Apple Updates CompUSA and MacMall Hot Deals

From Apple, "We've refreshed the Hot Deals offerings for CompUSA and MacMall. CompUSA has great deals on games for Mac OS X, Photoshop Elements, external storage devices, audio systems, flat panel and CRT displays, various utilities, and much more. MacMall is offering Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, QuarkXpress, Quicken, digital cameras, miniDV camcorders, flat panel displays, and much more."

-- TGIF, August 23 --

[Update] A Ton of Jag to the Hinterlands: From Dana Baggett, "I was here [at home in Maine] when the Fedex driver arrived. :-) I asked him 'Are you delivering many of these boxes today?' 'A ton,' was his assessment. Of course, no one uses Macs any more. :-D

[Update] Apple Security Update 2002-08-23 for Mac OS X including 10.2 is available via the Software Update preference panel. It includes the following updated components which provide increased security to prevent unauthorized access to applications, servers, and the operating system.

OpenSSL
Security
SunRPC

[Update] Jag Party at The MacExperience in Indianapolis: From Michael Vander Sande "The party starts Friday, August 23, 2002 when our doors open at 9:00am as we celebrate our Grand Opening, Apple Demo Days and the release of Jaguar. We will be open until 1:00am August 24, 2002 and have over 100 copies of Jaguar available at 10:20pm. We will have product demos, Apple Representatives, food and refreshments, and prize drawings throughout the day and night. And if that wasn't enough, we are continuing the party on Saturday, August 24 from 9:00am to 4:30pm. Come and experience something wild at The MacExperience, Indianapolis’s only Apple Specialist."

Hands-On Report: Mac OS X 10.2 Part 1--Installation. Jaguar arrived yesterday afternoon. We ordered ours from the on line Apple Store with 2-day shipping. FedEx delivered from Jonestown, PA, to our Global HQ in Vienna, VA, with a note to deliver by Friday, 9/23. Dana Baggett, who ordered at exactly the same time from the hinterlands in Maine, did not get his today. Needless to say, we have excellent FedEx service here in the suburbs of the Nation's capitol.

The retail box, shown at right, contains a typically colorful and brief 19-page Mac OS X booklet and three CDs, a license, an AppleCare sheet and proof of purchase coupons. 10.2 is on 2 CDs and the third is a Developer Tools CD. The build number of the final version of Mac OS X 10.2 is 6C115 as widely posted on the web.

The booklet has one page on installation, one page on set up, six pages on eight of the advertised 150 improvements over version 10.1.x, two pages on support help, and eight more pages on advice for installation, set up and use. Inevitably someone will complain about the super thin manual but there will soon be a number of in-depth books on 10.2. We are no longer an X neophyte so we can't really judge whether a thicker manual would help. We have just seen many others install and use Mac OS X without even consulting the booklet.

Apple recommends that you back up your critical data and this is prudent advice. We backed up our photos, music, documents and email files just in case.

We inserted Disk 1, clicked the Installer icon, entered our password and the Mac rebooted. The Happy Mac startup icon is gone. Now the initial gray screen now displays a darker gray Apple logo and a small round icon of spokes that are highlighted in a rotating fashion. After 30-60 seconds, the familiar blue screen appears followed by the Installer window with its series of screens. We clicked through them to get to the "Select the Destination" screen.

In the "Select the Destination" screen, the "Option" button reveals that the Installer has 3 options: