Weekly Digest - 2021.12

macOS turns 20

20 years ago Apple introduced the Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah. It was, in someways, a limited operating system. But back then, it was just a foundation for things that came later. Apple based MacOS X  on UNIX, which later became a foundation for iOS and the rest is the history. With Cheetah Apple also introduced the classic Aqua interface. Aqua evolved throughout a years, especially in Mac OS 10.5 and recently in Big Sur, but the core functionality remained the same.  And that shows you how good the Cheetah was back then. Last year Apple introduced macOS 11, which will bring us to the new era of the macOS family.

Microsoft buys Discord?

The are rumors that Microsoft plans to buy an online communicator Discord. The accusation is supposedly valued more than $10 billion. This is interesting move from Microsoft because they already have Skype and Teams.  Since last year, Microsoft heavily invested in the latter, where the Skype felt behind. The question is whether Microsoft is going to invest into Discord or will it slowly die because of lack of any development?

Visual overhaul of Windows

Microsoft started refreshing the UI of the Windows. They started with the icons.

This is a first part of the Sun Valley project, that is going to rejuvenate Windows.

Spotify refreshed

Spotify released a new versions of the app for Desktop and the Web. The update brings a new UI that is more consistent and fell more native. Apple should take notes, because their Music app is really bad.

Image credits: Wikipedia

Weekly Digest - 2020.42

Apple Event

Apple held their second fall event. And this is what has been announced:

iPhone 12 mini:

  • 5.4-inch OLED display (2340 x 1080 px)
  • A14 Bionic Chip
  • 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB of Storage
  • 5G support
  • Dual 12MP rear camera system:
    • Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
    • Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
  • Black, white, red, blue, and green
  • Starting at $699

6.1-inch iPhone 12:

  • 6.1-inch OLED display (2532 x 1170 px)
  • A14 Bionic Chip
  • 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB of Storage
  • 5G support
  • Dual 12MP rear camera system:
    • Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
    • Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
  • Black, white, red, blue, and green
  • Starting at $799

iPhone 12 Pro:

  • 6.1-inch OLED display (2532 x 1170 px)
  • A14 Bionic Chip
  • 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of Storage
  • 5G support
  • Tripple 12MP rear camera system:
    • Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
    • Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
    • Telephoto: ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • Gold, silver, graphite, and blue
  • Starting at $999

iPhone 12 Pro Max:

  • 6.7-inch OLED display (2778 x 1284 px)
  • A14 Bionic Chip
  • 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB of Storage
  • 5G support
  • Tripple 12MP rear camera system:
    • Ultra Wide: ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120° field of view
    • Wide: ƒ/1.6 aperture
    • Telephoto: ƒ/2.2 aperture
  • Gold, silver, graphite, and blue
  • Starting at $1,099

HomePod mini

Apple also announced a small version of HomePod, called HomePod mini.

It will be available in 2 colors, white and space gray, for $99.

  • Crash Reporting with MetricKit - Part 1 & Part 2
  • No, Microsoft is not rebasing Windows to Linux

Image credits: Source

Weekly Digest - 2020.39

Amazon Luna

Amazon has launched its game streaming service. It's powered by  Nvidia's GPUs and runs on Windows, which should developers easily port games. Right now, it supports over 100 games.

The launch date is still unknown, but  service will be available on PC, Mac, Fire TV. The iPhone and iPad  will get support  via web apps. An Android version planned for after launch.  The official pricing is also unknown, but early access price is set at $5.99/month.

Amazon also announced special controller that will cost $49.99 during the early access.

Epic Games vs Apple continued

Multiple developers, including Epic Games, Spotify and Basecamp,  have  formed the Coalition for App Fairness  intended to coordinate efforts to fight against Apple's monopolistic behaviors on the AppStore.

Windows XP source code leaked

The source code of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 has leaked online.

It shouldn't be a big issue for Microsoft as Windows XP is no longer supported, but system itself might still have couple of surprises, as secret macOS theme has been discovered.

Weekly Digest - 2020.35

Floating Apple Store in Singapore

Apple is planing to open another Store in Singapore. Normally, such thing wouldn't be even worth mentioning, as Apple has hundreds stores around the world. But this is the first Apple Store that floats on the water. Apple Marina Bay Sands is a giant glowing orb and will be docked on the bayfront of Singapore.

Epic won first battle against Apple

Judge decided that Apple can’t retaliate against Epic Games by terminating the Epic's  developer accounts or restricting use of Unreal Engine by developers on Apple platforms. Also, judge decided that Apple doesn't have to bring Fortnite back, as Epic deliberately violated AppStore rules.

So the first battle has been won by Epic, but this is not the only good news for them. Epic gained an ally in Microsoft. Company from Redmond asked Apple to allow Epic continue development on Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine is one the most popular game engines in the world, and cutting off the support for Apple platforms might have severe consequences for game industry.

Despite all of this, Later this week, Apple did removed Epic's account from AppStore with all its games.  What is more important Apple  listened to the judge, and left Unreal Engine's account intact.

Windows 95 is 25 years old

Microsoft Windows 95 just turned 25. It's incredible how fast it went and how much we progressed. 25 years ago you needed good PC to run it, today you can run it in a browser.

Gamescon 2020

After cancelling E3 it looked liked gamers will not get any major gaming event this year, but Gamescom organizers found a way.  They created virtual conference. Unfortunately nothing special was announced, but we got couple of cool looking trailers.

Image credits: Javan Ng