Mac OS X 10.2.2 Update Available 518
Fork420 writes "Apple has released the 10.2.2 update. According to Apple: The 10.2.2 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications and technologies: Address Book, iChat, IP Firewall, Mail, Print Center, Rendezvous, Sherlock and Windows file service discovery. The update also includes the updated services previously delivered in Security Update 2002-09-20.
For detailed information on this Update, please visit http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n107140 (when this story was posted, this link was not yet working)
Enjoy..."
Journaling File System (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Journaling File System (Score:4, Insightful)
One Problem: (Score:4, Interesting)
the missing raid mode is worse than it seems. The mac xserves come with 4 big IDE disks. If you want to you want the Xserve to play nice in a unix environment then its a good idea to format the disks UFS. (you dont have to, NFS works fine with HFS+, but you risk screwing yourself with the file name case insensitivity of the mac. A rare event since most people dont have important files that differ in name only in their case but it's lurking.
But wait! you cant format the whole thing UFS becausesome of the mac apps break unless they are on HFS+. So this means you need to format atleast one of the disks HFS for the OS and apps. that leaves three disks. But in RAID 1, you cant use an odd number of disks. So that leaves two disks for raid 1 UFS.
Thus the best you can do is 120GB HFS+ Raid 1 and 120GB UFS Raid 1. So out of four disks the most you can get is 120GB UFS redundant storage. Ah you say, why not just make a small HFS+ partition and let the rest be UFS. Well apple does not yet support partitioning a disk with different File systems. Thus you cant split the disk into UFS and HFS+ partitions.
Two companies are promised a partionalble raid 5 system (Xraid and NXraid) but both suddenly announced delayed shippments. My guess is they are trying to incoporate this new journaling system.
I spoke to apple about this several times. It was hinted to me to keep watching because big things were coming. I suspect these are the Journalling FS and and an outboard mass storage disk sytem. but that's a conjecture.
That's the bad news. The good news is that these Xserves are otherwise a very good deal. The throughput is better than comparably priced linux systems. Also they occupy only 1U but hold 480GB of hot swapable storage. Yes there are some NAS systems that are 1U but they are about 10 X slower in throughput, not to mention that they dont support as many services as the macs (LDAP, NFS, SAMBA, SSH, SCP, FTP, MAIL server, RSYNC,NET info, Net boot
the other nice thing about the Xserve is the construction. In addition to tool-free hot swap drives, the entire chasis slides out to the front revealing everything with no screws to undo or panels to remove. It's a clever design lacking the usual add-on slider rails of your gneric linux boxes. There's even a firewire port on the front for quick access. Another nice feature is that you dont need a terminal to set them up, they will auotmatically find the administration computer on any DNS system. And if you need to have a terminal attached, you can buy a UPS based KVM switch rather then the usual clumsy Video/mouse/keyboard KVMs.
Anyhow the bottom line is this as soon as a partionalble journaled raid 5 system is avaliable the Xserves will be one of the least expensivie full featured HIGH QUALITY 1U half terrabyte disk servers you can own. (note I said High quality). I just wish they would hurry up since I have two of these cooling their heels waiting for raid 5.
Re:One Problem: (Score:5, Insightful)
It's possible that perhaps the UNIX community needs to move past case-sensitivity in filenames and foldernames. Just because UNIX has been doing it that way for 30 years doesn't mean that it needs to be done that way, and apparently both Windows and MacOS have a hard time cooperating with it.
Example - I'm doing development on a local machine with Visual Studio 6. I try to move my project to a Samba share so that I can work with it in a different lab...but suddenly my project won't build. It turns out that Visual Studio makes assumptions about lowercase letters in the pathing for the various files it creates during compilation. UNIX obviously doesn't abide by this, and so returns "file not found".
Sloppy? You bet. Important? Outside of anal-retentiveness, I can't think of a single reason that you'd *WANT* to be able to support filenames that differ only by case. It's an HCI issue for one thing, and the system incompatibility issues that are now surfacing are making the issue more visible.
