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Steve Jobs wanted Sony VAIOs to run Mac's operating system
If Steve Jobs had gotten his way, that VAIO in your lap could've been running OS X, Apple's operating system. It sounds like fiction, but consider the source: former Sony president Kunitake Ando. The revelation, which stems from an interview Ando gave to Japanese journalist Nobuyuki Hayashi in 2011, highlights the close relationship Jobs reportedly shared with Sony's co-founder Akio Morita -- a relationship that led Jobs to make an exception to Apple's walled off ecosystem. And according to Ando, it was on a 2001 golf trip in Hawaii that Jobs decided to surprise Sony executives with a version of Mac OS X running on a VAIO, four years before the Intel transition was made public. As we all now know, that Apple/Sony partnership wasn't meant to be. For Sony, the proposal was simply a case of bad timing, as it ran counter to not only the success the VAIO line was experiencing at the time, but also the wishes of its engineering team. After having spent so much time optimizing VAIO for Windows, Ando says Sony's engineering team saw OS X on VAIO as a diversion of resources and were "opposed [to] asking 'if it is worth it'." It was because of these two factors that Sony never pursued the prospect of Mac-compatible VAIOs any further. While we'll never know the impact Mac-compatible VAIOs would've had on Sony's bottomline today, the news does come at an odd time for the struggling Japanese tech giant. Recently, its VAIO PC division's been surrounded by rumors of a possible sale; rumors Sony isn't exactly dismissing as inaccurate. And with Sony now looking to home entertainment and gaming as two key areas for growth, that potential sale seems right in line with the company's current strategy.
North Korea goes from Windows 7 to OS X with latest Red Star Linux
Wait, what? Yep, you read that right. North Korea, with embargoes out the wazoo, has its own national operating system (of course), a Linux variant called Red Star OS. According to Computerworld, North Korea has changed the look of the OS from a Windows 7-style interface to a remarkably-similar-to-OS X skin. Somehow we doubt Dennis Rodman will be able to fix this. [Image via Wikipedia]
Mac 101: How to take screenshots on your Mac using OS X's built-in controls
Did you know that OS X has a little-known utility for taking screenshots? It's a small tool called Grab that's tucked away in the /Applications/Utilities folder and is exceptionally handy for taking screenshots, especially timed shots that require a few seconds of preparation. Grab is very easy to use. Just open it by going to /Applications/Utilities or by hitting CMD-SPACE and typing in Grab in the Spotlight search field. There is not much to the app; the bulk of its utility can be found in the Capture menu. You can use this menu or the shortcuts to grab your screenshot. Once you have snapped a shot of your computer screen, the image will open in a preview window. Just tap on the "Untitled" name of the file in the preview window to rename it and choose where to save it. Besides the Grab app, there are a few keyboard shortcuts that'll allow you to take screenshots of your Mac. The full window shots are nice as they preserve the window drop shadow with full alpha transparency. The resulting images look great in documentation or on the web. CMD+Shift+3 will capture the entire screen and save it as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+3 will capture the entire screen and copy to the clipboard. CMD+Shift+4 will capture an area that you select and save it as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+4 will capture an area that you select and copy it to the clipboard. CMD+Shift+4 then space will capture a full window, menu, desktop icon or the menu bar with drop shadows and save as a file. CMD+CTRL+Shift+4 then space will capture a full window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar with drop shadows and copy to the clipboard. Holding down the SPACE key after you start drawing an area will allow you to reposition it. Holding down OPTION right after you start drawing an area will allow you to adjust the width and height of the selected area. Hit ESC while capturing an area or window to exit the capture mode. Images captured using the keyboard shortcuts are stored on the desktop by default, but you can easily change the location using the following terminal commands. defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures killall SystemUIServer This will change the default location to the Pictures folder, but you can replace "Pictures" with any other folder you prefer. I changed it to Downloads as I use the downloads folder as my catch all for items that I need for a moment, but don't want to keep.
App updates you don't want to miss
It has been a busy few weeks in the App Store with a bunch of app updates landing on iOS and OS X. Grab a cup of joe and check out our list of notable updates from the past few weeks! You can also follow them on a rolling basis on our website. iOS Apps Transloader [iOS Universal; Category: Utilities; Free] Transloader lets you download URLs from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac via iCloud. Version 2.0 now features an iOS 7 design, stores URLs from your clipboard instead of asking you to act on them right away, provides better feedback on the progress of downloads on your Mac, and allows you to share URLs with other users of Transloader via AirDrop Listen: The Gesture Music Player [iPhone; Category: Music; Free] A music player you can use without looking at it. Version 2.0.2 adds An option to show or hide iCloud music items, Two-finger volume control, Two-finger scrubbing control, support for background app refresh and more. Halftone 2 [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] Halftone 2 re-imagines what it means to turn your photos into professionally-themed comic book pages on a touch device. Version 1.1.8 adds faster processing, iTunes file sharing, Aviary image cropping tool and more. Hipjot [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $1.99] Hipjot is a slick notes app, featuring a unique slide keyboard that lets you input words SUPER fast. Version 2.12 adds a new topright menu for the notes page, support for QWERTZ, AZERTY, DVORAK, COLEMAK, geolocation and more. Hatch [iPhone; Category: Games; $1.99] What if a tiny pet hatched on your phone? If it loved you, would you love it back? Version 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 adds a new exchange program for unwanted blankets and decor items, new blankets and fixes. Fragment [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] With Fragment, you now have the power to transform any image into totally unique, one-of-a-kind prismatic art you'll want to share with everyone. Version 1.2 adds 8 new shapes and stability improvements to solve some crashing issues. News Republic [iOS Universal; Category: News; Free] THE definitive news app with an elegant design, unrivaled news coverage and a simple, delightful interface optimized for iPhone and iPad. Version 4 overhauls the iPhone app with a new look and new One Feed view that allows you to read all your topics and the latest important articles in one place. Puffin Web Browser [iOS Universal; Category: Utilities; $2.88] . Puffin Web Browser is the premium version of the Puffin family, and comes with unlimited hours of Adobe Flash support over cloud. Version 3.5.1 adds P2P Flash Video support and bug fixes. MindNode [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $9.99] MindNode makes mind mapping easy. Version 3.0.2 adds the the ability to open documents in a folder using a URL scheme, makes