iWORK AND iLIFE

Now on to the other stuff that Apple covered. Again I’ll try and keep it brief. iWork and iLife are both getting makeovers (I think I said this once but we’ll go over it just to make sure I did not miss something). On both OS X and iOS there are brand new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, all integrated with iCloud. Here’s where I remind folks that if they buy a new iOS device, they can download these Apps for free. The applications in iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote)

have been updated, but you should notice the interface looks different. If you buy any new computer they should be on it already. If you owned iWork ’09 you can download them after you update to Mavericks. If you download these, the old version will still be inside your iWork folder. I will warn you now, there will be some features that work differently than before. Already noted that you cannot edit a movie in iOS then open it in iMovie on your Mac. We have heard that some problems may be fixed in a future version of the program.

MAVERICKS

Next was the announcement of Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9). It has so many new features! But first let us see if you are on the the fast track to upgrading. The list of Macs that will

install Mavericks is pretty much the same as those that are able to use OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, so we’re talking 64-bit Intel-based Macs.

Here’s the full list of Macs and OS X Mavericks compatibility:

• MacBook Pro—you’ll need to have either a 13-inch from mid-2009, 15-inch from mid/late 2007 or 17- inch from late 2007 or later.

• MacBook—13-inch from 2008 or 13-inch aluminum from early 2009 or later.

• iMac—it needs to be mid 2007 or newer.

• MacBook Air—it needs to be from 2008 or newer.

• Mac Mini—it needs to be early 2009 or newer.

• Mac Pro—it needs to be early 2008 or newer.

• Xserve—early 2009.

As you can see, this leaves many older Macs unable to upgrade including all the plastic-case MacBooks before 2008, pre-mid 2007 MacBook Pros, Mac Minis, iMacs and most notably the original MacBook Airs. In terms of graphics support this means anything with the ATI Radeon X1600 or an Intel GMA 950 or x3100 integrated graphics cards are dead in the water. Even the 2006 and 2007 versions of the Mac Pro won’t be able to install OS X 10.9, just as they couldn’t install OS X 10.8. So if you’re feeling left out, just think how left out those high-end machine users feel after investing $4K to $5K or even $10K and finding out their machine is now not supported. Now you’ve heard the bad news or good news depending on where your machine is on this list. Let’s talk about what Mavericks offers you. For portable owners, one of the improvements is longer battery life—from one hour to three or four according to tests with various machines doing different tasks. This is achieved with memory compression and how the CPU spends its time. Remember if you want more information on this you can watch the Apple Keynote at: www.apple.com/apple-events/ october-2013/

UPGRADING TO MAVERICKS

There do not appear to be any performance issues using Mavericks on my Mac Mini which is a Core 2 Duo 2.66Hz. There are some screen redraw problems on my 39" TV which I use as a monitor for that unit. Most things are chugging right along, including my two Drobo raid devices which hold my movies and music. As a warning I give everyone: backup your data with a clone and a Time Machine backup. Always start with a Disk FirstAid check to make sure your data and directories are in good shape before doing any major updates. Trying to downgrade back to where you were is a real pain in the bun. I’m lucky to have the Mini which is our media center for music and movies as well as a viewing device for internet video clips. So it’s not like I am risking my work computer. Things to check before you make this kind of upgrade: Is the software you use compatible with Mavericks? I have seen third party software cause big

headaches. Printer drivers could be an issue, make sure that your printer will work with the software. Make sure your Java is up-to-date if you use Adobe products as there is a problem launching them if Java is not correct and turned on. Older (round) Airports may no longer be configured on the newer systems.

iPADS

As Tim Cook would say, next up is the iPad. Right off the bat they are changing the name, the new iPad Air is 1 pound versus 1.4 pounds for the old device. At this time it is the lightest full-size tablet in the world and 43% thinner than the previous version. It has the Apple A7 chip from the iPhone 5s inside and the M7 motion coprocessor is included as well. Other features include the 5MP iSight camera, 1080p HD video, new FaceTime HD camera with larger pixels, improved backside illumination, dual microphones, and expanded LTE support. It is the first iOS device with MIMO (multiple input and output of data streams) so your wireless router that is rated “802.11.n” will give you more speed. The iPad Air began shipping on November 1. Same price as the old units WiFi only: 16GB $499, 32GB $599, 64GB $699; if you want cellular add $130 more to the prices.

Last but not least is the iPad Mini with faster A7 chip and Retina screen but that screen bumps the price from $329 for a 16GB to $399, again add in the $130 for cellular. The word from vendors is supplies are going to be very limited on these devices for several months so unless you’re lucky don’t count on one under the holiday tree.

OS/iOS

So all in all, the Macintosh OS is beginning to look more and more like the iOS. I expect to see some Apps cross the gap and be on both devices as time goes on. That, my friends, is why Apple as well as others want you hooked to the web with their software. The idea here is start a project and then work on it everywhere you are, on every machine you have access to. I think if you have a business that requires you to edit ongoing projects and documents with groups of people that is a great way to do it. However, I for one, do not want my every word to be on the web and in the cloud until I choose to put it there. When even the government wants to look at every thing we do, I want to make sure my thoughts are mine until I feel like sharing them. There is no safe place on the internet, given enough time all encryption can be broken. So I will do my files and backups the old fashioned way, with hard drives and safety deposit boxes.

