My new Mac is a really fast Windows XP machine…
Wow.
I received my 20″ iMac Core Duo and have been loving it ever since. During the setup process, I used Apple’s Setup Assistance to “suck the brains” out of my old iMac G5, so things went very well - my software, settings, and data moved right over. As soon as I verified that all my programs ran well, I downloaded a copy of Parallels Workstation and loaded XP Pro on my Mac. I’m sitting here right now, chugging away on Rapid Weaver (my website application) while SP2 is being downloaded for the XP Pro “machine” that’s running in PW. What’s amazing is that this is a FAST XP machine. No more of the deadly slow and ugly Microsoft Virtual PC!
More soon. We’re having the Gizmo Ranch repainted and new flooring put in, so the place is a disaster area and I haven’t had time to update.
Too Much Time On Their Hands…
Have an SSH application? Want to watch Star Wars Episode IV? Telnet to:
Yes, these guys did the ENTIRE movie in ASCII characters. “Why? Because we could!”
Getting an Intel iMac
Boot Camp made me do it.
Yes, Apple’s announcement last week that they were shipping the beta of software that allowed dual booting of Macs nto either Mac OS X or Windows XP was the impetus I needed to get rid of my noisy iMac G5. I needed a larger screen anyway, so I decided to go with the 20″ model. Here are the specs:
2.0GHz Intel Core Duo with 2MB shared L2 cache
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2×1GB
250GB Serial ATA drive
ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM
SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)
Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X - U.S. English
Accessory kit
20-inch widescreen LCD
2GHz Intel Core Duo
AirPort Extreme (802.11g)
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
I should have this in a week or so, and then I’ll transfer all of my goodies over to the new unit. I’m really looking forward to trying Parallels Workstation as well as Boot Camp - hmmmm, maybe I’ll have to write a “Take Control of Windows on your Mac” ebook.
Treo 700w Review On The Way
Today I found out that I need to send the Treo 700w that I’ve been testing for the last month or so back to Microsoft’s PR firm, so it occurred to me that I ought to write my review as quickly as possible and make it available to you! Plan on seeing the review in the very near future.
I’m also hoping to get a few more Windows Mobile Devices to review, namely the Cingular 2125 Smartphone and 8125 Pocket PC Phone, as well as the iMate JAMin. I’m keeping the old fingers crossed on the Cingular devices, because I’d not only like to review them but also determine if they handle my crappy Cingular signal at my home any better than my Treo 650 does!
Yep, the Treo 650 is really beginning to irritate me for a few reasons. First, the Cingular model tends to power off the screen at inappopriate times. I have it set to go off after 3 minutes of non-use, and instead it just powers off after a random amount of time. Next, the signal strength here at the Gizmo Ranch is horrible. I’d say probably three-quarters of the calls I make or answer end up being dropped. I got spoiled with T-Mobile - I never had a dropped all during all the years I was with them. I am NOT making this up. Considering I use my Cingular phone as my business phone, this is unacceptable. I’ve heard from other Cingular Treo 650 owners who also complain about dropped calls, so it may just be the device, not the carrier.
Well, time to sit down and write the review! Stay tuned!
This Week
This was a very interesting week.
On Wednesday, Apple announced completely out of the blue that owners of Intel-based Macs could download a free beta copy of “Boot Camp“, their utility to allow users to dual-boot their Macs into either Mac OS X 10.4 or Windows XP. That was a bit of a shock, considering that a lot of people have been trying to do the same since the early January announcement of the first Intel Macs. Of course, there was a bit of fun almost immediately - Apple’s web site proceeded to blast Windows, said that Apple in no way supports or encourages the use of Windows, and that you’d have to provide your own copy of XP. My biggest complaint was that this was a dual-boot solution, not a way of running both operating systems simultaneously. You CAN do this with Microsoft’s Virtual PC, although it is so unbelieveably slow that it sucks like a bilge pump.
Early on Thursday, Herdon, VA-based Parallels, Inc. announced their solution to the multiple OS on Mac question. It is the Mac OS X version of Parallels Workstation, which allows just about ANY version of Windows or Linux to run simultaneously with Mac OS X. Hell, you can even run MS-DOS on it! Right now, it’s a free beta, but the final product will cost only $49.99 (pre-orders are only $39.99). That beats the hell out of Virtual PC, which the dolts at Microsoft still insist on selling at anywhere from $129 to $249 depending on whether or not you own a copy of Windows 2000, XP Home or XP Professional.
I have to hand it to the folks at Parallels. If their product works as well as some early reports have indicated, they may have completely trashed Microsoft’s market for Virtual PC.
Press Release: Sprint at CTIA Wireless 2006
SPRINT SHOWCASES THE POWER OF MOBILITY FOR BUSINESS CUSTOMERS AT CTIA WIRELESS 2006
Network strength, device innovation and turnkey mobility solutions serve as pillars for Sprint’s wireless data leadership
WHAT: Sprint (NYSE: S) is showcasing new and emerging wireless data capabilities for business customers as part of its activities at CTIA Wireless, April 5-7 in Las Vegas. Sprint is located on the exhibit floor, booth number 1439.
