Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
MAC
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer, Inc.) for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface. The original form of what Apple would later name the "Mac OS" was the integral and unnamed system software first introduced in 1984 with the original Macintosh, usually referred to simply as the System software.
From the begining, Apple deliberately sought to minimize by design the user's conceptual awareness of the operating system as such. Tasks that on other products required a more explicit working knowledge of an operating system would on a Macintosh be accomplished by intuitive mouse gestures and manipulation of graphical control panels. The intention was that the product would thus be more user-friendly and so more easily mastered. This would differentiate it from devices using other operating environments, such as MS-DOS machines, which were more technically challenging to operate.
The core of the system software was held in ROM, with updates (which would override ROM-resident portions in RAM) typically provided free of charge by Apple dealers on floppy disk. The user's involvement in an upgrade of the operating system was also minimized to running an installer, or simply replacing system files, the simplicity of which again differentiated the product from other offerings.
Versions
Early versions of the Mac OS were compatible only with Motorola 68000-based Macintoshes. As Apple introduced computers with PowerPC hardware, the OS was ported to support this architecture as well. Mac OS 8.1 was the last version that could run on a "68K" processor (the 68040). Mac OS X, which has superseded the "Classic" Mac OS, is compatible with both PowerPC and Intel processors through to version 10.5 ("Leopard"). Version 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") supports only Intel processors.[4]
The early Macintosh operating system initially consisted of two pieces of software, called "System" and "Finder", each with its own version number.[5] System 7.5.2 was the first to include the Mac OS logo (a variation on the original Happy Mac startup icon), and Mac OS 7.6 was the first to be named "Mac OS".
Before the introduction of the later PowerPC G3-based systems, significant parts of the system were stored in physical ROM on the motherboard. The initial purpose of this was to avoid using up the limited storage of floppy disks on system support, given that the early Macs had no hard disk. (Only one model of Mac was ever actually bootable using the ROM alone, the 1991 Mac Classic model.) This architecture also allowed for a completely graphical OS interface at the lowest level without the need for a text-only console or command-line mode. Boot time errors, such as finding no functioning disk drives, were communicated to the user graphically, usually with an icon or the distinctive Chicago bitmap font and a Chime of Death or a series of beeps. This was in contrast to PCs of the time, which displayed such messages in a mono-spaced font on a black background, and required the use of the keyboard, not a mouse, for input. To provide such niceties at a low level, Mac OS depended on core system software in ROM on the motherboard, a fact that later helped to ensure that only Apple computers or licensed clones (with the copyright-protected ROMs from Apple) could run Mac OS.
Mac OS can be divided into two families:
The Mac OS Classic family, which was based on Apple's own code
The Mac OS X operating system, developed from Mac OS Classic family, and NeXTSTEP, which was UNIX-based.
"Classic" Mac OS (1984–2001)
Main article: History of Mac OS
Original 1984 Macintosh desktop
The "classic" Mac OS is characterized by its total lack of a command line; it is a completely graphical operating system. Versions of Mac OS up through System 4 only ran one application at a time. Even so, it was noted for its ease of use. Mac OS gained cooperative multitasking with System 5, which ran on the Mac SE and Macintosh II. It was criticized for its very limited memory management, lack of protected memory, and susceptibility to conflicts among operating system "extensions" that provide additional functionality (such as networking) or support for a particular device. Some extensions may not work properly together, or work only when loaded in a particular order. Troubleshooting Mac OS extensions could be a time-consuming process of trial and error.
The Macintosh originally used the Macintosh File System (MFS), a flat file system with only one level of folders. This was quickly replaced in 1985 by the Hierarchical File System (HFS), which had a true directory tree. Both file systems are otherwise compatible.
Most file systems used with DOS, Unix, or other operating systems treat a file as simply a sequence of bytes, requiring an application to know which bytes represent what type of information. By contrast, MFS and HFS give files two different "forks". The data fork contains the same sort of information as other file systems, such as the text of a document or the bitmaps of an image file. The resource fork contains other structured data such as menu definitions, graphics, sounds, or code segments. A file might consist only of resources with an empty data fork, or only a data fork with no resource fork. A word processor file could contain its text in the data fork and styling information in the resource fork, so that an application, which doesn’t recognize the styling information, can still read the raw text.
On the other hand, these forks would provide a challenge to interoperability with other operating systems: how does one copy a dual-forked file into a different file system, or across a file-transfer system, or embed it into email? In copying or transfering a MacOS file to a non-Mac system, the default implementations would simply strip the file of its resource fork. Most data files contained only nonessential information in their resource fork, such as window size and location, but program files would be inoperative without their resources. This necessitated such encoding schemes as BinHex and MacBinary, which allowed a user to encode a dual-forked file into a single stream, or take a single stream so-encoded and reconstitute it into a dual-forked file usable by MacOS.
PowerPC versions of Mac OS X up to and including Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (support for Classic was dropped by Apple with v10.5 Leopard's release and it is no longer included) include a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the Classic Environment. This runs a full copy of the older Mac OS, version 9.1 or later, in a Mac OS X process. PowerPC-based Macs shipped with Mac OS 9.2 as well as Mac OS X. Mac OS 9.2 had to be installed by the user— it was not installed by default on hardware revisions released after the release of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Most well-written "classic" applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is only assured if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware, and to interact solely with the operating system. The Classic Environment is not available on Intel-based Macintosh systems due to the incompatibility of Mac OS 9 with the x86 hardware.
Users of the classic Mac OS generally upgraded to Mac OS X, but many criticized it as being more difficult and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS, for the lack of certain features that had not been re-implemented in the new OS, or for being slower on the same hardware (especially older hardware), or other, sometimes serious incompatibilities with the older OS. Because drivers (for printers, scanners, tablets, etc.) written for the older Mac OS are not compatible with Mac OS X, and due to the lack of Mac OS X support for older Apple machines, a significant number of Macintosh users continued using the older classic Mac OS.
In June 2005, Steve Jobs announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that Apple computers would be transitioning from PowerPC to Intel processors and thus dropping compatibility on new machines for Mac OS Classic. At the same conference, Jobs announced Developer Transition Kits that included beta versions of Apple software including Mac OS X that developers could use to test their applications as they ported them to run on Intel-powered Macs. In January 2006, Apple released the first Macintosh computers with Intel processors, an iMac and the MacBook Pro, and in February 2006, Apple released a Mac mini with an Intel Core Solo and Duo processor. On May 16, 2006, Apple released the MacBook, before completing the Intel transition on August 7 with the Mac Pro. To ease the transition for early buyers of the new machines, Intel-based Macs include an emulation technology called Rosetta, which allows them to run Mac OS X software that was compiled for PowerPC-based Macintoshes. Rosetta runs transparently, creating a user experience identical to running the software on a PowerPC machine, though execution is typically slower than with native code.
Mac OS X
Main article: Mac OS X
Mac OS X is the newest of Apple Inc.'s Mac OS line of operating systems. Although it is officially designated as simply "version 10" of the Mac OS, it has a history largely independent of the earlier Mac OS releases.
The operating system is the successor to Mac OS 9 and the "classic" Mac OS. It is a Unix operating system, based on the NeXTSTEP operating system and the Mach kernel which Apple acquired after purchasing NeXT Computer, with its CEO Steve Jobs returning to Apple at this time. Mac OS X also makes use of the BSD code base. There have been six significant releases of the client version, the most recent being Mac OS X 10.7, referred to as Lion. On Apple's October 20th 2010 "Back to the Mac" event, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was previewed, showing improvements and additions including a Mac App Store.
As well as the client versions, Mac OS X has also had six significant releases as a server version, called Mac OS X Server. The first of these, Mac OS X Server 1.0, was released in beta in 1999. The server versions are architecturally identical to the client versions, with the differentiation found in their inclusion of tools for server management, including tools for managing Mac OS X-based workgroups, mail servers, and web servers, amongst other tools. It was the default operating system for Xserve (which has now been discontinued)[6], it's an optional feature on the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro, and it's also installable on most other Macs. Unlike the client version, Mac OS X Server can be run in a virtual machine using emulation software such as Parallels Desktop.
