On Saturday, April 7, 2001, Nicholas Pyers, in conjunction with James Ng, conducted The Mac OS X Experience for AUSOM Incorporated.
The Mac OS X Experience was a series of presentations and hands-on workshops that enabled people to learn more about the newly released operating system Mac OS X.
- Thank you to everyone who participated in the Mac OS X Experience on Saturday April 7 … we had a great time showcasing Apple’s latest Operating System!
James & Nicholas — The Mac OS X Experience Team
Giveways & Resources
Every participant received a show bag containing a number of goodies from various sponsors. Participants could also claim a free three months subscription to their choice of either Australian Macworld or Desktop magazines. Plus there was a chance to win Adobe merchandise by simply filling in the Mac OS X Experience participant poll.
We also arranged for dealers to be on hand to sell and install RAM as well as Backup Devices and Peripherals. There was a wide variety of Networking Products, USB Accessories, FireWire Accessories, Mice, Keyboards, Cables, CD’s, Game Controllers and heaps more on sale as well.
Peripherals and Backup Solutions were provided by Mac OS X Experience Partner Techlynx Australia. Memory and Installation was provided by Mac OS X Experience Partner Metek Interstahl.
The Mac OS X Experience Software Starter CD
The Mac OS X Experience Software Starter CD
This CD is available for a limited time only to Mac OS X Experience participants. Disk will be on sale at the Experience on Saturday April 7.
The disk contains, Apple Updaters, Business software, Communications software, Games, Graphics applications, Sounds and Movies, System enhancements, Text Editors and other System Utilities.
To ensure that you have the latest versions and the most diverse set of software to run on Mac OS X, the golden master of the disk will be going to the printers only hours prior to the actual disks going on sale.
Disks will be on sale at the discount price of $10. Proceeds from the sale of the disk will go to AUSOM inc.
To reserve your copy for collection on Saturday April 7, complete the form on the right. Only a limited number of disks will be produced, so reserve your copy today.
Online Resources
The Mac OS X Experience may be over, but there is still a wealth of Mac OS X information just a mouse click away. Check out some of our favourites.
- Apple Computer
The official Mac OS X resource, with tutorials, tours and links to popular software.
»
Apple Computer – Developer
The best starting point for any one considering developing for Mac OS X.
»
Apple Computer – Applications
A comprehensive guide listing software that has been “Built for Mac OS X”
http://guide.apple.com/macosx/ »
VersionTracker
VersionTracker, part of the TechTracker Support Network, is the #1 resource for Macintosh software support information. VersionTracker includes hourly updated listings of new and updated Mac OS software with reviews, an extensive searchable database and email newsletters.
»
MacFixIt
An invaluable resource for troubleshooting advice, and an excellent forum to discuss the
features of Mac OS X.
»
MacOSX.com
A series of online discussion forums covering various topics including installation, features and future products.
http://www.macosx.com »
MacOSX User’s Guide
The Mac OS X User’s Guide provides a background education to MacOS users for Apple’s new MacOSX operating system and assist those users with an easier transition from MacOS to OSX.
»
News Updates
In the lead up to the Mac OS X Experience, the team sent out a number of “Mac OS X Experience News Update” emails to registered participants and copies of these are included below…
Tuesday March 20, 2001…
- Welcome to the first edition of the Mac OS X Experience News Update. With less than a week to go before the official release of Apple’s Mac OS X, there’s a lot of news starting to emerge.
- Mac OS X Declared Golden Master
- Mac OS X Actually Shipping on March 24
- 49.87% of Users to Switch to Mac OS X Immediately
- Featured Website
- What’s Next?
In this edition you will find:
Mac OS X Declared Golden Master
- On Wednesday March 7, Apple Computer, Inc announced in a press release that after a decade in the making, Mac OS X had gone “Golden Master”.
Translated in to plain English this means that Apple have finalized the features to be included in the initial release of Mac OS X and they have sent the master copy off to manufacturing for production and thus ultimately for release on the twenty-fourth of this month.
With over 100,000 people world wide purchasing the Mac OS X Public Beta, and over 75,000 responses and suggestions, the public support for Apple’s next generation operating system has been awesome.
Apple have listened to this user feedback and Steve Jobs explained at the recent MacWorld Expos in San Francisco and Tokyo that there had been a number of changes since the release of the Mac OS X Public Beta, including the restoration of the Apple Menu and a return of the hard drive and trash icons to the desktop.
