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What Do I Need to Know About OSX?

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stanton

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I've been working on Macs, seemingly forever (1987). Yeah, there have been some interface changes when the Mac OS went from 6, to 7, then to 8 and 9. They were all similar. Every generation seemed to have easier-to-use feature sets (like when they ditched Font/DA Mover). Even though it took forever for native apps to appear after the PPC emerged, it was still a seamless transition.

I bought an iBook 500 last year which had OSX. It seemed to take up drive space, have no OSX apps available, limited numbers of OSX drivers and generally slowed down the unit. Additionally, my eyes glazed over with all the different file names. After 2 weeks I trashed OSX for OS 9.

Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier). What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing hard copies of documentation any longer.

How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?

Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare myself for the conversion?

TIA,
Stanton
 
Stanton said:
I bought an iBook 500 last year which had OSX. It seemed to take up
drive space, have no OSX apps available, limited numbers of OSX
drivers and generally slowed down the unit. Additionally, my eyes
glazed over with all the different file names. After 2 weeks I
trashed OSX for OS 9.

Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.
Click to expand...
You need to take the plunge and learn the new OS. Many of the concepts are the same. The Operating system is extremely stable, drivers are available for most accessories. What devices are you needing drivers for?

Remember, you can still run all of your OS9 applications within OSX. I don't know how to tell you to mentally prepare for it. Grin and bear it =) You'll be happy you did.

I am a 'new' Mac user myself. I used Mac's in the early 90's and then switched to PC's now I'm back. (Well, I have both at home)

--
jbstrick
http://jbstrick.com
http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=6060
 
First off, when you're in OS 9, it's better to just chose OS 9 in your boot disk rather than opening OS X and running OS 9 within it. I have been selling to the Mac market for 3 years and feel that it's best to stay with OS 9 until you have the need for an application that runs in OS X. If you run high end applications, you will want to use OS X. If you're using free software for graphics, web serfing with a service that is yet to go to OS X, and have an investment in other OS 9 applications (office, etc...), I would stay in OS 9 for most of the time.

Currently, it's at the very least good to dabble in OS X, but taking the jump is no easy task for those who have committed to OS 9.
Stanton said:
I've been working on Macs, seemingly forever (1987). Yeah, there
have been some interface changes when the Mac OS went from 6, to
7, then to 8 and 9. They were all similar. Every generation seemed
to have easier-to-use feature sets (like when they ditched Font/DA
Mover). Even though it took forever for native apps to appear after
the PPC emerged, it was still a seamless transition.

I bought an iBook 500 last year which had OSX. It seemed to take up
drive space, have no OSX apps available, limited numbers of OSX
drivers and generally slowed down the unit. Additionally, my eyes
glazed over with all the different file names. After 2 weeks I
trashed OSX for OS 9.

Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.

How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?

TIA,
Stanton
Click to expand...
 
Gulliver said:
First off, when you're in OS 9, it's better to just chose OS 9 in
your boot disk rather than opening OS X and running OS 9 within it.
I have been selling to the Mac market for 3 years and feel that
it's best to stay with OS 9 until you have the need for an
application that runs in OS X. If you run high end applications,
you will want to use OS X. If you're using free software for
graphics, web serfing with a service that is yet to go to OS X, and
have an investment in other OS 9 applications (office, etc...), I
would stay in OS 9 for most of the time.

Currently, it's at the very least good to dabble in OS X, but
taking the jump is no easy task for those who have committed to OS
9.
Click to expand...
I tried this approach and it is a poor choice. You need to switch to OS X and use classic mode for your OS 9 applications, printers etc. The good news is that everything from OS 9 works in classic At first you will dislike possibly even hate OS X...I know I did, but after a few weeks a strange thing will happen you will dislike or possibly even hate OS 9. OS X is so good that you will hope to replace all your applications with OS X ones. I'm down to just one application in OS 9 and can't wait until I close the Classic mode down for good. Take the plunge OS X is the best thing from Apple in many years. I have Jaguar on order and am waiting with bated breath!
 
OS 9 Has the worst multitasking I have ever seen (even in the windows world). It's cooperative that means and application has to release control so that an other can start using processor. It's a realy paint doing some things because the applications will lock the hole system until it's task is done. In some ways this is good since you get faster times in processing (well only if you are doing one thing at a time.

