🚀 go-pugleaf

Ik ben vier dagen geleden een petitie begonnen om Apple zover te krijgen
dat ze eindelijk drivers leveren voor de ATI grafische kaarten in
(officieel ondersteunde) hardware als de PowerBook 'Lombard' en
Walstreet, sommige iBooks en iMacs, en sommige G3 towers.  Deze kwestie
speelt al een hele tijd en Apple doet er het zwijgen toe.  Zonder de
drivers draait Mac OS X niet naar behoren op officieel ondersteunde
machines.

Hieronder vind je de tekst van de petitie.  In vier dagen hebben ruim
2000 mensen 'm ondertekend.  Je kunt zelf tekenen op:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/atiapple

Hiram


*
To:  Apple Computer

The new Mac OS X operating system is, without a doubt, the perfect
foundation for the next fifteen years of Macintosh computing. Apple has
provided us with a UNIX for the desktop that leaves competitors light
years behind.

We expected this. Two years ago, we trusted Apple to deliver on their
Mac OS X promise. At a time when many were predicting the downfall of
the company and calling the new OS vaporware, we chose to take Apple's
word on it and bought new Macs that, Apple said, would be fully
supported under the new system.

Our machines include the Wallstreet and Lombard ('bronze keyboard)
PowerBook G3 Series, some iMac and iBook models, and some G3 tower
models. These machines were and are still listed without any
reservations, by Apple, as Mac OS X supported hardware.

However, the new OS lacks drivers for the ATI graphics chipsets Apple
provided with these machines. This means we have to do without OpenGL
and that the overall graphics performance is far below the level we were
used to in Mac OS 9 and earlier. It is impossible to run OpenGL software
and fullscreen QuickTime playback is not a pretty sight. Screensavers
and iTunes visuals are broken or run at very low frame rates. Pixel
drawing tasks normally handled by the graphics chipsets are now an extra
burden for the CPU.

The OS, lacking decent hardware acceleration, is crippled and
incomplete.

Apple, in a Knowledge Base article (number 106154), says that users with
"earlier" ATI graphics chipsets should accept the performance hit and
set their monitors to thousands, not millions of colors. This is not
"support": many of us are graphics professionals who bought "pro" Mac
hardware, and we have every right to expect the new Mac OS to suit our
"pro" needs, as advertised.

Apart from the aforementioned Knowledge Base article, Apple has not
commented on the issue, even though many of us have asked for a
clarification through the Apple website forums, the Mac OS X Feedback
form, and by email.

This we did not expect from Apple. We feel Apple is leaving us out in
the cold. We are not being informed about the company's policy regarding
the affected drivers, and with every update of Mac OS X we find our
justified demands still have not been met.

We ask Apple to
[1] provide real, functional Mac OS X drivers for the "earlier" ATI
graphics chipsets soon; and
[2] tell us now when these drivers will be available.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned
*