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Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I install a Lion partition on my MacBook Air?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I'm in the Mac Developer program and I'd really like to be able to install Lion on my MacBook Air as a second OS. What are the best strategies to do this? Is it worth going out and buying a second SSD drive and swapping that out with my primary Snow Leopard system? Thanks for letting me know! Love and Kisses, Your nephew G
Lion will drop support for earliest Intel Macs
In the past two releases of Mac OS X, we've seen the baseline support for legacy machines hiked a notch higher each time; for Leopard, eliminating slower G4s from the working list, and for Snow Leopard dropping PowerPC support entirely in favor of the newer Intel models. Now, with the developer preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in the wild, the next frontier for obsolescence is set -- the new OS drops official support for Core Duo and Core Solo-based Intel Macs as well. We have heard from some testers that they've successfully installed and booted Lion on the older unsupported machines, but your mileage may vary. Update: Our correspondents were confused about the requirements, and in fact were using supported machines. Why the shift? Apple's not saying yet, but the machines based on these 32-bit Intel CPUs may not have the horsepower or addressable memory space to support Lion, or Apple may be pushing towards a full 64-bit OS and kernel (which might cause some issues for hardware drivers and peripherals). In any event, if you've got a first-generation Intel Mac that's more than four and a half years old, you may be staying with 10.6 Snow Leopard (or Leopard or Tiger, for that matter, if you haven't updated). Machines with the newer 64-bit Core 2 Duo and later chips are almost all good to go with the new cat in town, with one exception in this preview release; "late 2006" iMacs with Core 2 Duos are not yet supported. Keep in mind that the exact system requirements and supported models may change between now and the official release of 10.7 sometime this summer. [hat tip to ZDnet]
Bad kitty: Sticky mouse issue demonstrated in Lion
Over the day we've been hearing about bugs in the developer preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, mostly with third-party services like Dropbox (no sync, no menu bar icon), Evernote, the 1Password Safari plug-in, Textual crashes, etc. But here's a little video demonstrating an acute case of "sticky mouse" -- not what you want in your shiny new OS, I should think. Video on the next page, but what it shows is that clicking on an item in the new operating system can cause it to become stuck to your mouse. Luckily, Apple has a few more months of grooming before this cat is actually out of the cage.
Lion Server to be bundled with Mac OS X Lion
Today, Apple announced that Mac OS X Lion will include software that previously cost IT departments an extra $499: Mac OS X Lion Server. "Lion Server is now part of Mac OS X Lion," says Apple's marketing web page. "It's easy to set up your Mac as a server and take advantage of the many services Lion Server has to offer." Some advantages of the newly integrated suite of server administrative software include a guided setup process for configuring a Mac as a server; "local and remote administration - for users and groups, push notifications, file sharing, calendaring, mail, contacts, chat, Time Machine, VPN, web, and wiki services - all in one place"; "simple, profile-based setup and management for Mac OS X Lion, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices" with Profile Manager; Wiki Server 3, designed to make it "even easier to collaborate, share, and exchange information"; and WebDAV services that give iPad users "the ability to [wirelessly] access, copy, and share documents on the server from applications such as Keynote, Numbers, and Pages." The built-in server software joins a long list of new features planned for inclusion in Mac OS X Lion, including Launchpad, full-screen apps, Mission Control, new gestures, global auto save, Versions, Resume, and AirDrop. According to Apple's documentation for developers, Lion Server will appear as a customizable option during the initial installation process. Mac OS X Lion is available as a developer preview today. It is scheduled for release this summer.
