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SnowChecker will help you make the jump to Snow Leopard
Most of us here at TUAW jumped aboard the Snow Leopard bandwagon immediately after receiving our upgrade disks -- and I mean immediately. We didn't bother to check out what apps would or wouldn't run, and could have cared less about compatibility with scanners and printers or anything else important like that. No, we just dived into the lake before determining whether or not it was shallow, full of piranhas, or contained hydrochloric acid. That's just us, though -- we like to be able to tell TUAW readers what to expect, good and bad, when a new OS version is delivered. Our friends at Download Squad, however, must still be a little queasy about making the leap, since they posted a quick app review today for SnowChecker. SnowChecker is a free Mac application that does one thing -- it tells you whether or not your applications will run under Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. SnowChecker performs a scan of your hard disk for apps, then compares the list of found apps against compatibility info stored at snowleopard.wikidot.com. It displays the the results, noting which apps are OK, which might have slight compatibility issues, and which will be totally hosed under Snow Leopard. SnowChecker uses a simple green, yellow, red color scheme to pass along the information to you, and often provides quick notes telling you about workarounds or updates that will help get all of your apps working smoothly. If you're a bit on the shy side when it comes to doing upgrades, SnowChecker can make you feel a lot better about making the jump to Snow Leopard.
iPhone and Windows 7 don't play nice, Intel P55 chipset to blame
The iPhone is one of the most wildly popular phones the world has ever seen, while Windows 7 is well on its way to becoming the globe's most ubiquitous OS. So compatibility between the two would be kinda sorta important, right? Tell that to Intel's quality control team who seem to have somehow missed an issue between Apple's app carrier deluxe and the P55 Express chipset's USB controller. Consistent (and persistent) syncing issues have been reported on Apple's support forums, wherein iTunes on Windows 7 machines recognizes the iPhone, but spits out an "error 0xE8000065" message whenever the user attempts to sync. While some have found limited success with using PCI-based USB cards (and bypassing the chipset), this is clearly a major issue and something Apple would expect to be fixed before shipping its Core i5 / i7 iMacs, which are likely to sport the chipset. Hit the read link for the original thread of sorrow and regret, and do chime in with your own experience in the comments. [Via The Register]
DSi XL FAQ: Sized up
Early yesterday, Nintendo of Japan announced the DSi XL (DSi LL in Japan), a larger, larger-screened version of the DSi. It's a big system, and kind of a big mystery, given that the only advance notice we had of the thing was a Nikkei blurb two days prior. While we can't answer the big questions, like how long this idea has been in the works, and whether a bigger handheld is a good idea as an alternative to the DS's continual miniaturization, we can round up what we know and can reasonably speculate about the DSi XL -- right after the jump. %Gallery-76864%
Full Band Hero track list, importable songs revealed
If you've been savoring the slow trickle of track list announcements for Activision's tween-oriented rhythm title, Band Hero, your prolonged pleasure is about to come to a satisfying, yet abrupt end. The publisher has revealed all of the songs that will be available on the generically monikered game, and we've posted them -- along with details about compatible DLC and song importing from other Guitar Hero games -- after the jump in the least confusing manner we could possibly conjure. To help in this endeavor, we've even added a table of contents! Man, we're seriously too nice for our own good.
BluFocus gets BDA official stamp as the first U.S. movie player testing center
The unglamorous but so-necessary job of making sure all those Blu-ray discs and players work nicely together has long been the aim of BluFocus, which has most recently become the first and only BDA approved site in the U.S. for Movie Player Verification. While certification and compatibility testing is usually the kind of thing we only consider when something doesn't work, it's always good to know this on someone's mind. Any recent Blu-ray compatibility complaints? Let the folks at BluFocus know on their website.
