time machine
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New screenshots of Snow Leopard appear, show desktop web apps
A German site, Apfeltalk.de has posted screenshots of the forthcoming version of Mac OS X, 10.6 (a.k.a "Snow Leopard"). Most of the screenshots show off the Safari 4 developer preview that will include the "Save as Web Application" option in the File menu. The website also shows off the next version of Address Book.app that will bring Microsoft Exchange support to the Mac platform. We do however have to speculate about the System Preferences.app screenshot that shows two Time Machine icons with one labled "Dock" and another labeled "Time Machine" -- this seems out of place and unlike Apple. You can see all of the screenshots (before Apple's legal team gets a hold of them) on the Apfeltalk.de site. [via Engadget]
Backing up iTunes
Just like every machine with moving parts, the hard drive that holds your iTunes library will eventually stop working. Read that line again - I didn't say might stop working, but will stop. It's going to happen, so be prepared.Mark Nichols at zanshin recently wrote about his own experience of swapping and burning CDs and DVDs to back up iTunes purchases (something we blogged about awhile ago). That got me thinking about strategies for iTunes backups. Time Machine and SuperDuper make it easy to execute local backups at regular intervals, but that's only half the battle. A good off-site backup of your mission-critical files (and I don't know about you, but for me, music is definitely considered mission-critical) is essential. You can go with services like Mozy or CrashPlan.Personally, I've been very happy with Bandwagon. For only $12US per month, they provide the means to backup to either Amazon S3 or your own FTP server.So, what's your solution? Please share in the comments, and save Mark another day of swapping discs in and out of his optical drive.
Time Machine update will offer battery-saving feature
Time Machine is the backup software built into Mac OS X Leopard that people either love or hate. It already saved my backside on the night before a report was due, so I'm a hands-down fan.For now, the available options are limited. According to AppleInsider, that's going to change with the release of Mac OS 10.5.3. It seems that the latest OS build seeded to developers (9D29) features a version of Time Machine which lets laptop owners suspend backups while running on battery power.This is good for two reasons. It eliminates a power draw on the battery, and prevents incomplete backups (should your battery die before a backups session finished).Our only question is ... May we have 10.5.3 now?!?
Mac 101: Back it Up
If you're like me, you probably spend a great deal of time using your Mac. From checking email, working with photos, surfing the web and paying bills to writing posts just like this, my Mac serves me well in so many ways. Using it every day as I do, I tend to create a massive amount of files, photos, emails and all of the other items that go along with daily Mac use.The items that are created, modified and used every day are very important. So, to make sure I have access to them and that nothing bad happens to them, they need to be backed up so they're safe no matter what. But even though I know these files, folders and more need to be backed up, how do I do it in the most simple, effective and least time-consuming way? Fortunately, there are several solutions available to Mac users to help ensure that their precious data is preserved. Most are simple to use and all provide an automated backup solution that once set up, doesn't rely on the user to make sure it works -- it all happens automatically on a particular schedule.But which solution to choose? Here are the three simplest, cheapest and most reliable backup solutions for your consideration:
Time Machine via Airport Extreme not officially supported
As we noted when the latest Airport Extreme Base Station firmware shipped, Time Machine now seems to recognize USB hard drives connected to the AEBS as valid backup locations. Was this feature added deliberately? Well, Glenn Fleishman over at TidBITS took the trouble to ask Apple about this and he reports that they told him that this is an unsupported feature (and not much else). This is unsurprising given that Apple never made mention of the feature connected with the firmware update (though it was originally promised before Leopard shipped). Fleishman himself even speculates that it was turned on by accident.So what's the upshot? Apple is offering no support for using your AEBS this way, and so if you have a problem you're pretty much out of luck as far as they're concerned. Further, considering that there have been reports that the Airport Disk can be unreliable, it's probably not a good idea to depend on an Airport Disk and Time Machine for your only backup.
