MacMost: Archives

Apple has three major Mac announcements today in a special event. iLife 11 brings updates to iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. The new Mac OS X 10.7 will be called Lion and will be released in summer of 2011. Some features, like FaceTime and a new Mac App Store will be available sooner. A new, lighter, smaller and cheaper MacBook Air hits stores today.

Learn how to replace a folder or file's default icon with one from another file, or one you create in a graphics program. Find out how you can use a free graphics program to create your own icons and use them to make it easier to identify folders in the Finder.

Learn how to use and customize Stacks, a feature of the Mac OS X Dock. You can quickly access your files or applications through Stacks. They can be configured to show grid and list views. You can create custom stacks to hold specific items.

Apple has announced a special event for next week entitled “Back to the Mac.” The invitation shows a lion behind a slightly cut-out Apple logo. Most believe this means the next version of Mac OS X will be called “Lion.” That would follow along with the previous names: Cheetah, Puma, Panther, Jaguar, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. It is likely than an announcement of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion would mean only an upcoming developer release and it could be more than a year before it is available for non-developers.
Rumors of a new MacBook Air have also been strong, and Apple has often mixed software announcements with some hardware news. Some speculate that the new Air would be even smaller and lighter than the current model.
Many have also noted that both the iLife and iWork suites are overdue for updates. A new version of both for 2011 could be announced or even released next week.
The timing for this press conference seems to be perfect as Apple now owns 10 percent of the U.S. computer market, just slightly behind third-place Acer. HP and Dell still dominate the market with a combined 50 percent.

Learn about the various export options in Keynote 09. You can export as an interactive QuickTime movie, a PowerPoint document, a series of images, an HTML page or a PDF file. Each of these options have various uses.

iMovie 09 has its own unique way of storing files. Understanding how and where iMovie stores events and projects will help you manage your videos. You can store clips and projects on your internal drive, or a secondary or external drive. You can also easily remove and archive projects and events.

Alarm Clock Pro is a good alternative to filling your calendar with alarms and events. You can easily set alarms for specific times or intervals. These alarms can trigger scripts, sounds, alerts and actions for a variety of purposes.

Since there has been little or no Apple news this week, it is a good time to catch up on current Apple rumors. Since 2007 there have been rumors of the iPhone coming to America’s largest mobile network, Verizon. This week the Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple will be producing a CDMA version of the iPhone for Verizon in 2011.
While new versions of every Mac line have come out in the last year, the MacBook Air remains largely as it has been since its debut. It is hard to see its value over the less expensive, more capable and only slightly larger 13-inch MacBook Pro. But rumors of a smaller, lighter Air are growing stronger with reports that the current Air is out of stock. Rumors state that the new one will have an 11.6-inch screen and a special low-power processor.
There have also been more unlikely rumors of tests of a touch screen for future iMacs. While this innovation seems inevitable with the touch interfaces on iOS devices, most think that a touch-screen Mac may still be years away.

Learn how to create simple charts from spreadsheet data in iWork 09 Numbers. You can create pie charts and line graphs and then customize how they look with inspectors and by just dragging elements. You can also put the charts on a separate page for printing.

Gmail is often the choice of email power users. You can optimize your Gmail experience even more by learning some simple keyboard shortcuts that allow you to navigate, read and compose email without having to move your fingers from the keyboard.

Take a look at the new Apple TV. In addition to most of the features of the original, the new device includes Netflix streaming. The new iOS is masked behind an interface just like the original. But the possibility exists for future expansion with apps.

The new Apple TV began arrive on doorsteps this week as Apple shipped the product in September as promised. Reports from those who have examined the device show 8GB of internal flash memory and a very similar architecture to the iPad. The door definitely seems to be open for future Apple TV apps.
Apple also updated iTunes to version 10.0.1 with bug fixes and a new right-side sidebar listing recent activity on your Ping social network. It even lists relevant information based on which artist and song you have selected in your library, such as showing artist posts and profiles.

One option for screen captures and recording is Snapz Pro. It offers more options than the standard capture ability in Mac OS X, such as being able to follow the cursor around and record anything on the screen. It comes with a high price tag, however.

You can use Rules in Mail to create autoresponders that will instantly reply with an automatic message when you get email. You can tailor the autoresponders to reply to messages with certain subjects, from people or domains or to special email addresses.

If you have accidentally deleted an essential Mac application, like TextEdit, Preview, iCal, Address Book or the QuickTime Player, you can get it back without reinstalling your entire system. The packages for these files are on your Mac OS X installation disks. It is just a matter of knowing where to find them and how to get at some of the ones that are somewhat hidden.

Apple rolled out updates to iPad and Mac OS X software this week. This started with a Tuesday release of a minor security update for OS X available from Software Update. The next day brought an update for Mac OS X users who have ordered the new 27-inch LED display, which started shipping. In addition, Apple released drivers for the Magic Trackpad for Windows users, which also allows it to work fully in Boot Camp.
On Wednesday, Apple released versions 1.2 of the three iWork apps for iPad. Pages has new features such as word counts, opening text files from Mail attachments, and object grouping. Keynote now supports exporting to PowerPoint format, object grouping, and new animations. Numbers now allows you to export in Excel format, object grouping, and opening CSV files from Mail attachments.
All iWork app updates also include a variety of compatibility and reliability improvements and all of them now support opening and saving documents to a user’s MobileMe iDisk or WebDAV service. You can get the updates through the App Store app on your iPad or through iTunes on your Mac.
Adobe entered the Mac consumer video editing market this week with Adobe Premiere Elements 9 for Mac. This simplified version of its professional video editing application has never been available on the Mac before. Priced at $99 it should compete directly with Final Cut Express.

Adobe has released its basic video editing tool for the first time for the Mac. With Premiere Elements you will be able to do more than with iMovie, but it also comes with a steeper learning curve. There is support for a timeline, motion, text, transitions, effects and more.

You can block web sites and protect all of the devices in your house using DNS controls. A service like OpenDNS allows you to prevent any computer or device on your network from going to categories of sites or a specific site. You may also be able to block sites using your DSL or Cable Modem's controls.

Your web browser uses to store bits of information associated with the web sites you visit. There are misconceptions about what cookies do and how they are used. Learn how to examine your browser cookies and set your cookie storage preferences.

In a surprise move Apple has once again changed iOS app development rules, this time to relax restrictions on functionality and development. Apple also published a detailed list of review guidelines used by their staff to determine whether apps are allowed to appear in Apple’s online store.
This move once again allows development of iOS apps with tools such as Adobe Flash, which disallowed by a previous change earlier this year. Adobe has responded by saying they will pick up development of the Flash Packager for iPhone tool that they stopped earlier this year.
In addition, it is possible that the new rules will allow previously-banned apps such as ones that access Google Voice and other telecommunications services.