Results tagged “Mac OS” from AppleHound

Since the release of Leopard I have wanted to hide the Time Machine drive that appears on my desktop. About once a week I would see the icon and wish it gone. You know what they say -- wish in one hand and something else in the other and see which one fills up first. So, after washing up, I decided to present my wish to Google instead. A few seconds later I had a link to a simple solution from Macworld titled Hide Time Machine's icon in the Finder.

Here is the quick version for those familiar with AppleScript (replace Time_Machine_drive_name with your drive name):

This last week was filled with a wide range of security updates for the Mac (and Windows with Safari). I don't know about you, but I love updates.

• Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0 - Viewing a maliciously crafted image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Personally I think arbitrary code execution adds a little excitement to life.
• AirPort Extreme Base Station Firmware 7.3.1 - A maliciously crafted AFP request may lead to a denial of service.
• Security Update 2008-002 - Includes critical security updates to AFP Client, AFP Server, Apache, AppKit, Application Firewall, CFNetwork, ClamAV, CoreFoundation, CoreServices, CUPS, curl, Emacs, file, Foundation, Help Viewer, Image Raw, Kerberos, libc, mDNSResponder, notifyd, OpenSSH, pax archive utility, PHP, Podcast Producer, Preview, Printing, System Configuration, UDF, Wiki Server, X11.
• Safari 3.1 - This update includes security and feature enhancements. Additional comments on the new features will appear in another post.

A few hours ago Apple released a major update to the Leopard operating system. Improvements have been made to stacks, Finder, Safari, and Time Machine.

Apple has done us all a favor by providing a detailed list of included updates (the iPhone team could learn a thing or two from the OS X crew in this area):

The Post Office Protocol (POP) mail retrieval method just doesn't cut it these days. People want their mail to appear in sync on all of their devices. Login using your favorite mail application on your computer or with the iPhone or web mail when remote. Email shouldn't be something that needs to be managed on each device!

Since Google added support for Internet Messaging Access Protocol (IMAP) to Gmail I check my mail more frequently. This is because I am not dreading having to login to the web interface to perform clean up work.

Has anyone out there been overwhelmed by the Leopard coverage this month? My RSS reader sure got a workout! 15 popular Apple blogs created a total of more than 600 posts about Leopard. How many ways can you cover the Time Machine feature? 53 ways. Chances are, if it is in Leopard it has been covered, then covered again. Here is a link to a page on the Apple website that conveniently summarizes 95% of the Leopard related blog posts.

I will summarize my experience with Leopard like this... The install was flawless, new features are great, the interface is polished, and the price is right.

Apple has updated their online store to include pre-orders of the delayed Mac OS X Leopard which will be released on October 26th.

Earlier this year Apple disappointed some customers when they diverted key Mac OS engineers to the iPhone project. This decision meant that the Leopard release that Apple had been hyping for several months would be delayed. This caused some in the media (including blogs) to question Apple staffing levels.

Hello, October 26th.

Have you noticed how Apple news has been increasingly negative in the past month? I try to keep my articles upbeat, but it has been hard to find many positive things to talk about.

Apple continues to reach new highs and some are just now coming to the realization that Apple is a big corporation with the goal of making a profit. The primary focus has shifted from the Mac to other profitable products like the iPod and iPhone. Many of the Apple faithful that stood by this company through the good and bad times now feel as though they have been left behind and forgotten. They don't have that feeling of being a part of something special, a tight-knit family of loyal Mac users sticking up for the little guy.

It wasn't too long ago that Apple could do no wrong. Steve was admired for his ability to mesmerize an audience with new product announcements. Today every public decision Apple makes will be scrutinized. Any action that appears to be made solely on the basis of increasing profits will result in a backlash from the community.

The iPhone 1.1.1 update breaks network hacked phones. The most unique description of this is the dead cow analogy from Leo Leport. The general belief is that it would have been easy for Apple developers to review the checksum of system files prior to updating the phone. Continue with the upgrade if the files match approved values, otherwise notify the user that the upgrade is not possible. Apple chose to go the route of a press release and a warning message prior to the upgrade in iTunes. Users who ignored the warnings are now shopping for a new cell phone.

