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Chrome hits version 14, adds Lion features
Google has issued a new stable, public release of its popular Chrome web browser. For developers, Chrome version 14 adds the new Web Audio API, which allows developers to add cool audio effects like room simulation and spatialization. However, the best things about Chrome 14 are the enhancements for OS X Lion users. Chrome 14 finally adds native Lion full-screen mode support. The browser also features a number of Lion "visual polishes" as well as support for Lion's overlay scroll bars. Google Chrome version 14 is a free download.
Stable release of Chrome 14 out now, brings a few upgrades for Lion users
The very latest software goodness from Google has arrived, with Chrome hitting its 14th iteration (celebration, anyone?). This one gives Mac OS X Lion users a little something extra, with access to overlay scrollbars within the browser. Chrome can also can also upsize itself now -- accessible with a tap of the full-screen button or the more conventional Ctrl+Shift+F. The new web audio API gives developers the ability to add fancy sound effects and adjustments, whilst native client is an open-source addition; though this only supports apps in Chrome's web store, it allows C and C++ code to be executed within the browser. Google adds that there's been the usual bug clear-out, with the whole thing benefitting from a bit more polish -- gotta keep up with those pesky web apps! If you're already running Chrome, the automatic update should have kicked in, and new users can nab the download from the source below. If it's good enough for Gaga... [Thanks, Michael]
Developers get a new build of 10.7.2
As 9to5Mac reports, there's a brand new build of Lion 10.7.2 out there in the wild for developers, featuring focused work on iCloud, the Mac App Store, MobileMe, and a few other places like Mail, Spotlight, Time Machine, and even things like the AddressBook and graphics drivers. This is build 11C57, coming only a few days after the last build, 11C55. We'd like to think that the increasing frequency of releases (along with the fact that there are no known issues in this build) means that a public release is right around the corner, but of course Apple is going to take its time. At any rate, devs, go check it out and make sure it's ship shape so the rest of us can see it soon.
Nisus updates Writer Pro for Lion
Nisus has updated its Nisus Writer Pro and Nisus Writer Express software with full OS X 10.7 Lion-compatibility and full-screen features. Besides the Lion features, Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 adds a number of requested features like drawing tools, track changes, and watermarks. Nisus Writer Express 3.4 also adds a file importer that is compatible with both Intel and PowerPC Macs. Nisus Writer has been around for the Mac since 1989 and was the first word processor to handle multiple type systems in its file format. Since then the program has begun to show its age. The UI is a little clunky, retaining a OS X Jaguar-style look that many who are used to Word or Pages might not appreciate. However, for you old timers, the Nisus Writer updates are a nice touch to ensure continued compatibility with the latest OS X. Nisus Writer Express and Nisus Writer Pro are universal apps and require Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or later. Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.1 is available online for US$79.00 or a $49.00 upgrade price for owners of 1.x. A three license Family Pack is also available for $99.00. Nisus Writer Express 3.4 is $45 or $30 for the upgrade version. A three license Family Pack is available for $79. These updates are free to current license holders of Express 3.x and Pro.
Apple releases MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 (Update: Mac mini updated too)
Apple has released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 for 2011-model MacBook Pros. The update addresses the same Thunderbolt and OS X Lion Internet Recovery issues as the EFI Firmware Update issued two days ago for 2011-model MacBook Airs. The 4.17 MB firmware update is available at Apple's site and requires you to ensure that power is not interrupted to your MacBook Pro during the update; firmware updates are Serious Business which, if interrupted, can put your Mac in Very Bad Shape. Other sites have noted that the recent spate of firmware updates for Thunderbolt-enabled Macs points to the imminent availability of Apple's new Thunderbolt-enabled Cinema Display. Update: The 2011-model Mac mini has been issued the same firmware update to address the same issues.
Dear Aunt TUAW: What happened to double-clicking dividers?
Dear Aunt TUAW, When using Finder and viewing files in "details" view, you used to be able in Snow Leopard and "below" to double-click on the file "divider" to automatically expand the file name column to be able to see the entire file or folder name within that folder. In Lion you have to manually drag the divider to be able to see the entire file or folder name. Is there something i can change in the settings within Lion to change it back to the way Snow Leopard worked, when double-clicking the divider would automatically expand the column to see the longest file or folder's name within that folder? Your loving nephew, Tommy F. Dear Tommy, As far as Auntie can tell, this still works the same in Lion. Called right-sizing, this allows you to fit the column to its text contents. Perhaps you weren't double-clicking the right-size handle? It looks like a pause button and is found at the bottom of each column. You know you're in the right place because the cursor switches from an arrow to a resize handle (vertical line with arrows pointing out to each side.) Here's a quick video showing right-sizing in action. Did you know that there's also a right-size contextual pop-up menu? Just right-click the Right Size handle to bring it into view. Hugs, Auntie T. Update: Auntie took Tommy's "details view" as meaning the column view, when you can click on any item and see its details and preview. Commenters disagree. Could you right-size list-view columns in Snow Leopard?
