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Mountain Lion: It's called a developer preview for a reason
Every time a developer preview of a new version of Mac OS X or iOS arrives, we at TUAW wait for the onslaught of emails telling us about the favorite apps that did or did not work, peripherals that suddenly won't work, or machines that end up being totally borked. Jason O'Grady at ZDNet has written a wonderful cautionary tale about what might happen if you pull the tail of Apple's OS X Mountain Lion. O'Grady installed OS X Mountain Lion DP1 on a backup 11" MacBook Air and basically loved the new OS and how well it worked with most of his existing apps. He was impressed with the integration of iOS capabilities and the improved security. And then all hell broke loose. While working with eBay client iSale on the MBA, things started going bad -- the app crashed repeatedly. So O'Grady decided to try a reboot ... which didn't work. To make a long story short, he "elected to take the "nuke and pave" option. I ended up booting from my Lion flash drive, reformatting the SSD and re-installing the relatively stable Mac OS 10.7 (non-Mountain) Lion. Patching it up and calling it a day." O'Grady ends the post with a reminder that all of us who are anxious to try out developer previews need to have pounded into our brains every time Apple tempts us with a new and shiny OS release -- don't install developer previews on production machines, and always assume that the worst will happen. As O'Grady found out, sometimes that worst possible case does happen and in this situation, you'll be mauled by an angry Mountain Lion.
Finding small changes in Mountain Lion developer preview
You've probably heard about the biggest features of the new OS X, Mountain Lion, by now: Apple's implementing some popular iOS features like Notifications, Game Center, and Reminders on the desktop OS. But unless you've actually played with the OS for a little while (which would mean you're a developer with access to the beta), you might not know about all of the other little updates, smaller features that make a big difference overall, but haven't been talked about much just yet. Fortunately, GigaOm has found quite a few of these little features, and written them up for the rest of us to drool over. Turns out the resemblance to iOS won't stop at the list of apps installed on the device: Finder file transfers now show off an iOS-style progress bar, and toolbars are simpler and more tactile, borrowing a lot of the button looks from Apple's official iOS applications. There are just some new cool features as well, like Safari tabs simply splitting the distance on their bar instead of squeezed into one corner, and some new updates in System Preferences, including options for screen savers. It all sounds great, and a list like this shows that Apple isn't just interested in copying iOS' best features on OS X; it's still thinking about how to make the desktop system better on its own as well. Mountain Lion's due out sometime this summer, and as far as we're concerned, sooner the better.
Google's Dart lands in Chromium tech preview
Leaves weren't the only things flying around Mountain View last Autumn if you remember, Google also unleashed its Dart programming language. Now, developers can get their hands on a tech preview version of Chromium, with the Dart virtual machine baked right in. There are Mac and Linux binaries available today, but no details about other platforms (ahem Windows) at this time. The preview lets you run your programs directly on the Dart VM, skipping the separate compilation stage. While it's just for developers at the minute, there are plans to include this in standard Chrome releases in the future. Aim at the source link after the break for the full details.
Apple unleashes OS X Mountain Lion Preview to Mac Developer Program
You may still be purring your way through our in-depth preview, but Mountain Lion is now officially out of the bag, with Apple releasing a preview version of its latest OS X to the members-only Developer Program. If you're up to date on those $99/year dues, you can head on over to the Member Center to get your OS 10.8 fix, and start checking out those shiny new Messages, Reminders, Notes and Notification Center apps. Or kick up your feet and bring your desktop to the big screen with AirPlay Mirroring. If you have the Apple-approved credentials to proceed, you can find all that and more by making your way over to our source link just below.
