Tips on Computer Technology

By: Bill Michiling

Welcome back. Last week we talked about the new iMacs, this week we will talk about getting ready for MacOS X. March 24th, 2001 is “D” day!

But first…..

If you are looking for some beautiful pictures of Saipan, go to: (http://www.saipanphoto.com )
I would also like to remind everyone that all the year 2000 and after articles on the website ( http://www.mespn.com/forms/tech_articles) are now searchable by keyword(s) or article date. This has been requested a number of times from many of my loyal readers, and now it is available, check it out as well as the online version of the Saipan Tribune, which you can access by clicking the banner on that same page.

We begin

Unless you have been sleeping under a rock, most of you already know MacOS X will be available on March 24th, 2001. How can we be sure? Apple has of last week sent the golden master of MacOS X to be pressed and boxed, ready for sale on the 24th.

I would like to talk this week about getting prepared or MacOS X and who might benefit from it.

Quick Review of MacOS X

What is all the excitement about anyway with MacOS X? MacOS X is a new operating system that Apple will make available on March 24, 2001 to most of the world. Yes, not only English speaking countries, but countries like Japan, Germany, Canada, France, and countries in the far east just to name a few.

MacOS X release will provide an operating system for the Mac that rivals any other computer OS out there. It will provide memory protection, this means that is a program or application quits or “bombs”, any other programs or applications will be unaffected.

MacOS X will also provide auto memory allocation. If a program needs more memory, MacOS X will provide an increase automatically, the same goes if a program does not need as much as it is using and will release the extra memory for other operations. You do not have to be concerned about memory allocation any longer, running under MacOS X!

Of course MacOS X will provide pre-empted multi tasking, multi users, and multi threaded processing. MacOS X will also make use of multi processors that may be contained in your Mac! This means that MacOS X will will provide more power to a program if it is needed and will run multiple operations at the same time.

What Macs will run MacOS X

Any Apple G3 and above. This included iMacs, all G3 PowerBooks, G3 mini towers, blue and white G3s, all G4 macs, and yes even the 20th anniversary G3 macs. Of course this is the latest information I have. This is all subject to change on the final release.

Preparing your mac for MacOS X

In addition to the above Macs being able to run MacOS X, you must have enough memory and storage as well. How much you ask?

You need at least 128MB of ram. I recommend you stuff as much ram into your Mac as you can afford! The more the better! Adding more ram to your Mac is one of the best ways to improve performance. Lets face, the price of ram is at an all time low, SO NOW IS THE TIME TO GET ALL YOU CAN!

You will also need at least 1GB of storage available for MacOS X alone. Again, storage prices have been falling like rain of late. For a few hundred you can get HUGE hard drives if you need to upgrade. PRICES for 40, 60, and 80 GB hard drives are really LOW! Get yours now!

Ok, so now you have tons of memory, and loads of storage, now what? Now you want to make sure your software is in order. The first software you should make sure you have is MacOS 9.1. With all this talk about MacOS X, why should I be concerned about MacOS 9.1? MacOS X provides a “Classic” environment. This means you can run most all of your existing software under 9.1 which can be running in MacOS X. It is NOT an emulator, so it is possible your OS 9 software will run faster under MacOS X! Make sure you check with your software maker for any upgrades that might be needed to run it under MacOS X.

Also remember, MacOS X will handle the memory and storage even while running under OS 9.1! So make sure you have the most up to date MacOS 9.1. Don’t worry, when you install MacOS X it will set up MacOS 9.1 for you to use in the “Classic” environment. That is why you want to make sure you are ready.

Some tidbits

I would also make sure to keep my hard drive clean by running Disk First Aid 8.6 before installing MacOS X. In fact it is good policy to run it at least once a week before installing MacOS X…..
If you are looking for more memory and or storage, contact the friendly folks at Marianas Electronics, 234-5424, and they will be happy to help you get ready for MacOS X! If I can be of any help just email me at: ( bill@mespn.com )

Summary

Some of you will want MacOS X asap! Some of you will really need it.. I recommend, if you can run it on your Mac, by all means get it. Keep in mind your software. If you software cannot use MacOS X or cannot run under the “Classic” environment, then you may want to wait until it can.

MacOS X is an industrial operating system based on Unix. So if you are looking for an operating system that does not crash and can run multi processes, with protected memory, and storage management, while being able to run most all existing OS 9 programs, then MacOS X is for YOU!!!

Have a wonderful week.

See you here and on the web next week.

Bill Michling is a computer professional and welcomes any comments or questions you may have. Just send email to: bill@mespn.com or michling@usa.net.

You may also go to Marianas Electronics and ask help from the friendly staff there, or call them at: 234-5424, Just ask for Annie, Jun or Joseph.

For world access this Wednesday column is also on the Saipan Tribune website at: ( http://www.saipantribune.com ) or at the mespn.com site at: (http://mespn.com/forms/tech_Articles/ ), now connected to the internet viabroadband high speed T1+.