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More Answers » Answers Archive » Should you do a “clean install” of Mountain Lion Macworld
281 days
by TwiddleGeek
in hard Drives
[Editor’s note: This article is part of our .]
It used to be that when upgrading to a major new version of OS X, installing over an existing OS X installation―for example, installing 10.3 over 10.2―entailed some degree of risk, as existing applications, add-ons, and support files could conflict with the new OS. For this reason, many people used to perform a “clean install”: wiping your hard drive (after backing it up, of course), installing the latest version of OS X, and then either using Setup/Migration Assistant to restore your applications and data, or manually copying over your data and reinstalling programs. (The Mac OS X 10.2 installer actually option, which preserved your original OS in a special folder while installing a completely new,her husband saidTue,louis vuitton outlet, fresh copy of 10.3. This feature was eliminated in the .)
But a new debuted with Lion (OS X 10.7) and continues with Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8)―instead of a bootable installation DVD,abercrombie pas cher, you download the latest OS X installer to your Mac and install it from the same drive. as with Lion last year, many Mac users are asking two related questions: (1) can you perform a clean install of Mountain Lion? and (2) Should you? Here’s my take on each of these questions.can you perform a clean install of Mountain Lion?first, the technical question: given that the OS X 10.8 installer doesn’t include an official clean-install option, is it possible to perform such an installation? the simple answer is: yes. as explained in my main article on , the installer will let you install the new OS onto a blank drive. so if you first back up your existing Snow Leopard or Lion installation and all your files―I recommend creating a bootable clone using or ―you can then boot from , erase your Mac’s normal startup drive, and install Mountain Lion on it. In fact, you can use the instructions in my . Specifically, scroll down to the section called “The brute-force method” and perform Steps 1 through 7, substituting “Snow Leopard” or “Lion” for “Leopard”―the result is a clean install.
Once you’ve done this, if you want to use Setup/Migration Assistant to restore data from your backup, proceed with Step 8. If you truly want a clean start, you’ll instead need to manually copy your personal data from your backup to your new Mountain Lion installation, and then reinstall all of your software. (This is one situation in which the more apps you’ve purchased through the Mac App Store, the better―you just launch the Mac App Store app and click a few buttons to automatically reinstall everything you’ve purchased.)Should you perform a clean install of Mountain Lion?OK, so you can, but should you? Prior to Snow Leopard, I generally recommended a clean install. But the Snow Leopard installer and Setup/Migration Assistant were pretty good about not transferring over incompatible software,air jordan pas cher, and Lion and Mountain Lion have been even better―in fact, Lion and Mountain Lion even automatically detect some incompatible programs and system add-ons the first time you log in, as explained in my main installation article.
What about stuff the installer and Setup/Migration Assistant don’t catch? In my experience installing 10.8 many times over a variety of existing Lion,louis vuitton outlet, Snow Leopard, and even Leopard installations, I’ve had little trouble that I could trace directly to incompatibilities with transferred code, and upgrading to Mountain Lion has gone even more smoothly than the many Lion upgrades I performed last year. Based on that experience, and similar reports from my Macworld colleagues, I feel comfortably saying that as long as you’ve ,abercrombie, you should be just fine installing directly over Lion or Snow Leopard. (Because Mountain Lion and Lion have so much code in common, upgrading from Lion to Mountain Lion seems to entail even less risk than upgrading to from Snow Leopard.)
There are, however,jordan pas cher, a couple situations in which you might consider a clean install. the first is if you’ve done some funky partitioning of your Mac’s startup drive that prevents the Mountain Lion installer from . given how useful recovery mode is in Mountain Lion, I recommend performing a clean install (with a good backup!) just so you can erase your Mac’s drive and restore it to a standard configuration that will allow the installer to create the Recovery HD partition. (If you don’t want to manually re-install everything afterwards,abercrombie and fitch, you can use Setup or Migration Assistant to transfer your data, applications, and the like from your backup to the new installation, as described above.)
The other is if you’ve been using your Mac for a while, installing and deleting lots of apps and OS add-ons, and your hard drive has become littered with lots of unnecessary gunk and cruft: orphaned application-support and preference files, abandoned preference panes,abercrombie and fitch france, and the like. A new major version of OS X is a great opportunity to do some spring cleaning,louis vuitton, so to speak. of course,abercrombie, if you perform a clean install for this purpose, you don’t want to use Setup or Migration Assistant to bring over everything from your backup. instead, you should manually copy your personal data and then reinstall just those apps and add-ons you actually use. (Macworld contributor Joe Kissell talks extensively about such procedures in .)
[Dan Frakes is a Macworld senior editor. He’s very, very happy the days of frequent clean installs are behind us.] her husband saidTue
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Bugs & Fixes: Troubleshooting Mountain Lion
283 days
by TwiddleGeek
in bluetooth
Your first caution should be to make sure that nothing bad happens as a direct result of the install process itself. Bob LeVitus offers an excellent brief overview of what you should do before clicking the Install button. Macworld’s Dan Frakes, as usual, provides the definitive take on everything you could possibly want to know about installing Mountain Lion.
I’ll highlight one general install tip here: After downloading the Install OS X Mountain Lion app from the Mac App Store, you’ll find it in your Applications folder. Make a copy of the app before proceeding. otherwise, the app will vanish without a trace after you complete the install (this is a deliberate feature, not a bug). Yes, you can get it back by re-downloading the app, but keeping a copy saves you time and hassle, in case you ever want to use Install again.
