Symantec Says Buy a Mac, SheepShaver Supports Classic on Macintel, Painted minis, and More

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - 2006.05.19

This Week's Apple and Desktop Mac News

PowerBook, iBook, iPod, and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review. News about Apple's transition to Intel CPUs and other Intel developments is covered in The Macintel Report. iPod news is covered in iPod News Review.

All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

News & Opinion

• Symantec CEO Advises Buying Macs
• FastMac Offers Custom Painted Mac mini Cases with Zero Downtime
• Using a Floppy-only Macintosh Plus for Email

Tips

• iMac (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update
• Mac mini (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update

Products

• OWC Unveils $159 Mercury Extreme G4/933 MHz Upgrade
• Three Rechargeable Bluetooth Mice From RadTech
• Bridge Board Connects SATA Drives to FireWire 800/USB 2.0
• 2 Port PCIe SATA 3G Host Adapter

Software

• Power Save Mac Conserves Energy
• SheepShaver Lets You Run Classic Mac OS Programs on Macintel

Desktop Mac Deals

News & Opinion

Symantec CEO Advises Buying Macs

CNET News.com's Tom Krazit reports:

"Buying a Macintosh is at least a temporary salve to security problems, according to John Thompson

"It doesn't appear that Symantec chief executive John Thompson's next computer will run Windows.

"'We think more people ought to buy them,' Thompson said of Apple's Macintosh computers, in response to a question from the audience at the Future in Review conference in Coronado, California on Monday. The 'target-rich' environment created by Windows vulnerabilities means that virus writers and hackers have set their sights on Windows PCs, he said."

Link: Symantec Chief Executive Advises Buying Macs

FastMac Offers Custom Painted Mac mini Cases with Zero Downtime

PR: Spice up your Mac mini by adding some color (even Retro Beige!)

FastMac has announced a full line of custom painted Mac Mini cases now available for preorder with zero downtime. Colors currently offered include Onyx (Black), Chili (Red), Bubblegum (Pink), Midnight (Dark Blue), Wasabi (Lime), Tangerine (Orange), and Retro (Beige With An Original Muti-Colored Apple Logo).

Personally, I think that Retro Beige with the traditional rainbow Apple logo (which I like better than the current white one) looks surprisingly classy, and the Midnight and Onyx appeal as well, but that's just me.

FastMac includes all necessary tools including a modified putty knife to make the installation process as easy as possible. A video install and PDF instructions are also provided in several languages including: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.

"FastMac has come up with a uniquely FastMac solution for modders everywhere that's, well, fast and offers immediate gratification," said Michael Lowdermilk, Business Development Manager for FastMac Performance Upgrades, Inc. "With our 30 day money back guarantee if you don't like it then just send it back, it's that simple."

In preparation the cases are first cleaned and scuffed with a pre-solvent. A coat of epoxy sealer and then four coats of special low solids/high pigmentation aircraft quality paint are then applied. A final coat of clear urethane and high gloss finishes it off. All paints are two part catalyzed. Logos are silk screened on and a special low solids/high pigmentation urethane is again used.

Mike says other colors will be added depending on interest and customized paint jobs are also available.

The customized cases are now available for preorder and start at $69.95. Cases come with a 30 day money back guarantee and will begin shipping in 2-3 weeks.

Link: Spice Up Your mini

Using a Floppy-only Macintosh Plus for Email

Jeff Garrison says:

"My Macintosh Plus has 4 MB of RAM, an 800 KB capacity internal floppy drive, a keyboard with extended keypad, and the DB9 nine-pin mouse. Mine is the platinum variety, a greyish color I prefer over the beige. In front of it is the homemade email floppy.

"...On top of the drive at left sits the Global Village Mercury external modem I use to email with.

"The second disk . . . has the Eudora 1.3.1 email program that works with this version of machine...."

Editor's note: I also have a platinum Mac Plus, which has pretty much been in storage since 1999, but it also worked for email running System 7 (from a hard drive) and with one of the Eudora Light versions. cm

Special thanks to our own Hardy Menagh for rescuing this important page and archiving it on his website. dk

Link: The Macintosh Plus - My Emailing Mac

Tips

iMac (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update

The SMC Firmware Update addresses boot issues with the iMac.

The updater application will be installed in the /Applications/Utilities folder and will launch automatically after restart.

