Mac OS X Lion
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So you got a Raspberry Pi: now what?
When the Raspberry Pi was released earlier this year, the credit-card-sized Linux machine became an instant hit. The night it became available to order, both Premier Farnell/element14 and RS Components, the official distributors of the Pi project, exhibited the signs of a late '90s Slashdot effect: you could barely even get the two sites to load. Fast forward to today, and you can finally get your hands on one within three weeks. The Raspberry Pi is truly the Linux device of the year, if not the past decade. Follow past the break and we'll show you how to set yours up now that you've actually succeeded in snagging one.
Apple: 26 million copies of Lion OS sold, 66 million Mac users
As we try to get to our feet after that tidal wave of hardware announcements, Apple's moved onto Mac OS, quoting with some impressive new figures. Over 26 million copies of OS X Lion have now been sold, making it Apple's "best-selling release ever." Meanwhile, Mac users now total over 66 million -- that's three times the number in 2007. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub!
Microsoft Skydrive updates fly out with file jump, Windows 8 photo sync
Microsoft isn't resting on its cloud with SkyDrive -- it's announcing a new update, which rolls out today for Mac and Windows. It teased a new feature for Windows 8 Release Preview -- due early June -- that allows photos to be retrieved from any PC with SkyDrive, whether your cloud storage is maxed out or not. Though we doubt you've topped out your 150,000 file limit, Redmond says it's taking power users into account with a huge bump to 10 million files -- with the same 7GB free / 100GB paid limits. It's also promised more speed and reliability, many small bug fixes, and has dropped the app icon from the OS X Lion dock -- saying it "definitely heard feedback" to do it. Updates will happen automatically, so you might be able to shoot more of those dusty files off to the cloud sooner than you think.
Photoshop CS6 to require 64-bit multi-core Mac
Adobe is following Apple's lead with OS X 10.7 Lion and ending support for 32-bit Macintosh systems. Starting with Adobe Photoshop CS6, Mac users must have a 64-bit, multi-core system with at least OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. If you have a Core 2 Duo or a Core iX system then you should be ready for the next version of Photoshop when it is released. If you have a Core Duo or older machine, then you should stay with CS5 and not upgrade to CS6. If you are not sure about your hardware, then check out this Apple support document which'll tell how to find out whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit system. [Via CNET]
Mac OS X 10.7.3 hits Software Update, ready to plug bugs on your Wednesday
How about a 700+ megabyte download to spice up your Wednesday? Apple's just unleashed an update to Lion, bumping its feline all the way up 10.7.3. Those braving the rather portly update can look forward to a bevy of new languages, a new version of Safari (5.1.3) and a fix for a nasty WiFi reconnection bug upon waking from sleep. Also buried in the release notes are RAW support for "more cameras" and a bevy of tweaks for those sharing files with Windows machines. Don't believe us? Hit Cupertino's source link for the full rundown.
VMware View delivers virtual Windows machines on Linux, OS X and Kindle Fire
There are very few places left in this world where you can't access a virtualized Windows PC. VMware has its, well, wares available on almost every platform imaginable. Its View client, for connecting to remotely-hosted enterprise servers has become a particularly integral part of the company's plan to put powerful virtualization tools at the tips of your fingers. After debuting on the iPad back in March, followed shortly afterwards by an Android edition, VMware View is now coming to Mac and Linux machines as well as the Kindle Fire. The feature set doesn't contain many surprises, but full screen support in Lion makes a welcome appearance in the list. The app should already be appearing in the Amazon App Store and the Ubuntu Software Center, though you wont find it in the Mac App Store... at least not yet. Check out the complete PR after the break.
Mac 101: Locating the root path of a Pages document in Pages
Here is a Mac 101 tip for novice Mac users. Running Pages in Mac OS X Lion means you never have to worry about saving a document, it just happens automatically. While this is wonderful, this new feature has caused me to scratch my head a few times while I acclimatise to this simple, but quite different way of saving documents. In previous versions of Mac OS X, when working on a document, very often I would hit "Save as..." from the File menu to (double) check where I had saved my document or to rename my document as it went through various titles. The problem I've found with Versions and Auto Save in Lion (or where I've struggled to adjust!) is that once you've created and titled a document by saving it, you're left with "Save a Version," which means you can't locate where you've saved your document or rename the title of your document from within Pages. Fortunately, there's an older feature of Mac OS X that helps you easily identify where you've saved your document. And I'm not talking about going to Finder or Spotlight to search for it. You can view the root path of your document right from within Pages. Simply hit and hold the Control key on your keyboard (or right-click on your mouse) and click on the title of your document at the top of the Pages window. This will bring up the root path of your document so you can easily see where you document is stored on your computer. Note that you must aim carefully when clicking on the menu bar. If you're in an app that supports Versions, a click on the right-hand side will reveal the Versions menu, and that's not what we want in this instance. If you see the disclosure triangle appear beneath your cursor, move a few pixels to the left.
