Mac Magazine has posted (English translation) what they're claiming to be several screenshots and videos of Snow Leopard, the forthcoming major update to OS X. Some of the goodies on display include a slider that allows you to adjust the size of icons in a Finder window (much like iPhoto does), new Stacks behavior and a peek at Quicktime X, which has a black border in this build.

In the video above, we see some cool smart quotes, smart dashes, smart dates (add to iCal; view date in iCal) and auto-correction of spelling errors.

We first saw screenshots last year, and Apple issued a code freeze on the APIs last week. I, for one, am looking forward to this tidied up version of Leopard.

For more, check out this video.

Apple just dropped 10.5.7 on us (a little late by some guesses), via Software Update (you can get to it under the Apple menu). Here's the blurb:

The 10.5.7 Update is recommended for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. For detailed information about security updates, please visit this website.

I notice a lot of sync-related "reliability" fixes here, some nice additions to the parental controls, a Gmail login fix, and widget updates (yeah, some people use those). Full details here. Enjoy!

Have you ever needed more room on your screen? Or have you ever needed a way to organize all the stuff you are working on with your Mac? Mac OS 10.5, aka Leopard, debuted a feature called Spaces: a way of creating extra screens on your Mac. Think of them as virtual workspaces, where you can easily drop application windows to reduce clutter or simply focus on one thing at a time.

To activate Spaces, go to System Preferences > Exposé and Spaces > Spaces. From there you can enable from 2-16 "spaces" (virtual screens) and you can fine-tune application behaviors. For example, I have Skitch set to appear in Every Space, which simply means it'll appear in whatever space I happen to be working in when I open Skitch. Normally switching to an application will take you back to the space you left it in (you can turn this off in the preferences).

The really awesome thing about Spaces: it's like Exposé on steroids. If you're used to hitting a key and seeing all open windows, now you'll be able to hit a key and see all windows in all the Spaces you have open -- thus expanding your screen real estate considerably. Plus, you can use the two together. Hit a key to see all Spaces, then hit your Exposé key to see all the windows in every Space. You can also easily drag windows to another space either in the zoomed out view or just by pulling a window to the edge of the screen (depending on which space you wish to travel to). It's hard to explain, so watch the video to see what I mean.

Note that there are some apps (Microsoft Word 2008 in particular) that don't play well with Spaces, so your mileage may vary.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 section.

We're just a few months away from WWDC (I guess, Apple hasn't announced dates yet, and the delay might stem from pinning down a release date for iPhone OS 3.0) but the speculation on Snow Leopard is in full swing. Developers have had builds of Snow Leopard for a while now, but according to AppleInsider there are some interface tweaks that have yet to be unveiled.

VentureBeat posits the new look in Snow Leopard might already be in place with some apps -- take a look at the scroll bars and darker trim in iTunes 8 or iPhoto '09. This could be a harbinger of UI's to come, or it could be the sort of UI schizophrenia Apple has suffered from in the not-so-distant past. AppleInsider goes further, creating a mockup of what QuickTime in Snow Leopard might look like. To me, it looks a lot like Windows Vista.

As always with Apple, we'll just have to wait until they show us to be certain. Even then it's a bit of a moving target. No doubt they will announce all the features and shiny new look of Snow Leopard to much fanfare, and there will be much rejoicing.

[Via VentureBeat]

If you're new to the Mac or just bought an iPhone you could pore through the "Switch 101" series on Apple's site, you could browse our Mac 101 or iPhone 101 series, or you could spend a few bucks and get trained fast. We checked out "It's About Time" products at this year's Macworld (remember back in the beginning of 2008, where Steve Jobs made his final appearance?). As a former teacher and trainer, I think these are great for hitting the basics and in a short time you'll know what to do with your fancy new machine.

Seems like the perfect companion to a gift this year, doesn't it? To help you out we're giving away 10 licenses of "It's About Time to Learn the Switch to Mac" and 10 Licenses of "It's About Time to Learn iPhone" (that's 10 winners, everyone gets one of each program), courtesy of the folks at It's About Time products. Rules below, good luck!

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us if you are a "switcher" (moved from a PC as your primary machine to a Mac).
• The comment must be left before December 29, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: License of "It's About Time to Learn the Switch to Mac" ($29.95) and "It's About Time to Learn iPhone" ($29.95) for each winner.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

UPDATE: Video demo when you click to read more.

Al Diblasi over at Alfred.TV keeps coming up with fun videos with old Apple or related devices as the centerpiece. In this latest 53-minute masterpiece on YouTube (below), Al boots up a 1991 68040-based NeXT Cube, and then shows off some of the built-in applications, an original brochure for the NeXT, a cool NeXT black turtleneck (Steve Jobs' influence, obviously), and a couple of versions of the NeXTstep OS and development environment.

