Apple fixed Time Machine in Snow Leopard!

Elizabeth’s laptop died. She had been using our Time Capsule under Leopard. After receiving the new Snow Leopard based machine, I used the migration assistant to restore her machine.

Now she is on Snow Leopard. After awhile, the Mac asked her if she wanted to reuse her existing backup! Before, you’d have to make an all new Time Machine backup, thus wasting space.

The dialog informed us that if she reused the backup, she’d no longer be able to access it from the old machine, which is fine.

So it looks like they did indeed change Time Machine to allow backups to be extended from a previous machine. Very nice!

Now will it backup the entire machine, or be smart about it? Only time will tell. I’ll update this post when I find out.

Update:

Time Machine did do a complete backup, not matching existing files, but it kept the history of the machine, all the way back to Nov. 2008!

Here is an example of what can be done with HTML 5. A very pretty video player that will be free soon.

Sublime Video

Now, to replace Flash animations…….

go here and sign up for YouTube HTML5 beta if you use Chrome or Safari.

No more flash on the YouTube site, just HTML 5 delivering H.264 video.

If you set your Mac up to use Google’s new DNS service with IP 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4, you might find that you can no longer connect to other Macs on your local network with screen sharing.

File sharing works, but screen sharing does not.

Switching back to OpenDNS or Comcast DNS allows screen sharing to work again.

I’ve been using 10.6.2 since 10.6.1 came out as a beta site and I can say this final release of 10.6.2 is very, very good.

I’m sure some will have problems, that is par for the course, but for me:

• Boot time is much faster
• I can now run World of Warcraft and 10 other apps in 4gb of ram without severe slowdown
• RAM usage seems much lower
• Many, many bug fixes

Get it now from Software Update

I thought I’d post my upgrade experience from XP 32 bit to Windows 7 64 bit.

I had read that I’d need to install over a clean XP, so I formatted a 500MB drive in my Mac pro and installed XP last night. That failed, because the drive was formatted as a Mac volume, and XP only reformatted the partition. My bad.

So I ran the Boot Camp Assistant and let it wipe the drive and prepare it for Windows. That install went fine.

1:30pm Today I receive my Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade from Amazon. On the front of the box, it says “Windows 7 Upgrade designed for Vista.”

Uh, I have XP. Hmm. Ok I look on the back. On the back it says:

“This version of Windows 7 is designed as an upgrade for Windows Vista(r). If you are upgrading from Windows XP, you will need to back up your files and settings, perform a clean install and then re-install your existing files, settings and programs. Visit windows.microsoft.com/upgrade for important information.”

Ok, so I have to perform a clean install. Of what? XP? 7? Can I do a clean install with this version?

Now on the side of the box it reads:

“Attention: All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to upgrade. You must accept the enclosed license … go to www.microsoft.com/useterms”

Ok so that is two URLs so far.

Now on the bottom of the box it reads:

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features and editions of Windows 7 will run on your computer; visit windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor

lol, so three URLS and two having “windows.” has the root and the other having “www.” as the root.

1:50pm So in XP I go to the upgrade advisor, which makes me install an ActiveX control, which in turn makes me install .Net 2.0. I still haven’t opened the box, mind you.

I’d be done installing Snow Leopard by now, for whatever that is worth.

Now the “advisor” is saying that I can only install Windows 7 32 bit. Which is nonsense, because I had used Windows 7 64 bit betas all year. And it says my graphics adaptor, an nVidia 8800GT can’t handle AERO, the Windows UI answer to Apple’s Aqua. But I know it does!

Ok that was a total waste of time and a total failure.

Anyway, forget that, I’ll just stick the disk in and see what it does.

The package comes with two DVDs, one 32 bit, one 64 bit. The DVDs are covered in holograms and includes “Windows Anytime Upgrade” whatever that is.

Let’s try the 64 bit disc, because I need that to access all of my memory.

The instruction manual says if I am upgrading from XP, I need to take special steps and choose Custom (Advanced) upgrade.

So let me get this straight? Most of their user base is still on XP, and they made that upgrade path the hardest?