Windows 7 logo program already 6,000-strong with products
The Windows Ecosystem Team has gone official with the new 'Compatible with Windows 7' sticker, which we sincerely hope won't be as laughably misapplied as its Vista-related predecessor. Set to appear on hardware, software and peripherals, the label is intended to reassure customers that they'll have the "optimal Windows 7 experience" thanks to "robust testing requirements" and a longer testing cycle. That's good to hear, as is the fact that already over 6,000 products have been given a passing grade, meaning that -- surprise, surprise -- when you get your Windows 7 machine, it will most likely be compatible with everything you own or intend to buy. An intriguing tidbit is that one logo will cover all flavors, including 64-bit, meaning that you'll have to wait for Intel's Pineview chips to come around the turn of the year if you want to get a certified Atom-based Windows 7 netbook. Update: Okay, so it looks like we were a little off the mark here. To be clear, this program is primarily intended for peripherals and accessories you purchase after you get a computer, which is why testing against 64-bit Windows 7 is a requirement. We're sure we'll see plenty of Atom netbooks running Windows 7 with a slightly different sticker on 'em just as soon as October 22 rolls around -- you just won't be able to buy an Atom-based mobo with this particular sticker on the box, because it won't run 64-bit Windows 7. You know what else you can't buy? A dragon.
Rock Band Stage Kit won't smoke and strobe with The Beatles
We get the feeling that few Rock Band Stage Kits were sold to begin with, but those who proudly plunked down a Benjamin on this when it originally shipped were probably stoked to use it with The Beatles: Rock Band. Unfortunately for "those people," such a scenario won't ever be possible... at least, not without some serious DIY tinkering on the user end. Harmonix has confirmed to our pals over at Joystiq that a compatibility patch won't ever be produced for the newest RB title, and when pressed about compatibility with future titles, the rep simply stated that the company "hasn't announced any future titles at this time." Looks like this party's over, folks.
A roundup of Snow Leopard compatibility announcements
Now that the shock of Mac OS X 10.6's early release has worn off, many developers are announcing that their products are now completely compatible with Snow Leopard. Here's a list of the latest devs to speak up. Realmac Software announced that RapidWeaver 4.3 is now available. This newest version of Realmac's popular website development tool adds several improvements, but the main attraction is full compatibility with Snow Leopard. Existing owners of RapidWeaver can update for free by using the built-in Check for Updates feature, or download the update here. Users of Cocktail, the Mac utility from Maintain, can now rest assured that the application will run properly under Snow Leopard. Cocktail 4.5 Snow Leopard Edition has not only been tested for compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6, but it also adds 64-bit support and major speed improvements to Pilot. Maintain also updated Automator actions and the help files, and Cocktail 4.5 contains an updated version of the Sparkle software update framework. The update can be downloaded here. Read on for even more Snow Leopard update news.
CrossOver Games 8.0 released
Codeweavers tells us that they've released version 8 of their Crossover Games software -- I tried it out a while ago, and found that while it was a pretty good way to play their recommended games, once you went off the reservation, things got a little hairy. Then again, that was a long time ago, and since then, they've updated the recommended games list quite a bit -- they're now saying that version 8 will allow you to play most of the Steam games, including the excellent Left 4 Dead, and the new Tales of Monkey Island episodic games. Additionally (and perhaps we're burying the lead a little bit here), this version is completely compatible with Snow Leopard. So while you still may be banging your head against compatibility for some apps (I'm actually sort of glad now that SL was sold out at Best Buy when I went by to pick it up -- think I might just wait until the compatibility issues get ironed out), Crossover Games should work just fine. And it of course works on both Mac and Linux, so if you have a spare 'nix box sitting around and want some Windows games running on it, there you go. Existing customers with a support entitlement can upgrade right away, the app can be bought for $40, or there's a free trial to try out as well if you'd rather do that.
