Wallet 2.5 is finally out! After spending a number of months of working straight on it, it quickly became a bigger release than I ever thought it would be. The endian issues involved a bit of studying, but importing PPC databases on Intel was a crucial fix for 2.5. .Mac integration feature is once again another request that caught me off guard - it is really handy to keep a centralized database secure on an iDisk, especially if you are using Wallet with more than one Mac. Overall, this is an amazing new release and is recommended for all Wallet users.

Now, with Wallet 2.5 released, I can finally make a major announcement that I have been wanting to make for a while now. Yes, Waterfall Software is working on a brand new application/product. For certain reasons, I am not going to explain or give details on the application quite yet, but what I can say is that it will be a wildly different step from previous Waterfall Software apps. Keep an eye out here on the blog, for various bits and pieces about the new app I will post over time.

The application will be out before the end of the summer. Infact, it will probably be out before then. The reason for this is that I will simply not have time to develop heavily after that, as I finish up my final year of high school. Trust me when I say that this application will be worth the wait.

Some other tidbits:

• Wallet 2.5.1 was released today and is important if you were having import troubles with 2.5


• Cabel Sasser's new video review of the DS lite is amazing and hilarious


• Amendment is really cool *wink*


• I want to see more of this

Uh, coming soon? :)

Update: Out as of 04/24/06! Grab it while it's hot!

So the big news of the day (month?) is that Apple has finally announced the first official feature of Mac OS X Leopard today, as a public beta. The new feature, Boot Camp, allows you to *drumroll*...boot Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac! Hooray?

This is of course after hackers spent a few months struggling to get a bare bones copy of Windows XP running on the Intel Macs, without many drivers or even an elegant solution. Hopeful Mac owners donated around $13,000 USD to help these hackers do it, all while Apple was working on it for Leopard. Bummer.

The good news is that Boot Camp is a really easy to use solution, with the hardest part being actually *installing* Windows. You can even set aside a separate partition for the system without touching your Mac files. What about all of those missing drivers? Boot Camp lets you burn an installation disc which automatically installs all the drivers you'll need, with a few exceptions (iSight, backlit keyboard, some others). Apple does indeed note that when you're using Windows, you will be subject to viruses and other attacks! Just so you know.

What do you do with a Mac running Windows XP? Well, Apple stands by its position to never support Windows, however if you know what you're doing, you can run some nifty games and helpful apps. Apparently Half Life 2 runs well, as do other games, of course.

So why did Apple do this? If it wasn't obvious, this is definitely not helping Microsoft. Right now, its going after the PC retailers such as Dell, Gateway, Lenovo, etc. Once people start buying Macs to run Windows XP though, they will be subject to both systems, and get to see hands-on how nice using Mac OS X really is. Here's how I see the transition, in 4 easy steps:


And that, my friends, is how this will end. Allowing Windows to boot on a Mac is a small price to pay for what this truly means. Will I install Windows XP on my Mac mini? I have no desire to, but I'm still excited about the possibility. Damn you, Apple Marketing.

I have noticed an increasing number of Mac users "switching to" or simply using Firefox these days as their main browser, instead of Apple's default browser, Safari. As much as I love the ability to have a choice of browsers to use, I only have one question to users of Firefox on a Mac:

Why?!

Firefox really is a great browser - IF you're on Windows. Mac users, however, may be blinded by the attention it has been getting on the other side of the fence. Infact, I see absolutely no reason to use Firefox on Mac OS X. It's not like Firefox is faster at rendering than Safari, because its actually pretty slow. And it's not like Firefox has better compliance for standards, because it still happens to fail the all-mighty Acid2 test. Maybe Firefox has more features? No, not really - perhaps if you're doing some heavy JavaScript development, but I doubt most users are. Oh, did I mention, Firefox doesn't look or act nearly as good as Safari does, partly because it is cross platform.

Safari doesn't have a monopoly on the Mac like IE does on Windows, either. Browsers such as Camino and OmniWeb are both well-done apps, and good alternatives to Safari. Firefox, though? It's a decent browser, sure - but there aren't any reasonable arguments for actually using it instead of Safari.

Can someone enlighten me on the technical advantages of using Firefox on a Mac, other than simply personal preference? Please?

Update: Okay, most of the responses seem to be liking the already large variety of Firefox extensions available. Sounds valid to me, although it's probably not impossible to develop similar plugins for Safari or Camino.