I'd welcome some examples of places/functionality where case is of critical importance.
Re:One Problem: (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Interesting)
Tab completion in shells is not an issue. It works fine on HFS+, and is just as case-sensitive as always or not, depending on your shell settings.
So your beef with case-sensitivity comes down to: Unicode is hard, and because it's hard, you don't want to do it. But you don't have to do it. Apple does it for you. Apple has been doing it for a long time for you. Apple even made it work very quickly for the common case, because Apple is just hoopy.
Re:One Problem: (Score:3)
In other words, blame Visual Studio for handling cases wrong...
Re:One Problem: (Score:4, Informative)
As far as Chinese goes, traditional Chinese characters are used in Taiwan, while simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China. Again, they're not equivalent. So you wouldn't need or want to map between them.
The uppercase-lowercase thing is pretty much unique to Latin and Latin-derived alphabets. Some languages have contextual forms-- for example, an initial character in Arabic looks different from the same character in medial or final position in the word-- but that's a rendering issue, not an encoding issue.
I actually think it would be quite straightforward to design a Unicode-based system that's case-insensitive with respect to alphabets that have distinct cases. More work than doing so for ASCII, of course, but not insurmountably more.
Re:One Problem: (Score:4, Interesting)
NO! (Score:4, Interesting)
For the "average user" case means nothing. Grandma picks files by clicking on the little pictures and would never notice if many files had the same name. The *ONLY* use for "case insensitive" is for CLI interfaces, and it is amazing that the same people who say "Unix sucks because of case sensitive filenames" are the same ones that say "it sucks because you have to use the CLI". Hey, if you don't need a CLI, you have eliminated the only reason for case insensitive filenames! Not only that, case insensitivity actually interferes with user-friendliness in a CLI as it makes it more difficult to do really advanced things in the user program, such as spelling correction of filenames.
Re:NO! (Score:5, Interesting)
Lets test your theory using the common scenario of doing tech support for Grandma over the phone:
Me: "OK, Grandma open now click on the picture of a paper that says 'read me'"
Grandma clicks on 'Read Me' - after long conversation I finally realise she opened the wrong file
Me: "No, the OTHER file that says 'read me'"
Grandma clicks on 'READ ME' - another long period of miscommunication follows
Me: "OK, Grandma open the file that says 'read me' but ignore the files 'READ ME', 'Read Me', 'READ me' and 'read ME'.
Grandma does an Ellen Feiss "hugnh???"
The obvious advantage of case insensitivity is that it is easier for humans to talk & think about what is on a computer without confusion. Even the tech savvy may have the occasional problem with distinguishing between 'Read Me' and 'Read me'.
case insensitivity actually interferes with user-friendliness in a CLI as it makes it more difficult to do really advanced things in the user program, such as spelling correction of filenames.
I don't follow you, how does it make this more difficult?
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Interesting)
What it falls down to is that you don't want similar LOOKING characters to have different values - and you've forgotten all the accented characters, umlauts, etc - do you fold them as well?
The reason non-Unix systems that support Unicode don't chug along is that (a) they support all of Unicode and (b) they don't fold all possible cases, just the few you've mentioned above.
Re:This post is plagarized! (Score:3, Funny)
[Note to the dense: I'm not serious, but I don't care about a plagurized post either]
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, it's not. I talk about the one and only use letters were designed for, to be read and written by humans. This is how they are designed. Fact remains, filenames are metadata designed to be read by humans primarily. The fact that such a system also is useful for the computer and that it's convinient for them to use the same system as humans in many situation doesn't change this. To limit the usefulness of metadata for humans just because the computer also likes to use it is ass backwards. If that's the problem the right thing is instead to invent a parallell system for the computer to use where the problems doesn exist for the computer. I repeat, if filenames were primarily designed for computers to read, they would be file numbers.
That you like to think of words on the computer as different than words anywhere else doesn't change the fact that this is a lousy interface decision for humans, because words are words even in a filename.
> That's like saying domain names are just for humans to use and computers should just use IP addresses.
Exactly.