Visitors to the booth will have access to a breadth of products and services that help extend the workplace. Highlights include:
Network
• Next-Generation Mobile Broadband (EV-DO) Capabilities – The power of Sprint’s networks and unique assets make it best-positioned to deliver unmatched mobility products and services for customers. Sprint’s strategic plan includes building this next-generation technology to the broadest extent of any competitor. Sprint plans to make EV-DO Release A service broadly available by the end of first quarter of 2007 to about 154 million people. Using select devices at CTIA, Sprint will demonstrate EV-DO Rev. A technology which enables peak download data rates of 3.1Mbps and peak upload data rates of 1.8 Mbps.
Devices
• Sprint Mobile Broadband PCMCIA Rev-A Cards - Sprint expects to start making EV-DO-Rev. A Connection Cards commercially available in the third quarter of 2006. Sprint will feature two models - the Sprint Mobile Broadband Connection Card by Novatel WirelessTM (Merlin S720) and the Sprint Mobile Broadband Connection Card by Sierra WirelessTM (AirCard 595®) – to demonstrate the benefits of Sprint Mobile Broadband service.
• Sprint Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Router – Attendees can view certified Wi-Fi routers from Linksys and Junxion that can be used in conjunction with a Sprint Mobile Broadband Connection Card to enable a hotspot for access to Sprint’s Mobile Broadband service.
• Sprint Mobile Broadband USB Device – Sprint is offering a preview of its soon-to-come Mobile Broadband card that plugs into a USB port enabling more devices to access Sprint Mobile Broadband service on the Sprint Power Vision Network. Sprint expects to make these types of devices commercially available later this year.
• Embedded Solutions – Sprint is demonstrating its latest in rugged and embedded module device lineup including the Symbol MC9097 mobile computer, the industry’s first rugged mobile computer to offer Nextel walkie-talkie capabilities. Sprint will also feature select rugged and semi-rugged Panasonic Toughbook notebook computers with built-in access to Sprint Mobile Broadband service with the embedded EM5625 OEM module from Sierra Wireless. Additionally, Sprint will be displaying machine-to-machine devices for use in wireless WAN, telemetry and fleet management solutions.
Applications
• Sprint Mobile Workgroup Solutions – Sprint is launching a new set of CDMA mobile business applications that use GPS technology, further strengthening its ability to meet customer mobility requirements on both iDEN and CDMA networks. On-site demonstrations focus on location-based service applications for navigation, tracking and field force automation. Sprint was recently named 2005 Location Based Services Company of the Year by Frost and Sullivan.
• Sprint Easy Office - Sprint has made it easier for small businesses to leverage the capabilities of a full-featured wireless messaging service without the installation, maintenance or expense of on-site hardware and software. Using select Sprint and Nextel handsets, including all CDMA and iDEN BlackBerry devices. Customers experience the convenience of real-time access to their calendar, email, contact and task lists even while away from the office.
• Sprint Mobility Management – Sprint is enhancing its industry-first end-to-end wireless device and billing management solution with new capabilities including intercarrier device administration, increased security features and a detailed customer portal allowing IT administrators over-the-air access to better control and manage company-sponsored wireless handsets.
Building a Mac OS X Server
I’m in the process of building a new server for a client so I thought I’d “take you along for the ride”. After working with this client for a while, we realized that they needed a departmental server for about 10 people that would fill the following requirements:
• Provide full file and print services
• Work as their web server and email server
• Be as inexpensive as possible and not require much in the way of support
This client has used Windows servers since the days of NT 3.5, but they are really tired of all of the security hassles with Windows 2003 Small Business Server as well as the license cost, so I pitched them the idea of running their business on a Mac while still coming in from Windows workstations. To sell them on the idea, I put a temporary Mac server into the office set up similarly to their existing Windows server and we ran a subset of the group (3 people) from the Mac. Once they realized that from their end, things didn’t really look or work all that much different, and that I could save them a considerable amount of money in the process, they asked me to migrate their office to Mac OS X Server 10.4 .
The server is going to take up no space at all - the server and drives take up the space of a cube 6″ on each side. I’m installing a Mac mini (G4 version, not the new Intel box) with two 250 GB drives and one 80 GB drive. The OS will be installed on one of the 250GB drives, the other will be used as a mirror for the main drive, and I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do with the third drive. The server will be headless and “armless” (no keyboard or mouse), with all admin work being done remotely.
Other than a slight delay in setup (I couldn’t remember the WEP passphrase for my local wireless network), this has gone flawlessly with only two restarts - one after the main installation, the second after updating the Mac OS X Server software to version 10.4.6. I think about the days when I used to set up Windows NT 4.0 and 2000 servers, and it used to take me hours in the best situations to get things working. I can remember a setup of an IBM server with Windows NT 4.0 that took me almost a full week simply because I had to hunt down the proper drivers. Setting up and running this little Unix server is a lot easier!
This is the second server like this I’ve set up recently. The first is being stress tested right now at the colocation facility I use in preparation for a new service that I’m launching soon. One of these days I’d love to get an Apple xServe box, but at the present time these little servers are doing just fine.
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
