Adam Turner started down the road away from Windows. The first stop was Ubuntu Linux, but he went on to Mac OS X and hasnit looked back, according to his story at ITWire on Tuesday. Adam Turneris first observation addressed a common myth: “… I must say people who say iLeopard is just *nix with…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
CW: Vista Price Cut a Puzzle, Can't Compare to Mac OS X
Microsoft cut its prices for Vista across all versions, but the cuts donit seem to make any competitive sense, and the price still pales compared to Mac OS X, according to ComputerWorld on Tuesday. “In the United States, Microsoft will make price cuts that are largely symbolic gestures. It will cut the price of the…
Steve Jobs Names Possible Successors
At Appleis annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Steve Jobs was asked about possible successors. He said that candidates include Apple COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppeheimer. Mr. Jobs said that he sees many potential successors. “Weive got great talent, and I think the board would have a few really good choices,” Mr. Jobs said.…
BW: Apple Should Buy Back Some Stock
Noting Appleis $18 billion in cash, Business Weekis Arik Hesseldahl believes that itis time for Apple to buy back some of its 879 million shares. “Eighteen-and-a-half billion dollars is a lot of money,” Mr. Hesseldahl opened. “Itis more than the estimated 2007 gross domestic product of Nicaragua. Itis bigger than the estimated 2005 expenditures of…
AnandTech Compares Old and New MacBooks
AnandTech has built a comparison table showing, in detail, the small technical differences between the previous and current generation MacBook, MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air. Aside from the CPU and hard disk storage options, there is really very little difference between the old MacBooks and the new ones announced on Tuesday. Of course, benchmarks…
Microsoft Publishes Open Letter to Employees (and Yahoo!)
Microsoft has not yet acquired Yahoo!, but Kevin Johnson, Microsoftis president of the Microsoft Platforms & Services Division has published an open letter that aims to put concerns at ease, including the fact that Yahoo! is a non-Windows company. “We believe our proposal is a compelling one and that the combination of Yahoo! and Microsoft…
Takahashi: Apple Keeps Moving Forward, Microsoft Backward
The new MacBook Air emphasizes the important fact that Apple keeps moving forward. However, Microsoft took a step backward with Vista, according to Dean Takahashi at the Mercury News on Monday. Mr. Takahashi hasnit been a consistent Mac user. Heis a game player, and that required him to use PCs for decades. Neither has he…
IW: Time to Dump Windows?
InfoWorldis Galen Gruman asked the questions on Sunday: Can it be done? Is this the right time? He explored what it would take to make the switch to Mac OS X or Linux. For those who donit savor the switch from XP to Vista, many InfoWorld readers are talking about switching to Mac OS X…
BW: Steve Ballmer Should Focus -- Like the Other Steve
Big mergers in the high-tech industry have been colossal failures, and the same can be expected of Microsoft and Yahoo. Steve Ballmer, who appears to be anxious to make his mark on his company should stop trying to be all things to all people, according to Arik Heseldahl at BusinessWeek on Friday. Instead, Microsoft should…
ShaggyMac Introduces MacBook Air Screen Protector
ShaggyMac introduced its MacBook Air screen protector on Friday. Designed specifically for the MacBook Air, the microfiber cloth cushions the display when the lid is closed. “Avoid screen damage from key contact, dirt, oils, and residue. Even with a recessed keyboard, the MacBookis LCD is still prone to the same problems faced by most laptops.…
Linux, Leopard and Vista Pitted in Security Battle
The organizers of last year’s CanSecWest security contest plan to pit Linux, Leopard and Vista against each other in an ethical hacking contest next month in Vancouver, according to organizer Dragos Ruiu. Last year, the prize was shared between security researchers Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macauley for finding a security flaw in QuickTime that…
Apple Drops Out of NAB Show
Apple has announced that it will not have a booth at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in April, according to TVTechnology on Thursday. According to the report, Apple is cutting down on its trade show participation. “Apple is participating in fewer trade shows this year” said Anuj Nayar, senior manager of PR at…
New Macintosh Help Website Debuts
