Mac OS X Snow Leopard can be upgraded directly to OS X Mountain Lion, assuming the final release maintains the same capacity as the currently available developer previews. To perform the direct upgrade as it stands today, users will need to have created an OS X Mountain Lion USB installer from which to boot off of and upgrade with, though there is a possibility that a Snow Leopard Mac will also have access to Mountain Lion directly from the Mac App Store.

We have received many questions about this in our inboxes and comments and figure with the OS X Mountain Lion release date set for summer it’s a good time to answer it based on currently available information. It’s important to note this upgrade path is based off of the current developer previews of Mountain Lion and upgrade eligibility could change before the public release, it’s also possible that Apple won’t officially support upgrading from Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.8 and this could remain an unofficial and unsupported feature.

A fair amount of OS X Snow Leopard users have held off on upgrading to OS X Lion, but with the release of Mountain Lion around the corner it’s quite likely a lot of OS X 10.6.8 holdouts will jump directly to OS X 10.8 if it is possible. Mountain Lion does have stricter system requirements than it’s predecessor, however, and some owners of older Mac hardware could wind up with Lion being the last supported version of OS X on their machines.

We will update with additional information on the various Mac upgrade paths to OS X Mountain Lion as further details become available.

By using Mac OS X Smart Folders, anyone can quickly access all files they were working on yesterday without caring about where they were stored or what folders they reside in. There are two ways to set this up, the first will utilize a quick modification to “All My Files” and the second will be more inclusive by creating a custom Smart Folder.
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By appending the say command to the end of another command, Mac OS X will vocally announce when the initial task has finished running successfully. For example, to have OS X announce that a particular script has finished running the command could be:

python backup.py && say "jobs done"

The important part is the “&& say” portion, which can also be customized with other voices from Mac OS X’s text to speech options by using the -v flag followed by a voice name, like so:

dscacheutil -flushcache && say -v Alex your cache has been cleared sir

This is perfect for running scripts, making svn/git commits, compiling code, and other tasks that can take an indeterminate amount of time to complete and where it’s easy to become distracted by facebook^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H other work.

This great tip was posted by @niels on Twitter, follow @osxdaily there too to get our latest posts and updates.

For the power users out there who prefer to leave their hands on the keyboard as much as possible, you’ll be pleased to know that the Dock in Mac OS X can be used exclusively from the keyboard with full functionality.

With just the right keys pressed and keystroke combinations, you can navigate around Dock items and apps, access the right-click menu, launch apps, force quit apps, hide others, and more.

We’re going to highlight some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts for using the Mac Dock.

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Rich text format doesn’t always translate well to the web and it often gets garbled through emails sent across platforms. The simplest solution is to convert the RTF to plain text and then either transfer the resulting txt file or paste the content it into an email or otherwise.

Here is how you can do that quickly and freely in Mac OS X using none other than the built-in TextEdit app:

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Though almost everyone likes a nice photo screen saver and some of the funkier options out there, I’m also big fan of minimalist screensavers that do something simple like displaying just the time. That’s exactly what we have courtesy of Apple UI designer Robert Padbury, two beautifully simple clocks, either in 12 hour or 24 hour format, no other frills.
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iOS 5.1.1 was just released by Apple and believe it or not has already been jailbroken for some A4 devices. The jailbreak remains tethered, for the uninitiated that means each time the iOS device is rebooted it will need to connect to a computer and boot with the assistance of redsn0w.

Compatibility for this jailbreak includes iOS 5.1.1 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1, and iPod touch 3rd and 4th gen. The iPad 2, iPhone 4S, or iPad 3 are not yet supported.

How to Jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 with Redsn0w

As with any jailbreak, be sure to backup before proceeding.

