I am very verklempt right now.
Things must be a-changing, for real. I'd heard that there was work on a Mac version of NateOn, the chatting program that everyone seems to be using in Korea, but that Mac rumor was something we Korea Mac users had gotten used to, sort of like Roswell aliens or tales of unicorns. It would show up on hardcore Mac users' blogs – "it's really just about finished!" – but then again, look at who you were asking: hardcore Mac users.
There was/is a Java-based version of the program, but by then, I was already running Windoze in Parallels. In fact, besides checking web sites in Evil Explorer™, the only reason I would fire up Windoze was to run NateOn, which has replaced MSN as the messenger of choice in Korea for most people under the age of 30.
But today, I got a barrage of messages from my besieged Korean Mac friends – which, in Korea, is really like belonging to the People Who Like to Ride Unicorns Club – that the Mac version of NateOn was finally, finally out. It really is quite...bizarre. And the wait has indeed been long. When I searched on Naver, the first blog hit I got had an entry that lead with the headline: "Finally!"
So I found the most official source I could – the Chosun Ilbo online – and indeed, there was the story. It was true, and they had all the links. Including the link to the beta version of NateOn – for reals! And not just for Mac, but Linux as well! The devil must be reaching for his ski parka right now.
I'm running it now, and it was weird to hear the NateOn startup chime without my Windoze going; and it's going to be majorly useful. See, I have one little snag hit me when running Windoze in Parallels: when I stick in USB devices, the system fights for control over them, even if I've specified in Parallels to let the Mac OS have, say, my CF card from my digital camera. Parallels shares most everything with the Mac OS well – the mouse and keyboard (obviously) as well as a common folder, the Internet, even dragging and dropping, cutting and pasting between the systems. But when I stick in a memory card and I've forgotten to close Windoze, it hiccups. And since I am generally only using Windoze for NateOn...you see the point.
So, it's running, man! I'm sure there'll be some hiccups to this program as well since this is a beta, but so far, so good – and I can save much computer resources by not running an entire operating system just for the sake of a little chat program.
Bless you, SK! Great job!
