Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
Posted on 10/04/2015 1:49:51 PM PDT by Swordmaker
In 2012, when Microsoft first introduced the Surface Pro — a tablet that was also a laptop — it became an industry punch line.
“You can merge a toaster and a refrigerator, but that’s probably not going to be pleasing to anyone," quipped Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Nobody's laughing now. And Microsoft is looking more and more like a trendsetter.
Three years after Cook's jab, the Surface Pro 3 is selling strong — strong enough that Microsoft is expected to launch a much-anticipated Surface Pro 4 at a special event on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Apple and Google have started to pay attention. This past September saw both companies introduce tablet-laptop hybrids: the Apple iPad Pro and the Google Pixel C.
"Apple just admitted Microsoft is right," read a headline here on Business Insider. Another one described the Pixel C as a "Surface killer."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I’m pretty sure that Microsoft is flattered by Apple and Google copying the Surface devices idea.
But, neither the iPad Pro nor the Google Pixel C(rap) can hold a candle to the device which they’re trying to copy.
It’s like dressing up a mouse (iPad Pro or Pixel C) like an elephant (Surface Pro device) and expecting the mouse to be able to perform at the same level. NEVER going to happen; not even close. Neither Android nor iOS are meant as productivity OSes, and the devices they support were not designed for productivity. A keyboard and/or a stylus, are not all that goes into creating a productivity machine.
If FR has a ‘likes button’, I would have pressed it at least 100 times for your post.
Swordmaker is the resident Apple-bot, who scans all of FR to catch and rebut and distort all posts that even hint of anything negative towards Apple, no matter what the subject.
I’ve had three Surfaces and will buy version 4 as soon as it’s available.
Wonderful machines.
They didn't for very long. The original 1998 iMac shipped with them but almost everyone hated them. You could not consistently orient them in your hand. Too round.
For a Mac, any USB or Bluetooth keyboard will work. For an iOS device any Bluetooth keyboard should work. . .
Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
The problem was not with Apple. . . because Apple changed nothing except to follow the industry security standards. . . and warned all the SSD manufacturers to do the same and modify their drivers for use on OS X.10 Yosemite Macs in plenty of time for Apple to include those drivers with the distribution. Apple also increased the security checking to prevent anyone from bypassing the new security.
The problem was with the drive manufacturers and the drivers they were writing or didn't write because they apparently did not put as much concern with security as did Apple. They did not update their drivers and they had plenty of time to do so with the release of OS X.10 Yosemite that actually was following the industry defined security protocols. ZDNet, which is NOT an Apple centric magazine came out with this article shortly after OS X.10 Yosemite came out. I Posted this on FR at the time:
With OS X 10.10 Yosemite, it turned out that Apple made a change to the way that the operating system worked. This caused problems for some users who had installed third-party SSDs into their Macs, particularly if that system was a boot drive. Here's what you need to know to avoid problems.
by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for ZDNet — Hardware 2.0 | November 18, 2014 -- 11:09 GMT
In order to get a better understanding of the problem, along with some solutions, I turned to OWC and its founder and CEO Larry O'Connor. OWC specialize in upgrade components and accessories for Macs, and the company has its own line of flash and SSD drives specifically for the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Pro.
Q: What is TRIM and why is it important?
TRIM is effectively an interface for the OS to help manage available space on an SSD. Rewriting NAND that had prior been used to store data that has since been deleted is different that it is on a hard drive. For drives designed with a dependence on TRIM, this can be important for both performance and NAND wear management. TRIM is often referred to as garbage collection, which is somewhat true.
Q: What has Apple changed exactly in Yosemite?
Prior to 10.10, it was possible to edit KEXT files, effectively driver parameters, without raising any flags in the OS. 10.10.x adds another layer of security, which validates these KEXTs and causes a halt if one has been modified in an unauthorized way. Essentially 10.10 is validating KEXT authenticity now to prevent one that is modified from operating and causing unexpected consequences within the OS.
