OS wars 2013: How the latest Mac and Windows upgrades compare

Last year when Mountain Lion and Windows 8 were released, I wrote a piece comparing the Mac and Windows operating systems, and concluded that Apple took the better path by keeping its tablet and desktop operating systems separate. With Windows 8 Microsoft gave its operating system a complete makeover, asking that people change the way they use their computers. Now that the two operating systems have updated with Mac OS X Mavericks and Windows 8.1, I thought I should take another look at both to see if the update did anything to change my mind...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

OS X Mavericks Released for All Mac Developers as Golden Master Seed

Following today's release of OS X Mavericks Build 13A598 for members of the company's AppleSeed testing program, Apple has now posted the build for all registered Mac developers, referring to it as the "GM" (Golden Master) version that will be released to the public...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

New Report Summarizes Display Rumors for Future Apple Devices

Apple is shaking up the display market with a multitude of upcoming product debuts and enhancements, according to Korean site ET News. The site summarizes several known product rumors that will impact display manufacturers, including larger iPhone and iPads, an OLED iWatch, and IGZO displays for its MacBook lineup...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

SimCity Finally Launches on the Mac With Native Version and Cross-Platform Servers

After being delayed for six months, EA has finally released the Mac version of the newSimCity. The game was originally set to come out in February of this year, but EA decided to delay it to "ensure a great experience" for players.

EA has repeatedly emphasized that the Mac version of SimCity is not a "port" of the PC game, but a fully native version designed specifically for the Mac using OpenGL. However, the game will include full cross-platform support to facilitate 'region play' where the cities of multiple players are connected to share utilities and citizenry, with PC and Mac Mayors able to play in the same regions...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Virus Protection on your Mac - Do you need it ?

For many many years I have used an Apple Mac, my platform of choice. This is not for any reason other than it seems to disappear into the background and allow me to get my work done. Having used Windows based computers for many years and having worked as an IBM Engineer, my feelings were somewhat tainted with ongoing support issues for many co-workers experiencing downtime due to viruses. This is not to say that things have not improved a great deal for Windows users, with many solutions out there.

Back on track now… I want to cover the subject of Mac OS X users and if we are now under threat like our Windows friends and users? Well, to a certain degree yes we are. As the Mac platform has grown in popularity there are definitely virus & malware threats out there. In addition to this, there are also concerns about people snooping on our data and phishing for personal information. For virus protection, we have limited choice on the Mac and I personally am still not convinced we need to load up our Macs with virus software. There is another solution out there though, that can certainly protect us from a lot of online threats and that is a VPN. In the video below I discuss my thoughts further on this subject and invite you to share in the comments any Mac virus experiences you have had.

You can check out HotspotShield here … a great VPN option.

U.S. Mac Sales Down in June Despite Introduction of New MacBook Airs

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has released a new report covering the full June quarter Mac and iPod sales data from market research firm NPD. 

According to the data, Apple's Mac sales came in down 5% year over year, despite the introduction of the newest Haswell-based MacBook Airs at this year's WWDC. During the same time period last year, Apple unveiled both upgraded MacBook Airs and the new Retina MacBook Pro, so it seems the lack of a refreshed MacBook Pro lineup may have impacted sales for the quarter. 

As with his previous reports, Munster notes that it remains difficult to extrapolate NPD data to Apple's global sales performance, but he views the June data as "neutral to slightly negative," down from slightly positive in a May report.

 We note that we had expected an uptick in Mac sales in the month of June given updated Macbook Airs at WWDC; however, Mac units were [down] 12% y/y for the month of June according to NPD. Based on the differences between NPD data and Apple reported Mac sales over the past few quarters, we note it is becoming more difficult to draw conclusions from NPD data.

Munster stands by his belief that iPads will continue to cannibalize Mac sales and sticks with his prediction of 5% year over year decline in Mac sales for the June quarter. Macs are currently responsible for less than 15% of Apple's total revenue. 

As for iPods, Munster's analysis of NPD data suggests that units are down 32% year over year, while the Piper Jaffray estimate suggests that sales are down 23% year over year on a global basis. However, as iPods only represent 2% of Apple's revenue, the overall impact of the sales decline is minor.

