macOS Archive

Apple Issues New Build of Leopard Preview

Apple on Thursday evening offered developers testing its next-generation Leopard operating system the first update to the software since it was released privately last month. "This Software Update delivers improved reliability and compatibility for Mac OS X Leopard Developer Preview and is recommended for all users," Apple said of the update, distributed over Leopard's Mac OS X Software Update mechanism.

Crossover for OSX Intel Beta Released

"I am very pleased to announce that we have made a public beta of our upcoming CrossOver Mac product available for general download. What we are shipping today is our first beta release of CrossOver Mac. This release will give you a taste of the promise of CrossOver, but should be considered an early test release - we intend to make substantial further improvements before we ship a production version."

First Builds of Mac OS X 10.4.8 Released to Developers

Apple Computer on Monday released to developers the first pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.8, a maintenance and bug fix update for its Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger operating system that is currently under development. In addition to improving the stability and performance of Tiger, sources say Apple will target specific enhancements towards AFP, DVD Player, iCal, iPhoto, Mail and Safari.

Run MacOS 9 on an Intel Mac

UneasySilence.com has a guide on how to use SheepShaver to run Mac OS 9 on an Intel Mac. "Who said you can't use MacOS 9 because you have an Intel Mac? It is completely possible with a little bit of tinkering, and a really cool universal application called Sheep Shaver, which came to us via a tip from Kazaki. Sheep Shaver is a full speed 'Classic' emulator for Windows, Linux, and Intel based Macs, that runs older MacOS's at shockingly full speed!"

Overview: Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard

ThinkSecret has put together an overview of the new features as found in the WWDC preview of Mac OS 10.5, including a screenshot gallery. "From an end-user's perspective, the build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that developers received at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference nearly two weeks ago may seem lacking of new features. Beyond Spaces and Time Machine, like Spotlight and Dashboard in Tiger before it, or Expose and Fast User Switching in Panther, the span of noticeable new features are limited in present form." On a related note, Jobs will not hold a keynote speech at the Paris Apple Expo.

Leopard to Drop G3 Support?

There are some new clues that Mac OS X Leopard will drop G3 support. Its ReadMe file does not mention it, its web pages do not mention it and Apple even made a deliberate change to their 64bit webpage to remove the G3 mention recently. My take: This was not unexpected. For each new version Apple required one more additional feature in order to work (in the past it has been USB, then firewire etc) and now it's G4+. I bet that the client version of OSX after Leopard would require a supported 3D QuartzExtreme-compliant graphics card in order to boot up.

Apple Updates Boot Camp

Apple released version 1.1 beta of its Boot Camp software that allows Apple users to run MacOS X side by side with Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac. The 202 MB download adds support for newly released Intel-Macs, simplified partitioning, the ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk, support for the Isight camera and built-in microphones, as well as improved Apple keyboard support. Apple says that users should create a new Macintosh Drivers for Windows CD and install the updated software it contains on Windows XP. According to Apple, this will not require the user having to reinstall Windows XP or Mac OS X. Elsewhere, Apple is preparing for the new Xserver cluster node.

Time Machine and the Future of the File System

For Mac geeks of a certain persuasion, the first mention of a soon-to-be-revealed feature of Leopard during the WWDC keynote set off a mental chain-reaction. That feature was Time Machine, and the name alone was enough to cause one particular phrase to hammer in the mind of many people, including me: "New file system in Leopard!" It was even a bingo square. In fact, it was my personal favorite bingo square, and the one that I most looked forward to marking.

Path Finder 4.5 Released

Path Finder is a Finder file browser alternative for Mac OS X, which combines the best of Apple's Finder with powerful, integrated utilities and some innovative ways of accessing and manipulating your files. The new version, 4.5, features undo support, superuser mode, labels editor, multiple shelves, file listing reload button and more.

Open-Source Darwin? Not Yet

Apple is stonewalling open-source developers despite the company's recent release of much of the Mac OS X Tiger kernel source code, according to Proclus, administrator of the GNU-Darwin Distribution. "In order to have a free and open source system, two things are necessary. First, all the necessary source code must be obtainable by anyone, and second the system must obviously be bootable in order to use it," Proclus told MacNN. "Darwin OS is not bootable without the AppleACPIPlatform driver, which is closed source at this time." On a related note, a slew of unannounced features have been posted to the web, found in the developer preview of Leopard.

Automating Development Tasks with Automator and Xcode

With Automator, users can graphically assemble Actions - self-contained modules that perform a single task - into a Workflow to create a collection of Actions that complete a larger task. This Automator functionality is also available to developers for automating workflow in software development projects. This article shows you how to streamline some of the tasks you face in development projects by writing custom Shell Actions and Workflows.

Whatever Happened to… Mac OS X Leopard?

Paul Thurrot, everybody's favourite Microsoft Apple Microsoft zealot, writes on his webpage: "It's funny. Apple calls Microsoft a copy-cat, and yet, I feel like I've seen some of these features somewhere before. Many of the features, however, are just sad. Is this really the best they had to show off right now?" El Reg agrees with him, saying: "On the basis of the evidence so far the sixth release of Mac OS X is, to put it bluntly, a point release." Update by ELQ: A related editorial by Wired.

Apple Fixes 26 Mac OS Flaws

Apple issued on Tuesday updates for its Mac OS X operating system to fix 26 security flaws, some serious. Several of the vulnerabilities affect the way in which Mac OS X handles images and the file-sharing capabilities of the software, according to an Apple security advisory. Other flaws were found and fixed within components such as Fetchmail, file compression features, and DHCP networking functionality, Apple said.