improvements in text editing, outline mode and more. Todo - To-Do & Task List [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $4.99] Todo - The ORIGINAL To-Do and Task List is the world's first, and one of the most popular, powerful, and award-winning to-do list and task manager iOS apps. Version 7.0.3 adds support for the new version of TextExpander, improves quick menu and screen navigation performance and more. Faded [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] Faded is the premier all-in-one photo editing app for the iPhone. Version 1.2 now saves camera settings, shows a higher resolution image in Grid Preview, and bug fixes. VLC for iOS [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; Free] VLC for iOS is a port of the free VLC media player to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Version 2.2.0 brings a new iOS7 UI, new multitouch gestures, GDrive integration, Dropbox streaming and more. Calendars 5 by Readdle [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $6.99] Calendars 5 is smart, excels in both tasks and events and runs on any iOS device you might have. Version 5.3 is a major update that brings event invitations, ICS import and notification center support for invitations. GoodNotes 4 [iOS Universal; Category: Productivity; $4.99] GoodNotes lets you take notes and annotate PDF documents. Version 4.0.4 is adds user experience improvements, bug fixes, and stability improvements. Version 4 is a complete rewrite of the app to support iCloud and iOS 7. OS X Apps Transloader [OS X; Category: Utilities; $4.99] Transloader lets you download URLs from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac via iCloud. Version 2.0 brings a new design, several minor bug fixes and support for more sharing websites. Pixelmator [OS X; Category: Graphics & Design; $29.99] Full-featured and powerful image editing app for the Mac. Version 3.1 improves RAW file support, allows you to turn off auto-select, restores effects like Pointillize, Pixelize, Mandala, Concert, and Projectile and more. Nozbe To-do and Project Management [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Nozbe is a tool that helps busy professionals and teams organize time and projects. Version 1.9 adds improved project sharing, push notifications and Evernote reminders support. MenuBar Stats [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] MenuBar Stats lets you easily monitor your system resources. Version 1.2 adds new Disk module, new Smart Battery management through configurable notifications and bug fixes. HDR Darkroom 3 [OS X; Category: Graphics & Design; $39.99] HDR Darkroom 3 has come to the App Store to bring you the best in High Dynamic Range photography processing. Version 1.0.2 improves RAW image handling, HRD synthesis and more.
Ember for Mac and iOS updated with new annotations, auto-import and more
Realmac has updated its Ember image-collection and syncing tools, adding the much-requested annotations feature to the iOS app and a handful of smaller tweaks and features to its Mac app. Ember is an image-syncing tool that collates photos from your Mac or iOS devices and allows you to sync these photos across devices via iCloud. It's similar to Photostream in iOS 7, but is significantly better than Apple's barebones offering. Besides iCloud syncing, Ember lets you tag and organize images into folders so you can build your own collections. The app also includes some basic editing tools that allow you to make tweaks on the fly. One of the biggest new features that made its way into version 1.1 of the iOS app is annotations, which brings the smart drawing and text tools from the Mac to your iOS device. There are also two new tools that'll allow you to blur and pixelate parts of your images. A new auto-import feature will screen your device for new screenshots in your camera roll and add them to your library automatically. These images are then synced across devices with little to no intervention by the user. Mac version 1.3 now has the new annotation tools blur and pixelate, which were also added to iOS. Other enhancements include the ability to back up your library, the option to hide previously seen subscription images, an improved browser contextual menu that has a selection for downloading images and more. The published changelog for Ember for iOS and OS X includes: Subscribe to your favorite websites (Mac Only) -- Subscriptions allow you to visually browse the web. Images can be saved to your Ember library, and shared with friends and co-workers. Auto-detects iPhone and iPad screenshots -- Library organization has never been easier: Just drag in those PNGs from your favorite iOS device and Ember will automatically sort them into "Phone" and "Tablet" for you! Search by Color -- Use natural language to find specific colors in your Ember library. Type in "Blue" and Ember for iOS will find images whose primary color matches just that. iCloud Sync -- Store your Ember library in iCloud and sync it across all your Macs and iOS devices. Ember for iOS is free from the App Store, with in-app purchases that allow you to enable annotations (US$4.99) or unlock auto-import ($0.99). The updated Ember for the Mac is available for $49.99 from the Mac App Store for new users and is free for existing users.
OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 8 Review
Perfect Photo Suite 8 from OnOne Software is a robust photo editing suite that allows you to customize your photos in ways only limited by your imagination. This update to version 7 hit the stores in November, 2013 and now is up to version 8.1. It is well worth your attention and dollars. Some of the updates in version 8 include a new content-aware Perfect Eraser, and a Perfect Enhance module that offers preset filters. These filters let you auto correct your levels and colors, which acts a white balance tool, some preset filter enhancements or you can add your own presets. Everything is adjustable with simple tools in the right sidebar. A picture Browser is new as is some new interesting effects, which you can add to images in a batch. Why a Suite When you get home and offload your photographs from your camera there is often a disconnect. I don't mean physical connections between your computer and camera, but the disconnect from what you remember shooting and what you see on screen. Cameras cannot always capture the color, intensity, or range of light we see in real life. This is why there are so many apps available to edit your precious memories. There are hundreds of apps available now to help you bring out your inner Ansel Adams, but most come with presets that are not adjustable. If you want the ability to tweak the finer points of your image or use customizable editing presets, than you may find that the Perfect Photo Suite 8 meets all your needs. It can almost replace Photoshop and Lightroom, if Adobe's new software rental program isn't to your liking. Modules I could easily write 1000 words on each module available in Perfect Photo Suite 8, but I'll spare you with an overview and some example shots. There are eight modules in which you can apply different kinds of edits. The modules are Browser, Layers, Enhance, Portrait, Effects, B&W (black and white), Mask, and Resize. You can open the whole Suite or individual modules as a stand-alone product or as a plug-in to Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, or Photoshop Elements. Through Lightroom you will not have access to Perfect Mask or Perfect Layers, because Lightroom does not support layers. If you choose the whole suite any module is available to use, whereas if you choose just one plug-in module, only that plug-in is available in that editing session. You can open any image stored