After you have Mountain Lion up and running, you are still not home free. Here’s a round-up of some post-install Mountain Lion problems you may encounter:
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If you try to use Migration Assistant to migrate to Mountain Lion, you may find that the Assistant app crashes. Don’t worry, you can still get things working. as Apple explains, all you need to do is uncheck the back to My Mac item in iCloud System Preferences on the destination Mac. the migration should now succeed. when you’re done, you can re-enable back to My Mac.
According to Apple, “After upgrading to OS X Mountain Lion, your Mac may keep returning to the login window after you have logged in.” This is clearly something you’ll want to fix ASAP.
The most likely culprit is an incompatible Login Item. OS X makes an effort to automatically disable incompatible software on startup. Apparently, some apps may still sneak in under the fence. the solution is to reboot your Mac in Safe Mode (by holding down the Shift key until the gray Apple logo appears). This prevents your Login Items from loading. now go to System Preferences -> Users & Groups> -> Login Items. Look for any item that “has a prohibitory sign (a gray circle with a slash) over its icon.” This indicates an incompatible item. Delete any such items and restart your Mac normally. all should now be well.
Numerous users report that, after waking their Mountain-Lion-upgraded Mac from sleep, the Mac does not automatically re-connect to the local Wi-Fi network. making matters worse, attempts to manually reconnect may lead to a persistent spinning beachball, making reconnection just about impossible.
A solution that has worked for at least some users is to:
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Excel is an extremely useful program but it can be intimidating to people who have never created a spreadsheet or used it regularly. The solution to this lack of experience is to us a template. Templates are pre-formatted spreadsheets that you can download and use on your computer. If you...
- Go to Network System Preferences and click the Advanced button;
- From the Wi-Fi tab, delete all the known networks
- Return to the main Network display and delete Wi-Fi from the Services list.
- Finally, add a new Wi-Fi service (by clicking the + icon at the bottom of the list section).
Unfortunately, this is not a sure-fire fix. many users with this symptom continue to struggle to find a cure. a few suggest that incompatible third-party software is the root case. a few have found that turning off Bluetooth eliminates the symptom.
Leaving the ’Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer’ preference enabled can lower chances of a kernel panic when waking from sleep.
Speaking of Bluetooth, Avatron Software’s blog reports that if you turn off Bluetooth-connected devices while your Mac is asleep, a kernel panic may occur when you wake up the Mac. if you’ve additionally disabled “Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer,” located in the Advanced section of Bluetooth System Preferences, the kernel panic may occur even if you leave the Bluetooth devices on. Avatron believes the cause is a bug that Apple will likely fix in 10.8.1.
As reported by Kirk McElhearn (who cites an Apple Support Communities thread on the matter), the new version of Mail in Mountain Lion has trouble assigning the correct address for email replies. if you have multiple email accounts, when you select to reply to an email, Mail should use the account that received the message as your “from” address. This should override any selection you have made for a default address to use with new messages. That’s the way things worked in Lion.
The problem is that Mail may now instead use your default address for replies, ignoring when the received message comes from a different account. Postings in the Apple thread offer some potential workarounds, but not any outright fix. on the other hand, you may not see this symptom at all. when I tried to replicate it, I could not do so; I always got the “account matching” email address when selecting to reply.
Mountain Lion OS X includes Safari 6 (you can also download the updated browser to run in Lion). according to more than a dozen posts on an Apple Support Communities thread, there’s a minor glitch with the apps’ top Sites feature. the white star that should appear in the corner of a listed page, when the page gets updated, no longer shows up. there is no known fix. presumably, this is another bug that Apple will need to address. [Update: Reader comments below indicate that the symptom is a byproduct of Apple removing RSS support from Safari 6. In other words, it’s not a bug; it’s a feature.]
Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter now available – MacDailyNews – Welcome Home
290 days
by TwiddleGeek
in firewire
The Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter is now available via Apple Store Online for US$29.
The Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter allows you to easily connect your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac to a FireWire device with the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter.
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Small and compact, it connects to the Thunderbolt port on your Mac computer, giving you a FireWire 800 port that supplies up to 7W for bus-powered peripherals like hard drives and audio devices.
The Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter requires OS X v10.7.4 or later.
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More info here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Gordon M." for the heads up.]
Lifehacker Pack For Linux: Our List Of The Best Linux Apps
301 days
Linux may not be the most popular OS around, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to sit here and ignore it. Here are our favourite downloads for everyone’s favourite open source operating system.
The Lifehacker Pack is a yearly snapshot of our favourite, must-have applications for each of our favourite platforms. If you’re curious to see how things have changed this year, here’s last year’s Lifehacker Pack for Linux. And, for our always-updating directory of all the best apps, be sure to bookmark our Linux App Directory.
Note that, unlike Windows and OS X, Linux comes in many flavours and with a number of different desktop environments. Since most of you are using the GNOME-based Ubuntu, that’s what this pack is designed for. For more alternatives, be sure to check out our Linux App Directory.
As always, we have the good folks at Ninite helping us out this year, creating a one-click installer for the 2012 Linux Lifehacker Pack. You can download the entire pack at once, or just pick the apps you want, and Ninite will install them all at once — perfect for new Linux installations or setting up your friends with a good set of apps.
Download the 2012 Lifehacker Pack Here
Looking for an app in a specific category? use the links below to jump around.