> This is clearly not true as if a computer needs to change IP and if there was no lookup system via the DNS then none of the other computers would be able to find it and it's resources again.
Problem found, analysis deficient. URLs are designed for one purpose, to make addresses human readable (one can argue whether they succeded or not but...). The fact that it can _also_ fill a function for computers is superflous. Sure it can, but it wasn't designed primarily for this, and every time this secondary use hampers the primary use you're doing things the wrong way.
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Interesting)
I still argue it's a cultral thing. Many unix users would never sacrifice the ability to have case sensitive file systems as they'd die before taking functionality away from their system. You say "That you like to think of words on the computer as different than words anywhere else doesn't change the fact that this is a lousy interface decision for humans, because words are words even in a filename". However consider that to a Unix person having case insensitve files breaks their interface considerably. It's just inconsistant with every else that treats all things as strings. The -h option is not the same as the -H option. And yes, maybe this is wrong, but it's their culture that has set them up to do it.
What I'm trying to say here is that no matter what you might think of the idea being wrong, the people that use it arn't wrong themselves. They're just following a different set of guidelines. (Note, I don't mean to imply that you think they are or that you made this point...it's just a point that's worth making)
This reminds me of a debate I had about spaces in a file name. Now, I personally have no very stong feelings on the matter, but I can remember a Mac user complaining a lot about bad handling of spaces in a filename in Unix. Now, to be fair they're completely right in their opinion - unix does break horribly. What they're wrong in doing is considering that this is due to stupidity...it's not, it's a cultral thing. To the command line people a space isn't part of a file name unless it's properly escaped....it's a meta charecter that delimits the edge of commands and file names. It's a hang over from using the CLI too much...
And yes, you could consider this bad and wrong (especially in the day of the GUI,) but it's a convention that's sprung up over time...like double clicking, or anything else that you can't really draw a comparision to the real world.
Oh, and on a personal note, thanks for the debate...it's not often you get sensible replies on slashdot ;-)
To make everything UFS and keep things nice: (Score:2, Insightful)
Before I erased OS X, I did this sucessfully with Bryce(now running under MoL) and Flash MX (now running under MoL).
If I do go rackmount, it will be with Xserves, provided I can return OS X and go Linux.
Multiple partitions (Score:2, Insightful)
I used Apple's own HD partitioning util, too. Its just an older version. (3.5 or something like that)
It can still be found on the web, and will still work.
Re:One Problem: (Score:3, Informative)
Standard practice nowadays is to use RAID 0 and RAID 1 together instead of using RAID 5. The data protection is better, and the performance is too. You should make mirror sets, and then stripe them rather than the other way around. That way your system can keep running at full speed if any single disk breaks. The other thing you may consider (I don't know if this is possible under OSX, but it should be) Is to RAID your partitions instead of partitioning your RAID. This should overcome your filesystem issue.
With the low cost of storage these days, RAID 5 is basically obsolete. Spend the extra few gigabytes, and use RAID 0+1
Re:One Problem: (Score:5, Insightful)
That's an overstatement. ATA/IDE/whatever storage is pretty cheap, but SCSI and Fibre Channel disks are still pricey. In order to protect a 1 TB filesystem with RAID 0+1, you'd have to have 2 TB worth of (let's say) Fibre Channel drives. That extra terabyte would cost you many thousands of dollars. But to protect the same filesystem with RAID 3 or RAID 5, you only have to have (at least) one spare drive. That's a lot cheaper than the 6 or 8 or 16 or whatever drives you'd have to buy to mirror the whole filesystem.
I'd say that for filesystems in the range of 0-500 GB using inexpensive disks, RAID 3 and RAID 5 are probably unnecessary. But outside that set of conditions, RAID 0+1 just isn't practical.
Re:One Problem: (Score:4, Informative)
Well I don't know of which support exactly you are speaking of, but I've been running 2 HFS+ partitions and 1 UFS partition on my iMac (with a single 40GB disk) since 10.0.3 (client) and continue to do so until now (10.2.2).
