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  • Swad

    What would you tell Apple?

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    I just finished a survey that I was emailed from Apple. It asked me about my recent iMac purchase (for which you'll have a "lifestyle review" very soon) and about my computer use in general. I love surveys, especially for a company for which I care a great deal, because I know how important the feedback is.
     
    One of the things I tried to get across was that I was really concerned with the lack of a gamer following on the Mac, which has all sorts of consequences. (Edit: My point here is that, for a host of reasons, the Mac gaming ecosystem is a shell of its Windows counterpart.)
     
    But it made me ask myself: what would I tell Apple if I had the chance, outside the confines of a survey? If Steve called me up tomorrow, what would I tell him?
     
    So I thought I would pose the question to you all. If you could choose one area for Apple to improve upon, what would it be and why?
  • Swad

    Aperture 1.5 announced

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    At Apple's Photokina event in Germany this morning, the company announced an imminent update to Aperture, its impressive photo workflow app.
     
    There are a slew of new features coming in an update available later this week - here are a few of the more interesting:
     
    - "Run Aperture on any Intel-based Mac. Any desktop, including Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Pro. Or any notebook, including MacBook and MacBook Pro." (Previously the Macbook gave a resolution warning)
     
    - "Pause, adjust volume, manually step backwards/forwards through slideshows using the Apple Remote that comes with most new Macs."
     
    - New color adjustment controls let you "adjust hue, saturation, and luminance on a color-by-color basis via separate Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow controls."
     
    - The ability to "save individual exposure or white balance adjustments as presets in the Adjustments Inspector and Adjustments HUD."
     
    - New library management features, including iPod integration.
     
    - New extensibility, shipping with several plugins including flickr.
     
    Although it was predicted (or, more accurately, hoped) that Apple would announce Core 2 Duo notebooks, no such announcement was given. At least that's what we hear. We're not so good with German.
  • Swad
    This edition of the iAnnoyance Challenge aims to fix and tweak the usability of your desktop. Interested? Read on.
     
    We launched the iAnnoyance series earlier this month as a fun event for the community to come together, brainstorm ways in which we could customize OS X, and allow developers to show off their coding skills. Stoplight 1.1, a great little app that changes the window behavior of OS X (and allows you to maximize!), was the winner. There’s also a cash prize which, although handy, is hardly the main reason for developing (our last winners donated their $500 prize to someone that needed it more). The app will be open source under the GPL and free to all.
     
    We’re improving the format of the contest this time around, giving developers a full week to come up with their app. At the end of the week, the site staff will examine all the submissions (and we expect quite a few) and choose the winner based on overall quality, usability, innovation, number of improvements, and interface. While the app can still be in a “beta” stage, keep in mind that it will be competing against apps which might be more stable... so testing is key.
     
    While we had initially set prizes at $100 (so we’d have plenty of money to do these), we kicked off the series last time with a prize of $500, since it was our first event and likely the most complex of all challenges. Like I mentioned above, though, this isn’t about the money... although it helps make it worth your time! It's easy cash. The prize award for this iAnnoyance Challenge (and most others henceforth) starts at $250. Donations to add to this award are gladly accepted - if you think you’ll use the app, why not help us support the dev?
     

    iAnnoyance Challenge: Fixing the desktop
    Since we’re giving you a full week to shape and create your app, we want to give you a lot of room to innovate. The more features you come up with, the more likely you are to win. Below, however, is a list of vital features along with other suggestions:
     
    Essentials:
    - Set horizontal and vertical icon grid spacing
    - Hide individual drives while showing others
    - Arrange icons to left, top, or bottom of desktop
    - Show/Hide all icons with a hotkey - It’d also be great to have the ability to show only volumes with a hotkey, show all volumes (instead the ones you’ve opted to show with the above setting), etc.
    - Ability to “map” where icons can be placed on the desktop, meaning that there are certain places they can be placed on the desktop but not others.
     
    Other features we’d love to see:
    - Leopard compatibility
    - Disable the ability of icons to overlap
    - Optional Trash icon on the desktop, either placed on the grid like a normal icon or anchored to one of the desktop corners. (Also, if possible, when this feature is enabled the dock's trash icon should disappear to avoid redundancy) [Thanks for the suggestion, Takuro]
    - See this thread for more great ideas (although many of these relate to the finder in general, something we'll tackle later).
     
    The contest ends Sunday night at Midnight CST (6 am GMT) - to submit your app email me at mashugly@gmail.com (preferred) or PM me here on the forum. If you've got questions for clarification, please don't hesitate to contact me! Early submissions are fine.
     
    Rules and Information:
    1. All applications must be universal and be compatible with OS X 10.4 Tiger.
    2. All applications must have a cool name (we'll pick the most clever one).
    3. Every application must be easy and fun to use.
    4. If code from another open source project is used, proper credit must be given.
    5. Prize monies can also be donated to the charity of choice. Prizes will be awarded after the first stable release.
    6. While not mandatory, "Essential" features are the big items we'll look for. If you're unable to meet one or more, please go ahead and submit your app... everyone else might be in the same situation!
    7. Check back here often, in case clarification of the rules is needed. If I were you, I'd subscribe to the thread by clicking on the "Options" button at the top of this thread and "Track this topic."
     