Apple says AirPort Disk use with Time Machine is unsupported
Okay, the Time Machine / AirPort Extreme situation is now officially ridiculous. TidBITS's Glenn Fleishmann says Apple's confirmed to him that the Extreme is unsupported for use with Time Machine, even though the latest batch of updates enable AirPort Disks to show up in the Time Machine disk-selection box. Fleishmann thinks a it's leftover developer testing glitch, but either way, Apple's will-they-won't-they routine means lots of people now have an unsupported backup solution that works "erratically." Seriously, if you thought AirPort Extreme owners were pissed off about Time Capsule, just wait until backups start failing. Not a lot of options left, Apple -- better get this feature up and running ASAP.
Time Machine now works with AirPort Extreme's AirDisk feature
Who knows why it took so long, but the latest AirPort Extreme firmware update (7.3.1, out today) finally brings Time Machine compatibility to AirDisk. In typical Apple fashion, there's no mention of it on the release notes, but the crew over at TUAW says it's working, and commenters are confirming. We're still holding out for Time Machine to work with any NAS we want, but for now, it looks like all you Airport Extreme owners who felt like you were getting played by the release of Time Capsule are finally in the game -- get those USB drives ready for some hot backup nights.
Is your Airport Extreme suddenly Time Machine-happy?
Update 9 pm ET: Our comrade David Chartier from Ars Technica points out that the 7.1.3 firmware itself may not be necessary for the new functionality to work; he says he tested a 7.1 AEBS with a machine running Time Capsule & Airport 1.0, and Time Machine was able to see the remote disk. Other readers have reminded us that the disk must be formatted as HFS+ with journaling, and you may have to mount it in the Finder before Time Machine sees it. The freeware TimeMachineScheduler is disabled by this update, comments note.Update 6:45 am Thursday: More comments point out that if you take a locally-connected Time Machine drive and attach it to an AEBS, you will be starting over with new backups (because the remote backups are stored on sparseimages, not as folders). Something to keep in mind if you already have a long backup history -- you might want to use a different drive.Sometimes the fixes are subtle and quiet. Once TUAW reader Peder downloaded today's Airport updates and ran the utility, he noticed a new version of the Airport Extreme firmware queued up and ready (v7.3.1). When he installed and rebooted his AEBS -- which happened to have a USB hard drive hanging off of it... well, let him tell you: After downloading the latest Airport-update I checked for updates for my AirPort Extreme. After upgrading to version 7.3.1, Time Machine recognised the attached USB-drive.If this is a reproducible result -- this means you, everyone, go ahead and start testing this firmware! -- that means that the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't Time Machine to AirDisk feature of Leopard has finally arrived. Sure, the Time Capsule is a one-piece solution and quite economical, but for all the AEBS owners out there who have been waiting patiently, this would be a very nice bit of March madness indeed. [Response to "just-a-guy" below: Remember, this is the Airport EXTREME only; the Express doesn't support AirDisk at all.]Seeing the same results as Peder? By all means let us know. He was kind enough to send us a few screenshots, see below.%Gallery-18775%
Time Machine and Airport Updates 1.0
Apple has released updates for Time Machine and Airport, giving us three update reboots in three days. The update improves Time Machine compatibility with Time Capsule and offers some fixes for AirPort drivers. I don't, at this point, see any indications of the rumored Airport-Extreme-as-Time-Capsule abilities, but I'm assuming that will require an Airport Extreme firmware update.The update is available through Software Update.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Who's suing Apple today? Mirror Worlds takes aim at Time Machine and more
While it's not quite a daily occurrence, it must nearly seem that way for the folks in Apple's legal department, who are now facing yet another lawsuit alleging that the company has infringed on some slightly obscure patents. This latest one comes from Mirror Worlds Technologies, which claims that Apple's Time Machine violates no less than four of its patents that, as AppleInsider reports, describe a "highly visual system that displays a line of documents and other items dating back (or forward) in time along with the option of searching these items to retrieve and edit them." As if that wasn't enough, Mirror Worlds also claims that the iPhone and various iPods also infringe on all but one of the patents, apparently due to the way they sort podcasts and other information. As a result of all of that alleged infringement, Mirror Worlds is seeking the usual injunction against all Apple products in question, and "triple damages," which sure is step above and beyond most of these lawsuits that just seek plain old single damages.
