Safari 4.04 is available via software update. No word yet on whether the recent improvements to the webkit inspector landed in this update.
From the release notes:
This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:
Improved JavaScript performance
Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail
For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.
Update: The Webkit Inspector improvements noted above are not included in Safari 4.04.
Update: It appears the keyboard shortcut for Top Sites, Command-Shift-1 has been removed from Safari 4.04. If you use this keyboard shortcut, you may want to hold off on upgrading.
Update: Looks like the shortcut has been changed to Alt-Command-1. That’s the sort of change you would expect to be detailed in the release notes, if your release notes had any meaningful, detailed descriptions.
Category: Software,Web Development
In previous versions of Mac OS X, Apple included PHP, but usually an older version that what was available at the time of the operating systems release. In Snow Leopard, Apple has included the just released PHP 5.3. Compared with other Mac OS X releases, Apple has made getting PHP and MySQL up and running much easier than before. (more…)
Category: Tutorial,Web Development
Snow Leopard is out, and if you own an Intel Mac, you should upgrade. Save a few bucks by ordering through Amazon.com, who are selling Snow Leopard for the low price of $25. You can help us out by using the link below.
Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)
Category: News
Snow Leopard is a different kind of beast for Apple. Previous Mac OS X releases have focused on adding new features to the operating system. Past releases have given us features like Spotlight, Time Machine, QuickLook, Expose, and more. WIth Snow Leopard, Apple decided to take a feature “time out”, and instead focus on performance, underlying plumbing, and usability tweaks to more than 90% of the apps that make up Mac OS X.
Apple has done a terrific job with Snow Leopard. However, there are still annoyances that make me scratch my head and wonder “Why hasn’t Apple fixed this?”. Here’s a list of said issues.
- Desktops & Screensavers. Want a solid color for your desktop background? Apple has a few for you to choose from. Want a color that’s not on the menu? Better get out your favorite image editor and create it, because Apple still hasn’t given you the ability to select a custom color for a background image. Sure, you can create one and export it as a JPG, TIFF or PNG. But come on Apple – you have the Color Picker at your disposal. Allowing users to select a custom color would have taken all of 20 lines of code to enable.
- Finder Preferences, Color Labels. Again, here is another instance where 20 lines of code would have given users the ability to set their own custom color for Finder labels. Instead were stuck with the same 7 colors Apple deems appropriate to be displayed on your Finder items.
- FTP in the Finder. Still. Broken. Sure, you can mount FTP volumes in the Finder, but you can’t write to them. It’s 2009. 8 years after Mac OS X was birthed, and this is still broken. Can someone tell me why you can mount and view an FTP volume, but not write to it? It makes no sense to me.
- Finder Sidebar. You still can’t rearrange the order of the main top level categories of Devices, Shared Items, Places, and Search for.
- Mac OS X Help. Still exists as a floating Window above all other windows. I understand wanting the Help window to be easy to find among all your other windows, but if I click another on another window behind the Help window, I expect that window to come to the fore front.
- iChat. Still no unified Chat window when using different chat protocols/accounts. This is the one feature that keeps me using Adium. I want one window for all my buddy lists, not one for each protocol.
- Sound/Sound Effects. We’re still using the same notification sounds that shipped with Mac OS X back in 2001. Many of these are the same sounds that shipped with Mac OS 9 and earlier. Apple produces two of the coolest sound editing/creation apps with Soundtrack Pro and Logic. Would it have killed them to refresh the system alert sounds?
So, in my quest to write a “Top 10 Snow Leopard Grievances” article, I could only come up with seven. I think that speaks volumes about how polished Snow Leopard is. Although I’ve been a huge supporter of every Mac OS X release to date, I can honestly say, this one is the most polished operating system releases by any company producing said product.
Category: Opinion
The cat is out of the bag (excuse the pun), and yes, Snow Leopard will be shipping on Friday, August 28th.
If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can help us out by using the link below to order Snow Leopard from Amazon.com.
Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)
Of course, if you bought a new Mac after June 8th 2009, you can get Snow Leopard through Apple’s Up-To-Date program for $9.99.
Category: News,Software
Q: I am constantly fat fingering “Command – Escape”, which invokes Front Row. It’s irritating. Any way I can disable Front Row?
A: The best solution is to just disable the keyboard shortcut for Front Row. To do this, open System Preferences, go to Keyboard & Mouse and click on the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab.
The very first option is “Hide and Show Front Row” . Uncheck the “on” check box, and you’re finished.
Category: Tutorial
The long awaited/rumored MobileMe iDisk iPhone application is now available in the App Store. The app itself is free of charge, while MobileMe will set you back $99/year (Amazon has the 2008 boxed edition, which is still a valid sign up code, for only $58, which is a great bargain. Click here 
for OS X Factor supported link).
Category: News
Much of the Apple iPhone community is in an uproar over Apple knifing the Google Voice baby. While the debate rages as to whose fault it is – AT&T, or Apple’s – it ultimately makes Apple look bad. And it has made many developers scratch their head and re-evaluate their commitment to Apple’s handheld device.
Apple’s got a good thing going with the iPhone apps written so far, but they would be smart to remember their history. RIM CEO JIm Balsille offers this reminder:
“About 10 years ago there was a well-known PDA company with 40,000 apps and 100,000 developers,” he said. “We had just one application, which turned out to be a very good application. And you see what happened.”
Think it couldn’t happen? When some of your brightest stars in the development community feel like this, you better bet that it can.
Category: News
Apple released a new version of Final Cut Studio today. Touting over 100 new features, Final Cut Studio includes Final Cut Pro 7, with enhanced ProRes support, and new iChat theatre support for real-time collaboration. New versions of Motion, Color and Compressor are also included.
Final Cut Studio costs $999 ($300 less than the previous release), and upgrades are available for $299 from the previous version.
Category: News
Apple has unveiled new versions of Logic Studio and Logic Express today. Logic Studio gets AmpDesigner and PedalBoard, two new features for guitarists. Additionally, new versions of MainStage and SoundTrack Pro are included. A new feature, dubbed FlexTime, promises to make time shifting of audio much easier for Logic users.
Logic Studio is $499, with upgrades from previous Logic Studio versions costing $199.
Logic Express adds FlexTime, PedalBoard and AmpDesigner, but eschews MainStage, WaveBurner, SoundTrack Pro and all the audio loops that come with Logic Studio.
Logic Express is $199 with upgrades from previous versions costing $99.
Category: News