    Donation List (Click here to donate) :
    Adin B. $15, Alexandre F. $15
     

    Current Award $280
  • kevin_4e
    If you're looking to save time on your Mac's maintenance, the new Widget Watch searches Apple, MacUpdate and VersionTracker to help you keep your apps up-to-date... Stuffit, that stalwart of Mac compression, has just been released a new, Universal application, StuffIt Expander 11 which is a free download... According to Sony, its new VAIO N10-Series “remains very much a VAIO at heart,” even if the rest of its body looks decidedly, shall we say, "borrowed"... If you’re looking for a good way to multi-partition a Mac Boot Camp installation, check out CrossOSS’s HowTo on the subject... It's not too often we think about the origins of the Command key, but since we use it every day, a little history never hurts... especially when something is inspired by a Swedish road sign.
     
    If you haven’t managed to check out all the great looking PC’s in a G5 case, then take a look at this thread... One of the more unique InsanelyMac blogs would have to be DiaboliK's Brain Matter blog, an interesting read for everyone... And if you've ever thought that the Mac and PC should just sit down and work out their differences, don't miss this sneak peak of Apple's unreleased "Computer Counseling" ad.
     
    EDIT: Links not working: Try
    . It's very interesting to think where Apple would be today if this didn't happen. No BootCamp along with many other things.
  • kevin_4e

    AirPort Security Updates released

    By kevin_4e, in OSx86,

    Earlier today, Apple released new security updates for AirPort wireless. They have released three different versions, a Universal build, PPC, and one for those running 10.3.9.
     
    While testing the supposed 60 second AirPort hack (Video), Apple ran across a few unrelated bugs.


    “They did not supply us with any information to allow us to identify a specific problem, so we initiated an internal audit,” Apple spokesman, Anuj Nayar, told Macworld. “Today’s update preemptively strengthens our drivers against potential vulnerabilities, and while it addresses issues found internally by Apple, we are open to hearing from security researchers on how to improve security on the Mac.” As a result, the update is designed to improve "AirPort reliability on Macintosh computers.”
  • Swad

    AMD and Apple - An inevitable union?

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    The CEO of AMD, Hector Ruiz, is pretty certain that Apple will, at some point in the not too distant future, start using AMD chips.


    AMD CEO Hector Ruiz has suggested that Apple will eventually use AMD processors in some of its future systems, so as not to be held "hostage" to exclusive pricing deals from Intel. At a late dinner in San Francisco the executive criticized Intel for reducing competition to a matter of price through its earlier monopoly of computer architecture, and cited previous examples of exclusive pricing deals with Dell as well as other manufacturers. Dell's recent decision to use AMD processors marks the latest in a series of defections that are breaking Intel's once unshakable grip on mainstream computer manufacturers. It's certainly not impossible, especially for a device like iTV in which marketing a processor really isn't that important. But all indications point to a cozy relationship for Apple and Intel that might be hard to break.
     
    I, for one, won't be counting out AMD just yet. Like they say, when the (microprocessor) chips are down...
  • Alex Oughton
    Two new firmwares were released on Tuesday for the Mac Pro, one for the EFI, and the other for the SMC. After waiting for the first reviews to trickle in, here's what we know.
     
    The EFI update reportedly brings many improvements for Boot Camp, including a fix for hard disk speed issues experienced by many Windows XP users on Mac Pro. The SMC update tweaks fan behavior.
     
    This news poster is currently unable to comment on the performance of the new firmware, as the installer is currently incompatible with RAID setups of any kind, a problem reported by many on Apple's official discussion forums.
  • Swad
    There's a new Parallels build in town, pilgrim. [/John Wayne] It boasts support for all the latest Macs along with a few other niceties.


    Just a few minutes ago our developers posted a new build (1898) for Desktop for Mac that substantially improves Mac Pro and 64-bit iMac performance and eliminates kernel panics and major bugs.
     
    For those users who have Mac Pros and 64-bit iMacs with more than 2GB of RAM, you've had to manually limit your RAM via the instructions I layed out in my "Q&A about the Update RC" post. In this build, we've included a tool that will help you take this action without any command line coding. With a single click you can limit your RAM and make your Mac Pro fully compatible with this build. You can easily revert your memory back at any time to the full configuration with the same tool.
     
    This build also adds support for Windows Vista RC1 as a guest OS, and adds an improved Parallels Tools package for all of the Vista builds that improves mouse movement, and video resolutions, and beefs up networking. I highly recommend you install it if you're running Vista!
     
    Originally, I told you that we'd have full PAE support by year's end. Now, I'm pleased to let you know that we are working on a new RC version that will be compatible with ANY Intel-Mac with ANY amount of RAM, and will have it much sooner than originally anticipated. The engineering team tells me that this build should be available in a week or two. Snatch your copy here.
  • Swad
    Our next iAnnoyance Challenge, which will begin next Monday morning at 12:01 a.m., is focused on the OS X desktop. This time around, we're improving the contest by giving developers a full week to come up with the winning formula and then selecting the winner based on the quality (ie breadth of innovation, interface, improvement) of his or her submission... not on who's first to submit something.
     
    But first we've got to know what annoys you about the desktop in OS X. Does it bug you that you can't show some drives and hide others? That you can't have icons aligned to your specific standards? Let your voice be heard.
     
    We'll take all of our annoyances, figure out which ones we can wrap into an iAnnoyance Challenge, and launch the contest next week! So go ahead and sound off - your issue might just get fixed next week!
  • Colonel

    Aqua GUI for iTunes 7

    By Colonel, in OSx86,

    If you're one of the many that wish Apple had included Aqua in iTunes 7, you're in luck. A new add-on for iTunes 7 called AquaT will bring back that olde tyme iTunes 6 look to your newly installed iTunes 7. If you're one of the iTunes 6 UI lovers, as I am, you'll likely enjoy this new add-on.
     

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