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snowleopard posts

Orb for Mac finally arrives, streams media from OS X to any internet-connected device

by Darren Murph posted Nov 6th 2009 at 8:43AM

Wow, where've you been, Orb? It's been a full year since we heard anything from the once-adored media streaming outfit, and while it's been streaming out content to iPhones for quite some time, those relying on Macs to do it have been left in the damp night air. Until now, that is. Orb for Macintosh has finally hit the streets, bringing with it OS X 10.5 and 10.6 compatibility that enables any and all media from iTunes to be sent out over the internet and consumed on any outside device with access to the web. We're talking laptops, UMPCs, smartphones and even that ancient PC your grandmother still uses with Windows ME. There's no mention of any DRM restrictions, and it'll even allow you to stream live TV if you can manage to connect a tuner card to your Apple. Oh, and did we mention that Orb is completely free? Hit the download link below to get your weekend started off right.

Read - Download Orb
Read - Press release

Latest Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta build brings back Atom support

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 4th 2009 at 6:42PM

Well, it looks like reports that Apple might be killing Atom support in the next Snow Leopard update may have been slightly overblown, as the latest developer build of OS X 10.6.2 (10C535) has apparently restored support for the processor and simultaneously brightened the spirits of hackintoshers the world over. What's more, there doesn't appear to be any explanation for the switch-a-roo from Apple which, as Electronista notes, could indicate that it was simply a bug or a temporary measure -- although it does of course also mean that Apple can just as easily flip the switch again if it sees fit (which seems like at least a 50 / 50 shot).

[Via Electronista]

Apple killing Atom support, dreams of netbook hackintoshers in next Snow Leopard release?

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 6:59AM

Nobody said running a netbook hackintosh would be easy -- but nobody said they'd make it this hard. Apple is currently engaged in a war of compatibility with Palm and, if the developer build of Snow Leopard version 10.6.2 is any indication, the Atom processor is next on the smack down list. Word on coder street is that the upcoming revision of OS X will kill support for Intel's little powerhouse. That could certainly change before it hits the world at large, but we wouldn't bet on it. So, if you're viewing this on an netbook install of your own devising, you may be stuck at version 10.6.1 (or earlier) for awhile -- or you may need to do a little custom kernel building. Either way, we're thinking that if Apple ever gets around to making a netbook it probably won't be an Atom-powered one.

[Via OS X Daily]

ZFS open source project abruptly shuts down, Snow Leopard weeps icy tears

by Darren Murph posted Oct 24th 2009 at 2:09PM

The on-again / off-again love affair between Apple and ZFS seems to be all but over, with a brief but potent message on the Mac OS Forge project site stating the following: "The ZFS project has been discontinued. The mailing list and repository will also be removed shortly." If you'll recall, the implementation of the ZFS file system within Snow Leopard server was so close to happening that Apple actually published it as a feature of the forthcoming OS back in June of 2008. Now, however, all hope has presumably been lost. We'd bother explaining the rumors behind why all of this has suddenly crumbled, but honestly, will knowing the reasons really help the pain? No, no it won't.

[Via TUAW]

Psystar releases Rebel EFI installer, further enrages Apple

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 23rd 2009 at 1:49PM

When not flying the Hackintosh banner, filing lawsuits, or generally positioning themselves as the gadfly on the ass of Apple, the kids at Psystar have been hard at work developing the software meant to free us all from the iron grip of Cupertino-approved hardware. And now, a mere two weeks since the company announced that it will be licensing its Darwin Universal Boot Loader to third parties, we submit for your approval a little something called Rebel EFI. Available to you -- the consumer -- right this very moment, the app will function as a universal installer for any modern OS -- provided your machine sports an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, i7 or Xeon Nehalem processor. And of course, "any modern OS" includes Snow Leopard. What are you waiting for? Download the trial version for free (limited functionality, runtime of two hours) or download the full deal for the introductory price of $50 (full retail is $90).