Scott Haneda and Caroline Merchiers have launched the first basic Macintosh help Website, osxhelp.com, on Wednesday. It claims to bring a new perspective to the Mac help Websites currently available. The new site is designed for the beginning Mac user, whether they just purchased their first computer or just their first Macintosh, and covers everything…
Linus Torvalds Brands Mac File System "Utter Crap"
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published on Tuesday, Linux Torvalds expressed his preference for Mac OS X over Windows, but described the Mac OS X file system HFS+ as “complete and utter crap.” Nick Miller with the SMH interviewed Mr. Torvalds at last weekis Linux conference in Melbourne. When the Interview got…
Demystification of the Mac in Science
Myths continue to persist about the Mac, even in scientific circles where critical, logical thinking should dominate. Even so, when it suits some PC apologists, the Mac is characterized by its state, circa Mac OS 9.2.2. At Mactropolis last week, the persistent myths about Mac OS X in science were debunked. Steve Jobs is well…
Thomson Financial Sees AAPL Turnaround Signs
Thomson Financialis Squawk Box, (TSB) a source of commentary and intelligence on market-moving activity, said on Monday that they see early turnaround signs for AAPL based on three separate timing indicators. They reported that the risk-reward for AAPL now favors buyers. In the report, carried by Forbes, Thomsonis sequential timing indicators flashed a reversal signal…
Parallels Webcast Will Share Company Products and Vision
The Parallels CEO, Serguei Beloussov, will hold a keynote Webcast on Thursday, January 31, 2008 in which heill take a deep dive into the companyis virtualization technology, new products, vision and roadmap. Joining Mr. Beloussov will be executives from leading Fortune 500 companies to share their own perspective on virtualization. Participating will be: Diane M.…
DVD Format War Officially a Draw
The format war for recordable DVDs, DVD-R and DVD+R, is officially over. Last week, the DVD6C consortium added DVD+R and DVD+RW to its list of licensable products, according to The Register on Monday. The wide availability of dual format DVD players/writers, in practice, terminated the war long ago. Ten years ago, Pioneer developed the DVD-R…
Organized Internet Criminals Sizing Up Macs as Targets
Organized criminal gangs working on the Internet have started to size up their opportunities with the Mac and users, according to a Sophos report. Previously, organized criminals have not paid much attention to Macs when there are so many poorly protected Windows systems to go after. However, in 2007, according to the report, cited by…
ChangeWave Research: Explosive Mac Sales Over Holidays
ChangeWave Research surveyed 4,604 CWR members in January and found that that 17 percent of respondents bought a Mac notebook in the last 90 days, a 3 percent jump from the previous survey in November 2007. Apple desktops were purchased by 16 percent, up six points from previously. “The results represent an astonishing leap for…
Parallels and equinux Partner for IPsec VPN
Parallels and equinux announced at Macworld that they have partnered to allow business professionals with Parallels Desktop for Mac to securely connect to their remote networks using VPN Tracker 5, equinuxis IPsec-based VPN client. The result is that users with the Parallels VM can now easily integrate with the equinux VPN Tracker 5. “Itis no…
Mindset Media Finds Mac Users More "Open Minded"
Mindset Media surveyed 7,500 people and found that people who are highly open minded are 60 percent more likely than people in the general population to have purchased a Mac. Mindset Media, which operates an online ad network that enables brand advertisers to reach millions of people with the personality traits that fit their brands,…
The Desktop Macs Need More Sex Appeal
Apple makes products that people love to feel, love to own, and love to show to their friends. However, when it comes to the desktop Macs which are often married to the largest displays, Apple has taken a hard, long duration turn into ugly. Thatis not going to make a lot of Apple enthusiasts very…
SWsoft Releases Beta of Parallels Server
SWsoft announced on Wednesday the Beta release of its Parallels Server, a hypervisor-powered server virtualization solution. It is the first virtualization system designed to run on Apple servers, Mac Pro and Xserve, but also runs on any 64-bit server hardware running Windows or Linux. Ben Rudolph, SWsoftis Director of Corp. Communications summarized the technical specifics…