Windows 8 ain't fussy: runs on Macs, Surface, 128MB RAM, banana peel (videos)
Downloaders of the Windows 8 Developer Preview have been proving their mettle the best way they know how: by getting it to run on systems it was never really intended for. Brent and the folks at Codesnack win the Real Utility trophy for their successful Boot Camp installs. Josh Blake gets the Damn I Look Good By Candlelight trophy for making the OS run on the MS Surface in his living room. Meanwhile, Marcin Grygiel has awarded himself the I'm HARDCORE!!! title for somehow getting it to run on a PC with just 128MB. Treat yourself to some intimate video evidence after the break. [Thanks, Prashanth]
Windows Server 8 and Azure platform introduced, Metro-style app building starts today
Server and Tools Business President Satya Nadella, amongst others, took the stage at Build today in order to showcase something a bit less consumer-facing: Windows Server 8 and the revised Windows Azure platform. Fret not, though -- this all plays a vital role in how you'll be enjoying Windows 8 in the months to come. A Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview will be made available to coders starting today, enabling devs to concoct Metro-style applications with HTML 5, JavaScript, C#, Visual Basic and C++. We're told that the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview is available today for Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and will be made available to the public on Friday. Microsoft also announced that Server 8 would provide multi-tenant infrastructure for cloud services, while the Azure Marketplace would expand to 25 new nations in early October. Those hoping to dig deeper can head on past the break (and visit the source links below). %Gallery-133730%
Poll: Did you download Windows 8?
Downloads have barely been active for half a day, but for the night-owls who burned the midnight oil in order to take the developer preview of Windows 8 for a spin, this is for you. If you're claiming to be one of the earliest of adopters of Windows 8, how have things gone? Are you waiting a few days to see the obvious issues crop up? Are you taking your remaining vacation days to have yourself slapped silly with "Metro-style" goodness? Let us know how the installation process went in comments below, and if you've got a newfound mancrush (or womancrush!) on Microsoft, here's your opportunity to shamelessly gloat. %Poll-69030%
OS X Developer Preview 4 released
Apple has released the fourth developer preview of the forthcoming OS upgrade, Mac OS X Lion. The 656 MB update should be one of the final previews released before the official launch of the OS, expected on the Mac App Store in July for US$29.99. If you're a developer, go grab your copy of the latest Lion preview now.
iOS 5 contacts app has fields for Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and Myspace info
One of the more interesting iOS 5 features revealed this week during the Monday keynote was seamless integration with Twitter. Now a report published by All Things D shows that fields for other social networking sites also appear in the iOS 5 contacts app, including Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, and Myspace. While the operating system's integration with Twitter is fairly widespread -- single sign-on for multiple apps, ability to send photos directly from the Camera, YouTube, Safari, and Maps apps, and auto-fill from Contacts -- it appears that at this time the other social sites aren't as tightly bound to iOS 5. Users can begin by populating handles for each of the sites on an address book page for a contact, although developers speaking to All Things D reported that even that capability was a bit buggy at this time. As blogger Liz Gannes notes, "The inclusion of the feature shows Apple's acknowledgement of the importance of Web presences and contact information." At this point, manually entering friends' handles could be onerous for those who have hundreds or thousands of "friends" on each social networking site. Apple could offer Twitter-like authentication for the other services, which would make matching contacts and social network handles somewhat more automatic. With at least three or four months remaining before iOS 5 becomes available to users, we're sure to hear much more about social network integration in the new mobile OS.
Nuance voice samples provide a taste of Lion text-to-speech
As we reported on May 14, Lion Developer Preview 3 includes a number of voices from Nuance's RealSpeak Solo software that can be used for text-to-speech (TTS) operations in the OS. These voices are a good improvement on the existing voices used by Mac OS X, and could point to a greater use of speech recognition and TTS as a user interface feature in Lion and iOS 5. If you have a hankering to hear just how good these voices are, OS X Daily has linked to a number of samples that are available on the NextUp Nuance Sample page, some of which are listed below: • Samantha - American English Female • Serena - British English Female • Sangeeta - Indian English Female • Felix - Canadian French Male • Karen - Australian English Female • Lee - Australian English Male • Yannick - German Male • Monica - Spanish Female • Paolo - Italian Male My current favorite on the list is Karen, the Australian English female voice. What voice do you want to hear coming out of your Mac or iOS device speakers in the future? Let us know in the comments.
