Should I upgrade to OS X Lion?

Apple recently launched OS X Lion and it is very cheap and very easy to download from the Mac App Store, providing you have a fast internet connection that is. Does this mean that upgrading the the latest version of the OS is a no brainer? Should you upgrade? If not, why not?

Instead of asking yourself whether you should upgrade you should ask what you want to achieve. What do you want to do with your Mac? Can you do it with the current version of OS X? If you can't and whatever it is that you want to do can only be done with Lion then definitely upgrade. For example, if you are still running Tiger or Leopard and you want to be able to purchase software in the Mac App Store then you need to upgrade, at least to the latest version of Snow Leopard with all the patches and updates and preferably to Lion.

Each new version of the OS enables you to take advantage of new technologies and software. So if you're still running Tiger you won't have the Mac App Store, Time Machine and so on. Lion brings some new technologies and one of these is Auto Save, which automatically saves files without you having to click File, Save. It automatically stores previous versions in Time Machine fashion, but without needing Time Machine or an extra hard disk drive. It will sync with iCloud, an online storage service that will work across all Apple devices too. Is this a technology you need or can you live without it?

There are many more new features, such as extra support for trackpads on MacBooks and the Magic Trackpad, LaunchPad, Mission Control and so on. Do you need them or can you live without them? There is no doubt that they are nice to have, but are they really essential? Will the iOS-like full screen apps and menu system really increase your productivity?

If you can do everything you want with the current OS X then there is no advantage in upgrading and there are several disadvantages. As the operating system becomes more complex it grows in size and becomes more demanding of the hardware. It takes more disk space and it uses more memory. These are important factors if you have a Mac that is a few years old and you may find that it is struggling to run the latest OS.

Compatibility is an issue too and there is always a small risk that some hardware you have won't work after the upgrade. A scanner, printer or NAS (network attached storage) device may not be compatible. It's software may even conflict with Lion when you install it. Some people have found that NAS devices used for Time Machine no longer work after upgrading to Lion for example.

There is software compatibility to consider too and Rosetta, a technology that enabled modern Macs to run old software written for the PowerPC, is not supported. Do you have any old software that you rely on? It may not work if you upgrade. It's a risk you need to consider.

I have always found OS upgrades to be a case of two steps forward and one step back. Overall they are worth it and the all the advantages outweigh the few disadvantages.

Read More

First thoughts on OS X Lion

Last week Apple released OS X Lion through the Mac App Store and apparently a million people downloaded it. It wouldn't be surprising actually because the price is so low it's a no brainer. An OS upgrade for just £20? That's cheap and it's probably to get as many people to upgrade as possible. Apple needs people to be running the latest version of OS X because it has key technologies like the Mac App Store, which doesn't work on Leopard or earlier versions of OS X. Will iCloud coming this autumn, only work on Lion or will it support Snow Leopard? Even if it does support Snow Leopard, it will work better with Lion.

Like many other people, I downloaded and installed Lion. My ageing MacBook isn't the ideal hardware and a newer model with a better trackpad is required for some features like the swipes, pinches and other gestures borrowed from iOS devices. However, I could always add a Magic Trackpad. At £59 it seems a bit overpriced for something that just enables me to swipe and pinch. Apart from this, Lion works fine on my 2007 MacBook with 2Gb RAM and 2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo processor. Ideally though, 4Gb of RAM is best and you'll be struggling to do some tasks with 2Gb RAM. Just running Chrome and iTunes uses up over 1Gb of memory.

There are some big changes in Lion, but also lots of little ones too. One change that MacBook owners will notice is that it automatically logs on to Wi-Fi hotspots. This is an idea borrowed from iOS devices and when you switch on the Wi-Fi on your iPhone and select a hotspot, it will connect and display the login page automatically. Now the MacBook does this and as soon as the desktop appears a window opens prompting me to login to the Starbucks Wi-Fi.

This would be useful if it remembered my username and password, but it appears not to. Previously I started Safari and by pressing one key it automatically entered my username and password - stored in my keychain. The auto-login feature does not, so I have to manually enter them. This makes the new feature less useful than it could be. What's worse is that the login window disappears and there's no way to log out either. Starbucks is free, but if you were using a Wi-Fi hotspot that charged by the hour then you would need to be able to log out to avoid usage charges when you're not actually using it. It's a bit like taking two steps forward, but slipping one step back.