But remember your clock is a process, Your MP3 player is an other process., the finder is an other process. So in general you need a real good operatin system that can handle multiple processes working at a time and that can assign cpu use in a good way...So the clear way to go is OS X.

For a long time Mac user I can only recomend one thing: Use your OS X like if you were using Os 9 Things are mostly the same. Don't even try going to the console. Check out some of the applications in \Applications\Utility\

Some of them are realy cool and they are exactly that applications you can decide to use or not.

Don't fell ower wellm and rememver the Windows probable fells eassyer right now but is not. And windows thend to change they interface and show things appear on the screen every mayor release. Whille mac will be keeping the same interface for ages I'm sure of that.
Gulliver said:
First off, when you're in OS 9, it's better to just chose OS 9 in
your boot disk rather than opening OS X and running OS 9 within it.
I have been selling to the Mac market for 3 years and feel that
it's best to stay with OS 9 until you have the need for an
application that runs in OS X. If you run high end applications,
you will want to use OS X. If you're using free software for
graphics, web serfing with a service that is yet to go to OS X, and
have an investment in other OS 9 applications (office, etc...), I
would stay in OS 9 for most of the time.

Currently, it's at the very least good to dabble in OS X, but
taking the jump is no easy task for those who have committed to OS
9.
Click to expand...
--
E-20, C-3030 and E-100rs happy owner
 
Stanton said:
Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.
Click to expand...
Stanton, windows is definitely NOT easier. There is quite a steep learning curve associated with OSX. This is generally caused by the unix underpinnings of OSX. Things like "root", "admin", "users" etc. will confuse at first, but keep in mind that unix was/is designed as a multiuser OS from the ground up. The filing system alone, compared to OS9, will scare the wits out of the average Mac user due to its complexity, but don't worry, most of it requires no interaction on the part of the users and the real guts of the system is kept hidden from all but the root user. There are a number of good books on OSX available online at places like Amazon.com and O'Reilly Network ( http://safari.oreilly.com/main.asp?bookname=0201709007 ). I would definitely recommend that you spend a bit of time reading before taking the leap to OSX it will save you alot of frustration.

Like you, I am a lifelong Mac user. I have been using OSX along with OS9 since OSX was first intoduced and found a couple of things very important. First, make sure that you have enough ram, OSX loves ram, the more the better. At least 384megs, more if posssible depending on how many applications you want to have open simultaneously. This helps reduce "pageouts" which really slow things down. I have a 667mhz TiBook with 1gig of ram and when running Photoshop 7 along with iPhoto, Mozilla, Entourage and Office, it does very nicely, ram is good. Secondly, try to use applications designed natively for OSX. The "Classic" (OS9) operating system, and most "Classic" applications run well in OSX however you can't really expect it to be any more stable in OSX than it is natively, and by comparison OSX is solid as a rock. Also, the Classic Operating System (OS9), is just another application as far as OSX is concerned so if a classis app crashes, it brings down the entire "Classic" environment. This doesn't affect OSX due to its protected memory design, but it does require a fairly long classic restart, so its best to use native OSX applications.

By the way, installation of applications is as simple as it has always been on a Mac. Nothing at all like installing things on a windows machine. The only caveat would be that you need to have "admin" access in most cases, but all that is explained in one of the books you'll read.
stanton said:
How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?
Click to expand...
When OSX 10.0.0 was first introduced, I had some tough times finding drivers and software to get my work done. Printer drivers were few and far between and so were drivers for scanners, card readers, USB devices etc. etc. Today that situation is vastly improved. The OSX native Image Capture application interacts with most digital cameras (My D60 works great with it) as do my printers and other devices. I think you'll be surprised at the number of drivers available for OSX as well as the number of peripheral devices that OSX supports natively. Additionally, the Open Source unix community ( http://www.opensource.org/ ) is beginning to embrace OSX as evidenced by work being done with Fink ( http://fink.sourceforge.net/ ), XFree86 ( http://www.mrcla.com/XonX/ ) and other really geeky stuff if you're adventurous.

OSX 10.2 (Jaguar) is due out on Sept. 24th and should bring some significant improvements to an already great operating system. Your computer may come with it already installed. Check out the Apple site for the latest news on it. Great sources for OSX info exist on the web, try some of these sites:

http://www.macaddict.com/
http://www.macosxapps.com/
http://www.macosxhints.com/
http://www.osxfaq.com/

I think OSX is great and I think you will too. Never crashes, rock solid and once you get used to it all the benefits of unix with the ease of use of a Mac....what else could we ask for? Good Luck.

