Word is that developers have received their first pre-release build of Mac OS X 10.5.2 updater… and it’s not a small one. The update comes in at over 350MB. Yikes!

Apparently updates and changes have been made to Finder, iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari and Time Machine. Other fixes for Rosetta and AirPort are included as well.

One interesting update that I’m eager to see involves stacks. Apparently the new feature allows you to provide a ‘list’ view reminiscent of the traditional hierarchical style display of files and folders.

Look for this update in January… Possibly during MacWorld.

[Source]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: OS X Leopard

My sensible head told me to wait. Tiger was working great for me and did everything I needed. The problem is I love new Apple stuff and after a few days I couldn’t bear reading forum posts and listening to podcasts gushing over how yummy Leopard was. At least by waiting a few days I didn’t get caught by the Blue Screen of Death bug caused by upgrading from Tiger when you had Application Enhancer installed: I was able to run an Archive and Install and things worked fine. Sort of…

My main work machine (a MacBook Pro) has been unstable ever since installing Leopard. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to Force Quit apps such as Mail and the number of times I’ve sent Bug Reports to Apple. On two occasions the OS has hung up and I’ve had to hold down the power button to reboot. Not good news for an operating system that boasts it just works and doesn’t crash (from Apple’s GetaMac site: “If you spend more of your precious time figuring out why your PC crashes than you spend taking out the garbage every week, you need a Mac.” - yeah, funny.

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written by Mike Bradbrook \\ tags: OS X Leopard

Mac OS X Leopard has hundreds of features. Some of these go by unnoticed, even when mentioned in the full list on Apple.com. One of these features is the Spotlight calculator. If you a type simple problem into Spotlight the first result will be the answer. Same thing goes with words. If you type a word into Spotlight the first result is the definition, then you can click the definition to open it in Dictionary.app.

This is very useful to solve a problem quickly, and you don’t have to open any applications!

written by Jack \\ tags: calculator, leopard, math, spotlight

We’ve heard it all over the web that this update was coming, and today it is finally here. 10.5.1 is here, and it is the first big maintenance and security update. It’s a big one (110MB download). You can download it here.

Here’s a complete list of included updates from Apple: (for more info click here)
AirPort

• Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder’s Shared Sidebar.
• Resolves an issue with saved passwords for wireless networks.

Back to My Mac

• Improves the reliability of Back to My Mac-enabled Macs appearing in the Finder’s Shared Sidebar.
• Improves compatibility with D-Link NAT gateways.

Disk utilities

• Restores the functionality of the progress bar during permission repairs in Disk Utility.
• Addresses an issue that could produce an alert when creating disk images using Disk Utility or Terminal.
• Improves disk partitioning when multiple RAID sets are created on the same disk.

iCal

• iCal alarms are now more reliably delivered via email.
• Resolves an issue when inviting attendees via a CalDAV account.

Mail

• Improves stability when resizing columns in the message viewer or switching between Stationery templates in email messages.
• Addresses an issue in which attachments enclosed inside an HTML link may not be clickable in email messages.
• Fixes an issue with email accounts added using the “Simple Setup” feature in which messages cannot be sent due to an SMTP connection failure.
• Improves Smart Mailboxes compatibility with .Mac Sync, and addresses an issue with To Do’s disappearing when using Smart Mailboxes.
• Resolves an issue with syncing Mail accounts with .Mac in which multiple On My Mac folders appear in the Mailbox pane.

Networking

• Addresses an issue in which Microsoft Windows shared folders may be read-only when connected via SMB.

Printing

• Resolves an issue in which user-selected values on Paper Feed PDE are reset to default while saving a custom preset.

Security, Firewall

• Addresses a code signing issue; third-party applications can now run when included in the Application Firewall or when whitelisted in Parental Controls.
• In Security preferences’ Firewall tab, the “Block All” option is now called “Allow Only essential services”
• Includes recent Apple security updates.

System and Finder

• Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
• Resolves an issue with login after turning off FileVault for a specific user account.
• Improves compatibility with Adobe Flash-based uploaders used by .Mac Web Gallery and certain other websites and applications.
• Resolves a potential text drawing issue with certain Adobe Flash-based websites and applications.

Time Machine

• Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine (specifically, single-partition MBR drives greater than 512 GB in size as well as NTFS drives of any size and partition scheme).
• Resolves an issue in which files restored in Time Machine may be restored to the backup hierarchy rather than the folders to which they belong.

For more info click here, or to download the update, click here.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: OS X Leopard, Software Updates

Sales of OS X Leopard have surpassed Windows sales over in Japan. What a great country!

