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Graphical OS: According to Apple & Microsoft

Apple System Software 1.x (1984) = Microsoft Windows 1.01, aka “Presentation Manager” (1986)
Apple System Software 2.x (1985) = Microsoft Windows 2.x aka, “Windows 286/386” (1987)
Apple System Software 3.x (1986) = Microsoft Windows 3.0 (1990)
Apple System Software 4.x (1987) = Microsoft Windows 3.1 (1992)
Apple System Software 5.x (1987) = Microsoft Windows 3.11, aka “Windows for Workgroups” (1994)
Apple System 6.x (1988) = Microsoft Windows 95 (1995)
Apple System 7.x (1991) = Microsoft Windows 95B/95C & Windows NT 4.0 (1996)
Apple Mac OS 7.5x (1995) = Microsoft Windows 98 (1998)
Apple Mac OS 7.6x (1996) = Microsoft Windows 98SE (1999)
Apple Mac OS 8.x (1997)
Apple Mac OS 8.1 (1997) = Microsoft Windows ME, aka “Millennium Edition” (2000)
Apple Mac OS 9.x (1999) = Microsoft’s Windows XP (2001)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.0, aka “Cheetah” (2001) = Microsoft Windows Vista – Home Basic Edition (2007)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.1, aka “Puma” (2001) = Microsoft Windows Vista – Home Premium Edition (2007)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.2, aka “Jaguar” (2002) = Microsoft Windows Vista – Business Edition (2006/2007)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.3, aka “Panther” (2003) = Microsoft Windows Vista – Ultimate Edition (2007)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.4, aka “Tiger” (2005) = Microsoft Windows Vista – Ultimate plus patches (2007 – ???)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.5, aka “Leopard” (for 2007 release ???) = next Windows release for 2011 ???

– – Kupitero

Here’s an update,  Dec. 2013 — almost 6 years after:

Apple Mac OS X – 10.5, aka “Leopard” (2007) =  MS Windows 7 (2009)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.6, aka “Snow Leopard” (2009) =  MS Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (2011)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.7, aka “Lion” (2011) =  MS Windows 8.0 (2012)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.8, aka “Mountain Lion” (2012) =  MS Windows 8.1 aka “Windows Blue” (2013)
Apple’s Mac OS X – 10.9, aka “Mavericks” (2013) =  MS Windows 8.1 with Service Pack 1 ???? (20??)
Apple’s Mac OS XI – 11.0 , aka “???” (for 2015 release???) =  MS Windows 8.2 (for 2015 or 2016)???

– – Kupitero

Here’s another update,  Nov. 2016 — almost 9 years after the initial post:

Apple Mac OS X – 10.5, aka “Leopard” (2007) =  MS Windows 7 (2009)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.6, aka “Snow Leopard” (2009) =  MS Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (2011)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.7, aka “Lion” (2011) =  MS Windows 8.0 (2012)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.8, aka “Mountain Lion” (2012) =  MS Windows 8.1 aka “Windows Blue” (2013)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.9, aka “Mavericks” (2013) =  MS Windows 8.1 with Update  (2014)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.10, aka “Yosemite” (2014) = MS Windows 8.1 with Update & Bing (2014)
Apple Mac OS X – 10.11, aka “El Capitan” (2015) = MS Windows 10 Official Release
Apple Mac OS Sierra – 10.12 aka “Sierra” (2016) = MS Windows 10 with 1st Anniversary Update (2016)

– – Kupitero

Here’s another update,  July 2022 — almost 15 years after the initial post:

Apple Mac OS X – 10.11, aka “El Capitan” (2015) = MS Windows 10 Official Release
Apple Mac OS Sierra – 10.12 (2016) = MS Windows 10 1st Anniversary Update  (2016)
Apple Mac OS High Sierra – 10.13 (2017) = MS Windows 10 Creator’s Updates (1703/1709)
Apple Mac OS Mojave – 10.14 (2018) = MS Windows 10 April/Oct. 2018 Updates (1803/1809)
Apple Mac OS Catalina – 10.15 (2019) = MS Windows 10 May/Nov. 2019 Updates (1903/1909)
Apple Mac OS Big Sur – 10.16 (2020) = MS Windows 10 May/Oct. 2020 Updates (2004/20H2)
Apple Mac OS Monterey – 10.17 (2021) = MS Windows 11 (aka “Sun Valley“) and Windows 10 May/Nov. 2021 Updates (21H1/21H2)

Apple Mac OS Ventura – 10.18 (2022) = MS Windows 11 Update???

