Mac Without Flash, A Hopeless Story? - PC World

I've been using a new MacBook Air which Apple loaned me for review -- thoughts coming soon -- and it didn't take me very long to discover that it didn't have Adobe's FlashPlayer preinstalled. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether there was anything noteworthy about that -- I couldn't remember whether any Mac I'd ever used came with Flash, or whether I'd just installed it myself. In this case I did the latter (although-odd coincidence -- going to the Flash download page got me an error message at first, and I had to come back later).

But as Daring Fireball's John Gruber writes, the lack of Flash is a new twist in the Apple-Adobe squabble. Apple says that it's still cheerfully supporting Flash, and that downloading it from Adobe is the best way to get the safest, most current version. Others, of course, may draw more conspiratorial conclusions. (The timing is probably a coincidence, but it's an interesting one: The news is hitting right before Adobe's big, news-filled conference MAX kicks off.)

Is this bad news? For Adobe, it's surely not good news: It's easier to be an industry standard when you're a de facto operating system component than when you're an optional download. But anyone who wants Flash can get it -- I do, and I did. And Flash is now merely in the same boat as every other piece of non-Apple software. (I like Firefox, too, but I'm not indignant that it doesn't come preinstalled.)

Your thoughts, please...

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TweetDeck Founder Defends Android After Jobs Rant - PC Magazine

Steve Jobs is not making any new friends in the Android community today. The Apple chief executive criticized the Google-owned mobile OS as fragmented during Apple's Monday earnings call, prompting a brief Twitter response from Google's Andy Rubin, and now, a similar message from TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth.

"Did we at any point say it was a nightmare developing on Android? Errr nope, no we didn't. It wasn't," Dodsworth tweeted.

Jobs said Monday that Android is "very, very fragmented," and that TweetDeck, which he accidentally called TwitterDeck, "had to contend with more than a hundred different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets."

TweetDeck recently released an Android version of its mobile app. The company also released a list of the various Android versions its 36,000 beta testers used throughout the testing process. The vast majority - or 18,268 people - were running Android 2.2 Froyo, followed by 11,768 people running Android 2.1, update 1, but there were many other variations of Android represented.

Jobs said these "multiple hardware/software iterations presents developers with a daunting challenge."

Toby Padilla, head of mobile at TweetDeck, however, said last week that "it's pretty cool to have our app work on such a wide variety of devices and Android OS variations."

Dodsworth also tweeted that TweetDeck only has two staffers working on the Android version of its product, "so that shows how small an issue fragmentation is."

Jobs, meanwhile, expressed skepticism that Android was truly open.

"Google loves to characterize Android as 'open' and iOS and iPhone as 'closed.' We find this a bit disingenuous and clouding the real difference between our two approaches," Jobs said. "The first thing that most of think about when we hear the word 'open' is Windows, which is available on a variety of devices. Unlike Windows, however, where most PCs have the same user interface and run the same apps, Android is very fragmented."

Rubin, who serves as vice president of engineering at Google, responded with a tweet that included the commands needed to start compiling a copy of Android on a home Linux machine. Translation: anyone can develop for, hack, or even create a version of Android.

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Tom Bosley Was a Wonderful Happy Days Dad, Says Ron Howard - People Magazine

Ron Howard, Marion Ross and Tom Bosley on Happy Days

Everett Collection

The death of Happy Days star Tom Bosley left many saddened – and director Ron Howard without his onscreen dad.

"Tom's insight, talent, strength of character and comic timing made him a vital central figure in the Happy Days experience," says Howard, who played Richie Cunningham on the sitcom.

"A great father and husband, and a wonderful artist, Tom led by example, and made us all laugh while he was doing it," Howard adds. "My last conversations with Tom reflected the love of life and peace of mind that he always maintained throughout his full and rewarding life."

Added Howard, 56, "I miss him already."

The prolific Bosley, known for his work on both stage and screen, died Tuesday in his Palm Springs, Calif., home, reportedly from a staph infection. On Oct. 1 he had turned 83.

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