Macworld San Francisco (Mac)

[Carbone]

Just to remind Mac users (and Mac soon to be users as well !!) that it's Macworld event and if you'd like to know what the futur will look like, you may try to visit these (over crowded) websites :

www.appleinsider.com (http://www.appleinsider.com)
www.macnn.com (http://www.macnn.com)
www.macrumors.com (http://www.macrumors.com)

They offer live coverage, in the way of written description of what's going on.

New gadgets.. New software.. New hardware.. iPod car booster..? Mac tv recorder.. Who knows :)

Ray

[Carbone]

For the benefit of those using iPhoto (I am one of them).. today's announcement of the new iPhoto '06 is very cool : the limit of pictures got from 25,000 to... 250,000 !!!

And the rest of the keynote was just as fun !!!

If you wanna have a peak at the new Apple ad for their new Intel processor based Macintosh... it's really worth it :)

http://www.apple.com/intel/ads/

Ray

[Red Sky]

Hey Ray- What's your take on Tiger? When I got my machine it was top o' the line, but now with Panther I feel I'm being left behind. I almost bought Tiger a couple of weeks ago but everything works so well that I don't feel I want to mess with it. All the iLife updates require Tiger, don't they? I use iPhoto for slide shows only, and iMovie once in awhile. That's about the extent of Mi life. Do you think I would benefit from the upgrade?

[Wendy]

Hi Red Sky ...

We didn't bother to update to Tiger until we bought the new Mac but it has some very nice features so its well worth considering.

Only one of iLife I use is iPhoto and as I use it with iPhoto Buddy the latest increase to 250,000 images won't do anything for me ... but I would be interested to see any other changes to iPhoto :)


Wendy

[Carbone]

One feature I like a lot about Tiger is Spotlight (search throughout the entire computer at super fast speed). This alone was worth the upgrade. Dashboard is nice also, if you like Widgets. I don't find them an absolute must, because I spend more time on my desktop then using my laptop.

Wendy, iPhoto '06 has much more to offer than 250,000 photos... Calendars and cards, as well as postcards right inside iPhoto. Photocasting : create an album someone else, over internet, can subscribe to it and receive update.

iWeb is also a major, major big application. Working with .Mac, you can create your own home page in a matter of minutes (10 max..).

GarageBand now lets you create Podcast. It is fantastic !!!

iMovie has themes, which lets you do Hollywood like compositing with your videos. This has to be seen!

I could go on and on... :D

Ray

[Wendy]

Ray ...

I will take convincing :) :)

I still don't like my current version of iPhoto ... much preferred the one before :)

Agree with you on the widgets they are fun to play with but not exactly an absolute must ...

Wendy

[CarolLHB]

They are fun though! I do use the image search and symbol chart, as well as package tracker pretty frequently.:)

[Wendy]

Carol ...

I have all sorts of fun Widgits ... its amazing just how many there are around :)


Wendy

[Carbone]

I don't say Widgets are not fun, but it's not like they're a necessity. Like the iTunes widget, which lets you control a running version of iTunes. Well, first of all iTunes must be running, so why not simply bring iTunes back and control it from there.. ? Widgets are, sometimes, slow. Apple is said to be working on this issue. But until there (probably in Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5, June '06), I am not a devoted user of Widgets (except weather, and when I think to check!)

Apple has been sending those rebate coupons (100$) last year when it was my birthday. So, I'm waiting to see if they'll do the same this year before I order iLife and iWork '06 :) Until Friday.. :)

Ray

[Grant]

Ray

Now that Mac is embracing Intel can we now call them PCs?

Grant

[Wendy]

Grant ...

They have always been Personal Computers ... :) :)


Wendy

[Ward Grant]

Does this mean Macintosh has morphed into Macintels?

