Skip to main content

Operating system

See All Stories

Apple execs say iOS and OS X won’t merge, and 10.10 will prove that

Site default logo image

mac-os-x-mountain-lion-messages-ipad-iphone-macbook-air

Among the hoopla surrounding the 30th anniversary of the Mac last week, Macworld‘s Jason Snell had an excellent interview with Apple’s Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble about both the past and the future for the Mac. While the entire interview is well worth a read, the talk from Apple executives about iOS and OS X convergence being a “waste of energy” stood out to me the most.

“It’s obvious and easy enough to slap a touchscreen on a piece of hardware, but is that a good experience?” Federighi said. “We believe, no.”

“We don’t waste time thinking, ‘But it should be one [interface]!’ How do you make these [operating systems] merge together?’ What a waste of energy that would be,” Schiller said. But he added that the company definitely tries to smooth out bumps in the road that make it difficult for its customers to switch between a Mac and an iOS device—for example, making sure its messaging and calendaring apps have the same name on both OS X and iOS.

Of course, it appears that the Apple executives are taking shots at Microsoft, Windows 8, the Surface line of products, and Google’s new Touch-enabled Chromebooks. Microsoft is well known to believe that computer operating systems should be the same regardless of devices. On the other hand, Apple has two complete different operating systems: one for the iPad and iPhone, and the other for the Mac. Federighi explains why:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Fitbit Force gaining previously announced iPhone caller ID integration in February (video)

fitbit_force_caller_id-820x420

Announced alongside its launch in October, the Fitbit Force wrist-worn fitness tracker will gain support for Caller ID notifications. The company confirmed to SlashGear that a software update will activate the functionality in February. While the display on the Force will show you who is calling, the functionality is extremely rudimentary. Don’t expect to be able to answer, reject, or perform any other call-related functions. The feature is also iOS exclusive with no indication of when Android users will gain a similar ability. If you still haven’t picked up a Fitbit Force, head over to Best Buy and enter coupon code bloggers15off at checkout to save 15%.  A video of the functionality in action is below:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

How badly Microsoft missed the mobile ship: 70 percent of Windows users own an Apple product

msoft

If ever there was a simple visual to illustrate just how slow Microsoft was to wake up to the shift into mobile, it’s this one: a full 70 percent of Windows users also own at least one Apple product.

While there will be some joint Windows/OS X users in there, the majority of them will be people with Windows PCs and either an iPhone, iPad or iPod.

Via Business Insider

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.1 to support staff as public release approaches

Site default logo image

Screen Shot 2013-12-04 at 12.39.40 PM

In early November, we reported that Apple had begun seeding versions of OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 and 10.9.2 to employees within the its Software Engineering division. Since then, Apple provided two OS X 10.9.1 seeds to registered developers. These builds focus on improvements to Mail, Voice Over, and general system stability. The update will serve as the first point-update to the recently released OS X Mavericks.

Now, we’ve learned that Apple has provided build 13B40 of 10.9.1 to AppleCare employees. This internal release indicates that the public release of OS X 10.9.1 is near as Apple’s support staff will become familiar with the software in order to seemingly assist customers in the near-future. That particular build is the same version provided to developers last night. OS X 10.9.2 will likely follow with additional fixes in the following weeks.


Expand
Expanding
Close

HockeyApp SDK update gives Mac developers more detailed bug reports during testing

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 18.01.14

HockeyApp has released the next major version of its SDK for Mac developers, HockeyApp 2.0. This update brings the Mac SDK up to parity with the iOS version, which received similar updates last month.

