The MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac is now in stock in local and online bookstores. You can purchase it today at Amazon.
MacMost.com founder Gary Rosenzweig quickly gets you comfy with your new Mac, demonstrates the “Mac way” to perform every common Windows task, and shows how to do more with Macs than you ever could in Windows… way more!
But the book isn’t just for switchers. It is for anyone who wants to get the most from their Mac. Even experienced Mac users will find useful tips, tricks and techniques.
It’s all here — everything from choosing the right Mac to creating your own videos and DVDs. Rosenzweig covers the latest Macs and the new Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system. Best of all, he focuses on what today’s computer users need to know, including loads of coverage of using your Mac on the Web.
Every Mac switcher needs a friendly Mac expert to show them the ropes. With this book, you’ve got yours!
- Discover what’s different about your Mac’s hardware and software — and what’s similar, too
- Navigate the Finder and learn how Mac files are organized
- Make the most of the Mac’s built-in applications
- Move your stuff from your PC to your new Mac
- Use Safari, Mac’s great built-in Web browser
- Set up Mac email, instant messaging, and audio and video chatting
- Share, back up, and archive your files
- Choose and use Mac business and productivity applications
- Organize your music and buy new songs with iTunes
- Import, manage, edit, and share your photos
- Create awesome videos with iMovie, QuickTime, and iDVD
- Run Windows on your Mac, if you must
- Keep your Mac up to date and running smoothly
You can read more about the book and see a table of contents at http://macmost.com/book.
Apple quickly released a dot-version of iTunes, version 9.0.1 to fix many of the bugs that people reported in the first few days after iTunes 9’s release. The bug fixes affected the iTunes store, iPod and iPhone syncing, Genius mixes and more.
Adobe announced a new version of Photoshop Elements for Mac. Version 8 is advertised as working well with iPhoto. You can use an external editor in iPhoto 09 to touch up or alter your pictures. Photoshop Elements is a low-priced version of Photoshop that leaves out some pro features that most users don’t need unless they work as a professional graphic artist or photographer.
While Apple’s tablet remains just a rumor, Microsoft has announced a tablet product. However, it is only a prototype with no release date and few details. It might give us a clue as to what Apple has in mind. The “Courier” is a two-screen tablet that opens like a notebook.
Apple wasted no time releasing the first dot-update to Snow Leopard. Version 10.6.1 was pushed over Software Update about two weeks ago and is mainly about bug fixes, not new features.
The fixes concern Sierra wireless modems, DVD playback, printer compatibility, the Dock, account setup in Mail and other Mail bugs. There are also some security patches, most likely the same ones rolled out in security updates for both Tiger and Leopard.
MobileMe has also been upgraded with minor features. One is the ability to set the passcode on your iphone remotely. The “Play a Sound” option in MobileMe has been changed to play the sound at maximum volume. There are also a variety of improvements as to how calendars sync, and how you are alerts of conflicts and changes when syncing calendars and contacts.
There is also some movement in the Apple TV department. Apple has discontinued the original 40GB version and has dropped the price on the remaining 160GB version to $229.
In the rumors arena, there is speculation that the mythical Apple Tablet won’t be making an appearance until February.
Apple’s September 9th announcements were all about iTunes and the iPod. However, the new products were almost overshadowed by the fact that the presentation was headed by Steve Jobs himself. This is his first appearance in such a capacity since last year when he stopping speaking for Apple to take care of his health.
At the center of the announcements was iTunes 9, a new version of iTunes that is already available for download through Software Update on your Mac. iTunes 9 features some interface changes in how you view your library, and also a new look for the iTunes music store. New features include the ability for iTunes 9 to communicate across your home network and sync media files between computers. You also have a new interface for deciding which songs and videos sync to your iPod or iPhone. The Genius feature now includes nine mixes created from your music library that act as personal radio stations.
On the iPhone and iPod Touch, version 3.1 of the OS adds a Genius feature to the App Store app, giving you suggestions about which apps you might like. You can also no purchase major-music-label pre-made ringtones in the iTunes app.
New iPods were announced and are now on sale, including new versions of every single iPod. The iPod Touch now has a faster processor and comes in a 64GB size. The iPod Shuffle has new colors. The iPod Classic is now 160GB. The biggest change, however, is the iPod Nano, which now has a video camera, FM radio and pedometer.
All iPods except the Classic have new lower price points. Check out the Apple store for prices for each of the models. All of these new models are already in stores and on sale online.
Apple has made the entire presentation available to watch.
Last Friday Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6, came home to live on many Macs around the world. Most updates went smoothly. Some issues centered around users not having the latest patches to iWork and various third-party applications. Some third-party applications do not have a Snow Leopard-compatible version out yet, but that is rare since Snow Leopard has been available for developers to test on for about 18 months.