How Time Machine can decrease inhibitions, encourage risky behavior
Let me tell you something about people from Brooklyn: we are, by nature and environment, edgy risk-takers who live life like we're driving a Maserati down the PCH. Or a Camry up the BQE. Anyway, you don't want to mess with us -- and specifically, you don't want to mess with Mike Solomon, a creative director who's apparently got cojones the size of Jonathan Ive's awards cabinet.What did Mike do that earns him the title of Mac Jock Extraordinare? Faced with a weekend on-site video editing project that would require 20 GB of space and only having 10 GB free on his laptop, he didn't bow to the conventional wisdom -- send a production assistant to Staples for a new 500GB drive, or weed out his Downloads folder. No, he decided the best way to free up the needed space was to out-and-out delete his 65 GB iTunes library, the media addict's equivalent of flushing your stash when the cops show up. Then, when he returned home later, he simply restored his library from Time Machine -- no muss, no fuss.Mike, we salute you and your outside-the-box approach to capacity management. Next time, though, might we suggest a portable drive?[via Macenstein]
Time Capsule: everything you wanted to know
So we spent the weekend playing with Time Capsule and we've discovered some interesting answers to all your questions, as well as a few accompanying annoyances. Our main takeaway? It's a solid product, but you shouldn't expect it to do anything more than back up your files -- and Apple really needs to step up and enable general NAS support for Time Machine. Read on!
Time Machine plays nice with USB HDDs on Time Capsule
Well, would you look at that. It seems as if Time Machine is all buddy-buddy with externally connected HDDs on Time Capsule after all. If you'll recall, many Apple users were miffed (to put it gently) by the disappearance of said feature from vanilla AirPort Extreme Base Stations just before Leopard hit the streets, but according to a hands-on report over at Macworld, "you can perform Time Machine backups to drives attached to the Time Capsule via USB." Granted, it wasn't exactly speedy or anything, but at least the functionality is tucked away in there -- hit up the read link if you're still spinning in disbelief.[Via TUAW]
Time Machine works with USB external HDs on Time Capsule
Over at Macworld, Glenn Fleishman has an initial hands-on report about Apple's new Time Capsule combination Airport Base Station and NAS, and he's confirmed something folks were wondering about: "you can also perform Time Machine backups to drives attached to the Time Capsule via USB." This is interesting, because Apple originally said that Time Machine backups would be possible to an AirDisk (that is, an USB external drive on the regular AirPort Extreme Base Station). Just before Leopard shipped, that feature quietly disappeared, leaving some early-adopters who had counted on that capability in the lurch. The obvious questions now are whether there's any technical reason why Time Machine to AirDisk wouldn't work on the AEBS, and whether Apple is holding the feature back just to promote the Time Capsule. In any case, it's good to know that if you get a Time Capsule you're not limited to the internal storage, perhaps making the smaller 500GB model that much more attractive.
Time Capsule first impressions
Okay, so we've got our Time Capsule up and running here -- we'll be back with a full review once our full 516GB backup is completed, but here are some quick first impressions: You can definitely hear the disks spin up and access. It also sounds like there's a fan in there, but there are no obvious vents for one and we can't feel any air coming out, so the drives might just be that loud. The top is getting quite warm during the backup -- we'll see if it cools down once we stop hitting the drive this hard, but if there really isn't a fan we're a little concerned. Hope those server-grade hard drives like being cooked. You can't transfer an existing Time Machine backup to Time Capsule. Sure, it's easy enough to switch back and get at your old data, but it's still a pain -- and now we have a 1TB drive sitting here with months of backups on it that we can't erase and reuse. Time Machine doesn't prioritize network activity on your machine, so it's slamming our network connection right now as it backs up. That's not a huge problem since we're backing up over Ethernet, but we'll see what happens when we try this over WiFi later. We tried to back up a second machine while the first was in progress, and not much happened -- it created the disk image and got to "Preparing..." and then did nothing. We're assuming these can only happen one at a time. The wireless side of things is basically the same as the Airport Extreme, nothing shocking there, although the setup assistant has been substantially revised to make things easier. The setup assistant now asks if you already have a 2.4GHz network and offers to create a 5GHz secondary network, which is interesting. That's about it for now -- there's not much we can try out while this backup is in progress. Anything else you guys want to know?