Apple lists Snow Leopard-compatible printers and scanners
I'll come right out and say that I don't like scanners. Granted, I haven't used any high-end models, but in my experience, scanning a simple image to my Mac was akin to piloting a space module. As a chimp. While Mac OS X Snow Leopard includes a great number of scanner (and printer) drivers, some readers are reporting trouble with their particular machines. This week, Apple has published a list of both scanners and printers that are known to work. You can read it here. I've got an Epson R300, and luckily it's covered. Heck, even my beloved HP 952c still works under Snow Leopard. It's a comprehensive list, and we're hoping your machine is there. Of course, if your peripheral stopped working after installing Snow Leopard, you ought to visit the manufacturer's website for an update. And by "visit" we mean "pester." [Via Victor Cajiao]
My Snow Leopard casualties: what's not working in 10.6
Overall, I'm very happy with Snow Leopard, and loving all of the little refinements I keep stumbling upon. However, I want to mention a few pitfalls I ran into with my upgrade, on the off chance that anyone has a similar setup and might benefit from some advance warning, or any of the fixes I've found. Safari & Input Managers There were a few things we knew to expect (and maybe dread), mostly having to do with 32-bit vs 64-bit processing and compatibility. Input Managers were known casualties. Two of the major victims for me were my 1Password and Evernote plugins in Safari. In 64-bit mode, at least at first, they didn't show up at all. See the Switcher's Blog for updates on 1Password and Snow Leopard. The current 3.0 beta of 1Password is working for me in 64-bit, I just have some keyboard shortcut issues to work out. Hopefully the Evernote blog will start offering more updates soon. In the meantime, there's a partial fix: if you select the application (Safari) in your Applications folder, go to the File menu and hold down the Option key while selecting Get Info, you'll get the Inspector panel (also accessible with a simple Command-Option-I). For applications which have 64-bit capabilities (such as Mail and Safari), you'll see a checkbox to force them to load in 32-bit mode. That gets Evernote working for me, so I'll run it in 32-bit until things get straightened out. I'll be keeping an eye on the Glims blog, as well. Update: There's a press release & a blog post from Agile this morning that reiterate the company's compatibility stance for 1Password v2: it should work fine on Snow Leopard in all browsers except Safari, and will work with Safari launched in 32-bit mode. Version 3 will be fully supported with Safari in both 32 and 64-bit configurations.
A roundup of Snow Leopard-related software announcements
As our readers and staff are out buying copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard today, we thought we'd also start rounding up news about software updates related to the OS update.We're getting a lot of emails today with news about Snow Leopard compatibility updates for applications, so we'll be listing the updates in this post. Be sure to check back from time to time today, as we'll be changing this post frequently. If you're using the new and free TUAW iPhone App [App Store link] to read this, be sure to tap the icon in the upper right corner of the screen to view the entire post.
Getting ready for Snow Leopard: Think about your applications
Ahhhh, there's nothing quite like the feeling of knowing that tomorrow I will be spending much of the day upgrading the Macs in my house to Snow Leopard. I received an email from Apple this morning telling me that Snow Leopard had shipped, so now I just need to be available to sign for the package tomorrow. Regardless of how many Mac OS upgrades I've done over the years, there are always one or two drivers, application enhancers, or full applications that just don't run properly on the newly installed OS. With Snow Leopard, these situations should be rare as many developers have already done compatibility checking and worked out the bugs. Before you slip that Snow Leopard DVD into your Mac tomorrow and start doing the upgrade, there are a few things you may want to consider.
Valve undecided about Left 4 Dead DLC working in L4D2
Valve raised quite a stink after announcing a new downloadable campaign for the original Left 4 Dead with only a few months remaining until the release of Left 4 Dead 2. What everyone still wants to know is whether this content will be compatible with the sequel -- and we do mean everyone. In an interview with Edge Online, Valve's Chet Faliszek explained that even the game's creators are unsure whether the new campaign will be playable in the second edition of the zombocalypse sim.Faliszek remarked that Valve is "struggling" with how the campaign's story elements (that is to say, the in-game chatter between the original four survivors) would work when the new cast is introduced. He says it would be jarring to "put new characters in old places," but recognizes that "there's a whole group of the fans who don't care." What say you, readers? What would you find more disruptive -- re-worked character dialogue, or recently purchased, incompatible DLC?
