Seashore image editor, open source

[ktinkel]

The free Seashore (http://seashore.sourceforge.net/) image editing software for Mac (OS 10.3 or higher with an AltiVec-enabled processor, whatever that is!) is at beta 0.1.7.

I have no idea of what sort of job it does, but thought it was interesting to see this sort of open source development for the Mac.

Besides downloads, including a user manual, the site has a discussion forum for support issues.

[Stephen Owades]

The free Seashore (http://seashore.sourceforge.net/) image editing software for Mac (OS 10.3 or higher with an AltiVec-enabled processor, whatever that is!) is at beta 0.1.7.

I have no idea of what sort of job it does, but thought it was interesting to see this sort of open source development for the Mac.

Besides downloads, including a user manual, the site has a discussion forum for support issues.
AltiVec is the special Motorola-developed vector-math hardware that entered the world of Macintosh with the G4, and was added to IBM's PowerPC chips in the G5. Apple calls it "Velocity Engine," but the formal (and Motorola) name is AltiVec.

After encouraging developers to take advantage of the AltiVec instruction set and the opportunities it provides for higher performance, Apple now has to change that recommendation for the future, since the Intel processors they're moving to do not have an exact equivalent for AltiVec. Intel processors have their own "SSE" extensions, but that's not a direct replacements for AltiVec. And more importantly, the "Rosetta" emulation software--under which PowerPC Mac programs will be able to run on forthcoming Intel-based Macs--will not work for programs that depend on the AltiVec instruction set. A big developer like Adobe will doubtless create native Intel/Mac programs that take advantage of the SSE capabilities of the new architecture, leveraging on the work they've already done on the Windows versions of their programs, but smaller Mac-oriented developers that have placed a bet on AltiVec (which is particularly useful in image-editing applications) will have a lot of work to do.

[ktinkel]

AltiVec is the special Motorola-developed vector-math hardware that entered the world of Macintosh with the G4, and was added to IBM's PowerPC chips in the G5. Apple calls it "Velocity Engine," but the formal (and Motorola) name is AltiVec. … smaller Mac-oriented developers that have placed a bet on AltiVec (which is particularly useful in image-editing applications) will have a lot of work to do.Ouch.

An old story, actually. Probably inevitable. But it doesn’t help build developer relations.

Thanks for the information.