on any device, including cloud storage from within the PhotoSuite. This is a great time saver and a useful new feature. The Browser lets you use a slider to make the previews bigger and includes an Info box that lets you see some basic information about the shot, including some EXIF data, such as ISO, F-stop, and color space. You can sort the files by Name or Date Modified. I wish they would add a list view though, because sometimes it is easier to choose a shot from a list if you know the name of the shot you seek. When you open the Suite, the Browse or Layers module opens, depending on how you set the Preferences. The Layers module lets you crop, edit, blend, mask, clone, retouch and blend without using any of the available filters. Many of the edits you might apply in Photoshop or Lightroom are available in the Layers, Enhance, or Effects module. Your screen layout in those three modules presents filters and presets on the left, your photo in the middle and customizable tools on the right. When filters show on the left, other tools appear to the right of them. You can see many of the options available in the Effects module in the screen shot below If you wanted to test different kinds of edits on one of your photos, it would take you hours in Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. In Perfect Photo Suite 8 you can click through the filters so quickly that you can preview hundreds of different edits in minutes. As you can see on the right in the screen shot above, once you find a filter you like, you can customize it in a variety of ways. Features In Action The new content-aware Perfect Eraser tool works well and I had less trouble learning to use it than the one in Photoshop. The accompanying Perfect Brush check box to constrain painting in or out an effect doesn't always work perfectly, but if you work at 100% you can catch the little errors. There are so many filters in the Effects module that it's hard to pick out the newest ones. I did find that the Glow, Bleach Bypass, and Grunge looks added some interesting effects when applied selectively. You can see my silo and barn shot in which I used the Perfect Eraser and a combination of filters in the slide show below. Some sample filters appear below in my waterfall reflection photo (larger view appears in slide show). Version 8.1 lets you import your own backgrounds, borders, textures, and presets. A very useful tool that allows you to open a shot as a layer, so you can blend photos was also added to Lightroom and Aperture. The third update lets you reset the slider tool with a double-click on its label. You can also create Photoshop actions that include the Suite plug-ins in the action. The Resize Module is not new, but I had not used it previously. I tested it with a photo shot with a 2.1 megapixel digital camera twelve years ago and upsized it. I am impressed with the result and can finally print an 8 x 10 version of the photo. You can see the original on the left and a zoomed-in shot of the detail in the upsized version in this New York moment below. Preferences As with all programs, a walk through the Preferences is a good starting point. General, Lightroom Plug-ins specific, and Performance options tabs are available through the Perfect Photo Suite 8 application itself. You can set a particular color space for new files, whether to open the product in Browse or Layers, and customize your background. When you use the File menu - Plug-in extras from Lightroom, it creates a copy of your file. These prefs let you set the file type, color space, bit depth and resolution of that copy. The Performance tab lets you set Memory Usage and VRAM Usage, which helps avoid lags and the wait cursor that was so prevalent in previous versions of the Suite. I actually bought a faster iMac with extra video RAM due to the lag I experienced with Perfect Photo Suite 6 and 7. That lag is gone from version 8.x unless you're working on a very large file. Small Annoyances I still had some trouble when opening a RAW file that I'd edited in Photo Suite 8 and saved as a Photoshop PSD file. In a couple of cases the layers did not show up and I couldn't switch into any other module. My workaround included making Photoshop edits and crop, then saving the file and reopening it in Perfect Photo Suite through the Photoshop Automate command, and then adding a vignette. Although I could see the options in the left pane in which you choose the type of vignette, the previews did not appear on my edited shot. I picked one and hit Apply anyway and the vignette did appear in the Photoshop file. A bit odd. (You can see this Herring Gull shot in the slideshow below.) I quit everything and did it all again and it worked fine, which probably means my RAM cache was full and caused the problem. My iMac has 16 GB of RAM and I guess that is just not enough when complex editing is applied. I had to restart the Suite after editing about five shots to clear out my cache. If you pass a file back and forth between Photoshop and Photo Suite 8, you cannot view the Photoshop created layers. The Suite only gives you the option to view a merged composite of the image. That kind of defeats the purpose of saving layered files. You need to be careful when applying sharpening, contrast, and some masking techniques. While the edits may look ok when fit in frame, you need to remember to zoom in 100% to check for noise and artifacts. In a few cases the shot looked ok in the Suite, but in Photoshop the noise was too visible to print. You can see this problem in my Herring Gull face below. The Suite introduced a halo and noise when I used the default dynamic contrast, but it wasn't until I blew it up to 200% that I noticed the problem. I wasn't able to adjust this filter upon reopening the .PSD file and had to re-edit it. One feature I would like to see added is when edits are applied that the layers specified which filter was used, but the layers only designate the module used. Options to Buy Prices vary according to your needs. You can buy the Premium Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 8 for US$179.95, that will eat up over 1/2 gigabyte of hard drive space. It includes the stand-alone app and the plug-ins. The standard edition is $79.95 and only works as a stand-alone photo editor. The plug-ins for Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, or Aperture also include the stand-alone edition for $129.95. If you own more than one of these programs, I recommend you buy the whole shebang. The option to view OnOne's introductory videos that appears after you install it is recommended because there are a variety of ways you can launch the product(s). The stand-alone app is not installed in your Dock or Launchpad by default. Generally, I do not do much intensive editing of my photos, so using some of the tools in Perfect Photo Suite 8 were a challenge for me. I used the Premium Edition of Perfect Photo Suite 8.1 for this review. There are just so many tools and options in the Suite that I recommend you watch some of their video tutorials or sign up for one of their many free webinars. I found these very helpful. They often cover aspects of good photography, which is fun too. In addition, OnOne offers free sets of new presets periodically, which I've used for great effects. Overall, I enjoyed using Photo Suite 8 and will go back over more old shots to see what new life I can breathe into them with some of the interesting filters offered. This product is totally worth the price of admission. In the slide show below, the original photo appears on the left and the edited photo is on the right with the exception of the silo and barn. The unedited RAW file is first and the Perfect Photo Suite edited file is second.
