The fantastic 8-bit Apple II emulator for Mac OS X, Virtual ][ has been updated to version 5.8.

New in this release:
• The A2V2 utility now supports transfer of Apple II disks containing half-tracks.
• Finished the implementation of the "floating bus", and added an example Applescript to demonstrate this feature.
• Optimized graphic rendering, resulting in lower overall CPU load.
• Improved the compatibility of the Epson FX-80 emulation; it now works with the Fontrix application.
• The Inspector now shows the total CPU cycle count of the emulated 6502.
• Added an Applescript command to slow down text input from a script, and used it to make the included demo scripts easier to follow.
• Solved an issue where the text "Paused" could remain on the screen after a restart of the machine.
• The program could crash when a new diskette image was created and ejected. This has been solved.
• Solved an issue that could cause one disk image to be mounted in multiple drives at the same time.

Visit the Virtual ][ Website

Today we return to the magical Wayback Machine at Archive.org to retrieve another lost nugget. This 1997 article by John Rizzo, discussing Apple's decision to pass up BeOS for NeXT, is originally from Creative Mac.
It begins:
"BeOS made the cover of the leading Mac magazines recently as the almost certain replacement for Copland, Apple's abandoned foundation for the upcoming Mac OS 8. It looked like Apple would buy the hot new BeOS and Be, Incorporated, run by the flamboyant former Apple executive, Jean-Louis Gassée."

Read more:
All Your Mac Can Be