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  • sHARD>>
    A few researchers from IBM are working on a new BIOS emulator for EFI based on the Boch's x86 emulator. This BIOS emulator is essentially an EFI application which serves to load and execute an emulated BIOS for older operating systems, including Windows, to use. OSNews notes, however, that this may present a few problems: complex partitioning and many updates for new Macintosh Computers. Amit Singh, a developer, elaborates on it's functionality:
     
    "To EFI, our software looks like a regular EFI program which happens to be a bootloader. This bootloader contains a binary payload which is an entire BIOS, VGA BIOS, and other x86-specific glue needed to boot the machine. This binary payload is loaded into memory in the legacy BIOS space. To all software on the machine, it appears as if the machine has a traditional BIOS. An important aspect of BAMBIOS is that its goal is to be non-disruptive."
     
    This could finally bridge the gap for legacy OSes, including Windows and Linux flavors.
     
    Find more information at the BAMBIOS website.
  • sHARD>>
    Things aren't looking good for those wishing to run the upcoming Windows Vista on their Intel Macs, as it won't support 32-bit EFI. Official statements from both Apple and Microsoft seem to confirm this, as neither seem interested in working together. Apple says they will not work to support a "legacy os" such as Windows, thus, they will not offer BIOS extensions for EFI. Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, Microsoft has announced that they will not offer EFI support for 32-bit machines in Windows Vista. It will instead run on 32-bit machines with BIOS (or EFI with legacy BIOS emulation), and 64-bit machines with BIOS. EFI support will be added with a later update. Quite an interesting battle we have here, but both companies seem content to stay away from Windows on Macs. However, will future 64-bit Apple machines solve this problem once and for all?
  • Metrogirl
    In today's Business Week article, "Apple - Finding the Root of the Problem", which talks predominantly about the misleading results of the "Hack my Mac" challenges, Bud Tribble (Apple Vice President Software Technology) dismisses the idea that Apple should have a Chief Security Officer. This is rather at variance from the industry norm, since companies like IBM, Oracle and the like have had a CSO in place for a long time.
     
    Mr Tribble thinks that security is everyone's responsibility. It is, of course, but isn't that rather dodging the issue for Apple? If there is no central point of contact, no-one cracking the whip over the developers and checking compliance, how will they deal with the inevitable event of a major security vulnerability?
     
    The Mac's Unix underpinnings offer a few security advantages but they will be eroded increasingly by the need to wrap them in a mom-and-pop-friendly interface. With a user base that is growing daily, how long will it be before there is a major issue?
     
    As the article concludes, "Once you've lost a user's confidence, it's hard to get it back. Just ask Microsoft."
  • Metrogirl
    In today's Information Week podcast here Johanna Ambrosio says that Apple's CFO reports more than 1,000 applications have been ported to the Intel platform but admits that some key applications are 'experiencing performance challenges'. Photoshop is mentioned by name. Translating his politically correct statement ("... users may or may not find that acceptable") into real language suggests that Photoshop users are not exactly thrilled by the transition to date.
     
    In a related story in the same podcast a "Hack my Mac" contest ended with the Mac Mini (didn't say whether PPC or Intel) unscathed.
  • Swad

    Mac Mini Reviews

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    There are quite a few good Mac Mini reviews floating around, the two best being (in my opinion) those of Ars Technica and TUAW. Ars gives a glowing in-depth review while TUAW gives some initial impressions and some bugs the user found. On balance they show high quality unit that may still have a bug or two to fix with the new software. Don’t miss the Ars benchmarks for some surprising results (although several in our forum disagreed with those for the MacBook… and these by extension.)
     
    Have you gotten a new Mac Mini? Let us know your thoughts here!
  • Swad

    x86 Tweak: Optimize CS2

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    Got the PPC Photoshop CS2 blues? Ya know the feeling, watching in anguish as the beachball of death spins endlessly while trying to apply a filter. If this is you, we’ve got good news and mediocre news.
     
    The mediocre news is that while Adobe spoke out about universal binaries last week, they still gave no timetable for getting a universal Photoshop or Illustrator. It’s still looking like late 2006 or early 2007.
     
    The better news is that you can do something about it in the meantime. MacWorld has an article detailing some ways to optimize CS2 and while the article isn’t geared specifically for Intel OS X users, we can still glean some good information.
     
    We recommend playing around with your cache levels (since your shiny new MacBook messed around with your other cash levels…) and tweaking your RAM allocation. There’s no magic number so you’ll need to determine what your machine can best handle.
     
    In the end, though, you should notice some increased speeds and decreased BBOD.
     
    Have a few more tweaks? Let us know here!
  • Swad
    Like I've said before, the greatest quality of being a geek in my opinion is that insatiable drive to see what makes a thing tick. Take it apart and put it back together again. If this is you, it’s no wonder you love Apple products. If anyone deserves to call their product “Origami” it’s Apple.
     
    Anyway, today brings some interesting shots of a Mac Mini on the operating table: one from MacWorld and another from AppleFritter. Enjoy.
  • Swad

    MacBook Pro Reviews

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    As more and more MacBook Pros (It’s not that I mind the name so much – it’s just that extra syllable…) come rolling in, we’ve got more reviews than you can shake a stick at. I’m not really sure what kind of quantifiable data stick-shaking creates, but let’s just say there’s a lot.
     
    Two of the best reviews are those from MacWorld (Pro?) and Ars Technica. Ars usually does a good job with their reviews but this time they threw us a bonus: they compared the MacBook Pro with an old Powerbook and a hacked Dell running 10.4.4. Although the Dell fared poorly in the UI test (using a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700), it held its own and actually beat the MBP on a few tests. Sans the UI test, the Dell was roughly on par with the Mac with xbench scores. It didn’t do so well with the other tests.
     
    Have you gotten your MacBook yet? If so, let us know your impressions here!
  • Swad

    IRC is Back!

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    Well we’ve been without an IRC channel for a few weeks now as we sorted a few things out with staff, servers, etc.
     
    [Mashugly clears his throat and prepares his best Steve Jobs impression, complete with black mock turtleneck and jeans…]
     
    We know you’ve wanting IRC. It’s big. Real big. So big in fact that it’s taken us this long to make sure we had it all right. But I’m happy that I can announce today… MacSpeak.net. MacSpeak is going be a great new hub for your daily Mac fix. Right now it’ll be the home of the OSx86 Project’s IRC channel, but we’ve got a lot of really exciting things planned like integrated RSS feeds and whole bunch of other stuff.
     
    It’s gonna be great. Insanely great. It’s available today – to connect with your IRC client just point it to irc.macspeak.net. The official channel is #osx86 just like in the past.
     
    I know you’re going to love our improved IRC setup. Enjoy.
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