Category: Opinion

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Opinion

Lion only $29, App Store download

In my previous article about OS X 7 Lion, I mentioned how one of my concerns for the new operating system was the price. If it sold for anything over $100, I wasn’t going to really consider it. Well, looks like I don’t need to put any more thought into whether or not to buy it because the price is right. For only $29 you get a full step up in an operating system that touts many new features. That alone is a pretty crazy notion.

But wait, there’s more! Apple is again shifting paradigms on their heads. Lion will only be available as a 4 GB Mac App Store download this July. No install disc. No flash drive. Nothing physical at all. You can read more about the specifics of downloading Lion at Apple.

The catch? From what I can tell, only anyone with the latest version of Snow Leopard will be able to access Lion. I can only guess that this means if you have Leopard, it will cost you $29 to upgrade to Snow Leopard and then another $29 to get Lion. Even at $60, that’s still a value, but a bit daunting. There really isn’t a shortcut to it either, because it’s all based in the Snow-Leopard-only-Mac-App-Store. It will be interesting to see if there’s some work around to archive the Lion install on a flash drive.

Furthermore, the Intel Core Duo folks are finally forsaken to upgrades. In Apple’s typical fashion, they’re cutting out the hardware they consider “cruft.” Snow Leopard seemed to portray that only Intel Core 2 Duo Macs would be able to install it. I shirked the warning and was able to get Snow Leopard running just fine on my Core Duo MacBook. While, I don’t have my MacBook anymore, I still couldn’t imagine running Lion on it. The Core 2 Duo folks are still in the running, but it’s only a matter of time.

It was hard to get a good impression of Lion without a developer copy and without any more information than the Apple site provided. But with WWDC underway, Apple has finally revealed more of their hand to the general public.

I’ve seen what I need to see. In addition to the cool new features, the price can not be beat. Now we’ll see how hard it will be to download it the moment it becomes available.

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Opinion

Watch out for Mac Defender

Part of the reason why Macs don’t get viruses is because OS X is a solid operating system. In order to install software that affects the core system, the user has to authenticate with their username and password. However, the main reason why Macs don’t get viruses is because the programmers are targeting the biggest beast out there, namely PCs.

So it would stand to reason that once more buyers start gravitating toward Macs, that the programmers would as well. And with Mac Defender, that’s just what they’ve done.

Call it the “shot heard around the world” for Macs.

Mac Defender is essentially “scareware.” Once on a Mac, it displays annoying pop ups that announce your system is infected. Conveniently enough, it prompts you to enter your credit card information to buy it and you’ll get full protection. This part is actually worse than the infection, because who knows what they’ll do with your credit card information.

What makes Mac Defender even more nasty is that it’s been modified so that it doesn’t need any authentication to install. Apple released a security update for it, but the programmers just worked around it.

All this begs the question, “Should Macs have anti-virus installed?” While having anti-virus is always a good idea, I’m not ready to shell out money for a yearly subscription to Norton just yet. I think it’s still early enough that there’s not many threats out there. Right now a Mac user’s main defense is common sense. Don’t open stuff from people you don’t know. Don’t authenticate the installation of an app you’re not sure about. And keep a weather eye open on Mac sites and forums any reports of viruses.

If you do feel like you’ve like that added sense of security, ClamXav is anti-virus freeware.

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Opinion

Chrome Better Than Safari

When I first heard about Google Chrome a while back all I would hear is that it was better. I would ask people why and they would just say that it was better. So I decided to switch over from Safari to Chrome and I was pleasantly surprised. It was better, faster, cooler, and easier to use. So to help you I am going to convert you from a Safari user to a Chrome user by giving you my top four reasons to why you should switch.

Speed

Speed that was the first thing that I noticed with Chrome was that it opened faster than Safari. Not just that, but websites would load faster too from using the Google DNS servers. Also you can have the same amount of tabs open and have it load faster with Chrome than Safari. If you try Chrome you will see what I mean.

Syncing Bookmarks

For those of you who have a work computer and a home computer this is a great tool to use. It allows you to sync your bookmarks from one computer to another. So instead of having to manually copy your bookmarks from one computer to the other you can just sync your computer. You do this by going to Preferences, then to Personal Stuff, click on Set Up Sync, and login to your Google Account.