System Requirements

• Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later
• iMac (early 2006)

Link: iMac (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update

Mac mini (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update

The SMC Firmware Update addresses boot issues with the Mac mini.

The updater application will be installed in the /Applications/Utilities folder and will launch automatically after restart.

System Requirements

• Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later
• Mac mini (early 2006)

Link: Mac mini (early 2006) SMC Firmware Update

Products

OWC Unveils $159 Mercury Extreme G4/933 MHz Upgrade

PR: Other World Computing (OWC) has announced availability of new model OWC Mercury Extreme G4/933 Megahertz (MHz) processor upgrade and immediate price reduction on its entire Mercury Extreme G4 line.

New Pricing:

• Mercury Extreme G4/933 MHz w/2 MB L3 Cache, $159
• Mercury Extreme G4/1.0 GHz w/2 MB L3 Cache, $189 (was $195)
• Mercury Extreme G4/1.2 GHz w/2 MB L3 Cache, $219 (was $239.99)
• Mercury Extreme G4/1.4 GHz w/2 MB L3 Cache, $259 (was $299.99)
• Mercury Extreme G4/1.5 GHz w/2 MB L3 Cache, $309 (was $349.99)

"Mercury Extreme G4 upgrades from Other World Computing are a great way to make an existing machine up to four times faster while retaining compatibility with all your existing software and hardware," says Larry O'Connor, CEO of OWC.

The Mercury Extreme G4 upgrades improve performance of the OS and applications currently being used while also allowing users to take advantage of newer software with faster processor requirements as well.

Each Mercury Extreme G4 features 256 KB of 1:1 L2 Cache and 2 MB of high-speed L3 Cache. All units are covered by OWC's three-year limited warranty and offer a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee, allowing customers to try without risk. It has been OWC's experience that once a user experiences the benefit of a Mercury Extreme upgrade, there is no going back.

Mercury Extreme G4 processor upgrades are designed for Plug-and-Play ease of use, requiring no software for operation. All models are compatible with Apple PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics (Sawtooth), Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio and Quicksilver models, and with Mac OS 9.2.1 or higher and all versions of OS X 10.0.4 and later including 10.4.x Tiger.

Complete pricing, ordering, and availability information for Mercury Extreme G4 processor upgrades is available online or by calling (800) 275-4576.

Link: Mercury Extreme Upgrades

Three Rechargeable Bluetooth Mice From RadTech

PR: RadTech has just announced three new rechargeable Bluetooth optical mice: the BT100 and BT300 mini mice, and the BT600 full-size mouse.

I love my little RadTech BT500 Bluetooth mouse which my wife says is the cutest computer mouse she's ever seen, and it's very comfortable to use too. <a href="http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/bt500.shtml">You can read a recent review of mine here.</a>

The BT500 now has a fleet of stable mates, and RadTech has just added three new rechargeable Bluetooth optical mice: the BT100 and BT300 mini mice, and the BT600 full-size mouse.

BT100 Rechargeable Mobile Mouse

The RadTech BT100 rechargeable Bluetooth mouse is a ruggedly built, small and lightweight BT wireless mouse that combines 3-button control, ultra-precise 800 dpi optical tracking, NiMH rechargeable batteries and in-mouse fast-charging via an included USB cable.

Never get stranded with dead batteries again: Simply attach the included USB charging cable to your computer and the included NiMH batteries begin charging while you continue working. BT100's scroll wheel doubles as a charge status indicator and cell life is extended while powered on thanks to the BT100's power-saving sleep mode.

Weighing in at a luggage-friendly 66 grams with batteries, the BT100 won't add to your load. Cell life is extended thanks to the BT100's smart power-saving sleep mode - click a button or move the mouse while in sleep mode and the connection is seamlessly restored in seconds. An easily accessible power switch, located on the underside, allows the device to be powered down for extended periods of non-use.

Connecting the BT100 is simple - no drivers needed for Mac or PC - All mouse buttons are fully application assignable with no additional software. Install RadTech's free RadMouse configuration driver and take complete control of your digital domain.