- Productivity
- Internet/Communication
- Music, Photos, and Video
- Utilities
GNOME Do
Ubuntu’s new Dash may be a great way to quickly launch apps, but if you want something more powerful — or if you’ve ditched Unity for something different — get GNOME Do. not only can it launch apps with just a few keystrokes, but it has a ton of plugins that let you compose emails, send IMs, play music, search the web and do just about anything else with minimal effort.
Download Page
gedit
Gedit may not be the most powerful text editor on Linux, but it’s more than enough to satisfy the majority of users. It’s lightweight, super customisable and perfect for any text editing you need to do, whether it’s just jotting a few notes down or editing a config file. And, like many other things Linux, it’s got a great plugin infrastructure that gives it all sorts of super powers. If you ever need to edit some text in Linux (and let’s be honest, you will — a lot), gedit will be your best friend.
Download Page
AutoKey
We love text expansion, not only for its ability to save us hours of typing every day, but for making quick work of internet assholes, avoiding Twitter spam, and all sorts of other cool tricks. AutoKey may not be as easy to use as text expanders on other platforms, but it’s got a lot of power behind it, especially if you’re willing to write a little code. If you haven’t started using text expansion yet, you should start now.
Download Page
LibreOffice
Who says you can’t get serious work done in Linux? LibreOffice is a free office suite that has everything you need to get work done in a word processor, spreadsheet creator, or presentation program. OK, so it might not be on par with Microsoft Office, but chances are you’ll be able to get quite a bit done without resorting to the evil empire’s offering.
Download Page
Chromium
Most Linux distributions ship with Firefox due to its commitment to open source, but the fact of the matter is that Chrome (and its open source counterpart, Chromium) is just so hard to pull away from. It may not be as customisable as Firefox, but its fantastic UI, awesome extensions and mad syncing skills keep us tied to it for now.
Download Page
Thunderbird
Clients like Evolution may have some nice GNOME integration, but Thunderbird is such a great client — despite its slowed-down development — that we just have to include it in the pack. It’s got a great interface, tons of plugins, and the ability to access Gmail when it’s down, which makes it a winner in our book.
Download Page
Pidgin
Empathy? What’s Empathy? Pidgin may not ship with Ubuntu these days, but it’s still the best IM client on the block, thanks to its huge library of IM protocols (including AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN, Facebook Chat, and more), customisation features, and tons of plugins that let you give it some crazy power.
Download Page
Adobe Flash
Everyone loves to complain about Flash like they know how bad it is, but they don’t know the true pain of using Flash on Linux. It may be bloated and crashy, but the fact of the matter is you need it to browse the web, whether you’re watching videos, listening to music, playing games, or even just navigating a poorly-designed site. Install it, then use it only when you have to with FlashBlock for Chrome and Firefox.
Download Page
Skype
Skype may not give Linux very much love (resulting in a less-than-awesome program), but it’s still the video chat that everyone uses, which means you need to as well. It isn’t our favorite, but it’ll do the trick in a jiffy, so keep it on hand for when Grandma calls you and doesn’t know how to get Google Hangouts.
Download Page
SMPlayer
We ordinarily put VLC in our Lifehacker packs, but you’re Linux users, so we’re not going to baby you. We know you want a more powerful, feature-filled, yet easy-to-use video player so we’re going to recommend SMPlayer for all your video-watching needs. SMPlayer is basically a GUI frontend for MPlayer that brings lots of advanced features to the forefront, like a video equaliser, video filters, customisable subtitles and more — and it’ll remember your settings for each individual video, too.
Download Page
Shotwell
Shotwell is the default photo management app in Ubuntu, and with pretty good reason. It has everything the average user should need to keep their photos organised and looking good, including a basic editor that fixes red eye and colour problems, album creation, and the ability to upload photos to Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa.
If you want something a bit more advanced, F-Spot is still around and kicking, and Picasa works pretty well in Wine. There’s also digiKam, but it’s designed for KDE.
Download Page
The GIMP
If you ever need to do some image editing beyond the basic crop and resize, you’ll need the GIMP. GIMP is essentially a free image editor that can do a lot of the things Photoshop can, and while it may seem a bit complicated, it’s easy to get the hang of fairly quickly. keep it around for the occasional image editing and you’ll be good to go.
Download Page
Banshee
Your music player is an intensely personal choice, but if we had to pick a good starting point, we’d pick Banshee. It hits a good sweet spot between customizability and ease of use, meaning you can listen however you want without pulling your hair out. It’s got a good selection of extensions, though not as big as some of its compatriots, but it can have some trouble with big libraries. For most users, this is the player to go with.
If you don’t like Banshee, check out Rhythmbox, Amarok, and Exaile for some awesome alternatives.
Download Page
Restricted Extras
Most Linux distributions, in an aim to be truly open source, don’t contain closed-source plugins like MP3 support, DVD playback, and a few other extras. most users will want to have these around, though, so if you didn’t download them when you installed your distro of choice, this is a good time to grab them all at once.
Deluge
Deluge may not be as well known as some other clients, but it’s definitely our favourite on Linux. It’s a very simple and easy-to-use client out of the box, but you can install a bunch of plugins to add the advanced features you want one by one. That way, you get exactly the client you want — no more, no less.
Alternatively, you can try the slightly more lightweight, less customisable qBitTorrent, or the classic Transmission.