Tom
 
What is it that actually makes OSX so great? Please explain that to me. Why should I upgrade from 9.2.2?

Regards
Leifilund
 
Macs have always been known for crashing. It's an easy to use OS, but not very stable. OS X is based on Unix which is very stable, but that's not to say the history of OS X has been all good. Currently, OS X is a great OS. The problem is that there are limited applications, and the ones that are available are mostly pro aps that go for top dollar. For the average person, taking the jump can be difficult. My audio recording suite (Pro Tools) has no compatibility. iPhoto doesn't have the features that my free OS 9 software has. My web provider has no OS X compatibility...

I agree that OS X is cool and promising, but the migration to it will follow my budget.

Martin
leifilund said:
What is it that actually makes OSX so great? Please explain that to
me. Why should I upgrade from 9.2.2?

Regards
Leifilund
Click to expand...
 
My biggest concern revolves around several devices that I use daily. I have both Firewire and USB CF card readers, a (wacom) graphics tablet, a trackball mouse, an Epson 1280, plus an old HPLJ 6MP printer, hooked up via ethernet. Additionally, I have an old SCSI scanner that I've accessed through a SCSI card.

If OSX drivers don't exist for these devices, how can you use them? The scanner is ancient, but still works, and even though a comparable unit could now be purchased for $300, that's $300 more that I'd rather spend elsewhere.

Am I in for trouble with any of the aforementioned devices?

TIA,
Stanton
tbanaszak said:
Stanton said:
Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.
Click to expand...
Stanton, windows is definitely NOT easier. There is quite a steep
learning curve associated with OSX. This is generally caused by the
unix underpinnings of OSX. Things like "root", "admin", "users"
etc. will confuse at first, but keep in mind that unix was/is
designed as a multiuser OS from the ground up. The filing system
alone, compared to OS9, will scare the wits out of the average Mac
user due to its complexity, but don't worry, most of it requires no
interaction on the part of the users and the real guts of the
system is kept hidden from all but the root user. There are a
number of good books on OSX available online at places like
Amazon.com and O'Reilly Network
( http://safari.oreilly.com/main.asp?bookname=0201709007 ). I would
definitely recommend that you spend a bit of time reading before
taking the leap to OSX it will save you alot of frustration.

Like you, I am a lifelong Mac user. I have been using OSX along
with OS9 since OSX was first intoduced and found a couple of things
very important. First, make sure that you have enough ram, OSX
loves ram, the more the better. At least 384megs, more if posssible
depending on how many applications you want to have open
simultaneously. This helps reduce "pageouts" which really slow
things down. I have a 667mhz TiBook with 1gig of ram and when
running Photoshop 7 along with iPhoto, Mozilla, Entourage and
Office, it does very nicely, ram is good. Secondly, try to use
applications designed natively for OSX. The "Classic" (OS9)
operating system, and most "Classic" applications run well in OSX
however you can't really expect it to be any more stable in OSX
than it is natively, and by comparison OSX is solid as a rock.
Also, the Classic Operating System (OS9), is just another
application as far as OSX is concerned so if a classis app crashes,
it brings down the entire "Classic" environment. This doesn't
affect OSX due to its protected memory design, but it does require
a fairly long classic restart, so its best to use native OSX
applications.

By the way, installation of applications is as simple as it has
always been on a Mac. Nothing at all like installing things on a
windows machine. The only caveat would be that you need to have
"admin" access in most cases, but all that is explained in one of
the books you'll read.
tbanaszak said:
How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?
Click to expand...
When OSX 10.0.0 was first introduced, I had some tough times
finding drivers and software to get my work done. Printer drivers
were few and far between and so were drivers for scanners, card
readers, USB devices etc. etc. Today that situation is vastly
improved. The OSX native Image Capture application interacts with
most digital cameras (My D60 works great with it) as do my printers
and other devices. I think you'll be surprised at the number of
drivers available for OSX as well as the number of peripheral
devices that OSX supports natively. Additionally, the Open Source
unix community ( http://www.opensource.org/ ) is beginning to embrace
OSX as evidenced by work being done with Fink
( http://fink.sourceforge.net/ ), XFree86
( http://www.mrcla.com/XonX/ ) and other really geeky stuff if you're
adventurous.