[Carbone]

If you wanna call a Mac a PC, that's fine with me, Grant... we'll just call Windows a badly conceived Mac OS fake.. :)

Ray

[Carbone]

Macintels, Mactels, Intel Mac... I think I'll continue to call them.. Mac. More simple :)

The Macintosh with Intel ad is gorgeous :

http://www.apple.com/intel/ads/

Ray

[Wendy]

Ray ...

That is so cool ... !!


Wendy

[Carbone]

The Intel Chips... until now, trapped into dull machines.. TOO FUNNY !!! :D

Ray

[Wendy]

Ray ...

It is just a little bit cheeky :)


Wendy

[Carbone]

Totally... Apple :D

Ray

[Ward Grant]

The Intel Chips... until now, trapped into dull machines.. TOO FUNNY !!! :D

Ray

Thanks for the link to the ad. I agree that it is very well done.

My sister (long time writer, photographer and Mac enthusiast) and I (accounting background and PC at work user) have had an intra-family feud for years over Mac vs PCs. She is underwhelmed with the new mix, wishing that Apple could have found another solution.

[Carbone]

Tell her to have faith... At the end, this move will be one of the most beneficial moves Apple has ever made, I am sure. Intel has the edge currently, so why not make use of the best. That's only logical :)

Ray

[Grant]

If you wanna call a Mac a PC, that's fine with me, Grant... we'll just call Windows a badly conceived Mac OS fake.. :)

Ray

Most times I do like to pull your leg but ...

This morning I screamed at my radio as I drove to work over a very similar statement. While you only alluded to the fact that Mac developed their GUI first the person being interviewed radio came out and stated that Mac invented windows. While Mac was the first to popularize it they didn't invent it. The GUI familiar to most of us today in either the Mac or the Windows operating systems and their applications originated at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Laboratory in the late 1970s. So you see Mac just borrowed it from Xerox slightly before Bill and his boys did.

Now back to leg pulling.

[Carbone]

Oh Grant, I'm perfectly aware of that (the Xerox thing). I'm a big Apple fan, but I'm not blind.

Apple invented a lot of things in the computer world, and they made some better by borrowing them (to be politically correct).

What matters the most is the end result and, currently, I think my computer has an edge (and a big one !!) over this other brand :)

Even Microsoft signed an agreement with Apple yesterday to supply Office for Mac for a minimum of five years! Hey.. if Microsoft believes in the product, that must mean something... (coughing..)

What puzzled me is... why would Microsoft need to sign an agreement with Apple to develop Office for Mac.. ? I thought that computer platform were open, as long as a company has the developers tools, they could do what pleases them..

Ray

[kerriann85]

I'm playing catchup as usual.....
On the subject of the dashboard widgets: I love having the calculator right there one button away from my Photoshop. Just wish it had a 5 function so I could figure sales tax without thinking in decimals. ( I do pictures, not math!)

iMovie is cumbersome to use, wish it was more like ProShow Gold for its Ken Burns effects. I almost have it figured out tho.

And the boss was playing the MacWorld keynote speaker (or whatever he was) as I was trying to set up a wedding video montage, half listening. It caught both of our attention as he was talking about the "interface" (forgot it's name) that would let present software use the intel power but that Photoshop may not run satisfactorily for heavy pro users but would be ok for casual users. Guess we won't be updating til Adobe puts out a new version.

And....the boss played with Lightroom for most of the day. By 3:00 he hadn't decided whether to use it for the Proofs Viewing he had to do with a photography client at 5:00. Will be interesting to find out what he decided. It looks like it might work well for our purposes. Sadly I can't play with it as home on my PC.

There, just my thoughts this evening.

[Carbone]

Someone at dpreview.com has posted a somewhat detailed review of iPhoto '06, worth reading :

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=16671731

Just one note : Someone during that thread mentioned an iMac G5 1.8GHz with a GeForce nvidia card possibly not working with iPhoto due to Core Image / Core Video not being supported. I checked a few minutes ago with my friend's iMac and it's supported no problem. Both Core Image and Quartz Extreme are supported with a GeForce 5200 video card, as reported in System Profiler.

Ray