Download Page
Dropbox
We Linux users rarely stick with one OS for long — we like to swap between distros, dual and triple boot, or maybe even own multiple computers. If that sounds like you, then you need Dropbox. Dropbox syncs files between all your devices and OSes with minimal effort, and also syncs them to the cloud for easy access anywhere. Plus, it’s useful for all sorts of clever tricks. If you don’t have an account yet, grab the free 2GB one now and stock up on extra free space.
Download Page
CrashPlan
If you’ve ever accidentally rm -rf‘d your entire drive, you know how important backups can be. Our favourite backup tool is Crashplan. It makes it easy to back up your data to an external drive, a remote computer, or — for a small fee — to the cloud, so your data is safe no matter what catastrophe may befall your beloved computer. All you need to do is set it up once and forget it until that fateful day comes.
Download Page
PeaZip
Linux has a lot of file archiving tools available to it, but if you’re looking for something simple, easy-to-use, and GUI-based, look no further than PeaZip. It may be a little ugly, but it’s got all the advanced archiving features you need, including support for nearly every archive type under the sun. It also has some nice security features and a super-configurable interface, which is enough to make anyone happy.
Download Page
Wine
No matter how hard you try, chances are you’ll probably need to run a Windows app or two on your system. Luckily, Wine is a tool that makes this possible for quite a few apps, letting you run Windows apps side-by-side with your Linux apps as if they had never let you. You’ll need to check the Wine App Database to see if your app is compatible — some aren’t — but if it’s a popular app, chances are pretty good you’ll have a workable version.
Download Page
VirtualBox
When Wine isn’t an option, your next best bet for running those Windows programs is VirtualBox. VirtualBox brings a full Windows installation to your desktop without the need to reboot. It’s a tad slower than true dual booting would be, but you get to use it alongside your regular Linux desktop, and it’ll run nearly any Windows app you need.
Download Page
Ubuntu Tweak
This one isn’t a true necessity, but something a lot of beginners will find handy to have around. Ubuntu Tweak is a great little program that makes certain Linux operations easier for those unaccustomed to Linux’s weird ways. It’ll help you install third-party apps, configure your system without the Terminal, clean up disk space, and more. It’s perfect for getting your feet wet, but don’t be afraid to delve into the command line for the things Ubuntu Tweak can’t handle! after all, that’s where the real possibilities start.
Download Page
Once again, to get the above programs, just head over to the Pack on Ninite and select the apps you want. It’ll give them all to you in one, unified, hassle-free installer. If you’re looking for more options, or just to see what’s changed for 2012, check out last year’s Lifehacker Pack for Linux.
Microsoft Slashes Windows 8 Upgrade Pricing – Because It Can’t Afford Not To
325 days
Once again demonstrating the importance of Windows 8 to its future, Microsoft has cut the upgrade price by some 90% compared to previous versions of Windows. Rather than charge Windows 7 upgrade prices of up to $220, Microsoft plans to sell the upgrade for Windows 8 Pro for less than $40 – at least during a promotional period.
The discount upgrade offer, announced Monday, is good for anyone currently using a legitimate version of Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. once the upgrade is purchased online, Microsoft’s Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant tool will walk the customer through the process from download to installation. And customers can add Windows Media Center for no additional charge.
In dramatically lowering pricing for its latest Windows upgrade, Microsoft is both demonstrating how far it is willing to go to get customers to upgrade to Windows 8 – and ripping a page from Apple’s OS X upgrade playbook.
Microsoft has apparently decided that getting people to upgrade en masse to an operating system that reflects a major shift in emphasis from PCs to tablets is more important than the additional profit it would make on each individual download.
The most dramatic change in Windows 8, and the feature Microsoft is most counting on people to use, is the Metro interface, which will be the front-end for smartphones and tablets running the Windows 8 version for tablets. PC users will have the option of clicking through Metro to an update of the classic Windows interface, but Microsoft is hoping they’ll fall in love with the new interface.
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Metro uses what Microsoft calls “active” tiles to provide quick access to various applications and functions. Experts mostly agree that it is an effective and attractive method for making use of scarce real estate on the small screen of a smartphone or tablet. on the PC, it has gotten mixed reviews, with some experts saying that the sea of tiles on a large monitor look jumbled and confusing. [readwriteweb.com/archives/how-windows-8-throws-computer-users-under-the-bus.php]
Nevertheless, for Microsoft, Metro is the future. The company is counting on those tiles to steer users to the apps and services
Besides, consumers are not flocking to desktops and notebooks like they once did. All-in-one PCs and ultrabooks have failed to excite consumers who continue to snatch up smartphones and tablets at a much faster rate than PCs. Microsoft is banking that Metro – in combination with Window 8 for mobile devices – will keep Windows users from turning to Apple iPads iPhones and Google Android smartphones and tablets.
Breaking with it’s past history, Microsoft can no longer afford to let price be a barrier to Windows 8 adoption, no matter the short-term hit to the bottom line. if Microsoft fails to encourage Windows 8 adoption, Windows’ overall importance will continue to fade – and so ultimately will the company’s profits.
The company has been criticized in the past for making upgrades almost as expensive as new installations, and for not giving extra discounts to consumers who shelled out for the previous version. with Windows 7, for example, Vista users paid just as much to upgrade as XP users. Users of newer versions of Windows don’t get a break on Windows 8 either, but with pricing below $40, it shouldn’t matter much. Current buyers of Windows 7 PCs can upgrade for $15.
