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News & Opinion
Reviews
Apple Updates
Software
News & Opinion
Apple's New Back to School Promo: Education Pricing
and $100 iTunes Gift Card
PR: Apple has reintroduced its annual Back To School
promo for 2011, offering college bound Mac buyers a $100 iTunes Store
gift card rather than the free iPod that's been included in previous
years.
Here's the deal: When you buy a new qualifying Mac with Apple
education pricing from June 16, 2011, through September 20, 2011,
you'll get a $100 Back to School Card to use on the Mac App Store, the
App Store, the iTunes Store, and the iBookstore.
Who qualifies?
- College students or students accepted to college
- Parents buying for college students or students accepted to
college
- Faculty or staff members at any grade level
How to get your Mac and $100 Back to School Card:
- Shop for a Mac at the Apple Online Store for Education, an Apple
Retail Store, or an Apple Authorized Campus Store, or call
1-800-MY-APPLE.
When you buy a qualifying Mac at the Apple Retail Store or Apple
Online Store, Apple will include your Back to School Card with your
order. If you buy at a campus store, you'll submit your claim online
and get your code via email.
To redeem your code, enter the code on your Back to School Card in
your iTunes account and Apple will automatically credit you with $100
to spend on the Mac App Store, the App Store, the iTunes Store, and the
iBookstore.
Link: Apple Back to School
Special
iMac: The Perfect Compromise of Portable and
Desktop Virtues?
InfoWorld's Tom Yager notes that pundits have predicted the death of
the desktop for years, and he wishes it could be so, contending that no
technology is more deserving of retirement than the sheet-metal black
box and tangle of cables that is the standard PC.
By contrast, he observes that notebooks and tablets have undeniable
appeal - only one item to buy, no pieces to plug together, silent and
power-efficient, they emerge from the box ready to work, but he
concedes that portable devices have limitations that can make them
inconvenient if portability isn't your primary consideration - small
displays, the mixed blessing of a need to run on batteries, and the
cramped confines of a compact chassis put a tight limit on memory,
storage, and performance. Making computers portable also makes them
expensive, so he predicts that as long as portables have these strikes
against them, the desktop will live on.
However, he suggests that Apple has succeeded in crossing the
convenience and efficiency of a portable with the performance and
ergonomics of a desktop, and that the latest generation of Apple's iMac all-in-one desktop gets it
completely right, concluding that for the majority of desktop users,
the iMac renders the black-box PC obsolete.
Link: Thunderbolt iMac:
The Perfect Compromise
Apple Might Be Around in 100 Years; Dell and
Microsoft Not So Likely
Marking IBM's centenary next week, the Economist speculates on which
other technology companies might hit the century mark, noting for a bit
of cautionary context that here are Japanese hotels dating back to the
8th century, German breweries that have been in business since the the
11th century, and an Italian bank with roots in the 15th.
"IBM's secret is that it is built around an idea that transcends any
particular product or technology. Its strategy is to package technology
for use by businesses."
The Economist's editors conclude that Apple ("take the latest
technology, package it in a simple, elegant form and sell it at a
premium price"), Amazon ("make it easy for people to buy stuff"), and
Facebook ("help people share stuff with friends easily") look like good
long-term bets. Dell (cheap, direct order PCs), Cisco (routers), and
Microsoft ("hugely dependent on Windows") do not. With Oracle and
Google, it's a definite maybe.
Link: The Test of Time
Asustek Chairman: The Wintel Era Is Over
DigiTimes' Monica Chen and Joseph Tsai report that the so-called
Wintel Era* is over and that in future no CPU or OS vendors will be
able to dominate the PC, tablet PC, or handset markets as Microsoft has
the PC sector up to now - at least according to Asustek chairman Jonney
Shih, who maintains that the breakup of the Wintel alliance offers a
new opportunity for system vendors to thrive again in the IT
market.
Shih is cited observing that system vendors that have innovations in
design, capabilities in technology R&D, and are closer to the
market will be able to achieve success in the new IT era, and that
Asustek is learning from vendors such as Apple and Sony and refocusing
its market position within the new IT era, in which the boundaries
between the notebook, tablet PC, and handset markets are becoming
blurred.
* Publisher's note: Wintel is a portmanteau of Windows and
Intel, although it now applies to any x86 computer running
Windows. dk
Link: Wintel Era Is Over
Asustek Chairman Declares (subscription required)
Apple Worth as Much as Microsoft, HP, and Dell
TechCrunch's Robin Wauters reports that Apple is currently valued at
roughly $301 billion, close to the sum of the market cap of three of
its closest rivals: Microsoft (~$200.3 billion), Hewlett-Packard
(~$72.8 billion) and Dell (~$29.3 billion).