Customization

This was a very nice addition by Chrome, which is partly what set it apart from Safari. Chrome will allow you to choose from themes created by artists or generic themes that Google made. To do this you must go into Preferences, then to Personal Stuff, and go to the bottom where it says Get Themes. Having themes might not have any practical reasons, but being able to customize Chrome is just nice to have because you can customize it to your own style.

One Search Bar

For all of you people out there using Safari you might think that you like having a Google Search Bar and a Web Address Bar, but trust me once you get use to having one search bar you will never want to go back. It is great because it is a two in one search bar. For example you can type in “the real mac genius” on Chrome and it will search it in Google for you or you can type in “therealmacgenius.com” and it will bring you to our website. I can assure you after a week that you will be hooked on this.

Switching Over

Switching over is a breeze with Chrome because you can transfer your bookmarks from Safari to Chrome by clicking on Chrome and scrolling down to Import Bookmarks and Settings. Then to make everything else similar to your old Safari all you would have to do is go into Preferences under Chrome and switch things like what you want your main search engine to be or your homepage. Its obvious that Chrome is better because of its speed, syncing bookmarks, customization, and sweet search bar. Plus if you use it and don’t like it you can just delete it.

Stay connected at my new twitter handle to stay updated 24/7 @TRMGaveragejoes and @realmacgenius

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.

 

Categories
Opinion

Gated

 

Okay, this whole “gate” thing is getting out of control.

Seems like any time there’s a “scandal” with Apple, the journalists and pundits want to give it a title with some edge to it. So they harken back to the 1970’s political scandal of Watergate. The antenna doesn’t work quite right on the iPhone 4 when it first comes out, so what does everyone call it? Antennagate. Glass screens breaking or cracking? Glassgate. Apple allegedly tracking your whereabouts? Locationgate.

I’m not against people criticizing Apple. Far from it. I mean, who could possibly side with the “hockey puck” mouse design for the early iMacs? But if people are going to try coining terms, then they should at least be a little more creative.

They could try using 1940’s film noir titles for inspiration. “The Big Grip” sounds much edgier than antennagate. Heck, I’d even settle for riffs of 1950’s b-movie sci-fi titles, such as “They Watch Where You Go” instead of locationgate. But you get the idea.

So let’s stop using “gate” as a suffix. It’s not hip. It’s just annoying.

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Opinion

i can haz iPhone?

Is it possible to own an Android phone and still be a Mac? The answer: yes. I own a MyTouch 3G from T-Mobile. I happen to like T-Mobile and the MyTouch isn’t all too bad. I’ve been with T-Mobile for a couple of years, I’m still under contract with them, and they have pretty decent phone and data plans. The only thing I don’t like about them? They always seem to be the last to pick up the newest phones. Case in point, a couple of years ago I wanted the Motorola RAZR. Guess who didn’t carry them? But I waited, and that eventually paid off because I was able to get it the next year.

It would only be a matter of months, though, before I discovered that RAZRs don’t like washer machines. Dryer machines too, for that matter.

Changing phone numbers is a hassle. I also knew from the get-go to stay clear away from AT&T. Previous experience taught me that they had the customer service of a seasick bureaucrat. Apple will end its exclusivity,” I thought. “Just wait.”

So now I went with the MyTouch 3G. No App Store, no FaceTime, no Find iPhone. But when it comes to smart phones, it’s not so bad. I can hit the Net, I can text, I can play Words With Friends, it has a camera. The basics, but enough to get by. Of course, the one feature my Android has over the iPhone is Swype. It’s awesome.

Would I love to have an iPhone? Uhh, yeah. But I want it with T-Mobile. The fact that Verizon carries the iPhone sets a great precedent. It’s starting to look like Apple will want the iPhone 5 to not care which type of network it’s on. The time will come for T-Mobile to carry the iPhone. It may be the iPhone 5 or 6, but it will happen. Just wait.

And as long as I don’t wash my new iPhone, I’ll be set.

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