OSX 10.2 (Jaguar) is due out on Sept. 24th and should bring some
significant improvements to an already great operating system. Your
computer may come with it already installed. Check out the Apple
site for the latest news on it. Great sources for OSX info exist on
the web, try some of these sites:

http://www.macaddict.com/
http://www.macosxapps.com/
http://www.macosxhints.com/
http://www.osxfaq.com/

I think OSX is great and I think you will too. Never crashes, rock
solid and once you get used to it all the benefits of unix with the
ease of use of a Mac....what else could we ask for? Good Luck.

Tom
Click to expand...
 
Also... When Jaguar comes out, what's the routine for upgrading software? Is it different than I've experienced with earlier OS's?

Thanks again,
Stanton
 
What brands & models?

Can't begin to answer your question unless you provide basic information about the devices for which you need drivers.

Kensington has updated Mouseworks for OS-X, and logitech has also relesed OS-X drivers. There is also a generic USB driver for 10 that may help (I thinks it's called "super usb" and it often can provide basic functionality.

There were some problems with scanner compatibilty with early realeses of OS X, I'm not sure if that continues. If you're near an Apple store, you could take it in and see if they can demonstrate that it can work. (The genius bar guys can be pretty helpful).

John
Stanton said:
If OSX drivers don't exist for these devices, how can you use them?
The scanner is ancient, but still works, and even though a
comparable unit could now be purchased for $300, that's $300 more
that I'd rather spend elsewhere.

Am I in for trouble with any of the aforementioned devices?

TIA,
Stanton
tbanaszak said:
Stanton said:
Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.
Click to expand...
Stanton, windows is definitely NOT easier. There is quite a steep
learning curve associated with OSX. This is generally caused by the
unix underpinnings of OSX. Things like "root", "admin", "users"
etc. will confuse at first, but keep in mind that unix was/is
designed as a multiuser OS from the ground up. The filing system
alone, compared to OS9, will scare the wits out of the average Mac
user due to its complexity, but don't worry, most of it requires no
interaction on the part of the users and the real guts of the
system is kept hidden from all but the root user. There are a
number of good books on OSX available online at places like
Amazon.com and O'Reilly Network
( http://safari.oreilly.com/main.asp?bookname=0201709007 ). I would
definitely recommend that you spend a bit of time reading before
taking the leap to OSX it will save you alot of frustration.

Like you, I am a lifelong Mac user. I have been using OSX along
with OS9 since OSX was first intoduced and found a couple of things
very important. First, make sure that you have enough ram, OSX
loves ram, the more the better. At least 384megs, more if posssible
depending on how many applications you want to have open
simultaneously. This helps reduce "pageouts" which really slow
things down. I have a 667mhz TiBook with 1gig of ram and when
running Photoshop 7 along with iPhoto, Mozilla, Entourage and
Office, it does very nicely, ram is good. Secondly, try to use
applications designed natively for OSX. The "Classic" (OS9)
operating system, and most "Classic" applications run well in OSX
however you can't really expect it to be any more stable in OSX
than it is natively, and by comparison OSX is solid as a rock.
Also, the Classic Operating System (OS9), is just another
application as far as OSX is concerned so if a classis app crashes,
it brings down the entire "Classic" environment. This doesn't
affect OSX due to its protected memory design, but it does require
a fairly long classic restart, so its best to use native OSX
applications.

By the way, installation of applications is as simple as it has
always been on a Mac. Nothing at all like installing things on a
windows machine. The only caveat would be that you need to have
"admin" access in most cases, but all that is explained in one of
the books you'll read.
stanton said:
How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?
Click to expand...
When OSX 10.0.0 was first introduced, I had some tough times
finding drivers and software to get my work done. Printer drivers
were few and far between and so were drivers for scanners, card
readers, USB devices etc. etc. Today that situation is vastly
improved. The OSX native Image Capture application interacts with
most digital cameras (My D60 works great with it) as do my printers
and other devices. I think you'll be surprised at the number of
drivers available for OSX as well as the number of peripheral
devices that OSX supports natively. Additionally, the Open Source
unix community ( http://www.opensource.org/ ) is beginning to embrace
OSX as evidenced by work being done with Fink
( http://fink.sourceforge.net/ ), XFree86
( http://www.mrcla.com/XonX/ ) and other really geeky stuff if you're
adventurous.