Included with Mac OS X will be the initial release of QuickTime 5.0. However, Mac OS X native (or “carbonized”) versions of many popular Apple applications like iTunes and iMovie won’t be included on the CD. The good news is that they will be available for download from Apple’s servers within the first few weeks of Mac OS X’s launch.
Also Apple iTools service will be fully integrated in to Mac OS X. During the install process you’ll be asked if you have already established an iTools account already or if you wish to do so then. To access your iDisk, it is a simple matter of clicking on an icon, and then your iDisk just appears on the desktop ready to use.
It’s not just the “Mac Faithful” users that are enthused, but the computer industry as a whole has actually become extremely excited by the release of Mac OS X.
Here is what some of them have been saying…
“Mac OS X is a truly modern, and indeed a revolutionary new operating system that is just a beginning – the first chapter in what is likely to be a highly successful and indeed world-changing book.”
“The Aqua interface is a new way to operate a computer. ‘Love it or hate it, it certainly is original.’ It will exert a massive influence on the rest of the industry, just as the original Mac OS did back in 1984. Windows XP has obviously been influenced by Aqua.”
“It’s an exciting time for the Mac OS. Mac OS X breaks ground in so many areas.”
“Mac OS X is attracting Unix gurus from around the world due to the fact that MacOS has a larger nonbusiness audience than BSD and Linux,”
Mac OS X Actually Shipping on March 24th
- Last week some confusion was caused when an automated system on The Apple Store sent everyone who had placed their pre-orders for Mac OS X over 30 days ago an email apologizing for the “delay” and if people wanted to they could cancel or change their order. Apple Computer has since confirmed that it was an automated email and that Mac OS X will ship as expected on March 24th and there is no need to cancel or change orders.
Since then various reports from the people who have pre-ordered Mac OS X in the United States confirm that the Apple Store states that Mac OS X will actually be shipped to them on the day of the actual launch – On the Saturday itself!
People who took advantage of the Beta User Rebate program and others who have pre-odered Mac OS X confirm that Apple have automatically upgraded their orders to have Mac OS X delivered by Federal Express with a Saturday delivery specified and at no extra charge to the purchaser.
So it appears that if you have pre-ordered Mac OS X from the Apple Store, you should receive your copy on the actual release date, next Saturday.
If you haven’t pre-ordered, you still can, or alternatively you can purchase a copy from your local AppleCentre.
49.87% Of Users to Switch to OS X Immediately*
- One of the big questions is: how rapidly will existing Mac users adopt the new OS as their primary OS (that is, the OS they work with everyday, as opposed to just having it on a partition for testing purposes)?
- Immediately
- Within 1-6 months
- When Mac OS X ships as standard on new machines
- When the update to Mac OS X 10.1 is available
- When more “carbonized” applications are available
- By Years End
- Never
Many Macintosh related web sites are now conducting various polls to see what time frame people will be adopting Mac OS X as their primary OS.
Generally, the time frames are listed as;
On most polls, it seems that about 40-50% of respondents are prepared to take advantage of the new Mac OS X features immediately. On March 19, 49.87% of Mac OS Rumors readers were planning on upgrading*. Mac Enthusiasts are extremely eager to get their hands on the new generation operating system and to get the competitive edge on others users who have decided to wait a few extra months. People with multiple machines are actually more likely to migrate to Mac OS X before those with access to only a single machine. Access to multiple machines means they upgrade one machine to start with and come to terms with the new features and then do a bulk upgrade after they are satisfied that Mac OS X performs as expected.
The vast majority however fall in to one or another of the next five categories. They will move across when it has had time to settle in to the market place and third party vendors have released updated versions of their applications to take full advantage of the Mac OS X. Many business users have opted for this more cautious strategy, and they have also indicated that they have been holding off purchasing new Macintosh system, so in the next 6-12 months expect to see Apple’s hardware sale increase as well.
A handful say they’ll never go to Mac OS X. It appears that most of these people are currently running Mac OS 9.x or Mac OS 8.5/8.6 and for their modest needs – basic packages like word processing or account keeping, internet access – web surfing and email, or working with simple iMovies their existing system is fine. A few are also happy with their 604/603/601 based PowerMacs and at this stage see no need to upgrade to new hardware.
What will you be doing?