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Birmingham, United Kingdom (PRWEB) July 04, 2012 PacktLib is a comprehensive resource, providing focused information on todays IT systems, applications and frameworks, enabling subscribers to complete tasks efficiently and effectively. With 800 books already hosted on demand from the cloud in the library, and more added on a...
For comparison, When Windows 7 came out, Microsoft offered promotional upgrades to Home Premium and Professional for $49 to $99, Today, those upgrades coss $199 for Windows 7 Professional and $120 for Windows 7 Home Premium.
Ironically, though, this new approach clearly follows Apple’s pricing lead. For years, Apple has made upgrading inexpensive for Mac customers, in order to get as many people as possible to use the new features on the latest platform. that helps Apple lead its customers in whatever direction the company is taking its products. recently, that direction has pointed to the cloud with storage, music and video, along with tighter integration between its iPhone, iPad and Macs. Apple plans to ship the latest version of Mac OS X – Mountain Lion – this month, with upgrades costing just $20.
Of course, some older PCs may not have the muscle to run Windows 8. Microsoft promises that the Upgrade Assistant will check to make sure it does. in addition, the tool will provide a detailed compatibility report that will warn customers of any potential software or device problems.
People upgrading from Windows 7 will be able to carry over Windows settings, personal files and applications. Vista can share its settings and personal files, while XP users will be able to move only their personal files to Windows 8. And after the download is installed, users can add Windows Media Center for free via an “add features” option.
If you want Windows 8 Pro on physical media, you’ll have to pay $70. The promotional pricing for downloads and DVDs runs through Jan. 31, 2013. No word on what the pricing will be after the promotional period.
Windows 8 is expected to ship in the fall.
Apple’s Cunning Plan To Put Pressure On Microsoft and Windows 8
333 days
by TwiddleGeek
in windows Vista
Apple seems to have a plan — you might even call it a cunning plan — to put pressure on Microsoft and Windows 8 in the one area that the company doesn’t want pressure put — price.
Windows doesn’t come cheap. the OEMs that build PCs typically pay Microsoft around $50 for every Windows 7 Home Premium PC sold, and when you consider that you can buy a PC for under $300, that makes Windows a very expensive component. But if you think that $50 for Windows is expensive, this is nothing to how much you have to pay if you want to upgrade a PC to run the latest version of Windows.
A quick trip over to NewEgg.com shows that an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Home Premium is $109.99 — saving you $10 compared to the recommended retail price of $119.99. this is how much Microsoft thinks it should cost you to be able to keep your operating system up to date.
Apple on the other hand has chosen to think differently. Starting with Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ the company decided to offer single-user upgrades for $29 and ‘Family Packs’ which can be installed on five Macs for $49.
That seemed like an incredible deal, and it was. the low price resulted in upgrade sales over the first month hat were double what Apple saw for Mac OS X 10.5 ‘Leopard’ over a similar period following its release.
But now Apple is cutting the price of the upgrade once again. at last week’s WWDC 2012 keynote speech it was announced that the OS X 10.8 ‘Mountain Lion’ single user upgrade will retail for $19.99. To put this price into context, I remember a time when Apple used to charge iPod touch owners a whopping $9.99 for iPhone OS updates (back before the operating system was called iOS) — the exact same updates that all iOS device owners now get or free.
The plan here is hardly subtle. while Microsoft continues to charge customers the earth for upgrades, Apple wants to try to persuade people who, for one reason or another, are dissatisfied with Windows to make the switch to Mac. low cost operating system upgrades that give owners a way to keep their Macs running the latest version of OS X will appeal to those who like to squeeze as much life as possible from their initial hardware investment.
For those people who don’t need Windows – and there seems to be an increasing number of them — this lure of cheap upgrades could be compelling.
Another side-effect of what Apple is doing here is that it is devaluing the operating system in preference to looking at the hardware and the operating system that make up a computer as a single product. Apple can afford to virtually give away OS X upgrades because it sold owners the Mac in the first place, and at a handsome 30+ percent profit margin. Microsoft on the other hand is reliant on sales of Windows — both new licenses and upgrades — to buoy its bottom line, while OEMs aren’t in a position to do anything at all because they’re already crushed and barely scraping a profit from selling the PC in the first place.
It wouldn’t surprise me if in a few years Apple is offering OSX updates to users for free. Microsoft has yet to detail Windows 8 pricing, but given that Apple has already shot across their bow with Mountain Lion pricing, I would hope that there is some effort on the part of Microsoft to make Windows cheaper for hose people who are loyal to the platform.
How to install Windows 8 on your Mac
341 days
Running Windows 8 on a Mac gives you the best of all worlds. Here’s how to install Windows 8 on a Mac.
Why would you want to run Windows on a PC and laptops that runs the Apple OS X? It’s a valid question. In fact, there are many reasons. To test out programs that are Windows-only; to play games that aren’t available on a Mac; to play media files that Apple doesn’t support but Windows does.
To see what you’re missing before deciding whether a Windows PC is for you or, finally, being able to run more than one OS on the same machine means you save space and hardware costs and can essentially take two laptops with you on the road. for more on the changes in Windows 8 and how to use them visit Windows 8 Advisor. (See also: Windows 8: the complete guide.)
