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- Opera 10: Solid, Stable, Innovative
Right on schedule, Opera released Opera 10 for download last week, and, as expected, it’s a solid and lively performer — no major visible changes from the late betas and release candidate builds I’ve been reporting regularly. Opera 10 has been my default browser on all three of my production Macs for the past six months or more, ever since the first public alpha level preview was released, and it’s by far the best Opera yet.
Opera, which supports the Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms, is the fifth most popular browser on the planet according to NetApplications HitsLink stats for August, trailing Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google’s as yet Windows-only Chrome. But it’s not far behind Chrome if you include the Opera Mini mobile version with the main browser suite app. Given my abiding enthusiasm for this browser, I hope that this version 10 release will enhance Opera’s prospects even further. It’s well-deserved given Opera’s history of solid innovation.
It was one of the first, if not the first, with session restore, tabbed browsing, and tab thumbnail previews. Not to mention, its Speed Dial thumbnail bookmark feature was the model for Safari 4’s Top Sites feature. Some Opera features, such as its built-in and fully integrated BitTorrent download client and mouse gestures support have not yet been adopted by Opera’s competitors, and along with Mozilla’s SeaMonkey it’s the last of the suite browsers with a built in POP 3 email client module.
Opera 10 is speedy, with Opera claiming up to 40 percent better performance on pages such as Gmail and Facebook, however my seat-of-the-pants impression is that Safari currently has the speed edge and reportedly Chrome is even faster, but Opera 10 is certainly no slouch.
In terms of looks, Opera 10 gets a fresh look and feel, and a new application icon designed by Oleg Melnychuk. The red “O” will continue to represent Opera, but has now received a facelift.
Learn more about the features that make Opera unique here and go ahead and download it for free.
Переслать - iTunes 9: At Home With Home Sharing
For me, the Home Sharing feature introduced in iTunes 9 has been a long time coming. I’ve always run at least two Macs, one desktop and one notebook, and over the years I’ve tried various solutions for sharing media between multiple machines.
Of course, there was always the option of sharing your library on your home network. This allowed you to play streaming music from one computer on others via iTunes. It works well enough for what it is, but Home Sharing does that, and much more.
Share More Media
First of all, you can share much more than just music between computers. Movies, music videos, and TV shows are all now playable on any machine in your network you authorize via Home Sharing. Authorization is simple, but requires you to have an iTunes account, and to have authorized the computer in question to play media associated with that account. Once that’s done, your Home Share libraries should appear in your source list.
Clicking on an available library brings up a straightforward list of all the media available on that library. As with Shared Libraries, you can only view Home Shares in list view, not in Grid or Coverflow. It’s inconvenient and unfortunate, but it doesn’t really detract that much from the feature’s usability that much, especially since you can still filter the library via search.
Copy and Sync
You can also break down the shared library into categories, just like iTunes’ native library is divided up. Clicking on any item in any category will activate the “Import” button, which allows you to physically copy the item to your current library with a single click.
To make it easier to find items you don’t already have, there’s a simple drop down menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the media browser window that lets you choose between “All items” and “Items not in my library.” You can also open the “Settings…” dialog to set up automatic transfer of new purchases from one library to another via Home Sharing, ensuring that your content is up to date across all computers.
One Central Location
For my own purposes, I’m much more interested in Home Sharing’s movie and TV show streaming. I couldn’t tell you why I have a problem with keeping a decent amount of hard drive space clear on any of my computers, but the fact remains that I do. It definitely doesn’t help that I can’t keep the lines clear between a dedicated media machine and a work machine.
With Home Sharing, I can use my Mac mini as I intended when I bought it: As a central repository for all entertainment media. On those occasions when I want to watch something on my iMac or on the bedroom TV via my Macbook Pro, I no longer have to transfer any files (which I invariably forget/am too lazy to delete). Media stays where it belongs, and remains accessible.
Good, But Should Be Better
So what is Home Sharing still lacking? How about the big glaring omission: the ability to share content to iPod touches and iPhones on the local network. I can’t imagine what’s preventing Apple from allowing me to view Home Share playlists in my iPhone’s iPod application as well as on other computers. If you’re paying attention, Cupertino, think about working that into iPhone OS 3.2.
If you were hoping that since Home Sharing requires you to be using one of your five account-authorized computers, you’d be able to access shared libraries on the road, you’ll be disappointed. Only computers on the same Wi-Fi network can see active shares. To get this functionality, and to be able to stream iTunes libraries to your iPhone or iPod touch as mentioned above, check out Simplify Media and its attendant iPhone apps.
My ideal vision for the future of Home Sharing? Tie it to MobileMe and have an option to keep libraries synced the way you can Address Book and iCal, make it accessible away from home from authorized computers, and introduce mobile device streaming for iPhones and touches. It’s a nice start, but those features would make it a true game-changer.
Переслать - Thanks to TheAppleBlog Sponsors!
We’d like to say thanks to this week’s TheAppleBlog sponsors:
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- Mozy: Simple, Automatic, Secure Online Backup
Переслать - Getting Quicksilver to Jive With Snow Leopard
From what I’ve been reading on support forums, some users of Quicksilver saw no affect from upgrading their machines to Snow Leopard. I however, was not one of those people. And although I am warming more and more to Google Quick Search Box, I still supplement my usage of QSB with Quicksilver where the former is lacking in features. So I tinkered around until I was able to resuscitate and use Quicksilver again under Snow Leopard.
Been having similar problems? Let me walk you through the process.
First, make sure you’ve upgraded to the most current version of Quicksilver. B56a7 is the most up to date version, that is built for Snow Leopard. Download it here if you haven’t already done so. Once that’s done, go ahead and try running Quicksilver. If you’re lucky, that’s all that is needed. If you’re not, don’t fret, because we’ll figure it out in short order.
