OS X

Poll: did you buy Mountain Lion?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 26, 2012

Apple released OS X Mountain Lion some 36 hours ago exclusively via the Mac App Store at a breakthrough price of just $19.99 a copy, with rights to install the operating system on up to five different Macs authorized with the same Apple ID account.

If yesterday's poll is anything to go by, you seem to be appreciating the bang Mountain Lion is offering for your buck, with nearly 80 percent of respondents saying that the software is worth its asking price.

But assessing the perceived value of a piece of software is one thing and actually taking the plunge is an entirely different matter. Today's poll, yet another YES/NO survey per popular demand, asks a simple question, whether or not you've bought Mountain Lion yet...

Poll: is Mountain Lion worth its asking price?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

As you know, Apple today released OS X Mountain Lion. It will run you only twenty bucks a copy, which includes rights to install the operating system on up to five different Macs. Mountain Lion builds upon its predecessor Lion in that it streamlines your experience with additional iOS tricks, deep integration with iCloud, Facebook and Twitter and interesting new capabilities such as PowerNap and Gatekeeper, to name a few.

It also includes a handful of apps ported from iOS, such as iMessage, Reminders, Notes, Game Center and Notification Center, in the hope that it'll help new Mac owners get up to speed quickly. At that breakthrough price, Mountain Lion should be a no-brainer. But as is often the case, the price is a reflection of the product's perceived value.

For some, Mountain Lion is worth every cent. There are also those who feel that even twenty bucks is too high a price for an OS that underwhelms with just a handful of truly new features while spoiling the fun by insisting on a bunch of glorified iOS apps with that forced skeuomorphic design.

Which camp do you belong to?

Safari 6 hits Lion with Smart Search Field and Offline Reading List

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Hot on the heels of the OS X Mountain Lion release that just hit Apple's servers an hour ago, Cupertino today unleashed Safari 6 for Lion, bringing some of Safari's features from Mountain Lion to Lion systems.

Most notably, Safari 6 now (finally!) features a unified field which acts as both the address bar and search field, akin to Chrome'c Omnibox. Also new is Offline Reading List, first introduced in iOS 6, which downloads entire webpages saved for reading later so you can access them when offline...

Apple releases Mountain Lion on Mac App Store for $19.99

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

As part of yesterday's earnings report for fiscal 2012 third quarter, Apple's CEO Tim Cook was quoted in a media release as saying the company would launch the next major revision to its desktop operating system on Wednesday. The company just made good in its promise by letting OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion out of the cage. It's available now as an exclusive Mac App Store digital download costing just $19.99 a pop...

Apple to present at Black Hat Security Conference for the first time

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Black Hat Security Conference is underway at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas and Apple is planning to present for the first time in the event's fifteen-year history. Warming up to hackers, the iPhone maker dispatched Dallas De Atley, its Manager of the Platform Security team, to talk iOS security.

According to the conference agenda, De Atley will "discuss key security technologies in iOS" as "Apple designed the iOS platform with security at its core". Apple's decision to take part in the conference coincides with a few security breaches in its mobile and desktop operating systems that routinely make headlines in the press.

Some of the recent examples include the widely reported IAP exploit and Mac malware that prompted Apple to step up its game with the new Gatekeeper feature in OS X Mountain Lion, designed to only allow for approved, signed apps from the Mac App Store...

Apple to bring iOS 6 Maps to Macs?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 9, 2012

Having ditched Google Maps in favor of its in-house mapping solution in iOS 6, Apple could now be extending iOS 6 Maps to Macs running OS X Mountain Lion. This would seem logical and inevitable given Apple recently confirmed the use of OpenStreetMap data in iPhoto for both iOS and Mac. Apple conceivably has the maps.apple.com subdomain set up, which currently redirects to the iOS 6 section on its website...

Poll: which WWDC announcement are you most excited about?

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 11, 2012

Apple's boss Tim Cook is about to take the stage at San Francisco's Moscone West an hour from now to deliver Apple's mobile and desktop strategy for the next twelve months. You're probably on the edge of your seat as we are, wondering what will get announced and whether there will be an "one more thing" moment that will blow your pants off.

More importantly, all eyes are on Apple as the industry awaits to see how Cupertino responds to strong competition in the mobile space. So we just put together this little poll and are asking you, our readers, to pick one WWDC announcement that you're most excited for...

MountainLionCenter now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 5, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZZ8tS2cfIk[/tube]

MountainLionCenter — the jailbreak tweak that adds an OS X Mountain Lion inspired Notification Center panel to your iPad, was just released on Cydia's BigBoss repo as a free download.

As noted yesterday, this is a feature that's been long overdue; in my opinion, it makes Notification Center a lot less intrusive feeling on the iPad. Couple it with IntelliScreen X, and it's even better.

It should be noted, that despite my ability to get it working on my iPhone, the tweak has been released as iPad only, at least for the time being. Be sure to check out our full walkthrough of MountainLionCenter, and let me know what you think about it in the comments below.

iOS 6 to get Do Not Disturb for notifications, Safari tab syncing, VIP mail recipients

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

iOS 6, the next major release of Apple's mobile operating system slated for unveiling at the WWDC keynote next Monday, will likely bring a few new features already present in the latest build of OS X Mountain Lion.

My personal favorite: The new Do Not Disturb mode in Notification Center that should at least help alleviate that iMessage alert conundrum...

Swipe Safari brings OS X Lion inspired functionality to Mobile Safari

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2012

Meet the brand new Safari. No, Apple hasn't made any upgrades to Safari themselves, but you can gain a significantly better Safari browser right now by installing Swipe Safari – a new jailbreak tweak that just touched down on Cydia's BigBoss repo.

Swipe Safari promises to bring OS X Lion's Safari navigation to the small screen, along with a host of other improved options and abilities.

The question is, is it worth its $1.50 asking price? Take a look at our video walkthrough inside and judge for yourselves...

The 2012 Apple Design Awards nominations now open, get your apps ready

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 20, 2017

As Apple announced this morning that it will hold its annual WWDC conference from June 11-15 at San Francisco's Moscone Center, they also revealed details about this year's Apple Design Awards. The prestigious award recognizes the best of the best in iOS and Mac app design, innovation and technology adoption.

Developers who intend to have their work included for this year's Apple Design Awards consideration are required to submit their apps by May 1 through Apple’s developer portal. However, even if you don’t submit your app, Apple could still award your work in one of the categories...