I insert the 64 bit disc and it says:

This disc isn’t compatible with your version of Windows. For more information, check your computer’s system information. (For what? lol) To install a new copy of windows, restart (boot) your computer using the installation disk and then select Custom (advanced)

Let’s see what happens if I boot off the 64 bit installer DVD.

1:58pm I see a Windows XP screen. Oh it booted into my XP. Sigh.

Am I having fun yet?

Well, it won’t let me boot into 64 bit, when I Windows 7 beta did.

Awesome, now I get to call Microsoft.

Amusing, on the cover of the included literature it reads:

Welcome to your PC, simplified. Windows 7

Ok now I am on the phone with Microsoft.

2:17pm Ok wow, just wow. The guy opened a case number for me, didn’t give it to me, transferred me and then it said, and I am not joking, “Oh oh! Received data error!” and hung up!

So now I am calling them back. Now I have someone asking me for my 9 digit installation code? She asks if I am trying to authorize Windows. I say “No, I am trying to install” So then she tells me she’ll connect me to technical support. Sigh. Then she gives me an 800 number to call in case I am disconnected. Oh wait, that number is wrong, she gives me the following number: 866-613-0270 5am-9pm PST

2:28pm Ok, now I am being transferred, again.

2:31pm Now they are figuring out what support I am entitled to, again. This time they took my product key and are validating it. I’m sure someone at Apple is chuckling, or maybe crying, by now, at what Microsoft puts its customers through.

2:39pm Now this person authorized my retail copy of windows, given me yet another 800 number and has transferred me.

2:49pm After explaining 5 times what I am doing, I was put on hold. But while on hold, I figured it out.

I used the Windows Boot Camp Startup Panel to choose the DVD to boot from, and now it is booting off the DVD.

Ok the guy came back and informed me that they don’t support installation onto Macs.

However, he did go ahead and tell me how to complete the install, because it will fail he said.

2:56 pm First, I have to choose custom install. So I did and chose my drive. It warned me a previous Windows existed, and I said ok.

3:04pm Windows reboots. Setting up registry settings. Starting services.

3:07pm Completing installation. It informs me the computer will reboot several times during installation.

3:19pm It is now asking me to enter my user info.

Next, he said when it asks for a product key to skip entering the product key. So I do. I answer a few more questions and it continues.

Next, he said once windows boots, try to install windows a second time and then do a upgrade install (not custom), and then enter the product key, as the product key I have is only for upgrades.

Yow. So he told me how to work around their DRM. Why even have this crap in the first place?

3:28pm At the desktop, second install started, this time an upgrade.

Another amusing anecdote. I just got an email from MS about my case:

It was my pleasure to work with you on your Windows service request XXXXXXXXXXXX. Unfortunately, we were unable to resolve your issue. However, I hope that you were happy with the service provided to you.

Classic.

Back to the second install. Still copying files.

3:39pm Rebooting to finish install.

3:52pm Another reboot, it’s transferring files and settings, I guess from the previous empty install. Maybe it is keeping my user, I don’t know.

4:04pm It’s rebooting again. It had to copy over more settings. Which it had just installed.

4:08pm Entering the product key now. That seemed to have worked ok. Logging in.

4:11pm Finally, I’m at the desktop.

I am not going to install any Boot Camp software, as Apple said support will be coming before the end of the year.

Two Hours, Forty-One minutes. Excellent user experience, Microsoft.

Aero works and I am in 64 bit. So the advisor is a pile of trash. Don’t trust it!

Snow Leopard has one installer. One. It installs both 32 and 64 bit OS and apps. It took 30 minutes to install. It does upgrade or full installs. You can change the kernel with 3-2 and 6-4 at boot time. That’s it.

These experiences are good for me as a Mac user. They truly make me appreciate how much hard work Apple does under the scenes that we take for granted. Macs are not perfect, but they’re no Microsoft OS, either. Count your blessings, Mac users.

Just got the brand new Razer Naga MMO Mouse and it works lovely!

I did not install their kernel extension, which had features I didn’t really need right now. It has a 12 button keypad on the side, so the Mac brings up the “unknown keyboard” dialog, which I had to cancel because well, the mouse doesn’t have a shift key

But it works great!

