Unpredictable Back Issue #12

BackIssues

CHRIS'S UNPREDICTABLE and OCCASIONAL Newsletter for MAC USERS #12,
03/22/01 OS/X Edition
Contents Copyright 2001 by Christopher Plummer
===============================================

THIS ISSUE:
-----------
I've dedicated an UNPREDICTABLY concise and EARLY edition just to OS X!!
I admit, it's not crafted with my usual care, but it's short! And it's
out BEFORE OS X!! AND now that it's done, I can IGNORE OS X for another
issue or two and try to wrap up some of the things I've left hanging!!
Here it is:

How to Pronounce it.
When is it available?
What is it?
Where to get It.
Who's WHINING already?
AND...
What software is there for it? In Press Releases all about it from OUR
FRIENDS at Apple.

GEEK SPEAK ALERT:
OS X - Call it 'TEN' not 'EX'. No slashes either. It's NOT LIKE OS/2.

UPDATES:
--------
OS X:
Available starting March 24, 2001 at 12:01 AM. Buy it, install it, test
it, tell me about it! BUT REMEMBER, THIS IS REALLY A 1.0 VERSION FOLKS.
What does that mean? Well I'm not going to say don't buy it, but I am
going to say, as your twisted..er, I mean, trusted, editor, friend, and
consultant, let some HARDY YOUNG PERSON buy it first and tell you about it.

Dirty Little Secrets:
---------------------
There have been posts on some Mac Lists that SWEAR 'Staples' is selling
OS X NOW!! BEFORE THE ACTUAL RELEASE DATE!! Is this just a sneaky ploy by
somebody at Staples trying to lure dopey Mac users into their stores? I
don't know; I couldn't find OS X there! But I did pick up some Office
Supplies that I couldn't live without that I didn't even know existed.

STRANGER THAN FICTION:
----------------------
Remember when we talked about MS-DOS and the 'command line interface'?
[That was in GSR #1 which appeared in UNPREDICTABLE #5.] In MS Windows -
yes, EVEN in Windows 2000 - IT'S STILL THERE!! It's kind of buried, but
it's still there. MS-DOS. It's the gum you try to throw away, but it
sticks to your fingers!

STRANGER THAN STRANGER THAN FICTION:
------------------------------------
After 17 years WITHOUT a command line interface on the Mac, OS X is going
to have one! Why? Because at it's heart OS X is really a version of UNIX!
Yes, yes, it has the AWESOME 'Aqua' interface which all the websites are
copying already. And yes, yes, Apple has done a brilliant job of
incorporating the 'Classic' MacOS environment into it so you can run OS
9.1 and all your regular Mac Apps 'inside' OS X. You and I may never see
that command line interface and type in all kinds of incredibly hokey
commands like 'chmod' and 'lpstat-t' and 'ps-ef'. But deep down at the
'kernel', this is a Unix operating system. And HEY that's okay! That's
what makes it so darn stable. And that's going to make it a lot more
compatible with all kinds of Internet and corporate networking standards,
and that's also what's going to entice all those Unix codeheads (known as
EUNUCHS) to COME ON BOARD the Apple express and write a bunch of software
for it. Let's just hope the rest of us can switch trains without getting
lost in the station! Just DON'T PANIC! We can make this transition
slowly. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT!

Know The Difference
-------------------
Microsoft used to play version number leap-frog with other software
vendors. Why? Because everybody knows, the HIGHER VERSION NUMBER IS
BETTER SOFTWARE. Nevermind if Microsoft Word went from Version 2 to
version 6, it was BETTER THAN WORDPERFECT 5! Which is why without ever
creating a web browser before, Microsoft brought out Internet Explorer as
VERSION 3. Because it was BETTER than Netscape's current version at the
time, you guessed it, NAVIGATOR 2.x. As for their OS's, they laughed at
IBM's OS/2 which was released after Windows 3.1 and then they jumped all
the way to Windows 95. THEN their marketing department had a few too many
martinis at lunch and got SO FULL OF THEMSELVES that they decided they
were THOUSANDS of times better than anyone else. The result? Windows 2000.

And that's the difference.

OCCASIONAL Favorite WEB SITE
----------------------------

'OS X -- Where to Get It, How To Install It'
<http://www.macworld.com/2001/03/21/osx-install.html>

Just for fun, want to read a forum with a bunch of Mac GEEKS WHINING
about HOW SLOW OS X is BEFORE IT'S EVEN RELEASED??? (Remember what I said
about the GLOOM AND DOOM folks at MacWeek? Well, I guess they're at
MACWORLD now!! THEY LOVE WHINING!!)

'Why is OS X so slow?'
<http://www.macworld.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000189.html>

All that's left are press releases! TFSB :-)

=========================================================================
** CHRIS'S UNPREDICTABLE and OCCASIONAL Newsletter for Mac Users **
Oriented towards, but not exclusively for, Mac Users in Beautiful Western
Central New Jersey. Published Whenever - About Whatever!
========================================================================
Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles if full
credit is given. Others please contact the editor. Accuracy of articles
is UNPREDICTABLE and not guaranteed. Caveat lector. Publication,
product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their
companies.

Sample Issue - email with "Sample Unpredictable" in the Subject.
Subscribe - email with "Start Unpredictable" in the Subject.
Unsubscribe - email with "Stop Unpredictable" in the Subject.

Back Issues available to subscribers upon request.
**