Opening the Time Capsule
Right at the buzzer, Apple shipped us a Time Capsule -- and just like we remember, it's a bit bigger than you'd expect. We're about to set it up in our WiFi torture chamber of an apartment building, we'll let you know how it goes -- unboxing in the gallery below. %Gallery-17223%
February is almost over, where is my Time Capsule?
The iPhone SDK isn't the only product that is supposed to be ready for the world by the end of this month (though it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for our iPhone SDK): Time Capsule should be available by the end of this month as well.Time Capsule, you'll remember, is network attached storage (either 500 gig or 1TB) that is designed to work seamlessly with Time Machine. The idea is that you plunk one of these down on your network (or use it to create a wireless network) and then have all your Macs back up to it.Many readers are asking us where the heck the Time Capsule is. Apple has a few more days before they miss their deadline, and if my order status is any indication those that ordered Time Capsules from Apple fairly soon after the announcement should see them ship on, or a tiny bit before, Feb. 29 (and they may pop up in Best Buy too).I bet there are some people in Cupertino who are very glad 2008 is a leap year.
Widget Watch: Time Machine Launcher 1.2
There are two good ways to control Time Machine; you can control it through the Dock and, as of 10.5.2, via the menu bar. Now you can control Time Machine through Dashboard. Time Machine Launcher is a dashboard widget that allows you to force a Time Machine backup, or disable/enable Time Machine on the fly. More control is always good! You can download this widget for free (donations are accepted) from the developers' website.
Aperture and Time Machine, happy at last
Way back in October Nik (who is busily working on his Aperture 2 review) blogged about the problem combo of Aperture and Time Machine. It would seem that using Time Machine and Aperture could lead to some bad things happening to your Aperture database. Apple's suggestion, at the time, was to simply exclude Aperture's database from your Time Machine backups. Sadly, most photographers like to back up their photographs so this wasn't deemed a long term solution.Enter OS X 10.5.2 and, according to Apple, the problem is solved. Time Machine will now happily back up your Aperture database (both Aperture 1.5 and 2) without a problem. That sound you hear is thousands of Aperture users breathing a sigh of relief.
Make your Time Machine drive more useful and more boot-iful
As we've mentioned recently, one of the conditions for a successful bare-metal restore of a Time Machine backup is a Leopard install DVD; you boot from the DVD, choose your backup as source material, wait some number of hours, and then you're back in business. Wouldn't it be good, wondered a tipster at Macosxhints.com, if you could combine the need for a DVD with all that lovely free space on your Time Machine drive and somehow accelerate this process?Enter the "you got your peanut butter in my chocolate" solution: before you set up your Time Machine backups, use Disk Copy Utility to clone your Leopard DVD onto the blank hard drive. Once Time Machine is running, it should leave the DVD clone alone and simply use the rest of the drive for data. If you ever need to recover from a catastrophic failure, you've got a bootable Time Machine restore drive that acts just like the Leopard DVD.My idle question (and one I plan to test when I can) is if you can actually install a lean system, perhaps with some key utilities and tools, alongside your Time Machine data; boot from that when you need to, and do repairs/recovery before moving on to the restore process. It would almost certainly be safer to carve off a small boot partition (20 GB would be ample) and set up a bare-bones boot environment, but it would be fun to try it all on the same volume and see what happens. Of course, when you hear "fun" and "backups" in the same sentence, turn tail and run.