Macworld's tips to make OS X Lion's iCal less annoying
The changes made to iCal in OS X Lion have definitely been polarizing, and even some of the novice Mac users I know have found some of them questionable. The word "fugly" has come up more than once when discussing iCal's new faux-leather trim, an interface choice that makes a little more sense on the iPad than it does on the Mac. Macworld came up with a few tips to dispatch some of the annoyances introduced in OS X Lion's version of iCal, including the new UI elements. Rather than copy all Macworld's tips here wholesale, I'll recommend you head there and check their advice for yourself. I will highlight one of their tips: getting rid of that execrable leather trim is not only possible, it's quite easy via a third-party program called Lion Tweaks, recommended by Macworld. The application bundles together several of the Lion-related tweaks covered here and elsewhere in an interface that's about as simple as it gets. Reverting iCal's skin to a nice, bland aluminum took less than a minute, and my eyes thank me for it. It's a modestly "hacky" solution to a purely aesthetic problem, but it's preferable to that oddball skeuomorphic design. Even after implementing all the recommended tweaks, it's worth noting that the article writer himself says that ultimately, "Use a better calendar program" is his top recommendation. For my part, the only reason I stick with iCal on the Mac is its integration with the Calendar apps on the iPhone and iPad via MobileMe (and soon iCloud).
MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.1 addresses Thunderbolt issues
Apple has released MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.1 to address issues with Thunderbolt performance and OS X Lion Recovery over the Internet on 2011-model MacBook Airs. According to Apple, the update is intended to "resolve issues with Apple Thunderbolt Display compatibility and Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance on MacBook Air (mid 2011) models." The 3.99 MB update is fairly large as firmware updates go (they're usually less than a megabyte), and as with all firmware updates, Apple emphasizes that you must not interrupt your Mac's power during the update lest you risk turning it into a very attractive brick. The update requires OS X Lion, which is pre-installed on affected model MacBook Airs.
New OS X 10.7.2 seed posted
The latest developer seed build of the next version of the Mac's OS is available for download. OS X 10.7.2 build 11C55 is on Apple's servers, and it reportedly includes iCloud beta features for testing. As always, we remind developers and testers to read the release notes carefully before installing.
Laptop magazine gives Lion the thumbs-up over Windows 7
This week, Laptop compared OS X Lion versus Windows 7 to determine which operating system was "better," both overall and in individual features. OS X Lion took Laptop's top overall score, mostly on the strength of Lion's better interface, Multi-Touch gestures, Spotlight, iLife, and Time Machine. Lion's parental controls also got the nod for being slightly broader in scope than those offered in Windows 7, and Lion was also hailed as a more secure OS than Windows -- not for the usual "security by obscurity" reasons that such studies usually like to hammer to death, but for real improvements in the more secure way Lion handles applications. Windows 7 offered a better multitasking experience for Laptop's money; the magazine considered Mission Control a decent but "confusing" interface in Lion. Windows 7 also took the crown for a better gaming experience -- I don't think anyone will be surprised by that -- and the magazine also considered Internet Explorer a better native browser than Safari. I'll be honest, I hate Internet Explorer more than I'm comfortable describing fully in a "family-friendly" format; however, as long as I'm being honest I'll also say that aside from iTunes, Safari feels like the part of OS X that still needs the most work. Apple's added some gee-whiz features like Reader to its browser, but in terms of overall functionality (and stability) Safari doesn't feel like it's changed much in the past couple years. Unless you're counting the nasty new memory leak introduced with Safari 5.1, that is, or the tab-reloading oddness that's causing issues. The one portion of Laptop's rankings that I strongly disagree with is the magazine awarding Windows 7 higher marks for value than OS X Lion. The main reason I disagree with their analysis is that they don't actually compare Lion to Windows; instead, they compare Macs to PCs. While it's generally true that Mac hardware is more expensive than "equivalent" PC hardware, if you're going to make an apples-to-apples comparison you need to compare the operating systems themselves and not the hardware they run on. And as we've pointed out in the past, in terms of value for money OS X Lion blows all versions of Windows 7 away. Naturally, since the magazine put Lion on top it's being roundly accused of a pro-Apple bias by Windows fans who can't seem to accept that Apple does indeed manage to do some things better than Microsoft. But with the sole exception of the "value" category, I'd say Laptop's comparison was fairly even-handed overall. I'll reluctantly admit that Windows is still better at some things than OS X, but just as Laptop claims, I maintain OS X Lion is the better choice overall. Hat tip to Mark S.