The new SDK can send precise backtrace reports to developers when the app crashes during testing. This enables developers to accurately pinpoint where their code is messing up and crucially reduces time spent in debugging. The company claims that is the only crash reporting solution that offers the most flexibility in supporting all three types of logging.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple seeds first OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 beta to developers with focus on Mail, Graphics

Site default logo image

Screen Shot 2013-11-15 at 3.38.11 PM

Today, Apple has provided the first seed of the upcoming OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 to registered developers. We previously reported that Apple had seeded the 10.9.1 update to its employees along with a future 10.9.2 release. It’s currently unclear when those operating systems will reach the Macs of customers. Apple asks developers to focus on Mail, Graphics Drivers, and VoiceOver in their testing. Apple previously seeded an update to customers to fix Mavericks Mail problems. The 10.9.1 seed is labeled as build 13B27.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Apple seeds Safari 6.1.1, 7.0.1 updates to developers following internal testing

Screen Shot 2013-11-14 at 4.27.25 PM

 

Earlier this month, we reported that Apple has seeded a new version of Safari to Apple employees for internal testing. Now, Apple has provided that update to developers via the Developer Center.

Versions for OS X Mavericks, OS X Mountain Lion, and OS X Lion are all available, and Apple asks developers to focus on the following during their testing:

General website compatibility, Accessibility, Viewing and annotating PDFs, Login autofill, Password autofill, Setting and using break points in Web Inspector

Apple has not said when the new release will become available for customers, but based on the increase in testing, the release will likely occur within the next couple of weeks. Apple is also internally testing updates to OS X Mavericks: 10.9.1 and 10.9.2.

Opinion: What is really driving Apple’s new-found fondness for ‘free’?

Site default logo image
Photo: abc.e

Photo: abc.e

Apple surprised many yesterday by making the update to OS X 10.9 Mavericks free, rather than the $20 it cost to upgrade to the previous release, Mountain Lion. The company also surprised some (though not us) by doing the same for its previously chargeable iWork apps.

There’s been a lot of commentary today about this being an attack on Microsoft, and I do indeed think there’s likely to have been a fair amount of sweating in the corner offices at Redmond as they watched yesterday’s keynote. But Microsoft execs aren’t the only ones I’d expect to see wearing worried expressions today: I suspect the same is true across at Mountain View.

Before we get to Google, let’s start with Microsoft … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 7 adoption hits 30 percent in first 16 hours (9to5Mac readers are at 80% though)

Site default logo image

29

30 percent of iOS users upgraded to iOS 7 in the first 16 hours, according to data from tracking company Mixpanel. As we fanboys love to do, compare with the Carrier-controlled Android ecosystem where you have to go back to last year’s Android 4.1 to find numbers close to that:

Screen Shot 2013-09-19 at 10.00.26 AM

9to5Mac readers were of course way ahead of the game … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple makes iOS 7 user guides available on the iBookstore

photo

Ahead of iOS 7’s release later today, Apple has published iOS 7 user guides on the iBookstore. At the moment, guides are only available for the iPad and iPod touch but a book targeted at the iPhone will likely follow. As is to be expected, both books are offered as a free download.

In essence, they are ebook versions of Apple’s downloadable PDF manuals, featuring setup, troubleshooting and other instructions for the device and the OS. Apple has offered user guides on the iBookstore ever since its inception in 2010, starting with the original iPad.

Apple’s OS X Mavericks release planned for end of October

Site default logo image

Screen Shot 2013-09-05 at 5.45.58 PM

Apple plans to release its next Mac operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, at the end of October, according to sources with knowledge of the launch plans.

This comes despite claims and speculation that Apple will release OS X Mavericks and iOS 7 in tandem this month. iOS 7 is set to ship alongside the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C later in September. There has also been chatter about Apple holding the iPad iOS 7 release back until October.

For the launch of both OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion, Apple released the new operating systems the day following an earning results release. Apple traditionally shares its Q4 earnings numbers during the second half of October, so perhaps Apple will release Mavericks the day following its Q4 results announcement…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac hits Amazon Germany and MacMall US with purported September 5th delivery date

Site default logo image

Screen Shot 2013-08-18 at 9.39.08 AM

Cat’s out of the bag? It appears that Parallels is preparing an update to their award-winning virtualization software for Mac.  Amazon Germany has a pre-order page up with Parallels Desktop 9 artwork and an expected delivery date of September 5th. Having a quick look around, it appears you can also order it now in the US at MacMall/PCM for $74.99 shipped:

