In reply to a post by andynormancx:

There is no need to wonder, they said back at WWDC 2024 what the next bit is.

It is all the major Siri improvements that I laid out elsewhere in the thread. All the usage of your own data to inform Siri queries and Siri reaching into apps to take actions on your behalf.

I suspect it will only come to iPhone in the first version. It is far from clear where it will actually appear in iOS 18, this next step is the really hard problem to crack.

. All the usage of your own data to inform Siri queries and Siri reaching into apps to take actions on your behalf? That sounds scary. I will certainly keep AI turned off.

I have an Android phone, I doubt very much if I will get an Iphone, too expensive, and I am not fond of IOS. So no chance of it coming to my phone. I don't think AI or Gemini as Google calls it is as integrated into the OS as Apple AI seems to be.

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

If I remember correctly Ubuntu swapped out the whole window management and related apps between one version and the next. And I believe they aren't the only distro to do this at some point (which has more than once lead to forks of the distro when people disagree
with the decision).

I know Gnome changed a lot, years back, It was not a bad Desktop and then they changed it. I prefer desktops like Xfce. I don't mention Ubuntu to may mate, his face turns red and his eyes bulge out:). No Linux user should use Ubuntu he says, they are as bad as MS and Apple.

Lots of versions of Ubuntu with different desktops, I prefer MXlinux or mint, if i did not get the Mac I think I would have gone with MXlinux.

It definitely is a plus in many ways. But it also means that there is no one "Linux", there is an ever expanding spectrum of favours of Linux (and many more flavours of the different components that go together to make up a distro). I think this is the main thing that has prevented Linux from ever getting traction in the desktop market.

(and before the GNU folks arrive, yes I know that Linux is technically just the kernel, though GNU was dead in the water until the Linux kernel kick started it)

I wish now I had started with Linux years ago, but the first time I saw Linux it was a right pain to use and i did not have the time to muck around with it. Now it is a different thing in that Linux is easier to install and use, another mate used it on his laptop, I installed it as a dual boot with Windows, and he used the Linux part more than Windows. But he was not running much software on it, just a word processor and doing some browsing and emails. I would have loved to change his music computer in the studio to Linux, but the software for him was not there. i do know of someone else who uses Linux for creating music, but they have been doing it for a while.

This is down to the way modern macOS secures the operating system. In the past you could have just deleted things like that.

But now the whole OS, including those apps, is stored in a readonly filesystem that is signed to stop malicious software from changing any of the OS. There is a separate read write file system that sits alongside it, that has you data in it.

Yes, that is what I have read, which is why removing them would make no difference

macOS does some magic to combine these two filesystems to make them appear to be one disk. This also allows you to restore the OS if something has broken it in some way, with the guarantee that none of the user data is changed during that restore.

I am surprised they've not yet given users the option to at least hide those built in apps then don't want (like the have on iPhone).

Yes, i suppose they could have allowed people to hide them, but then how do you get them back if you decide you want them? With Pages and numbers, you can get them from the App store. I noticed when I reinstalled macOS it don't reinstall Pages, numbers or Keynote, which did surprise me. I am not a fan of software being installed for me and it is the same for MacOS and Windows in that I prefer to choose the software I want to use. While I do like numbers and Pages, certainly for something that is free, it is good that there is a choice to get rid of them if not needed.

I know it may not seem like it, but i do like my Mac, it is a quiet fast machine, macOS, even after a year using it still have its quirks which I am still getting used to, like moving files, saying that I use a file manager for that.
Yes, I don't like all this AI stuff that is being pushed onto us and i wish Apple did things differently in that regard in having it out in and opt out.
but I suppose that is the way things are going, I grew up in different days, when things were not pushed onto you. Seems to be the thing these days.

But I am still glad I change to Mac.

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

Who says they need them ? For many people a home server rack is a hobby, just more machines to tinker with.

Many of those racks only have a couple of machines and a switch in them.

I don't have a rack, but my home office does have a Linux server (my main file store and it runs half a dozen Linux virtual machines for various things), a Mac mini that runs a few things (and it also my spare Mac incase of problems with my MacBook), a Ubiquiti rackmount CCTV server (that is just sat on the floor) and a Windows machine that is effectively a server (being used for playing around with running various "AI" stuff locally).

And there is a whole network of Ubiquiti switches/access points/gateways/cameras throughout out the house.

I certainly don't "need" most of this stuff, but I do enjoy messing about with it.

you are right, maybe I am getting old

In my younger days I would have mucked around with that sort of stuff, i had servers myself, i do have a NAS, but it is a prebuilt Terramaster thing, not powerful, but does the job I need.

At the moment, my switchbot hub is annoying me, for some reason it don't recognise anything apart from a temperature sensor and even when that is next door to it, the signal is very weak.
I think the hub have had its day, so like a fool, I decided to buy a new one and some more temperature sensors, these can also go outdoors., I ordered three of them and get a free mini hub. I have also ordered the hub 2. Cost me £100 in total, I must be crazy. Don't answer that.

I have to cut down spending, with the Cricut, printer and now this lot, I have spent over a grand in the last couple of months, or I will do when I paid for it all.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

A server is still a Computer. I presume there is some GUI on his machine for software, but he uses the command line. Been using Linux for years, so he knows his way around it.