Snow Leopard and Lion neck and neck on Thunderbolt file transfers
Macworld has been doing some more testing in Thunderbolt performance, this time between the Snow Leopard and Lion operating systems. The results say that if you spent that $30 on Lion just so your Thunderbolt connection would go faster, you probably wasted your money. Results weren't that different, coming in only a few megabytes a second apart but still well within the optimum speed for the various transfer services. In general, Thunderbolt's going to be fast no matter what operating system you're using it on. Macworld also did some testing between the MacBook Air and the 17" MacBook Pro, and again, while the Air's flash memory gave it the edge in a file writing test, most of the speeds didn't differ more than a couple of megabytes. In other words, there are quite a few other, more important considerations to keep in mind when you're looking for a system, besides just how it runs Thunderbolt. If you're looking for what will really limit or boost your file transfer performance, you'd do better to look elsewhere.
Dear Aunt TUAW: What's wrong with Lion VNC?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I recently upgraded to Lion 10.7 and have found that VNC (I use iteleport) on Lion has not been working. I have searched far and wide across the jungles and valleys of the interweb to no avail. I did find that I am not the only one having this problem. Any help you could provide would be much appreciated Thanks, Niko Dear Niko, Apple's Screen Sharing / Remote Desktop Server appears to have a bug related to mouse movement feedback. Auntie contacted iTeleport Mobile, who helpfully pointed her to this page. Apple says they're working on a fix. In the meantime, iTeleport offers a workaround by suggesting you adjust your primary display so it lies to the left of all other displays. What's more, Jahanzeb Sherwani of iTeleport promised to get in touch with you directly to help you work through your current problems. Expect a letter in your in-box. Thank you, Jahanzeb! Hugs, Auntie T.
Three ways to change Lion's Finder window sidebar
It took me a little while, but I finally last weekend updated to Lion, and so far ... I think I like it. I kind of miss my old Spaces feature, and I did turn off reverse scrolling right away, but it does seem to run better than Snow Leopard, and Mission Control is pretty sweet. Another thing I'm not a huge fan of, however, is the new Finder sidebar -- it's pretty bland, and not quite as clear or useful as the one in Snow Leopard. Fortunately, that's pretty easy to fix, and ZDnet has a few good ways to do it. This SIMBL plugin will put a little color back in those icons, if you like, and you can do a little plist tweaking in Lion to switch around the order of the various devices and sources listed on the side of the screen. Finally, if you're ending up with aliases in the Finder sidebar that lose the source they're originally alias'ed from, you can drag-and-CMD-drop them to erase them once and for all. Apple of course makes all of these changes with good intentions, and maybe there are good reasons to do things like drain all the color out of the interface (maybe it allows you to focus more on the important stuff: your files in the other window). But for those of us who like the old ways best, it's good to know we've got options.
Adobe rolls out cloud-based Carousel photo service for Apple devices
Looking for another way to store your photos that doesn't involve a shoebox in your closet or a hard drive on your desk? Then you now also have Adobe's new cloud-based Carousel service to consider, which will initially come in the form of apps for iOS and Mac OS X Lion later this month (support for Windows and Android is apparently coming next year). The real selling point here is that your photos are instantly synced across said devices (and you can edit them on each), although that convenience comes at a cost -- the apps themselves are free but you'll be charged $60 a year or $6 per month until January, and $100 a year or $10 a month after that. Video is after the break.
Adobe Carousel uploads, syncs photos with Apple devices
Adobe plans to launch a new app and service for Apple devices called Carousel. The service will allow users to automatically upload, store, and sync photos from multiple devices, create galleries, and perform non-destructive editing on photos by keeping originals stored on Adobe's servers. With the exception of the non-destructive editing feature, Carousel sounds similar to Apple's existing MobileMe Gallery and pending iCloud Photo Stream features. Crave reports that the service has some potentially hamstringing restrictions as well: users are limited to only five Carousels and can share each with only four other people, viewing Carousels requires downloading the app first, and the service only works on iPads, iPhone 3GS or later, the fourth-generation iPod touch, and Macs running OS X Lion. Windows and Android users need not apply, at least for now. Since this is Adobe, the service also comes with a hefty price tag. After a 30-day free trial, the service costs US$5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. After January, however, the price will rise to $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Granted, that is for "unlimited" photo storage, while iCloud's free Photo Stream will store only your latest 1000 photos. However, even as someone with close to 100 GB of photos lurking on the various hard drives scattered through my house, Carousel's limited audience and high price has put me off. Professional photographers with huge libraries might want to give Carousel a go, but beyond that it's hard to see the service gaining much traction. Carousel should be available in the App Store later this month. Once it's available, we'll take a look at it and see if it lives up to its price.