–– Kupitero

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MyBook and SuperDuper! = New PowerMac G5

English: Western Digital My Book external hard...
English: Western Digital My Book external hard drive. The author is me. I’ve clicked the photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The danger of any hardware malfunction always lurk behind the mind of a sysop, web-host or any computer owner who relies on his equipment for day-to-day operations.

In the ever fast-changing world of Mac/PC hardware, the kind of devices & media to back-up your data could be that so various and diverse already, that they could now fill-up a standard, two-car, American garage.

All sorts of tape drives (Bernoulli, Travan, etc), CD-ROMS, DVD-ROMS, microfilms, microfiche, ZIP drives, assorted variations/incarnations of the hard drive & diskette drive, DATs and other lesser-known media or brands that are now probably buried deep in selected “e-waste” landfills in the U.S.  Or, more probably, choking the already-polluted streets & waterways of China, Africa, India & most Far East countries – – according to Greenpeace, these are where advanced countries, export (read as: dump) their obsolete electronics & medical equipments. Most of them, obviously, in the pretext of aid.

It’s good to know, however, that these electronic – now, marvels, tomorrow, junks – back-up units are getting smaller in sizes. The way they connect to computers played a big factor for their physical diminution.

Gone were the bulky, interface-standards of yesteryear: serial, parallel and SCSI, as well as various modifications of them that resulted in proprietary standards – e.g., MiniDIN, ADB, HP-IB, Sun-SCSI – that further confused an already-confused user base in the glory days of the personal computers.

Today, there are basically two standard formats to hook-up these small, external back-up units: the USB and FireWire. Their cables are much thinner & lighter without sacrificing data-transfer speed. In fact, they are way much faster than their predecessors.

From my early years of using an Apple II (where using a hard drive – aka: “Winchester” drive – was then a luxury) with its glorious, 140KB, 5-1/4 floppy disk drive backing up my Magic Window (a word-processing software) & VisiCalc (the very first spreadsheet software) files.

I had now come a long way – 26 years later – to using Western Digital’s external 500GB MyBook (with both FireWire & USB interface) and Shirt Pocket’s very popular back-up software called “SuperDuper!” – to mimic my entire PowerMac G5’s hard drive!

Is that progress? Or, is life, – like electronics – just a perpetual state of junk?

More of the same story…10 to 20 years later???

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The Tropical Life

Nothing beats a view from a tropical beach with a cold drink in your hand during summer. I mentioned ‘tropical’ to refer to any part of the world where the weather seems to be mostly humid and partly rainy, most of the year.

There’s always a certain charm to these places that defy explanation — no matter how hard luck the countries these places are mostly situated in. What can be simpler than a view of the ocean, some tropical flora and the occasional breeze, where you ponder upon your state of existence?

Ah, there are more pressing matters than these reflections. There are bills to pay, phone calls to make and e-mails to answer. But, then again, where are all of these ‘important things’ going to lead me to when my life is over?

Had we all fallen to the trap of the centrifugal effect in the circle of life? Sucking us in to conform to the norms of man-made society?

Our existence, maybe, is like the ocean that ebbs and flow but, sooner or later, momentarily assumes the form of where the shift of the Earth leads it to.  Maybe.

note:  Ported  from my original, June 15, 2004 entry at Google’s Blogger

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Why The World is a Mess

– There are so much stupid people than rational ones.
– There are so much greedy people than people who try to live within their means.
– There are so many people who really believe that their religion is better than others.
– There are so many people who would rather receive than give.
– There are more lazy people than hard-working ones.
– There are more ‘talkers’ than ‘doers.’

Moreover, most people are:

– Proud of their stupidity.
– Proud of their greed.
– Proud of their arrogance
– Proud of their religion.
– Proud of their laziness.

And, the saddest part of all:

– These kind of people live the longest in the world!