Features:

• Smooth tracking, maintenance-free 800 dpi optical technology
• 3-button control plus scroll wheel make navigating your workspace a breeze
• Center button can be assigned by applications - perfect for Expose' & Dashboard
• BT Class II - Supports the standard HID profile for use with any device
• 10 Meter free space range - control your notebook from across the room
• Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technology minimizes interference from other devices
• Optimum size for fatigue-free ergonomic use and mobile portability
• Use with non-BT equipped computers requires a USB Bluetooth adapter
• Power switch conserves battery power when not in use or stored
• Use RadTech's free RadMouse HID driver for unparalleled control

BT100 Specs:

• Radio Class: Bluetooth II
• Frequency: 2.4 - 2.48 GHz
• Profile: Bluetooth HID
• Data Rate: > 700 Kbps
• Tracking Method: Optical (LED)
• Resolution: 800 dpi
• Power: 2-5 VDC
• 2 x AAA NiMH Cells included
• Charging: Via USB Cable
• Charge Rate: 500 mAh; 140 min
• Dimensions: 88.5 x 47.5 x 34mm
• Weight: 66g With Batteries
• Color: White w/Silver Accents
• Product of Taiwan

System requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.3 or later
• PowerPC or Intel Processor
• 2 MB free hard disk space
• Any RadTech Bluetooth mouse
• Updated 04-26-2006

Price: $49.95

Add RadPak Travel Case - $10.00

BT300 Rechargeable Mobile Mouse

The RadTech BT300 rechargeable Bluetooth mouse ma combines 3-button control, ultra-precise 800 dpi optical tracking, NiMH rechargeable batteries and in-mouse fast-charging via an included USB cable.

Never get stranded with dead batteries again: Simply attach the included USB charging cable to your computer and the included NiMH batteries begin charging while you continue working. BT300's scroll wheel doubles as a charge status indicator and cell life is extended while powered on thanks to the BT300's power-saving sleep mode.

Weighing in at a luggage-friendly 65 grams with batteries, the BT300 won't add to your load. Cell life is extended thanks to the BT300's smart power-saving sleep mode - click a button or move the mouse while in sleep mode and the connection is seamlessly restored in seconds. An easily accessible power switch, located on the underside, allows the device to be powered down for extended periods of non-use.

Connecting the BT300 is simple - no drivers needed for Mac or PC - All mouse buttons are fully application assignable with no additional software. Install RadTech's free RadMouse configuration driver and take complete control of your digital domain.

Features:

• Smooth tracking, maintenance-free 800 dpi optical technology
• 3-button control plus scroll wheel make navigating your workspace a breeze
• Center button can be assigned by applications - perfect for Expose' & Dashboard
• BT Class II - Supports the standard HID profile for use with any device
• 10 Meter free space range - control your notebook from across the room
• Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technology minimizes interference from other devices
• Optimum size for fatigue-free ergonomic use and mobile portability
• Use with non-BT equipped computers requires a USB Bluetooth adapter
• Power switch conserves battery power when not in use or stored
• Use RadTech's free RadMouse HID driver for unparalleled control

BT300 Specs:

• Radio Class: Bluetooth II
• Frequency: 2.4 - 2.48 GHz
• Profile: Bluetooth HID
• Data Rate: > 700 Kbps
• Tracking Method: Optical (LED)
• Resolution: 800 dpi
• Power: 2-5 VDC
• 2 x AAA NiMH Cells included
• Charging: Via USB Cable
• Charge Rate: 500 mAh; 140 min
• Dimensions: 85.2 x 48 x 27.6mm
• Weight: 65g With Batteries
• Color: Pearl Over Translucent Black
• Product of Taiwan

System requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.3 or later
• PowerPC or Intel Processor
• 2 MB free hard disk space
• Any RadTech Bluetooth mouse
• Updated 04-26-2006

Price: $51.95

Add RadPak Travel Case - $10.00

BT600 Full-size Bluetooth Wireless 5-Button + Scrolling Mouse

The RadTech BT600 combines 5-button control, ultra-precise 800 dpi optical tracking, NiMH rechargeable batteries and in-mouse fast-charging via an included USB cable.

Never get stranded with dead batteries again: Simply attach the included USB charging cable to your computer and the included NiMH batteries begin charging while you continue working. BT600's scroll wheel doubles as a charge status indicator and cell life is extended while powered on thanks to the BT600's power-saving sleep mode. A recessed, top-mounted power switch allows the mouse to be powered down for extended periods of nonuse and prevents accidental power up during transport.

Connecting the BT600 is simple - no drivers needed for Mac or PC.

Mouse buttons 4 & 5 are conveniently positioned near the right thumb for right-handed users and all buttons are fully application assignable with no additional software. Install RadTech's free RadMouse configuration driver and take complete control of your digital domain.