Mac OS X is also the basis for iOS, (previously iPhone OS) used on Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Star Trek
Main article: Star Trek project
Star Trek (as in "to boldly go where no Mac has gone before") was a relatively unknown secret prototype Apple started work on in 1992, which goal was to create a version of the classic Mac OS that would run on Intel-compatible x86 personal computers. The project was instigated by Novell, Inc., who were looking to integrate their DR-DOS with the Mac OS UI as a retort to Microsoft's Windows 3.0. The Apple/Novell team (fourteen engineers from the former, four from the latter) was able to get the Macintosh Finder and some basic applications, like QuickTime, running smoothly on a PC. Some of the code from this effort was reused when porting the Mac OS later to PowerPC.[7]
The project was short lived, being canceled only one year later in early 1993. There are two theories for the cancellation: the first is that Apple's board canceled further development upon realizing that going with Star Trek would mean an entirely new business model and one that would likely see a notable drop in Apple's lucrative hardware sales; and the second is that an x86 Mac OS was not commercially viable in the early nineties because Microsoft's contracts for Windows 3.1 forced PC manufacturers to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every computer shipped, regardless of what operating system it contained.[8]
A further complication was that Star Trek was designed to be source-level compatible, not binary compatible, with the Mac OS. Mac applications would therefore have to be recompiled or rewritten by their developers to run on the x86 architecture, and there was much skepticism as to exactly how much work this would entail.
Fifteen years after Star Trek, support for the x86 architecture was officially included in Mac OS, and then Apple transitioned all desktop computers to the x86 architecture. This was not the direct result of earlier Project Star Trek efforts. The Darwin underpinning used for Mac OS X 10.0 and later included support for the x86 architecture. The remaining non-Darwin portion of Mac OS X (based on OPENSTEP, which ran on Intel processors) was released officially with the introduction of x86 Macintosh computers.
68000 emulation
Although the Star Trek software was never released, third-party Macintosh emulators, such as vMac, Basilisk II, and Executor, eventually made it possible to run the classic Mac OS on Intel-based PCs. These emulators were restricted to emulating the 68000 series of processors, and as such most couldn't run versions of the Mac OS that succeeded 8.1, which required PowerPC processors. Most also required a Mac ROM image or a hardware interface supporting a real Mac ROM chip; those requiring an image are of dubious legal standing as the ROM image may infringe on Apple's intellectual property.
A notable exception was the Executor commercial software product from Abacus Research & Development, the only product that used 100% reverse engineered code without the use of Apple technology. It ran extremely quickly but never achieved more than a minor subset of functionality. Few programs were completely compatible and many were extremely crash-prone if they ran at all. Executor filled a niche market for porting 68000 classic Mac applications to x86 platforms; development ceased in 2002 and the source code was released by the author in late 2008.[9]
Emulators using Mac ROM images offered near complete Mac OS compatibility and later versions offered excellent performance as modern x86 processor performance increased exponentially.
Most of the Mac user base had already started moving to the PowerPC platform that offered backward compatibility on 8.xx & 9.xx operating systems along with faster PowerPC software support. This helped ease the transition to PowerPC-only applications while prematurely obsolescing 68000 emulators and the Classic-only applications they supported well before these emulators were refined enough to compete with a real Mac.
PowerPC emulation
At the time of 68000-emulator development, PowerPC support was difficult to justify not only due to the emulation code itself but also the anticipated wide performance overhead of an emulated PowerPC architecture vs. a real PowerPC based Mac. This would later prove correct with the start of the PearPC project even years later despite the availability of 7th & 8th generation x86 processors employing similar architecture paradigms present in the PowerPC. Many application developers were also creating and releasing both 68000 Classic and PowerPC versions concurrently helping to negate the need for PowerPC emulation. PowerPC Mac users who could technically run either obviously chose the faster PowerPC applications. Soon Apple was no longer selling 68000-based Macs and the existing installed base started to quickly evaporate. Despite the eventual excellent 68000-emulation technology available they proved never to be even a minor threat to real Macs due to their late arrival and immaturity even several years after the release of much more compelling PowerPC based Macs.
The PearPC emulator is capable of emulating the PowerPC processors required by newer versions of the Mac OS (like Mac OS X). Unfortunately, it is still in the early stages and, like many emulators, tends to run much slower than a native operating system would.
During the transition from PowerPC to Intel processors, Apple realized the need to incorporate a PowerPC emulator into Mac OS X in order to protect its customers' investments in software designed to run on the PowerPC. Apple's solution is an emulator called Rosetta. Prior to the announcement of Rosetta, industry observers assumed that any PowerPC emulator running on an x86 processor would suffer a heavy performance penalty (e.g., PearPC's slow performance). Rosetta's relatively minor performance penalty therefore took many by surprise.
Another PowerPC emulator is SheepShaver, which has been around since 1998 for BeOS on the PowerPC platform, but in 2002 was open sourced with porting efforts beginning to get it to run on other platforms. Originally it was not designed for use on x86 platforms and required an actual PowerPC processor present in the machine it was running on similar to a hypervisor. Although it provides PowerPC processor support, it can only run up to Mac OS 9.0.4 because it does not emulate a memory management unit.
Other examples include ShapeShifter(by the same programmer that conceived SheepShaver), Fusion and iFusion. The latter ran classic Mac OS with a PowerPC "coprocessor" accelerator card. Using this method has been said to equal or better the speed of a Macintosh with the same processor, especially with respect to the m68k series due to real Macs running in MMU trap mode, hampering performance.
Macintosh clones
Main articles: Macintosh clone and OSx86
Several computer manufacturers over the years have made Macintosh clones capable of running Mac OS, notably Power Computing, UMAX and Motorola. These machines normally ran various versions of classic Mac OS. Steve Jobs ended the clone-licensing program after returning to Apple in 1997.
In 2008, a manufacturing company in Miami, FL called Psystar Corporation, announced a $499 clone that comes with a barebones system that can run Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Threatened with legal battles, Psystar originally called the system OpenMac and have since changed it to Open Computer. Apple filed a lawsuit with the company and asked that Psystar be ordered to stop producing clone systems, recall every system sold, and pay monetary damages.[10] Eventually, Apple prevailed in court, and the Open Computer's production was ceased. Psystar itself appears to be defunct now, as the company's website is gone.
A/UX
Main article: A/UX
In 1988, Apple released its first UNIX-based OS, A/UX, which was a UNIX operating system with the Mac OS look and feel. It was not very competitive for its time, due in part to the crowded Unix market. A/UX had most of its success in sales to the U.S. government, where UNIX was a requirement that Mac OS could not meet. Mac OS X later incorporated code from the UNIX-based NeXTStep after Steve Jobs rejoined Apple in 1997.
[edit] MAE
Main article: Macintosh Application Environment
The Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) was a software package introduced by Apple Computer in 1994 which allowed users of certain Unix-based computer workstations to run Apple Macintosh application software.
MAE used the X Window System to emulate a Macintosh Finder-style graphical user interface. The last version, MAE 3.0, was compatible with System 7.5.3.
MAE was available for Sun Microsystems SPARCstation and Hewlett-Packard systems. It was discontinued on May 14, 1998.
MkLinux
Main article: MkLinux
Announced at The 1996 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), MkLinux is an open source computer operating system started by the OSF Research Institute and Apple Computer in February 1996 to port Linux to the PowerPC platform, and thus Macintosh computers. In the summer of 1998, the community-led MkLinux Developers Association took over development of the operating system. MkLinux is short for "Microkernel Linux," which refers to the project's adaptation of the Linux kernel to run as a server hosted atop the Mach microkernel. MkLinux is based on version 3.0 of Mach.
Mac OS on non Apple-labeled computers
Main article: OSx86
Though a violation of Apple's EULA,[11] running Mac OS X operating systems compiled for x86 on a non-Apple PC is possible using various kernel modifications, third-party and community drivers, and emulation methods. For example, the PC-EFI[12] project emulates the Extensible Firmware Interface that is normally present on Apple's Intel-based Macs, allowing Mac OS X to be installed on non-Apple hardware.
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer, Inc.) for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface. The original form of what Apple would later name the "Mac OS" was the integral and unnamed system software first introduced in 1984 with the original Macintosh, usually referred to simply as the System software.
From the begining, Apple deliberately sought to minimize by design the user's conceptual awareness of the operating system as such. Tasks that on other products required a more explicit working knowledge of an operating system would on a Macintosh be accomplished by intuitive mouse gestures and manipulation of graphical control panels. The intention was that the product would thus be more user-friendly and so more easily mastered. This would differentiate it from devices using other operating environments, such as MS-DOS machines, which were more technically challenging to operate.
The core of the system software was held in ROM, with updates (which would override ROM-resident portions in RAM) typically provided free of charge by Apple dealers on floppy disk. The user's involvement in an upgrade of the operating system was also minimized to running an installer, or simply replacing system files, the simplicity of which again differentiated the product from other offerings.
