| 10 July 2006, The combination of Mac | | | | platform - with PCI Express graphics. |
| hardware and software has been | | | | That may be a bit of wishful thinking. |
| exceptionally consistent over the years, | | | | New features included by apple |
| providing an ease of use that Mac users | | | | There are new RAW adjustment controls in |
| have enjoyed. With a Windows emulator | | | | the Adjustments Inspector and |
| such as Virtual PC, Macs can also run | | | | Adjustments HUD that improves the |
| Windows and DOS applications. Since the | | | | quality of RAW decodes via custom tuning |
| mid 1980s, it has been essentially a Mac | | | | of parameters. Most noticeably, you can |
| vs. PC world for personal computers, | | | | control contrast (using the new Boost |
| with Linux-based PCs gaining ground | | | | tool) and sharpness, as well as color |
| after the millennium. | | | | noise reduction from the RAW decoder. |
| Mac mini: - | | | | Apple gave us a new Color Meter tool |
| The more recently announced Apple's Mac | | | | that quickly and easily samples any area |
| mini has been turning some heads, even | | | | of an image for RGB, CMYK, or LAB color |
| in the PC world. If the iMac G5 is | | | | values. You can use this as a |
| basically a 1U server attached to a | | | | stand-alone tool or as part of |
| monitor, the Mac mini is basically a | | | | Aperture's Loupe tool. Photoshop users |
| reorganized laptop without a monitor The | | | | who like to sample specific color ranges |
| Mac mini is especially relevant to this | | | | will feel right at home in Aperture due |
| article because a lot of the discussions | | | | to this new tool. |
| about performance with regards to | | | | For those who never felt comfortable |
| Apple's PowerBook will apply directly to | | | | with Aperture's printing parameters, the |
| the Mac mini, as the two platforms are | | | | new version has updated image resolution |
| very similarly configured. | | | | controls. You can specify output |
| OS X Tiger: - | | | | resolution in dots per inch (dpi) when |
| The more I read about OS X Tiger, the | | | | exporting images or sending images to an |
| more interested I become. The two main | | | | external editor and Aperture 1.1 has |
| features that draw me to the update are | | | | increased the maximum size of images |
| Apple's system-wide, fully indexed | | | | displayed in the Browser. You can resize |
| search engine, called Spotlight, as well | | | | the display of images in the Browser up |
| as the fact that in Tiger, every single | | | | to a maximum of 512 pixels in height or |
| pixel on the screen will actually be | | | | width. |
| rendered by the graphics card. For the | | | | There is an attractive feature included |
| most part, in OS X Panther, all of the | | | | by apple that is Universal Compatibility |
| rendering work is done by the CPU, with | | | | that means Aperture 1.1 runs natively on |
| some GPU accelerated compositing | | | | both Intel-based and PowerPC-based |
| occurring. In Tiger, everything is done | | | | Macintosh computers. I tested it on both |
| through the pixel pipelines of your GPU, | | | | an Apple G5 Dual Core PowerMac with four |
| increasing the dependency on a graphics | | | | gigs of RAM and a new Mac Book Pro 2GHz |
| card with fast memory access, as well as | | | | model with two gigs of RAM. I've seen |
| increasing the flexibility of some of | | | | Aperture run on a PowerBook, and there's |
| the effects that you're able to do in | | | | no denying that it runs much quicker on |
| the OS itself. | | | | the Mac Book Pro. I've seen Aperture run |
| Given Tiger's reliance on very high GPU | | | | on a PowerBook, and there's no denying |
| performance, I would almost expect Apple | | | | that it runs much quicker on the Mac |
| to celebrate its release with a new G5 | | | | Book Pro. |