10.4 on Display at FOSE

CmdrStone writes "Just thought I'd post to let people know that while at FOSE today in the Washington, D.C. Convention center I lingered at the Apple pavilion / booth. To my surprise every machine had 10.4 running. The build number matches the build number found on the rumor sites; 8A428. Does this presage Tiger hitting the shelves soon? Personally, my main interest was how much iSync was expanded to support more devices, phones, etc. The Apple rep confirmed that the number of devices has expanded. He lamented that his Symbian phone, the Nokia 9500 Communicator, still was not included in the supported phones. He did tell me that he was able to tether his Powerbook and get online via his 9500's T-Mobile connection."

FOSE is kind of like the GTC

[EvilStein]

GTC = Government Technology Conference, held around this time in Sacramento, CA.

Chances are, they're showcasing 10.4 to Government buyers. This is not uncommon, actually. I saw the iMac at the GTC expo months before the unit was available to the public. At that time, it was 1 of only 7 completed iMacs - Apple was more than happy to showcase it to the Government & Educational buyers.

Heck, Apple was showing 10.4 at booths at Macworld - why not? "Look what you can look forward to!" ;)

Re:Torrent, anybody?

[binder520]

This article [macnet2.com] points out that most of the Torrent sites are shying away from hosting a copy of Tiger in fear of lawsuits from Apple.

Tiger timeline and iSync supported devices

[standards]

It isn't a surprise that Apple is now touting 10.4 (aka "Tiger") at the trade shows. It is very close to release - and although it has rumored to have "gone gold", its availability is still rumored to be several weeks away.

In terms of iSync, it has been rumored that it will be upgraded to support more devices, but the precise list has not been made available. Hopefully device manufacturers are smart enough to get their (favored) phones represented in the list of devices they sell... but clearly, some manufacturers are sunsetting a bunch of devices - and so the financial advantage of iSync support for end-of-life products is dubious.

I was at FOSE too....

[CajunArson]

And Tiger was on display. Although the Apple guys were tight lipped about whether it was official or not (don't fire anyone Steve they didn't spill the beans!)
Even more interesting from my perspective was that from the talks I had with them, their server line and the X-raid stuff is starting to garner a lot more interest in government areas that were previously closed to anything related to Apple. I'd seen their stuff online, but once you get to see it first-hand and see the prices it's difficult to see why this stuff is so freakin' cool.

Re:Torrent, anybody?

[Anonymous Coward]

some sites such as macpirate.org are hosting a 8A425 torrent, which strikes me as a risky proposition

but you really should pre-order at amazon for $95 after rebate instead. that's $35 off. i'd prefer to wait for the final pressed cd

ac

Re:Any Comment on Release Date

[CmdrStone]

The rep is the one that showed me the build number. In the classic, wink - wink, nudge - nudge, say no more - say no more, type fashion.

He was standing beside me when I clicked on the "About this Mac" option which showed the 10.4. I said out loud, "Cool it has Tiger!" He then took the mouse and did something to have the About This Mac box show the build number.

I'm sure someone out there knows how to show the build number with / instead of the version number. I don't remember if the version number was displaying at the same time as the build number after the rep. I just distinctly remember the build number and the big smile on his face.

Acronyms by osmosis?

[michaeldot]

How are people supposed to "just know" the acronyms that pop up?

I didn't have a clue what FOSE stood for. I clicked the link to its home page, and not once is it defined there.

A quick Google search fixed this (FOSE - Federal Office Systems Exposition) but really: are things like this so commonly known that they don't need to be defined?

Re:Any Comment on Release Date

[clarkcox3]

I'm sure someone out there knows how to show the build number with / instead of the version number. I don't remember if the version number was displaying at the same time as the build number after the rep. I just distinctly remember the build number and the big smile on his face.

Just click on the version number in the About box, and it will switch to the build number; click again, and it'll display the serial number.

Re:List of devices that will work with iSync?

[Psychic Burrito]

List of compatible iSync devices [apple.com]. Currently addresses version 10.3, but wait until 10.4 is out and the list will prolly be updated immeditately.

Cheers!

What's the Hold Up?

[buckhead_buddy]

If Apple's internal teams have gone final (and that's a big IF) it's not uncommon for a release to still be waiting on:

• notification of changes in code licensed from a vendor or third-party
• a multiple week soak time after the code freeze to discover bugs (eat your own dog food for a while)
• exhaustive documentation of the final changes (both to users and developers)

Even if all of this has been finalized as the rumors indicate, there are still other reasons why a release would be delayed after going final, including:

• Finding the best marketing opportunity to make the introduction (which I know little of).
• Ensuring that one's unfinished hardware has only expected problems and incompatabilities (if any at all).
• Letting the application teams (Final Cut, iWork, iLife, etc) get their work fully compliant before release (the market does have higher expectations for Apple authored apps).

While the Mac rumor sites have been speculating on an early release of Tiger since it was announced last June, I don't think that their rumor-mongering does anything to speed up its release and quite possibly:

• delays distribution of the gold master to developers.
• delays the public announcement until Apple is seen as the one setting the expectations rather than the rumor sites.
• makes open discussion of releases beyond Tiger even more secretive.

Personally, I'm still running Panther. I've got a backup plan, blank media, and a time estimate of about 3 days downtime needed to transition to Tiger and test my setup once it comes out. Beyond that, I've made no plans that depend on an unreleased or rumored feature. I'm anxious for that release date to get here, but I'm prepared as well as I can whether that date is tomorrow or June 30th.

Well, it would be nice if Apple fixed...

[meme_police]

...this [frsirt.com]before allowing their vendors to add more crappy conduits and then taking forever to fix their old root exploitable ones.

