Java 6 has been ported to MacOS X
It finally happened.
Java 6 has been ported to MacOS X, Tiger and Leopard.
Better, it brings a huge performance boost and JRuby running Java 6 looks even faster than Ruby 1.9.
As long as I don't like the Java language itself, Sun has made a wonderful job on the virtual machine, that keeps being a speed daemon.
Pixelmator 1.0 is available
If you are looking for a simple, yet efficient and cheap alternative to Photoshop, have a look at Pixelmator.
It's not free software, but try the demo in order to see what the software is capable of. Pixelmator is a pleasure to use and unlike Gimp, it has perfect integration with iPhoto and effects based upon Coreimage are slick and fast. If only it had more filters (like Gimp's drop-shadow), it would be perfect.
Here a Pixelmator tutorial you can watch in order to learn how to use the beast.
OpenOffice.Org for OSX
Shortly after the initial announce from Sun, the beast is already ready for action.
A native version of http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/aqua.html is now available.
However, there are still some issues, and some are showstoppers (for instance: you can't print). So NeoOffice is still a safe bet for now.
Oh, by the way, Camino 1.5 has also been released.
A fast web browser for OSX
Here's a new project that might be worth keeping an eye on if you are using OSX : Tominated Browser.
The Tominated Browser still lacks a lot of feature, but it's very fast, The HTML engine seems to be a recent version of Webkit and the author seems to focus on creating a light and stable UI.
Although the lack of basic features like tabs and keyboard shortcuts is a showstopper to make it a default browser, this is a project to follow.