Tomb Raider, a reboot game that also reboots Mac gaming
The iconic Lara Croft got a franchise reboot last year with the new Tomb Raider game was released for Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Now, Feral Interactive has brought Tomb Raider to the Mac and, after only a week of playing it, I'm certain it will be be the 2014 Mac Game of the Year. Here's a little background on Tomb Raider. This edition takes everything you know about Croft and throws it out of the window. Tomb Raider is a complete reboot of the series. Similar to how Batman Begins replaced the film Batman with a gritty, stark realism, so too does Tomb Raider. Gamers play a young (late teens) Croft on her first solo outing. This isn't the same rich brat from earlier versions of the game, flirting with danger for kicks. Instead, young Croft is insecure, weak and very, very afraid of the situation she's gotten herself in to. The game begins with Croft on the Endurance, a boat carrying a crew of archaeologists trying to discover the lost kingdom of the Sun Queen on the island of Yamatai, and island that is part of the Dragon's Triangle near Japan. The boat is shipwrecked during a storm and things go from bad to worse. Almost immediately she is abducted and wakes up hanging upside-down from a cave's ceiling among several dead bodies. During her escape, she falls, is badly wounded and scared as hell. Unlike in previous Tomb Raider titles, she's not yet a world-class acrobat, nor is she any kind of fighter. It's the writers and animators of Tomb Raider that deserve the praise for conveying just how scared Lara is when she begins her adventure. And now let's talk about that adventure. Tomb Raider is a great mix of stealth, puzzles and first-person shooter. But unlike past editions, the puzzles are integrated into the story well, and don't come off as being set up by an ancient civilization whose favorite past time was apparently making puzzles for future adventurers. The tone of the story appears to be heavily influenced by Lost (stranded on a mysterious island with weird stuff going on) and a psychological horror movie. Without ruining anything, the game's makers do an incredible job of explaining why all these murderous cult members who are trying to kill you are insane murders -- you learn, in one of the creepiest parts of the game -- why they are so messed up. Another nice thing about this Tomb Raider is it's not entirely Croft's show. Refreshingly, the other members of the Endurance have survived the crash and they are as much as part of the story as she is, with Croft meeting up with various crew members throughout the game. Graphics-wise, this is the most beautiful game I've ever played on my Mac. I was running it on the latest MacBook Pro with Retina display at full resolution and the game didn't have so much as a hiccup. And those graphics -- I could hardly tell where a cut scene ended and gameplay began; the graphics are that good. Everything from the environmental effects to blood dripping from her body was as lifelike as anything I've ever seen on a Mac. Gameplay was also easy enough with the keyboard and trackpad, although I see why Feral advises users to use a gamepad. The one thing I do wish Feral would have done is give a few more cues earlier on in the game on how to perform a movement. When the cues first appear, they only show once and are so brief, I, at first, found myself getting frustrated trying to figure out how to do stuff. The game also has a few, limited bugs. One time the game froze and navigating the main menu system appears to lag sometimes when you are selecting submenus, but overall those bugs are minor and infrequent and can easily be fixed in a minor update. A game that is as graphically rich as Tomb Raider understandably has some hefty system requirements, so be sure you check to make sure that your Mac can handle it before you buy. The minimum system requirements are a Mac with a 2.0 GHz Intel processor, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB graphics and 14 GB of free space. However, Feral recommends a 2.4 GHz Intel processor, 6 GB RAM, 1 GB graphics and 14 GB of free space for best performance. Also note that the following graphics cards are NOT supported: ATI X1xxx series, ATI HD2xxx series, Intel GMA series, Intel HD3000, NVIDIA 3xx series, NVIDIA 7xxx series, NVIDIA 8xxx series and NVIDIA 9xxx series. At US$49.99, Tomb Raider isn't a cheap game, but it's the best one you'll buy on the Mac this year. Tomb Raider was meant to reboot an aging franchise, which it's done successfully, but in the process, thanks to the porting by Feral Interactive, it's also rebooted gaming on the Mac and set a new standard for Mac games yet to come. Tomb Raider is available on the Mac App Store.
7 things Mac owners don't have to do today
Editor's Note: Apologies for the factual inaccuracies in this article. Defrag is still a thing, sort of, and Windows today performs just fine after days of uptime. Mavericks and Mountain Lion have nag screens just as annoying for Windows Firewall, and as for not breaking stuff... Well, I've had plenty break in OS X, free Mavericks or not. Look for a rebuttal this week, all in the name of science. Mac turned 30 years old today, in case you hadn't already heard. Despite the naysayers declaring it a dying brand for three decades now, Mac is still chugging along with no signs of slowing down. I could sit here and add a few drops to the "Mac vs. Windows" argument, but it wouldn't really matter. So I'd instead like to take this opportunity to remind all you crazy ones of a few things you don't have to do to your Macs today. Defragment your hard drive Whereas most Windows machines organize files like a lazy teenager hastily cramming questionably clean laundry into a dresser drawer, OS X arranges things like a college student with OCD and a Ritalin prescription. Kick back and enjoy not having to worry about where the hell your Mac is putting everything. Update your firewall As your long-suffering friends with Windows computers download their 14th firewall update so far this year, you can giggle to yourself -- or right in their faces -- because it's pretty hilarious. Delete bloatware I'm sure Apple's hardware would be much better received if it came jam-packed with useless programs and free trials of crapware, but for now, us Mac owners will find and download the programs that we want instead of letting third-party manufacturers decide for us. Worry about the next update One of the best things about owning a Mac is that you can confidently download new software updates and entire new versions of the operating system -- now for free -- without worrying that doing so will completely break both first- and third-party applications. The only times I'm ever excited to update my Windows machine is when I'm waiting for Microsoft to fix something that was already broken. Restart it Does Windows feel sluggish, unresponsive and laggy? That's probably because the computer has been on for more than half a day and needs a reboot. Meanwhile my Mac has been on for 27 days straight and it feels like I just booted it up. Renew an antivirus subscription While your Windows-supporting friends are bracing their bank accounts for another $60 hit from Norton, OS X devotees can remind them how they refused to "pay more for a Mac." Replace it No comment. [Photo Credit: Curtis Palmer]
Daily App: Mactracker is a handy pocket guide to all things Mac
It's hard to believe that the Macintosh is 30 years old. To learn more about the venerable line of computers, you must make room on your iPhone, iPad or Mac for the Mactracker app from Ian Page. Mactracker is THE reference guide for the Mac, providing specifications and support details for every Apple Macintosh computer ever made. We've covered Mactracker over the past decade as it evolved from a Mac to an iPhone and then an iPad app, but on the anniversary of the Macintosh, it's worth taking another look. The tracker continues to be updated with new model information and updated support statuses for now obsolete models. It also tracks OS X and iOS versions as well as peripherals like Apple mice, keyboards and more. If it has an Apple label on it, it's likely in the Mactracker database. While the iOS version is a handy pocket reference, the OS X version of Mactracker has a few extra goodies like a "My Models" list that stores the models you own and tracks their warranty status. There's also a compare feature that allows you to compare the specifications or the differences between several Mac models at the same time. Mactracker is available for free from the iOS App Store and the Mac App Store.