That is nice for you, at home or work? I have watched videos on You Tube, with some people having server racks in their homes, what the hell do they need them for? Granted my mate has a few machines that are used for some sort of server, one to control the cameras, one a Nas, one for the router and I have no idea what the other one is for. but it certainly not a large rack like some people have.

Mostly at work, my job is in the IT field for 25+ years. However I have had, and still ahve Windows, Mac and Linux in my home environment.

And on pro, maybe Enterprise is different.

My employer uses enterprise, but I use Pro and I've not hit anything I couldn't remove, including the free adware games (MS and third party)

it is possible to remove the apps, so I have read, but because of the way Mac Os works, it will not make any difference in space.

Andy answered this.

i like Number and pages, I have no use Keynote or Garageband

In the days of Libre Office, and Google Docs, I don't see why anyone needs a word processor or spreadsheet that creates files that can't be opened on at least one other platform. The history makes sense, but my employer must be 60% Mac now, and nobody uses the old iWork tools, as you can't email them to a customer.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Mostly at work, my job is in the IT field for 25+ years. However I have had, and still ahve Windows, Mac and Linux in my home environment.

I see. I do have a muck around with Linux now and again, I have MX linux on another drive on my PC, I just choose what to boot from by pressing f10 to get the boot option screen.

My employer uses enterprise, but I use Pro and I've not hit anything I couldn't remove, including the free adware games (MS and third party)

I have just had a nose and you are right i have not really mucked around with 10 for a while, so it has improved in that respect. Still can't get rid of Game bar.

In the days of Libre Office, and Google Docs, I don't see why anyone needs a word processor or spreadsheet that creates files that can't be opened on at least one other platform. The history makes sense, but my employer must be 60% Mac now, and nobody uses the old iWork tools, as you can't email them to a customer.

you can export in different formats, including epub from Pages., which I have not seen before. for home use it is fine to be honest. Libre office is okay, but even that have problems with word compatibility. I should use Libre office to be honest as I have a few documents that i saved using it, but after using Pages, Libre office looks old.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

you can export in different formats, including epub from Pages., which I have not seen before. for home use it is fine to be honest. Libre office is okay, but even that have problems with word compatibility. I should use Libre office to be honest as I have a few documents that i saved using it, but after using Pages, Libre office looks old.

Thats what we had in the early 2000s when companies used LotusSmartSuite (AmiPro/WordPro/123 etc) or WordPerfect/Corel Office, and other things including OpenOffice.org

None were 100% file compatible. Even Libre is not 100% round trip compatible. So corporates that exchange emails with attachments, rather than posting printed, or emailing PDF, found its too much pain over years.

Despite this, the use of word processors is decreasing as people use online Wiki tools (famous Atlassian Confluence); what the next 10 years looks like is unclear.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I have an Android phone, I doubt very much if I will get an Iphone, too expensive, and I am not fond of IOS. So no chance of it coming to my phone. I don't think AI or Gemini as Google calls it is as integrated into the OS as Apple AI seems to be.

Maybe not yet, but I have little doubt it will be.

Also Gemini is further along than Siri, it does now have the ability to take various actions on the phone while also providing the usual conversational LLM/GPT stuff.

Looks like Amazon will be probably be announcing their version of Alexa combining what it does now with LLM/GPT functionality.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-set-releas...

"interesting" times...

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Yes, i suppose they could have allowed people to hide them, but then how do you get them back if you decide you want them? With Pages and numbers, you can get them from the App store.

They'd do it just the same, using the App Store. That is what they already do on iPhone/iPad, some of the builtin apps can deleted, which actually just hides them (because they uses the same readonly signed filesystem approach). The apps that can be hidden this way have App Store entries, so you just unhide them by taping "Download" in the App Store.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

At the moment, my switchbot hub is annoying me, for some reason it don't recognise anything apart from a temperature sensor and even when that is next door to it, the signal is very weak.
I think the hub have had its day

Oh, you don't want to see the mess that is my home automation setup. A horrible mixture of HomeKit (Apple), Hue (Philips), Amazon smart plugs/Alexa, Eve Weather sensors (some HomeKit, some Matter) and now native Zigbee.

Making sense of that and simplifying all of that is a work in progress, which Home Assistant is helping with a lot. Aiming now to just simplify everything down to native Zigbee via Home Assistant (I had hoped that Thread+Matter was going to be the answer, but so far for me they have been totally unreliable).

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Thats what we had in the early 2000s when companies used LotusSmartSuite (AmiPro/WordPro/123 etc) or WordPerfect/Corel Office, and other things including OpenOffice.org

None were 100% file compatible. Even Libre is not 100% round trip compatible. So corporates that exchange emails with attachments, rather than posting printed, or emailing PDF, found its too much pain over years.

Despite this, the use of word processors is decreasing as people use online Wiki tools (famous Atlassian Confluence); what the next 10 years looks like is unclear.

I know what we used to have, i have a copy of word-perfect here and the Lotus suite, windows. not Mac.
I also remember using Final writer on the Amiga. I know Lib re office not 100% word compatible.
i use Word at work to print out notices, like don't use the bailer, it is broken type thing and also to print out waste transfer sheets. The so-called paperless office has not gone so well, only have to look at the amount we print at work.

Businesses may use Wiki tools, but I am not a business and while I don't use a WP as much as I used to, I still do for letters and also other reasons.

Who knows how things will be in ten years time, some things come back around and if the governments in different countries try to stop encryption, like our government want to do with Apple iCloud, then people may start storing stuff locally again,