MacUpdate bundle offers 11 apps for $49
MacUpdate is doing it again. That is, they're offering a bunch of great Mac software in one single bundle that costs just $49.99. So what's in the bundle? Here we go: Toast 11 Titanium, Data Rescue 3, FX Photo Studio Pro 2.0, Fantastical, iStat Menus, PhoneView, Concealer, EarthDesk, Mellel and Bookends. And if you're one of the first 10,000 to purchase the bundle, you'll get Printopia thrown in with it, too. Now that's some great software. All the apps are Mac OS Lion compatible, and you'll get the very latest release of each version. Not to throw you a sales pitch, but if you were to buy all of these apps separately you'd spend $487. Which means if you purchase the MacUpdate bundle, you'll be getting yourself a 90% discount. In these austere times, that's not something to sneeze at -- especially if you've recently purchased a new Mac and you're looking to load it up with some nifty apps. The MacUpdate offer expires in just over 14 days, which gives you more than enough time to count your pennies. Click here for details on all the apps over at MacUpdate
Sonos updates software for iOS 5, Lion
It has taken a long time but the Sonos software is now Lion friendly. When Lion came out in July, Apple substantially changed the way shares work, and the popular Sonos home music system depended on the SMB protocol to share with your iTunes library. In Lion, Apple moved to a proprietary method, and that started the problems and caused a lot of anger among Sonos owners. Streaming services like Pandora, SiriusXM, or Spotify worked fine, but you couldn't get access to you own music if you had your files on your main computer or an external drive. Some people had their music on a Network Attached Storage device, or NAS, but Lion broke some of those as well. I've tested the Sonos update, and it does the trick, which will make music starved Sonos customers happy. If you are using the iOS Sonos remote apps have an update today as well. Happy listening.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Where are my versions?
Dear Aunt TUAW, Hi, I found (the hard way) what seems to be a bug in Lion's new "Versions" feature. If I take an image that is on the desktop, make an edit (e.g. annotate it) and then quit Preview, it automatically saves the change. Then if I open the file again, I can use File->Revert to Saved, and restore the original, all fine. However, when the image is on my USB memory stick, it is all good until I try to restore the original version. It says "No previous version available" and "Time Machine can't find your backup disk." This is obviously a huge problem. If I make edits to an image on the USB stick, I need to manually undo everything before quitting to prevent them from being saved. Is this an issue on your computers as well, or is it just me? Your loving nephew, Romesh Dear Romesh, Versions does not work on non-HFS+ volumes. It's likely the format of your flash drive causing these issues. Normally, Lion saves your app versions in .DocumentRevisions-V100 in the hard drive root, but only on HFS+. When you edit a file on an unsupported volume, Lion deletes temporary versions when you close the document. That's why you're seeing that behavior. There are no versions to recover to when you work outside of HFS+. You can easily reformat your thumb drive to HFS+ in Disk Utility. Follow the directions in this post for partitioning and formatting the stick. Once reformatted, Lion will be able to create the revisions folder, and allow Preview to access those earlier versions. Another advantage for HFS+ formatting is this: when you use HFS+ you can also use FileVault on your USB sticks, which will prevent anyone from being able to read its contents if it's lost/stolen. Auntie has added a few extra versioning notes for the interested (read "geeks") below this response. Hugs, Auntie T. The Document Interaction Control Menu Here are a few tips about versioning that you might not have known about. You've already seen the document interaction menu, the triangle-based drop-down menu that appears to the right of the file name in the title bar. When accessed, it looks like this. When you select Browse All Versions, did you know that you could use the option key to change the "Restore" option into "Restore a Copy"? Also, did you know that the document interaction menu also appears inside the version browser? Click to the right of each file name on the history stack and you'll find the option to "Delete this version". If you hold down the option key, that changes to "Delete Old Versions", allowing you to clean up the entire history at once. The Versions Infrastructure
New OS X 10.7.2 and iCloud beta builds seeded to developers
As first noted by MacRumors, Apple has pushed OS X 10.7.2 Build 11C48 and iCloud Beta 10 to developers today. The new builds come just one week after the previous builds. While no details of changes to the builds are known at this time, Apple asked developers to pay attention to AirPort, AppKit, GraphicsDrivers, iCal, iChat, Mac App Store, Mail, Spotlight, and Time Machine in the previous build.
Mac App Store highlights 'Enhanced for OS X Lion' apps
Apple has highlighted several apps on the Mac App Store that have been "Enhanced for OS X Lion." Apple's own iLife and iWork apps occupy the top spots, naturally, but over forty third-party apps are featured too. In Apple's words, "OS X Lion is packed with innovative features including Multi-Touch Gestures, Full-Screen Apps, Resume, Auto-Save, and Versions. Here are the apps and games currently taking advantage of these new enhancements." Apple's featured a wide array of apps, so there should be something there for everyone. If you're running OS X Lion, it's definitely worth a look.