Poll: Which version of Mac OS X are you running?
According to Chitika, an analytics company, Mac OS X Lion only holds 16% of the Mac OS market share, trailing behind Snow Leopard (56%) and Leopard (22%) -- indicating poor adoption of the newest operating system in comparison to previous releases. Even though Apple announced over a million downloads of Mac OS X Lion with in the first day of its release, and in October Tim Cook announced that Apple had sold 6 million copies of Lion since its launch, claiming a massive 80% growth over Snow Leopard, according to Chitika, that pace has significantly slowed down. Chitika cites stability issues (Wi-Fi and MacBook Pro battery performance) and dislike of the iOS-like UI features as reasons for the supposed slow adoption of the new OS. Now we've all had our gripes with Lion, but from where we're standing, we're pretty much happy with what the OS has to offer. So we thought it would be great to see just how many of our TUAW readers are running Mac OS X Lion, as opposed to Snow Leopard, Tiger or another operating system. [Via BGR] %Poll-70868%
Windows 7 overtakes XP globally, Vista found weeping in a corner
According to StatCounter, it's taken roughly two years for Redmond's latest to surpass XP and become the world's most popular operating system. October 2011 marks the first time that Windows 7 has overtaken XP globally, with a 40 percent share of the market versus the latter's 38. As for Vista, it's been holding steady at around 11. Not that it's much of a surprise, as in North America, Windows 7 took the crown back in April of this year. Rounding out the top five, are OS X (though it's not clear whether that captures all of Cupertino's beasts) and Linux, which come in at 7 and 0.82 percent respectively. But don't take our word for it, hop on over to the source links and get your interactive chart on. [Thanks, Pipera]
Lion Ultimatum brings desktop-like functionality and file manager to jailbroken iOS (video)
Sure, OS X Lion borrowed many of its design cues from Apple's iOS platform, but now users of jailbroken iPhone and iPod Touch devices may bring much of the desktop Mac's functionality onto their handset with Lion Ultimatum. In essence, this beta project is a theme for Dreamboard (which is required software), but it's rather far-reaching, with a functional file manager and Finder menus, a scrollable dock and draggable windows, along with Stacks, Launchpad, Mission Control and Dashboard. There's also a customizable lock screen that provides access to the dialer, email and messages. Even the keyboard can be modified to resemble the design of MacBook Pro or the traditional Apple Keyboard, thanks to integration with ColorKeyboard. If you're thirsty for more, hop the break for an extended video preview, or just follow the source for the full install instructions. [Thanks, Adam]
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]
VMware Fusion 4 brings full Lion support, wants to make Windows act less like Windows
Leave it to VMware to put the spotlight back on Lion when this is, without a doubt, Windows 8's week. The company just announced Fusion 4, the latest version of its virtualization software, and, as you'd expect, it pledges to play nice with Apple's newly minted OS. In addition to fully supporting Lion features like Spotlight, though, it makes Windows look more like, well, a Mac. The software includes improved support for Expose and Spaces on the Windows side, and adds the ability to use Mission Control and launch Windows apps from Launchpad. Additionally, you can run Lion as a virtual machine within Snow Leopard and VMware makes vague claims about improved performance, 3D graphics and resource-hogging. It'll cost $50 through the end of the year, with the price jumping up to $80 in January. Fittingly enough, VMware picked up on the fact that Apple's moving away from optical drives, and instead chose to ship the software with a USB drive (you can also download it and do the whole drag-and-drop installation thing). Oh, and if you bought the last-gen version of the software on July 20th or later, you'll get the new version gratis. Lots of screen shots below, and full PR after the break.%Gallery-133556%
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.
Apple releases Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, asserts its dominance over Snow Leopard
Distributing your OS digitally certainly makes for an easy upgrade, but what happens when your hard disk spontaneously combusts -- taking Lion's recovery partition with it? Unless you planned ahead and rolled your own install image, you were stuck taking an arduous and painful detour back to Snow Leopard before being given the chance to re-up with Cupertino's latest. That changes today, with the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, a utility that duplicates the OS's recovery partition onto an external drive of your choosing -- allowing you to boot directly into an installer which'll re-download the latest jungle cat, sans sojourn to 10.6. To do so, you'll need an external drive larger than 1GB, a machine running Lion, and the 1MB assistant we've linked below. Godspeed Apple fanboys, but to the rest of you -- now would be a pretty good time to verify those backups are still in working order, yeah?