Features:

• Smooth tracking, maintenance-free 800 dpi LED optical technology
• 5-button control plus scroll wheel make navigating your workspace a breeze
• Button can be assigned by applications - perfect for Expose' & Dashboard
• BT Class II - Supports the standard HID profile for use with any device
• 10 Meter free space range - control your computer from across the room!
• Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technology minimizes interference from other devices
• Full-size form factor for those who prefer a larger mouse
• Use with non-BT equipped computers requires a USB Bluetooth adapter
• Power switch conserves battery power when not in use or stored
• Use RadTech's free RadMouse HID driver for unparalleled control

BT600 Specs:

• Radio Class: Bluetooth II
• Frequency: 2.4 - 2.48 GHz
• Profile: Bluetooth HID
• Data Rate: > 700 Kbps
• Tracking Method: Optical (LED)
• Resolution: 800 dpi
• Power: 2-5 VDC
• 2 x AA NiMH Cells included
• Charging: Via USB Cable
• Charge Rate: 500 mAh; 290 min
• Dimensions: 109 x 67 x 36mm
• Weight: 126g with Batteries
• Product of Taiwan

System requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.3 or later
• PowerPC or Intel Processor
• 2 MB free hard disk space
• Any RadTech Bluetooth mouse
• Updated 04-26-2006

Price: $59.95

RadMouse v1.0b11 Bluetooth HID Driver

Take full control of your RadTech Bluetooth mouse with RadMouse - RadTech's Bluetooth HID Driver & System Pref. Map mouse buttons and scroll wheel to single or multiple keystrokes or actions, adjust cursor tracking and scrolling speed, acceleration curves and more. And all custom settings can be global, or application specific.

RadMouse works with all RadTech Bluetooth mice

• Link: BT100 Rechargeable Mobile Mouse
• Link: BT300 Rechargeable Mobile Mouse
• Link: BT600 Full-size Bluetooth Wireless 5-Button + Scrolling Mouse
• Link: RadMouse v1.0b11 Bluetooth HID Driver

Bridge Board Connects SATA Drives to FireWire 800/USB 2.0

PR: FWBU2-DSATA01 is ideally suited for tailgate interface applications for two SATA drives. It allows two SATA drives to be connected to USB 2.0 or FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) serial bus in a plug-and-play fashion.

FWBU2-DSATA01 provides the perfect solution for data backup and transferring of data to/from computer using SATA hard disk drives.

Specifications - FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) & USB 2.0 Combo to SATA Bridge Board:

• DC Power Connector: Mini 4-pin Floppy Disk Drive like power connector.
• USB 2.0 Port: One USB B-Type connector
• USB Bus Transfer Rate: High Speed (480 Mbit) And Full Speed (12 Mbit)
• USB Bus Power: Self Powered Mode Operation
• FireWire Port:: Two Bilingual-9pin (IEEE 1394b) Connectors
• 1394b PHY: Ti's TSB81BA3
• 1394 Bus Transfer Rate: 100/200/400/800 Mbps
• SATA Port: Two SATA Signal 7pin Connectors
• SATA Transfer Rate: 150 Mbytes/s
• RAID
  • RAID 0 (Striping) for two disks.
  • Disk Spanning for two disks.
• Provide pin header for Power indicator LED and SATA Access LED
• SCSI I 50pin Low Density Centronics Connector Form Factor

(Fit to most standard SCSI enclosure)

Hardware Requirements

• Desktop PC: with either a built-in FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) controller or a FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) to PCI Host Adapter equipped with a external FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) port.
• Desktop PC: with either a built-in USB (1.0 or 2.0) controller or an USB (1.0 or 2.0) to PCI Host Adapter equipped with a external USB port.
• Laptop PC: with either a built-in FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) controller or a FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) to CardBus PC Card equipped with a external FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) port.
• Laptop PC: with either a built-in USB (1.0 or 2.0) controller or an USB (1.0 or 2.0) to CardBus PC Card equipped with a external USB port.

System Requirements

• Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/2003; Mac OS X or higher; Linux
• Driver Requirements
  • USB: No driver installation for Windows ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Mac OS and Linux. Driver available for Window 98 SE
  • FireWire: No driver installation for Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Mac OS and Linux

Kit Includes

• FWBU2-DSATA01 bridge board.
• Shape (one IDE big 4pin male to one floppy drive like mini 4pin and one IDE big 4pin female) DC Power Cable (Red, Black, Black, Yellow).
• User's Manual

FWBU2-DSATA01 FireWire 800 (1394b) & USB 2.0 Combo to SATA bridge board sells for $89.99.