Check out two for the online polls at:
Featured Website
- If you haven’t already checked out the Apple OS X website, now’s the time to do it!
Check it out at
What’s Next?…
- Stay tuned for more in formation in coming weeks … and don’t forget to re-visit the Experience web site for all the latest news. tips and program features.
We also look forward to seeing on April 7 at The Mac OS X Experience itself.
Regards,
The Mac OS X Experience Team
Thursday March 22, 2001…
- Welcome to the second edition of the Mac OS X Experience News Update. With three days to go before the official release of Apple’s Mac OS X, there’s a lot of news starting to emerge.
- Mac OS X Has Arrived
- Mac OS X Launch Day Events
- Media Loves Mac OS X
- Featured Websites
- What’s Next?
In this edition you will find:
Mac OS X Has Arrived
- Reports are coming in from around the world, including Australia, indicating that dealers and developers have begun to receive Boxed copies of Mac OS X. Here’s proof!
Mac OS X has arrived!
Mac OS X Launch Day Events
- Announcements are already coming in from the US and the UK as to the various events that Dealers and User Groups will be hosting for this most important product launch of Mac OS X.
In the UK, participating outlets will feature hands-on demonstrations and lots of Mac-related special offers; many stores will also be offering refreshments as well as Mac OS X goodies like stickers and T-shirts.
The official Mac OS X launch party in the UK will take place at Micro Anvika, in London from 11pm on Friday March 23rd, where there will be free food and drink, live music and some great bargains on offer. The first 50 people to purchase Mac OS X will get a free Apple Pro Mouse and the next 100 will get a free OS X T-shirt.
Alias|Wavefront, Connectix, Filemaker and Meeting Maker will be on-hand to demonstrate their Carbonised (built for OS X) applications:
In the US, Elite Computers & Software, a Apple Specialist located near Apple’s Corporate headquarters in Cupertino, plan on hosting “California’s largest Mac OS X launch Party” where they will have ten 26-inch Skytracker searchlights that will light up the sky. They are also giving away Mac OS X tee-shirts to the first 10 times 10 purchasers of Mac OS X.
Mac OS X goes on sale at Midnight, Saturday March 24th, at both the UK and US events
Media Loves Mac OS X
- The main stream media are praising Mac OS X. Just four days until “X Day” and Mac OS X is beginning to garner publicity in the mainstream press.
“More stable, eye catching, and easier to use than consumer versions of Windows”
– US News & World Report
“It’s taken about 10 years to complete, seen off two CEOs and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but this weekend Apple will finally release it’s new operating system, OS X… but make no mistake — this is the most important product release from Apple since the launch of the first Macintosh computer in 1984.”
– Cliff Joseph, The Independent, UK
Featured Websites
- Did you check out the Apple OS X website yesterday? Today there are some really cool QuickTime Mac OS X demonstration movies online.
Check it out at
The Omni Group are releasing Mac OS X “native” carbonized applications, including OmniWeb – an popular web browser, OnmiPDF – a free PDF viewer, and OmniDiskSweeper.
Find out more about their products at
http://www.omnigroup.com
What’s Next?…
- Stay tuned for more information in coming days … and don’t forget to re-visit the Experience web site for all the latest news. tips and program features.
There ARE some exciting announcements coming later this week!
We also look forward to seeing on April 7 at The Mac OS X Experience itself.
Regards,
The Mac OS X Experience Team
Friday March 23, 2001…
-
Thank for registering your interest in The Mac OS X Experience which will be hosted by AUSOM on Saturday, April 7, 2001. Welcome to the third edition of the Mac OS X Experience News Update.
- Dealers Start Selling Mac OS X
- Minimalist or Something Really Big?
- Classic, Carbon, Cocoa
- New Features in Mac OS X – Screen Saver
- New Features in Mac OS X – The Dock
- Featured Websites
- What’s Next?
With only two days to go before the official release of Apple’s Mac OS X, things are really starting to heat up…
In this edition you will find:
Dealers Start Selling Mac OS X
- That’s right, although the official launch date of Apple’s next generation operating system is Saturday March 24, some dealers in the US have already begun selling the new operating system.
The Office suppliy retailer Staples (in the US) began selling Mac OS X as early as Wednesday (our time). This is a full four days before the official launch date. The stores have since pulled the boxed copies from their instore displays, although, if Internet news stories are to be believed, Staples is still selling copies to anyone who walks in and asks for it!
