Tag: OS-X

As someone who has used Windows as my primary operating system for years, I got very comfortable with modding various parts of the user interface. One of the things that was most fun to change is the startup image - my favorite was a very official looking FBI splash screen that made it look like you were logging onto a government computer. Since switching to the Mac platform, I've been surprised ...

Anyone who regularly plugs and unplugs external drives from their computer has at some point been frustrated by the operating system's refusal to eject a volume. Lately I've begun using more external drives, and this phenomenon is occurring more and more frequently. Apple has acknowledged this issue, and will be addressing it in the forthcoming Snow Leopard release of OS X, but that doesn't help ...

If you gauged the market share of various operating systems by counting the number of Macs vs PCs you see in the typical urban coffee shop, you'd probably believe that Apple and Microsoft were duking it out like Republicans and Democrats in a close US presidential election. But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft is the dominant company when it comes to consumer oriented computers. In ...

Having moved from Windows to Mac OS X, one thing that has given me trouble is dealing with hidden files and folders, and particularly hidden system files and folders. OS X does a good job of hiding these folders from regular users - so good, in fact, that there is no way to interact with them without knowledge of Terminal commands, or using an external utility. And while I don't mind learning ...

Apple has received a patent for the dock utility for launching applications in OS X. Yes, the dock has been around for the better part of a decade, but Apple applied for the patent back in 1999 and didn't receive it until this week. The patent describes an interface for consolidating frequently used items in a "userbar." It also covers the way that items are magnified when you scroll your cursor ...

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth has big dreams for Linux. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the progress of Ubuntu, which releases a major update every six months and keeps getting more and more user friendly. But user friendly is just the beginning. Shuttleworth wants Linux to be prettier too. In fact, he's calling on open source developers to make desktop Linux ...

Been thinking about trying to install OS X on your non-Macintosh PC, but don't feel like hacking a bunch of configuration files to get the system up and running? In another week or two, you may not have to. EFiX plans to release a bootable USB stick that is purported to have software that will let you install OS X on any PC with an Intel CPU, as long as you have a retail installation DVD. Keep ...

Theming one's OS to look like a Mac is all the rage these days, but for the most part such modifications are superficial. However, Global Menu actually changes the user experience quite a bit. For those who haven't seen a Mac before, [do such people exist?] on Mac OS, the menu for applications is located in a bar at the top of the screen, rather than the top of the window, like in Windows and ...

Love it or hate it, Windows is still pretty much the dominant operating system in the world. And while your heart may be with OS X or Linux, there might be just a couple of programs that you have to run on a regular basis that keep you coming back to your Windows machine. But just because you're running Windows Vista or XP doesn't mean you can't pretend you're using your OS of choice. We've ...

One of the great things about the Eee PC is that, unlike a $400 PDA or phone, the $400 laptop is a full fledged computer that just happens to weigh less than 2 pounds. And while Asus went through a lot of work to load a customized Linux interface onto the Eee PC, the company also made it pretty easy to slap your own operating system on there. In fact, the Eee PC ships with instructions for wiping ...

Virtual machines have been around for years, but it's only been in the last couple of years that performance on them has become good for regular and productive use. When Apple made their big switch to Intel processors, an upstart company named Parallels came along and did what seemed at the time to be the unthinkable: they created a virtual machine environment in OS X that allowed users to run ...

Apple appears to have changed its stance on virtualization... a little. The licensing agreement for OS X 10.4 strictly reads that you can only run Tiger on a single "Apple-labeled computer." And while the license for the desktop version of OS X 10.5 Leopard states the same restriction, Apple'se license for the server version of Leopard holds a little surprise. You still need to buy a separate ...

Apple today announced that it has sold 2 million copies of OS X 10.5 since launching Leopard on Friday. Who knew there were 2 million Mac users out there? Just kidding. No, seriously. That figure includes copies of the OS sold through retail stores, Apple's online store, and copies delivered as part of maintenance agreements. The bigger question is if this is a sort of blockbuster release. ...

Mozilla has released Firefox 2.0.0.8. The big news is that the latest version of the web browser is compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. But there are also security updates for Windows and Linux users. Oh yeah, and there's a long list of known issues for the Mac version. (There are known issues for Windows, Linux, and Unix too, but most of those issues are easily fixable). Here are just a ...

If you've been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for Apple to release the next version of OS X, sit back down before you fall off your set. Oh yeah, and OS X 10.5 (also known as Leopard) will ship on Oct 26th. New features include: Quick Look, a new feature that lets you see the contents of a file without opening said file Stacks, a new way to access files from the Dock Time ...