Monday, July 27, 2009

Why We Use Macs

Unix is 40 Years Old

Thanks goodness Dr. Thompson did what he did. My Mac thanks you, sir!

In August 1969, Ken Thompson, a programmer at AT&T Bell Laboratories, saw the monthlong absence of his wife and young son as an opportunity to put his ideas for a new operating system into practice. He wrote the first version of Unix in assembly language for a wimpy Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-7 minicomputer, spending one week each on the operating system, a shell, an editor and an assembler.

[From Unix turns 40: The past, present and future of the OS | Mac OS X - Page 1 | Macworld]

Saturday, July 25, 2009

MS to Copy Apple's Genius Bar With "Guru Bar"

What a shocker. First, Windows...then ultimately Vista, a poor OS X knockoff. Then the Zune, a hideous iPod copy. Then the decision to make a Microsoft store to copy the successful Apple Stores. Now, Microshaft plans to copy yet another Apple innovation. They're hapless and devoid of ANY original thinking. I'm waiting for the ZunePhone or something.

A leaked presentation has exposed Microsoft's tentative plans for its retail stores -- and the high degree to which they'll imitate Apple stores, down to their layouts and even the presence of a dedicated "Guru Bar" for help.

A leaked proposal for Microsoft from design consulting firm Lippicott immediately provides hints of an Apple connection with a bright, open layout where the center and edges of the store are dominated by computers showing the "seamless" link between Windows PCs and peripherals. Themed areas would push specific products, such as home theater PCs, netbooks or Windows Mobile and Zune devices.

[From AppleInsider | Microsoft stores to mimic Apple's with "Guru Bars"]