For those of you who are new to the Mac world, NeXT was the company Steve Jobs founded after being kicked out of Apple. Originally, they produced both hardware, of which this NeXT Cube is a prime example, and software. NeXT was purchased by Apple in 1997, and the NeXTstep environment evolved into what we now know as Mac OS X and the Cocoa development suite. A NeXT computer used by Tim Berners-Lee was the world's first Web server.

Be sure to watch or at least skim through to the end of the video, where Al finds a couple more Apple gems in his brother's basement. You can follow Al's trips through retro computing on Twitter.

In June, Mat wrote about the EFi-X, the internal USB-dongle that claims to allow a user to install OS X from a retail disc onto a non-Apple PC. Essentially the EFi-X is a mod-chip for certain Intel motherboards that will trick the Apple Retail discs into thinking that the hardware is Apple-sanctioned.

The product was delayed several times, and there is some debate in the hackintosh community over the ethical bona fides of the device (because there are claims, unproven as far as I can tell, that the device uses technology developed by the community), not to mention its legality.

Well, there are now reports that the product is in the wild and in the hands of at least three users. In the InsanelyMac forum, two members have reportedly received the device. The first user, who took the time to take un-boxing pictures, has not had success getting the device to boot on an unsupported MSI board (this is the list of supported motherboards), but another member claims to have the device working on his ASUS board (also not supported) without any problems.

The Incomplete News Project also has some unboxing pictures, with testing results still to come.

The complicated legal circumstances surrounding this device likely means that anyone in the US may have to buy one from an international dealer, or more realistically, contact someone in one of those countries to purchase and then send them the dongle (much like the early mod-chip process for the original PSX, you know, not that I got my friend's brother to import one of those from Taiwan for me or anything *cough*).

This is an interesting device. If it works as claimed, it could be a cool product for hobbyist builders who want to dual-boot a truly stellar system without the limitations of a Mac Pro or iMac.

[via Engadget]

Are you tired of not being able to see all of your browsing history in Safari? Well, with this Terminal hack, you can easily change how many items (or how many days) Safari shows in the History menu. To do this, just open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and type in one of the following commands:

Limit to number of items:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryItemLimit 2000

Limit to number of days:

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryAgeInDaysLimit 30

You can you can also use both commands to get both a day and an item limit.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Terminal Tips and Mac 101 sections.

Mac users love their machines for the "ease of use" and "simplicity." We agree, but completing a few simple steps (free and built-in, mind you), will make things even better.

1. Easy access from the dock

I always drag my hard drive and Applications folder into the dock. No need to minimize windows, invoke Expose or, worst of all, shuffle windows around manually to reach the folder or file you want. Just click to reveal a speedy, hierarchical menu.

2. Learn some keyboard shortcuts

Mouse jockeys will balk, but memorizing even a few keyboard shortcuts will save you much time in the long run. For instance, most web browsers will select the address field with Command - L.

Things get even more fun with the Finder. Shift-Option-D brings up the Desktop Folder. Shift-Option-A presents the Applications folder. Command-M minimizes the frontmost window.

Is the dock in your way? Command-Option-D hides it away, and then calls it back. There are many shortcuts to choose from, but find the four or five that address the tasks you perform most often. Sure, it only takes a second to move from the keyboard to your mouse and back again, but seconds add up.

3. Embrace the menu bar

Several applications offer functionality that can be accessed from the menu bar. For instance, you can set your iChat status and even monitor which of your buddies are online without launching the application.

First, launch iChat and select "Preferences" from the iChat menu. Select "Show status in the menu bar" from the General tab. If someone initiates a chat with you, the application will launch in full and ask if you'd like to receive the invitation.

There are others, of course. Initiate a sync (for MobileMe customers) or Time Machine backup, alter display settings, select a wireless network or check the date and time without exiting the program or project you're woring on. Many third party applications will let you interact with them via the menu bar as well.

4. Mod your windows

There's a lot of room for customization in Mac OS X's Finder windows. For instance, you can easily drag frequently accessed applications, files or folders into the sidebar. I keep AppZapper in the sidebar to quickly eliminate unwanted applications. To remove something from the sidebar, simply drag it out and let go. Poof! It's gone.

The toolbar at the top of Finder windows is equally flexible. Again, you can drag files, folders or applications up there for one-click access. No more hunting through nested folders.

Change the default icons by right-clicking (or Control-clicking) any neutral space in the toolbar and selecting "Customize toolbar..." from the resulting contextual menu. A sheet will appear with several options. Just drag-and-drop.

Finally, you can keep related files color coded. Simpy right- or Control-click any file or folder and select the color you like under "Label" in the resulting contextual menu.

So there you have it. This list is by no means exahustive, but represents four simple things you can do in fifteen minutes or less to make your Mac more effecient and fun. Best of all, there was nothing additional to buy or install. Happy computing!

A few years ago, I was walking through downtown Boston with my Burger King bag and Coke. I ran into a friend in Kenmore Square who was on his way into a pizza joint. He asked me to join him and we both sat down.