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Three Computers and an iPod: To Sync or Not to Sync

The size of the package was reduced 50 percent...
The size of the package was reduced 50 percent with the introduction of the second generation. “Apple and the Environment”. Apple.com . Apple Inc. . . Retrieved October 22, 2006 . The fourth and fifth generation packaging mimics this packaging, while the third generation used a larger but otherwise similar version of it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently got a week-old iPod nano for my wife that has some songs on it – 165 songs to be exact. All of the songs are in the MP3 format. Not a single tune was in the MP4 format – a proprietary format Apple created that produced better fidelity during the compression process.

Since the iPod nano was sold to me in good faith, I was, now, the rightful owner of the device as well as all the contents of it, right? Just like when you bought a house and the seller agreed to give to you all the furnitures and fixtures inside, you are the rightful owner of everything inside the house, correct?

Not so in the complicated world of licensing, music rights, the RIAA, music delivery formats, interfaces and the ever-changing realm of the computer industry.

Apple and iTunes brought a bit of peace of mind to music executives by paying them their dues for every song bought via the extremely popular iTunes Music Store. Apple admits they don’t make any money from the iTMS but from the device that feeds off it — the fad that became a must device for music lovers: the iPod.

The iPod, however, ‘syncs’ exclusively to the first computer you install iTunes and put songs on. If you want to sync it to a different computer, it will tell you that “it will delete all the songs on your iPod and put the songs from the new computer to your iPod.” Or, basically, you will have to reformat your iPod so that the ‘new’ computer with a different song compilation that you want transferred to your iPod, can do it without violating any music industry regulations.

But, what if all the songs on the iPod are all mine anyways? I bought all the CDs, rip them and just transferred them to my iPod (which I also bought)? All I want is just to move them all across my three (3) computers in the house?  Can’t I just transfer those songs on the new iPod to any of my existing PCs with iTunes without reformatting the iPod?

Here’s where the software iLinkPod really shines. It creates a folder called ‘iLinkPod’ on both the Mac and the iPod once you installed the software and hit the ‘Link’ button. You can then simply copy all the music files in those folders (F00, F001, F002 etc) – inside the iLinkPod folder to your hard drive. That done, yes, you can now reformat your iPod to sync with the computer of your choosing and just add the songs later on to your music compilation!

iLinkPod not only empowers the rightful owners of music but also serves as a very useful tool in case your PC crashes…and would like to re-create your music compilation on that just-fixed-up Mac or PC!

– – – notes:

You can download this very useful software (Mac version only) at:

www. ilinkpod.com

 

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The 2006 Intel Dual Core iMac (and iLife 2006)

Macs have that irresistible charm when they come out with new features. I must admit that I don’t get the same feeling when I buy my new accessories or upgrades for my PC. It might be due to the fact that it’s both new software and hardware you get when you buy a new Mac.

It was only a few months after Apple announced that they’ll be saying goodbye to Motorola’s Power PC processor (will that make those G5 iMacs collectibles?), when they officially released in Jan 10, 2006 (but will be available in Apple Stores in the U.S. starting Jan 17, 2006), the iMac with Intel’s Core Duo processor.

A 20" iMac Intel Core Duo.
A 20″ iMac Intel Core Duo. (Photo credit: Wikipedi

Except for this new CPU (at either 1.83 or 2.0 GHz) and a slew of new software, the 2006 Intel-powered iMacs differ only from the revamped G5 iMac (with the remote control) that Apple released in mid-2005, by taking advantage of what the new processor can offer: faster bus speed, bigger L2 cache, and faster memory/graphics bus speeds. Speed, speed and more speed was the end result of the shift to Intel processors. And, maybe, cool-up things a bit inside these marvelous machines.

 Opening the new iMac with Intel Core Duo (as well as the iMac G5 w/ built-in iSight) is not as easy anymore unlike the original versions with the G5 chips. Apple had replaced the screws on the bottom grill with Torx (T8) ones. And, where usually the back cover slips easily away from the other half of the case to reveal the guts, this is no longer the situation today. The entire components including the LCD are still attached to the plastic back cover after removing all the screws.

Everything seems to have remained the same like the built-in iSight camera, the MightyMouse, the Apple Remote, built-in Bluetooth/AirPort, screen sizes and resolutions, the ports – with the exception of a new mini-DVI video connector– as well as the physical dimensions of the unit and yes, even the prices.