Mac OS X Lion developer preview released
Apple has released the first developer preview of Mac OS X Lion and updated its information page on the operating system. With this announcement comes new information on Lion's features, including AirDrop, which allows for zero-configuration, wireless file sharing between Macs; a global auto-save, which saves your work for you and Versions, which automatically saves versions of documents you're working on and provides a Time Machine-like interface for browsing them. Mail.app has also been re-hauled and closely resembles Mail on the iPad. Apple's Lion features page has been updated with additional information. With Mission Control, Launchpad and full-screen apps, the Mac OS is looking more like is younger sibling, iOS, than ever. Paid Mac dev center participants can download copies of Mac OS X Lion from the Mac App Store by requesting a redemption code from their developer account. One code is generated per account, and the "purchase" is stored and associated with that account for any future re-downloads. If you are a developer, and have access to the preview release, make sure you carefully check the system requirements before installing Lion; you'll need a 64-bit Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later. You will be able to install Lion on computers registered to your account, but Apple recommends that you use a separate partition or a computer that is dedicated to Lion-only development. Specific details about the new OS beyond Apple's press releases remain behind the NDA wall. You may discuss the new OS on Apple's developer forums.
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.
Will 10.7 add a "safe deposit box" to your Mac?
It seems as though Apple is hard at work on new features for OS X 10.7 Lion this summer, and the latest possible addition to the OS is something that would solve a huge problem plaguing the tech world today -- insecurity with remote file storage. According to this find by Patently Apple, we may see a new "Safe Deposit Box" in Lion that aims to protect your files using cloud architecture in the same way that a physical safe deposit box protects your assets at a bank or other location. The basic idea described in the patent revolves around a single icon that, when the user drops a file onto it, would instantly upload and protect the file using Apple-backed cloud servers (which could possibly be located at their new $1 billion North Carolina data center). All of one's secure files would then be available by logging into the Safe Deposit Box service with a user name and password. For enhanced security, the patent also mentions a small window of time before the login expires to prevent accidental viewing of files by other individuals. This storage center would presumably also store digital copies of iTunes purchases, therefore solving the age old problem of losing your precious collection of tunes in a hard drive failure. We've seen similar technology in OS X already with FileVault, which encrypts and stores secure files on the fly. However, we've never seen deep internet-based secure storage from Apple, and it would be a welcome addition for those of us who are working with sensitive documents on multiple Macs (I know I'd be more comfortable with this than, say, Dropbox). It certainly looks like a step in the right direction. Let's hope that this idea is under active development at the big fruit company.
Ask TUAW's triumphant return from abroad
This, my friends, is the triumphant return of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. Unfortunately, a giant beaver ate all of the questions from prior editions of Ask TUAW, and we need more new questions! So, here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think long and hard about which burning questions have been bothering you about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV, and ask away! You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com. Here are a few perennial favorites asked and answered: Q: Which MacBook Air should I buy? A: Get the 11" if you have another computer, or the 13" if it's your primary machine. Order the BTO memory upgrade, too; you can't upgrade the RAM after the fact. Q: What's the best way to sync my iPhone to multiple computers? A: The only way to win is not to play -- syncing to more than one computer is asking for trouble, honestly. Pick your most accessible machine with the best storage situation for your media and applications library, and sync to that one. If you need to shuffle content around or purchase apps on multiple machines, go with Apple's Home Sharing to keep things synchronized. So, head down to the comments at the end of this post, and do your best. When asking a question, it makes life a lot easier for the Ask TUAW team if you include what type of machine you're using, which version of Mac OS X you're running or, if you're asking an iPhone/iPod/iPad question, let us know which generation device and which version of iOS you have -- though, in general, you should always upgrade to the latest version if you can. We've got a few questions left in the can from last time, so let's get cracking. Dave asks: I am seeing terrible performance from Finder when trying to access a Windows share over a VPN. If I do an 'ls' or 'cd' command to get to the same files, everything is instantaneous. Is there some setting in Finder that will make it act more like the 'ls' done via Terminal? I have looked at a lot of Finder replacements and they all appear to have the same problem. Given this works great on Terminal, I'm a bit stumped at what Finder can be doing that would slow things down so dramatically.