Daily App: Paint it Back brings its painting challenge to the Mac
Paint it Back from Casual Labs debuted last year for iOS and was an instant hit in the Puzzle game category. The app challenges you to use your paintbrush to solve each puzzle and restore the missing paintings from the art gallery. Paint it Back has a unique gameplay that uses a grid and numbers to tell you where to paint. It's a paint-by-numbers game with a whole new twist. At the top of each row and column of the grid is a number that tells you how many squares need to be painted in the grid. It's easy to figure out which squares to paint when the number tells you to paint 5 out of the 5 squares. It's much more of a challenge when there is only one square that needs to be painted, and you need to figure out which one. The app discourages you from guessing and encourages you to solve the puzzle by using the logical side of your brain to fill in the blanks using the numbers for other columns. There are 140 paintings to solve and 14 rooms to unlock. Each room gets increasingly difficult as the puzzles get larger and the patterns that you paint more complex. The app supports up to six profiles, allowing each member of a household to play at their own pace. The Mac version also uses iCloud sync to save game progress so you can start a game on a Mac and end it on your iPad. The Mac version appears to be a straight port from the iOS version, which brings with it some advantages and some disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that it is easy to sync games across devices. This makes the game even more enjoyable, as you can finish off a painting on your Mac while you wait for a file to download. The biggest disadvantage I found was with the controls -- the app was originally built for touchscreen gameplay and the controls did not carry over well to the cursor-driven interaction on the Mac. I repeatedly had difficulty selecting squares to color on my Mac (2013 MacBook Air). I would use two-fingers to fill a square and then move to the next square. If I didn't remove my fingers right away, the app would fill in the next square as I hovered over it. I also noticed that if I moved my cursor over a square for too long, the game would fill it in without me clicking on it. This made it frustrating to play as I was frequently painting squares and unpainting squares every time I deliberately or accidentally touched my trackpad with two fingers. Paint it Back is a fun and addictive puzzler. I highly recommend the iOS version and cautiously recommend the Mac version for those who already own the iOS version and want to extend their gameplay to the Mac. Personally, I' m going to put the Mac version away and wait for a few revisions to tweak the controls. Once the controls are in place, it'll be an enjoyable puzzler to play across platforms. Paint it Back is available from the Mac App Store for US$4.99. The iOS version is available for free and includes in-app purchases to unlock content.
SnappyApp for the Mac lets you pin images so they are always visible
SnappyApp is a handy screen capture and display tool for OS X that pins your captured image above all windows on your Mac. No matter what window you are working in, the content that you capture is always visible. It's the perfect sticky note app for screen shots, web page previews and more SnappyApp sits in your menu bar, waiting for the moment you need to grab a screen shot. You can select the app in the menu bar or use a handy keyboard shortcut to activate the screen capture crosshair tool. Use the crosshair to select the content you want to copy and SnappyApp will pin the image to the front of your windows. You can drag this snapped image anywhere you want on your desktop. If one isn't enough, you can have multiple snaps lined up all around your screen. Besides screen grabs, SnappyApp allows you to grab a web page preview or pin a previously saved image on top of your windows. These snaps can be shared via a URL, email, Facebook or Pinterest. There is also a log that keeps track of your previous screenshots and allows you to view them at a later date. SnappyApp is a lightweight tool that's useful for viewing snippets of information, while you work on something else. I use it all the time, especially when I am writing about something that is time sensitive or has a complex date. For example, it's very convenient to pin a shot of Apple's investor website, so I have the earning conference call details right at my finger tips. SnappyApp is available for free from the Mac App Store.
Scribe allows you to send text and images from your Mac to your iOS device
Hot on the heels of the launch of Command-C is Scribe, another utility for sharing information between an iOS device and your Mac. Scribe is a one-way service that allows you to send text, URLs and images from your Mac to your iOS device. It strays from its competition by using Bluetooth 4.0 instead of WiFi to pair your devices. Scribe includes a utility that sits on your Mac in the menu bar and a companion iOS app. Pairing the devices takes a few quick steps once that starts with you turning on Bluetooth on both devices. Once connected, you don't have to pair the devices again as they immediately recognize each other. The connection stays active in the background for a short time, but it does drop once your iPhone goes dormant or you move out of range of your Mac. To reinitiate the connection, you have to open the Scribe app on your iPhone and wait 10 seconds for the Mac to find it. Sharing between the devices can be accomplished using the services menu or the menu bar app. You can select text or a URL and then send it to your iPhone's clipboard by right-clicking on the item to call up Services > Send with Scribe. For images and for any other items, you can copy it to the clipboard and then select Scribe in the menu bar. Clicking on "Send from Clipboard" will deliver the item over to the iPhone and place it on the iOS clipboard. Once on the iPhone, users can just paste the item into an appropriate app. Users can also open the Scribe app to access a running list of the text items that were shared. It's an easy and convenient way of sharing items between your iOS and OS X devices. There are a few limitations to Scribe. First, it's unidirectional and only sends items from your Mac to your iOS device. Unlike the bi-directional Command-C, there is no way to transfer the iOS clipboard to the Mac in Scribe. Scribe is also limited to snippets of text and smaller images. If you try to transfer a larger image, you will be warned that the transfer may fail. Last but not least, none of these transfer apps that use a wireless connection are capable of maintaining a persistent connection. You have to remember to connect the two devices before you start sending items over. Scribe for Mac is available from the Mac App Store for US$2.99. The companion iOS app is available for free. For the apps to work, both the Mac and iOS devices must support Bluetooth 4.0.
