Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: The features I'm excited about
I know all of you staunch, brainwashed Windows users couldn't give a rat's ass about all the new features in Mac OS X Tiger, but as a staunch, brainwashed Mac user, I'm going to talk about it. The big features like Spotlight, Dashboard, and Automator have been discussed all over the place, and they seem pretty freaking awesome. (Dashboard and Automator, especially; I'm not sure if Safari RSS will supplant NetNewsWire for me).
Here are some other, less obvious features that are easily going to change the way I work and play:
- Smart Folders. Part of Spotlight: I can make a virtual folder that holds, say, all of the InDesign files I've worked on in the past week. Mail 2.0 also has a smart mailbox feature, as well. This way, I can organize my email as I always have, but I don't have to maintain multiple folders and .mbox files; I view the same database of emails in multiple ways. Neat!
- Font Book 2.0. The Panther-version of Font Book is not that bad, though it's seriously buggy, and you usually have to restart a program if you activate a font you need to use. However, I've tried Suitcase, Font Agent, and Font Reserve, and I just think Font Book is the easiest to use. Hopefully someone will write some decent plug-ins (or an Automator workflow) for the Adobe suite and Quark that will just give me a button to press to rescan my fonts and not have to close and restart an application just because I didn't have HelveticaNeue Compress installed. Until then, at least the new Font Book will allow me to package a collection of fonts to send to a service bureau and diagnose corrupted fonts.
- Bluetooth sync support for Motorola phones and wireless image capture for camera phones. Since my next cell phone is probably a Motorola V220, this makes me very happy.
- PDF 1.5. The system-evel PDF support is pretty amazing, and now OS X will be up to speed with the latest specs.
Thanks for letting me bore you with more Mac evangelism. You can go back to all of your "PCs are cheaper," "there's no software for Macs," "Macs aren't compatible with anything," and "Macs are for homos" lies and prejudices now.
UPDATE: Complete list of new features.
5 Comments:
Speaking of PCs: "Microsoft Corp. warned on Tuesday of five new "critical"-rated security flaws in its Windows, Internet Explorer, Word and Messenger software programs that could allow attackers to take control of a personal computer."
How does one give you a rats ass? Should I use a knife or do you think a hack saw would be better suited to the task?
10.4 certainly looks like another solid step in the right direction. Still, it's hard to feel good about Apple so shamelessly and mercilessly ripping off Konfabulator. On principle alone, the dashboard widgets may be the first feature I remove in order to install the originals.
BREAKING NEWS: I've discovered the true identity of "Anonymous".
I agree that Konfabulator got spanked. I'm sorry Apple stole the name "widget," even when Apple's original term was "gadget." I'm sorry Apple picked on a little guy (a former Apple employee named Arlo) in their master plan to co-opt great ideas and make them even better.
But Apple did just that -- made a great idea even better.
Aside from the widgets sitting on your desktop (a reason I didn't like Konfabulator, but that's a matter of personal preference), the most important thing to note is the difference between how Konfabulator widgets and Dashboard widgets are written.
Konfabulator requires a special JavaScript engine, and the interface is written using a custom XML schema.
Dashboard widgets are nothing more than tiny web pages using Safari's backend.
So, in essence, Apple has done what they've always done -- taken a great idea and made it even simpler for a larger group of people. I've already got an idea for a very simple checkbook widget (I don't need everything that Quicken does, so I don't use it). I can easily implement that using PHP or PERL because I already know how to do that. I don't have to take the time to learn an entirely new markup to create a Konfabulator Widget.
I'm not defending Apple as zealously as John Gruber does. But the point is clear: Konfabulator was an innovative tool for determined nerds. Dashboard opens up the same idea to a much wider audience.
For folks who like to get shit out of the way, like me, Dashboard is perfect. If you like it on the desktop, Konfabulator fills that gap.
Post a Comment
<< Home