Apple iCloud and iWork beta for iOS hands-on
We've had a few weeks to get accustomed to iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion, but one headlining feature has been notably inaccessible since it was unveiled earlier this summer. During his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs touted iCloud as a service that will sync many of your Apple devices, for free. Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Windows computers can synchronize documents, contacts, calendar appointments, and other data. You'll also be able to back up your iOS devices remotely, use an Apple-hosted email account, and store your music in the cloud. Well, this week Apple finally lit up its cloud-based service for developers, letting some of us take a sneak peek at the new service. Apple also announced pricing, confirming that you'll be able to add annual subscriptions with 10GB ($20), 20GB ($40), or 50GB ($100) of storage 'atop your free 5GB account. We took our five gig account for a spin, creating documents in Pages, spreadsheets in Numbers, and presentations in Keynote, then accessing them from the iCloud web interface to download Microsoft Office and PDF versions. We also tried our luck at iOS data syncing and the soon-to-be-controversial Photo Stream, so jump past the break for our full iCloud hands-on.%Gallery-129793%
Apple launches iCloud and iWork betas, confirms pricing for extra capacity
MobileMe's impending demise just got one step closer, folks. Apple's updated iCloud.com to now sport an official login page with what we're assuming is Cupertino's rendition of a CNC-machined aluminum unibody badge. It looks like those of you rocking iOS 5 or OS X 10.7.2 and who've also created an iCloud account are probably already busy frolicking through email, editing contacts and slinging calendar events all from the comfort of your browser. Those services already existed under its predecessor, but it looks as if Cupertino has spruced 'em up with fresh paint jobs. A screenshot from MacRumors also shows the addition of an iWork section, which we'd surmise means the previously siloed iWork beta now has a new place to call home. We couldn't get past the migration step with our trusty MobileMe account (disappointing proof is after the break), but you're more than welcome to tap the more coverage link and have a go yourself. Oh, and if you're wondering how much it'll cost you to claim more than those 5GB that Apple's tossing in gratis, the folks over at Electronista have confirmed that an extra 10GB will cost $20 per year, while an extra 20GB runs $40 / year and an extra 50GB will demand $100 per annum. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Mac mini review (mid 2011)
For those familiar with last year's Mac mini, what you're peering at above isn't likely to strike you as jarring. Heck, it may even seem somewhat vanilla at this point. In truth, Apple did exceedingly little in terms of design changes with the mid 2011 Mac mini, but given the relatively recent cosmetic overhaul, it's not like we were genuinely expecting anything above a top-to-bottom spec bump. And that, friends, is exactly what we've received. The mini remains quite the curious beast in Cupertino's line -- it's the almost-HTPC that living room junkies are longing for, yet it's still a country mile from being the headless mid-tower that Apple steadfastly refuses to build. It's hardly a PC for the simpleton (given that it's on you to hunt down a mouse, keyboard and monitor), and it's actually taking a giant leap backwards on one particularly important front. Care to hear more? You'll find our full review just past the break. %Gallery-129019%
Mac OS X Lion: what's broken (or working) for you?
Funny -- we (almost) asked this same exact question in August of 2009, just after Snow Leopard had been loosed on the unsuspecting public. But as fate seems to have it, each and every OS overhaul brings gobs of issues, and regardless of how hard the problem finders in Cupertino work, there's simply too many unchecked variables to squash each and every bug prior to release. And with that, we present to you just a handful of the biggest quirks that have cropped up since a cool million of you downloaded Lion. For one, you can kiss Rosetta support goodbye, and secondly, it seems as if 10.7 is seriously cramping third-party NAS support for Time Machine. We've also had numerous reports from folks that are having issues dragging application installs to their Applications folder, not to mention an uptick in Guest account crashes. Of course, there's also the whole "I can't get my free update to Lion!" thing, busted Windows partitions and a veritable plethora of dilemmas when looking at Pro Tools and Cubase. Hit the links below to join the misery party, or feel free to start your own in comments below. Oh, and if you're furious that Lion and its incompatibilities have ruined your livelihood... well, welcome to the downside of early adoption. Here's hoping a raft of updates cures whatever's ailing you in the days and weeks to come. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] %Poll-66676%
Poll: Did you download Mac OS X Lion (10.7)?