Versions
Early versions of the Mac OS were compatible only with Motorola 68000-based Macintoshes. As Apple introduced computers with PowerPC hardware, the OS was ported to support this architecture as well. Mac OS 8.1 was the last version that could run on a "68K" processor (the 68040). Mac OS X, which has superseded the "Classic" Mac OS, is compatible with both PowerPC and Intel processors through to version 10.5 ("Leopard"). Version 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") supports only Intel processors.[4]
The early Macintosh operating system initially consisted of two pieces of software, called "System" and "Finder", each with its own version number.[5] System 7.5.2 was the first to include the Mac OS logo (a variation on the original Happy Mac startup icon), and Mac OS 7.6 was the first to be named "Mac OS".
Before the introduction of the later PowerPC G3-based systems, significant parts of the system were stored in physical ROM on the motherboard. The initial purpose of this was to avoid using up the limited storage of floppy disks on system support, given that the early Macs had no hard disk. (Only one model of Mac was ever actually bootable using the ROM alone, the 1991 Mac Classic model.) This architecture also allowed for a completely graphical OS interface at the lowest level without the need for a text-only console or command-line mode. Boot time errors, such as finding no functioning disk drives, were communicated to the user graphically, usually with an icon or the distinctive Chicago bitmap font and a Chime of Death or a series of beeps. This was in contrast to PCs of the time, which displayed such messages in a mono-spaced font on a black background, and required the use of the keyboard, not a mouse, for input. To provide such niceties at a low level, Mac OS depended on core system software in ROM on the motherboard, a fact that later helped to ensure that only Apple computers or licensed clones (with the copyright-protected ROMs from Apple) could run Mac OS.
Mac OS can be divided into two families:
The Mac OS Classic family, which was based on Apple's own code
The Mac OS X operating system, developed from Mac OS Classic family, and NeXTSTEP, which was UNIX-based.
"Classic" Mac OS (1984–2001)
Main article: History of Mac OS
Original 1984 Macintosh desktop
The "classic" Mac OS is characterized by its total lack of a command line; it is a completely graphical operating system. Versions of Mac OS up through System 4 only ran one application at a time. Even so, it was noted for its ease of use. Mac OS gained cooperative multitasking with System 5, which ran on the Mac SE and Macintosh II. It was criticized for its very limited memory management, lack of protected memory, and susceptibility to conflicts among operating system "extensions" that provide additional functionality (such as networking) or support for a particular device. Some extensions may not work properly together, or work only when loaded in a particular order. Troubleshooting Mac OS extensions could be a time-consuming process of trial and error.
The Macintosh originally used the Macintosh File System (MFS), a flat file system with only one level of folders. This was quickly replaced in 1985 by the Hierarchical File System (HFS), which had a true directory tree. Both file systems are otherwise compatible.
Most file systems used with DOS, Unix, or other operating systems treat a file as simply a sequence of bytes, requiring an application to know which bytes represent what type of information. By contrast, MFS and HFS give files two different "forks". The data fork contains the same sort of information as other file systems, such as the text of a document or the bitmaps of an image file. The resource fork contains other structured data such as menu definitions, graphics, sounds, or code segments. A file might consist only of resources with an empty data fork, or only a data fork with no resource fork. A word processor file could contain its text in the data fork and styling information in the resource fork, so that an application, which doesn’t recognize the styling information, can still read the raw text.
On the other hand, these forks would provide a challenge to interoperability with other operating systems: how does one copy a dual-forked file into a different file system, or across a file-transfer system, or embed it into email? In copying or transfering a MacOS file to a non-Mac system, the default implementations would simply strip the file of its resource fork. Most data files contained only nonessential information in their resource fork, such as window size and location, but program files would be inoperative without their resources. This necessitated such encoding schemes as BinHex and MacBinary, which allowed a user to encode a dual-forked file into a single stream, or take a single stream so-encoded and reconstitute it into a dual-forked file usable by MacOS.
PowerPC versions of Mac OS X up to and including Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (support for Classic was dropped by Apple with v10.5 Leopard's release and it is no longer included) include a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the Classic Environment. This runs a full copy of the older Mac OS, version 9.1 or later, in a Mac OS X process. PowerPC-based Macs shipped with Mac OS 9.2 as well as Mac OS X. Mac OS 9.2 had to be installed by the user— it was not installed by default on hardware revisions released after the release of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Most well-written "classic" applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is only assured if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware, and to interact solely with the operating system. The Classic Environment is not available on Intel-based Macintosh systems due to the incompatibility of Mac OS 9 with the x86 hardware.
Users of the classic Mac OS generally upgraded to Mac OS X, but many criticized it as being more difficult and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS, for the lack of certain features that had not been re-implemented in the new OS, or for being slower on the same hardware (especially older hardware), or other, sometimes serious incompatibilities with the older OS. Because drivers (for printers, scanners, tablets, etc.) written for the older Mac OS are not compatible with Mac OS X, and due to the lack of Mac OS X support for older Apple machines, a significant number of Macintosh users continued using the older classic Mac OS.
In June 2005, Steve Jobs announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that Apple computers would be transitioning from PowerPC to Intel processors and thus dropping compatibility on new machines for Mac OS Classic. At the same conference, Jobs announced Developer Transition Kits that included beta versions of Apple software including Mac OS X that developers could use to test their applications as they ported them to run on Intel-powered Macs. In January 2006, Apple released the first Macintosh computers with Intel processors, an iMac and the MacBook Pro, and in February 2006, Apple released a Mac mini with an Intel Core Solo and Duo processor. On May 16, 2006, Apple released the MacBook, before completing the Intel transition on August 7 with the Mac Pro. To ease the transition for early buyers of the new machines, Intel-based Macs include an emulation technology called Rosetta, which allows them to run Mac OS X software that was compiled for PowerPC-based Macintoshes. Rosetta runs transparently, creating a user experience identical to running the software on a PowerPC machine, though execution is typically slower than with native code.
Mac OS X
Main article: Mac OS X
Mac OS X is the newest of Apple Inc.'s Mac OS line of operating systems. Although it is officially designated as simply "version 10" of the Mac OS, it has a history largely independent of the earlier Mac OS releases.
The operating system is the successor to Mac OS 9 and the "classic" Mac OS. It is a Unix operating system, based on the NeXTSTEP operating system and the Mach kernel which Apple acquired after purchasing NeXT Computer, with its CEO Steve Jobs returning to Apple at this time. Mac OS X also makes use of the BSD code base. There have been six significant releases of the client version, the most recent being Mac OS X 10.7, referred to as Lion. On Apple's October 20th 2010 "Back to the Mac" event, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was previewed, showing improvements and additions including a Mac App Store.
As well as the client versions, Mac OS X has also had six significant releases as a server version, called Mac OS X Server. The first of these, Mac OS X Server 1.0, was released in beta in 1999. The server versions are architecturally identical to the client versions, with the differentiation found in their inclusion of tools for server management, including tools for managing Mac OS X-based workgroups, mail servers, and web servers, amongst other tools. It was the default operating system for Xserve (which has now been discontinued)[6], it's an optional feature on the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro, and it's also installable on most other Macs. Unlike the client version, Mac OS X Server can be run in a virtual machine using emulation software such as Parallels Desktop.
Mac OS X is also the basis for iOS, (previously iPhone OS) used on Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
Star Trek
Main article: Star Trek project
Star Trek (as in "to boldly go where no Mac has gone before") was a relatively unknown secret prototype Apple started work on in 1992, which goal was to create a version of the classic Mac OS that would run on Intel-compatible x86 personal computers. The project was instigated by Novell, Inc., who were looking to integrate their DR-DOS with the Mac OS UI as a retort to Microsoft's Windows 3.0. The Apple/Novell team (fourteen engineers from the former, four from the latter) was able to get the Macintosh Finder and some basic applications, like QuickTime, running smoothly on a PC. Some of the code from this effort was reused when porting the Mac OS later to PowerPC.[7]
The project was short lived, being canceled only one year later in early 1993. There are two theories for the cancellation: the first is that Apple's board canceled further development upon realizing that going with Star Trek would mean an entirely new business model and one that would likely see a notable drop in Apple's lucrative hardware sales; and the second is that an x86 Mac OS was not commercially viable in the early nineties because Microsoft's contracts for Windows 3.1 forced PC manufacturers to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every computer shipped, regardless of what operating system it contained.[8]
A further complication was that Star Trek was designed to be source-level compatible, not binary compatible, with the Mac OS. Mac applications would therefore have to be recompiled or rewritten by their developers to run on the x86 architecture, and there was much skepticism as to exactly how much work this would entail.
Fifteen years after Star Trek, support for the x86 architecture was officially included in Mac OS, and then Apple transitioned all desktop computers to the x86 architecture. This was not the direct result of earlier Project Star Trek efforts. The Darwin underpinning used for Mac OS X 10.0 and later included support for the x86 architecture. The remaining non-Darwin portion of Mac OS X (based on OPENSTEP, which ran on Intel processors) was released officially with the introduction of x86 Macintosh computers.