In the case of the TRIM hack — modifying the KEXT is the only way to enable TRIM for a non-Apple drive. A modified KEXT that is then seen as non-trusted results in 10.10 halting during startup. A workaround is a mode that disables security, but that’s not a great idea to begin with. Plus the changes are stored as a PRAM variable, so if the system PRAM is reset (as is sometimes necessary), the system stops booting again.
Q: Did third-party SSD makers get any warning of this change?
With one exception, no third-party SSD maker promoted use of/included a TRIM enabler hack for their drives.
Prior to 10.10, each time a new OS revision update came out, these TRIM hacks would be disabled and would require re-enabling. What the hack does is basically tell the OS that the non-Apple SSDs in the system are Apple drives so TRIM can be engaged with them.
As for warning, developer versions of 10.10 made the change clear early, and it was known that this method of non-approved driver modification was no longer going to be allowed.
Q: So Apple has never endorsed this practice?
Correct. Apple has never supported the TRIM hack.
Q: So, do all SSDs need TRIM?
In 2008, before Apple had any OS side TRIM control, we saw SSDs as a great new space for system acceleration. They were still expensive but for the performance they appeared to offer, the benefit was incredible. Only one problem – these SSDs would slow down and could do so quickly, depending on the usage profile when used in a Mac. Then we started working with the new Sandforce controller. This controller worked very differently and was designed to excel without the need for TRIM. While LSI/Sandforce based drives do support TRIM, in years of real-world testing we can confirm this processor effectively negates the need for such. Performance remains steady and true whether the drive is empty or 99.9 percent full and the NAND wear profile is the best hands down, and by wide margin, compared to its next closest rival even when it is using full TRIM support.
The only reason we entered the SSD space when we did was because by early 2010 we could offer a drive that simply didn’t need any OS side TRIM crutch. This was the right solution, and the best SSD solution we could offer our Mac customers where no slowdowns or other issues would occur in a TRIM free environment. Here was a drive that performed better than other drives even when it became possible to use the TRIM hack on a Mac following 10.7 Lion.
Today it’s fair to say that all drives have better internal garbage collection capabilities and that reduces dependence on OS side TRIM. Our LSI/Sandforce processor based SSDs provide higher and more consistent performance, without excessive NAND wear compared to most other processor-based drives on the market today, even those that still depend on the benefit from the OS carrying out TRIM commands.
Q: What does the future hold?
We are looking forward to larger and faster drives with LSI/Sandforce’s next generation processor next year — but in many cases, the current drives provide real-world performance that is still tops. These drives excel not just in benchmarks, but also in a real system load environment where the heavy lifting is done. One part of this is that the advanced internal block management capabilities of the processor can do what needs to be done without the kludge that TRIM from the OS can be.
Q: Other than installing Yosemite, is there a way for users to find out if their SSD uses TRIM and will have problems?
All SSDs can use TRIM. If users have installed a TRIM enabler to enable TRIM commands with their SSD, they will have problems when updating to Yosemite unless they remove the enabler.
Q: What do you think about the fix that involves disabling KEXT signing? Do you see any drawbacks to using utilities like Trim Enabler?
This effectively disables a security feature. But that aspect aside, this method of fix is accomplished by changing a variable that is stored in PRAM. If the PRAM gets reset, the fix is off until you fix it again. Also, it will be interesting to see how each update affects with respect to 10.10.1, 10.10.2, etc.
Q: So the hack might not work in the future?
Correct.
Q: What hardware would you suggest for someone wanting to upgrade an old Mac with an SSD but who wants to avoid the hassles of disabling KEXT?
Simple — any of our SSDs :)
Great for Mac and PC too, but the design from day one was focused on these being a solution for the Mac where TRIM initially wasn’t even supported at all under OS X for any SSDs (not even Apple’s), and later only by hack on non-Apple drives. These drives are not dependent on the crutch OS side TRIM offers and are better for it in general, especially so on the Mac where there is no need for any hack to ensure best performance and NAND life.