And in case you forgot to setup the FS types correctly when partitioning, here's the hint how to do it afterwards. You cannot normaly just select "Erase disk" and put a different FS type on it. It will offer only the same type as the partition already has. BUT if you reboot with an OS X install CD and launch Disk Utility, you will be able to change the format of the partition without touching the rest of the disk.
RAID (Score:5, Informative)
What to do, what to do? /me strokes beard. Hey! How about using "A HARDWARE RAID!"
Why waste your CPU cycles calculating stuff when you can have a dedicated processor taking care of your storage issues?
Call your nearby raid vendor and get a box in. It speaks SCSI, it gives you lots of bonuses. Me? For high performance RAID at a decent price (too much for hobbyists and home users, don't waste your time), try these guys [baydel.com]. Just a personal favorite, I'm not part of their company, just a customer.
Why hardware RAID? When your MoBo/CPU/Disk dies and you can't get that software RAID reconfigured, you unplug the hardware RAID, plug it into a new machine and just go.
When you want real speed, those baydel guys have a screaming, mirrored RAM cache so you get to write at 160MB/s.
Jeez, you put all that money into your server and network connections and want to cheap out by using slow IDE disks and your CPU to do all the work?
HFS+? Yeah, I still have it for my Mac Classic II on an 80MB drive.
THanks, I'll use FFS with softupdates or ReiserFS (or XFS mmmmmm) on my real volumes.
Re:One Problem: (Score:4, Informative)
How odd. The HFS+/UFS partitions I have on my single IDE drive are a figment of my imagination then.
Or is it that Apple RAID doesn't support this?
Re:Journaling File System (Score:2)
* Provides a foundation for the journalling filesystem (JFS), which may currently be enabled via Disk Utility on Mac OS X Server systems.
That's right. I read the notes from last week's seed builds and noticed that OS X Server was one point number ahead, and only the Server version had HFS+J support. I was afraid that this would happen.
I wanted it for my laptop, dammit! That's where I need it the most!
Re:Journaling File System (Score:2)
Simon
It's there, just hidden (Score:5, Informative)
sudo diskutil enableJournal
To view the options just type 'diskutil'
Re:It's there, just hidden (Score:5, Informative)
Yep, thanks Pete (Score:2)
Thanks!
-todd
Re:It's there, just hidden (Score:3, Informative)
Journaling on your iPod (Score:5, Interesting)
Intriguing...
Re:Journaling on your iPod (Score:3, Funny)
Even though I'm normally against the "funny" mod, this comment probably deserves it.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Journaling File System (Score:3, Interesting)
For what? When have you ever lost data that you would have saved with journaling turned on?
Re:Journaling File System (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, it's pretty theoretical. Speaking for myself, the Mac I'm using now hasn't crashed since I bought it back in August.
Re:Journaling File System (Score:3, Informative)
You are correct that data may be lost, but the integrity of the filesystem itself is never compromised. Remember fsck only cares about the filesystem; it doesn't care so much about the data in the files. Infact it will happily trash a file if it thinks it needs to zero that inode. Even with a journalling filesystem, if you want data integrity you still need something like Oracle to do it (running MySQL on XFS doesn't!).
Re:Journaling File System (Score:3, Insightful)
wont that totally screw up the disk spin down like jounal commit under ext3 does?
Re:Journaling File System (Score:3)
And users of other operating systems have had it for many years prior to that. What's your point?
Besides, even when it was working as intended, NTFS used to make almost no useful guarantees about the state of your file system after a crash. Technically, NTFS may have been journaling, but from a practical point of view, it was very limited (and probably still is).
NTFS isn't true journaling (Score:4, Informative)
Re:NTFS isn't true journaling (Score:3, Informative)
Link wasn't working... (Score:5, Funny)
That's unusual, usually links only stop working 5 minutes after the story is posted...
Re:Link wasn't working... (Score:2, Informative)
Just do an 'update now'
Have fun...
Reverse /. Effect? (Score:5, Funny)
So...10.2.2 features a reverse slashdot effect - the site only gets working when a certain threshold of connections per second is surpassed?