According to the hard numbers, Apple now claims 53.9% of Japan’s OS market in October. OS X Sales have increased from 15.5% to 60.5% in the past year, while Windows has suffered a drop from 75.3% to 28.7% during the same period. Looks like Japan is ‘making the switch‘.

Speculation is that this lead won’t last long, due to the fact that there is an insane amount of PC’s in Japan. We’ll have to see how things go during the next little bit. All-in-all, not a bad feather in Apple’s cap.

[Source]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: OS X, OS X Leopard

Here’s a little tip I stumbled upon today. Want to see your application windows and stacks animate in slow-mo speed? ‘Sure!’ I can hear you all say! Well the good news is it’s easy, and here’s how you do it…

For applications:

1. Open any application.
2. Hold down the ‘Shift’ key
3. Click the yellow ‘Minimize’ button
4. Watch the magic

Same goes for ’stacks’ in your dock. Just hold down the shift key and click your stack. I’ve read this trick works with exposé as well, but so far I haven’t been able to make that work.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: OS X Leopard

Stumbled across this one by accident today. I knew about the ’slideshow’ screen saver (a classic), but had no idea there was a ‘collage’ and ‘mosaic’ screen saver in Leopard! They’re all pretty darn cool, and I figured you would like to read more about it, so here we go!

Here’s a quick ‘How to’ use the Leopard Slideshow, Collage and Mosaic Screen Savers:

1. These screen savers are options you can turn on in your System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver. Click the ‘Screen Saver’ button at the top to get your screen saver options.

2. Now, here comes the important part. In the screen savers list, you’ll see all of the installed screen savers listed… Scroll down a bit until you see the ‘Pictures Folder, Choose Folder, Library’, etc…

These 3 screen savers work by pulling images input from your system… i.e. from iPhoto, or just images saved to your hard drive. So, in this example, these screen savers will be available from the following folders: Pictures Folder, Choose Folder, Library, Last Roll, and Last 12 Months. Select the one you want to use.

3. After making your selection, you should notice 3 new buttons popped up beneath the preview…

These buttons control the display style (the 3 different types of screen savers).

Slideshow
The first one is for ’slideshow’. This will turn your screensaver into a basic slideshow with pictures fading in and out.

Collage
The second option is ‘collage’. Basically what this option does it pull images from your computer, spin them onto the screen and then place them on the desktop. Kind of like adding photos to your refrigerator… Try it out and you’ll see what I mean.

Mosaic
Finally, the third and last button is the ‘mosaic’ option. This is one cool screen saver. Click it and watch the preview. It’s magic!

Try all 3 of these to see what you like best. They’re all great, especially if you have a lot of pictures on your hard drive.

Fool around with these and I guarantee you’ll have lots of fun!

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: OS X Leopard, Screensaver

Are you tired of the look of your Leopard dock? Want a change? I’m surprised at how many people want to change this… and the good news is that if you do want to change up your dock, it’s very easy to do. With some basic photoshop skills you can even create your own.

To Replace Your Leopard Dock Graphics:

1. Go to Macintosh HD > System/Library/Core Services
2. Right click on ‘Dock’ and select ‘Show Package Contents’
3. Go to > Contents/Resources
4. Backup the files you are about to replace
5. Move the original files to your trash
6. Move the new dock files into the folder
7. Open Terminal and type ‘killall Dock’
8. Your new dock will be installed

Make sure you make a backup of the original dock files.

For all kinds of pre-made docks (to drag and drop using the steps above) and for more info on installation and how to create your own… check out this great site.

written by Mr. Mayor

I know this is a small, small thing, but it’s something that always kind of ‘erked’ me with the previous version of iCal.

Now, in Leopard, if you have iCal in your dock… The date automatically refreshes at midnight. It’s no longer July 17th day, after day, after day!

‘So what?’ I can hear some of you saying. Well, it’s true, it’s not a big deal, but I DO like seeing the actual date on my iCal icon. At a glance I can tell what day it is (sometimes the days just blur together), and gosh darn it… it just makes sense to me. Why wouldn’t it display the current date!?

Two thumbs up for this little feature. Not a biggie but certainly a pleaser.

written by Mr. Mayor

Strange thing occured to me this morning as I was flicking through my music… My remote was no longer working!

The thing has worked perfectly for me in the past, (and I admit, I don’t use it THAT often) but it is a nice convenience to have and I’m wondering why it simply stopped working.

Anyone else out there encounter the same problem?

I better check to see if I installed the iTunes update, perhaps there’s a fix hidden in there somewhere.

Very strange! 

written by Mr. Mayor