68000 emulation
Although the Star Trek software was never released, third-party Macintosh emulators, such as vMac, Basilisk II, and Executor, eventually made it possible to run the classic Mac OS on Intel-based PCs. These emulators were restricted to emulating the 68000 series of processors, and as such most couldn't run versions of the Mac OS that succeeded 8.1, which required PowerPC processors. Most also required a Mac ROM image or a hardware interface supporting a real Mac ROM chip; those requiring an image are of dubious legal standing as the ROM image may infringe on Apple's intellectual property.
A notable exception was the Executor commercial software product from Abacus Research & Development, the only product that used 100% reverse engineered code without the use of Apple technology. It ran extremely quickly but never achieved more than a minor subset of functionality. Few programs were completely compatible and many were extremely crash-prone if they ran at all. Executor filled a niche market for porting 68000 classic Mac applications to x86 platforms; development ceased in 2002 and the source code was released by the author in late 2008.[9]
Emulators using Mac ROM images offered near complete Mac OS compatibility and later versions offered excellent performance as modern x86 processor performance increased exponentially.
Most of the Mac user base had already started moving to the PowerPC platform that offered backward compatibility on 8.xx & 9.xx operating systems along with faster PowerPC software support. This helped ease the transition to PowerPC-only applications while prematurely obsolescing 68000 emulators and the Classic-only applications they supported well before these emulators were refined enough to compete with a real Mac.
PowerPC emulation
At the time of 68000-emulator development, PowerPC support was difficult to justify not only due to the emulation code itself but also the anticipated wide performance overhead of an emulated PowerPC architecture vs. a real PowerPC based Mac. This would later prove correct with the start of the PearPC project even years later despite the availability of 7th & 8th generation x86 processors employing similar architecture paradigms present in the PowerPC. Many application developers were also creating and releasing both 68000 Classic and PowerPC versions concurrently helping to negate the need for PowerPC emulation. PowerPC Mac users who could technically run either obviously chose the faster PowerPC applications. Soon Apple was no longer selling 68000-based Macs and the existing installed base started to quickly evaporate. Despite the eventual excellent 68000-emulation technology available they proved never to be even a minor threat to real Macs due to their late arrival and immaturity even several years after the release of much more compelling PowerPC based Macs.
The PearPC emulator is capable of emulating the PowerPC processors required by newer versions of the Mac OS (like Mac OS X). Unfortunately, it is still in the early stages and, like many emulators, tends to run much slower than a native operating system would.
During the transition from PowerPC to Intel processors, Apple realized the need to incorporate a PowerPC emulator into Mac OS X in order to protect its customers' investments in software designed to run on the PowerPC. Apple's solution is an emulator called Rosetta. Prior to the announcement of Rosetta, industry observers assumed that any PowerPC emulator running on an x86 processor would suffer a heavy performance penalty (e.g., PearPC's slow performance). Rosetta's relatively minor performance penalty therefore took many by surprise.
Another PowerPC emulator is SheepShaver, which has been around since 1998 for BeOS on the PowerPC platform, but in 2002 was open sourced with porting efforts beginning to get it to run on other platforms. Originally it was not designed for use on x86 platforms and required an actual PowerPC processor present in the machine it was running on similar to a hypervisor. Although it provides PowerPC processor support, it can only run up to Mac OS 9.0.4 because it does not emulate a memory management unit.
Other examples include ShapeShifter(by the same programmer that conceived SheepShaver), Fusion and iFusion. The latter ran classic Mac OS with a PowerPC "coprocessor" accelerator card. Using this method has been said to equal or better the speed of a Macintosh with the same processor, especially with respect to the m68k series due to real Macs running in MMU trap mode, hampering performance.
Macintosh clones
Main articles: Macintosh clone and OSx86
Several computer manufacturers over the years have made Macintosh clones capable of running Mac OS, notably Power Computing, UMAX and Motorola. These machines normally ran various versions of classic Mac OS. Steve Jobs ended the clone-licensing program after returning to Apple in 1997.
In 2008, a manufacturing company in Miami, FL called Psystar Corporation, announced a $499 clone that comes with a barebones system that can run Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Threatened with legal battles, Psystar originally called the system OpenMac and have since changed it to Open Computer. Apple filed a lawsuit with the company and asked that Psystar be ordered to stop producing clone systems, recall every system sold, and pay monetary damages.[10] Eventually, Apple prevailed in court, and the Open Computer's production was ceased. Psystar itself appears to be defunct now, as the company's website is gone.
A/UX
Main article: A/UX
In 1988, Apple released its first UNIX-based OS, A/UX, which was a UNIX operating system with the Mac OS look and feel. It was not very competitive for its time, due in part to the crowded Unix market. A/UX had most of its success in sales to the U.S. government, where UNIX was a requirement that Mac OS could not meet. Mac OS X later incorporated code from the UNIX-based NeXTStep after Steve Jobs rejoined Apple in 1997.
[edit] MAE
Main article: Macintosh Application Environment
The Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) was a software package introduced by Apple Computer in 1994 which allowed users of certain Unix-based computer workstations to run Apple Macintosh application software.
MAE used the X Window System to emulate a Macintosh Finder-style graphical user interface. The last version, MAE 3.0, was compatible with System 7.5.3.
MAE was available for Sun Microsystems SPARCstation and Hewlett-Packard systems. It was discontinued on May 14, 1998.
MkLinux
Main article: MkLinux
Announced at The 1996 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), MkLinux is an open source computer operating system started by the OSF Research Institute and Apple Computer in February 1996 to port Linux to the PowerPC platform, and thus Macintosh computers. In the summer of 1998, the community-led MkLinux Developers Association took over development of the operating system. MkLinux is short for "Microkernel Linux," which refers to the project's adaptation of the Linux kernel to run as a server hosted atop the Mach microkernel. MkLinux is based on version 3.0 of Mach.
Mac OS on non Apple-labeled computers
Main article: OSx86
Though a violation of Apple's EULA,[11] running Mac OS X operating systems compiled for x86 on a non-Apple PC is possible using various kernel modifications, third-party and community drivers, and emulation methods. For example, the PC-EFI[12] project emulates the Extensible Firmware Interface that is normally present on Apple's Intel-based Macs, allowing Mac OS X to be installed on non-Apple hardware.
Monday, July 25, 2011
UNIVERSITIES IN ANDHRA PRADESH
Universities in Andhra Pradesh
| Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, established in 1964 at Hyderabad, was renamed as Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University on November 7th 1996. |
| Acharya Nagarjuna University Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh offers a wide range of academic and professional courses. |
| Adikavi Nannaya University Adikavi Nannaya University, established in 2006, takes care of higher education needs of the Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. |
| Andhra University Established in 1925, Andhra University at Visakhapatnam is among the oldest educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh. |
| Dr B R Ambedkar Open University Dr B R Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), established in the year 1982, is an important center of distance education in the state of Andhra Pradesh. |
| Dravidian University Dravidian University, located in Kuppam, stresses on the growth and development of Dravidian languages. |
| English and Foreign Languages University English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) at Hyderabad is the only University in India catering exclusively to the teaching and learning of Foreign Languages. |
| GITAM University Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management University, popular by the name GITAM University, is one of the most sought-after centers of professional education in the country. |
| JNTU Hyderabad Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad is one of the highly reputed technical universities of Andhra Pradesh. |
| Kakatiya University Kakatiya University located in Warangal is a premier university of Southern India, promoting higher education in the state for the past 25 years. |
| Maulana Azad National Urdu University Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), located in Hyderabad, imparts education and training in vocational and technical subjects through the medium of Urdu. |
| NALSAR University of Law NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad has gained reputation in India and abroad as an organisation offering excellent legal education. |
| NTR University of Health Sciences Dr NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS), located in Hyderabad, is one of the reputed medical scince universities in India. |
| Osmania University Established in 1918, Osmania University is the seventh oldest institution of higher learning in India and the first in Andhra Pradesh. |
| Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University Situated in the heart of Hyderabad, Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University is one of the few language universities in India. |
| Satavahana University Satavahana University at Karimnagar offers various courses across different disciplines. |
| Sri Krishnadevaraya University Located at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, Sri Krishnadevaraya University (SKU) caters to the higher educational needs of the districts of Anantapur and Kurnool. |
| Sri Sathya Sai University Sri Sathya Sai University offers free education to everyone at its Prashanti Nilayam campus. |
| Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (SVU Tirupati) is an important center of higher education in Andhra Pradesh. |
| Telangana University Telangana University offers various postgraduate level courses in a number of conventional, non-conventional and career oriented streams. |
| University of Hyderabad University of Hyderabad is a center of great repute in teaching, research and extension activities. |
| Vikrama Simhapuri University Vikrama Simhapuri University, located at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, was established to provide higher educational opportunities to the people of the region. |
Sunday, July 24, 2011
LORDS
MCC History
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 - a fact gathered from a poster for a cricket match in 1837 announcing MCC's Golden jubilee.
