os x OS X Mountain Lion Discussion

[.Neo]

Doubtful. Both Linux and Mac OS X do not have any real significant market share, and I can't see Mountain Lion changing that at all.

For whatever reason some keep saying that, yet major developers keep putting out apps for OS X. In fact developers like Autodesk (AutoCAD) and Steam (among others) actually came to the platform or returned after being absent for many years. So apparently they disagree If OS X didn't had any market share of significance third-parties wouldn't invest in it. It's that simply really. They're commercial firms, not charity organizations. If there wasn't enough money to be made they would stay away.

You need to realize an OS doesn't need an 80% market share to be considered significant.

[CPressland]

Has anyone been able to get Mountain Lion to boot in VMWare Fusion, I need to test some internal apps on it but I don't wana use up another Mac Mini for it.

[Owen W Veteran]

I'm quite pi**ed they dropped support for my fianc?'s Macbook (late '07).

To make things short, if you own a Mac with either integrated GMA X3100, 950 or an ATi x1600 you're left in the cold.

Pretty ridiculous, then again we've seen little of what will come in OS X ML.

My guess is that only the features that are relevant to devs are currently public.

So who knows what kind of powerhousing process will use the newer Macs.

Then again, the DP does not have these restrictions and seeing how quite a few will be affected there will probably be workarounds. :)

Adoring the additions so far, iCloud saving is only good with me, if there will be ROCK SOLID corruption prevention techniques in the background.

I'd have adored if Lion brought ZFS, maybe some day Oracle and Apple have a better day together...

Or Apple has something that Oracle wants so they share licenses...

Hmmm... I installed Lion to my fianc?'s Macbook using my Apple ID (we hadn't set up her iTunes account with a viable payment method back then, she's legitimately on it now.)

Note: My Apple ID is not linked to her Mac.

It was just for the install, after that, she had her credentials in there and also had Lion appear in her Purchased list. :p

Glassed Silver:mac

That's five years.... it's not bad

Strange, I emailed the Windows Product Group a bit ago and they said different...

I'm sorry, what did they say different about?

[.Neo]

Just a small detail but Apple renamed Address Book and iCal to Contacts and Calendar respectively. Just like in iOS. Keepin' it simple, I like that.

[CPressland]

Just a small detail but Apple renamed Address Book and iCal to Contacts and Calendar respectively. Just like in iOS. Keepin' it simple, I like that.

I approve!

[Quillz]

Just a small detail but Apple renamed Address Book and iCal to Contacts and Calendar respectively. Just like in iOS. Keepin' it simple, I like that.

Universal Access also got renamed to just "Accessibility," as well as getting a face lift:

[.Neo]

Is System Preferences called "Settings" too? I kinda prefer "Preferences" over "Settings" though. :/

[CPressland]

I like System Preferences too.

[Quillz]

Is System Preferences called "Settings" too? I kinda prefer "Preferences" over "Settings" though. :/

No, it's still System Preferences, at least for now.

[PGHammer]

Beyond slapping on Metro, what makes Windows 8 so spectacular? So far there's is little there that's actually of interest to people who use a desktop or notebook PC without touch screen.

I agree though, at this point OS X Mountain Lion seems nothing more than an app expansion pack. :/ I'm guessing there will be more.

So has Windows NT. I'm guessing you want something redesigned for the sake of being redesigned?

Have you tried it? Or are you going by screenshots and other opinions?

I'm posting this from the WDP, and it's running on a traditional desktop just fine.

Don't let others think for you - try it and judge for yourself.

[Quillz]

Looks like a search bar was added into Launchpad, in the top center:

Also, when editing files now, the title bar "EDITED" text briefly flashes blue, to make it more apparent that the file is being auto-saved.

[.Neo]

Have you tried it? Or are you going by screenshots and other opinions?

It's a developer preview freely available to everyone. Take an educated guess.

I'm posting this from the WDP, and it's running on a traditional desktop just fine.

Clearly you didn't understood what I meant before, I'll try to be more clear this time: At this point there's little new in Windows 8 that's of interest to people who use a desktop or notebook PC without touch screen. I don't see how being able to use the traditional desktop environment is exciting when buying a new version of Windows.

Don't let others think for you - try it and judge for yourself.

Stop assuming there are only two possible options:

1. You don't like Windows 8, as such you haven't used it.

2. You've used Windows 8, as such you love it.

It's annoying.

[PyX]

Looks like a search bar was added into Launchpad, in the top center:

Wow, is that the beginning of Apple finally fixing Launchpad ?

Can you give us an idea about how buggy this OS is ? That makes me curious. My theory was that all that was already established in Lion works good in Mountain Lion already, but all the new things are buggy (like Notes, Reminders, Messages, ?). Is this right ?

[Quillz]

Wow, is that the beginning of Apple finally fixing Launchpad ?

Can you give us an idea about how buggy this OS is ? That makes me curious. My theory was that all that was already established in Lion works good in Mountain Lion already, but all the new things are buggy (like Notes, Reminders, Messages, ?). Is this right ?

I've found Finder is pretty buggy, it won't draw thumbnails most of the time. If I open up the Pictures folder, some load, some don't. And restarting Finder won't fix the issue.

Beyond that, though, it's really not too bad. Contacts and Calendar are working, although iCloud and Safari are broken: it absolutely will not sync/display my bookmarks, which is pretty annoying, because that also means none of my history is saved.