How to send text from your Mac to your iPhone in four easy steps (Updated)
Update: Several readers have emailed me and asked why I don't just use the Notes app to send text from my Mac to my iPhone. Yes, the Notes app works well for syncing text, but I use Reminders because it integrates with the Drafts app. Drafts imports the text from Reminders and then checks off the items in the list. As a result, the Reminders list is always empty. If I used the Notes app on the Mac and iOS, I would end every day with 10-15 additional entries. On the Mac side, I also prefer using the services menu as it helps me keep my focus. I can stay in the web browser and grab a quote without the distraction of opening the Notes app and copy/pasting my text. Want to send text from your Mac to your iPhone without installing an extra app to do the legwork for you? Here is a workflow that takes snippets of text you copy on your Mac and sends it your iPhone using the Reminders app. You need to use iCloud to sync your reminders for this to work. It'll take about 10 minutes to set up and 30 seconds to use once you have it configured. This idea was originally proposed by @hiilppp in a tweet, and I filled in all the details. Set up iCloud to Sync your Reminders The first thing you need to set up is iCloud syncing on your iOS device and your Mac. If you already use iCloud and have Reminders enabled, you can skip these steps and hop to the next section, which will walk you through creating a Reminders List that'll store the text you want to share. On your iOS device, open the Settings app and scroll down until you see iCloud. Tap the iCloud entry. Enter in your Apple ID credentials or use the Get a Free Apple ID button to set up an iCloud account. Here is a handy tutorial from Macworld that'll walk you through the process. Once your iCloud credentials are stored, you must turn on the Reminders toggle. In iOS 7, it'll be green when it is on. On your Mac, open the System Preferences and click on the iCloud panel. Enter in your iCloud credentials to enable iCloud on your Mac. Click the checkbox next to Reminders to turn on iCloud syncing for the app. Create a Reminders List that'll store the text you want to share You'll need a dedicated list in the Reminders app that'll be used exclusively to sync text between your Mac and iOS device. I name my list "Drafts" so it can be used by the Drafts app on iOS. This app automatically imports any text that is saved in the Reminders. It is very useful for sending over large blocks of text. Open the Reminders app on your Mac. Tap the "+" button on the bottom left to create a new list. Rename the list to "Drafts" by typing in "Drafts" right after you create the list. If you accidentally named the list something else, you can click on the name to change it. Create an Automator service that'll transfer selected text to the Reminders app This Automator service is the glue that holds everything together. It'll take the text you select in any app on your Mac and allow you to send it to the Reminders app as a new list item. This information will then sync seamlessly to your iOS device via iCloud. Open Automator, File > New. Click on Service to create a new service. In the left column, make sure "Actions" is selected and search for "Reminders" to pull up the "New Reminders Item" action. Drag the "New reminders Item" to the workflow editor on the right. Make sure the "Add To:" field is set to "Existing List" and "Drafts." Click File > Save and name the Service with a name that is descriptive. I used "Text to iPhone." Now let's make sure the service was created properly. Open your favorite text editor and right click on the text to bring up the contextual menu. Select Services in this drop-down menu and find your newly created service in the list. In my case, it is "Text to iPhone," as shown below. Configure the Drafts App on iOS to automatically import the text from your Mac Each snippet of text that is sent to the Reminders app will automatically sync to the Reminders app on your iOS device. You can use the Reminders app on iOS to grab this text and copy it to other applications. It's easy to use, but if you want to turn up the notch on your automation, you should use the Drafts app from AgileTortoise. Drafts is an extremely useful text editor. This app has a feature that automatically imports any text saved in the Reminders. It creates new documents from each item in your Reminders list and then checks off each Reminder item as completed. It is very useful for sending over large blocks of text and for keeping your Reminders tidy. Download and install the Drafts app from the iOS App Store. There is an iPhone version and an iPad version. Open Drafts and go to the Settings by tapping on the Document icon and then the gear icon Scroll down until you see "Import from Reminders." Turn this feature on by dragging the toggle to the right. It'll be gray when it is on. You may have to give Drafts permission to access the Reminders if this is your first time enabling the feature. Using the Workflow to send text from your Mac to your iOS Device Now that all the pieces are in place, it is time to use the workflow in your daily activities. With just a few clicks, you should be able to send any text from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad. Here is what you need to do: Open any app and select the text you want to copy. Right click on this text to pull up the contextual menu. Select the service you created and voila! Your text is now happily on its way to your iPhone. Find your iPhone and open the Drafts app to automatically import each new snippet of text as a new document.
Omni Group starts shipping OmniOutliner 4
Omni Group announced today the availability of OmniOutliner 4. The outlining app helps you organize your to-do list, keep track of your expenses and log your notes. Like most Omni Group updates, the latest version of the app is a significant improvement over earlier iterations. OmniOutliner 4 has a bucket list of new items that are too numerous to mention. On the UI side of things, OmniOutliner 4 has been overhauled with a new UI. The biggest change you'll notice is the new sidebar, which replaces the old-style drawer from OmniOutliner 3. There's also an improvement in the way the app handles styles and themes, which brings some consistency when you are working on documents that are shuttled between the OS X and iOS app. Other smaller features include zooming, a new Resource Browser and redesigned Inspector window. The functional highlights include the inclusion of Smart Match technology, which is also present in OmniFocus. This feature will offer predictions as you type text into a pop-up List. An attachments option now allows you to append images, video, audio and even other OmniOutliner files to any Outliner document. For convenience, URLs are now clickable and will open in your default browser. If you don't like this auto-open, you can turn off this feature in the preferences. OmniOutliner 4 is available now from Omni Group's storefront and from the Mac App Store in the coming weeks. OmniOutliner will be available for US$49 for the standard version and $99 for the Pro version. Anyone who purchased OmniOutliner 3 since January 2011 will get a free upgrade. Customers who purchased OmniOutliner outside of this window will get 50 percent off the list price of $49.99 for the standard version and $99.99 for the Pro.
How to use TextExpander to grab your location and enter it into a document
Last week, Smile Software shared a great tip for using TextExpander to pull down your GPS coordinates so you can use them in any app. The snippet takes advantage of TextExpander's ability to run AppleScript when you call up the script using a TextExpander keyboard shortcut. Before you can use the TextExpander snippet, you must download and install the Location Helper app from David Blishen. Location helper brings OS X's Core Location to AppleScript, allowing you to pull down your current location, altitude and geocode address. Location Helper is an agent that runs in the background and has no user interface. To get TextExpander, Location Helper and AppleScript to work together nicely, here is what you need to do: 1. Download TextExpander from Smile's website or from the Mac App Store. 2. Download Location Helper for AppleScript from the Mac App Store. 3. Launch Location Helper. You need to launch it once in order to give the app permission to access your location. 4. Create a new TextExpander snippet by opening TextExpander and clicking the "+ New Snippet" button. 5. At the top of the new snippet dialog, Select "Content: Plain Text" and change it to "AppleScript." 6. In the content editor section, paste in the following AppleScript: tell application "Location Helper" set listCoords to get location coordinates set clocationrecord to get location altitude return "My coordinates are " & (item 1 of listCoords as text) & ", " & (item 2 of listCoords as text) & " and my altitude is " & (clocationrecord as text) end tell 7. Set the abbreviation of the snippet to a keyboard shortcut of your choice. I choose ";loc" as that is easy to remember and fits into my workflow. 8. Open your favorite text editor and type your abbreviation to see how it works. Feel free to edit your AppleScript as needed using these Location Helper examples from Blishen. If you have any other cool uses of TextExpander and AppleScript, please share them in the comments.