OSX 10.2 (Jaguar) is due out on Sept. 24th and should bring some
significant improvements to an already great operating system. Your
computer may come with it already installed. Check out the Apple
site for the latest news on it. Great sources for OSX info exist on
the web, try some of these sites:

http://www.macaddict.com/
http://www.macosxapps.com/
http://www.macosxhints.com/
http://www.osxfaq.com/

I think OSX is great and I think you will too. Never crashes, rock
solid and once you get used to it all the benefits of unix with the
ease of use of a Mac....what else could we ask for? Good Luck.

Tom
Click to expand...
--
Click to expand...
 
Macs--even under OS X--are compatible with almost any web provider (so far as they do not require you to use a special client as opposed to your browser). Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal commented a little while ago that many ISP's tend to say they can't support Macs even though they can (he listed it as a challenge for switchers). I use AT&T cable and have no problems though the AT&T custom browser can't be installed (I never installed it on my PC). I only needed to put the connection settings into the browser and it was fine.

I'm not saying that your ISP is definitely compatible, just that it's apparently easier for them to say "no, it's not" that to find out for sure.

John
Gulliver said:
I agree that OS X is cool and promising, but the migration to it
will follow my budget.

Martin
leifilund said:
What is it that actually makes OSX so great? Please explain that to
me. Why should I upgrade from 9.2.2?

Regards
Leifilund
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
  • If you don't want to spend the time learning a new OS, then cancel your G4 machine now
  • I know and you know that you will be spending some time learning a new OS, so get over your fears now and have fun with it!
Having fun with it is one of the biggest things that Apple has to offer over Wintel machines. Not that a spanking new 2.5 GHz Windows machine wouldn't be fun too, but you know what I mean.

Here's a great book (look locally, or on Amazon): http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macosxmm/ ;. With the new OS (10.2 aka Jaguar) I'd expect an update to the book, and also expect that your new machine - if you haven't received it yet - will have the new OS on it too.

Suck it up, dive in, have a blast - OS X and Apple machines are cool and fun and will do everything you wanted a personal computer for....

-Larry
 
Ok... I'll give you the specifics. I forget to mention the BIGGIE. The all-important device that makes my entire business go round. My colorimeter.

Here they are:
Wacom Graphire tablet
Lexar Firewire card reader
Microtech Cameramate USB card reader
Logitech Marblemouse

I also have been running my beloved, 1987 Apple II keyboard (you know, the good one with the great touch that cost me $200 back then) hooked up via a Griffin (Griffith?) USB/ADB adapter.

The MOST IMPORTANT device that I use is my XRite DTP92 colorimeter. It is a serial model and has been hooked up via an original Keyspan Serial/USB adapter. My color calibration software is Kodak Coloflow Monitor Profile Builder.

One thing that I might mention is that I have always installed a second (or third) hard drive for backup and system maintainance purposes. Is it wise to install a standalone OS 9.x system on the second drive, or does it booger things up? Would this be a good work-around for those devices that will not work with OSX?

Yes, I plan on diving in, Larry... Its not that I don't want to have fun. Its just that my G4 runs the production end of my business, and unfortunately because I am getting a "custom configuration" from Apple, they are damned slow at getting it built and shipped. As of tomorrow I've been struggling out of my iBook for 2 weeks. Consequently the production crunch won't allow me much time to have fun with the learning curve...

... Besides, I've been on the learning curve with LiveMotion2... and it hasn't been as easy as I expected.

Thanks again for your input.
Stanton
 
and will have to do some further research about whether everything will work. The forums at http://www.macfixit.com/ ; can be helpful sometimes, as can poking (searching for drivers, etc.) around http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ ;.

If you had ordered a new G4 desktop, the you'll probably be thrilled that the delay was likely due to the new hardware announced yesterday and that you'll be getting more hardware than you bargained for. Unfortunately, the dual processor machines will not benefit you nearly so much in OS9 as in X. If your order was for a laptop, then Apple probably just sucks....

Good luck finding the software that you need to make everything live a little longer. OS9 is still being supported by a lot of developers (but barely at all by Apple), but I wouldn't be too surprised to see that come to an abrubt end sometime in the not distant future. Does that mean that there will be good support for another year? I don't know, but if so, you can get a lot of work done in that time!
 
