Mac OS X

Well, the Apple Store finally opened in the CambridgeSide Galleria. I decided I couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, I had to have MacOS X.

First, though, I had to have more RAM. Apple charge about four times as much for RAM as the going market rate; however, the store was honest enough to admit this. I checked on the web, then headed for Best Buy, which turned out to have 512MB of PC133 RAM for about the same as it would cost mail order.

My upgrades to OS 9.21 a while back paid off—OS X installation was absolutely painless. I’m a little disoriented by the new way of arranging things, but I think I can live with it once I spend some time rearranging my files. The dock seems OK so far too.

There’s something indefinably better about the graphics in OS X. Everything seems sharper and smoother. It must be something to do with using the Quartz imaging engine rather than crufty old QuickDraw. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.

Speed seems fine. In fact, QuickTime Player and iTunes fire up significantly faster under OS X, and QuickTime plays more smoothly.