Lips mic incompatible with Rock Band / Guitar Hero (at launch, anyway)
Anytime we hear the words "incompatible" and "music game" mixed into the same sentence, we typically can't resist the onset of a bitter beer face. That being true, we can't say we're too terribly bummed about this one, particularly since we highly doubt Microsoft's Lips will have the same following as Rock Band and / or Guitar Hero: World Tour. At any rate, you should probably know that the accelerometer-packin' Lips microphone will not work with RB nor GH at launch, though creator Keiichi Yano of Inis did confess that compatibility was theoretically possible with future patches. 'Course, we doubt anyone will spend time on said patches unless Lips moves like a billion copies this winter, but we suppose anything is possible with a snap of the fingers and a pinch of pixie dust.[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero: World Tour drums not recognized by PS3 Rock Band 2
Despite promises to the contrary, the PlayStation 3 Guitar Hero: World Tour drum set doesn't seem to be working with Rock Band 1 or 2. Many users on the RB forums have noticed that the game is recognizing the wireless set as a microphone, and unfortunately, the mic isn't being recognized as a beat box receptor. A Harmonix developer has chimed in to say, "We are definitely looking into this. We'll keep you posted on updates as soon as more info is available." Sony had previously said there would be universal instrument-rhythm game compatibility. The Xbox 360 drum sets seem to work with each respective game. We're working to independently confirm compatibility as we fill in the blanks to our Instrument Compatibility Matrix.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Rock Revolution drum compatibility detailed; game 'on track' for '08
Konami has detailed how its seven-input drum set will be compatible with Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour's kits, which have four and five inputs, respectively. We've been informed that the game will "reconfigure" itself depending on the set being used with the game. For example, instead of seven lines of music, it will adjust to four when using the Rock Band 2 drums and five for GH:WT. The company expects its drums to be compatible with the competition's via a patch issued after launch.The company has also told us that reports of the game's delay to 2009 only applies to Europe. The game is "still on track for a fall 2008" release in North America. We're sure all the rhythm-game fanboys out there are breathing a sigh of relief ... right? Hello?
Joystiq's Instrument Compatibility Matrix, v3.0
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Guitar_Hero_Rock_Band_Instrument_Compatibility_Matrix_v3_0'; With Sony shedding some new light on the sea of plastic instrument compatibility nonsense, we thought it was time to update our compatibility charts for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series, as well as newcomer Rock Revolution. Introducing the Instrument Compatibility Matrix, version 3.0. We'll keep updating this page as new information percolates out, hoping one day to fill in every square with a green "yes." Until that time, check out our chart skills.Update: Now with more green care of Microsoft's compatibility commitment.
Sony nails down music peripheral compatibility with upcoming titles
With all the incompatibility out there among Guitar Hero / Rock Band instruments, it's a real treat to see something like this. The Director of Publisher Relations at SCEA has posted an update that promises compatibility between instruments and software for upcoming titles; for instance, Guitar Hero: World Tour's guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami's Rock Revolution software, and Rock Band 2's guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Furthermore, the team is still "working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market," though we are told that an announcement on that could surface "shortly." Rock 'n roll harmony, baby.[Image courtesy of BeSportier]
World of Warcraft on twenty seven 67" monitors
Imagine getting ganked in Stranglethorn on that baby. Our friends at BigDownload (home of all things PC gaming) have discovered a ginormous computer screen, supposedly installed at a government office, used to play -- what else? -- the best PC game around, our own World of Warcraft. The monstrosity consists of twenty seven different 67" monitors all tied up into one PC. Unfortunately, as you can see (click the pic above for the whole thing), it's a little warped, considering that the display has a resolution of 12600 x 3150 -- not exactly a standard even for the very compatible Blizzard.But it is pretty awesome to see -- we only "wish" they'd taken some gameplay footage or other pictures so we could see this thing in action. And just what kind of rig is powering all of that? It'd be hilarious if the government splurged on the monitors but skimped on the RAM, leaving a gigantic display skipping along at a low frame rate.Update: Our crack WoW Insider Photoshop judges (one of whom has "government" experience) are calling this 'shopped. Not that you'll ever have a monitor like this, so it probably makes no difference to you, but take the pic with the usual grain of salt.