Before then, however, aristocrats and noblemen played their cricket in White Conduit Fields at Islington, London. Like shooting and fox-hunting, cricket was considered a manly sport for the elite - with plenty of gambling opportunities to boot. (Around £20,000 was bet on a series of games between Old Etonians and England in 1751!)
Thomas Lord Portrait
A portrait of the ground's founder, Thomas Lord As London's population grew, so did the nobility's impatience with the crowds who gathered to watch them play. In pursuit of exclusivity, they decided to approach Thomas Lord, a bowler with White Conduit CC, and asked him to set up a new private ground.
An ambitious entrepreneur, Lord was encouraged by Lord Winchilsea to lease a ground on Dorset Fields in Marylebone - the site of the modern Dorset Square.
He staged his first match - Middlesex (with two of Berkshire and one of Kent) versus Essex (with two given men) - on 31st May 1787. Thus the Marylebone Cricket Club was formed. A year later, it laid down a Code of Laws, requiring the wickets to be pitched 22 yards apart and detailing how players could be given out.
Its Laws were adopted throughout the game - and MCC today remains the custodian and arbiter of Laws relating to cricket around the world.
After a short stay at Marylebone Bank, Regent's Park, between 1811 and 1813, Lord's moved to a new rural ground - previously the site of a duck pond - in St John's Wood in 1814. It remains MCC's home to this day.
The ground was soon a major success and attracted hordes of players and spectators - forcing Lord to build a Pavilion and refreshment stalls.
In 1805, the dukes and earls were keen to see their sons play cricket and so hired the ground for an Eton versus Harrow schools cricket match - the start of a world-famous, and on-going, tradition.
In 1825, when Thomas Lord was 70, he sold the ground to a Bank of England director, William Ward, for £5,000. Having provided the Marylebone Cricket Club with a ground for 38 years, Lord retired and then died seven years later - but his name lives on.
That same year (1825), the Pavilion - housing scorecards, records and trophies - was destroyed in a fire. Work commenced immediately on a replacement, which opened the following year.
At the time, the wicket was 'prepared' before a match by allowing sheep to come in and graze on the grass. However, the Club subsequently acquired its first mowing machine and appointed its first groundsman in 1864.
MCC in county & international cricket
The original MCC colour of sky blue was replaced in Victorian times by the famous red and yellow - now recognised the world over on ties, cricket sweaters and hatbands.
Read more about the colours of MCC
In the 1870s, MCC decided it wanted to get involved in county cricket, which was growing in popularity, and, in 1877, it invited Middlesex to adopt Lord's as its county ground - an arrangement which continues over 125 years later.
MCC's next step towards establishing itself as cricket's most influential body involved its development of a relationship with Australia, where emigrants had started playing the game competitively.
So in 1877 James Lillywhite and an England side boarded a steamer and travelled for eight weeks before playing Australia in the first official Test match - although it was not until 26 years later, in 1903, that MCC undertook official responsibility for England's tours 'down under'.
W.G. Grace statue
Louis Laumen's statue of 'WG' stands in the Coronation Garden One of MCC's most famous players, Dr WG Grace, from Gloucestershire, gave the Club even greater recognition through his monumental performances and stature. A painting of him by A.S. Wortley was presented to the Club in 1890 and still hangs in the famous Long Room.
In 1889, the foundation stone was laid for a new Pavilion, paid for by a £21,000 loan from William Nicholson, who had made his fortune from distilling gin.
A year later it was opened in time for the new season. It is now a listed building and one of the most famous landmarks in world sport.
At the turn of the century, the Board of Control for Test Matches, the Advisory County Cricket Committee and the Imperial Cricket Conference were all set up to cater for the growth in domestic, imperial and other international cricket. These bodies existed until 1968 when there was a major reorganisation of cricket in England.
Since MCC was a private club it could not receive public funds, so it set up a Cricket Council as the governing body of cricket and the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) to administer the professional game. It also converted its MCC Cricket Association into the National Cricket Association (NCA) to look after the recreational game. As a result, cricket started to receive financial help from the Government.
In the 1990s, the structure was changed again with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) taking over responsibility for all cricket in England from the TCCB, NCA and Cricket Council.
MCC's role has contined to evolve in response to these changes. Today, its key responsibilities include:
ensuring that Lord's remains a ground which is world-class, as well as world-famous;
promoting cricket's Laws and safeguarding its 'Spirit';
promoting cricket to young people, for the long-term good of the game;
helping to increase cricket's international appeal - not least through its teams' touring programmes; and
maintaining its position as the world's most active cricket-playing club.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
BRIEF ABOUT MOUSE
Mouse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Mice" redirects here. For other uses, see Mice (disambiguation).
This article is about the animal. For the computer input device, see Mouse (computing). For other uses, see Mouse (disambiguation).
A mouse (plural: mice) is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (Mus musculus). It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles. They are known to invade homes for food and occasionally shelter.The American White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), as well as other common species of mouse-like rodents around the world, also sometimes live in houses. These, however, are in other genera.
Cats, wild dogs, foxes, birds of prey, snakes and even certain kinds of arthropods have been known to prey heavily upon mice. Nevertheless, because of its remarkable adaptability to almost any environment, the mouse is one of the most successful mammalian genera living on Earth today.
Mice can at times be harmful rodents, damaging and eating crops,[1] causing structural damages and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces.[2] In North America, breathing dust that has come in contact with mouse excrements has been linked to hantavirus, which may lead to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS).
Primarily nocturnal animals, mice compensate for their poor eyesight with a keen sense of hearing, and rely especially on their sense of smell to locate food and avoid predators.[3]
Reproduction
1 day old pups
Breeding onset is at about 50 days of age in both females and males, although females may have their first estrus at 25–40 days. Mice are polyestrous and breed year round; ovulation is spontaneous. The duration of the estrous cycle is 4–5 days and estrus itself lasts about 12 hours, occurring in the evening. Vaginal smears are useful in timed matings to determine the stage of the estrous cycle. Mating is usually nocturnal and may be confirmed by the presence of a copulatory plug in the vagina up to 24 hours post-copulation. The presence of sperm on a vaginal smear is also a reliable indicator of mating.[4]Female mice housed together tend to go into anestrus and do not cycle. If exposed to a male mouse or the pheromones of a male mouse, most of the females will go into estrus in about 72 hours. This synchronization of the estrous cycle is known as the Whitten effect. The exposure of a recently bred mouse to the pheromones of a strange male mouse may prevent implantation (or pseudopregnancy), a phenomenon known as the Bruce effect.[4]
The average gestation period is 20 days. A fertile postpartum estrus occurs 14–24 hours following parturition, and simultaneous lactation and gestation prolongs gestation 3–10 days owing to delayed implantation. The average litter size is 10–12 during optimum production, but is highly strain-dependent. As a general rule, inbred mice tend to have longer gestation periods and smaller litters than outbred and hybrid mice. The young are called pups and weigh 0.5–1.5 g (0.018–0.053 oz) at birth, are hairless, and have closed eyelids and ears. Cannibalism is uncommon, but females should not be disturbed during parturition and for at least 2 days postpartum. Pups are weaned at 3 weeks of age; weaning weight is 10–12 g (0.35–0.42 oz). If the postpartum estrus is not utilized, the female resumes cycling 2–5 days post-weaning.[4]
Newborn male mice are distinguished from newborn females by noting the greater anogenital distance and larger genital papilla in the male. This is best accomplished by lifting the tails of littermates and comparing perineums.[4]
Laboratory mice
Main article: Laboratory mice
Mice are common experimental animals in biology and psychology primarily because they are mammals, and also because they share a high degree of homology with humans. They are the most commonly used mammalian model organism, more common than rats. The mouse genome has been sequenced, and virtually all mouse genes have human homologs. They can also be manipulated in ways that would be considered unethical to do with humans (note Animal Rights). A knockout mouse is a genetically engineered mouse that has had one or more of its genes made inoperable through a gene knockout.There are other reasons why mice are used in laboratory research. Mice are small, inexpensive, easily maintained, and can reproduce quickly. Several generations of mice can be observed in a relatively short period of time. Mice are generally very docile if raised from birth and given sufficient human contact. However, certain strains have been known to be quite temperamental. Mice and rats have the same organs in the same places, just different proportions.