But perhaps, it’s the new software included what makes any true-blue Mac lovers drool about these new Intel-powered iMacs. It’s no secret that Microsoft just simply tweaks any new Apple software innovation and incorporates them in their new Windows version releases. What up-coming features Windows Vista will offer — ho-hum, Mac users had probably saw them already in the Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) released way back in 2002.

The new Intel-based iMacs will run Mac OS X Tiger version 10.4.4 (the port of the latest OS X Tiger version 10.4.3 on the G5 iMac to accommodate the Intel processor), and by bundling  iLife 2006, Apple is hoping to lure more technophiles to Apple’s ecosystem by giving away these new software currently being offered only as ‘add-ons’ by the PC makers ‘for the rest of them.’ Features like podcasting & iChat interview recording (in GarageBand 3.0), ‘photo-casting’ (in iPhoto 6), Magic iDVD (in iDVD 6) and the new app on the block – iWeb.

iWeb is Apple’s answer to the podcasting and blogging fad – – fads that all big content providers like Google and Yahoo are all hoping to become part of the mainstream Internet.  Much the same way when having an iPod was only a fad. It had become so successful that it’s now a huge slice of the PC industry pie.

Also, be very careful not to confuse the hole between these screws as yet another screw – – it’s the ambient-light sensor. This hole is the next one after the leftmost screw, when your iMac is laying face down (and the word ‘iMac’ at the back cover, is facing you). Poking a screwdriver/Torx driver in it may crack the delicate protective cover.

FrontRow still needs an either a hardware or software upgrade to make it work seamlessly with the remote control. There were just too many occasions when you have to push the controls on the remote several times to switch modes – specially from iTunes to iPhoto. I noted a bug when you’re watching a DVD with a “Resume” sub-menu — clicking on the Play button on the remote won’t resume the movie.

By releasing two (2) new hardware – the Intel-powered iMac & a similarly Intel-powered, MacBook – very early in the year, they will surely make new PC consumers (and folks who will upgrade their outdated computers) take a closer look on these new Apple lineup before they finally decide on their purchases.

And, by giving more and more away on what usually were separate products, Apple hopes that it will reap the rewards later on – – all from creating new innovations that consumers can’t resist.

—notes:

See related 2004 blog on the original G5 iMac released the same year here

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What’s New for 2006?

Another year had come and gone and another one had come along. Whoever invented the concept of time (a Phoenician??) must really be a very calculating person since everything in the universe – according to Einstein – is relative.

Okay, what’s new for 2006 as far as this very small portion of the Internet called Kupitero’s Keep is concerned?

Work had so much preoccupied much of my time and that had prevented me from updating the site as frequently as before when I had been doing it as a hobby even during the pre-browser years – (when this was still an electronic bulletin board service – EBBS) – in carefree Manila back in 1988.

The New Year weekend break enabled this author to update the integrated (thanks to Six Apart for their Movable Type software!) blog site, to the latest version, MT 3.2. The changes may not be so obvious to the web viewers but the new features of MT 3.2 made updating the blog site much easier and faster.

Some streamlining were also done on the site’s graphics to make them load faster. Also, an exclusive listener’s nook (streaming music in MP3 format) is currently in the works. It is my way of sharing (no, downloads, please) some of my personal favorites.

I wish 2006 will give me more than enough time to improve the site as well as add more features as new technology evolves.

Happy New Year to ALL!!!

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Windy Fairfield

The car danced to the rhythm of the almost-howling winds that gust on the stretch of road that connects Interstate 80 with I-680 from Fairfield in the north going southwards to Benicia. Another work day had passed and I was on the road once again for the return trip back home to Fremont — 60 miles away from where I work on that part of the Bay Area.

Fairfield had come a long way since it had been incorporated as a city in 1903. Most of the city’s groundwork was laid-out by Capt. Robert H. Waterman, who, together with A.A. Ritchie, purchased the area’s original grant for $50,000 in 1850.

(1) Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, (2) Golden Gat...
(1) Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, (2) Golden Gate Bridge, (3) San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, (4) San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, (5) Dumbarton Bridge, (6) Carquinez Bridge, (7) Benicia-Martinez Bridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The new city received a major economic boost in 1942 with the decision of the U.S. Air Force to build the Travis Air Force Base on a huge tract of land surrounded by hills, east of the area. This base was put into good use during the Vietnam War and, presently, still serves as a major departure point for military units based abroad –and maintains its position as the number one employer for most of the city’s population.

