Archive for the ‘Mac OS X’ Category

First Security Update for 2010

Posted on 20 January 2010 in Snow Leopard | Comments


Get it from your software update menu.

Snow Leopard Server Wallpaper

Posted on 23 December 2009 in Mac OS X, Snow Leopard | Comments

After posting the original Leopard Server’s wallpaper a while ago here, here is the Snow Leopard’s.
You can download it just by clicking here.

Quick Tip: Fast Exposé Shortcut

Posted on 15 November 2009 in Macintosh Tips & Help, Snow Leopard | Comments

Whenever you want to open the Exposé view of an application, usually mac users will advice you on using Hot Corner. However, we have a new trick here for you.

Open ‘Application Switcher’ with Cmd-Tab
Press Tabs until the app you want to perform Exposé to is selected
Hit the arrow key < or > and the Exposé for that app will appear
It’s fast, quick, and totally free of mouse actions.
But unfortunately, this trick only works in Snow Leopard.

Mac OS 10.6.2 is Out and Drops Atom Processor Support

Posted on 10 November 2009 in Snow Leopard | Comments

Screen shot 2009-11-10 at 7.40.12 AM

Apple appears to have frozen-out fans tired of waiting for an official Cupertino netbook, dropping support for Intel’s Atom processor from the latest build of Snow Leopard 10.6.2, according to reports. The move may signal Apple is clearing the way for its own netbook in tablet form.

For some time, Apple has dismissed the growth of small, low-powered notebook computers, refusing to join the army of computer makers producing so-called ‘netbooks.’ Apple COO Tim Cook described netbooks having “cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software” and were not worthy of the Mac brand. In response to the lack of an official Apple entry, Mac fans have created hackintoshes able to run Mac OS X on netbooks using Intel’s Atom processor. Although 10.6.2 is currently only in the hands of developers, if the Atom omission is retained, the lack of support could either force OS X-based netbooks to vanish or restrict the hacked hardware to remain frozen at 10.6.1.

We may see Apple’s response to the netbook phenomena in early 2010. CEO Steve Jobs may announce Apple’s long-rumored tablet device Jan. 19, although the unit is described as being designed more to deliver media than as a general purpose computer. The Cupertino, Calif. company has always pointed to its iPhone or iPod touch as better alternatives to the netbook for Mac fans.
Read the rest of this entry »

History of OS X in 6 screenshots

Posted on 7 November 2009 in Mac OS X | Comments

6 versions of OS X, from 10.0 to 10.6 in 6 screenshots. Very interesting to watch the evolution of our favorite operating system.
1
Mac OS X 10.0 “Cheetah,” released Mar 24, 2001 (left) and Mac OS X 10.1 “Puma,” released Sep 25, 2001 (right).
2
Mac OS X 10.2 “Jaguar,” released Aug 23, 2002 (left) and Mac OS X 10.3 “Panther,” released Oct 23, 2003 (right)
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Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger,” released Apr 29, 2005 (left) and Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard,” released Oct 26, 2007 (right).

Switch to Snow Leopard 2D Dock in a single Terminal command

Posted on 25 October 2009 in Macintosh Tips & Help, Snow Leopard | Comments

Want to have a 2D dock instead of the 3D one without installing any third party application.

  • Start OS X Terminal,
  • copy/paste this command:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES; killall Dock

First Update to Snow Leopard

Posted on 10 September 2009 in Mac OS X, Snow Leopard | Comments

Mac OS X has just been updated to 10.6.1

The 10.6.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

  • compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
  • an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly
  • some printer compatibility drivers not appearing properly in the add printer browser
  • an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock
  • instances where automatic account setup in Mail might not work
  • an issue where pressing cmd-opt-t in Mail brings up the special characters menu instead of moving a message
  • Motion 4 becoming unresponsive

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3810.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Get Your Mac Ready for Snow Leopard

Posted on 27 August 2009 in Leopard, Snow Leopard, Tiger | Comments

install_snow_leopard_macamour

Remember? The famous Blue Screen Of Death many of us had when updating from Tiger to Leopard?
Well after a few hours, we knew the reason was the Application Enhancer and you all remember the famous tutorial.

I wrote a blog post a few days before Leopard came out, giving many advices to users who were (worried) about to make an upgrade from Tiger(10.4) to Leopard (10.5), the same advices apply for the Leopard to Snow Leopard transition.

Apple’s OS X installers traditionally come with 3 options (archive and install …) but with Snow Leopard, there will be a single default kind of installation (Archive & Install) meaning “fresh OS”.

The installer is complicated as it used: insert disc, open installer, type password and go. :) The installer first quarantines incompatible apps and plugins in an “Incompatible Software” folder, but it will be better (on my opinion) to clean up your system a bit before installing Snow Leopard by removing tweaks, mods, input managers and plugins.

You may also take a look at this Snow Leopard compatibility listing.

For example, on my system, I decided to delete Growl (the uninstaller script is in the installer’s disk image), Chax (installer comes with a remove option), Google Gears, Flip 4 Mac, and many other utilities that adds plugins or modify OS X’s default application/system.
I’m not meaning these applications are not supported by Snow Leopard.
This post is just a set of advices for the paranoid ones like myself.

Another solution (takes a lot of time) is to reinstall a fresh copy of Leopard and then upgrade it to Snow Leopard.

Before starting the installer it would be better to unplug/unmount any external device plugged to your Macs (you can keep the mouse and keyboard of course).