Read More

Anti virus for your iPhone and iPad

Intego, the security company specialising in Apple Mac security, has launched what must be the first anti virus app for iOS devices - the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. VirusBarrier iOS is available right now on the iTunes store (type VirusBarrier into the search box or try this link). Is it necessary? Is your iOS device in danger of being infected by a virus?

iOS devices are not in any danger right now because there aren't any iOS viruses and malware authors are not targeting it, although this may possibly change in the future. There simply aren't any viruses for the iPhone or iPad. So why would you want an anti virus app?

The reason is that you may receive emails and documents that contain malware like viruses, Trojans and spyware, and then unknowingly pass them on to someone else.

You can be a carrier who is not infected themselves, but passes on the malware and infects others.

If you receive email with attachments and access documents over the web, via Dropbox and other cloud storage services, you can scan them with VirusBassic iOS and make sure that they are safe before forwarding them to someone else, or even your own desktop or laptop computer.

It is a great idea and the app is cheap at £1.79, so there's no reason not to buy it. The price includes one year's subscription to virus definition updates.

Read More

Prepare your Google profile

If you have a Google account, such as Mail, Blogger, Reader and so on, you can create a profile. This is basically an About Me page that contains information about you such as where you live, gender, job title, education and so on. In the past has been possible to create a profile, but to keep it private so that no-one could see it, but now apparently this will soon change. Any profile set to private will automatically be deleted and all profiles will be made public. There won't be a private option at all.

You don't have to have a profile and if you have one it can be deleted, but it can have its uses and you might want to reveal some information about you. For example, bloggers often have a profile because it's useful to know a bit about the person writing the blog. It's not the only reason for having a profile and it makes it easier for people to find you on the internet. Long lost friends, potential employers and so on.

If you choose to have a profile, and you can create one by logging into your Google account and selecting Edit Profile - try this link - then you need to remember that it is public. The profile editor prompts you to enter all sorts of information and it could potentially be used by someone gathering details about you for identity theft or other purposes. For example, it is possible to put your work and home telephone numbers in it, but do you really want the whole world to know them? It's probably a bad idea to do this.

Similarly, adding your email address might lead to increased junk messages in your inbox. Surely the last thing you want to do is to make your email address public? Unless, of course, you have a public email address. It's useful to have two email accounts, one you give to anyone that asks for it, and another that only your best friends, employer, bank and a few others know about.

Remember that your profile is public and only give out as much or as little information as you want. Go and check it now. See what will be made public. The minimum information is your name and gender, so it's possible to have a profile yet give little away. You can, of course, delete your profile too and then no-one will be able to see anything.

Read More

iPhone 5 and iPad 3 for October launch?

Recently there have been reports that the iPhone 5 and the iPad 3 are to be launched in October. Apparently Apple's suppliers are gearing up for the new gadgets and you can read the details at Cnet, Digitimes and Apple Insider. Are they likely? Yes and no.

The speed of development of mobile phones is just as fast as it ever was and new models are being released all the time. They are getting better and better too. It has been over a year since the iPhone 4 was launched and while it still compares well against the competition it is unlikely to look so good as we progress into 2012. A new iPhone, even if it has only a few minor updates, is required before the end of this year. A lot of iPhone 4 owners are now ready for a new model and would willingly upgrade if they had the chance. A faster processor and higher resolution cameras are possible upgrades and there's the well-known aerial problem that plagues the iPhone 4. It hasn't damaged sales much, but a redesign to avoid the death grip issue would help.

So what about the iPad 3? I can't see that there would be any benefit in launching this for Apple. Sales of the iPad 2 are excellent and there is no need for a new version to boost flagging sales. They just aren't flagging. iPad 1 owners have an upgrade path and they can buy the iPad 2, which is significantly better. They don't need an iPad 3 to tempt them to upgrade. iPad 2 owners haven't had their device very long and may not have even paid off their credit card bill yet, so they would not want to upgrade to an iPad 3 so soon. An October launch of an iPad 3 would not do much for Apple's sales.