Q: How difficult is it to upgrade a Mac from a hard drive to SSD, or upgrade an existing SSD?
Really very easy.
A relatively simple swap and then, for Mac users, the Apple Data Migration application sourcing from the original drive or restoration from Time Machine automates restoring your data to the new drive and then you are right where you left off and off to the races. The actual drive swap/installation process varies by system, but can be as few as 5-10 minutes to accomplish. We have a full library of DIY videos to assist all users, free to view, on the process of swapping a drive:
It is only partially. . . but you claimed something that is basically a false claim that Apple's iOS is a failure of an update merely because they've quickly posted two minor updates. You haven't even stated you've personally had a problem with iOS 9.
You've shown you really do not know what you are talking about. . . and I am beginning to think you are just a classic Thread Troll who does not own any Apple products, considering the claims and complaints you are posting. This is not the first encounter I've had with your constant complaining about Apple products that are basically specious.
You seem to quickly devolve to ad hominem attacks. I am not paid to post or contribute to any forum, I just know what I am talking about and know the facts. . . but perhaps YOU are paid to post your FUD claims.
In what way??? There is nothing in the iPad Pro that is copying the Microsoft Surface that the iPads did not already have in their arsenal of accessories.
And here you are again with your peculiar, childish form of irrational delusions and ad hominem name calling attacks on a fellow Freeper, whom you do not even bother to show polite courtesy pinging to a comment in which you mention him.
Of course you are an uncivil person anyway, I expect nothing less than rude behavior from you.
What is rude and uncivil and downright creepy, is somebody being so in love with a company and/or one of those company’s products, that you lose sight of reality. You are at the ready with your copy/paste posts, no matter when or whee Apple related discussions pop up. Like I said before, you’re either an Apple employee in charge of internet discussions, or you’re in dire need of growing up and getting a life.
What you do is no different from political operatives of the democratic party who are in constant guard about anything that discusses their policies, and are ready to interject their ‘corrections’ and talking points.
Get a freaking life dude.
Your copy paste skills are beyond reproach. I don’t remember having been told I don’t know what I’m talking about so many times by someone obviously representing a company trying to.sell a.product.
That argument sounds like someone in a car trying to.drive away from the scene of their crime and a.good citizen standing in the way and getting run over. The perp’s argument being ‘I warned him’.
I’m just waiting for the guy to actually post something non-Apple related on this site.
I’ve never heard one statement regarding the main topics we post about here. It is 100000% Apple PR, propaganda, and advertisements. He will even go as far as to side with Apple corporate if something they do is a direct attack on a conservative issue.
Frankly it is bizarre.
You are the one who comes into Apple the threads and starts slinging insults and you claim I am rude and creepy and uncivil. YOU are the thread troll. I thought you were not going to bother with these threads for a couple of months, yet here you are exercising your sick compulsion again.
You are the one who "pops up" to spread your patented bile. . . offended that someone is doing something YOU, personally, disagree with that is permitted on this site by the site's owner. YOU are not the site's owner or police. Give it a rest, adore NO.
You cannot stand the truth about Apple even when presented with evidence. . . which I do, which you claim are "cut/paste posts" yet if I don't provide such evidence it is merely my unsupported opinion.
I almost always provide sources. . . and when I don't it will be from an authoritative source, such as the one where it was an EXACT CUT and PASTE of exactly what was updated in iOS 9.0.1 and iOS 9.0.2 as a rebuttal of a poster's implied statement that massive fixes were involved just days after the release of iOS 9. I merely proved his FUD claim was deliberately wrong with an unimpeachable statement.
If you don't like that approach, too damn bad, but the more than 700 other members of the Apple Ping List, including three more who asked to be added this week, DO appreciate that approach, and count for one hell of a lot more than do you! The only "pay" I receive is the appreciation I get from those members of that group. . . and that is enough for me.