Command-C: A clever clipboard-sharing tool for your Mac and iOS device
Command-C is a new clipboard utility for the Mac and iOS from Danilo Torrisi that allows you to share text snippets and images between the devices. It uses a local WiFi connection so your data doesn't leave your internal network and leverages iOS 7's background notification system to make the sharing drop-dead easy. Before you can start sharing content between the devices, you have to connect your Mac and iOS devices. The only requirement is that all the devices have to be on the same WiFi network as the app uses local sharing to shuttle your clipboard contents between the devices. Just open both the Mac app and the iOS app to link the devices. The iOS app steps you through the pairing, and it was extremely easy as the iOS app finds your Mac for you. All you have to do is tap to pair on your iOS device and then accept that connection on your Mac. Once the devices are paired, they remain paired as long as they are on the same network. Command-C allows you to share text, URLs and images between the two devices. On the Mac side, just copy something to your clipboard and open Command-C in the menu bar. Click your iOS device in the Command-C Mac app, hit enter and the data will be sent to the clipboard on your iOS device. If your iOS device is on, you can use the item sent from your Mac immediately. If your iPhone or iPad is sleeping, you can tap on the notification to transfer the clipboard item from your Mac and use it once you've logged into your iOS device. Once the item is in your iOS clipboard, you can paste text into your favorite text editor or paste an image into a photo-editing app or an email. URLs can be pasted into mobile Safari, and there's even an option to open a URL automatically upon transfer, if you prefer. It's a similar process on the iOS side. Just copy the item you want to send to your Mac by tapping and holding the item on your iPhone or iPad. Once the item is copied to your clipboard, fire up the Command-C iOS app and select your Mac from the list of devices. The clipboard item then will be sent to your Mac, along with an alert. To use the item on your Mac, just hit Command-V to paste it into any document. Though text and URLs stay the same, you should be aware that images sent to the Mac are converted to TIFF. Command-C is an extremely easy way to send snippets between iOS and OS X devices that reside on the same WiFi network. Performance was very good -- sharing was almost immediate and the connection between the two devices was almost always on. I say "almost" as a few times I did have to restart the iOS app when an item from my Mac wouldn't show up on my iPhone. I assume this had to do with the background notifications on iOS. The app supports the most common items you would want to share -- text, URLs and images. Power users will appreciate the ability to share URL Schemes and Bookmarklets, which will automate Command-C and connect it to other apps. Torrisi has a set of tutorials that'll walk you through using URL schemes and Bookmarklets with his app. Overall, Command-C is a great utility for folks who want to share quick text snippets, URLS and images across devices. It's an excellent, more modern replacement for Pastebot. You can download the Command-C app from the iOS App Store for US$3.99. The OS X version is available from the Mac App Store for free.
App updates you don't want to miss - January 9, 2014 edition
It has been a busy few weeks in the App Store with a bunch of app updates landing on iOS and OS X. Grab a cup of joe and check out our list of notable updates from the past few weeks! You can also follow them on a rolling basis on our website. iOS Apps Assassin's Creed Pirates[iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Become one of the most feared pirates of the Caribbean in this exclusive Assassin's Creed adventure on smartphones and tablets! Version 1.1. allows you to discover the mythical Nassau, a new playground, featuring 10 new secondary missions and 12 new treasures! Alien Hive [iOS Universal; Category: Games; Free] Swipe tiles to make matches, combine eggs to hatch cute baby aliens, and then help them fully evolve into Supreme Aliens. Version 3.0 improves game balance, revamps the boost system and allows you to level up and increase the power of Supreme Aliens. Camera+ [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] Camera+ will make you love taking photos on your iPhone. Version 5.0.1 is a stability release that improves the performance of Clarity and Clarity Pro. It also fixes some crashes in the app and the API. Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $9.99] Hero or villain, savior or conqueror... you alone will determine the destiny of the entire galaxy. Version 1.1.1 adds support for the iPad, widescreen play on the iPhone and improved lighting and graphics. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $6.99] Rockstar Games brings its biggest release to mobile yet with a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities. Version 1.0.1 adds updated controller mappings on supported controllers and fixes for annoying crashes. GoodReader for iPad [iPad; Category: Productivity; $4.99] GoodReader® is the super-robust PDF reader for iPad. Version 3.20.0 overhauls the app with a new look for iOS 7 and new or improved features like colored tagging and a background audio player. GoodReader for iPhone [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $4.99] GoodReader® is the super-robust PDF reader for iPhone. Version 3.20.0 overhauls the app with a new look for iOS 7 and new or improved features like colored tagging and a background audio player. Plex [iOS Universal; Category: Entertainment; $4.99] Version 3.3.3 adds new higher quality settings for recent iOS devices and a handful of bug fixes. Fantastical 2 [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $1.99] With its powerful natural language event and reminder creation, DayTicker, calendar, and week view, Fantastical 2 is the fastest and friendliest scheduling app you'll ever use. Version 2.0.4 improves the navigation within the app, adds support for bold text accessibility option and improves the reliability of App Icon Badge. Screens VNC [iOS Universal; Category: Utilities; $19.99] Screens is a beautiful, yet powerful Screen Sharing and VNC client that lets you connect back to your Mac, Windows or Linux PC. Version 3.1.7 improves performance with AirPlay (no more crashing). Terraria [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $4.99] Adventure to the ends of the earth, and defeat villainous bosses along the way. The world is your canvas. Version 1.1.7 adds support for the new Logitech PowerShell Controller. Maxthon [iOS Universal; Category: Utilities; Free] Maxthon Cloud Browser is the world's fastest & smartest mobile web browser. Version 4.5.0 adds a new iOS 7-compatible design, a new start page, a customized news feed timeline and more. OS X Apps Collective [OS X; Category: Utilities; $0.99] Meet Collective. Clipboard history for your Mac. Done right. Version 2.0 adds a handful of new features including favorites, shortcuts, a detail bar, a menu bar and performance refinements. Baby Monitor 3G [OS X; Category: Lifestyle; $4.99] A video and audio baby monitor for any Mac and iOS device. Version 2.0 now allows your Mac to work as the baby station in your child's room. Droplr [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Drag anything to Droplr's icon in your menubar and Droplr will give you a short handy link that you can share with your friends, family, and co-workers. Version 3.5.0 adds Droplr Draw, a quick screen shot annotation tool to mark up your screenshots with arrows, shapes, and text, before you share them. Droplr is also now a paid service.