Re:Reverse /. Effect? (Score:3, Funny)
Improved Find function? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Improved Find function? (Score:5, Funny)
Whew! Now it is easier to to hide pr0n. :)
Re:Improved Find function? (Score:5, Informative)
Voila, you can search invisible files. All this update does is set the default search to visible files only, as it should be.
Hopefully they fix... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hopefully they fix... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Hopefully they fix... (Score:2)
Re:Hopefully they fix... (Score:3, Informative)
[apple.com]
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=
That's amazing (Score:5, Funny)
Did the submitter just guess the url of the article? Damn, you gotta teach me how to do that.
Re:That's amazing (Score:4, Funny)
That can get you into trouble. [slashdot.org]
10.2.2 Changes (Score:5, Informative)
Digital Hub and Peripheral Device Enhancements
Networking and Modem Enhancements
Address Book and Mail Enhancements
Application Enhancements
Other Enhancements
Re:10.2.2 Changes (Score:5, Funny)
Gee
Re:10.2.2 Changes (Score:3, Informative)
So I suppose I cannot test this out to make sure it works.
There was a problem with the 10.2.1 upgrade with multiple video cards of different make (nVidia and ATI, for example) and more than one gig of RAM. Sounds similar, but it sounds like the one that Apple fixed is somewhat different. Both of my cards are Radeons (7500 and 7000), so it never bothered me.
As another poster said, one of the nice things about MacOS is the ease of using old video cards to drive second displays. I have had multiple combinations of cards and monitors and have never had a problem running them at the same time.
Re:10.2.2 Changes (Score:5, Insightful)
Aaaaaarrrrrggghh! Apple replaces one Wrong Thing with another. Before 10.2.2, Apple's installer would blindly write files into /Applications/Mail.app/contents/resources without first checking to see whether Mail.app was still in the /Applications folder.
Now Apple's installer looks for /Applications/Mail.app, and aborts the install if it isn't there. For the love of Tog, how hard is it to actually find Mail.app, considering that the OS already has this ability built in??
MacOS X can find where Microsoft Excel is hiding on my hard drive every time I double-click on a spreadsheet - how hard can it be to find /Applications/Apple/Mail.app? Why should I be forced to organize my /Applications folder in a particular way (or, more accurately, why should I be prevented from organizing the folder) just to satisfy Apple's brain-dead installer scripts?
Now I have to re-construct the /Applications folder to look exactly the way it did after a clean install, or I can't get application updates. MacOS 9 didn't require this. I could understand Apple's installer getting uppity if I turned /bin or /usr into my personal carnival of idiosyncracies, but I can't understand why Apple's new and improved OS is hard-wired to implode when I move an application from one folder to another.
I pray Panther will fix pam.. (Score:2)
Big fan of OSX, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Big fan of OSX, but... (Score:2, Informative)
Thank you. (Score:2)
VideoLAN [videolan.org].
Re:Big fan of OSX, but... (Score:2)
The Encore DXR-2 pumps all MPEG video out to my TV anyway.
Well, I hope... (Score:2)
If you've got LaTeX installed, you can test this with) $$\end{document}
\documentclass{article}\usepackage{amsmath} \begin{document}$$\left(\dfrac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\right
and see the broken parentheses under high magnifications.
Should be good. (Score:2, Interesting)
My favorites (Score:2, Funny)
If only I had to worry about this situation!
# Addresses a potential issue in which an unauthorized user could log in as a deleted user.
Glad to see Apple still on the top with security.
# Improves Address Book compatibility with users that are already on an AIM Buddy List.
Good, this was an issue I submitted through Developer bug reporting, glad to see it fixed!
here. (Score:4, Informative)
Combo Update Available (Score:5, Informative)
From the list of enhancements (Score:5, Funny)
Uh oh. If my TiBook wakes up any faster than it already does, it'll resume before I even open the lid. Brings a whole new meaning to the term 'race condition.'
Re:From the list of enhancements (Score:3, Funny)
Test: Think about opening your TiBook by at the last moment divert your attention (tell your wife to yell at you sometime tomorow when your about to lift the lid or something).