Installing an additional operating system on a Mac works via a process called virtualisation. you can do it through either Boot Camp or VMware Fusion, but the easiest option is to use Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac. it costs £69 but offers full control over both desktops and lets you install more than one extra OS, assuming your Mac has the resources to do so.
An Intel Core 2 Duo processor and at least 2GB of RAM (preferably 4GB) are needed to run Windows successfully. Remember that you’ll not only need this level of hardware, but plenty of hard disk space on your Mac too. You’re in effect running two PCs off a single one. for this reason, an MacBookAir with an SSD drive is probably not a good choice for dual-booting Windows 8 and Mac OS.
Switching between desktops doesn’t even involve logging in and out of your current operating system – you just switch windows. once installed as a dual-boot OS, you’ll be able to drag items from your Windows 8 PC into the Mac OS and vice versa. You’ll need a separate user account besides the standard Administrator account once Windows has installed on your Mac. This option is only supported on Parallels Desktop 7 (the latest version of the software); if you’ve got an older version of Parallels, you’ll need to upgrade at at cost of £34.99.
Windows 8 Consumer Preview is free to download, but will become inactive shortly after the commercial launch of the operating system. At this stage, US and Canadian users will be able to buy and install Windows 8 from within Parallels, while UK users will need to buy a copy and either install it from a USB drive or burn the ISO file to DVD. for further detailed advice on installing Windows 8 Release Preview, read our article: How to install Windows 8.
Step 1: Install Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and set up your account. if you’re upgrading from an earlier version of Parallels, you’ll need to quit out of Parallels Desktop and Parallels Virtual Machine and allow Desktop 7 to replace them. All your settings will be migrated to the new version, along with any operating systems you may have been running within it.
Step 2: Head to Microsoft.com and click on the Windows tab. You’ll see an option to try the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. You’ll need to enter your email address and accept the terms and conditions in order to initiate the download. Verify your details by email when prompted.
Step 3: Back in Parallels, it’s worth scanning through the instructions in the Getting started PDF. When you’re ready, click on the Parallels Desktop menu bar at the top of the screen and choose File, New. Choose ‘Install Windows or another OS from DVD or image file’.
Step 4: a prompt to insert an operating system disc appears. Assuming you downloaded Windows 8 Consumer Preview to your Mac, choose the other media option. Parallels should locate the Windows.iso file on the Mac OS X desktop. Click to install Windows. Alternatively, on the options screen, click the ‘Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview’ option. Click Continue.
Step 5: Note that the pre-filled product key may not work. if this is the case, enter the generic code code DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J that Microsoft provides for use with the Consumer Preview. Click Continue.
Step 5: next you need to tell Parallels how you want to use Windows. it can run as a self-contained operating system or simply run specific programs with the Mac OS. We chose the former option as we want to use Windows 8 as though it were the native OS.
Step 6: Confirm your preferences on the next screen about whether Windows 8 should also be accessible by other users of this Mac and where Parallels should save the installation files. you can also adjust its default memory allocation. Windows 8 Consumer Preview will now start installing.
Step 7: Windows 8 automatically creates a user profile for you based on the details it has gleaned from the Mac. you can edit your email and user preferences once Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup is complete. This includes specifying whether or not HomeGroup sharing should be switched on. This trusted local network feature is usually restricted to Windows use, but can be used within this virtualised version of Windows on a Mac too.
Step 8: Click the View option at the top of the screen and choose ‘Enter full Screen’ to have Windows 8 take over the whole screen. You’ll now see a screen full of brightly coloured tlles. These represent apps and remain live when you click away from one to perform another task.
Step 9: Click on your user icon to access PC settings and to add other user accounts. At the bottom you’ll see an option to add more users. a Microsoft or other email address is all that’s required to set them up on Windows 8 on the Mac.
Step 10: To return to the Windows 8 Metro tile interface, hover your mouse at the bottom left and click the thumbnail that appears. To get back to the Mac OS, hover your mouse over the uppermost part of the screen and, when the menu bar appears, choose View, Exit full Screen.
Buy The Complete Guide To Windows 8.
WWDC 2012: Apple MacBook Retina Display, iOS 6 Powering iPhone 5 Expectations
348 days
by TwiddleGeek
in hard Drives
Apple’s 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference, WWDC, in San Francisco, CA is just around the corner. like past years, expectations and curiosity are high. Fans can expect to see an iOS 6 and Mountian Lion unveiling, but can the MacBook or iPhone 5 make a surprise appearance?
As per speculations that have been buzzing around, Apple’s MacBook is rumored to include retina display. According to an update on FolderWatch, a Mac OS X-based application, the new MacBook version 2.0.4 comes with “retina graphics.”
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“A Mac OS X-based application today was updated with support for “Retina graphics.” the app, FolderWatch, allows users to automatically keep a copy of a project on an external hard drive or file server. it might not be the most obvious choice for a Retina-ready app, but the very fact that it supports the feature is rather interesting,” as tweeted by Brothers Roloff, Developers of the app.
With Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference starting next week, fans can expect Mac apps to be updated with the Retina graphics.
“Apple has also supported a “HiDPI” display mode for some time now in Mac OSX Lion and Mountain Lion. Apps like Air Display have already been updated to support HiDPI mode, which would technically make them “Retina Display ready” as well,” reports VentureBeat.
In a significant turn, Apple has been granted broad patent on MacBook Air Wedge Design which has been described as the ornamental design for an electronic device.