What I found to be the issue with getting my installation of Quicksilver working, was the huge collection of plug-ins that I’ve installed over the years. Plug-ins (in my opinion) are what have made Quicksilver what it is to so many of us today. They extend it into nearly every nook and cranny of your Mac, allowing you to control everything. The downside, is that some of those plug-ins are broken in OS 10.6’s new underlying architecture.
So let’s fix that.
- Navigate (using Finder) to ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver
- Open the ‘PlugIns’ folder
- Select all of the plug-in files, and drag them someplace else (I suggest the Desktop, for easy access, as we’ll be using them again)
Now, let’s make sure Quicksilver opens before we go any further. If at this point the answer is no, I’d recommend posting the question to the Blacktree Quicksilver group on Google. (I’m happy to help too of course, but I’m not that bright, and if I can’t duplicate your setup, there’s a slim chance I’ll be useful on the subject.) If on the other hand, Quicksilver is starting up, let’s continue.
- Quit Quicksilver
- Drag the first plug-in (that you moved somewhere, like your Desktop) back into that ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/PlugIns folder
- Launch Quicksilver
Did Quicksilver remain open? Or did is crash after a few moments? If Quicksilver is still running, then that plug-in was not the culprit, and you may return to the ‘Quit Quicksilver’ step, and repeat with the next plug-in file. If Quicksilver bombed after launch, continue on below. (Does this feel like a choose your own adventure to anyone else?)
- In the ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/PlugIns folder, delete the plug-in that you just placed there
Unfortunately, that plug-in was no longer valid under the new Snow Leopard architecture. At this point, you should rinse and repeat (so to speak), moving the next plug-in file from your Desktop, into the Quicksilver PlugIns folder, and then seeing if Quicksilver crashes or not. Do this until you’ve deleted the bad plug-ins, and have the rest installed, with Quicksilver running happily again.
As a point of reference, the plug-ins that appear to cause me trouble were:
- Airport Module
- Services Menu
- Text Manipulations (not 100 percent certain about this one)
- Image Manipulations (not 100 percent certain about this one)
- Any interface modules seem to be causing issues as wellThe downside is, you may lose some level of functionality (if you were even using that particular plug-in) from Quicksilver. The upside is that you’ll still be able to run Quicksilver, if somewhat pared-down in capability. In my case, I didn’t lose anything I’d been using regularly. In the event that you have actually lost something of use to you, you can either downgrade back to OS 10.5.8 (probably not realistic), or wait on Google QSB to get up to speed, as I have seen some great strides on that application in a short period of time.
Переслать - New Mac Ad, Just in Time for Football Season
I was watching the NFL season opener yesterday between Pittsburgh and Tennessee when I got a nice surprise. A new “Get a Mac” ad aired during a commercial break, along with the existing Patrick Warburton “Top of the Line” spot.
The new commercial, called “PC Innovation Lab,” once again brings John Hodgman and Justin Long back to reprise their iconic roles as PC and Mac. This time around, Apple seems to have shifted focus away from the standard “Fewer bugs, no viruses” line and towards highlighting Apple’s value-add features and services.
The Innovation Lab is designed to come up with technologies that counter some of Mac’s genuine innovations. PC comes up with an “air-cushioned enclosure” to rival Mac’s MagSafe adapter technology, for example. And in response to Apple’s new day-long built-in battery tech on the MacBook Pro line, PC offers an “extremely long cord.” Finally, the last PC innovation turns out to be built-in cupholders.
It’s an amusing ad, and it puts focus on things Mac has to offer besides greater virus resiliency and ease of use, which is a refreshing change for the series. Looked at closely, what claims is it really making about PCs and what kind of features they emphasize, though? Is it true that PC manufacturers ignore basically useful innovations in favor of flashy but ultimately flimsy upgrades of questionable utility?
I couldn’t help but remember my Eee PC 1000HE when watching this commercial. The netbook from Acer was the first non-Apple computer I’ve purchased in many years. And it came with an eight hour battery designed for all-day computing…before the MacBook Pro introduced such things for the Mac.
I realize the point of advertising isn’t to present a balanced perspective, but I have a hard time coming up with a solid example of actual PC models that justify the caricatures in this latest ad. Still, funny, as always, and definitely better than the competition’s latest efforts.
Переслать - OS X 10.6.1 Fixes Bugs, Updates Flash Plug-in
Better. Faster. Easier. That marketing speak from Apple about Snow Leopard can now add: Updated.
Two weeks after “the world’s most advanced OS” debuted, the world’s most advanced update is out. At a slim 75MB, 10.6.1 offers the usual stability and compatibility improvements, as well as correcting an embarrassing mistake on Apple’s part. The bullet points include:
- Sierra Wireless 3G modem compatibility
- Improves printer compatibility
- DVD playback fix
- Issue removing Dock items resolved
- Issue accessing the special characters menu resolved
- Fixes problems with auto account setup in Mail
- Issues sending mail with some SMTP servers resolved
- Motion 4 stability fix
- Updates Adobe Flash Player plug-in version to 10.0.32.18
Regarding the Flash plug-in, Snow Leopard included an out-of-date version on the disc, one that could have led to “arbitrary code execution when viewing a maliciously crafted web site.” 10.6.1 includes the most recent version of the plug-in.
Apple also released security updates for plain, old Leopard, as well as Tiger, but Snow Leopard is the new cat in town. Mac OS X 10.6.1 is recommend for regular users as well as compulsive upgraders via Software Update and direct download.
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