A variety of other retailers appear to be getting units in stock after a quick Google search of manufacturer part PDFM9L-BX1-EN-NT. The September 5th release date would seem to fit into Parallels’ schedule. Previous releases were:

  • Parallels 8 – Released on September 4, 2012
  • Parallels 7 – Released on September 6, 2011
  • Parallels 6 – Released on September 14, 2010
  • Parallels 5 – Released on November 4, 2009

Parallels allows Mac Users to run Virtual machines of Windows, other instances of Mac OS, Linux, Android and just about every other Intel-based OSes out there inside of Mac OS. Likely updates this time around would probably include OSX 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 8/.1 compatibility improvements.

Parallels has traditionally allowed users who’ve bought within 2 weeks of  release a free upgrade to the new version but no such policy has yet been announced for this version. (Update: Here’s Parallels Tech Guarantee saying if you buy after August 15th (now) you are covered for a free upgrade when V9 comes out.)  If you are interested in purchasing Parallels now (and it is a GREAT product), we recommend downloading a free 30-day trial of Parallels Desktop 8 which would conclude after the above early September update, guaranteeing you wouldn’t need to pay extra for an update to v9.

If Parallels 9 is indeed coming out soon, you can bet we’ll have a full review of the product and/or any iOS accessory products, should such products exist, as soon as they are available.

  • Parallels 8 – Released on September 4, 2012
  • Parallels 7 – Released on September 6, 2011
  • Parallels 6 – Released on September 14, 2010
  • Parallels 5 – Released on November 4, 2009

Thanks/Danke Tipsters!
Expand
Expanding
Close

Parallels 8 Bundle: $50, includes Snagit, Typinator, WinZip Mac, xPlan, Boom, Leap, more

Site default logo image

Screen Shot 2013-07-10 at 9.17.31 AM

From 9to5Toys.com, comes one of our favorite Mac app bundles. For $30 less than the price of the Parallels 8 headliner app (Give Windows 8.1 a free spin?), you get another 9 solid applications valued at $482 for $49.99. These are available for immediate download without shipping or tax charges worldwide.

Details and video below or on Specials.9to5Toys.com


Expand
Expanding
Close

Solid Mac Bundle including Corel Painter, iTunes TuneUp, DiskDrill, Mac Scan, NetSpot Pro, more: $30

Site default logo image

From 9to5Toys.com:

StackSocial has a pretty impressive bundle hitting this evening for just $29.99. In it you get 9 solid apps including:
Painter Lite: Ease Into the World of Digital Art
TuneUp: Organize Your iTunes Music Collection in Just a Few Clicks
Disk Drill Pro: Protect and Recover Data Like a Pro
MoneyWiz: Personal Finance For Your Mac
Voila: The Best All-in-One Mac Screencapture Tool
DVDRemaster 8: The Ultimate DVD Re-Encoding Solution
DesktopShelves: Fight Clutter on Your Desktop by Organizing Files on Shelves
MacScan: MacScan is the premier Macintosh security program
NetSpot Pro: The Only App for Wireless Site Survey, Wi-Fi Analysis, & Troubleshooting on Mac OS X

Screen Shot 2013-06-17 at 11.38.01 PM

StackSocial also has Dragon Dictate for half off at $99 for both PC and Mac.

Site default logo image

Even the head of Android is excited to try out iOS 7

Sundar Pinchai, the relatively new head of Android since Andy Rubin’s departure, doesn’t mince words when it comes to his interest in iOS7. The more pessimistic among us would say that he wants to copy all of the new features but he’s probably just curious like everyone else. 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Hands-on with iOS 7 [Video]

Site default logo image

iOS 7, which was announced today at WWDC 2013, hit the developer portal not long ago, and we’ve all been busy installing it on our phones. Above you’ll find a quick hands-on with the new UI in iOS 7.

Most notably, iOS 7 ditches the classic iOS look for a flat a very white user interface. Users upgrading to iOS 7 in the fall will surely be in for a surprise when they install the new operating system on their devices.

Stay tuned for more iOS 7 video coverage coming later today.