“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Apple Design Patent No. D661, 296 which covers the asymmetrical wedge-like or so-called “teardrop” shape first introduced in the company’s MacBook Air line of computers,” writes Apple Insider.
However, with Apple getting the patent for the MacBook Air Wedge Design would come as a threat to Ultrabook makers like the HP’s Envy Spectre, or the ASUS Zenbook. With the company been very particular and known for filing litigation against its competitors if they feel their patents have been used, the ultrabook makers may have to watchout for what they may have to face.
“The patent could be important if Apple decides to pursue legal action against lookalike laptops scheduled to roll out later this year. Some upcoming products from the Intel-backed “Ultrabook” initiative bears a striking resemblance to the MacBook Air, and if Apple follows with tradition these Windows-based laptops could face infringement suits,” writes Apple Insider.
The buzz around the iPhone 5 has been ongoing on and Apple’s next-gen device can be unveiled at anytime.
iPhone 5 is expected to be powered by iOS 6 which is Apple’s next generation operating system for mobile devices. iOS 6 will be unveiled during the WWDC.
The new operating system is rumored to feature Siri, the voice assistant software and the update will also include iOS 6 Maps application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch which will be a Google-free iOS map app.
“If accurate, then the iOS 6 on the iPhone 5, according to experts, will use a unique and more advanced version of the iOS 6 that will use the extra pixels on the phone’s larger screen. last year, Apple used Siri to differentiate the phone from almost identical iPhone 4. this year, Apple might add more exclusive features to iPhone 5 to convince millions of iPhone 4 and 4S owners to upgrade,” reports PopHerald.
Apple’s iOS 6 will come with the “iStore” which will include music and video content in one place. the store will enable users to navigate each category in a particular place along with integrating Facebook for sharing photos and video faster.
Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to come with larger retina display, possibly a 4-inch IPS touchscreen with features like 4G LTE connectivity powered by a 1.5 GHz quadcore A6 processor along with 1GB of RAM and retina display of 1280 x 720 resolutions. it will also include near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
With iOS expected to unveil during the WWDC and the integration of iOS 6 into the next generation iPhone 5 will definitely increase Apple’s market value along with fans curiosity at in San Francisco this week.
MORE WWDC NEWS:
WWDC Lineup Rumors: iOS 6, iPhone 5, 13 inch Macbooks Apple WWDC 2012 Trouble as iPhone and iPad Supplier Foxconn Faces Riot Apple Spotted with iOS 6 Banner at WWDC 2012 WWDC 2012 Prospects: MacBook Pro 17” to Retire? T-Mobile to Surprise Apple iPhone Users with 1900MHz HSPA+ at WWDC
Google Balloons, Dead Software, and Productive Tablets
350 days
by TwiddleGeek
in pda Software
This week on the podcast we’re talking about mapping out your neighborhood with a Google weather balloon, saying goodbye to software we love, and learning about Google’s new Knowledge Graph. Also, we’re answering questions about batch audio conversions, making tablets productive, having a say in what search engines say about you.
How to Watch or Listen to This Week’s Episode
You can watch the episode by clicking the play button above, but there are plenty of other ways to get it:
News and Discussion
Google Knowledge Graph Google Knowledge Graph is a new feature that Google added that we’re actually happy to see. it provides associate search results, meaning you get a panel of relevant other information based on your search queries. for example, if you searched for Frederick Douglass you’d get a panel on the right side of your results with information about his birth, death, relevant books, and associated people. for more info, check out these five handy things you can do with the knowledge graph.
Perian Prepares for Retirement Last week Perian, the video codec “swiss army knife” for OS X’s Quicktime, announced that it was headed into retirement. One final update will be made, but then Perian’s development is over and done with. This isn’t the first much-loved app or tool to call it quits on any platform. Many things we use regularly have almost met a similar fate, or have since been replaced by newer options. for that reason, we decided to remember the apps we loved from our past that are no longer with us, plus a few that narrowly survived a similar fate.
Map Your Neighborhood with a Balloon Camera Thorin wanted to get a better birds-eye view of his neighborhood, so he sent a camera up in a balloon to photograph it. It’s a really neat project and is fairly inexpensive to accomplish ($140, and everything is reusable). aside from just photographing your neighborhood, Thorin notes that you could get really interesting arial photos of a party or an event—something that’s nearly impossible to capture any other way. It’s a neat opportunity to capture just about anything from a new perspective.
Questions and Answers
Each week we answer five questions from readers and listeners. Here’s what we tackled this week.
My Google search results suck. How can I improve my online reputation? Sometimes you end up with search results you don’t want and they can seem hard to change—but they’re not. You can’t necessarily get rid of a given search result, but you can provide Google with more relevant pages to push those results so far down the list that they really won’t matter anymore. You can read our guide on how to do that, but here’s the gist: create a nameplate site (like you can do with Flavors.me) that links to positive stuff about you, don’t associate your real name with any accounts you don’t want to appear in Google, and create as much personal stuff on the web as you can (that’s not embarrassing). if you want a little help, BrandYourself is a webapp that can walk you through the process. You can use it for free, but premium features cost a little extra.
What’s the best way to batch-convert several audio files to multiple formats quickly and easily? On OS X and Windows, I like Adapter. It’s easy to perform batch conversions of several audio and video files for free. Whitson prefers dpPowerAmp for Windows and XLD for OS X, but notes that dbPowerAmp costs money for it to be fully effective. One last alternative is using Wappwolf with your Dropbox or Google Drive account. You can simply turn any folder into a drop conversion folder that will upload your files, convert them to whatever formats you want, and then place the converted versions in your Dropbox/Google Drive. It’s pretty cool. Check out our guide on how to set it up.
