The Power of Mac

The Mac Is Back

- 2002.04.16 - Tip Jar

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $154 / 2GB kit $94 -- Free shipping available.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Mercury Elite FW800/FW400/USB2/eSATA up to 2.0TB TOP-RATED Solutions offer High Performance, Reliable storage for all your data storage needs. 500GB $159.99, 750GB $199.99, 1.0TB from $299.99

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

New MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $88 / 4GB $138 / 8GB $274 - Click to Maximize your Macs...

This week's edition of eWeek has a surprising article by Peter Coffee. I have enjoyed Peter's writing over the years, in a number of publications. This most recent article explores another side of Mac OS X: Its friendliness to programmers in general and Java programmers in particular.

The article opens with, "After years of being infamously unfriendly to casual programmers, the Macintosh has suddenly become the machine of choice for out-of-the-box programmability - with tools that not only generate great-looking Macintosh applications but that also generate them in Java so you can take them anywhere." The author is referring to the Apple Project Builder development suite. The suite is included free with OS X, though it is not installed by default, not even on a new Mac. It is also available for download as part of Apple Developer Tools. This is a free download for Apple Developer Connection (ADC) members.

Apple receives highest praise indeed in the following excerpt from the article:

Apple has done a tremendous job of making Java code run well - really well - on the Mac, supporting such refinements as hardware graphics acceleration and anti-aliasing in a way that's completely transparent to the programmer. Like the very first Macintosh, which gave priority memory access to the built-in ROM Toolbox user interface code, the Mac OS X Java implementation gives developers a lot of leverage. Don't be surprised if a Java application on Mac OS X - especially one with a lot of graphics - appears more responsive than a native-code application on a Windows machine with twice the clock speed.

I began using DOS somewhere around version 2. Even the early versions included some sort of development environment for writing programs in BASIC. With the arrival of Windows 95, Microsoft began to scale back on this practice, until it finally disappeared altogether in Windows 2000. Kudos to Apple for taking this practice and running with it in OS X. They have given Mac programming a tremendous shot in the arm by including these tools with their OS.

In a previous column, I noted how quickly Unix applications were being ported to OS X. I see the same thing happening with Java apps.

I have great respect for Sun in their development of the Java environment. The promise of "write once, run anywhere" is an admirable goal that ultimately benefits the entire computing world. The openness of the system is a refreshing contrast to another notable company's policy of proprietary, closed technology.

Mac OS X is much more efficient at running Java applications than the Classic Mac OS. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on the download page for the popular Gnutella client LimeWire, which is written in Java. The size of the download for various operating systems are listed:

Macintosh (OS 8.1 or later w/ 64 MB RAM req.) 11.20 MB
Mac OS X                                       2.33 MB
Windows (NT, 95, 98, Me, XP, 2000)             3.78 MB
Linux w/ Installer                             2.54 MB

Mac OS X wins the contest for "smallest download." But look at the whopping size of that download for the Classic Mac OS!

What was inconceivable as recently as two years ago now looms as a real possibility: The Mac could become the preferred platform for software developers. With Mac OS X and the Apple Developer Tools, the Java promise may become, "Write on the Mac, run anywhere!"

Mac Challenge Update

The Mac Challenge is nearing the halfway point of part 1. I have been Windows-free and using the iMac DV+ exclusively for two weeks now. "Uneventful" might be the most accurate term to describe the Challenge thus far. I will provide a short recap at the beginning of part 2: The switch to the Dell and Windows XP exclusively for one month. LEM

Steve Watkins is the Vice President for Information Technology for a mid-sized bank and also an attorney. He has been a Mac user for about ten years. He has owned some PCs along the way - but always came back to the Mac. If you find Steve's's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Practical Mac Articles

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Practical Mac articles copyright ©2001-08 by Steve Watkins. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.