Mac OS X’s Finder: ‘Architecture’ field in the ‘Preview’ column
Posted by Pierre Igot in: MacintoshNovember 3rd, 2005 • 11:03 am
As of Mac OS X 10.4.3, the Finder’s “Preview” column (when using a Finder window in “View as Columns” view mode) shows the “Architecture” when the selected item is an application:
Most Mac OS X applications at this point are still PowerPC applications, but some have already been released as “universal binaries,” which means that they include the code for both the PowerPC version and the Intel version. BBEdit 8.2.3 is one such application, hence the “Intel, PowerPC” in the screen shot above.
Applications that can only run on Intel-powered Macintosh computers will have only “Intel” as their architecture, and applications that only have “PowerPC” as their architecture will only run in the Rosetta emulation mode on Intel-powered Macintosh computers.
Basically, the ideal situation would be to ensure that all Mac OS X are universal binaries, i.e. that all Mac OS X applications can run natively on both PowerPC and Intel computers. But we all know this is simply not going to happen. Not every Mac developer is as virtuous as Bare Bones Software.
So I suppose it’ll be useful, during the transition period (which will be a long one), to have this “Architecture” field visible in the “Preview” column.
I cannot help but wonder, however, just who decides what goes in this “Preview” column in Mac OS X. Look at the contents of the “Preview” column when the selected file is an MP3 music file:
Even when the MP3 file is properly tagged and has all the needed information, the Finder still fails to display such essential information as the song title or artist. In order to see those, you have to click on the “More Info…” button and view the information in the “Get Info” window that pops up.
Why on earth can’t the Finder display the artist and song title information in the “Preview” column? Isn’t this information that is as essential for an MP3 file as the “Architecture” information is essential for an application file?
November 3rd, 2005 at Nov 03, 05 | 1:33 pm
[…] Whoah! As my friends know, I have yet to upgrade to Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.x as I’m still on Panther 10.3.9. I’m waiting ’cause I figure that once I buy my new 20″ iMac 2.1GHz, it’ll come pre-installed. Besides, money is a bit scarce at the moment. But I saw something that will make the whole waiting thing worth while. And the sweetness comes from what was included in the latest OS update. It looks like the Finder’s Column View (this is my preferred Finder viewing setting, the Column View) has been dramatically revamped (at least compared to Panther’s Column View settings…) and I love it! Via Pierre Igot’s Betalogue blog, I saw his entry on Mac OS X’s Finder: ‘Architecture’ field in the ‘Preview’ column: …Most Mac OS X applications at this point are still PowerPC applications, but some have already been released as “universal binaries,” which means that they include the code for both the PowerPC version and the Intel version. BBEdit 8.2.3 is one such application, hence the “Intel, PowerPC” in the screen shot above. […]
November 3rd, 2005 at Nov 03, 05 | 11:38 pm
it gets better! it shows the universal symbol for “no” or “don’t” on the icon of applications that only work on an architecture of the system you aren’t on. I ran into this when i went to look at the 3 builds (intel, ppc, universal) of spychat that i have on my system. go find an intel only app, you’ll get a kick out of it! :)