Apple

GearLog reported on Wednesday that Apple has joined Bapco, an industry consortium that develops benchmarks for comparing PC performance. Bapco, short for Business Application Performance Corporation, counts Microsoft, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and CNET Networks (publisher of News.com) among its members.

A representative of Bapco said all inquiries regarding the consortium and Apple had to be directed through an Apple representative, who did not return a phone call and an e-mail Wednesday morning seeking confirmation.

The report set off usual speculation about Apple's motives. Some fear that Apple might dump the Macintosh operating system in favor … Read more

Apple Computer's switch to Intel chips has obviously had a huge impact on the Mac community. But Apple's way of looking at the world is making Intel "think different" about its own business.

"That's really what's interesting about Apple, is they look at our technology in a very Apple way," said Deborah Conrad, vice president and director of Team Apple at Intel, speaking to a group of CNET editors and reporters Thursday at Intel's Santa Clara campus. Conrad's team is helping Apple make the transition to Intel's chips, and … Read more

Apple Computer might think it has all its security ducks in a row, but the truth is far from it, at least according to Stephen Toulouse, a program manager in Microsoft's Security Response Center.

In several postings on his personal blog, Toulouse critiques Apple's security coordination and communications. He compares it with Microsoft's efforts, of which he is a major part.

"Apple needs a public face of security to communicate guidance," Toulouse writes. He cites a Business Week article in which an Apple representative says everybody at the company cares about security, so there is … Read more

Reports persist that Apple is planning to launch a widescreen version of the video iPod.

In a research note Tuesday, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said that Apple has told distributors "that its high-end 60 GB vPod is 'at risk' until the end of April, meaning it could be discontinued and/or replaced."

It may still be a ways off, however. "Timing is not certain to us, but we believe a new widescreen vPod with Bluetooth headphones could be ready as early as the June quarter," Wu wrote.

France's National Assembly has passed a bill that could force Apple Computer and others to share the details on previousely secret music protection formats.

According to an Associated Press report, France's lower house gave the nod to a bill that would both impose new fines on music pirates and would require more openness among the companies that protect digital content with rights management technologies.

The proposed legislation would require companies to share their copy-protection technology with rivals that are developing competing music services and devices, AP said.

Currently, Apple's iPod works with songs purchased on iTunes, as … Read more

Speaking at an Office developer conference, Bill Gates on Tuesday announced the formation of a new developer effort centered around the Open XML formats that are a part of Office 2007.

Gates noted that the new group, to be known as the Open XML Formats Developer Group brings together three of his favorite words--"open," "XML," and "developer."

"No organization is good unless you put 'open' " in there, Gates said. Microsoft has also submitted the Office 2007 file formats to European standards body ECMA.

Some in the industry and in government have … Read more

Apple's 30th anniversary is just around the corner, and if CNET News.com readers' enthusiastic response to our call for Mac-related anecdotes and photos is any indication, Apple fans are viewing April 1, 2006 as a day worthy of celebration.

One site, ThankyouSteve.com (knowing the Mac faithful, there are probably other sites in the same vein), has devoted itself entirely to counting down to the big day by selling Apple 30th T-shirts, and even publishing daily Steve quotes (that's both of them--Jobs and Wozniak).

"To commemorate this occasion, we thought it would be fitting to recognize … Read more

An Apple Computer engineer may not believe Windows can be installed on the new Intel-based Macs, but that isn't stopping hackers from trying--and maybe even succeeding.

The site Windows XP on Mac, which is promising about $13,000 to the person who successfully installs Windows XP on an Intel Mac, has posted a notice that a "solution has been submitted" and is being verified.

Here's an alleged video of Windows installing on a Mac. You can decide if it's real or simply a video of XP installing on a PC that is being shown on … Read more

"I want to be like Mike," was the mantra of many a 15-year-old boy in the '80s and '90s. Who could blame them? Michael Jordan was an overwhelming presence. Jordan's teammate, Dennis Rodman, also had stunning skills. But nobody ever said, "I want to be like Dennis."

Today, the first bulky media players like Archos and Rio that nobody really wanted have been replaced by the stylish and more mobile iPod series. Apple's design staff has performed astounding feats of technical execution and style.

Our colleagues at CNET Reviews took a look at the … Read more