Possible results:
1: it wakes;
hyphothesis upheld.
2: it doesn't wake
Apple has surely outdone all previous innovation with this notebook that actually predicts the future.
*NEW* Apple Information Service (Score:2, Funny)
How to enable journaling (simple howto) (Score:4, Informative)
diskutil
You'll get a list of diskutil options, two of them are "enableJounal" and "disableJournal".
Happy hunting
-todd
W00t! (Score:3, Interesting)
Now to wait until all 24.4megs download on my horrid connection (24.0kbps right now!). Wow, I think the download status bar just twitched!
performance (Score:3, Interesting)
For those of you that can't wait to install... (Score:5, Informative)
%su
password:<enter password>
%softwareupdate 3404
(software update progress occurs)
%reboot
You are now updated to 10.2.2
10.2.2 - man page killer? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:10.2.2 - man page killer? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:10.2.2 - man page killer? (Score:5, Informative)
I'll say one thing for Apple... (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny how Apple can have software update facilities that must be handing out several hundred thousand 25Mbyte updates a day.....and many websites can't even cope with the traffic Slashdot sends their way
-psy
Re:I'll say one thing for Apple... (Score:3, Interesting)
For those that don't know what Akamai is (Score:5, Interesting)
They just did this at U of A, where I work. They shipped us 3 servers and a switch (for free) and then are helping us get them set up. The effect, when they are running, will be that any traffic bound for Akamai's network will instead get serverd from those local computers. So instead of loading down their and our internet links, they will come form a LAN connection.
Really it's a win for all involved. We are happy because it reduces our traffic at no cost to us. They are happy because it reduces the traffic on their network. Their customers are happy because it means fast data delivery to lots of people.
HELP! All my entourage mail is *gone* (Score:3, Informative)
Last nite I ran the 10.2.2 update.
Rebooted.
Did a 'df' in a terminal and noticed I had a lot more hard drive space. Gone down from 83%+ full to 77% full. It was late. Didn't think much of it.
This morning I start entourage and all my account settings, email, folders, filters, addresses are *gone*. The DB in microsoft user data was brand new from scratch. It even popped the set-up assistant.
What did stick around was my signature and rules. Weird.
I called apple they're supposed to get back to me today.
Can anyone think of any issue with the new journaling file system and a big file?
Uuuugh :( note to self. Always back-up before update.
Re:ip firewall (Score:2, Funny)
Re:ip firewall (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:ip firewall (Score:2)
The 10.2.2 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications and technologies: Address Book, iChat, IP Firewall...
The firewall was in there before. There's just bugfixes for it now.
Re:Sleep Issues (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, those TiBooks make really hard pillows! I like the built-in heater, though. It's just the right temperature, not like those Intel | AMD based notebooks...
Re:Sleep Issues (Score:2)
Parent is troll... (Score:3, Funny)
I work for Apple's East division, there is no such thing as 10.2.2.
That's funny... I just installed it...
When did we release 10.2.1 ?
09/18/02, according to Apple [apple.com].
Re:What happened to the old Slashdot? (Score:5, Interesting)
Back in the day, the only time you'd see an Apple on the front of
Now I'm getting my update news here. Scary.
Re:Cupertino, we have a problem! (Score:2)
Of course they could always do another M$ move and just rename it to MacOS'03.
Re:Cupertino, we have a problem! (Score:2)
MacOS X version 3
.
.
.
MacOS X version 8
And so on. Wasn't so hard, now was it? It won't annoy me as much as advertising that uses three single word "sentences" that are also supposed to go together, either. Man, those piss me off.
Re:Cupertino, we have a problem! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's really not that hard to wrap your head around this idea, y'all. It's not necessary to make a lot of noise about it every single time OS X comes up on Slashdot.
Re:Cupertino, we have a problem! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Mac OSX (Score:5, Informative)
Because the right-click context menu is a windows-ism, and as such, people who have never used windows don't care. In fact, if you gave them another button they wouldn't use it, much like how windows users don't care they are missing the ever-so-useful middle button.