Apple to release OS X 10.9 with new power-user features, more from iOS later this year

Site default logo image

OS X 10.9, which is internally codenamed “Cabernet,” will focus on various “power-user” enhancements and take core features from iOS, according to our sources. Unlike operating system updates such as OS X Leopard and OS X Lion, OS X 10.9 will likely not be an overhauled approach to how the operating system feels and functions.

The new operating system includes major enhancements to the Finder application such as tags and tabbed browsing modes. Those additions are notable as many pro-users have relied on third-party solutions and hacks to enable these features. Additionally, the new operating system will include a new Safari web browser with a redesigned backend for improved page loading, speed, and efficiency…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

evasi0n Jailbreakers reveal the incredibly complicated methods they used to Jailbreak every Apple iOS device

evasi0nForbes posted an article on Tuesday that gave some updates on the highly successful launch of the evasi0n jailbreak tool straight from its creators. After having officially released the jailbreak yesterday at noon, according to stats from Cydia’s Jay Freeman, around 1.7 million people have decided to jailbreak their iOS device. Perhaps more interesting is a description of how exactly the four members of the evad3rds team were able to get the job done. Team member David Wang, aka @planetbeing, walked through the process with Forbes:

Evasi0n alters the socket that allows programs to communicate with a program called Launch Daemon, abbreviated launchd, a master process that loads first whenever an iOS device boots up and can launch applications that require “root” privileges, a step beyond the control of the OS than users are granted by default. That means that whenever an iPhone or iPad’s mobile backup runs, it automatically grants all programs access to the time zone file and, thanks to the symbolic link trick, access to launchd.

Wang described the entire process from finding the initial exploit in the iOS mobile backup system to accessing Launch Daemon and getting around code signing and restrictions at the kernel layer:

Once it’s beaten ASLR, the jailbreak uses one final bug in iOS’s USB interface that passes an address in the kernel’s memory to a program and “naively expects the user to pass it back unmolested,” according to Wang. That allows evasi0n to write to any part of the kernel it wants. The first place it writes is to the part of the kernel that restricts changes to its code–the hacker equivalent of wishing for more wishes.  ”Once you get into the kernel, no security matters any more,” says Wang. “Then we win.”

Go to Forbes to read Wang’s entire step-by-step description of the jailbreak process for evasi0n.

Here’s another third-party analysis. The verdict is the same: incredible work.

Site default logo image

‘Fix’ allows you to install Windows Bootcamp on new iMacs with 3TB drives

Issue-with-3-TB-or-larger-Hard-Drive-sizes

If you haven’t heard, those who purchased a new Mac with Apple’s built-to-order 3TB hard drive option found themselves unable to utilize Boot Camp assistant to install Windows. Boot Camp Assistant is currently limited to drives up to 2.2TB. Apple hinted that support might come at a later date, but TwoCanoes shares a step-by-step guide for getting the job done in Boot Camp until then:

Since it is not possible to get around the 2.2 TB limitation with booting Windows, it is possible to organize the partitions so that Windows is the last of the first four partitons and is within the first 2.2 TBs of space on the drive. Since the Mac can see the remaining space above the 2.2 TB limit, this space can be used for addtional storage space for OS X.

In order for Windows to boot successfully and still be able to utilize all of the available space on a 3 TB (or larger) hard drive, Windows must be installed on the fourth partition. You can use Disk Utility to create the partition, but since Disk Utility does not show hidden partitions, it can be difficult to see what is going on if some partitions are hidden. To have Disk Utility show hidden partitions, open Terminal and run the following command:

You can get the full instructions on TwoCanoes here.

Site default logo image

Developer lays waste to pixelated Twitter Mac app with Retina patch

While we don’t expect Twitter to update its Mac app with official Retina support anytime soon, iOS developer Deniz Mert Edincik has taken it upon himself to post a patched version of the app that brings Retina support to the majority of UI elements. There was a bad link floating around earlier, but we’ve confirmed that the version in the link below works, as you can see from the screenshot above. To get the patched Retina version of the Twitter Mac App, simply download the file from the link in Deniz’s tweet below and run the patched app…

[tweet https://twitter.com/edincik/status/271993729760509952]

(@PaulMayne via Gadgetsteria)

Site default logo image

Windows RT 32GB tablets actually only have 16GB of usable space nullifying storage cost advantage over iPad

Here’s the Fun FAQ for Microsoft Surface users who are wondering why the 32GB version they bought actually only has 16GB of usable space:

.