Mac OS X Lion features hidden tribute to Steve Jobs
Apple's latest version of OS X Lion contains a plethora of new features that are being uncovered piece by piece now that the preview version is in the hands of developers. One little gem recently discovered is a new section in the Finder called "All My Files." This feature helps you organize your files by criteria, such as file type, file creation date and last opened date. The icon for this new section is an image of a filing drawer stuffed with documents and dividers. Zooming in on the documents within this icon, one can see writing that is taken from notable quotes delivered by Steve Jobs and Apple. The individual pages contain the following quotes with the text included within the icon highlighted in bold: Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. -Apple Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. -Steve Jobs What a neat hidden tribute to the man who founded Apple and led them back from the brink of disaster to one of the top tech companies in the world. Click here to view the full version of the icon.
Mac OS X Lion hands-on preview
Apple announced Mac OS X Lion with considerable fanfare at its Back to the Mac event last October, and now it's dropped the first developer preview on the world -- giving us a chance to sample some of the big cat's new features and UI concepts. We installed the dev build on one of our MacBook Pros and used it over the weekend, and while we won't be able to see any huge changes in day-to-day workflow until our favorite apps are updated to take advantage of Lion, we did see plenty of interesting system-level features and additions -- and yes, iOS's influence is all over the place. Read on for a full breakdown of what's new! %Gallery-117806%
Apple invites security experts to review Lion developer preview
CNET reports that Apple has sent notice to a few big-time security experts, including some folks who've attacked OS X security in the past, to check out the developer preview of OS X Lion. "As you have reported Mac OS X security issues in the past," the letter reportedly tells the researchers, "I thought that you might be interested in taking a look at this. It contains several improvements in the area of security countermeasures." Note that this isn't actual consulting on the part of these researchers, though they are getting a preview copy of the OS for free. Dino Dai Zovi is one of the experts that Apple invited to check out the system, and he lauds the move on Twitter, stating that it "looks to be a step in the direction of opening up a bit and inviting more dialogue with external researchers." Good for Apple, in that case. Hopefully the outcome of all of this is a more secure operating system, and we can all appreciate that for sure. [via AppleInsider]
Apple pushes out Mac OS X Lion developer preview via Mac App Store
While we're still a good few months away from OS X Lion's official debut, Apple's just released a developer preview for those itching to get their hands dirty on this forthcoming major OS release. Alas, you have to be a Mac Developer Program member in order to obtain this goodie from the Mac App Store, so this isn't a bad time to get friendly with your Mac developer pals. Press release after the break.
Microsoft posts Cloud Services SDK preview for Windows Phone 7
Tying into its cloud computing initiatives from the past couple of years, Microsoft has released a preview version of its Cloud Services SDK for Windows Phone 7 with the goal of enabling devs to tap into online computation, storage, notification, and security capabilities exposed by some of the other cloud projects that Redmond's already working on. The main thrust of this seems to be Project Hawaii, which is being spearheaded by Microsoft Research to build cool and interesting mobile-focused stuff that rests atop the company's cloud services. The first two of those services are called Relay and Rendezvous; the former enabled phone-to-phone communication to the cloud without the need for static IP addresses, while the latter is some sort of aliasing system for assigning human-readable names to cloud service clients, which really sounds like a generalized form of Relay. Clearly, it's going to be a while before commercial products are built on this SDK, but it's an interesting space to keep an eye on in the meantime.
Schiller and team to deliver WWDC keynote, Snow Leopard developer preview June 8
Apple issued a press release this morning, saying that Worldwide Marketing VP Phil Schiller would lead a "team of Apple executives" to deliver the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote June 8 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern). According to the press release, attendees will receive a developer preview of Snow Leopard, the next major version of Mac OS X. The developer preview is designed to show off a new version of QuickTime, QuickTime X, multi-core and GPU processor support, and accessibility enhancements. "At WWDC, we will be giving our developers a final Developer Preview release so they can see the incredible progress we've made on Snow Leopard and work with us as we move toward its final release," said Bertrand Serlet, senior VP of Software Engineering. During the conference, iPhone developers can also attend over 100 technical sessions and meet with more than a thousand Apple engineers about iPhone OS 3.0, the release says. WWDC runs from June 8 to June 12 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The conference is sold out.