Link: Apple Now Worth
as Much as Microsoft, HP and Dell Combined
Lion and the Rosetta Dead-end
This topic has been discussed at considerable length on Low End Mac
for some time now (such as The
Implications of Losing Rosetta in OS X 10.7 Lion, Preparing for the End of PowerPC
Support When Lion Arrives, and No Rosetta in Lion Breaks Installers That
Depend on PPC Code), but Macworld's Christopher Breen weighs in,
noting that a major problem will materialize next month for veteran Mac
users with the termination of Rosetta PowerPC emulation support in
OS X 10.7 Lion.
Breen says he's updated his operating system with each new release,
but this might be the first time he doesn't, and Apple's throwing
PowerPC software applications under the bus is the reason.
He suggests that one workaround would be to create a dual-boot Mac
that can boot from two partitioned volumes - one with Lion installed
and the other running an older version of OS X.
He also observes that, as with the Borg in the Star Trek universe,
resistance is futile, and to rail against Apple for their arbitrary
cutoff is to join the ranks of HyperCard
and AppleWorks
devotees who share their devotion for these applications with a passion
for tilting at windmills.
Publisher's note: I still use and love AppleWorks on my PowerPC and
Intel Macs, and I have no intention of leaving all of those word
processing documents and spreadsheets behind or migrating to Apple's
Pages and Numbers. I don't anticipate moving to Lion anytime soon.
dk
Link: Lion and the
Rosetta Dead-end
Fair Warning: OS X Lion Will No Longer Support
PowerPC Apps
MacStories' Cody Fink says that at least we've had fair warning, and
that if you're one of the vast number of Mac users still running Mac
apps that leverage Rosetta, prepare to lose that functionality when you
install Lion, but if you've recently purchased your first Mac and only
have purchased apps on the Mac App Store, you'll never have to install
Rosetta to use the most up-to-date applications.
He also cites Low End Mac's Charles Moore, who observes:
"There is an interesting element to Lion, such as
'autosave', which will only work on new programs coded for Lion, but
won't work on earlier Intel/Universal coded programs. It indicates to
me that Apple will eventually run only post-Lion programs on their
computers."
Link: Fair Warning: OS X
Lion Will No Longer Support Rosetta Based Apps
Identifying OS X Applications That Require
Rosetta
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler says that with the rumored likelihood that
OS X 10.7 Lion will be issued without the "Rosetta" dynamic translator,
which allows PowerPC code to run on Intel-based Macs, many veteran Mac
users are concerned about their readiness to use a platform without any
form of PowerPC support, having accumulated applications, tools, and
utilities over the years that use either Intel or PowerPC, or both, and
they may be unsure whether their software will work without
Rosetta.
If a program does require PowerPC and you install OS X without
Rosetta, you will see the program's icon appear with a white "no entry"
slash through it, and you will not be able to open the program. To
avoid chancing that this will happen with any of your current programs,
it will help to check whether any that you use or have installed are
PowerPC-only applications.
There are several ways to do this in OS X.
Publisher's note: PowerPC-only apps on my Mac mini that I use
include AppleWorks 6, DeLocalizer, Internet Explorer 5.2.3 (last Mac
version), KompoZer 0.7 (version 0.8 is universal, but I prefer 0.7, and
I am looking at BlueGriffon
as a potential replacement), Microsoft Office 2004, Photoshop Elements
3 (I could upgrade to version 9 or perhaps switch to Pixelmator),
Tex-Edit Plus, and TextSoap 4.5.2 (upgrading to version 7 costs $20).
I'm sure I'll be keeping a Tiger, Leopard, or Snow Leopard Mac
available. The point is, upgrading to Lion is going to cost a lot more
than the $29.99 price of the upgrade itself. dk
Link: Testing for
Rosetta Use in OS X
Reviews
Core i7 SSD iMac Fastest Mac Ever Tested by
Macworld Labs
Macworld's James Galbraith reports that the $2,699 BTO 27" 2011 iMac with a 3.4 GHz Core i7
quad-core processor and a 256 GB SSD is even faster than a Mac Pro. Indeed, it's the fastest Mac
they've ever tested, beating out the previous speed king, a $5,073 BTO
Mac Pro with a 3.33 GHz Xeon Westmere six-core processor, 8 GB of
RAM, and a conventional hard drive.