Subgenera
Field mouse of the subgenus Mus.
All members of the Mus genus are referred to as mice. However, the term mouse can also be applied to species outside of this genus. Mouse often refers to any small muroid rodent, while rat refers to larger muroid rodents. Therefore these terms are not taxonomically specific. For simplicity, only the rodent subgenera belonging to the Mus genus are listed here.Genus Mus - Typical mice
- Subgenus Coelomys (East Asia)
- Subgenus Mus (Eurasia to North Africa, except for the House mouse which is worldwide.)
- Subgenus Nannomys (Sub-Saharan Africa)
- Subgenus Pyromys (East Asia)
- Subgenus and species Mus lepidoides
As pets
Pet mice
Main article: Fancy mouse
Many people buy mice as companion pets. They can be playful, loving and can grow used to being handled. Like pet rats, pet mice should not be left unsupervised outside as they have many natural predators, including (but not limited to) birds, lizards, cats, and dogs. Male mice tend to have a stronger odor than the females. However, mice are careful groomers and as pets they never need bathing. Well looked after mice can make ideal pets. Some common mouse care products are:- Cage – Usually a hamster or gerbil cage, but special mouse cages are now available.
- Food – Special pelleted and seed-based food is available. Mice can generally eat most rodent food (for rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, etc.)
- Bedding – Usually made of hardwood pulp, such as aspen, sometimes from shredded, uninked paper or recycled virgin wood pulp. Using corn husk bedding is avoided because it promotes Aspergillis fungus, and can grow mold once it gets wet, which is rough on their feet.
Nutrition
In nature, mice are herbivores, consuming any kind of fruit or grain from plants.[5] Due to this, mice adapt well to urban areas and are known for eating most all types of food scraps. In captivity, mice are commonly fed commercial pelleted mouse diet. These diets are nutritionally complete, but they still need a large variety of vegetables. Food intake is approximately 15 g (0.53 oz) per 100 g (3.5 oz) of body weight per day; water intake is approximately 15 ml (0.53 imp fl oz; 0.51 US fl oz) per 100 g of body weight per day.[4]As food
"Pinkies" redirects here. For other uses, see Pinkie.
"Pinkie" mice for sale as reptile food
Mice are a staple in the diet of many small carnivores. Humans have eaten mice since prehistoric times and still eat them as a delicacy throughout eastern Zambia and northern Malawi,[6], where they are a seasonal source of protein. Mice are no longer routinely consumed by humans elsewhere.In various countries mice are used as food[7] for pets such as snakes, lizards, frogs, tarantulas and birds of prey, and many pet stores carry mice for this purpose. Some countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, have banned the practice of feeding live mice, citing ethical concerns regarding both predator and prey.[8]
Common terms used to refer to different ages/sizes of mice when sold for pet food are "pinkies", "fuzzies", "crawlers", "hoppers", and "adults".[9] Pinkies are newborn mice that have not yet grown fur; fuzzies have some fur but are not very mobile; hoppers have a full coat of hair and are fully mobile but are smaller than adult mice. Mice without fur are easier for the animal to consume, however mice with fur may be more convincing as animal feed. These terms are also used to refer to the various growth stages of rats (see Fancy rat).
Use for sense of smell
Israeli scientists have tested mice as a new airport security detectors. It consists of three concealed cartridges each containing eight specially trained mice. If they senses traces of explosives or drugs, they will trigger the alarm. According to the New Scientist the mice work four-hour shifts and are more accurate than using dogs or x-ray machines.[10]
Monday, July 18, 2011
CHEAPEST WHISKY
One of the by-products of putting together a database of travel prices in well over 100 cities around the world is that you are going to come across some rather remarkable data. Previous examples we covered were the world’s cheapest beer, which is in Vietnam , and the world’s cheapest hostel, which is in Cambodia
Well, the trend of amazingly cheap things in mainland Southeast Asia continues here, with what is certainly the world’s cheapest liquor, in Laos
Lao-lao – Laos
In Vientiane
Cheapest price spotted: .7-liter/45% alcohol for 6000 Lao kip = US$0.74
That’s right, for just under 75 US cents you can be the proud owner of your own bottle of locally produced rice whiskey, usually known as lao-lao. It’s a simply made whiskey that is distilled from rice, and it’s available all over Laos
And the taste and so forth?
Many people see the price and automatically assume it tastes like turpentine and/or will give you a massive hangover, so they won’t even try the stuff. Those people are missing out, in my opinion. The lao-lao that I tried in many different places in the country is actually quite good, and I (surprisingly, perhaps) never experienced any sort of hangover beyond what would be normal with any similar spirit costing 25 times more.
The taste is actually quite mild, and reminds me a little of vanilla, although it’s also a very neutral taste so it mixes well with any of the fresh fruit juices that are also cheaply available all over Laos. I’d take the lao-lao instead of a US$10 bottle of grocery-store vodka in the US Laos
Finding lao-lao
As mentioned, you can find the stuff all over Laos Vientiane
You can also find a free-flowing version of this rice whiskey in many tourist restaurants. A small glass will set you back under 50 cents, and what they say on the menu is a “bottle” is usually under US$2. The “bottle” at restaurants will actually be a Pepsi or other soft drink bottle filled with the stuff from some much larger container.
Since fresh fruit juices are usually US$1 or less at these same restaurants, you can easily mix your own cocktails as a group, or just try it straight like the locals tend to do.
I’ve also been told that the local villagers buy it in plastic bags themselves, which obviously saves on packaging and cleaning of bottles, and means an even lower price. I never saw rice whiskey available by the bag though, so I don’t know how much less it costs or how it might taste.
Visiting Whiskey Village near Luang Prabang
If you take a boat tour, or even a bus tour, to the (disappointing) Pak Ou Caves north of the city, you will definitely also stop at what they call Whiskey Village
This lao-lao comes in a few different flavors, some of which are sweet, and is sold in small designer bottles. It’s much more expensive than the stuff you find in shops or restaurants, but probably better quality, and you do get to see the equipment they claim they make the stuff in as well.
Friday, July 15, 2011
TELUGU LANGUAGE
Telugu language
Telugu (తెలుగు telugu, IPA: [t̪elugu]) is a language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the district of Yanam, India, where it is an official language. Also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, it is the language with the third largest number of native speakers in India (74 million as of 2001) and thirteenth in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages worldwide.[1] It is one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India[2] and one of the four classical languages.[3][4] Written in the Brahmi script, Telugu is a south-central Dravidian language heavily influenced by Sanskrit[5] and Prakrit.[6] Also influenced by Urdu around Hyderabad region.Telugu is the only literary language outside the South-Dravidian Branch. Its literature goes back to 11th century A.D. Its ancient forms were attested through inscriptions dating back to 200 A.D.[7][8]Though Telugu belongs to South-Central Dravidian group, it retains several features of Sanskrit that have been lost in north-Indian Sanskrit-based languages such as Hindi and Bengali, especially in terms of pronunciation of vowels and consonants. For instance, Telugu retains the original Sanskrit pronunciation of అం /əⁿ/, ఐ /əi/, and ఔ /əu/.[8]
It has been claimed by the linguists Chenchiah , Raja M. Bhujanga Rao Bahadur and Korada Subrahmanyam that Telugu is the Vikriti language, a language descended from Sanskrit.[9] However, most linguists classify as a South-Central Dravidian language, unrelated to Sanskrit.
Etymology
The etymology of Telugu is not known for certain. It is thought to have been derived from trilinga, as in Trilinga Desa, "the country of the three lingas". According to a Hindu legend, Shiva descended as linga on three mountains namely, Kaleswara, Srisaila and Bhimeswara, which marked the boundaries of the Telugu country.[10] Trilinga Desa is the land in between these three Shiva temples namely Kaleshwaram, Srisailam and Draksharamam. Trilinga Desa forms the traditional boundaries of the Telugu region. Telugu has also been known as "Tenungu", "Tenugu" and "Telungu," which were all popularized by Nannayya and Tikkana.According to Marepalli Ramachandra Sastry, Telu means white and unga means plural in Gondi. So, telunga means people who are white in complexion.[11]
History
Ikshvakus
The Andhra Ikshvakus (Sanskrit इक्श्वाकू, Telugu ఇక్ష్వాకులు) were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of Andhra Pradesh and are said to have been the first Kshatriya rulers in the Andhra region. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the later half of the 2nd century CE. .[12] Their capital was Vijayapuri (Nagarjunakonda).Lexical traces and epigraphy
Andhra Empire or Satavahana Dynasty
The Sātavāhana Empire (Telugu: శాతవాహన సామ్రాజ్యము) or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Amaravati. The earliest traces of Telugu are found in late BCE inscriptions. Telugu is influenced by Prakrit and Sanskrit. Epigraphic evidence suggests that during the Andhra Satavahana dynasty, the rulers spoke Prakrit while the general population spoke an early form of Telugu.Inscriptions containing Telugu words dated to the 3rd century BCE were discovered in Bhattiprolu in Kurnool district. The English translation of one inscription reads: "Gift of the slab by venerable Midikilayakha".[13] Telugu words appear in the Maharashtri Prakrit anthology of poems (the Gatha Saptashati) collected by the 1st century BCE Satavahana King Hāla.