Debunked: Amazon book listings suggest Mac OS X Lion ship date
TUAW readers know from past articles that Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" is expected to ship sometime this summer -- Apple told us that during the Back to the Mac event on October 20, 2010. Now MacNN has noted that listings for Lion books in the UK Amazon bookstore may indicate a possible ship date for the next generation of Mac OS X. The post notes that several books are showing a July 28 ship date, with others targeted for August 5 and August 28. As much as I'd like to believe that we're going to see a mid-summer release of Lion, I can tell you from personal experience that these dates are pure conjecture. Fellow TUAW blogger Michael Grothaus and I recently signed a contract to write a Lion book that is scheduled for August 2011. Does that mean that we know the ship date of Lion? Hell no, and neither do any of the other authors who I've talked to about their Lion titles. Most publishers want to build buzz about upcoming books and also get placeholders into online bookstores as soon as they can. To do this, publishers work with the authors to come up with a best-guess date, knowing that the operating system and book may not come out until later. As it is, the most any of us know at this point is that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will ship between June 22 and September 23, 2011 -- that's summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Considering that we don't even know when the first betas of Lion are going to be sent out to developers, it's entirely premature to come up with a ship date for the OS or books about Lion. With any luck at all, we'll see the first beta of Lion at WWDC 2011, which many Apple pundits believe is scheduled for June 5 - 9. After that, the OS will go through numerous revisions as developers find bugs, and during that period is when most of the Lion authors are going to be scrambling to get their books written. As for July 28, August 5, or August 28 release dates? I seriously doubt it.
Mac App Store hands-on
You may have heard that admist the craziness of CES, Apple decided to launch its Mac App Store on this fine January morning. We've gone ahead and updated our machines to 10.6.6, so we're officially App Store ready. Read on past the break for a walkthrough of the basics, as well as a smattering of some early apps featured front and center.
Final Cut updates due in March or April, Steve Jobs still sour on Blu-ray
Hardmac has kicked off the new year with some more rumors about Final Cut Studio being updated. We already knew (since the app wasn't updated last September) that Final Cut Studio has been due for some streamlining, and Hardmac says that, indeed, there are multiple beta versions running around. There are reportedly both versions for Snow Leopard and the new OS X Lion being tested at Apple, with the Lion version taking advantage of some new video magic made available in QuickTime. Apparently, the feature set isn't completely nailed down yet, but Hardmac reckons that both new versions should be available by March or April. Hardmac's rumor report also mentions the Xserve, but before you get too excited, all they're saying is that there was a wave of strong feedback after Apple discontinued the hardware, including some from an Apple board member. The feedback reportedly says that the issue with Xserve wasn't ever the hardware -- it was the way Apple sold it. But it remains to be seen if that will change anyone's opinion about bringing it back in Cupertino, especially since a lot of that feedback was public anyway. And finally, Hardmac claims to have read an internal memo from Steve Jobs himself about Blu-ray, and he reportedly holds his position that Blu-ray's DRM and licensing deals are far too restrictive for Apple to get involved with the standard. That's nothing new -- Jobs also says that without DRM on iTunes, Apple was able to hit sales records and even finally get the Beatles, and that the future of media is in digital distribution and streaming, not a physical medium. All solid thinking, if you ask me. [via AppleInsider, MacRumors]
Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th
Consider the rumors quelled. Despite whispers that Apple would be starting up the Mac App Store in the final year of this decade (or the first of the next, depending on perspective), the Cupertino giant has just affirmed that it'll be 2011 before the general populace gets to dig their hands into it. January 6th is the opening date for the Mac App Store, and unfortunately for those still humming along on OS X 10.5, it'll be a Snow Leopard-only affair. Smack dab in the middle of CES, Apple plans to unleash the store in 90 countries, and it'll feature "paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities." Naturally, it'll be a free update, and it'll work more or less exactly like the App Store does on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As with those outlets, developers are able to set their own prices and then keep 70 percent of the revenue (provided it's a paid app). So, who's ready to blow a little Santa cash to ring in the new year?
New iMac and MacBook Pros coming in 2011?