Galbraith notes that the only tests in which the ultimate iMac
failed to outperform the Mac Pro were processor-intensive tasks, where
applications that can take advantage of the eight additional cores
found in the Mac Pro.
Link: Lab Report: Core
i7 SSD iMac Is the Fastest Mac We've Tested
Apple Updates
iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0 for 2011 iMacs
The iMac Graphic Firmware Update 2.0 fixes an issue that in rare
cases may cause an iMac to hang during startup or waking from
sleep.
The iMac Graphic Firmware Update 2.0 addresses issues with an
unresponsive white screen on startup or vertical lines on screen
Symptoms
In certain circumstances, your iMac (Mid 2011) may become
unresponsive on startup, with a white or gray background on the
display. You may also notice vertical lines on the display while using
your iMac.
Products Affected
Resolution
Apple Support says to install the iMac Graphics Firmware Update 2.0
if your computer exhibits these issues. To install the update, choose
Software Update from the Apple menu and follow the onscreen
instructions.
File Size: 699 KB
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6.7
Link: iMac
Graphic FW Update 2.0
Software
Memory Cleaner 1.2, #4 Selling OS X Utility
PR: Located in Novosibirsk, Siberia, the Alice Dev Team has
announced that Memory Cleaner 1.2 for OS X, released on May 1, is
currently the #4 paid utility downloaded from the U.S. Mac App Store
(approximately 90 downloads per day). The app was an instant success
worldwide following a widely read press release written and distributed
by prMac. Awarded 9 out of 10 stars by MacTech, the utility also
appears on the Top 50 Paid and Top 50 Grossing lists at Mac App Stores
around the world. The innovative app improves the speed and
responsiveness of any Mac computer by freeing wasted memory. The more
memory available, the faster apps will run.
Strongly
recommended for power users who deal with numerous or very large files,
Memory Cleaner is a one touch solution to restoring as much RAM as
possible for use. Every time a file is opened it continues to occupy
some memory even after it is closed. The app quickly cleans out the
residue of these old files, freeing memory. Memory Cleaner users
typically recover 200 - 500 MB of Random Access Memory, which helps
prevent slowdowns and crashes.
There are times while using an application that the computer freezes
or stalls for several seconds. This is frequently caused by the
operating system searching for and then freeing memory that is being
used unnecessarily. Memory Cleaner is a fast and simple solution to
avoid having to restart a computer or buy more memory. More memory for
your applications results in a noticeably faster computer.
Ideal For:
- Graphic artists
- Architects
- Programmers
- 3D modelers and animators
- Developers
- Musicians
- Photographers
- Scientists
- Parallels Desktop users
- Everyone annoyed by slowdowns - users only need to click on "Clean
My Memory" - that's all
- Opening the app displays the amount of Free memory available
- Clicking "Clean My Memory" activates the cleaning cycle, and the
new amount of Free memory is displayed
- Developed by the same team that created the popular Security Camera
and Handy Calculator applications
Mac OS X has a sophisticated memory management system that allows
the user to run many applications simultaneously, and keep many large
files open at the same time. Opening the Activity Monitor utility in OS
X displays this RAM usage. There are five categories of usage, and each
lists dynamically the number of Megabytes of RAM being used by that
category. The Categories include: Free, Wired, Active, Inactive, and
Used.
Free memory is not being used and is immediately available. Wired
memory contains information that must always stay in RAM for proper
system functioning. Active memory contains data that is actively being
used at the moment. Inactive memory contains information that was
formerly Active, but is no longer being actively used (leaving this
data in RAM can be advantageous if the user chooses to return to it at
a latter time). Used memory is currently in use by a process,
application, or the system. Inactive memory frequently accounts for 15
- 30% of Used memory, and it is this no longer used memory that Memory
Cleaner frees up and restores to the status of Free memory.
"There is no simple way to force OS X to let go of the memory that
is Inactive, and thus unavailable for use," comments CEO Stanislav
Kuptsov. "Rather than allowing Available RAM to drop to dangerously low
levels, power users can easily run Memory Cleaner and keep their
machines running smoothly."
System Requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.6 or later
- 0.3 MB
Memory Cleaner 1.2 is $5.99 and available worldwide through the Mac
App Store in the Utilities category. Review copies are available upon
request.