Most of the towns situated in the city are nestled among the numerous slopes that dot almost the entire area. Hence, when the winds blowing from the San Francisco Bay arrive into area, these hills serve as conduits for the rushing airflow and may give reason as to why it’s a ‘windy city.’

The entire area is also a favorite stopover of motorists because of its proximity to some of best recreational spots in the entire state.

Napa -with its wineries – and Sonoma -with its famous hot springs & spas – lie southwest, Reno and Lake Tahoe, as well as the state capital of Sacramento, are all within one to two-hour drive away to the north.

And yes, the famous city of San Francisco is just an inviting 45 minutes drive south of Fairfield.

Today, the city is on the verge of another housing boom as more and more denizens of the East Bay –with its ridiculous real estate market prices – opt for the area’s spacious, natural surroundings and moderate weather.

When you’re out for your next trip to Lake Tahoe, San Jose or even just longing to get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge, make sure that you check out some of the natural sights of Fairfield! It’s so easy to know when you’ve arrived in this city – – – the winds will surely let you know!

—
Panoramic view of picture above (2.04MB – Apple QuickTime required)

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An Ode to Caetano Veloso

With a voice that seems to caress my heart of hearts
A yearning for the joyful years I had in my youth
The magical days that appear to last forever when I
First learned how to fall in love

Times when I was prayerful and remembered the bad
Things that had been painful memories of the past
All seem to disappear when the sound of your gentle voice
Soars in the air like a gentle salve

Boyhood memories from the shores of Bahia
Gave the world some of its beautiful Tropicalia
Singing in one of the harmonious languages known
The lyrics of your songs mystifies one’s existence

Lay me down to sleep or even see me to my grave
As I close my weary eyes with happiness in my heart
Gentle melodies by Santo Amaro’s gift to humankind
Caetano Veloso, please sing for me unto the afterlife

-Kupitero

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Meaning in Life

What differentiates man from animals is the ability to look forward to tomorrow and to look beyond the externals. While man can see beauty in a flower and think of either God or a loved person and even of love itself, a beast will stop short at seeing the flower as something good to eat or not.

What makes man worthy of the same name is his capacity to see beyond the here and now and perceive meanings.

Man's Search for Meaning
Man’s Search for Meaning (Photo credit: marklarson)

In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl describes his experiences at the Nazi concentration camp where he was detained during World War II. In the concentration camp the prisoners were stripped of everything that made them experience personal worth: name, respect, profession, family, knowledge, wealth, etc.

He noted that some of the prisoners gave up surviving when everything that made them feel that were someone was taken away.

Others got crazy and behaved even worse than beast, capable of killing another man for a loaf of stale bread or a rotting potato. And, finally, he noted that those who had something or someone considered more precious than their own lives never lost their will to live even as they were not afraid to either suffer or die.

From this experience, he believes that man’s life and even just his survival is determined by what meanings he perceives and chooses to live and die for.

We can push the statement further by saying that a person is worth what he chooses to live and die for. Heroes and saints, as well as villains and criminals, are a proof of this statement. If heroes and saints are great, it is because they have chosen to live and die for for causes and meanings greater than themselves or things lower than themselves to live and die, like money or power.

How a man discovers what meaning to give his life is a story of both the environment he lives in and the choices he makes. What counts is what values in life he discovers and ultimately makes his own. “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” (Mt 6:21)

One of the most trying things about being young is that of being in a stage where one has to choose what values to live and die for. Human society is full of models and examples of persons who have embraced their own values. If there are rock stars and actors and actresses making it to the limelight and to wealth, there are also those who, like Francis of Assisi of long time ago, leave behind them a life of ease and comfort to pursue ideals of nobility and service. And what is awful is that today’s young man or woman is left alone to choose.

To discover which model one has to choose, one need not look beyond or outside himself. Instead, one should look into his heart. If he does, he will surely discover passions and drives that are either constructive or destructive: his capacity to love or hate, to give or possess, to build or destroy, to forgive or avenge. When he chooses what is positive and shuns what is negative, he will naturally discover what model or example to embrace. And there he will discover the meaning in his life.

Excerpted from: PRESENCE: Prayers for Busy People