Hello All, Since I have long been such a big Mac stereo 3D proponent in the past, it is especially important that I go on the record with an updated perspective.
Based on all of the accumulated evidence to date, a verdict can now be rendered: we have lost the case. For stereo 3D visualization, Open-source Linux has beaten out Proprietary Mac OS X. Given that Leopard stereo 3D still isn't entirely functional after three OS updates, and that Apple doesn't permit its customers to run old (yet fully-functional) operating systems on new hardware, if you purchase a Mac Pro today, then you are going to have to run Linux natively (through Boot Camp) in order to get your work done in stereo 3D. Though it is hard not to love Apple hardware, there are less expensive options for people who must run native Linux in order to do your job. So together now, everyone: "Linux rules! Long live community-driven open source solutions!" In point of fact, however, Linux-based stereo 3D remains dependent on proprietary graphics drivers tied to the underlying hardware. There is no 100% open-source option for stereo 3D visualization. Therefore, the scientific visualization community has no choice but to rely upon a proprietary solution to a significant extent, irrespective of who provides it. Given my own past efforts, I am more sorry than anyone else that things haven't worked out for stereo 3D with the company formerly known as "Apple Computer, Inc." Fortunately, however, nVidia has maintained uninterrupted Linux stereo 3D support on higher-end Quadro cards. I am not sure what the situation is with respect to AMD/ATI, but it appears that they are still supporting Linux stereo 3D as well. Though I remain an ardent fan of relying upon the new "Apple, Inc." to meet needs which clearly overlap those of mainstream consumer markets (e.g. the need for sleek, fast, Intel-based laptops), given the company's increasing emphasis on consumer devices, music and the like, we simply cannot rely upon them for niche business, scientific, or professional computing solutions unless or until consumers find matched uses for such solutions as well. For example: imagine future adoption of stereo 3D in movies, videoconferencing, or games. That it what I believe it would take in this case. By the way, instead of Linux, you could also just run Windows XP. In contrast to Apple, Microsoft stops short of forcing its customers to run Vista on newly minted PC hardware. Whereas consumers don't typically need to run older operating systems on current hardware, businesses and professionals often do. It all makes perfect sense when you think about it... Cheers, Warren > -----Original Message----- > From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ben > Eisenbraun > Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:27 PM > To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Reminder - still no 3D stereo under OS X 10.5 > > A follow up note: > > I was at Apple's WWDC a couple weeks ago, and during one of the lunch > time sessions for scientists, several people brought up the fact that > stereo 3d was still broken on Leopard, and asked for it to be fixed. > > The Apple engineer present hemmed and hawed a bit, and finally said that > fixing it would not be easy and that Apple was not sure that this was a > technology that they wanted to pursue. > > As another note, Jordan Hubbard, who the "Director of Engineering of > UNIX Technologies" at Apple has said that they don't have the internal > resources to fix this in a timely manner. > > http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2008/Apr/msg00130.html > > Even if/when Apple fixes stereo on Leopard, I don't think I'll be > recommending OS X for stereo applications. > > -ben > > -- > Ben Eisenbraun > Structural Biology Grid Harvard Medical School > http://sbgrid.org http://hms.harvard.edu > >