Publisher's note: We are testing Memory Cleaner on our 2007 Mac mini with 1 GB of RAM
(which uses 80 MB of that for video), and it appears to work in early
testing. It also makes it obvious that 1 GB of memory quickly
becomes a problem if you run more than 2-3 programs at once. It takes a
few seconds to run, but it almost always frees up more memory. More
later. dk
Link: Memory Cleaner (App
Store link)
Link: Remember
to Use Memory Cleaner for OS X (MacTech review)
LibreOffice, a Free Alternative to Other Office
Productivity Suites
PR: LibreOffice is the free power-packed Open Source personal
productivity suite for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, that gives you six
feature-rich applications for your document production and data
processing needs: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math and Base. Support
and documentation is free from LibreOffice's large, dedicated community
of users, contributors and developers.
You can download, install and distribute LibreOffice freely, with no
fear of copyright infringement.
What's outstanding about LibreOffice?
LibreOffice provides a
feature-packed and mature desktop productivity package with some really
great advantages:
- It's free - no worry about license costs or annual fees.
- No language barriers - it's available in a large number of
languages, with more being added continually.
- LGPL public license - you can use it, customize it, hack it and
copy it with free user support and developer support from our active
worldwide community and our large and experienced developer team.
- LibreOffice is an Open Source community-driven project: development
is open to new talent and new ideas, and our software is tested and
used daily by a large and devoted user community; you, too, can get
involved and influence its future development.
- LibreOffice gives you high quality - The roots of LibreOffice go
back 20 years. This long history means it's a stable and functional
product. Thousands of users worldwide regularly take part in beta
testing of new LibreOffice versions. Because the development process is
completely open, LibreOffice has been extensively tested by security
experts, giving you security and peace of mind.
- LibreOffice is user-friendly - You get a simple-to-use yet powerful
interface that is easy to personalize Microsoft Office users will find
the switch easy and painless, with a familiar look and feel.
- Compatible with all major competitors' file formats - You can
easily import files from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and many
other formats, and can easily save to Microsoft Office and other
formats when needed.
LibreOffice is supported by a big worldwide community: volunteers
help newcomers, and advanced users and developers can collaborate with
you to find solutions to complex issues.
What does LibreOffice give you?
Writer is the word processor inside LibreOffice. Use it for
everything, from dashing off a quick letter to producing an entire book
with tables of contents, embedded illustrations, bibliographies and
diagrams. The while-you-type auto-completion, auto-formatting and
automatic spelling checking make difficult tasks easy (but are easy to
disable if you prefer). Writer is powerful enough to tackle desktop
publishing tasks such as creating multicolumn newsletters and
brochures. The only limit is your imagination.
Calc tames your numbers and helps with difficult decisions when
you're weighing the alternatives. Analyze your data with Calc and then
use it to present your final output. Charts and analysis tools help
bring transparency to your conclusions. A fully-integrated help system
makes easier work of entering complex formulas. Add data from external
databases such as SQL or Oracle, then sort and filter them to produce
statistical analyses. Use the graphing functions to display large
number of 2D and 3D graphics from 13 categories, including line, area,
bar, pie, X-Y, and net with the dozens of variations available, you're
sure to find one that suits your project.
Impress is the fastest and easiest way to create effective
multimedia presentations. Stunning animation and sensational special
effects help you convince your audience. Create presentations that look
even more professional than the standard presentations you commonly see
at work. Get your colleagues' and bosses' attention by creating
something a little bit different.
Draw lets you build diagrams and sketches from scratch. A picture is
worth a thousand words, so why not try something simple with box and
line diagrams? Or else go further and easily build dynamic 3D
illustrations and special effects. It's as simple or as powerful as you
want it to be.
Base is the database front-end of the LibreOffice suite. With Base,
you can seamlessly integrate your existing database structures into the
other components of LibreOffice, or create an interface to use and
administer your data as a stand-alone application. You can use imported
and linked tables and queries from MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft
Access and many other data sources, or design your own with Base, to
build powerful front-ends with sophisticated forms, reports and views.
Support is built-in or easily addable for a very wide range of database
products, notably the standardly-provided HSQL, MySQL, Adabas D,
Microsoft Access and PostgreSQL.
Math is a simple equation editor that lets you layout and display
your mathematical, chemical, electrical, or scientific equations
quickly in standard written notation. Even the most-complex
calculations can be understandable when displayed correctly.
E=mc2.
LibreOffice also comes configured with a PDF file creator, meaning
you can distribute documents that you're sure can be opened and read by
users of almost any computing device or operating system.
Mac System Requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4 and higher
- PowerPC and Intel Macs
- The database and some other features of the suite require
Java.
Link: LibreOffice
Desktop Mac
Deals
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For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
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