What might be good idea though is an iPad Mini - a 7in screen version. Steve Jobs once rubbished the idea and said it was too small, but I think a smaller and more portable iPad would be very popular. The iPad is great, but it isn't really that much more portable than a light laptop and I bet a lot of iPads have rarely left the home. Will we see an October launch of a 7in iPad Mini? Who knows, but it is certainly unlikely to be an iPad 3. I predict that we'll see an update to the iPad in spring 2012, a year after the current model was launched.

Read More

A wish list for the Apple Mac App Store

Apple has just released a new version of OS X - version 10.6.8 and it should be the last Snow Leopard update before Lion is released. So what is in this latest update and is it worth downloading?

One of the things that is does is to enhance the Mac App Store to get ready for upgrading to OS X Lion. Apple has said that Lion will be available from the Mac App Store (and not on DVD) in July, so we are literally weeks away from its launch. It is not clear how the Mac App Store has been modified, but it is not hard to guess what might have changed.

OS X will be a download from the store like any other application and it will be huge. OS X normally comes on a DVD and it could be a 2 or 3Gb download. That is a lot and if you are on a slow internet connection it will take many hours. What we need is a suspend and resume feature, partly because you might start a download and then not have time to finish it and partly to overcome connection problems. Part way through there might be a glitch that causes your internet connection to be lost and you don't want to have to start again at the beginning.

I don't know whether the Mac App Store supports this because I've never downloaded anything that couldn't be grabbed in one go, but a 3Gb OS X download is different and the chance of a download problem is greater. I sure hope Apple has thought this through and can I resume after an error or power off. If you go to the Store menu there is an option to check for unfinished downloads, so maybe it does actually resume.

Another thing that would be really useful and I hope has been put in the Mac App Store is bandwidth management. Normally you want to download an app from the store as fast as possible. This is fine with 20 or even 50Mb downloads, but when its 2 or 3Gb it would be useful to have bandwidth management. It would be really useful to have the download trickle down over a day or two in the background rather and than use all the bandwidth and render my Mac unusable for any other internet access for the duration.

Another essential feature that I hope is in this update is the ability to burn downloads to a CD/DVD. Now this normally doesn't matter because most downloads are small, but suppose you have several Macs and want to upgrade them all to Lion? You don't want to have to download 3Gb on every single machine! Surely you will be able to download it once and burn it to a DVD, which can then be used to install Lion on other Macs.

Not only would it be useful to create a DVD for upgrading several Macs, you also need a boot disc just in case there's ever a problem with your Mac. It is essential that you be able to boot from a disc and reinstall the OS, run Disk Utility, repair errors and so on.

Read More

Flaw in iOS reinstall from the cloud feature

A new feature was enabled in the app store recently and at first sight it seemed quite useful, but it has an irritating flaw. Here’s how it should work: If you have multiple iOS devices, such as an iPhone and an iPad, you might purchase an app, download it and install it from the App Store on one device and wish it was also on the other device. Now you can easily do this without having to go through the App Store and purchase it all over again. All the apps you have purchased are listed in App Store Updates and you can re-download and re-install any of them with a few taps of the screen.

On the iPhone for example, you go to the App Store, tap Updates at the bottom of the screen, and tap Purchased. On the iPhone you can then select either All or Not on this iPhone. All the apps you have purchased are listed and there’s a little cloud icon next to each one. Tap it and you can download and install the app.

This sounds fine in theory, but the snag is that free apps are technically purchases and they are recorded as purchases against your iTunes user account, even though you never paid anything for them. So here’s the flaw: Every app you ever downloaded gets listed! There are thousands of free apps in the App Store and if you like trying them you will have clocked up a large number of (free) purchases.

Some apps are brilliant of course, but some are not and you might quickly delete them after trying them. They sound interesting in the App Store blurb, but when you try them they turn out to be boring, not what you thought it was, or isn’t appealing for some other reason. All the apps you ever download and rejected are listed on your device for re-installation. They get in the way of the apps you are interested in. You might have tried hundreds of apps if you have had your phone for some time and all the apps you rejected for whatever reason are listed.

This feature hasn’t been thought through properly. It can be fixed though and one thing that could be done is to filter out free apps. There is no need for them to be listed and if I have a free app on my iPad and I want it on the iPhone then I can just find it in the App Store and download it. The second thing to do is to filter out apps that have been deleted. If I download an app and delete it, it means I don’t want it! It shouldn’t come back and pester me to be downloaded again.

Read More