Tag: Mac OS X Lion

Categories
News

How to: Change the Scrolling Direction in Lion

In Mac OS X Lion, you may notice that when you scroll up or down, using two fingers on the trackpad, the content of the page scrolls up or down, instead of the window around the content. Mac OS X Lion adopted the iOS approach to scrolling, so if you move your fingers up, the page is moved up. In many cases, this is more convenient and more natural, but for some, they may prefer the old way of scrolling instead. I will break down the process of how to change the scrolling. If you are not using a trackpad or Magic Mouse, go to the Mouse options and uncheck “Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling and navigating”. If you are using a trackpad or Magic Mouse, here is how to do it.

First, click on on the Apple logo on the top left of your screen.

Second, click in System Preferences…

Third, click Trackpad

Fourth, click Scroll & Zoom and uncheck the Scroll direction: natural

There you go. You are now free to scroll however you like.
Feel free to leave comments and suggestions on which way of scrolling you prefer.

Categories
Uncategorized

Lion to ship mid-July with MacBook Airs and Mac Minis

Sources have said that Apple will ship Mac OS X Lion on July 14th. Apple has completed the main components of their first public release of Mac OS X Lion with the seeding of the Golden Master version of the product to developers. The release will come through the Mac App Store for $29.99. Another way to promote the App Store is by providing the Mac OS X Lion.

Separately, a server version of OS X Lion will be available also through the Mac App Store for $49.99. With the Mac OS X Lion release, the MacBook Air may come with it. This has not been confirmed, but it is a little bit suspicious. Apple has been marketing the MacBook Air alongside with the Mac OS X Lion. Sources have said that this release date can be pushed back at Apple’s own will. One of the reasons that Apple may move the date back is because of last minute bugs. Last year, the iOS 4.2 had last minute bugs and Apple ended up pushing the date back. They seeded multiple Golden Master builds to developers until the software was perfect for its public release. Apple wants everything to be perfect so that they can keep their company in top form.

Categories
News

Lion details of enterprise and educational distribution

Apple has finally given a detailed lion upgrade process for business and education. Apple has handled the question of how the MAC OS X Lion’s download-only version would translate into large scale licenses for business and education. On Friday, Apple discussed the strategy. Apple will give business users bulk licenses the same $30 price with at least 20 users. Schools on the other hand will have to pay for a $39 Apple Software Collection bundle in batches of 25, but they will get both iLife and iWork in the package. These licenses will really come in handy for universities and degrees offering business administration degree programs. There was a suspicion that Lion Server is an upgrade option and Apple has confirmed this. Corporate buyers will have an optional $50 per person maintenance contract to get extra support. All of this can be bought through the Mac App Store.

Apple has come to help certain industries in the search for a better way to get the Mac OS X Lion. Apple has given these industries different ways to help them in their search for bundled packages. Schools and businesses don’t mind paying a little extra as long as they know their getting more. The volume licensing will work he same as it did with the disc-based versions, just with a download-only file, Apple said. Only one redemption code will be handed out to business and educational customers. On the other hand, they will get a Lion installer file they can then copy to other systems. Anyone who bought a Mac on or after June 6 WWDC keynote, including individuals, qualifies for a Lion Up-to-Date program. The buyer has to claim the upgrade within 30 days of buying their Mac.

 

Categories
Opinion

On the Fence About Lion


Okay, so I know OS X 10.7 Lion won’t be out for another month or so, but I’m already wondering if I’ll buy it or not.

What’s to like about Lion? Well, aside from the obvious fact that it will antiquate Leopard and make Snow Leopard look like yesterday’s news, the main attraction seems to be giving your Mac an iPad-like feel. Apps are all full screen, multi-touch gestures will be more robust, and Resume will save your work as you go. Now mind you, I haven’t played with any of the developer releases. If I got my hands on it, this article might be a different story.

At the moment, the main detractor is going to be price. If it’s more than $100 I think I’ll pass. Leopard was $129 when it came out, but it offered 300+ more features than Tiger, its predecessor. Upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard only cost $30 (the price was the same for upgrading from Tiger to Snow Leopard, but shhh). Considering that Lion is a full step up from Snow Leopard, rather than a half-step, it will most likely sell for over $129 or higher.

Then the question becomes is this update more about form or function? AirDrop is pretty cool, though DropCopy, a third-party app, can do the same thing. Some of the other features, such as the Mac App Store and FaceTime are already available in Snow Leopard. From near as I can tell, the main difference between Lion and Snow Leopard is mimicking the feel of the iPad (ie. form).

Getting a new OS mostly comes with getting a new computer. If I were to buy a Mac this summer, then yeah, I’d love Lion. Having to buy an upgrade for my current MacBook Pro? Again, price will be the main determination. I think I’d also like to see how well it tests with the first adopters. If I see whizz-bang-drooling-over-how-cool-Lion-is reports, then I might jump on sooner. On an side-note, it will be interesting to see how Lion is rolled out. Do you just download it from the Mac App Store like the developers have? Will it be a USB drive like the one for the MacBook Air?

No matter what, I’m sure Lion will prove to be the king of Mac OS X. But I guess I’ll let everyone else decide that for me before buying it.

You can read a previous in-depth article about Lion’s features here.

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Categories
News

Apple’s Mac OS X Lion out by summer?

What is Mac OS X Lion? It is Apple’s latest operating system. Apple is going to take the best features from the iPad and implement them into the Mac with the new Mac OS X Lion. The Mac App Store, which is also available on Mac OS X Snow Leopard, will also be a feature on Mac OS X Lion. The Mac App Store will allow you to purchase apps and they will appear right on the new Launchpad that is also a new feature. The Launchpad is similar to iOS devices because it allows instant access to your apps. The Launchpad icon is on your Dock and with one simple click on the icon, a full screen display of all your apps appears. You can arrange your apps anyway you like by dragging them onto different locations or even into folders.  Mac OS X Lion gives you the opportunity to use your apps on the full-screen. You can also swipe the trackpad to switch to another app’s full-screen window or back to the desktop. Mission Control is another feature on Mac OS X Lion that allows you to view all programs running on your Mac and even click it to get to that program. Multi-Touch is also more responsive.

Other new features include Auto Save, which automatically saves your work by saving the changes made on the document, Versions, which lets you revert to older versions of a document, and Resume, which lets you restart your Mac and return to exactly what you were doing before you restarted your Mac. For checking your email, Mail 5 allows you to view messages in your inbox and let’s you see a preview of it. It also introduces Conversations, which groups emails together of the same conversation. AirDrop allows you to send files to other people nearby that are using AirDrop also. Your Mac is also more secure with XTS-AES 128 data encryption at the disk level. FileVault encrypt your external drives too. Lion Server is also a new feature that helps you set up your Mac as a server and enjoy the many benefits that it has to offer.

Apple is currently getting ready to release a Mac OS X Lion update to developers that may be called “GM1”.  “GM” typically stands for “Golden Master”. This means that the product is complete, but there can be a lot of bugs and performance issues that Apple has to work on. The launch of Mac OS X Lion will be released sometime in the summer, but it depends on how fast Apple can get rid of the bugs and other issues.

Feel free to leave a comment.

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