RoughlyDrafted Archives: 2005

December 1st, 2005

Daniel Eran Dilger
Index page for articles from 2005.

2005 (newer articles on top):

A Brief History of Data Syndication and Podcasting

Back in the mid 90’s, visionaries were inflamed with the idea of converting the web into a television. Their fire was further fueled by PointCast’s new syndicated content network.

A Brief History of Remote Display

There’s more than one way to deliver remote display features. Unix, Windows and Mac OS X all approach the problem differently, reflecting the different vendors’ motivations. To see what’s possible, or at least desirable, in Leopard, let’s take a look at what’s been developed.

Part 1 – Apple: supporting hardware sales

Part 2 – Microsoft: selling licenses

Part 3 – Selling even more licenses: Terminal Server

Part 4 – VNC: the other thin client

Part 5 – Unix workstations: selling platform solutions

Part 6 – Mac OS X Graphics

Five Architectural Flaws in Windows Solved In Mac OS X

What was intended to be a short aside about Mac OS X’s strengths turned into an entire series on Windows NT/2000/XP flaws! Here is the first of five examples of core Windows architectural problems that relate to process management, applications and security.

Flaw 1 – Windows’ Interactive Services

Flaw 2 – Windows’ opaque and illogical file system presentation

Flaw 3 – ‘Least privilege’ is impractical and broken

Flaw 4 – No signal of privilege escalation

Flaw 5 – Windows’ expensive processes

The Apple Wishlist: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

It might seem early to be talking about new features for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, considering that we just got Tiger, but now’s the perfect time to look at ideas Apple could consider in the next major release.

Part 1 – Window appearance and behavior (October 5, 2005)

Part 2 – Process control and feedback services (October 7, 2005)

Part 3 – Remote control and management (October 12, 2005)

Part 4 – New services for workgroups (January 20, 2005)

Part 5 – Security services and products

Part 6 – Communications services and products

Part 7 – Media services and products

Where is the iPod Killer?

Pundits have been busy trying to find an iPod Killer. Suspects have included Microsoft’s WMP, Sony’s onslaught of reanimated Walkmen, the cheapskate Yahoo, and an aging Napster cat, now on extended life support. This month, it was music executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Part 1 – Where is the iPod Killer?

Part 2 – The Killer Piñata

Part 3 – Edgar Bronfman Jr. is a big fat idiot

Is Microsoft’s Vista the new QuarkXPress?

Quark has long owned the desktop publishing world. Yet, after a decade of dominance, the company stumbled, leaving the door open for serious competition just as Adobe was introducing a strong competing product. Is Microsoft about to do the same?

Part 1 – Is Microsoft’s Vista the new QuarkXPress?

Part 2 – Quark’s Strange Top Down Charm Bottom Up

Part 3 – Ready to Fumble

Part 4 – Seriously Underestimated

Part 5 – Competition is Good

Why Apple hasn’t used Intel processors before

When Steve Jobs announced the plan to move Macs to Intel processors, Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe, joked, “The only question I have, Steve, is what took you so long?”

The Intel Advantage

Apple’s transition to Intel was presented as an effort to take advantage of Intel’s compelling future road map, not a desperate bid to replace a sagging PowerPC hardware architecture. There is however an immediate advantage that Intel processors provide for Apple now.

Are PowerPC Macs Obsolete?

The comfortable Mac ecosystem seemed completely turned upside down when Apple announced the Intel transition. All of a sudden, it was not obvious how long the newest models would remain useful.

Why Apple won’t suffer the Osborne Effect

Tech columnists love to rehash old stories and suggest the future will play out just like a vaguely similar event from the past. But as old stories are retold, they become celebrated legends that eventually grossly distort what actually happened.

Analysts fail to predict Apple’s success with iPod

Analysts comfortable with predicting Microsoft’s impending takeover in new markets are sweating bullets. For years, they’ve felt safe in discouraging any potential competition to Microsoft, and instead forecasting an inevitable domination of any and all markets to which the software giant shows any interest in entering.

Part I: Analysts fail to predict Apple’s success with iPod, QuickTime, iTunes

Part II: For the record, some facts

Part III: What works and what doesn’t

Three Strikes

For the last two decades, legions of industry wags have kept repeating three things Apple needed to do in order to survive. But they were never right, and even when they appeared to be right, they weren’t.

Part I: Three Strikes: Analysts Wrong on Apple

Part II: More Right Than Wrong

Part III: Much Ado About Intel

Part IV: Putting the Mac in Mac OS X

Part V: A Shock to the System

Part VI: How Apple And Intel Fit

Part VII: Tears of a Clone

Safari Wars VI : Return of the GUI

Episode V left off with the Finder growing stagnant and Microsoft’s empire dominating world’s browser. What’s next? Answers await!

Safari Wars V : The Internet Strikes Back

Episode IV looked at development of the Mac OS Finder before the Internet became widely available. How has the Finder changed since, where is it headed, and how does its development compare with others? How does this relate to Safari? Answers await!

Safari Wars IV : A New Hope

The Finder has ruled Mac applications for the last twenty years. It’s always there, right in front or lurking in the back waiting to help. What new features does the Finder dream of when a Mac goes to sleep? What does it have to do with Safari? Answers await!

Beyond Luxo Jr : The next flat panel iMac

Is the iMac in trouble? Sales are down sharply from last year’s, prompting dire screams of Apple-panic from the usual suspects. However, reality is far simpler than any pundits suggest. The next step for the consumer icon is, well, plainly obvious.

Apple Announces Mac OS X Spoken Interface Technology Preview

Apple announced plans to include a greatly expanded set of spoken interface and keyboard navigation services in the next version of Mac OS X.

Apple Bites the Hands that Picked It

Like the mythical phoenix, Apple Computer experienced a miraculous revival from a pitiful heap of ash in 1996 to become the profitable, premium MegaBrand and industry trendsetter it is today. Apple didn’t do it alone; in fact, the Apple of 1996 didn’t do it at all.

Apple History X

The new Mac OS X Panther is ready to pounce, but the story on this cat starts a long time back.

Panther at your Service

Apple’s OS X 10.3 Panther Server upgrade brings a new look, new capacities, more speed and a nicer interface.

Panther Server : a better NT than NT?

With Microsoft’s support for NT drying up, Apple and Samba offer an alternative to Active Directory for thousands of Windows NT shops.

The Secret Weapon Inside iTunes

Apple strikes back in the battle for digital media rights, production, distribution and playback.

Part I: The Secret Weapon Inside iTunes

Part II: The QuickTime Media Layer: Apple’s Best Kept Secret

Part III: Microsoft: We hate your baby, please kill it

Part IV: QuickTime Strikes Back

Part V: D.R.M. or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Flash in the Plan – a DRM Disaster

This summer, Macromedia launched a trial campaign to install DRM software on their customer’s computers to lock down software functionality and report back to the company how the software is used.

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Daniel Eran Dilger is the author of “Snow Leopard Server (Developer Reference),” a new book from Wiley available now from Amazon as a paperback or digital Kindle download.

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