We’ve already talked about some key highlights from the Macworld | iWorld 2012 show, particularly from the prosumer and developer angles. But my focus here is on those products average Apple users might be interested in, for both Mac and iOS devices. Read more »
Apple’s iMac occupies a prized place in a fast-growing segment of the overall desktop PC market, the all-in-ones, that few others can approach. It got there by spotting a growth opportunity that’s paying off big now, and the MacBook Air is primed to do the same. Read more »
With OS X Lion’s incredible success and high adoption rate, Apple customers and repair technicians such as myself are facing higher than usual rates of embarrassment thanks to Lion’s ability to restore your windows exactly as they were when an app was closed. Read more »
When Lion first came out, transitioning from Spaces to Mission Control was a big change for me. If you’re looking to take some control back from Mission Control in order to make things feel a little more like how they were before, here are some tips. Read more »
System Preferences are the motivational speakers of your operating system. Don’t like something? The OS gives you the power to change! I’m not going to list every preference, but I am going to tell which choices you can make will have the greatest impact. Read more »
The menu bar in OS X doesn’t just contain the menus for the application you’re currently using; it can also hold all sorts of helpful extras that can be accessed from any application with just one click, and make using OS X a little easier. Read more »
New Mac owners don’t often know things about their computers that might prove otherwise helpful, like exactly which model they have. Luckily, OS X Lion organizes system info in a better way than its predecessor. Plus, there are two other great free tools that help, too. Read more »
OS X Lion brings multiple improvements to one of OS X’s most useful and least celebrated built-in elements: screen sharing. Experienced Screen Sharing users may have missed some new features, and if you’ve never tried it, these additions might encourage you to do so. Read more »
With every OS upgrade, there’s always some new annoyances that pop up, and since Lion is such a big update to OS X, it stands to reason that it has more annoyances than usual. Here’s how to remedy seven of them quickly and easily. Read more »
Mac OS X Lion is not without its problems, but there’s also a lot to love about the big cat. My top five favorite things about Lion include some revolutionary shifts, along with a few relatively small changes that make a big difference. Read more »
Mac OS X Lion has been around long enough to bring to light some quirks that aren’t exactly endearing. None are deal-breakers, so I won’t be going back to Snow Leopard, but here are five things I really wish were different about OS X 10.7. Read more »
The new Mac mini does away with the optical disc drive, leading to a price reduction for Apple’s diminutive desktop. Without it, and with the addition of Thunderbolt and dedicated graphics, how does the mini stack up as a desktop and as a home theater PC? Read more »
It’s easier to explain what AirDrop is by first explaining what it isn’t. It’s not Dropbox, with which it is often compared. It is not a replacement for file sharing services across the Internet. It’s more like a close range transporter (Star Trek-style) for files. Read more »
With its latest update the MacBook Air inches ever closer to its high-powered siblings in the Pro line of Apple notebooks. But how does it stand up as a replacement for the MacBook Pro, and how does it compare to its predecessors? Here’s what we found. Read more »
With all the focus on OS X Lion’s new multitouch gestures, the keyboard is getting a little left out. Here are three tips to help navigate around Lion more quickly using the keyboard instead of the mouse (or trackpad). Read more »
Mac OS X Lion comes with Versions support, which means that so long as an app is programmed to use it, your documents will save a history of changes that you can navigate through and restore from. Here’s how Versions works with iWork (and more). Read more »
A few folks have asked me how to go about stepping back from Lion to Snow Leopard. It’s possible, but unfortunately you may not be able to easily take your current apps and documents with you unless you’ve cloned your original Snow Leopard drive. Read more »
Overall, I’m thrilled with OS X Lion. However, like any new OS, there are some things that either don’t work quite right or, while working as intended, may annoy. So, here are five tips and work-arounds I’ve found that might help address some growing pains. Read more »
Managing email on OS X has always been about finding the lesser of many evils. I have too many email addresses to use webmail efficiently, but I’ve never been happy with any email program on the Mac. That finally changed, thanks to OS X Lion. Read more »
With the next major release of Mac OS X, 10.7 Lion, on the way, it’s a good idea to start preparing your Mac for the transition soon. Here are some steps to make sure your Mac is ready for Lion. Read more »
OS X Lion is set to arrive sometime this month, and new reports suggest that it could be here as soon as next Wednesday at 9 AM. Will you be buying when it does arrive, and if not, why are you unsure about upgrading? Read more »
If you can’t wait to try out some of Lion’s new features, but don’t have access to the developer preview, I’ve got good news: You can get many of Lion’s new features in Snow Leopard using these third-party apps, tweaks and downloads. Read more »
Apple has come a long way since it first introduced OS X at WWDC 1998. Lion arguably represents the biggest shift for the Mac operating system we’ve ever seen. Here’s a look back at how OS X has grown over time to put it in context. Read more »
If you’re looking for a way to use your existing iMac, in an effort to justify purchasing a new one, look no further than the bare spot on your wall. It all starts with Apple’s VESA Mount Adapter Kit or the third-party iMac Wall Mount. Read more »
Considering purchasing a new iMac? Here’s a look at what the new models can do, compared to the previous generation, as per Apple in a call Tuesday morning with GigaOM. The key takeaway here is that these new iMacs are very, very fast. Read more »
The dual Thunderbolt ports on the 27-inch iMac are very exciting. Not only because it provides a lot of potential I/O transfer power, but more importantly because it also allows the new iMac to output to two external monitors simultaneously, Apple confirmed to me this morning. Read more »
Rumor has it we’ll see refreshed Apple iMacs as soon as Tuesday, May 3, including new Intel Sandy Bridge processors and new Thunderbolt ports. Even if the iMac isn’t something you’re terribly interested in, this is a release that all Apple-watchers should be excited about. Read more »
Come WWDC in June, we’ll likely see OS X Lion changing status from preview to official public release. That makes May a good time to look at the April report on OS market share from web-analytics firm Net Applications for some perspective on Snow Leopard. Read more »
In my recent post about pairing SSD and HDD storage in a Mac, I used a little-known command line feature to redirect some of my user folders between the drives. I’m talking about symlinks, which can be a very powerful tool for Mac users. Read more »
Apple may be readying high res or “Retina” display Mac computers, according to resources discovered in the latest build of OS X Lion. The discovery of new larger wallpaper and high-res icons indicates Apple may be planning to double the resolution of current Mac displays. Read more »
While this week many people are searching for Easter Eggs or the Afikoman, here are 10 hidden settings you can find in your Mac apps and OS X. These are all small changes you can make that make using the applications and the system slightly better. Read more »