People who do care plug any old multi-button USB mouse into their mac and forget about it.
Re:Mac OSX (Score:5, Interesting)
Okay, Mr. Power-User, then cough up $20 or whatever for a mouse with the number of buttons you need. For the millionth fucking time.
I always thought that it was just an old joke/troll but seriously, why?
The one-button mouse is designed to have a very clear function, so when Grandma tries to use her new iMac, she doesn't get confused. Apple performed usability testing when they were developing the Mac, to find the optimal number of buttons for the uninitiated user. The results of their testing: one. Any more than that confused people.
You might say, "Well, that was twenty years ago, surely people are more clued in now!"
Wrong. If I had a buck for every exchange like this I've been a part of in even the last two years, I could retire to my own private island:
Me: "Sure, I can help you with that. I need you to right-click on [icon] and select 'Properties.'"
Client: "I clicked on it, but it just went dark. Where is this 'properties' thing?"
Me: "Did you right-click on it, or just click on it?"
Client: "What do you mean, 'right-click?'"
Me: "Right-click, as in, click the right mouse button."
Client (incredulously): "You mean, it does something different???"
My point: Some people STILL find multiple mouse buttons confusing. Since Apple is marketing in large part to people who are confused/frustrated/confounded by Windows, it makes sense to include an unambiguous mouse.
Most people who want a mouse with more functionality either right from the start or after they get up to speed with the Mac will purchse one, and put the Apple one in a drawer somewhere. Those who don't post on
~Philly
Re:Mac OSX (Score:4, Interesting)
Asside from the Ctrl-Click contexual menus, you can completely control Mac OS X from the keyboard. the default behavior is for the F-Keys (F1, F2, etc) to highlight keyboard focus on various on screen elements, including any properly API-created Aqua control.
Basically, you can run the computer almost completely without a mouse. Or CLI. With your own custom key layout if you desire. Awsome.
Oh, and my $20 Logitech Optical mouse works great with my G4. Right-click functions as-Windows-expected. Users of OS X and above also enjoy the scroll-wheel goodness, and 10.2 even introduces the "Copy & Paste Files" concept to the Mac for the first time, availible contexualy got all those adjusting Windows users.
Even better is my sister's Logitech Wireless Optical mouse, connected to her TiBook. $40 too expensive? Get the cord version. TiBooks have USB ports, you know.
Re:Mac OSX (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not at that machine right now so, I don't remember what the command line arguments were that turned it on.
Right-Clicking (Score:3, Informative)
Of course Apple only includes a 1-button mouse with their systems, but 2-button optical mice are so cheap that it's just not worth complaining about.
Odd that Apple doesn't sell their own 2-button mouse, though. It's almost as if Apple is trying to help hardware manufacturers get business from Mac users. What could be the advantage of that?
Re:Mac OSX (Score:3, Interesting)
Very simple... To prevent poor programming. Contextual menus should speed access to features, but is should not be the only way to access a feature. If you force developers to consider single button mice, then they must provide all options in the regular menus, as well as contextual menus.
There are plenty of people in this world that I would not want to have to explain the difference between a right/middle/left click.
Microsoft Powerpoint X makes this mistake on MacOS X. If you want to group objects together, the only way to do it (unless you customize your menus) is to use context menus.
Re:That is correct (Score:5, Insightful)
Bull. Apple has released far more of their code than they had to (zero). And it's not all modifications to existing software either, quite a bit was written from scratch.
OSX gives some of what Linux's had all along.
More accurately, OS X gives what Linux has been trying to achieve for years: a desktop OS usable by non-geeks.
not giving anything back? (Score:3, Informative)
http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/02/0
Journalling is good for everyone.. (Score:5, Informative)
for the huge disk servers it means when you power up after a crash you dont have to do a full file system check which could take hours on say a 400GB disk.
what is the cost? a very small amount of disk space (about 8 Megs) and about a 15% reduction in write-to-disk performance. There is no penalty for read performance.