Link: FWBU2-DSATA01 FireWire 800/USB 2.0 Combo to SATA Bridge Board

2 Port PCIe SATA 3G Host Adapter

PR: The first 2 port external PCIe (PCI Express) SATA 3 Gbps host adapter card compatible with Apple's newest Power Mac G5 Dual-core computers, the FASTA-2e features high speed SATA 3 Gbps connection and allows the user to connect two external SATA 3 Gbps devices to the Apple Computer's latest Power MAC G5.

This card is the perfect solution for users who are using video capture devices such as DV, VCR, AJA Io, LA, LD, etc. that require the full bandwidth of FireWire and high speed access to external hard drives.

The only SATA PCIe card that is designed for video editing. This adapter supports DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD, 8-bit and 10-bit SDvideo workflows.

Features:

• 2 External SATA Ports.
• 3.0 Gbps bandwidth transfer speed
• Plug and Play
• Downward compatible with SATA I device
• 3-year warranty

Enhance your editing experience

If you are a video editor working with Final Cut Pro on a G5 Dual-core, this card is designed for you. FASTA-2e can easily handle multi-stream of a variety video formats such as DVCPro HD, 8 bit SD, 10 bit SD, HDV, etc. It allows you to connect up to 2 external SATA devices with 3 Gbps bandwidth for fast data transfer. =

Upgrade your new Dual-core

FASTA-2e provides the missing external SATA ports for the G5 Dual-core. The FASTA-2e offers two external SATA II ports at up to 3 Gbps. The card enables individual drives or RAID arrays to be fully utilized as high-performance storage on your G5 Dual-core.

High performance and protection

FASTA-2e is dedicated to deliver not only the high speed 3 Gbps external storage connectivity that the G5 Duo-core has been missing, but also, the reliability to protect your digital content. Users can configure the external storage as RAID 1* (mirroring) to maximize the protection of the digital content.

note: This is a PCI Express card and only works in the newest Mac G5 Dual Core computers with PCI Express slots. It will not work in the older PowerMac G5 PCI-X slots.

* RAID 1 feature is available via MAC OS disk utility. Why choose SATA HBA for video editing?

SATA is an evolutionary replacement for the PATA physical storage interface. It provides affordable pricing, expandable and easy configuration. It is the latest technology to replace FireWire, USB and Fiber Channel.

SATA 3 Gigabyte is the latest SATA technology that supports up to 3 Gigabytes bit per second. Double the speed/bandwidth of the original SATA 150 (1.5 Gb/s).

FASTA is the series of CalDigit SATA 3 Gb/s host cards utilize the PCIe/PCI-x interface to offer huge bandwidth for data throughput. It is dedicated to video editors that require high performance and reliability.

FASTA-2e 2 port PCIe SATA 3G Host Adapter sells for $94.99.

Link: FireWire Depot FASTA-2e 2 Port PCIe SATA 3G Host Adapter

Software

Power Save Mac Conserves Energy

PR: Faronics announces the release and immediate availability of Faronics Power Save Mac, an intelligent utility that effectively controls and manages Macintosh energy usage throughout an enterprise. Organizations can see significant energy savings by using Power Save Mac by scheduling their computers to log off, restart, shut down, or start up at specified times on a one-time or repeating basis.

The utility is conveniently installed as a preference pane within the Mac OS X System Preferences, and has an integrated inactivity monitor that can automatically cause computers to log out, shutdown or restart after a specified number of minutes of inactivity. This ensures that even if a Power Save event has not been scheduled, your Macs will user power as efficiently as possible.

Power Save Mac also integrates seamlessly with Apple Remote Desktop (ARD), allowing administrators to deploy a customized power saving configuration package to a single or multiple computers. ARD also offers the ability to manage the application remotely through Power Save-specific tasks.

"Power Save Mac offers administrators an easy and efficient way to automatically enhance the energy-saving capabilities of their computers and, correspondingly, how much power their computers are consuming," said David Anderson, the Power Save Mac product manager at Faronics. "The multiple configuration options offered by the program allow for maximum flexibility and control, and could potentially save companies thousands of dollars in annual energy expenditures."