Apple confirmed Lion's big day during the company's Q3 earnings call this week, and Mac OS 10.7 hit the App Store right on schedule yesterday morning, allowing us to give Snow Leopard the boot and make room for the king of the jungle. We've already installed Lion on a half-dozen of our own systems, testing the new operating system with a variety of configurations for our review. But we want to know about your experience. Did you pull an all-nighter on Tuesday, backing up files, reformatting drives, and updating to 10.6.8? Are you still rockin' dial-up and waiting for the $69 flash drive version to ship next month? Or perhaps you're a PC user, holding out for Windows 8? Let us know in the poll below, and feel free to expand on your decision in the comments as well.%Poll-66596%
Mac OS X Lion and Launchpad
Mac OS X Lion introduces Launchpad, an app launcher that borrows heavily from iOS. With the flick of a gesture, you can open Launchpad and have access to your applications. Once Launchpad is running, you can sort, organize and delete your apps. Here's what to expect from Lauchpad. Opening Launchpad To use Launchpad, you must, well, launch it. Fortunately, Apple provides several methods. The easiest is a with a Multi-Touch gesture. Note that you'll need a trackpad for this, either one built into your laptop or Apple's Magic Trackpad. Unfortunately, the Magic Mouse does not offer a gesture to launch Launchpad. To open Launchpad with a gesture, place three fingers and a thumb on the trackpad, slightly spread apart. Gather them all together, as if you're picking up something small, like a paper clip. As you do, Launchpad will open. Those without a Multi-Touch surface can either click the Launchpad icon (Lion adds it to the dock) or assign it to hot corner via the Screen Saver preference pane. Then you can move your cursor into that corner to open Launchpad. %Gallery-128696% Navigating Launchpad Launchpad displays your apps on pages, much as iOS does. You can move from page to page with a gesture, with a mouse or with your keyboard. Here's how. Those with a tracked (built-in or Magic Trackpad) can swipe with two fingers. If you've got a mouse with a scroll wheel, move the wheel left or right. Finally, the arrow keys on your keyboard also work. Organizing, Launching and Adding Apps Anyone with an iOS device will find this familiar. Laucnhpad lets or re-arrange your apps and sort them into folders. To organize things, simply click and hold on an icon, drag it to its new location and drop it in place. You'll see the surrounding icons scoot out of the way, just like iOS apps. Creating folders also works as it does on the iPhone, etc. Grab an icon and drop it onto another. A folder is created right away. You can accept the suggested name or use your own by double-clicking the title Lion provides and typing over it. When you're through, click anywhere outside the folder. Finally, folders can be re-ordered with a simple drag and drop. There are two ways to add an application to Launchpad. The first is to make a purchase from the Mac App Store. That app will "jump" out of the store's window and open Launchpad. It's icon will display a progress bar as the app loads an is installed (again, much like iOS). Apps not purchased from the App Sore are added to Launchpad when placed in your Applications folder. To launch an application, simply give it a click. You'll exit Launchpad for the desktop as the app launches. Deleting Apps You can delete apps via "Jiggle Mode," another feature borrowed from iOS. Click and hold on an icon to get them shaking. You'll see the familiar "X" appear in the upper left-hand corner of apps available for deletion. Click it and a confirmation dialog box appears. Click "Delete" and poof! The app is gone. You'll notice I said "available for deletion." Not all apps can be deleted via Launchpad jiggle mode. For example, apps that ship with Lion (like Photo Booth) and those not purchased from the Mac App Store. What Launchpad Can't Do Lauchpad is a capable app launcher, but there are several things it can't do. For example, you can't add a folder to Launchpad. Also, documents and aliases can't be added. Those interested in scripting, file manipulation, etc. ought to consider Alfred, LaunchBar etc. as a supplement to Launchpad. Thoughts I can tell you right now that there will be a large, vocal group of nerds who merrily bash Launchpad. They'll call it underpowered eye-candy, lacking in more advanced features. But really, that's not what Launchpad is meant to be. Instead, it offers a convenient way to find an app, launch it and then get back to what you were doing. As with iOS, you can put your most frequently-used apps front and center. No more scrolling through the Applications folder, stuffing your Dock to its gills or lining up aliases on the desktop. Launchpad is all about ease and convenience. In this area, it excels. Sure, it's for so-called "end users." But we nerds forget that those folks make up the majority of computer users. I suspect that most of them will love Launchpad. The images used in this article are taken from the upcoming Apress book Taking Your OS X Lion to the Max.
