Apple iTunes .Mac (Apple Computer, Inc.) Apple iTunes Apple Store

Open Source and Development

How to Build a Free and Simple Ajax Menu
Here's a free way to add a simple, Ajax enabled menu to your site. I'm using iWeb, but it doesn't matter what tool you use to publish your web pages. It just uses a simple collection of Javascripts to reference HTML files.

CNET's Charles Cooper Strikes Out in iPod Attack
There's a common misconception about what it means to be proprietary. Here's a disassembly of one of the worst articles yet on the subject, written by CNET's executive editor, Charles Cooper.

Open Source Values and the Peanut Gallery
The value proposition involved in choosing an open source strategy, and a roast of the emerging peanut gallery who are attempting to hijack and betray the free software movement.

BSD and GPL: Different Sources for Different Horses
The benefits and the motivations behind two very different styles of open source development: the BSD style license, pioneered by UC Berkeley and MIT; and the GPL invented by Richard Stallman, the founder of the free software movement.

The Revolution Will be Open Sourced!
Over the last decade, every player in the software development industry has been dramatically affected by an open source revolution. How will Apple adapt to fit into this new world? Are they leading, following, or falling behind? Do they stand to benefit from an increased adoption of open source practices, or will they simply have to change how they do business?

Apple and Open Source... Strange Buffaloes?
Tim Bray's "Time to Switch?" and John Gruber's "Why Apple Won't Open Source Its Apps" both discuss the potential risks and benefits Apple would face in open sourcing their consumer applications. Here's my take: Apple does not make fierce profits from $130 Mac OS X retail sales, and there isn't a conspiracy behind new apps not working on an old OS.

The 'Mac OS X Closed by Pirates' Myth
According to the proponents of this myth, Apple has abandoned their open source initiatives as they move to Intel, because they are afraid that, armed with the Darwin source code, pirate 3lit3 haxx0rs will p0wn them and have Mac OS X running on generic PCs. They're wrong, here's why.

Unraveling The PowerPC Obsolescence Myth
According to proponents of this myth, Apple and third party developers will soon stop making software that runs on PowerPC Macs; even Leopard, the next release of Mac OS X, will be Intel only! They're wrong, here's why.

Unraveling The Mac OS X Linux Kernel Myth: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
According to proponents of this myth, Apple will, could, or should shortly replace Mac OS X's kernel with Linux. They're wrong; here's why.

Unraveling The Copy/Paste Development Myth
According to proponents of this myth, complex software development is a something like making funny madlibs from refrigerator magnets. Pick out features, line them up appropriately, and voila: an operating system! They're wrong, here's why.

Unraveling the Mac OS X Microkernel Myth
According to proponents of this myth, Mac OS X is in grave danger because it has a microkernel and Linux doesn't. They're wrong; here's why.

Unraveling the Utopian System that Runs All Software Imaginable Myth
The Utopian System that Runs All Software Imaginable Myth speaks of a hardware or software solution that... does it all. It seems like such a great idea, but is it?

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

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