A fully functional, 60-day evaluation version of Power Save Mac can be downloaded free of charge.

Link: Power Save Mac

SheepShaver Lets You Run Classic Mac OS Programs on Macintel

PR: SheepShaver is an Open Source PowerPC Mac OS run-time environment. That is, it enables you to run PowerPC Classic Mac OS software on your computer, even if you are using a different operating system. However, you still need a copy of Mac OS and a Power Macintosh ROM image to use this program. SheepShaver is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

If you are using a PowerPC-based system, applications will run at native speeds (i.e. without any emulation involved). On other systems, SheepShaver provides the first PowerPC G4 emulator, though without MMU, to enable the execution of Mac OS Classic. Performance with the current CPU emulator using basic just-in-time (JIT) translation techniques is roughly 1/8-th of native speeds.

The following platforms are currently supported: Linux (i386, PPC, x86_64), Mac OS X (i386, PPC), Darwin, NetBSD 2.0, FreeBSD 5.3 and Windows for x86. Please note that I am pretty careless of the Windows version since I am not a Windows developer. You are heartily invited to join the effort!

To: whoever at Apple that have the right information

Hello, it is well known that you dropped support for Mac OS Classic applications in Mac OS X for Intel. Should you care of your users, people that made you a living for years, please consider the following: either (i) bring back a Classic environment, or (ii) help SheepShaver development. The latter can be realized by releasing code and/or documentation about Mac OS Classic internals. Thanks.

Features

• SheepShaver runs Mac OS 7.5.2 thru Mac OS 9.0.4
• PowerPC G4 emulation on non-PowerPC platforms, direct execution otherwise
• Basic but portable JIT engine (x86, x86_64, MIPS)
• Copy and paste of text between Mac OS and the host OS
• File exchange with the host OS via a Unix icon on the Mac desktop
• Color video display with support for run-time resolution switching
• Run-time depth switching from 1 bpp to current host depth settings
• Native QuickDraw 2D acceleration for BitBlt and FillRect operations
• CD-quality stereo sound output
• Networking: SheepShaver supports Internet and LAN networking via Ethernet and PPP with all Open Transport compatible Mac OS applications

New SheepShaver 2.3 snapshot

• Handle up to 1 GB of Mac memory
• Improve SLiRP network emulation performance
• Fix Native QuickDraw acceleration
• Fix a crash during Mac OS 9 installation
• Fix a crash in the AppleShare extension
• Fix support for Mac OS 7.5.3 Revision 2.2
• Fix gigantic window dimensions on first boot
• Fix extfs volume name to Unix (Toshimitsu Tanaka)
• Fix unaligned accesses in SLiRP network emulation (Brian J. Johnson)
• Initial port to IRIX/MIPS

Mac OS X:

• Port to Mac OS X for Intel, including the JIT
• Add a primitive graphical preferences editor
• Add support for run-time CD-ROM auto-detection
• Fix clipboard (copy/paste of text from/to the host OS)
• Fix extfs to preserve native folder attributes
• Fix extfs to handle file/folder creation times
• Fix SLiRP network emulation (workaround Mac OS X bugs)
• Improve overall performance on PowerPC (by a factor 2)

Windows:

• Add SLiRP network emulation (ether slirp)
• Add TAP-Win32 network emulation (ether tap)
• Fix CD-ROM auto-detection (pollmedia now works)
• Fix idle sleep (idlewait now works)
• Fix native cursor to be updated as soon as Mac OS modified it
• Improve GUI for network configuration

Link: SheepShaver

Desktop Mac Deals

Low End Mac updates the following price trackers every two weeks:

• Low End Mac's best Mac mini deals
• Low End Mac's best iMac Core Duo deals
• Low End Mac's best iMac G5 deals
• Low End Mac's best iMac G4 deals
• Low End Mac's best iMac G3 deals
• Low End Mac's best eMac deals
• Low End Mac's best Power Mac G5 deals
• Low End Mac's best Power Mac G4 deals
• Low End Mac's best Power Mac G3 deals

For more deals on current, recently discontinued, and older notebooks, see our MacBook Pro deals, 12" PowerBook G4 deals, 15" aluminum PowerBook G4 deals, 17" PowerBook G4 deals, titanium PowerBook G4 deals, iBook G4 deals, PowerBook G3 deals, and iBook G3 deals.