[575 AD to 1022 AD
The first inscription that is entirely in Telugu corresponds to the second phase of Telugu history. This inscription, dated 575 AD, was found in the Rayalaseema region and is attributed to the Renati Cholas, who broke with the prevailing custom of using Sanskrit and began writing royal proclamations in the local language. During the next fifty years, Telugu inscriptions appeared in Anantapuram and other neighboring regions.Telugu was more influenced by Sanskrit and Prakrit during this period, which corresponded to the advent of Telugu literature. This literature was initially found in inscriptions and poetry in the courts of the rulers, and later in written works such as Nannayya's Mahabharatam (1022 AD).[14] During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language. This was also a period of phonetic changes in the spoken language.
Middle Ages
The third phase is marked by further stylization and sophistication of the literary language. Ketana (13th century) in fact prohibited the use of spoken words in poetic works.[14] During this period the separation of Telugu script from the common Telugu-Kannada script took place.[15] Tikkana wrote his works in this script.Vijayanagara Empire
Vijayanagara empire(Rayalaseema region) gained dominance from 1336 till the late 17th century, reaching its peak during the rule of Sri Krishnadevaraya in the 16th century, when Telugu literature experienced what is considered its golden age.[14] Pada kavita pitamaha, Annamacharya, contributed many Telugu songs to this great language.Muslim rule
With the exception of Coastal Andhra region, the language in the Telangana and Rayalseema regions was influenced much as people started to split into a distinct dialect due to Muslim influence on them: Sultanate rule under the Tughlaq dynasty had been established earlier in the northern Deccan during the 14th century. In the latter half of the 17th century, Muslim rule extended further south, culminating in the establishment of the princely state of Hyderabad by the Asaf Jah dynasty in 1724. This heralded an era of Persian/Arabic influence on the Telugu language, especially among the people of Hyderabad. The effect is also felt in the prose of the early 19th century, as in the Kaifiyats.[14]Colonial period
In the period of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries saw the influence of the English language and modern communication/printing press as an effect of the British rule, especially in the areas that were part of the Madras Presidency. Literature from this time had a mix of classical and modern traditions and included works by scholars like Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurazada Apparao and Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao.[14]Since the 1930s, what was considered an elite literary form of the Telugu language, has now spread to the common people with the introduction of mass media like movies, television, radio and newspapers. This form of the language is also taught in schools and colleges as a standard.
Post-Independence
Telugu is one of the 22 official languages of India. The Andhra Pradesh Official Language Act, 1966, declares Telugu the official language of Andhra Pradesh. This enactment was implemented by GOMs No 420 in 2005.[16][17]Telugu also has official language status in the Yanam District of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Telugu, along with Kannada, was declared as one of the classical languages of India in the year 2008 after Sanskrit (in 2005) and Tamil (in 2004). The declaration year of classical language order is insignificant, as we have to keep in mind all these languages were ancient and born centuries ago.
Phonology
Telugu words generally end in vowels. Telugu was called the Italian of the East by Italian explorer Niccolò Da Conti. He coined the phrase in 15th century when he visited Vijayanagara empire during the reign of Vira Vijaya Bukka Raya in 1520s.Like Turkish, Hungarian and Finnish, Telugu words also have vowels in inflectional suffixes harmonized with the vowels of the preceding syllable.
Telugu features a form of vowel harmony wherein the second vowel in disyllabic noun and adjective roots alters whether the first vowel is tense or lax.[18] If the second vowel is open (i.e. /aː/ or /a/), then the first vowel will be more open and centralized (e.g. [mɛːka] 'goat', as opposed to [meːku] 'nail').
Alphabets
Literary Telugu has complete set of letters which follows scientific system to express sounds. It is highly conducive for Phonetics.It has more letters than any Indian language. Some of them are introduced to express fine shades of difference in sounds.
Onamaalu, or the Telugu alphabet consist of 60 symbols - 16 vowels, 3 vowel modifiers, and 41 consonants. Sanskrit and Telugu alphabets are similar and exhibit one-one correspondence. Telugu has complete set of letters which follows scientific system to express sounds.[19] It is highly conducive for Phonetics. It has more letters than any Indian language. Some of them are introduced to express fine shades of difference in sounds.[19]
Telugu has full-Zero or anusvāra( ం ), half-zero or arthanusvāra or Chandrabindu (ఁ) and Visarga to convey various shades of nasal sounds. la and La, ra and Ra are differentiated.[19]
Telugu has .CH and .JH which are not represented in Sanskrit, and S, SH, and KSH which are not found in Tamil.[19]
Telugu script can reproduce the full range of Sanskrit phonetics without losing any of the text's originality.[19] Telugu has made its letters expressive of all the sounds and hence it has to deal with significant borrowings from Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindustani.[19]
Number system
Telugu has its own numerical system, as shown below.Grammar
Main article: Telugu Grammar
The rules of classical Telugu grammar are collectively known as Vyākaranam (వ్యాకరణం), .The first treatise on Telugu grammar, the "Andhra Sabda Chintamani" was written in Sanskrit by Nannayya, considered the first Telugu poet and translator, in the 11th century A.D. This grammar followed the patterns which existed in grammatical treatises like Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vālmīkivyākaranam but unlike Pāṇini, Nannayya divided his work into five chapters, covering samjnā, sandhi, ajanta, halanta and kriya. Every telugu grammatical rule is derived from Pāṇinian concepts.
In 19th century, Chinnaya Suri wrote a simplified work on Telugu grammar called "Bāla Vyākaranam" by borrowing concepts and ideas from Nannayya's grammar.
Subject-Object-Verb
The primary word order of Telugu is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb)This sentence can also be interpreted as 'Ramu will go to school' depending on the context. But it does not affect the SOV order.
Inflection
Unlike other dravidian languages, Telugu is an inflected language, Telugu nouns are inflected for number (singular, plural), gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and case (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, vocative, instrumental, and locative).[20]Gender
Telugu has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.Pronouns
Telugu pronouns include personal pronouns (The persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things spoken about). Indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts of sentences) and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on by verb's subject).Telugu uses the same forms for singular feminine and neuter genders – the third person pronoun (అది /ad̪ɪ/) is used to refer to animals and objects.[21][22][clarification needed]
Vocabulary
Telugu incorporates a high percentage of Sanskrit words and a lower percentage of Dravidian words. It also contains, to a lesser extent, Arabic and Persian words such as "maidanamu" (maydan in Arabic), "kalamu" (qalam in Arabic) and "Bazaar" (originally Persian word). Today, Telugu is classified as a Dravidian language characterized by a significant presence of Sanskrit loan words.The vocabulary of Telugu, especially in Telangana region, has a trove of Persian-Arabic borrowings, which have been modified to fit Telugu phonology. This was due to centuries of Muslim rule in these regions, such as the erstwhile kingdoms of Golkonda and Hyderabad. (e.g. కబురు, /kaburu/ for Urdu /xabar/, خبر or జవాబు, /dʒavaːbu/ for Urdu /dʒawɑːb/, جواب)
Modern Telugu vocabulary can be said to constitute a diglossia, because the formal, standardized version of the language, heavily influenced by Sanskrit, is taught in schools and used by the government and Hindu religious institutions. However, everyday Telugu varies depending upon region and social status.
It has been claimed by the linguist Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao Bahadur that Telugu is the Vikriti language, a language descended from Sanskrit.[9] However, most linguists classify as a Dravidian language, unrelated to Sanskrit.
Writing system
The name Telugu written in the Telugu script
Main article: Telugu script
The famous Muslim historian and scholar of 10th century, Al-Biruni referred to Telugu language and script as "Andhri".[23]Telugu script is written from left to right and consists of sequences of simple and/or complex characters. The script is syllabic in nature – the basic units of writing are syllables. Since the number of possible syllables is very large, syllables are composed of more basic units such as vowels (“achchu” or “swaram”) and consonants (“hallu” or “vyanjanam”). Consonants in consonant clusters take shapes that are very different from the shapes they take elsewhere. Consonants are presumed to be pure consonants, that is, without any vowel sound in them. However, it is traditional to write and read consonants with an implied 'a' vowel sound. When consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is indicated orthographically using signs known as vowel “maatras”. The shapes of vowel “maatras” are also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels.