No, jumping the gun, very UNLIKELY

[CatOne]

Apple images ALL the demo machines, and puts very SPECIFIC builds on them. If a machine is plugged into to the Union's power strip on the floor, you can rest assured that it was APPROVED to be shown on the floor.

Re:List of Devices?

[SpankMonkeyPox]

Here is the current list: http://www.apple.com/isync/devices.html [apple.com]

Wolverine is a Linux distro

[mamladm]

Wolverine is already in use for an embedded Linux distro customised for Firewall and VPN server use.

http://www.coyotelinux.com/products.php?Product=wo lverine [coyotelinux.com]

Apple would not be able to use Wolverine for any software product unless they buy out Vortech who have a common law trademark on the name, etablished by many years of marketing their Firewall/VPN Linux distro.

Re:Tiger timeline and iSync supported devices

[As Seen On TV]

It's not "10.4 (aka 'Tiger')." Tiger isn't a nickname or a code name. The actual name of the product is "Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger."

It's a branding thing. People respond more and more quickly to names than they do to numbers.

Thus ends my utterly irrelevant trivia post for the day.

Coming out at NAB for sure

[Anonymous Coward]

From an inside source.

Re:Torrent, anybody?

[jimbolaya]

If you are a college student or an educator, you can get Tiger at a discount. (If you aren't, make sure you know a student or educator!) For Panther, the edu discount price was $65; presumably, Tiger will be the same.

Re:Just speed up the GUI for christ's sake...

[aanantha]

They did. Tiger introduces Quartz 2D Extreme. You just need a card that with fragment and vertex shading (aka DirectX 9 capable in the Windows world). Information about it here:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/ 8300945231/m/886008328631/r/886008328631/ [arstechnica.com]

And don't knock Spotlight until you've tried it. You don't like instantaneous searching?

Re:How can I submit feature requests to Apple?

[Kesh]

n/t stands for "no text." It's a cheap way of putting your statement into the subject line, and then not actually writing a post. The system won't take a blank post, though, so people started using n/t as filler, while letting you know that there's no actual post to read. Some places also use NP or n/p for "no post."

Re:Sharing internet to Bluetooth still does not wo

[As Seen On TV]

Have you gotten a good answer on this yet? From skimming it looks like you haven't. Let me help.

Internet sharing on the Mac works through DHCP. When you turn on Internet sharing on a given interface, an instance of the DHCP server is launched bound to that interface and the kernel is configured to route packets from that interface to the default route.

Bluetooth doesn't work like that. There's no IP-over-Bluetooth. Instead, Bluetooth works like a serial port. While yes, you can certainly shuttle IP over serial using PPP, that's not how the Mac's Internet sharing works.

Why not? Because exactly zero people have submitted feature requests. At this point, the feature list for Mac OS X is so deep, a feature has to be requested by tens of thousands of people before it bubbles up to the top.

So if you get together with 19,999 of your closest friends and submit requests to Radar, I'm sure we'll get right on it.

I know this sounds elitist, but the bottom line is that we only have so many programmers. They can't scratch every user's every itch. If we tried ... well, frankly, we'd be shipping a product with tons of bugs, no documentation and zero user experience. There are already products like that out there. Lots of people like them. Maybe one would be better for you.

Re:Well...

[reidspice]

two things to point out:

1. there would be no itunes music store without drm because the record labels would never have agreed to it. so i guess either way you wouldn't be using it.

2. final cut pro has had some serious copy protection since its 1.0 release, long before iwork. quicktime pro and osx server also require a key.

Re:Well...

[delire]

"So, now what? Well, you'll no doubt tell me that we have the freedom to switch to Linux, but how free is it? Neither Dell nor the other PC manufacturers will sell me a computer with an empty hard drive at the same price as the bundled version, let alone cheaper."

FYI if you're thinking of a laptop, this Asus M6N came without Microsoft tax and makes an excellent Linux machine.

http://store.agearnotebooks.com/asusm6n.html [agearnotebooks.com]

Ironically the same company, Asustek, make the Apple iBook Line.

Re:Well...

[Brian Kendig]

You do realize that Tiger runs Software Update as soon as you're finished installing it, so it can apply any patches which are available?

So, basically, as soon as you install a pirated pre-release version of Tiger, it notifies the mothership "here I am", and if you're not supposed to have it yet, you can expect the authorities to come knocking on your door?

Re:Well...

[Genom]

I don't think he'd be violating the NDA by disclosing the build number he's running.

Describing new/changed features, providing screenshots, etc... would definitely violate it (so long as he went beyond what's already publically available - Safari RSS is no secret ;P ), but I'd wager that "I'm running build X currently, and they're reporting build X+1 is final" doesn't really give any information that isn't available from other sources.

This is of course assuming he's an ADC member (I am...). If he's acquired the thing by other, more nefarious means, all bets are off.

Here is how you do it ...

[mamladm]

I don't think it is as complicated as you seem to describe it.

What stops you from starting natd and adding two rules to ipfw to route all packets between the interface associated with your WAN connection, eg. eth0 and whichever interface is associated with your bluetooth device, eg. ppp0.

I did this back in the day of OSX 10.1 when there was no internet sharing option in the network preference panel and it worked just fine.

The guys as afp548.com still have the HOWTO article online from the time when there was no internet sharing option in the GUI ...

http://www.afp548.com/articles/system/natserver.ht ml [afp548.com]

Since packet routing is a generic feature built-in to the BSD core of OSX it will work no matter what your ethernet interfaces are. It shouldn't matter if it's ultimately sitting on a physical bluetooth layer or not.

release date?

[gphinch]

Well I preordered Tiger from Amazon.com ($35 mail-in rebate and another $30 off for getting an Amazon Visa, how could I say no at that price) and on my invoice the shipping date is "between May 31, 2005 and May 31, 2005"

The cat's out of the bag?