Mac OS X Mavericks Overview (Video Inside!)

Not long ago Apple released their latest update to the OS X software
line titled “Mavericks”. This new update was going to update some of the software that is already on your mac, and even add some new apps in the mix. Normally these kinds of updates cost around twenty to thirty dollars. In this case however, you can download the latest update from the app store for free. That’s right, this operating system update downloads and installs much like an application and it is free to the public. It can also be used as an upgrade from your older OS to a newer one. Although the price tag is awesome, what exactly did they add to this update that makes it shine from the rest? Let’s get started shall we? 

One of the new features Mavericks offers, which is one of my personal favorites is the finder tabs. Normally you would have to open several windows and cycle through them to get from point A to point B to point C and it can become a mess real quick. However with the finder tabs you can open up several tabs in one finder window that you can also cycle through making it much easier to get from window to window. The best way to think of this is like an internet browser with its tab system. That’s exactly how it functions. For me this is useful because of how many windows I normally have open in one usage. So this can benefit other users as well.

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Non iPad Tablets: Just Stop

The iPad has won. It's over. Why other companies still want to continue making tablets that are unresponsive, useless, and just bad is a mystery. It seems that Apple are the only people who can make touch screens, as all, repeat all of the non-Apple touch screens I have tried have been really really awful. 

The other issue of course when you have a tablet is what OS you have and honestly, again Apple easily triumphs. They came up with the whole app idea, Android has less Apps, and even with the new Gingerbread update, it still won't cut it.

Besides, the Apple UI is just so much nicer. Nice little icons, whereas Android has several different screen layouts and is, let's face it, pretty disorganised. So if hardware wise AND software wise other tablets are not up to standard, the other companies should just save the effort and try to innovate and invent something new for once.

Apple are always the company who come out with the revolutionary ideas, and everybody steals them. Windows 7 is basically a really bad, virus filled version of Mac OS X and to honest, I'm surprised Apple haven't launched a big lawsuit against Windows yet. I'm not an Apple fanboy in any way, but I do think they easily make the best products (even though a few, like the new Nano, are horrible to be polite). My message to other companies is simple, to recap: INNOVATE and DON'T STEAL. 

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iLife '11 — the all new iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand

Apple recently announced their latest upgrade to the iLife suite during the “Back to the Mac” event in October. iLife ’11 includes new releases of iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand. Apple did a great job in adding more advanced features while maintaining their trademark simplicity. The upgrade is priced at only $49 USD and is definitely worth the price.

The incredible new iPhoto has added support for Facebook/Flickr and sharing photos through email. The changes to the full-screen mode allow you to utilize every pixel of your display to its fullest. Apple has also improved the slideshows feature with new transitions and themes. Their book/card-printing service has been updated and now allows for more customization of photo albums and holiday cards. iPhoto continues to keep its “Faces” and “Places” features, as well as its great image retouching tools.

The album view in iPhoto's full-screen mode looks amazing.

iPhoto's face recognition automatically recognizes faces in your photos and allows you to tag then.

The biggest change in the suite is in iMovie. Apple has added a “movie trailers” feature that makes producing short teasers for your films a breeze. Choose a series of clips you would like to use, fill in the credits, and choose a theme and iMovie will automatically stitch together a professional-grade trailer for you next movie.

Apple has also included more advanced audio editing tools in iMovie ’11. Audio clips are now color-coded and provide options for adding fades and filters. Another new feature is what Apple calls “one-step effects”. With the dozens of new effects, such as “instant replay” and color correction, your iMovie project will definitely stand out from other home videos.

iMovie ’11 has also included more exporting options, including iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, QuickTime movies, and more. You can also publish your videos directly to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and even CNN’s iReport. You can also create a video podcast and send it directly to Podcast Producer.

iMovie '11 give you more control over your audio.

Making professional trailers has never been easier.

Making great music in GarageBand has never been simpler. The iLife ’11 upgrade introduced Flex Time, a function that fixes timing issues when something sounds a little off.  Flex Time allows you to manually move, stretch, or shorten individual notes without changing the rest of your recording.GarageBand ’11 adds more guitar amps the Apple’s library and allows you to reproduce the sound of foot pedals with new stompbox effects. Apple also included many new instrument lessons with the update.

Flex Time makes it easy to fix timing errors in your music. 

Apple's instrument lessons make learning the piano or guitar fun.

More lessons can be downloaded or purchased from the Lesson Store.

iLife ’11 allows you to do more with your photos, video, and music than ever before. In iPhoto, you can enjoy your photos in the new full-screen modes. You can turn your home videos into professional films with the latest iMovie and create the perfect soundtrack within GarageBand. iLife ’11 is included with every new Mac, but every existing user should consider the upgrade. If you enjoyed this post, please check out MacDesign, a blog centered around graphic design and video production on the Mac platform.

Cinch for Mac

Cinch, developed by Irradiated Software, is an elegant, mouse-driven solution to window management. Inspired by Microsoft's Windows Explorer, Cinch is based off the idea of "hot-zones". Once you drag a window into one of the zones (either left, right, menubar), an outline of your resized window will appear on the screen. Just drop the window into the hot-zone and the application window will be resized. Cinching to the right or left side of the screen will resize the window to exactly half the screen's resolution. The top hot-zone resizes to will the entire screen. Dragging a window away from its cinched position will restore the window to its original size.

Drag a window to a "hot-zone" to see a preview of the resize.

Cinch automatically resizes your window to the desired length (determined by "hot-zone").

You can download the free version (occasional pop-up), or purchase a license for yourself over at the Irradiated Software store. I will be posting a video review of Cinch on my YouTube channel, which can be found here.

Apple Special Media Event: Last and Final Predictions

Here I have my final predictions for Apple's Special Media Event, tomorrow Wednesday January 27, 2009. It will be at the Yerba Beuna Center For Arts in San Fransico, California at 10 A.M. PST/ 1 P.M. EST. The event is to be based around the much rumored and highly anticipated Apple Tablet. Apple will also be announcing the iPhone OS 4.0 Beta, iWork and iLife 2010, Refreshed Mackbook Pros, as well as a few other things. I believe that the MacBook Air will get a much needed update, in fact a new model. Some news to the iTunes Store, that will be announced will be lowered prices on TV Shows as well as the addition of eBooks for the Tablet. eBooks will be around $10 to $15 for hardcover bestsellers. I think of course that they will announce the tablet and much more of their creations! It should be a wonderful keynote, and I am saddened that I will be at school during the show! Though websites like Gizmodo, Engadget, TUAW and many other large tech sites will be following the keynote and giving live updates. So until tomorrow, we can only hope!

One more thing... The one more thing that Steve Jobs will announce is the iPod Touch 3G with camera.