SPRING MACCAMP 2014

MacCamp 58 is headed your way, it will be April 17th through 20th of 2014. That’s right—four days over the Easter weekend. It’s going to be a little different and a little smaller. We are not going to have classes; it is bring your own project and we’ll all share, help and have fun. The cost is $229 for all four days. We are only taking two of the four lodges so visiting and sharing will only be a short walk between Blueberry and Alder. So other than traveling down to the dining hall to eat you’re pretty much set. Many of us have talked about this kind of camp for years and we are excited about the possibility this kind of camp can offer. If you want to reserve your spot now, send a $50.00 non-refundable deposit to PMUG attention MacCamp 58. Spaces are limited to 24, so reserve today.

New machines and things that are coming in the Fall

Apple’s WWDC conference in June announced many hardware and software changes, some available now and some due in the fall. First of all, let’s look at the new MacBook Air. Both the 11 inch and the 13 inch come with faster flash storage drives, the latest Intel processors and graphics cards, longer battery life, and 802.11ac WiFi. All of these updates mean a longer work time with faster response. The work time on these is rated at 9 hours for the 11 inch and 12 hours for the 13 inch models. After your work is over you can put it to sleep and it should (with a full charge) be able to sit around for 30 days before running out of power. The new Haswell chips are going to be faster but also conserve energy with up to a 50% savings. The graphics card known as the Intel 5000 is much better than older models and will do a pretty good job of running your video games. The flash storage, which can be ordered as large as 512 Gigabytes, is 45% faster than the previous generation, making for a snappy system boot up. The one feature I was hoping for in this model did indeed arrive and that is the 802.11ac Wi-Fi which will give you up to three times faster performance when paired with one of the new Airport extreme base stations. However these statistics are quoted by Apple and real life will most likely be slower. In fact if you connect with a non 802.11ac device you are most likely looking at bringing the whole wireless network down to 802.11n speeds. Although Apple states that your WiFi range improves it will really depend on your setup.

The preview of the new Mac Pro got plenty of attention at WWDC and well it should have as the Mac Pro has not been updated for at least three years. Much has changed here, some for the better, some for the worse. Per Apple “Engineered around workstation graphics with dual GPUs, PCI Express-based flash storage, high-performance Thunderbolt 2, new-generation Xeon processors, ultrafast memory, and support for 4K video, the new Mac Pro delivers state-of-the-art performance across the board.” You can order one with up to 12 processor cores. It is very sleek and black. There are tons of technical details I could say but but will start with lightweight, 9.9 inches tall and 6.6 wide round with two AMD FirePro graphic processors that can drive three 4K monitors. Now for the crazy: the storage is PCIe Flash, meaning that you will be adding Thunderbolt drives to store those large files. This will create a huge demand for raid enclosures like Drobo with Thunderbolt so that it can keep up with the speed the Mac Pro will be able to produce. There is even a handle on the top for carrying it. There are four USB3 ports and well as six Thunderbolt 2 ports, two Ethernet, one HDMI, speaker out, and a lock port. All this as well as the 802.11ac and BlueTooth in a very small package. To finish up here, with the ability to daisy chain six devices to each of the six Thunderbolt ports the only limit here is how many vendors will increase their support for Thunderbolt? The new Mac Pro will show up sometime this fall—start saving your pennies now. One of the really big announcements was that the Mac Pro was designed in California and is being manufactured in Texas. That should make it a little harder for Samsung to borrow since we are not handing them the blue-prints. 

Many other items were announced for the fall lineup including the death of the “cat” nicknames for the Macintosh operating system. OSX 10.9 will become “Mavericks” as in a California beach that has monster waves. Personally I like Waves better than Mavericks but my vote doesn’t count. Mavericks will have a version of iBooks so you can read on your Mac desktop all those books you have been collecting. A better version of maps, calendar that you can scroll month to month. A new version of Safari that should offer better performance. An iCloud Keychain (here we are in the cloud again) so you can have your passwords on all of your devices ,even the mobile ones. It is encrypted with AES 256-bit but good luck if you forget your password. Did I say Finder tabs yet? For those of you who love tabs the Finder will have tabs. This is meant to allow better handling on multiple displays with each being able to display the top menu bar and the Dock. You can go full screen on one monitor without messing up the second monitor or if you please full screen with different applications or even make your HDTV into a second or third monitor using AirPlay and an AppleTV. 

Notifications will let you know about email, Chat, FaceTime or even auction alerts without leaving your application. Tags will allow you to mark files for groupings and finding; even tagging with more than one list if needed. If you have ever used Pandora Radio then you will know how to use iTunes Radio. Again coming soon but only in beta now. Set up stations, select music, block music—it’s all there. If you have Siri you can ask her to play a request or ask who is playing the song. If you have iTunes Match there are no ads. You can also choose to buy the song right when you hear it. This should work across all your devices as long as you are in the same account on each of these devices. 

AppleTV got some updates to their channels, adding HBO GO, WatchESPN, Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello. Of course you need a subscription to get them but if you have that you are good to go. See Apple’s web site for other details about the new channels. http://www.apple.com/pr/ library/2013/06/19HBO-GO- WatchEsPN-Come-to-Apple-TV.html

The Cloud it's all about can you trust it?

This blog purchased and downloaded online? The more we get cloud-based, the harder all of these things become to prove, and the easier it becomes for companies or governments to control us. Am I overreacting? I don’t think so, and if you look around, I believe you can see what I am talking about. So my advice is to stick to backing up all your data and software to local disks or flash drives. Write down all your passwords and serial numbers and get a copy of them out of your house. Safety deposit boxes are a great place; or maybe have a friend hang on to a password protected copy of this information. If you want to back up certain items to the cloud I would suggest encrypting that information so that if the account is hacked they still have to decrypt your information.