Mac 101: Supercharge your dock in OS X with these simple key combinations
The OS X dock is invaluable to any Mac user. It's a dedicated spot for you to place shortcuts to apps, files, and folders that you access on a regular basis. Besides just clicking on an icon in your dock to launch it, there are a variety of key combinations you can use to extend the utility of your dock. Command-Option-D to hide/show the dock Press Command-Option-D to hide or show the dock. You can accomplish the same task by choosing dock from the Apple menu and then Turn Hiding On or Turn Hiding Off from the submenu. You can also set the dock to automatically hide or show in the dock Preferences. Click on a dock item to open it Clicking on a dock item brings the item forward, or opens it if it is not already open. It also opens minimized windows. Shift-click on a dock item to slowly open it (minimized windows only) This will open a minimized window in slow motion. You can also minimize a window in slow motion by pressing Shift while minimizing it. Command-click on a dock item to locate the item in Finder Press Command and then clicking on a dock item will reveal the original item in the Finder. Control-click on a dock item to view contextual menu Control-click on a dock item reveals the contextual menu for that item. What you see in the contextual menu varies based on the application or file. You can also long press or use a two-finger press on a dock item to reveal the contextual menu. Use Option to change items in the contextual menu Pressing option when viewing the contextual menu allows you to replace "Quit" with "Force Quit" and "Hide" with "Hide Others." The "Hide" option will hide the app on the screen, while "Hide Others" will hide all other apps. It's very useful when you are working with multiple windows and want to focus on one. Command-Option-click on a dock item to hide other open items Command-Option-click will bring the app that you clicked on to the front and hides all other open items. It's very useful when you are working with multiple windows and want to focus on one. Control-click on the dock separator to access dock preferences Press control and then click on the dock separator to reveal the dock preferences. There you can turn magnification and hiding on or off, change the position of the dock on screen, and change the minimization effect. You can also use a two-finger press on the dock instead of control-click to access the dock preferences. Shift-drag on the dock separator to move it Press shift and then hover your mouse over the dock separator. When the dock arrow appears, you can drag your mouse to any side of your screen to move the dock to a new position (left, bottom, right). Option-drag on the dock separator to adjust its size in pre-set increments Press option and then hover your mouse over the dock separator. When the dock arrow appears, you can click and hold and then use a pinch gesture to adjust the size of the dock. Using the option key sets the dock to common icon sizes (128 by 128, 64 by 64, 32 by 32, 16 by 16). You can also adjust the dock to a custom size by clicking and holding on the dock separator and then using a pinch gesture to adjust the size. Drag a file to an application's dock icon to open it In Finder, you can select a file and drag it to a dock icon to open it. You can only drop the file onto an app that supports that file type. Command-drag a file to an application's dock icon to open it In Finder, you can select a file and use command-option-drag to drag the file to a dock icon. OS X will attempt to open the file with the application you selected, regardless of file type or what application the file is associated with (if any). The application may or may not be able to open the file. Command-drag a dock item from the dock to another location Select command, then click and drag a dock item to another location in Finder. This allows you to copy a dock item to another location without removing it from the dock. This key combo is handy if you have a folder in your dock and you want to move the contents to another folder on your Mac. Command-drag an item to the dock to put it into a folder When you drag items to the dock, sometimes it will move (slide) existing dock items to make room. If you want to drag an item to a folder on the dock, for example, you should select command before you select the file you want to drag to the dock. This command-drag option will allow you to add a file to a folder without accidentally shifting other dock items.
TUAW video tip: Enabling and configuring Do Not Disturb in OS X Mavericks
Way back in October of 2013, when iOS 7 was still fresh in our minds and discovery of new features was a joy, TUAW presented a video tip on how to use Do Not Disturb in iOS 7 to keep your device from waking you at night. But did you know that OS X Mavericks has a similar capability? If you're like me and keep your Mac going 24/7, turning Do Not Disturb on during those nighttime hours can spell the difference between a restless night or an undisturbed bedtime. As with all of our other TUAW video tips, this video can be set to view full-screen.
8 Time Machine excuses that don't make sense
These days, there are fewer and fewer good reasons to skip Time Machine. Do you recognize any of these excuses? Here are some answers for you to use the next time your boss or coworker starts justifying why he or she does not use the built-in OS X backup application. 1. Extra drives cost too much It may not be Black Friday year-round, but you can pick up a well-reviewed 3TB external drive for a little more than a hundred bucks. (You'd have saved about $10 during cyber week.) Low-cost USB drives do a terrific job with Time Machine. 2. Time Machine kills drives Time Machine's write and rewrite cycles put stress on drives, but that's what the drives are there for. Just drop your expectation of years of life, and replace your drives on a regular basis. This is where inexpensive -- but reliable -- drives fit in. 3. Full backups are better Bootable full backups are important (we use Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper), but they're just one tool in your backup arsenal. Trying to restore a single document or application is a far more common need than having to reset your entire system. A bootable backup is important, especially when you upgrade your system, but incremental versions help you move through time to regain access to files and states from the past. 4. Offsite backup has me covered Like full backups, offsite solutions provide an essential guard against catastrophe. Most people, however, suffer more from little day-to-day document catastrophes than full-fledged Hurricane Sandes (sic). While we encourage every one of you to subscribe to an offsite service, Time Machine can save you when much smaller problems crop up. 5. Old, unused files take up too much space Time Machine will automatically remove old backups for you when space grows limited. In addition, you can delete older backups manually. Enter Time Machine, navigate to any backup and use the tools menu as shown here (it looks like a gear icon) to delete the backup. 6. Restoring files is too complicated Time Machine makes it really easy to find and restore backups. Navigate to the place where your file used to be. Then, there's a timeline on the right. Just go back until you're at the right point in time, select files and click Restore. You'll even be prompted whether to replace the newer file or (as we recommend) keep both versions. 7. Time Machine causes computers to run too slow Time Machine shouldn't be killing your system. Ever since I upgraded my Mac mini to a new 2012 system, I have never been bothered by Time Machine backups. Before then, I used one of the many Time Machine schedulers to take the load off certain parts of my workday. There are tons of other tuning suggestions out there on the Apple Discussion forums as well. 8. Time Machine can't backup external drives Of course, Time Machine can back up external drives. Just make sure they're formatted as Mac OS X Extended HFS+ and not excluded in the Time Machine exclusion options.