While Microsoft will certainly get off on the wrong foot here in terms of customer expectations, they are still technically accurate—at least in the old desktop world. When you buy a Windows/Mac machine with a 100GB HDD, you expect some of that (but certainly not half of it!) to be used by system software.  However, with the paired-down iOS/Android OSes currently so optimized, you pretty much get what it says on the box.

We reported on a Microsoft Engineer last month, saying users would have more than 20 GB of space.

This is part of Microsoft’s no compromises approach. You get a bunch of legacy stuff that requires a lot of legacy space.

[Via Engadget]


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft’s Surface OS is large, just like the pixels on display

The 32 GB Surface tablet costs the same as the 16GB iPad, but it also comes with twice the storage capacity—or at least that’s what everyone thought until Microsoft’s AMA on Reddit yesterday.

Daring Fireball just linked to one of the Surface Team’s responses that regarded how much free space the tablet actually has available:

So, the entry-level Surface delivers 20 GB of free space with Office and a few apps, eh?

In case you did not know, the iPad’s OS consumes around 1 GB of space. But that’s not all: Microsoft’s Steven Bathiche handled more questions as to whether the Surface’s display stands up to the new iPad’s Retina display.

After giving a long-winded description of Microsoft’s ClearType display technology, Bathiche concluded, “[sic] Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad with more resolution.”

Again, in case you did not know, the current iPad offers a 2,048-by-1,536-pixel resolution. Surface for Windows RT has a 1,366-by-768-pixel resolution.

The full AMA thread: IAm Panos Panay, GM of Microsoft Surface, AMAA – Ask Me or My Team Almost Anything


Expand
Expanding
Close

iPhone 5 reviews released: ‘Impossibly light but solid feel, iOS is speedy on the expansive screen’

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/248054034156617728]

Engadget:

[viddler id=82e97344 w=545 h=307]

The iPhone 5 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 4S in nearly every regard, and in those areas that didn’t see an upgrade over its predecessor — camera, storage capacity — one could make a strong case that the iPhone 4S was already ahead of the curve. Every area, that is, except for the OS. If anything, it’s the operating system here that’s beginning to feel a bit dated and beginning to show its age.

Still, the iPhone 5 absolutely shines. Pick your benchmark and you’ll find Apple’s thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. Will it convince you to give up your Android or Windows Phone ways and join the iOS side? Maybe, maybe not. Will it wow you? Hold it in your hand — you might be surprised. For the iOS faithful this is a no-brainer upgrade. This is without a doubt the best iPhone yet. This is a hallmark of design. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.

The Loop:

Many of us have experience with LTE from using the iPad. I’ll tell you it’s great to see it on the iPhone. I actually use LTE more on the iPhone than I do on the iPad, simply because I use the phone a lot more. The speed is incredibly fast, especially when compared to what the iPhone 4S could do.

Like the faster processor and graphics, LTE gives you the feeling of never waiting for anything. Apps open fast and you are ready to work or browse the Web right away.

The Telegraph:

[ooyala code=”xweHZ3NTp9064-eacNLMRkmDFJNXZGhI”]

Specificationists will say that with the iPhone 5 Apple is now behind its rivals in terms of features but in truth it’s hard to think of a feature offered elsewhere that the average person – as opposed to the tech obsessive – really needs. NFC is not sufficiently widely used, wireless charging is nice but still requires a charger plugged into the wall and most people get along fine without removable storage. The iPhone 5 is a great smartphone made even better. It’s fast, lightweight and backed by the largest application store for any device. It’s also probably the most beautiful smartphone anyone has ever made.

More reviews below:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
Please wait...processing
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
Please wait...processing