Woah... New Macs

[majortom]

Nice...

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

[edg]

Leopard is shaping up nicely too - but I can't help but feel that for the last few Xs it's been more about frills than tangible improvements in the workflow.

edg

[Rascal King]

Using a Macintosh is trying to learn a new langauge. Macs suck!

[Arty50]

Leopard is shaping up nicely too - but I can't help but feel that for the last few Xs it's been more about frills than tangible improvements in the workflow.

edg

You need to watch Steve's keynote from yesterday. Spaces is going to be awesome. And the new back-end for Notes and To Do's is really nice. Not only do they integrate into Mail and iCal, but developers can hook their apps into them as well.

Time Machine is the shit too. I assume it'll take up quite a bit of drive space though.

But the NUMBER 1 improvement by far is something every skier should be ecstatic about. You can now create dashboard widgets from webpages. In other words, I can create a dashboard widget that only shows me the Kirkwood webcam and another one that only shows the snow report from their website. No ads, no other junk. I just hit F12 and it's all right there. Edit: I almost forgot, any Joe Schmoe can do this with simple drag and drop. No coding required.

[skier666]

Wow! No I can finally use photoshop.

[Orange Julius]

Inside the Mac Pro - Interesting pics...

http://www.powermax.com/articles_rev...icle.php?id=32

[Mcwop]

I did not get a desktop, but finally ordered a 17" MacBook Pro.

Watch for the sale of my iBook over in the gearswap section - coming soon.

[Arty50]

I did not get a desktop, but finally ordered a 17" MacBook Pro.

Watch for the sale of my iBook over in the gearswap section - coming soon.

Forgive me, but are you crazy? Cancel that order and wait a month. Intel has started shipping Merom, and so we should see it in the MacBooks really soon. Merom is going to kick serious ass. Take the current Yonah, make it faster, and add in 64bit processing on top of that.

This is the other sweet side of the Intel transition. Intel cannot keep there new processors secret, so we know what's just around the corner. And Apple can't wait to use this stuff either, otherwise they fall behind in the hardware competition.

[dirtybryan]

Forgive me, but are you crazy? Cancel that order and wait a month. Intel has started shipping Merom, and so we should see it in the MacBooks really soon. Merom is going to kick serious ass. Take the current Yonah, make it faster, and add in 64bit processing on top of that.

This is the other sweet side of the Intel transition. Intel cannot keep there new processors secret, so we know what's just around the corner. And Apple can't wait to use this stuff either, otherwise they fall behind in the hardware competition.

I think Apple will put the Merom in the MacBookPro line before the MacBook and do so once the Santa Rosa platform is released and they design a notebook based on that platform. While the current Napa platform can support the merom, this seems to be the popular belief on mac boards.

[bossass]

Forgive me, but are you crazy? Cancel that order and wait a month. Intel has started shipping Merom, and so we should see it in the MacBooks really soon. Merom is going to kick serious ass. Take the current Yonah, make it faster, and add in 64bit processing on top of that.

This is the other sweet side of the Intel transition. Intel cannot keep there new processors secret, so we know what's just around the corner. And Apple can't wait to use this stuff either, otherwise they fall behind in the hardware competition.

I concur.

[XtrPickels]

where do you nerds get all this info?
I'm just glad I don't have all the money rounded up yet, that saves me from old technology

[Arty50]

where do you nerds get all this info?
I'm just glad I don't have all the money rounded up yet, that saves me from old technology

www.arstechnica.com
www.macnn.com
forums.appleinsider.com

Since the Intel transition, things have become a lot less secretive on the hardware side of things. Intel's in a dogfight with AMD and as a result their processor roadmap is very well publicized. Also, Intel has an excellent track record when it comes to shipping chips when they're supposed to.

I think Apple will put the Merom in the MacBookPro line before the MacBook and do so once the Santa Rosa platform is released and they design a notebook based on that platform. While the current Napa platform can support the merom, this seems to be the popular belief on mac boards.

Sorry, I meant MacBook in generic terms. There's no way Apple is going to wait until 2007 (the expected date for Santa Rosa) to use Merom. I guarantee other PC manufacturers are going to be putting Merom in their laptops as soon as they get them. Intel isn't shipping these chips merely to have them sit on shelves. Laptops are now outselling desktops and Apple can't afford to fall behind here. Heck, it's the main reason they switched to Intel. Their notebook offerings were looking very sad with G4s. I do agree that the MacBook Pro will get Merom before the MacBook. That will help Apple differentiate the two lines a bit better. We should probably see new Merom equipped MBPs in September.

[XtrPickels]

Thanks for the links arty
Think the prices of the regular macbook will drop if the new chips hit the macbook pro's?

[bossass]

www.macrumors.com

For McWop:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

"Product: MacBook Pro
Last Release: April 24, 2006
Days Since Update: 107 (Average = 104)
Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon"

[Arty50]

Thanks for the links arty
Think the prices of the regular macbook will drop if the new chips hit the macbook pro's?

Yeah, but not by much. The best discounts will probably come from resellers like Smalldog, MacMall, and CDW. Even still, they might not be that much cheaper. Either way, it's better to wait.

[Mcwop]

Tough call, I got a pretty good deal on this new, and it should meet my needs pretty well. Thinking......