99 cent ringtones. Surprisingly this has a lot of people upset. The outrage doesn't make sense when you consider what other companies are charging for ringtones (Only $1.99 annual fee per Ringback Tone with a $0.99 monthly subscription). So you want to make ringtones of songs you already own? Well, prior to iPhone 1.1.1 you could do this using the popular Ambrosia Software iToner application. Not anymore. Daring Fireball has a great article covering the whole ringtone subject in more detail.

What does Apple need to do to keep their hardware/software ahead of Dell and Microsoft Windows Vista and gain market share? The most important thing is communicate what the Mac is and what it does.

The theory -- not many PC users know what a Mac can do. Testing needed:

1. Walk around your local mall.
2. Randomly stop people and ask them if they think the Mac has a mail client like Outlook or if it can be used to surf the internet with a program like Internet Explorer?
3. Please report back here.

The most likely answers will be one or more of the following:

1. I don't know. Go ask someone at the Apple store.
2. What is a Mac?
3. It should if it doesn't.
4. My friend is a graphic artist, I could call them and get the answer for you.
5. Help! Security!
6. Depending on where you live -- Insert profanity here.

On January 9, 2007 Steve Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would now be named Apple Inc. to better reflect the product mix that they have today. In the following weeks and months many bloggers were increasingly upset about this change.

The end of the Mac is right around the corner -- correct? I just don't see a company can possibly develop computer hardware and software without the word computer its name. You know like Microsoft Computers, HP Computers, IBM Computers, Dell Computers, and Gateway Computers. Oh wait a second... none of those companies have the word computer in their official name. Is it possible that maybe some people overreacted a little bit about the Apple name change?

Often when using my computer I need to know the current date. Normally it is for something simple like browsing a log and needing to figure out how many days have passed since an event occurred.

When I first started using a Mac (after many joyous years running Windows) I found myself looking down at the doc for the date. Oh there it is... July 17th. Wait a minute! That isn't today's date -- am I having computer problems? As it turns out this is the date in 2002 when iCal was released.

I have got to admit that given the opportunity to create a calendar program I would likely choose to force the icon date to something like July 17th. However, as a user of this system I desire something that is a little more significant in my life -- the current date.

It appears that anyone who speaks favorably about Apple or Apple products is labeled a "fanboy" or "drinking the Kool-Aid". Why is that? People who say "Oh, Microsoft Windows Vista this and that blah blah blah" are not assigned any derogatory labels. Lets face it, they aren't calling you names to build you up!

You are doing something that is viewed as different, and people are not encouraged to be different in our society. So, the labels are a method to get you back in line with the group. We won't make fun of you anymore if you re-join the group before it is too late.

Some may say that the "Hello, I'm a Mac" ads are to blame because supposedly the Mac guy portrays himself as being snobby and superior. So, the labels are used to dramatically put us in our place and show us that we really aren't all that.

When I started working with Linux about 5 years ago some technical experts I spoke with suggested that Linux/Unix OS's were superior to Windows in many ways, one reason being that software updates could be performed without rebooting. The end result is a system with uptime that can't be matched.

When I purchased my Mac I thought -- the next time I reboot this system will be after installing Leopard! Since then nearly every software update has required a reboot of the system to complete. Do the updates that Apple pushes out to our systems really require a reboot or are the patch engineers at Apple just playing it safe? Is it possible that the software update application doesn't have the ability to restart the necessary modules to fully update the system?

Why is it that so many people pick on Microsoft for there Vista product when it supposedly borrowed all of its best features from the far superior Mac OS X? Did their implementation of the features leave something to be desired?

At a glance it appears that you can upgrade to Vista by purchasing a skinning program like WindowBlinds for $19.95. I know there are enhancements sprinkled throughout that add new features and stability, but I just don't see 5 years work for 2,000 developers.

Personally I wish Vista was more like the Mac... that way when I am at work I would feel more at home!