Posts from — January 2009

Daniel Eran Dilger
In referencing the history of Mac viruses that occurred long before anyone ever began using Windows, I referred to “boot sector viruses” that occasionally bit users of Macs, particularly those in school environments where floppies were being passed around. I forgot to note this earlier, but an anti-virus authority corrected me earlier to point out these never actually existed. Boot sector viruses were (and are) exclusive to the PC.
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Microsoft’s public beta of Windows 7 is similar enough to Vista that it is fairly easy to install on a Mac, either using BootCamp to install it natively, or within a virtual environment. Here’s what’s involved with obtaining the beta and installing it using Sun’s free VirtualBox software.

Installing Windows 7 beta on a Mac with Sun VirtualBox
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Various clues on the next version of the iPhone are being collected that point to a major architectural overhaul that could bring dramatically improved graphics performance to Apple’s popular smartphone.
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Daniel Eran Dilger
According to proponents of the Mac Malware Myth, Mac users should be afraid of a series of reports about a “rising tide” of malicious software and in panicked response, install anti-virus software from the vendors who propagate those dire warnings. They’re wrong, here’s why.
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

One of the original pillars of Apple’s iLife suite, iDVD, has increasingly been given the cold shoulder to the point where it is not even depicted on the retail package anymore. How much longer will the app stick around now that the company has focused on pushing media sharing online?

iDVD hung out to dry as Apple pushes movies online
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Microsoft’s Zune hit the ground even harder in its third holiday quarter. After two years of annual sales that barely reached the million unit mark, the company reported a major new drop in device sales for the winter quarter.
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider
While Microsoft is working to refine its flagship operating system to be more palatable to a wide audience of PC users, Apple is working to keep Mac OS X a key attraction to Mac hardware to woo potential switchers and retain its loyal users. Here’s what’s known about Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Previous Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard segments

Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: competitive origins
Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Microsoft’s comeback plan
Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Apple ups the ante
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Daniel Eran Dilger

Bloggers jumped on comments from Apple COO Tim Cook to suggest that the company is planning legal action to shut down Palm’s webOS Pre phone before the device can even make it to the market. They’re wrong, here’s why.
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

As the previous segment detailed, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard aren’t competing directly; instead, each is part of competitive strategy to either grow the Mac user base at Microsoft’s expense, as Apple has been doing, or in Microsoft’s case, to stop the hemorrhaging market share losses and reclaim leadership of desktop operating system development.

Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: competitive origins
Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard: Microsoft’s comeback plan
Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Apple ups the ante
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple just released the new QuickTime 7.6, which includes updates for encoding quality, reliability, compatibility, and security enhancements.

New QuickTime 7.6 addresses quality, security
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider
A new US survey reveals a general decline in mobile phone growth, a mass exodus from Sprint to other carriers, a significant but relaxing demand for the iPhone, a failure of the Android G1 to have much impact for T-Mobile, but continued strength in the smartphone segment.

Survey highlights iPhone impact among mobiles
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Despite rough economic conditions in the US that are hitting the retail sector particularly hard, Apple released record shipments of iPods and claimed the second-highest quarter of Mac sales in the company’s history, thanks to strong international growth, retail strength, new MacBooks, and diversification from Apple’s core business.

International sales rescue Apple from US retail slump
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Apple exposed its complete lack of interest in building a stripped down, voice-only iPhone or a Mac-based netbook during its fiscal first quarter conference call Wednesday afternoon.

Apple rules out “iPhone nano,” not keen on Mac netbook
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider

Purportedly left for dead and mocked by pundits, Apple TV has actually turned into a productive hobby for Apple that will see continued development in the future, with sales rising threefold over the past year, according to acting chief executive Tim Cook.
Apple TV sales up threefold, will see continued investment
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider
The tech media is working to pit Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 release against Apple’s new Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, but the two products aren’t really direct competitors.

The operating system most users end up with will depend upon what hardware they choose to buy, not the specific feature details of the software that system happens to run. History reveals that the hardware decision isn’t going to be based primarily upon features.

Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: competitive origins
Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard: Microsoft’s comeback plan
Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Apple ups the ante
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