I don't think "learning" OS X is really an issue, it's so much like OS 9 that it shouldn't be a big deal for most people. I think most people buy a Mac for one or two applications that run best on it. Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and Pro Tools are the killer aps of the Mac - and all artistic programs. There are similar consumer programs, but they are all inspired by the above. Eventually, we will all find our way to OS X, but I think our personal applications and budgets will be the deciding factor.
Stanton said:
I've been working on Macs, seemingly forever (1987). Yeah, there
have been some interface changes when the Mac OS went from 6, to
7, then to 8 and 9. They were all similar. Every generation seemed
to have easier-to-use feature sets (like when they ditched Font/DA
Mover). Even though it took forever for native apps to appear after
the PPC emerged, it was still a seamless transition.

I bought an iBook 500 last year which had OSX. It seemed to take up
drive space, have no OSX apps available, limited numbers of OSX
drivers and generally slowed down the unit. Additionally, my eyes
glazed over with all the different file names. After 2 weeks I
trashed OSX for OS 9.

Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.

How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?

TIA,
Stanton
Click to expand...
 
I don't think "learning" OS X is really an issue, it's so much like OS 9 that it shouldn't be a big deal for most people. I think most people buy a Mac for one or two applications that run best on it. Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and Pro Tools are the killer aps of the Mac - and all artistic programs. There are similar consumer programs, but they are all inspired by the above. Eventually, we will all find our way to OS X, but I think our personal applications and budgets will be the deciding factor as to when.

mh
Stanton said:
I've been working on Macs, seemingly forever (1987). Yeah, there
have been some interface changes when the Mac OS went from 6, to
7, then to 8 and 9. They were all similar. Every generation seemed
to have easier-to-use feature sets (like when they ditched Font/DA
Mover). Even though it took forever for native apps to appear after
the PPC emerged, it was still a seamless transition.

I bought an iBook 500 last year which had OSX. It seemed to take up
drive space, have no OSX apps available, limited numbers of OSX
drivers and generally slowed down the unit. Additionally, my eyes
glazed over with all the different file names. After 2 weeks I
trashed OSX for OS 9.

Next week my new G4 is coming, and I can see that I'm ultimately
going to have to learn OSX (somehow even Windows seems easier).
What do I need to know about X? I don't have time to learn the
quirks of yet another OS...and Apple isn't so great about providing
hard copies of documentation any longer.

How does one deal with device drivers that do not yet exist for OSX?
Is there anything else that I need to know to mentally prepare
myself for the conversion?

TIA,
Stanton
Click to expand...
 
Logitech offers OS X drivers on their site. http://www.logitech.com

Waxcom has 10.1 drivers available for download, plus a beta with some improvements. http://www.wacom.com

The Lexar firewire reader is listed as compatible with OS X on dcresource.com, http://www.lexarmedia.com

The Microtech cameramate drivers for OS X can be downloaded here: http://www.microtechint.com/downloads/USB_OSX.sit
Don't know about the keyboard.
For the DTP92, xrite has the following topic on their site:

ColorShop and OSX----------------------------------------------------------------
Software and hardware notes

ColorShop version 2.6.2 operates correctly with a Digital Swatchbook or Monitor Optimizer in the Classic environment (OS9.2.1) of OS10.1. If you have a USB Monitor optimizer no changes to the installation need to be made. If you have a serial device, Use a Keyspan USA28x USB to serial adapter (X-Rite P/N SE108-USBSERA) with the appropriate driver installed in the OS9 system folder.

Installing the profile

If your profile is only going to be used with Classic applications no changes need to be made in your workflow from running directly in OS9.xx. If you build a profile you wish to use in OSX applications, you will need to save it in the ColorSync folder of System 9.2.1, and then manually transfer this to the Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays folder in OSX.

Hope this helps.
John
Stanton said:
Ok... I'll give you the specifics. I forget to mention the BIGGIE.
The all-important device that makes my entire business go round. My
colorimeter.

Here they are:
Wacom Graphire tablet
Lexar Firewire card reader
Microtech Cameramate USB card reader
Logitech Marblemouse

I also have been running my beloved, 1987 Apple II keyboard (you
know, the good one with the great touch that cost me $200 back
then) hooked up via a Griffin (Griffith?) USB/ADB adapter.