Source: Mac Rumours

The Summer 2013 Mac Bundle Ft. Parallels Desktop 8

The Summer 2013 Mac Bundle Ft. Parallels Desktop 8 - Ignite Your Mac's Productivity With These 10 Elite Mac Apps for 89% off - StackSocial

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Twitter for Mac update brings photo sharing improvements, Retina display support

Twitter's showing off an updated version of its Mac app today, featuring a number of key fixes, including improvements to photo sharing and a slew of new languages. On the image side of things, you can now share a photo by clicking on the camera icon in the tweet composing module, or just do it the old fashioned way by dragging pictures from your desktop. Also new in this version is support for Macs with retina displays and a total of 14 new languages, including Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese and Turkish. Interested parties can download the update via the source link below.

[Source: Engadget]

New Office for Mac to Come Next Spring, Office for iOS Not Arriving Until Fall 2014?

ZDNet has shared a roadmap it received from a source who claims it is the timetable for Microsoft's plans for both the Mac and iOS versions of Office.

The map says a new version of Office for Mac will arrive in April 2014, while the long rumored Microsoft Office for iOS and Android will arrive next Autumn, in October 2014.

I do not know how old this purported roadmap is, but my contact indicated it was likely current as of the start of 2013. I asked Microsoft Office officials for comment on the alleged roadmap, but they declined to do so.

The most recent report, from this past December, suggested that Apple and Microsoft were in negotiations over revenue share as part of Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service that launched in January. Apple wants the standard 70/30 split in revenue that is part of its developer license agreement for every developer.

Microsoft itself has leaked references to Office Mobile for iPhone, Excel for iPad, and PowerPoint for iPad, making clear that Microsoft does have iOS versions in the works.

[Source: MacRumors]

Code in OS X 10.8.4 Suggests Future Macs Will Offer 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi Support

Code within the latest 10.8.4 beta release of OS X confirms that 802.11ac 5G "Gigabit Wi-Fi" support, which is not offered in OS X 10.8.3, will be offered on Apple's next generation Macs, reports 9to5Mac.

In January, Apple reportedly signed a deal with wireless chip firm Broadcom to bring the high-speed wireless access to its future Mac lineup. 

802.11ac offers triple the speeds that are available with the current 802.11n standard, supporting up to 450 Mbps on one antenna and up to 1.3 Gbps when used with three antennas. The speed boost allows for quicker file transfers between home computers. 

A report from Digitimes earlier today suggests that Apple might be refreshing its notebook lineup near the end of the second quarter, which may translate to an introduction at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

[Source: MacRumors]

Firefox 20 for Mac Adds Download Manager and New Private Browsing Features

Mozilla has today launched Firefox 20, adding a number of significant improvements to the browser. Users are now able to initiate private browsing without the need to open a new window or close a current browsing session. 

There is a new function in place that allows users to close a hanging plugin without the need to shut down the entire browser, and the update also includes a new download manager in the Firefox toolbar. 

The download manager can be accessed by clicking on the down arrow button on the right side of the search bar. When clicked, the arrow will show the drop down file manager, displaying all downloads and providing a progress bar for files that are in the process of downloading. Tools allow users to pause/resume downloads, cancel, go to the download page, and open the downloads folder. 

Firefox version 20 also includes several bug fixes, performance improvements, and new tools for developers. This version of Firefox comes approximately six weeks after the release of Firefox 19. 

[Source: MacRumors]

Dropbox for Mac updated to version 2.0

Dropbox has released an overhaul to its Mac client today. Version 2.0 of the client for OS X introduces a new tray feature. Now users can see the most recently shared files right from OS X's menu bar and share files directly from the drop-down menu. Users can also accept or reject shared items directly from the drop-down menu.

Dropbox noted the new features in a posting on its forums and a companyblog post:

Introducing a shiny new feature: a new tray popup that combines the old tray menu features with a timeline of the most important sharing events in your Dropbox. For instance, if someone shares a link with you, you can now see it immediately! Moreover, if someone shares a folder with you, you can now accept or decline the invitation directly from your desktop. Not only are you notified of these events in real time, but you can easily get to them later. Also, files recently edited are made available so you can easily view or share them.

This is a big change to the way the client looks, and it enables us to build powerful new user experiences. As such, we're calling this version 2.0!

[Source: TUAW]