, they come themselves to this conclusion as there is a clear market. It might also well be the forthcoming GPGPU support which should greatly help rendering for architects.