Should I get a tablet or laptop for taking notes and writing papers at school? as Whitson has argued, tablets can actually be great productivity devices. if you’re just writing papers and taking notes—which is to say, typing text—a tablet plus a Bluetooth keyboard is more than sufficient. if you’re trying to do much more than that you may want to consider something a little more robust.
Pash suggested using your smartphone with a Bluetooth keyboard for notetaking purposes and getting a computer for the tougher work. taking notes on a smartphone may look weird, but it’s about the same as doing it on a tablet. Whitson suggested holding out for a Windows 8 tablet to get the best of both worlds. I suggested picking up a good hybrid Android tablet, like the Asus Transformer. It’s basically a netbook in the dock and tablet out of it. if you can’t wait for Windows 8 (or don’t want to spend the money), this is the way to go. Ultimately, the tough thing to do on a tablet is do research while writing the paper because multitasking isn’t amazing. Images can also be difficult to work with. if you’re just typing, however, virtually anything will work. Just make sure you get a good keyboard.
A Solution to the Google Payments + Android Tablet Problem Bob writes in with an update for the guy who couldn’t get Google to accept payments through the Play Store who called in a few weeks ago:
There was a question on last weeks about credit card payments on Google Play being rejected. I had the same problem and found the cause was: I was using a Rooted Nook Color and Google would not add this device to my Google account because it was not ‘approved,’ and only approved devices could download paid apps. The only I error I saw was ‘There is problem with your payment.’ I could download all the free apps I wanted. I have heard about this happening with other non-rooted devices, which Google had not yet added the device to the approved.’ Google would be better served to have a ‘No Refund’ policy for unapproved devices.
Downloads of the Week
Each week we talk about our favorite downloads. here are our picks for this week.
Autodesk 123D (Windows) You’ve got easy access to a regular printer any time you need one, but not everyone has a MakerBot or other 3D printer on their desk, and the learning curve for designing printable 3D objects can be intimidating. Windows application Autodesk 123D makes both designing and printing in 3D more accessible, with a simple but well-rounded design toolkit and options to save a project locally or get it professionally fabricated and shipped in about a week.
Download Autodesk 123D
properVolume (OS X) properVOLUME adds more robust sound controls to your menu bar in OS X Mountain Lion, allowing you to switch input and output sources, control volume, and check your levels, all from one simple drop-down.
Download properVOLUME
Firefox Beta (Android) Firefox has been available on Android for awhile, but apart from Firefox-specific features like Firefox Sync, it was never a phenomenal browser, mostly because it was slower than molasses. The newest beta, however, brings a completely new interface, much better performance, and more to Android users everywhere.
Download Firefox Beta
Sparrow Update (iOS) The email app Sparrow received an update today that adds a few handy features, including a new landscape mode for composing emails, a new way to flip between messages, and the ability to edit Gmail labels directly from the app.
How do I Submit a Question?
There are three ways to send in your question:
- Record a video, upload it somewhere, and send a link to tips+
- Call (347) 687-8109 and record a question. Calls are awesome! we like them!
- Email your question to tips+asklhshow@lifehacker.com.
Please keep your questions as brief as possible. This means about 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions can be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they’ll apply to more people. for example, “how can I breathe new life into my old PDA?” is much better than “what can I do with an old HP iPAQ 210?” either way, we look forward to hearing from you!
This podcast was edited by Kyle J. Norris.
Newspaper, Computer, and Clock (by Brandon Hopkins) provided by the Noun Project.
Mac OS X Leopard Update Removes Flashback Malware
354 days
by TwiddleGeek
in mac Os
Apple yesterday released an update for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that removes common variants of the Flashback Trojan.
“While Apple issued patches last month for its Lion and Snow Leopard products, yesterday’s Flashback Removal Security Update identifies and removes common variants of the malware on the five-year old Leopard OS,” writes Threatpost’s Christopher Brook.
“After installing the Flashback Removal Security Update, the removal tool will run automatically in the background and if the Flashback malware is found, you’ll be notified via a dialog that it has been removed,” writes TidBITS’ Agen G. N. Schmitz. “In some instances, however, you may need to restart your computer to remove the malware completely.”
“The 1.23MB update will also disable the Java plug-in for Safari, so users will have to reinstall it,” writes PCMag.com’s Chloe Albanesius.
“Meanwhile Leopard Security Update 2012-003 disables older versions of Adobe Flash Player, encouraging users to get the latest version directly from Adobe’s website,” writes The Register’s John Leyden. “Both updates can be applied via the Software Update feature built into Mac OS X, but will only ‘take’ if the latest version of that particular track of the operating system, Mac OS X Leopard version 10.5.8, has already been applied.”
“It’s encouraging to see Apple has not left users of this older version of the Mac OS X operating system completely out in the cold when it comes to protecting against the latest threats,” writes Sophos’ Graham Cluley. “Clearly they realise that it’s not good for the Apple Mac’s image if older computers connected to the Internet are harbouring malware that could cause problems for others in the Mac community.”
Still, Cluley notes, users of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger aren’t protected by these updates, and there’s no indication that Apple has any plans to release patches for those users.