But Apple doesn’t seem to be resting after this major release. They have invited press to a special event on September 9. The only hint as to the content of the event is that the invitation shows an iPod and the words: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” So there will most likely be announcements about iTunes and the iPod.
Apple may offer new hardware, perhaps a new Nano and iPod Touch. They may also release iTunes 9. There are strong rumors of them offering song-based ringtones for sale directly from iTunes. Currently, you can purchase whole songs as ringtones and select your own 30 seconds to use as the actual ringtone.
September 9 is the official release date of the remastered Beatles catalog on CD, so it would also make sense that the Beatles songs will go on sale for the first time in the iTunes store. But it would be odd for the event to be named after a Rolling Stones song, in that case.
There has been a lot of controversy lately about how Apple handles iPhone app store submissions. The app store is a strange distribution platform. It is similar to past distribution platforms in some ways, but has its own unique mix of problems.
Previous to the iPhone app store, software on mobile phones worked one of two ways. The first was that a developer could get an application on a phone only with the approval of the phone company, phone manufacturer, or both. The second was that a user could download and install software through their computer. Some phones only supported the first method, while others allowed both.
The problem with the first method was that developers had to figure out how to get their apps into the system so they could be downloaded on to the phones. Some systems didn’t even reveal to the public how it worked. As a developer, you had to track down the right people, make connections, set up meetings, spend money, and convince someone to get your app on to the phone. Even then, you had further convincing to do if you wanted your app to appear in the phone’s listing of purchasable applications in such a way that you might actually get people to notice it.
Phone companies favored apps by established developers with brand-name licenses. New or small developers had very little chance of getting the app listed on the phone. It was like retail — there was only so much shelf space and getting your product on the shelves was a mysterious and costly process.
The second method, where users could choose to download an application on their computer and transfer it to the phone, was much more open, as long as the phones and carriers that allowed it. But only a few people would go to all the trouble. A vast majority of mobile phone users would just purchase an app from their phone and wouldn’t bother to learn how to install applications from non-official source. So, for developers, it was tough to make a living doing it this way.
The iPhone app store is definitely in the first category because Apple is the gatekeeper and you have to convince Apple to allow your app to get on the iPhone. But it is different than all of its predecessors in that the app store has room for a virtual infinite number of apps — there isn’t limited shelf space. In addition, Apple has revealed the exact process to get your app to the store, even providing the software development environment, tutorials, a Web portal, etc. They are still the gatekeeper, but they are letting 99% get into the store.
So, what’s the problem?
Well, the problem that people are talking about is that 1% that doesn’t get into the store. Why doesn’t it get in there? Apple apparently follows a set of rules, and has a team of people that try to apply these rules to every app that is submitted. But being people, not machines, they are not all applying the rules in the same way. So whether a developer’s app makes it into the store, depends a bit on chance.
It seems that some of the rules are easy to apply literally and apps were rejected one ridiculous grounds. For instance, a dictionary app was rejected because profanity is not allowed. I guess those words shouldn’t be in the dictionary. An e-book reader was rejected because it is possible to find an e-book copy of the Kama Sutra. You can view that e-book in Safari on the iPhone. Other apps have been rejected on the grounds of “duplicate functionality” such as email clients or podcast feed reading. But these provided alternate methods to do these things, and were clearly not duplicates of existing Apple-created apps.
But rejection isn’t the only nightmare that app developers face. Do you see the apps on the front page of the App Store in iTunes? They probably make a ton of money for the developers. But how about the 50,000 other apps that Apple doesn’t bless with front-page recognition?
Obscurity is just as deadly as rejection in the iPhone app development world. When an individual decides to poor hours, days or months into creating something, only to find it buried in the app store, it spells ruin for that app and that developer.
So there is limited shelf space in the app store. It is still like a retail store, with room to display only so many products. The difference is the iPhone app store has “more in the back” that most people won’t ever bother to ask for.
So in the end, the app store is more like the traditional closed mobile phone app market, restricting success to the few. And it certainly favors large developers and brand names, as anyone who goes to the app store front page can see.
However, the small developer can break out of that and find success — like the American Dream. Let’s call it the “App Store Dream.”
That’s why developers are doing it. Not because they are sure of success, but because they hope for it. And I’m glad they do, because it is clear that this is where innovation will come from. It won’t be from the established developers rehashing their old games or purchasing brand licenses.
I just wish Apple would do more to more to help App Store Dreams come true. They need to speed up the app store review process. They need to use more common sense when approving apps. They need to provide a reasonable remedy system for apps that are rejected so developers don’t have to launch media campaigns to get wrongs righted.
If Apple believed in the App Store Dream, it would not only mean more success for developers, but for the iPhone as well.