[72Twenty]

So, if I get an iMac, is that like getting the 8800's instead of the LP's?

[Arty50]

Tough call, I got a pretty good deal on this new, and it should meet my needs pretty well. Thinking......

Oh well in that case, maybe keep it. If you had paid full price I would say definitely wait. But if you found a really good deal, then just go with what you got. Merom is sweet, but maybe not so sweet to make you pass up a good deal on a Yonah based machine.

[Orange Julius]

If you need a computer, you buy one. Unless a new, ground-breaking one is coming out _tomorrow_. Computers are not investments. I have a macbook pro 17 and it rocks, and I'm getting work done now.

[Arty50]

So, if I get an iMac, is that like getting the 8800's instead of the LP's?

Not at all. It depends on what you use your computer for. The Mac Pro is exactly what the name implies, a machine for professionals. People who work with high end graphics, audio, video, etc. It's overkill for people who just surf the web, send email, and use business apps. The iMac will also handle consumer level audio and video apps fairly well.

Speaking of the iMac, it should see a new processor soon too. It should get either Merom or Conroe very soon, since both processors are out now. So unless you find a good deal on one, wait.

OJ is normally right. If you need a new computer, you should just get one. The only reason I'm telling people to wait is that new processors are definitely right around the corner. Merom/Conroe/Woodcrest are more than just a mere speed bump. They all add 64bit computing. For most people, that's not very relevant now; but who knows what people will come up with in a year or two when you'll probably still have this machine. Still, if you find a good deal on a Yonah machine I would jump on it.

[orange]

ZOOOOONG

Quad Core. Up to 3GHz.

Every Mac Pro in the lineup features two of the newest Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors. Two dual-cores. One powerful quad workstation. And you get to decide how fast it flies: 2GHz, 2.66GHz, or 3GHz. And at 3GHz, the Mac Pro runs up to 2x faster than the Power Mac G5 Quad.(1)

[edg]

You need to watch Steve's keynote from yesterday. Spaces is going to be awesome. And the new back-end for Notes and To Do's is really nice. Not only do they integrate into Mail and iCal, but developers can hook their apps into them as well.

I saw it. I've been using Desktop Manager for a bit now, it is pretty good, but the Apple implementation will be better.

I'm not saying this won't be cool stuff, but I don't see it as being anything fundamental to me. Maybe it's the way I use my mac, but having a global to-do list isn't it (who knows, it may end up being?)

The new mail leaves me worried - I like plain text emails, if I want a webpage, I'll go to a fucking webpage! It looks very slick, and Apple are doing it in the best possible way (following the standards, which hopefully Outlook will obey, could result in a great piece of marketing if you send these emails to friends), but I can feel this decending into the mish-mash crap that Outlook Express' rich text editing resulted in a few years back.

From a Developer point of view, some seriously cool stuff. The widget editor will make life easier, even if it's designed on a for-idiots basis, and each release of XCode has been an improvement. Core Animation though... hmmm... I wonder how it'll play out. I can't wait to see what ideas people start using it for - it could lead to a whole new way of presenting data, especially with the ability to operate in a 3d space. Exciting times

edg

[Mcwop]

I saw it. I've been using Desktop Manager for a bit now, it is pretty good, but the Apple implementation will be better.

I'm not saying this won't be cool stuff, but I don't see it as being anything fundamental to me. Maybe it's the way I use my mac, but having a global to-do list isn't it (who knows, it may end up being?)

The new mail leaves me worried - I like plain text emails, if I want a webpage, I'll go to a fucking webpage! It looks very slick, and Apple are doing it in the best possible way (following the standards, which hopefully Outlook will obey, could result in a great piece of marketing if you send these emails to friends), but I can feel this decending into the mish-mash crap that Outlook Express' rich text editing resulted in a few years back.

From a Developer point of view, some seriously cool stuff. The widget editor will make life easier, even if it's designed on a for-idiots basis, and each release of XCode has been an improvement. Core Animation though... hmmm... I wonder how it'll play out. I can't wait to see what ideas people start using it for - it could lead to a whole new way of presenting data, especially with the ability to operate in a 3d space. Exciting times

edg

I am now being forced to switch to text, becuase the spammers just use images these days, which are harder to filter.

Anyone have a clever way to stop spam where the contents are images, the sending address rotates, and the subject rotates?

I am about to use my address book to filter, but am afraid of snagging legit emails.

EDIT - found something to help with image spam

[dirtybryan]

I've been using Mozilla Thunderbird and I've found its spam filters to be great. You basically have to teach it. So when you first run it, you'll have to mark spam as spam, but in about a week, it becomes very strong. I get about 20 pieces of spam a day and I'd say in a week only about 5 pieces will slip through into my inbox. This is about after a month of using it.

[Mcwop]

I've been using Mozilla Thunderbird and I've found its spam filters to be great. You basically have to teach it. So when you first run it, you'll have to mark spam as spam, but in about a week, it becomes very strong. I get about 20 pieces of spam a day and I'd say in a week only about 5 pieces will slip through into my inbox. This is about after a month of using it.

Apple's Mail program is a good learner, but this new breed of Spam evades even that. The link I gave above with the Mail soultion, will also work in Thunderbird for this same type of spam.