As I unwrapped my Whopper, anticipating the greasy goodness that would undoubtedly shorten my life, the owner began shouting from behind the counter.

"Hey!" he said with a heavy Boston accent. "You cahhn't eat that in here. Go pahhk it someplace else!" You see, I was eating the competitor's food in his shop. Or, in geeker terms, running their software on his hardware. That's a no-no in some circles.

Someone tell Open Tech.

Unfettered by Psystar's recent run-in with Apple Legal, Open Tech has announced their new hardware lineup, including a desktop able to run XP, Vista, OSX Leopard and Ubuntu, featuring

• Intel Pentium D 945 3.40GHz Dual-Core Processor
• 500 Gb Hard Drive
• 3 GB of DDR2 Ram (667 MHz PC 5400)
• CD burner
• 802.11g Wi-Fi.

Pricing and availability has not been announced. The main difference between Open Tech's model and Psystar's is that Open Tech is not selling computers with Leopard pre-loaded. Instead, they provide an OS-free machine and instructions for installing the OS of your choice.

Still, we are talking about Apple's Whopper in Open Tech's pizza joint.

Personally, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to run whatever OS I please on my own machine. Sadly, that's not the way things are.

[Via MacNN]

Fire up Software Update - Mac OS X 10.5.4 is available NOW! According to the update KB article listed above, the update includes:

General

• Recent Apple security updates.
• Resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 ?les on a remote server.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application.
• Improves L2TP VPN client reliability.

AirPort

• Addresses AirPort reliability issues with 5GHz networks.
• Addresses AirPort issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal

• Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
• Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
• Addresses an issue in which events in all calendars affect availability. A checkbox now enables information-only calendars to be transparent from free/busy lookups.
• Resolves a UI issue preventing delegated calendars from showing up as a separate window.
• Addresses an issue with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another.
• Resolves an issue in which iCal may not delete events after a speci?ed time interval, even when set to do so in iCal preferences.
• Addresses an issue in which To Dos cannot be marked private.

Safari

• Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages.
• Resolves issues that may be encountered when accessing secure web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card.

Spaces and Exposé

• Addresses an issue in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
• Fixes an issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.
• Resolves an Exposé issue that may result in only a subset of windows being shown.

There are also a number of security changes listed in the security KB article as well.

Thanks to eagle-eyed Louis and Alex for finding this first and letting TUAW know about it.

ComputerWorld's Preston Gralla posted a blog entry titled, Five reasons why Vista beats Mac OS X. Clearly, this was link-bait, but you know what, I'll bite.
And although I vehemently disagree with the post's title and assertion, I want to make it clear that I'm not coming at this from the typical rabid Mac-fangirl stance. Until August of last year, I still used a PC as my primary computer (I used Macs at school and for creative work); I used to work as a PC technician. In our TUAW backchannel chat, I'm usually the first person to take the "don't knee-jerkingly attack the PC" stance.

Still, it was impossible to read the post and NOT respond. Let's take a look at Mr. Gralla's arguments and dissect them one-by-one.

Good morning everyone! As our 24 Hours of Leopard marathon continues, our UK, Aussie and Kiwi readers are beginning to report in that their mail-order copies of Leopard have arrived (although it's hard to read the tips; apparently the drops of drool and little bits of torn shrinkwrap are clogging up their keyboards). TechCrunch's Duncan Riley had his copy by 9 pm Pacific time and has already upgraded two machines to mostly positive results. One warning from Riley that I can echo from experience with the dev seeds: if you turn on Time Machine right away, be prepared for a slow go until the initial full backup is completed. You may want to wait to activate TM until you sign off for the night; by the time you wake up that first pass should be all done.

Not everyone's install experience was so smooth -- Bryce's upgrade got wedged and he had to erase and install before everything got back to normal. Fortunately, he had backed up first; a wise warning for us all... remember, Carbon Copy Cloner and/or SuperDuper! are your buddies.

Are you blogging your Leopard installation experience? Let us know.

So I finally had a chance to watch that Leopard guided tour that everybody has seen already this week, and one thing struck me like a bricked iPhone thrown directly at my head: boy, Apple really does love iTunes, don't they? It's everywhere in Leopard, from the unified toolbars to the Finder with its CoverFlow interface and drop-down sidebars. Leopard might as well be called the iTunes OS.

But in the future, a few months from now, we can only hope that some of Leopard functionality comes back around, and beefs up our iPhones and iPod touches. Until then, we've got this awesome hack-- someone has put Leopard's stack functionality onto the iPhone's little dock. Very cool-- if you made all four of the icons on the dock into four little stacks, you could have all of the application access, and none of the clutter.

Especially when the SDK comes out (and already, those with jailbroken iPhones are feeling the icon squeeze), we're going to need expansion slots like this. Apple clearly borrowed lots of ideas from iTunes and the iPhone in their new OS, and with this idea, it's time to start borrowing them back.

Thanks, Steve!