It has a groove for your ring finger, so the hand rests nicely. The 1 and 12 buttons on the side are the hardest to reach, due to my larger hands.

The 1-12 buttons press 1 through =. There is a switch on the bottom to make it press NUMPAD keys. The Naga comes with Mac drivers, but they are not needed for basic functionality.

It works great in WoW if your spells are mapped to 1 through =. Modifiers work fine.

Combine this with mouseover macros, and you can just mouse over your target and press a button to attack, heal, buff, etc.

Photo

Naga Website

Super Duper 2.6.2 ships as a free upgrade to 2.x owners and includes much better Snow Leopard support and is much faster at backing up!

• Diagnosed Machine: MacBook Pro unibody 15″ 10.6.1
• Diagnosed Drive: Internal 7200rpm
• Diagnosing Machine: Same via external boot drive

Tools: DiskWarrior 4.2 directory repair

Results:

• Some files had bad icons
• Some files had bad creation dates
• Some volume information was incorrect

I replaced the directory to no immediate ill effects

ClickToFlash is a great Safari plugin that blocks Flash from automatically loading and playing.

All it takes is a single click to play the Flash. This will cause your pages to load faster, and crash less, if you are one of the many that believe the Flash plugin crashes often.

This wonderful plugin goes even farther, though. If you are on youtube, you can use the gear icon in the upper left of the Flash window to either play H.264 version of the video in QuickTime (without all of that Flash crap on the screen) or download the video directly.

Very nice.

Ever wanted to know which files are being opened on your Mac? Try fseventer

You press the play button and it starts recording all fsevents. Press pause and it stops and gives you a tree diagram of all files accessed, renamed, etc. Every fsevent that happened!

You can then filter the results to see what files various applications are accessing.

Available via Software Update or download

Fixes a Finder crash, includes the latest Flash and various other bugs. This is a relatively small update, weighing in at 71mb.

If you have Netflix and have not seen the documentary “Welcome to Macintosh,” you can watch it on you Mac, TiVo or XBOX 360 now for no additional cost with the Netflix Watch Instantly feature.

The version of Flash included in Mac OS X 10.6 is not the latest version and includes a vulnerability, according to Adobe.

Get the current Flash player here

Fujitsu has posted a compatibility chart for Mac OS X 10.6.

Unfortunately, OCR is not working atm, but there appears to be a fix coming.

Thanks to Matt for this link to MacOS X Hints about a tip to easily change your sound input preferences in 10.6.

Simply hold down option while clicking the sound (speaker) icon in the menu bar!

I have my MacBook Pro set up to require a password when I try to wake my laptop, or use it after the screensaver has come on.

This morning I went to use the machine and it was not asleep, I could tell from the status of the light, and the screen was lit, but there was no screensaver, and no security dialog asking me to log in. No manner of keyboard tapping, pressing ESC, etc helped.

I logged in remotely over SSH and killed the screensaver process, but that didn’t help either.

I then unplugged the mouse from the laptop and suddenly the machine came alive, asking me to log in.

If you use Dropbox, you might want to check out this experimental 10.6 Snow Leopard build.

Using the previous release of Dropbox, I noticed that when sleeping and going to a different wifi network, then waking up, Dropbox would sometimes use 100% of the CPU and get stuck in a loop.

This new version claims to be more 10.6 compatible, and it does start up very quickly!

Snow Leopard uses 64 bit applications throughout the system. This is good for everyone, but sometimes older 32 bit code cannot work hand in hand with newer 64 bit code.

An example of this is System Preference panes. If you try to use an older 32 bit preference panel, System Preferences will quit and re-launch in 32 bit mode.

The next time you launch System Preferences, it will reset to 64 bit so you’ll be re-launching System Preferences often until those older preference panes are re-written.

This compatibility issue applies to all plugins, such as Mail.app plugins, when the host application is delivered as a 64 bit version.