The overall pattern consists of sixty symbols, of which 16 are vowels, three vowel modifiers, and forty-one consonants. Spaces are used between words as word separators.
The sentence ends with either a single bar | (“purna viramam”) or a double bar || (“deergha viramam”). Traditionally, in handwriting, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. Modern punctuation (commas, semicolon, etc.) were introduced with the advent of print.[24]
There is a set of symbols for numerals, though Arabic numbers are typically used.
Telugu is assigned Unicode codepoints: 0C00-0C7F (3072–3199).[25]
Carnatic music
Main article: Carnatic music
Thanjavur was the heart of the Tamil Chola dynasty (from the 9th century to the 13th), but in the second quarter of the 16th century a Telugu Nayak viceroy (Raghunatha Nayaka) was appointed by the emperor of Vijayanagara, thus establishing a court whose language was Telugu. Telugu Nayaka rulers acted as the governors in the present day Tamil Nadu area with headquarters at Thanjavur (1530–1674 CE) and Madurai (1530–1781 CE). After the collapse of Vijayanagar, Thanjavur and Madurai Nayaks became independent and ruled for the next 150 years until they were replaced by Marathas. This was the period when several Telugu families migrated from Andhra and settled down in Thanjavur and Madurai in Tamilnadu. Most of the great composers of Carnatic music belonged to these families. Telugu, a language ending with vowels, giving it a mellifluous quality, was also considered suitable for musical expression. Of the trinity of Carnatic music composers, compositions of Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri compositions were largely in Telugu, while Tamil composer Muthuswami Dikshitar is noted for his Sanskrit texts. Tyagaraja is remembered both for his devotion and the bhava of his krithi, a song form consisting of pallavi, (the first section of a song) anupallavi (a rhyming section that follows the pallavi) and charanam (a sung stanza, which serves as a refrain for several passages in the composition). The texts of his krithis are almost all in Sanskrit and Telugu (the contemporary language of the court). This use of a living language, as opposed to ritual language of Sanskrit, is in keeping with the bhakti ideal of the immediacy of devotion. Sri Syama Sastri, the oldest of this trinity, was taught Telugu and Sanskrit by his father, who was a pujari (Hindu priest). Syama Sastri's texts were largely composed in Telugu, widening their popular appeal. Some of his most famous compositions include the nine krithis, Navaratnamaalikā, in praise of the goddess Meenakshi at Madurai, and his eighteen krithi in praise of Kamakshi. As well as composing krithi, he is credited with turning the svarajati, originally used for dance, into a purely musical form.[edit] Literature
Main article: Telugu literature
Telugu literature is generally divided into six periods:In the telugu literature Tikkana was given agraasana (top position) by many famous critics. In the earliest period there were only inscriptions from 575 AD onwards. Nannaya's (1022–1063) translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata into Telugu is the piece of Telugu literature as yet discovered. After the demise of Nannaya, there was a kind of social and religious revolution in the Telugu country.[26]
Tikkana (13th century) and Yerrapragada (14th century) continued the translation of the Mahabharata started by Nannaya. Telugu poetry also flourished in this period, especially in the time of Srinatha.
During this period, some Telugu poets translated Sanskrit poems and dramas, while others attempted original narrative poems. The popular Telugu literary form called the Prabandha evolved during this period. Srinatha (1365–1441) was the foremost poet, who popularized this style of composition (a story in verse having a tight metrical scheme). Srinatha's Sringara Naishadham is particularly well-known.
The Ramayana poets may also be referred in this context. The earliest Ramayana in Telugu is generally known as the Ranganatha Ramayana, authored by the chief Gona Budda Reddy. The works of Pothana (1450–1510), Jakkana (second half of the 14th century) and Gaurana (first half of the 15th century) formed a canon of religious poetry during this period. Padakavitha Pithamaha, Annamayya, contributed many original Telugu Paatalu (Songs) to the language.
The 16th and 17th centuries CE is regarded as the "golden age" of Telugu literature. Krishnadevaraya's Amukthamalayadha, and Pedhdhana's Manucharithra are regarded as Mahaakaavyaas. Sri Krishnadeva Raya stated "Desa bhashalandu Telugu Lessa" meaning "Among the nation's languages, Telugu is the best". Telugu literature flourished in the south in the traditional "samsthanas" (centres) of Southern literature, such as Madurai and Tanjore. This age is often referred to as the Southern Period. There were also an increasing number of poets in this period among the ruling class, women and non-Brahmins who popularised indigenous (desi) meters.
With the conquest of the Deccan by the Mughals in 1687, Telugu literature entered a lull. Tyagaraja's compositions are some of the known works from this period. Then emerged a period of transition (1850–1910), followed by a long period of Renaissance. Europeans like C.P. Brown played an important role in the development of Telugu language and literature. In common with the rest of India, Telugu literature of this period was increasingly influenced by European literary forms like the novel, short story, prose and drama.
Paravastu Chinnayya Soori (1807–1861) is a well-known Telugu writer who dedicated his entire life to the progress and promotion of Telugu language and literature. Sri Chinnayasoori wrote the Bala Vyakaranam in a new style after doing extensive research on Andhra grammar. Other well-known writings by Chinnayasoori are Neethichandrika, Sootandhra Vyaakaranamu, Andhra Dhatumoola, and Neeti Sangrahamu.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848–1919) is generally considered the father of modern Telugu literature.[27] His novel Rajasekhara Charitamu was inspired by the Vicar of Wakefield. His work marked the beginning of a dynamic of socially conscious Telugu literature and its transition to the modern period, which is also part of the wider literary renaissance that took place in Indian culture during this period. Other prominent literary figures from this period are Gurajada Appa Rao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Gurram Jashuva, Rayaprolu Subba Rao, Devulapalli Krishnasastri and Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Mahakavi Sri Sri. Sri Sri was instrumental in popularising free verse in spoken Telugu (vaaduka bhasha), as opposed to the pure form of written Telugu used by several poets in his time. Devulapalli Krishnasastri is often referred to as the Shelley of Telugu literature because of his pioneering works in Telugu Romantic poetry.
Viswanatha Satyanarayana won India's national literary honour, the Jnanpith Award for his magnum opus Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu.[28] C. Narayana Reddy also received the award for his contributions to Telugu literature.[29] Kanyasulkam, the first social play in Telugu by Gurajada Appa Rao, was followed by the progressive movement, the free verse movement and the Digambara style of Telugu verse. Other modern Telugu novelists include Unnava Lakshminarayana (Maalapalli), Bulusu Venkateswarulu (Bharatiya Tatva Sastram), Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and Buchi Babu.[14] Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, a well known Telugu poet, has been a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. He is best known for his work, Na Desham, Na Prajalu (My country, My people), which was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 2004. His works have been translated into many languages. He wrote under the pen name "Seshen".
Geographic distribution
See also: States of India by Telugu speakers
Telugu is mainly spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam district of Puducherry as well as in the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. It is also spoken in the United States, where the Telugu diaspora numbers more than 800,000, with the highest concentration in Central New Jersey; as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and also most of the western European countries, where there is also a considerable Telugu diaspora. Telugu is the second most spoken language in the Indian subcontinent after Hindi. In Tamil Nadu, about 8% of the population speak Telugu, where it commonly known as TelunguDialects
Waddar,[30] Chenchu,[31] Savara,[32] and Manna-Dora[33] are all closely related to Telugu.[34] Dialects of Telugu are Berad, Dasari, Dommara, Golari, Kamathi, Komtao, Konda-Reddi, Salewari, Telangana, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar (Palamuru), Gadwal (Rayalaseema mix), Narayanapeta (Kannada and Marathi influence), Vijayawada, Vadaga, Srikakula, Visakhapatnam, Toorpu (East) Godavari, Paschima (West) Godavari, Kandula, Rayalaseema, Nellooru, Prakasam, Guntooru, Tirupati, Vadari and Yanadi (Yenadi).[35]In Tamil Nadu the Telugu dialect is classified into Salem, Coimbatore, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Madras Telugu dialects. It is also spoken in pockets of Virudhunagar, Tuticorin, Madurai, Madras and Thanjavur districts. Along with the most standard forms of Indian languages like Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Oriya and Marathi, Standard Telugu is often called శుద్ధ తెలుగు(Shudda Telugu) or అచ్చ తెలుగు (accha telugu).
Pedda Bala Shiksha
Pedda Bala Shiksha is a complete, two volume Telugu encyclopedia written by Gajula Satya Narayana. It covers Telugu grammar, Panchatantra tales, and exercises and it is used to teach Telugu to children.
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