One would think that Job’s will not be happy!
Due to the time difference, Australian retail stores will be amongst the first in the world to officially release Mac OS X to the general public. To find the nearest Apple Store to pick up you copy, check out the Apple Store locator which is featured in today’s website links.
Minimalist or Something Really Big?
- What is installed for us all on Saturday. To date there appears to have been no official advertising for Mac OS X in the mainstream media …. what does this mean?
Is Apple really planning to let what Job’s has described as, “the first complete overhaul of Apple’s operating system since the first version came out 17 years ago” pass without a huge promotional campaign? … or are we in for a big surprise come Saturday? We’ll keep you posted as news comes to hand..
Classic, Carbon, Cocoa
- Although the release of Mac OS X only two days away many still ask the question “What are the differences between Classic, Carbon and Cocoa applications?”
Classic
Mac OS X can emulate older (“classic”) versions of the Mac OS allowing it to run existing Mac OS applications. Mac OS X will ship with Mac OS 9.1 to run all your existing application under Mac OS X. Feedback from users of the latest Developer Beta Releases indicate that applications running under the Classic environment of Mac OS X have the same speed and functionally as running under a normal Mac OS 9.1
Carbon
Carbon is a collection of application programming interfaces that allows Mac OS developers to quickly make their applications Mac OS X compatible. Rather than having to rewrite their current applications from scratch, Carbon allows them to rewrite smaller amounts of code. Most of the initial Mac OS X applications are “carbonized.” Unlike Classic applications, Carbon applications are able to take advantage of the new features in Mac OS X.
Cocoa
Cocoa is a collection of interfaces and tools developed by NeXT originally for application development in the OpenStep and NextStep operating systems. Cocoa provides developers with a number of unique development tools.
New Features in Mac OS X – Screen Saver
- Gone are the days of needing to install a third-party screen saver. Mac OS X now includes a screen saver to entertain you when you’re not using your Mac.
New Features in Mac OS X – The Dock
- The Dock is the most talked about new feature in Mac OS X.
It expands upon the concepts of The Launcher and Pop-Up Windows.
It simply stays at the bottom of your screen and gives you instant access to the things you use most on your Mac. You can use it to organize everything from your documents and applications to websites and QuickTime movies.
To use it, you simply drag and drop item into the Dock and it holds as many items as you want to keep there. As you keep adding items, the Dock expands until it reaches the edges of the screen – at which point the icons in the Dock begin to shrink proportionately to accommodate additional items. To make these sized-down icons more easily recognizable, Mac OS X includes a new feature called magnification: when you pass your cursor over the icons, they magnify to a preset maximum resolution.
The Dock displays icons that give you useful visual feedback about the items you store there. The icon for Mail, for example, tells you if you have new messages. Store an image file and the Dock shows it in preview mode, so you can tell what it is without opening it.
What’s up, Dock?
You can also use the Dock to modify the system preferences you use most, like the display preference shown here. Click and hold on the icon, and a handy popup window appears showing you your options. Select a new setting, and – presto – your changes are effective immediately.
In addition, the dock dynamically tracks the windows of running applications. That makes it easy to get to any window – even if you have 50 of them open. Just click and hold to see the document titles and even other options such as quitting that application. If you’ve stored a Finder folder in your Dock, clicking on its popup window will allow you to navigate the folder structure. Try it. You’ll like it.
Featured Websites
- Macworld has an excellent section covering Mac OS X news and updates, including Product Watch, Coming Soon and OS X for Novices.
Check it out at
http://www.macworld.com
A couple of editions ago we highlighted the Apple Mac OS X website as one of the must-see online resources. Well it’s undergone another major content overhaul.
For all the pre-launch Mac OS X info check the US site out at:
http://www.apple.com
Looking to purchase Mac OS X on Saturday? Use the Apple Store locator to find your nearest Australian reseller.
Check it out at:
What’s Next?…
- Stay tuned for more information in coming days … and don’t forget to re-visit the Experience web site for all the latest news, tips and program features.
There ARE some exciting announcements coming later this week!
We also look forward to seeing on April 7 at The Mac OS X Experience itself.
Regards,
The Mac OS X Experience Team
Sunday March 25, 2001…
- Thank for registering your interest in The Mac OS X Experience which will be hosted by AUSOM on Saturday, April 7, 2001. Welcome to the fourth edition of the Mac OS X Experience News Update.
