Re: Xy on Mac OS X

[Philip Friedman pfilf@xxxxxxxx]

many thanks. I hadn't seen this when I followed up on Russ's request

-----Original Message-----
>From: flash 
>Sent: Jan 20, 2009 11:53 AM
>To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: Xy on Mac OS X
>
>Russ (and other OSXies),
>
>Good to hear from you again; you dropped under the radar for a while.
>
>≪Have [you] confirmed that Snow Leopard will NOT run on the Powerpc
>macs? (I had heard that that was speculation, probably true, but hadn't
>heard anything for certain.)≫
>
>There are conflicting reports. For example:
>
>http://lowendmac.com/ed/hatchett/08jh/macintosh-future.html
>http://www.maclife.com/article/snow_leopard_for_intel_macs_only
>http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/06/source_os_x_106_snow_leopard_will_support_powerpc_chips-2.html
>
>I would certainly welcome SnowLo for PPC, as it is marketed as being
>smaller than Leopard--more quality and stability instead of more
>features, and less RAM consumptive. So, theoretically, it should run
>better on a PPC than Leopard would. But that depends on the drivers and
>APIs of course, not just on the amount of RAM available.
>
>The chief advantage of SnowLo for us Xywriters, as mentioned previously,
>is that (so we are told) it will offer a native Windows environment, not
>an emulated/simulated one. This means that Windows will have all the
>Mac's RAM available to it; unlike Virtual PC running in Tiger, which is
>allotted only about a quarter of the Mac's total RAM. Whether SnowLo
>will offer a real native DOS environment is anybody's guess. (Some will
>say that Miccosoft hasn't offered a real native DOS environment for some
>years (viz. VDM, virtual DOS machine), but that is another kettle of fish.)
>
>≪Leopard, as i understand, WILL run on Powerpc macs. but the installer
>won't let you install it if your machine is under 800Mhz, i think.
>(There ARE ways around this...), but if it is powerful enough, and
>having a robust graphics card doesn't hurt either, then i think you can
>install Leopard.≫
>
>There are some caveats to getting Leopard to run on PowerPC hardware.
>Overdimensioning helps, to be sure. On a PPC laptop, you're limited to 2
>GB RAM, and while Leopard will run in 2 GB of RAM, it won't run as fast
>or as efficiently as Panther or Tiger in 2 GB of RAM--Leopard consumes
>more RAM than its predecessors, leaving less for apps of course. Leopard
>on an overdimensioned G4 tower has a better prospect of success than on
>a laptop. However, not all the apps you had running in Panther/Tiger are
>sure to re-install or run in Leopard. There was a watershed between
>Tiger and Leopard, more so than between Panther and Tiger.
>
>≪My version of VPC is still running ok under Tiger.≫ Maybe better than
>it would under Leopard on the same hardware. Never change a running system.
>
>I just bought a MacPro with 10.5.6 Leopard factory installed; I haven't
>yet tried to get Xy running on it. I have so many things to do right
>now, apart from feeling my way around the Leopard, and anyway Xy is
>still happily editing away on both my w2k machine and my G4-Panther
>laptop, so there's no real hurry to try it out on the MacPro/Leo. I will
>send a report if and when.
>
>I also just ordered Dragon NaturallySpeaking ver10 from Amazon, on
>Harry's recommendation; can't wait to feed it to Xy. It is said to be
>able to distinguish words (content) from punctuation from formatting
>commands from computer commands. But will it learn "left guillemet" and
>"right guillemet" when I'm in expanded mode? Will it execute "mode
>flashing"??
>
>Cheers,
>
>