We know, it's shocking, but some people think that Apple might actually introduce some new home and mobile computers next year. DigiTimes is reporting that MacBook Pro and iMac refreshes are coming, the latter specifically getting "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market." That certainly screams "smaller" and "cheaper" to us, but don't let us rain on your desktop-crushing, 55-inch all-in-one dreams. Regarding the MacBook Pro rumor, there are said to be four or more revised models arriving with "a slight change in chassis design" and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion onboard. Both sets of revisions are said to be due sometime in the first half of next year, which won't be "next" for very long at all.
Apple contributing to OpenJDK project, ensures continued Java availability on OS X
As of just a few weeks ago, Java's legacy of write once, debug everywhere was looking in doubt. Apple's flavor of the Java 6 runtime was deprecated and all those .class and .jar files on Macs were looking like they'd swirl to a lingering death in the great coffee pot in the sky. That all changes today with an announcement from both Apple and Oracle that Cupertino developers will "contribute most of the key components" for OpenJDK Java SE 7 implementations on 32- and 64-bit flavors of OS X, with runtime virtual machines set to cover both Snow Leopard and the upcoming Lion release. Additionally, Apple will continue to make the SE 6 version of Java available, while Oracle will take over responsibility for ownership and distribution of version 7 and those to come. Makes sense -- Apple might be pulling away from the enterprise and server markets, but there are lots of Java devs using Mac OS X out there, and it's only natural for Oracle to pick up support for them.
Apple patent reveals scrollable menus, toolbars for OS X Lion
Apple has filed a patent featuring some concepts for scrollable menus and toolbars that could eventually be used in the next version of OS X, 10.7 Lion. The new patent covers all kinds of things, from extra UI elements in the OS X desktop to special iOS menus and features. But they all look like what you see above -- an almost Cover Flow-like scrollable interface that boils down a series of functions or menus into a set of icons. I like it -- while the drawback seems to be that you'd have to really know what's available in the menu and where to find it (because you only see one icon at a time, you'll basically have to just get used to knowing what the other options are), the menu seems like a great way to put a lot of functionality easily reachable in a very small space. There are a few different "menu shapes" to help with this, too, from just one icon rotating to the foreground, to an entire wheel of icons all with different features or choices on them. As with all Apple patents, we'll note that these are strictly concepts, and there's no guarantee that a feature like this will actually show up in OS X. But it's good to see that Apple is still playing around with even very traditional UI interfaces like menus. Always nice to see innovation even in the growing-ever-older desktop space.
Switched On: The iPadification of Mac OS
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The title of Apple's recent Back to the Mac event turned out to have multiple meanings. The first was heralding a shift of Apple's event focus to the product that was once synonymous with the company. But it also had a more literal connotation, that traits associated both with iPad software and hardware would now be finding their way back to the Apple's computers. But the impact of this round trip could have different implications for hardware and software. Apple's new MacBook Air was cited as taking on traits associated with the iPad such as thinness, flash storage, longer battery life, and instant on. The new MacBook Air also dispenses with an optical drive, but so did the previous MacBook Air, and indeed so do nearly all netbooks and quite a few other "thin and light" notebook PCs. Most would agree that the new hardware choices produce desirable traits in an ultramobile notebook.