The MOST IMPORTANT device that I use is my XRite DTP92 colorimeter.
It is a serial model and has been hooked up via an original
Keyspan Serial/USB adapter. My color calibration software is Kodak
Coloflow Monitor Profile Builder.

One thing that I might mention is that I have always installed a
second (or third) hard drive for backup and system maintainance
purposes. Is it wise to install a standalone OS 9.x system on the
second drive, or does it booger things up? Would this be a good
work-around for those devices that will not work with OSX?

Yes, I plan on diving in, Larry... Its not that I don't want to
have fun. Its just that my G4 runs the production end of my
business, and unfortunately because I am getting a "custom
configuration" from Apple, they are damned slow at getting it built
and shipped. As of tomorrow I've been struggling out of my iBook
for 2 weeks. Consequently the production crunch won't allow me
much time to have fun with the learning curve...

... Besides, I've been on the learning curve with LiveMotion2...
and it hasn't been as easy as I expected.

Thanks again for your input.
Stanton
Click to expand...
 
The Graphical User Interface may have been originally conceived at Xerox Parc, but Apple made it practical and refined it. All the innovation and creativity was theirs -- Windows was just a Mac clone.

Times change, however, and with that huge user base and all the money and support it attracted, Windows grew to become not only viable but better than the Mac OS in many ways. Apple's elegant OS was out of date, and much of the underlying code needing modernizing.

Typical of Apple, they decided not just to come up to speed, but to go for the top again. Unix is the most stable operating system in the world -- the whole internet runs on it -- but it requires a near-programmer to work with it. But what if they could float the Mac OS on top of Unix? Unix power, unix stability, but Mac OS ease of use and simplicity. Now that would be something.

So here we are with the third version of OS X about to be released. Does it work? Yes it does, with bells on. Many sophisticated (and honest) Unix people say that the Mac OS X is a wonder, probably now the best operating system in the world. It has been a tough ride; Apple has had to drag some of its most important software developers kicking and screaming into the new era. And its been hard on the user base trying to get by with the brilliant but frustrating Classic solution, a way to use our old software while waiting for everybody to get up to speed.

So right, some people lead, others follow. Even in the Mac community you do hear many say, why should I switch? What can OS X do for me?

Well, come on, people, get with the program. We're two years down the road already. It's what makes Apple Apple, a Mac a Mac. It's why the creative community is so solidly in their corner. It's new, and it has rough edges, but it is fabulous. It's 1984 all over again.
Gulliver said:
I don't think "learning" OS X is really an issue, it's so much like…
Click to expand...
 
Yes – but what exactly is it that makes OSX so great. It is very stable – Yes. But I have been working for years with my mac not finding crashes being a big issue. They happen. But restart and off You go again. So what makes OSX so great. It is new – and like You guys in the US say about everything new – aweome gotta have it. Over here it is more like – it is new – what it is good for – if I get a good answer I may buy it…

Regards
Leifilund
tom bowling said:
Times change, however, and with that huge user base and all the
money and support it attracted, Windows grew to become not only
viable but better than the Mac OS in many ways. Apple's elegant OS
was out of date, and much of the underlying code needing
modernizing.

Typical of Apple, they decided not just to come up to speed, but to
go for the top again. Unix is the most stable operating system in
the world -- the whole internet runs on it -- but it requires a
near-programmer to work with it. But what if they could float the
Mac OS on top of Unix? Unix power, unix stability, but Mac OS ease
of use and simplicity. Now that would be something.

So here we are with the third version of OS X about to be released.
Does it work? Yes it does, with bells on. Many sophisticated (and
honest) Unix people say that the Mac OS X is a wonder, probably now
the best operating system in the world. It has been a tough ride;
Apple has had to drag some of its most important software
developers kicking and screaming into the new era. And its been
hard on the user base trying to get by with the brilliant but
frustrating Classic solution, a way to use our old software while
waiting for everybody to get up to speed.

So right, some people lead, others follow. Even in the Mac
community you do hear many say, why should I switch? What can OS X
do for me?

Well, come on, people, get with the program. We're two years down
the road already. It's what makes Apple Apple, a Mac a Mac. It's
why the creative community is so solidly in their corner. It's new,
and it has rough edges, but it is fabulous. It's 1984 all over
again.
Gulliver said:
I don't think "learning" OS X is really an issue, it's so much like…
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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