Steve

P.S. Original Mac Book Pros, iMacs and minis shipped in 2006 are 32 bit computers and won’t run into this issue as they cannot use the faster 64 bit code

Time Capsule

1. Backing up over 802.11n to a Time Capsule is much, much, much fast now. Finishing still takes time, but the overall
2. Using the Time Machine UI is much faster to load and to search back through time
3. There is a new “Calculating Changes” phase in the Time Machine menu while a backup is being performed
4. Spotlight only uses 250mb when indexing after a backup, vs the 700mb it used in Leopard
5. There is a bug where sometimes your time machine can show as having no data. The workaround for now is to cancel out of time machine, and enter it again.

Finder

1. The Finder will tell you which application is keeping a disk from being ejectable
2. Navigating around mounted volumes is faster
3. You can choose the default spotlight search via the Finder’s Advanced preferences. Your options are Search This Mac, Search the Current Folder, Use the Previous Search Scope. Under Leopard, Spotlight behaved like the default “Search This Mac” option. I think most users will enjoy the “Search This Folder” option.

Menubar

1. The international menu displays a new palette icon if you are just showing the character or keyboard palettes in the menu

Safari 4

1. Even faster under Snow Leopard
2. 32bit plugins do not work, you’ll need 64 bit versions, or open Safari in 32bit mode by selecting the Safari application in the Finder, choosing “File Info” from the File menu and then checking “Open in 32-bit mode”

Rosetta

1. Rosetta, the technology that allows a Macintosh with an Intel CPU to run programs written for older PPC machines is no longer installed by default. However, if you try to run one of those programs, the Mac will offer to install Rosetta without needing the Snow Leopard DVD

Mail

1. Mail is much faster to launch
2. Mail disables incompatible, 32 bit plugins

Spotlight

1. Spotlight searches are much faster, particularly to bring up applications.
2. You can now type/edit in the Spotlight menu during searches without that annoying lag. The UI is very responsive

Installing

1. You can install onto a non-boot volume without rebooting onto the Snow Leopard DVD
2. The option to Erase and install is gone. Installs are now upgrades only. If you want to erase, you can use the Utilities menu to erase the hard drive.
3. An upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard, with default settings except for turning off extra languages, took 29 minutes
4. When choosing what to install, the Installer can look on the network for “nearby” printers and install those drivers only

Printing

1. The first time you print to a printer, Snow Leopard will query the printer and determine its characteristics.
2. Snow Leopard now displays ink level information right in the print dialog, even for my Canon which never grabbed proper ink information before. Choose Supply Levels from the print options popup menu (You might have to disclose the print dialog first)

System Preferences

1. System Preferences is now 64 bit. Like all plugins, it requires 64 bit preference panes, however, if you choose an older 32 bit pane, System Preferences will offer the option to re-launch in 32bit mode. System Preferences does this every time you launch it.
2. The Login Items section of Accounts now lists global login items (those installed for all users), but does not allow you to delete them. However, this is a great way to get alerted that something system wide is installed.

Screen Sharing

1. If you reboot a remote Mac via screen sharing, the screen sharing app will wait and try to reconnect once the reboot is complete.

Stacks

1. Stacks can now be navigated by keyboard, both by typing the name of a file or folder, or with the arrow keys

Dock Exposé

New to the Dock is Dock Exposé. If you click and hold on an application icon, the windows on your screen will all hide and be replaced with just the windows for the clicked upon application.

Another click restores your windows. This is great for “peeking” at an application’s windows. For example, you can peek at mail to see what is new, or peek at an application, determine you don’t need it open at the moment, choose “Quit” from the menu that popped up when you entered Dock Expose, and then be immediately back to your current working set of windows without the hide/tab/unhide/reorder game.

You can also press TAB while in Dock Expose mode and tab through the windows for each application, one at a time.

You can also mouse over a window while holding down the mouse button in Dock Exposé and then press the space bar. This will let you Quick Look a window.

And lastly, if you see a window you want to focus on, just click it while in Dock Expose mode!

Services

The services menu, found under your Application’s menu, is finally usable. If nothing is selected, the Services menu is empty, other than an option to open the services’ preferences.

However, if you select text, you get options for text only. No more ugly awful menu. And better yet, the menu is broken up into sections, such as stickies, or mail related, or my new favorite, Search with Google, which has the shortcut of command-shift-L.