[Via iHackintosh]

Apple will officially support Windows 7 in Boot Camp before end of year

by Paul Miller posted Oct 22nd 2009 at 6:59PM

Of course plenty of folks have Windows 7 running in Boot Camp just fine, but if you're one of those crazies that goes in for Apple's seal of approval you'll have to wait a little bit. The official support is coming "before the end of the year" to Snow Leopard and will obviously require an update to the Boot Camp software. Unfortunately, Apple's excluded a lot of its 2006 Intel-based computers from this forthcoming update, and we're getting the vibe that this is a Snow Leopard-only affair. Basically, par for the Apple course.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Apple quietly updates AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, promises improved performance

by Darren Murph posted Oct 20th 2009 at 12:43PM

Just as it did in March, Apple has subtly updated both the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, this time improving performance on both. According to new testing between today's model and yesterday's edition, the AE Base Station (which ships within three days for $179) can hum along at up to 25 percent faster thanks to undisclosed tweaks to the antenna design, while the Time Capsule's improved antenna promises the same. Just as before, both of these devices support dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz transmissions, though we can't seem to find an "802.11n draft" phrase anywhere on either page. Apple hasn't gone out of its way to say that both of these are certified with the final specification, but it's certainly a possibility. Finally, the new Time Capsule promises Time Machine backups in Snow Leopard that are some 60 percent faster than before; we're not sure whether to celebrate with new buyers or weep with existing ones, but it should ship within three days for $299 (1TB) / $499 (2TB).

Read - Updated AirPort Extreme
Read - Updated Time Capsule

Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, 'great new products' for 2010

by Darren Murph posted Oct 19th 2009 at 4:50PM

Apple's fiscal Q4 2009 conference call is just about to begin, but the press release is already out and about. Wondering how Jobs and Company did? Precisely like you thought they would: they're making out like gangbusters over there. While the rest of the world slowly sees profits inching back up, Apple's relishing in $1.67 billion worth of net profit it pulled in from $9.87 billion in revenue. A year ago, the outfit managed to post a quarterly profit of "just" $1.14 billion, and we're also told that gross margin was up 36.6 percent. It should be noted that international sales accounted for a whopping 46 percent of this quarter's revenue, and Mac computer sales managed to shoot up some 17 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. In keeping with Apple's own acknowledgment that the standalone iPod is dying, sales of the iconic media player dipped 8 percent year-over-year (10.2 million units were sold), while 7.4 million iPhones were moved representing a 7 percent uptick from this period a year ago.

Stevie J himself is quoted as saying that Apple is "thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," and in case you haven't noticed, the holiday quarter hasn't even been completed yet. Oh, and if you were looking for bread crumbs as for what's on deck, chew on this: "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010." Great new products, you say? Would one of them happen to include some sort of, say, tablet PC?

Catch our updates after the break...

Continue reading Apple reports fiscal Q4 earnings: $1.67b profit, Mac sales way up, iPod sales down, 'great new products' for 2010

Windows 7 versus Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro: big cat's faster, 7 is better for games

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 16th 2009 at 2:33PM

CNET have taken the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard for a spin around a 2008 MacBook Pro, and produced a decent first peek at comparative performance. Of course, there are significant provisos to get through first -- it's only one machine, running on Apple's drivers, testing mostly Apple applications, and the two systems default to different versions of QuickTime -- but we can still glean some indication of where the two heavyweights are relative to one another. Snow Leopard appeared consistently quicker in time-based tests, with faster bootups, shutdowns and MP3 encoding, but Windows 7 showed its muscle in producing better frame rates in games and a significant advantage in Cinebench rendering. Battery life was found to be distinctly better under Snow Leopard, but we'd put that down to the underlying hardware being optimized for OS X. Hit the read link for the full testing procedures and more of those old school bar charts -- it should get you well prepped for the forthcoming flood of similar head-to-heads once WIndows 7 officially ships next week.

[Via Apple Insider]

Phil Schiller on Windows 7: 'No matter how you look at it, it's still Windows'

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 15th 2009 at 12:39PM

Windows fans expecting Apple to let Microsoft have its moment in the sun next week when Windows 7 launches should probably know better by now -- the Mac maker is actually planning a marketing counter-offensive to hit alongside 7's debut. According to Phil Schiller, the convoluted upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7 represents a big opportunity for Apple, since users have to back everything up and reformat. "Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?" Well -- we're sure most of you can think of several reasons. Of course, Microsoft has long said that most people will actually get Windows 7 when they purchase a new machine, which is one reason we're seeing such an absolute flood of interesting and innovative new PC hardware -- but Phil seems to remember that was also the company line about Vista, and homeboy isn't backing down. "We've been through these transitions before, and no matter how you look at it-it's still Windows." Harsh burn, amigo. Any last predictions? "I expect Snow Leopard will have an amazing upgrade rate, and Windows 7 won't." We thought you might say something like that. Good thing we're giving Steve Ballmer a chance to respond live on the air next week, no?