You claim to own Apple devices but you seem to claim to have more problems than any twenty-five users I've ever run across. . . Frankly, you just don't ring true. You come across as a typical troll who claims ownership of Apple products to give his postings some credibility. . . but that really doesn't. You sound like a Windows user who doesn't really own any Apple devices. You may be an aberration among Apple users, but I doubt it.
See my above reply for an explanation of your accusation of the latest Apple Hate Brigade meme against me of your repeated so-called Copy and Paste accusations—which you have interestingly have adopted (what does that make you?)—which does not make it true.
Not true. First of all, you can click on any FR user and then click "In Forum" to pull up all the threads that FR user is involved with. I didn't have to go past the first page of results to see that Swordmaker also posts on non-Apple threads. So most of them are Apple threads...so what? Can't somebody here have a passion for something? Also, I know for a fact that Swordmaker was very upset with Apple CEO Tim Cook for politicizing his homosexuality. So your contention that Swordmaker sides with Apple corporate on political issues is also wrong.
I am one of the many Freepers who get a lot of benefit from Swordmaker's expertise on Apple and Apple products. Frankly, I wish there were more subject matter experts on Free Republic. It would be nice, for example, if we had somebody posting here who was intimately familiar with the workings of a presidential campaign so that they could shed light on how campaigns are run internally and how polls and other data gets interpreted.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to get everybody's "opinion" on things but it's a rare thing to have somebody who can actually speak on a particular subject with authority and expertise.
There's also a ping list here for Microsoft. While I personally favor Apple products over Microsoft, I don't go running over to Microsoft threads to throw mud at them for liking Microsoft products.
Why do you think there is a campaign from this "author of this and several recent articles that have been posted here seem to think otherwise" saying the same thing? It's an advertising meme being pushed by Microsoft's astroturfering marketing department getting their new product which is about to be released: The Microsoft Surface 4.
There is NOTHING in the Microsoft Surface line except for being a full desktop OS that was not already available for the Apple iPad product ecosystem for the last five years. Optional Keyboard, check. Stylus, check, USB, check, Conductibility, check, productivity software, check (Microsoft Office 365 for the past two years!).
You could even control a full desktop OS remotely from your iPad, either Windows or OS X, accessing everything the desktop can do. So what have I claimed that is untrue?
Oh wait, everybody else copied Apple and Apple invented everything . . . . . according to the mindless Apple crazies anyways. In reality of course nothing could be further from the truth.
Only Anti-Apple haters claim that. . . and raise that as a strawman. And you, of course have devolved to ad hominem insults. When have I ever claimed that? I have provided evidence for every thing I have posted. Look back and you will see it.
In fact, see if you can find an actual Apple user who makes the claims you assert. Try it. . . and you will find it is an Apple critic claiming it, basing their claim on their interpretation of what was said in an Apple presentation about Apple's version of something. . . which Apple did indeed invent.
Thanks, Sam. I appreciate your support.
“Can’t somebody here have a passion for something?”
Passion =/= rabid PR spoksperson for a corporation that will go after anyone that dares say anything negative about this company.
“...know for a fact that Swordmaker was very upset with Apple CEO Tim Cook for politicizing his homosexuality”
That’s it? Anything else? Didn’t think so. And that was after hours of people hammering Apple that forced him to actually say something. And at most he could only muster up a mild tap on the hand and attribute the PUBLICLY-TRADED companies assault on conservatives as just some Tim Cook thing. Yeah, ok. I guess it was nice of him to get that out before JimRob had all Apple stories banned on FR.
He also gave kudos for another Apple nut that labeled people critical of Apple as “latent homosexuals” before the Mods deleted the story just yesterday.
“There’s also a ping list here for Microsoft. While I personally favor Apple products over Microsoft, I don’t go running over to Microsoft threads to throw mud at them for liking Microsoft products.”
So? There are PLENTY of people that do. Unlike Apple fanatics that literally go into complete meltdown at the mere criticism of anything about that company, most of the time, people that use MS stuff couldn’t care less when Linux people show up to pimp that or Apple fans show up to scream about how much it sucks and how everyone needs to get a Mac.
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