App Store for Mac highlights two major App Store flaws
The idea of a Mac App Store is great... from a certain point of view. As it currently exists, the App Store has several problems and limitations which could be fairly easily removed. 1. Demos/Trial Periods/Returns: I'm not going to state unequivocally that Apple will have demos in the Mac App Store, but I will state unequivocally that Apple should have demos in the Mac App Store. As noted earlier, the Mac App Store guidelines state "Apps that are 'beta', 'demo', 'trial', or 'test' versions will be rejected." That's the same as the iOS App Store guidelines. That should change. Demos aren't just for small developers. Apple has offered demos for their apps, including iWork and Aperture. Adobe and Microsoft have as well. They give users a chance to try out an application without having to commit to it. This concept is almost as old as computers themselves. Apple could address this very simply, without forcing users to understand 'demo' or 'trial' versions. All they need to do is say, "You have X days to change your mind after you download an app." Maybe it's two days, maybe seven, but some clearly defined window of opportunity. Most people are going to buy and go on. Some who buy and don't like it will delete it. The App Store will know what apps you have installed. If you delete it before the return window closes, Apple simply doesn't charge your credit card. That saves the developers from losing 30% of the cost of their app on a return, and Apple already purchases some length of time before processing them. Amazon lets users return Kindle content for 7 days after purchase (hat tip to Patrick Burleson for that one!), and Android has as similar return window. Don't tell me Apple can't do the same thing. 2. Upgrade pricing: Right now, developers have no way of giving free or discounted upgrades to existing customers. This has been a problem that Apple was going to need to address even without a Mac App Store. Sure you may be willing to spend $40 on OmniFocus for iPad, but are you going to be equally willing to spend $40 for version 2? The folks at Iconfactory were skewered over a $5 upgrade for Twitterrific, can you imagine what OmniGroup is going to face when their apps come up for upgrade? Again, this is a simple fix: Developers should be able to set two prices: one for those who have bought a previous version, and another for those who haven't. Apple knows your purchase history, and should simply display the appropriate price in the App Store. It's not rocket science. Apple doesn't do upgrade pricing for its consumer apps. If you go to buy iWork or iLife, you're paying the same price regardless of whether you've been an iLife user since the beginning or whether you're just picking it up. Logic Express, Aperture, Final Cut Express, and Final Cut Studio all have upgrade pricing. These are both problems which existed yesterday before there was a Mac App Store, but the existence of a Mac App Store just makes these two problems all the more obvious. Both could be easily fixed, but it's entirely up to Apple to fix them. Doing so will benefit not just Mac users, but iOS users too.
Mac App Store coming to OS X 10.6 and 10.7 'within 90 days'
During Apple's "Back to the Mac" press event (happening now!), Steve Jobs introduced the Mac App Store, a Mac OS X variant of the hugely successful iOS App Store seen on its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad products. Like the portable counterpart, the Mac App Store offers an app clearinghouse ("the best place to discover apps," in Apple's words), one-click downloads, both free and paid apps (which will share the same 70/30 revenue split between developers and Apple as the iOS App Store), and automatic installation and app updates. Apps you purchase from the Mac App Store will be licensed for use on all your personal Macs – we imagine you'll be required to authenticate with your Apple ID on each system. While the Mac App Store will be arriving with copies of OS X 10.7, dubbed "Lion," this summer, Jobs revealed that Apple would be releasing this feature early. "We don't want to wait for Lion," Jobs said. "We're going to put it out on Snow Leopard, and will open within 90 days." For any game developers who want to get in on the desktop-oriented gold rush, Apple is accepting app submissions beginning in November. At least for now, there doesn't appear to be any reason to worry about the relatively "open" confines of Mac OS becoming any more iPad-like ... Let's at least wait and see how this Mac App Store does first.
OS X 10.7 "Lion" Announced
Steve Jobs has just announced the eighth iteration of OS X, dubbed Lion, complete with a monumental new feature, the Mac App Store. Other changes are still pouring in, such as improvements to syncing, full screen app displays, auto-updates, Mission Control (a combination of Spaces and Expose), gestures and more. Read more about OS X Lion on Apple's site here. Updates: Lion will be available summer 2011. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 days.
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion announced, coming summer 2011
As promised, Apple today offered a preview of Mac OS X 10.7, a.k.a "Lion," which Steve Jobs says has been inspired by the company's efforts with iOS. That inspiration has resulted in an expanded use of multitouch gestures (but not on a vertical screen), an emphasis on iPad-like full screen applications, and -- here's the big one -- an App Store for OS X (which will also be coming to Snow Leopard). Also new is the Launchpad application launcher, which will give you an iPad-like grid of icons and let you create iOS-style folders for applications, and the all-new Mission Control, which offers a unified view of all your open windows, open apps, and your dock. No exact launch date just yet, but Apple says Lion will roll out sometime in the summer of 2011 -- head on past the break for the full press release. %Gallery-105532%