[Via AppleInsider]

Apple aware of Snow Leopard accounts bug that kills data, is working on a fix

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 12th 2009 at 9:06PM

Apple just made a statement about that nasty Snow Leopard Guest Account bug that deletes user data -- it's not much, but at least the people in charge are working on things.

We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix.

Peachy -- now if Apple would just figure out how to fix all those broken Time Capsules holding the backups, we'd be all set.

Snow Leopard 'Guest Account' bug deleting user files, terrorizing children?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 12th 2009 at 11:05AM

Think your Snow Leopard woes are finally over? Don't go logging into that Guest account, then. A flurry of reports have surfaced around the web explaining that even an accidental login to one's Guest account within Snow Leopard could lead to mass deletion of all user files on the primary account, and when we say "mass deletion," we mean "mass deletion." The problem goes something like this: if one clicks on the Guest account after upgrading their machine to OS X 10.6, and everything hangs, there's at least a decent chance that all of your data will be evaporated whenever you surf back over to the main profile. Apple has yet to address the issue (at least publicly), but we'd probably recommend disabling Guest accounts on your rig(s) until all of this gets sorted. You know, unless you actually enjoy watching your data vanish.

[Via Neowin]

Psystar licenses Darwin Universal Boot Loader to third parties, chaos ensues

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 7th 2009 at 11:54AM

Like the proverbial kid brother, Psystar has amused us for years now, following Apple around, mocking it, claiming some sort of moral high ground for its Open Macs. Now, hot on the heels of Snow Leopard, the company is back with yet another ambitious project. For a fee, Psystar will license you its Darwin Universal Boot Loader (providing you're an OEM). By shipping machines with the DUBL pre-installed yet relying on the consumer to install his own Snow Leopard disk (which he obtained legally, of course) you should theoretically be able to avoid any sort of sticky legal situation of the sort that has dogged Psystar for years. If that weren't enough, the boot loader supports up to six different operating systems per machine and apparently configures itself, ahem, "automagicly." Is this the last nail in the coffin, the final puzzle piece that will bring us a world where third party machines running OS X fly off the shelves with abandon? Somehow, we doubt it. But it would be amusing to buy a computer with a "Psystar Certified" sticker next to the one that says "Intel Inside." Your move, Apple. PR after the break.

[Via Apple Insider]

Continue reading Psystar licenses Darwin Universal Boot Loader to third parties, chaos ensues

How would you change Snow Leopard?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 11:39PM

Ah, Snow Leopard. It's the same cat you're used to caressing (or beating, as the case may be), but in a much, much colder climate. Or something like that. OS X 10.6 promised Leopard users a "refined" experience, and one that would only cost upgrading users $29. At that price, most Apple fanatics figured that picking it up on launch day was a no-brainer, but as we've come to sadly expect from Cupertino's software labs these days, all wasn't perfectly well with the big snowy cat. Even now, users are still kvetching about broken functionality and mental pains that are literally indescribable. Even if you're not in that camp, we're eager to hear how your Snow Leopard experience has been. Are you satisfied with the upgrade? Will you never, ever install an Apple update again before a million others try it first? Are you already looking forward to ~~10.7~~ Windows 7? Tell all in comments below -- you never know who could be tuning in.

Snow Leopard's Grand Central Dispatch and OpenCL boost video encoding app by 50 percent

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 17th 2009 at 6:27PM

It'll take some time before we see the true impact of OpenCL and the newly-open-sourced Grand Central Dispatch on OS X, but we're definitely intrigued by this early report from Christophe Ducommun, developer of MovieGate, who says that shifting his app to use the new tech has increased performance by around 50 percent on the same hardware. Testing on a 2007 2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro with a GeForce 8800GT, MovieGate MPEG-2 encode speeds went from 104fps under Leopard to 150fps under Snow Leopard, and decoding CPU usage dropped from 165 percent to 70 percent. Now, yes, that's just one app, and most users don't have four cores to play with, but it's still an eye-opening result, and we're definitely hoping it's the start of a trend.

[Via MacRumors]