- The Australian Launch
- Featured Websites
- What’s Next?
Yesterday, Mac OS X was released world wide.
In this edition you will find:
The Australian Launch
- Yesterday Mac OS X was finally released for the general public to purchase.
While Australian’s were amongst the first in the world to get hold of Mac OS X, it has been a relatively quite launch here.
Yet it appears to have been successful, with one of the AppleCentres we visited yesterday having sold out of all their copies before lunchtime.
Don’t worry if you missed out, there is a lot more stock due in almost immediately and those who pre-ordered from The Apple Store have already received notification that their copies will be delivered on Monday.
There was a lot of interest in the new features of Mac OS X from visitors, and plenty of staff wearing “Ask Me. I’m a X Guru” tee-shirts and bearing tattoos of the Mac OS X logo were on hand to demonstrate these features.
Visitors could also enter a draw to win a Dalmatian Blue iMac by simply completing an entry form and listing 10 things that Mac OS X will help you do better.
Initial impressions of Mac OS X is that it is going to be the must have operating system in 2001.
It’s easy to use, incredibly stable and fast. Integration with older applications in the classic environment is so smooth, one rarely notices the transition and the performance issues which running applications in the the the beta version of the application are all but gone.
And what’s more, Apple has addressed the concerns of the beta users, by retaining many of the ‘Mac like features’ which we have grown to love over the years.
If you’re planning on upgrading, remember, back up your entire hard drive before embarking on the Mac OS X installation. This is a major upgrade.
Alternatively. if you can wait two weeks, come along to the Mac OS X Installation Workshop on Saturday April 7 at 3:30pm where we’ll take you through the process, step-by-step. More information and workshop signup is available on the Experience website at:
Featured Websites
- Apple Computer today released for downloading via the web, Mac OS X native versions of iTunes, iMovie and a preview of AppleWorks 6.1.
Check it out at
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/
The Mac OS X Software folder found on Apple’s iTools service also contains English and Japanese versions of the above products, as well as a number of Third-Party software packages
For all the pre-launch Mac OS X info check the US site out at:
http://www.apple.com/itools
The “must have” shareware graphic utility, GraphicConverter, by Lemke Software has been updated to v4.0.5 and is now available as a fully carbonised (Mac OS X Native) application.
Check it out at:
http://www.graphicconverter.net
What’s Next?…
- With the actual launch of Mac OS X there will be plenty of hot news coming out over the next few days, so stay tuned … and don’t forget to revisit the Experience web site for all the latest news. tips and program features.
We also look forward to seeing on April 7 at The Mac OS X Experience itself.
Regards,
The Mac OS X Experience Team
Feedback from Participants
Thank you both for the tremendous job you did with Saturday’s event. It
was the most successful meeting AUSOM has had for quite a long time.
– Ron Webster,
President AUSOM Inc.
The ‘Experience’ was easily the biggest and best event of this type presented to AUSOM in quite a long time. It couldn’t have happened without an enormous amount of preparation, and work in enlisting the cooperation of the commercial participants.
As a Mac OS X Public Beta user previously, I found the Training Course highly relevant, and extremely well constructed and presented.
Many thanks indeed to James and Nick and all their helpers, and congratulations on a job so well done.
– Steve Cooper
Thanks to you all for organising the Mac X day today. Must have been an admin. nightmare to say nothing of a day of exhaustion for that active young team who prepared the program, arranged the hands on experience and all their helpers.
I was fortunate enough to have Registered early and received a place at the 10.00 a.m. session. Most grateful.
– Barb Moriarty
I express my appreciation to those who ran the OS X Training Session this afternoon. It was very valuable to have some “hands on” experience with OS X, with guidance froma presenter.
– Bruce Craven
I also would like to add my appreciation and congratulations to Nick and James.
The preparation was enormous. The amount of work they both put in during the last one month in preparation for the day was enormous. Arranging for sufficient number of computers being made available on the day, the sponsorship and support from the dealers, the showbags with their content. It doesn’t just happen. Someone has to make it happen and they did.
Well I lashed out and brought it and installed it after my hands on experience of it in Nick and James classes.
– Peter Garwood
AUSOM Vice President
Thank you to all the hard workers who put together the AUSOM MacOSX Experience day. A great success. I found the hands-on session particularly instructive.
– Kate Boyce
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