1. Download Redsn0w 0.9.10b8b (Mac OS X, Windows)
2. Upgrade to iOS 5.1.1 either by OTA update, iTunes, or by manually installing through IPSW
3. Download iOS 5.1 IPSW for the device you are using and save it somewhere easy to find, yes download the older version of iOS despite upgrading to iOS 5.1.1
4. Launch Redsn0w and click on “Extras”
5. Click on “Select IPSW” and locate the iOS 5.1 IPSW you just downloaded
6. Click “Back” and then click on “Jailbreak”
7. Follow on-screen instructions to enter into DFU mode
8. Let Redsn0w run and install the jailbreak, the iOS device will eventually reboot and look for the Cydia icon to confirm the jailbreak has worked

The need to select older IPSW will likely be eliminated in an upcoming release of redsn0w, but for the time being it remains necessary.

Remember to boot tethered every time you the device turns on and off, that is done by launching Redsn0w, selecting “Extras” and choosing “Just Boot” from the options.

Update: Redsn0w for 5.1.1 is now untethered, but you can also use Cydia to download “Rocky Raccoon” and untether this jailbreak after completion.

iOS 5.1.1 has been released for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, the software update comes as build 9B206 and includes a variety of bug fixes including an HDR photo issue, improved AirPlay, iPad network switching, an iTunes store fix, and improvements to Safari reading list syncing. The official changelog is listed below, and the software update is recommended to install for all iOS users.

Updating to iOS 5.1.1

The two simplest methods to update to iOS 5.1.1 are either through iTunes update or on the iOS device itself through OTA updates. Connect the iOS device to iTunes and install the update when prompted, or on the iOS device tap on “Settings” then “General” and then “Software Update”. For the bandwidth conscious, the OTA update on device is the leanest, with the update weighing in around 45MB.

Download iOS 5.1.1 IPSW Directly

These are direct download links to firmware files hosted by Apple, right-click and “Save As” for best results. The file extension should be .ipsw and nothing else, using IPSW files is easy but for most users it’s recommended to download through iTunes or the iOS device.

• iPad 1
• iPad 2 Wi-Fi
• iPad 2 GSM (ATT)
• iPad 2 CDMA (Verizon)
• iPad 2,4 (New iPad 2)
• iPad 3 Wi-Fi
• iPad 3 GSM
• iPad 3 CDMA
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 4S
• iPod touch 3rd gen
• iPod touch 4th gen

Separately, iOS 5.0.1 for Apple TV has been released:

• Apple TV 3rd gen
• Apple TV 2nd gen

Note the ISPW files are significantly larger than the delta updates available through OTA software update, and are generally best used by advanced users.

iOS 5.1.1 Changelog

Courtesy of Apple:

• Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut
• Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks
• Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances
• Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List
• Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase

For those of us who will probably never work at Apple, this little inspirational new-hire note gives some insight into the company culture and philosophy. Apparently this greets all new employees upon their first day with the company, it reads:

There’s work and there’s your life’s work.

The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work that you’d never compromise on. That you’d sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don’t come here to play it safe. They come to swim in the deep end.

They want their work to add up to something.

Something big. Something that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

 Welcome to Apple.

The message is clearly inspiring while also demonstrating the demanding nature of work at Apple, which helps to explain why their products are so refined and ultimately enjoyable for all of us to use.

This was found on HackerNews, which has a mostly negative response to the note. What do you think, good or bad?

If you’re working at the command line and need to quickly empty the contents of a file, you can do so by throwing a greater than symbol and a space in front of the filename in question.

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Safari for iOS includes an optional debug console to help web developers track down and resolve issues with webpages on iPhone and iPad.

Even better, with the latest versions of iOS it actually uses the same Web Inspector that Safari on desktop does too, meaning if you connect the iPhone or iPad to the computer you can use the Safari debugging tools directly with your iOS or iPadOS device

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If you’re at all concerned about the file size of images you should grab ImageOptim, a free image compression tool that is so ridiculously simple it’s basically foolproof, while still being extremely effective. The app works to compress images without reducing image quality, which is achieved by bundling several compression tools, including the popular PNGCrush, PNGOUT, AdvPNG, Zopfli extended OptiPNG, JPEGrescan, jpegtran, JPEGOptim, and gifsicle, and using those tools to find the optimum compression parameters, in addition to stripping color profile information, EXIF, and other metadata out from the raw files. ImageOptim supports a variety of file formats, including PNG, GIF, JPG, and animated GIFs, here’s a quick look at the interface:

The simplicity is deceptive in that it doesn’t demonstrate just how handy this app is, or just how effective the optimization is. Let’s cover usage and a few tricks to get the most out of it…

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The OS X task management tool Activity Monitor includes an excellent and little known feature that lets you see precisely what files, ports, and IP’s are being interacted with by any single process or application. Here is how to use it:

1. Launch Activity Monitor, found in /Applications/Utilities/
2. Double-click on the process or application name you want to see open files and ports for
3. Click the “Open Files and Ports” tab

The list is scrollable and shows full paths to all files that are being interacted with by the application/process. Much of the data will be unfamiliar to many users, with obscure system files, caches, and plists being accessed, but you’ll also find paths that are easy to identify which can be helpful in resolving system conflicts and troubleshooting certain problems. Similar filesystem access data can be provided with the command line tool opensnoop, but for most Mac users the GUI Activity Monitor will be more friendly to their needs.

Ports are identified as numbers, and you’ll also be able to see the IP’s of any active internet or network connections that have been opened by the application. The data is presented a little rough, if you want an easier to browse version of open network connections take a look at the free GUI tool PrivateEye. IP and port data can also be uncovered through the command line tool lsof if you’re more technically inclined.

Anytime I schedule anything particularly important I use iCal alerts to remind me of the event. But I really only want to receive the alarm on my iPhone which is the device I have with me all the time, rather than coming home and opening my MacBook screen to an outdated alert from earlier in the day. The solution for this is to disable all iCal alerts in Mac OS X, which will not impact the alarms on other synced iOS devices:

• From iCal, pull down the iCal menu and choose “Preferences”
• Click the “Advanced” tab and check the box next to “Turn off all alerts”

Close out of Preferences and the next time an alarm is scheduled to go off it won’t happen on the Mac. This is also a helpful setting to adjust for auxiliary Macs that have iCloud configured where you want access to the Calendar data but don’t want to be annoyed with the popup alarm.

This awesome Mac setup shot was sent in all on its lonesome with very little information, but as you can see it’s a great looking setup so it’s worth a post anyway. Here’s what I can identify in the picture:

• MacBook Air 13″ running the iTunes Screensaver
• White iPad
• White iPhone 4
• Apple Cinema 27″ display
• Third party (Dell?) 27″ display
• Auxiliary 17″ display
• AudioEngine speakers?
• Magic Mouse and Apple wireless keyboard

It doesn’t look like the MacBook Air is driving all three displays, so presumably there is a Mac Pro or Mac Mini somewhere under the desk, and the screen on the far left looks more like a Linux desktop than Mac OS X so there’s probably a PC somewhere in the mix too. A bit of a mystery, but it’s pleasant to look at so thanks to Michael H for sending this in!

Got some great pictures of your Mac setup? Send them in to osxdailycom@gmail.com, include a brief mention of what you use it for and the hardware shown.

The iPhone, iPad, and iPod backups made with iTunes can take up a lot of local disk space on a computer. If you’ve moved the iPhone or iPad to sync with a new computer, sold an iOS device, or just want to potentially free up some disk space, you can easily delete these backups directly from iTunes.

Of course, by removing a local backup you’ll lose the ability to restore from that specific backup, so you’ll want to be selective in what you remove. With this method, you’ll see what devices are backed up to iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC, and then you can choose which one(s) you would like to delete from the computer.

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It can be helpful to configure Mac OS X to automatically mount shared network drives, this is particularly true for those of us who regularly connect to a network drive for file sharing or backups.

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Dictation on the iPad and iPhone converts your words into text, it can make typing in iOS easier but it’s also easy to accidentally activate with an inadvertent touch. It works quite well, you just press the microphone button on the iOS keyboard and it listens to what you say, and then converts your speech into text on the iPhone or iPad.

For a variety of reasons you may want to either turn Dictation on or off, and if you don’t use Dictation it’s simple to disable which also hides the little microphone button from appearing on the keyboard. This tutorial details how to disable or enable Dictation in iOS for iPhone and iPad, so you can toggle this featureoff and on as needed.

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