[PyX]

I've found Finder is pretty buggy, it won't draw thumbnails most of the time. If I open up the Pictures folder, some load, some don't. And restarting Finder won't fix the issue.

Beyond that, though, it's really not too bad. Contacts and Calendar are working, although iCloud and Safari are broken: it absolutely will not sync/display my bookmarks, which is pretty annoying, because that also means none of my history is saved.

Oh? Ok, I won?t install it then :p

The history problem with Safari probably has to do with permissions. If you lock the permissions in the history file, it deletes the history when you shut down Safari.

[Quillz]

Oh? Ok, I won?t install it then :p

The history problem with Safari probably has to do with permissions. If you lock the permissions in the history file, it deletes the history when you shut down Safari.

I dunno, I think it's just a bug with Safari 5.2 in general. I have "Bookmarks" clearly set to sync in iCloud, and they simply won't. And yet my calendars and contacts synced fine.

[.Neo]

Can you give us an idea about how buggy this OS is ? That makes me curious. My theory was that all that was already established in Lion works good in Mountain Lion already, but all the new things are buggy (like Notes, Reminders, Messages, ?). Is this right ?

That's not how things work. Even apps that seem unchanged from a previous version of OS X could have received extensive framework changes and whatnot which affects the working of said apps. Example: If the updated QuickTime frameworks are buggy that could translate to a whole range of apps throughout the system, even if they themselves haven't been updated yet.

[AltecXP]

I bought a Mac when 10.4 came out because I felt that OS X was starting to be awesome. 10.5 made it even better and 10.6 made me happy as hell.

10.7 and now 8 make me feel like I'm using an OS designed for the mentally deficient. The more they make it like iOS and separate features of apps into their own apps is backwards IMO.

The new Messenger is the WORST instant communication app I have ever used. I like apps that make efficient use of space since I run many apps at once, all these new iOS things seem to take up space just because they can. Heck the new messenger takes up 1/6 my screen adium takes up 1/100 or less.

[PyX]

That's not how things work. Even apps that seem unchanged from a previous version of OS X could have received extensive framework changes and whatnot which affects the working of said apps. ExaIf the updated QuickTime frameworks are buggy that could translate to a whole range of apps throughout the system, even if they themselves haven't been updated yet.

I know it?s not how things work because I have already developed a few websites in the past in PHP.

It?s just that I?m wondering if frameworks get updated so much anymore, they?re becoming more perfect each time an OS is released. At some time, you get to the point where you?re only adding stuff and modules to your work, instead of reworking what you have already done. From what I can see, a lot of work has been done in Mountain Lion already, considering Lion was released 7 months ago, which lead me thinking they focused on only adding stuff instead of reworking the others.

[.Neo]

10.7 and now 8 make me feel like I'm using an OS designed for the mentally deficient. The more they make it like iOS and separate features of apps into their own apps is backwards IMO.

This has always been the case on OS X: One function, one app. In relatively recent years they suddenly started adding random stuff to apps that didn't seem to fit: I have no clue whatsoever what my notes are doing in Mail.

The new Messenger is the WORST instant communication app I have ever used. I like apps that make efficient use of space since I run many apps at once, all these new iOS things seem to take up space just because they can. Heck the new messenger takes up 1/6 my screen adium takes up 1/100 or less.

With that I agree. Not a fan of the interface either.

From what I can see, a lot of work has been done in Mountain Lion already, considering Lion was released 7 months ago, which lead me thinking they focused on only adding stuff instead of reworking the others.

A lot of the new stuff they added are system-wide services, so everything has to be updated which could explain the issues with previously existing apps...

[Quillz]

The new Messenger is the WORST instant communication app I have ever used. I like apps that make efficient use of space since I run many apps at once, all these new iOS things seem to take up space just because they can. Heck the new messenger takes up 1/6 my screen adium takes up 1/100 or less.

By default, at least on my machine, Messages doesn't even generate any windows. I have to manually tell it to show the Buddy List, which is very small. And if I go into a chat room, it opens up a pretty small window that can be resized to be even smaller. I have a 27'' iMac and I'd have to say it barely takes up any significant screen real estate at all.

[AltecXP]

Also, now that we have a Notes application... why do we have sticky notes?

[Quillz]

Also, now that we have a Notes application... why do we have sticky notes?

I noticed that, I'm not sure, either. Especially as Notes can be stuck to the Desktop and be synced. I'm guessing Stickies will go away by the final release of Mountain Lion, otherwise we can just manually delete it on our own.

There also remains a separate FaceTime app, even though it seems that it could be built right into Messages.

[Rudy]

I bought a Mac when 10.4 came out because I felt that OS X was starting to be awesome. 10.5 made it even better and 10.6 made me happy as hell.

10.7 and now 8 make me feel like I'm using an OS designed for the mentally deficient. The more they make it like iOS and separate features of apps into their own apps is backwards IMO.

The new Messenger is the WORST instant communication app I have ever used. I like apps that make efficient use of space since I run many apps at once, all these new iOS things seem to take up space just because they can. Heck the new messenger takes up 1/6 my screen adium takes up 1/100 or less.

That's the beauty of it though, you can download Adium and use it :D I personally hate iChat and never used it, though I think I might use Messenger (still not sure lol)

[.Neo]

Also, now that we have a Notes application... why do we have sticky notes?

Apple calls it a "Developer Preview" for a reason...