The first developer beta of iOS 6 is now available to download for anyone registered with Apple’s Developer program. Arriving as beta build 10A5316k, it represents the first time developers outside of Apple will have a look at the new iOS version, which includes over 200 new features. A few of the most anticipated components of iOS 6 are the new Maps app with turn-by-turn directions, Siri for iPad 3, and FaceTime over 3G.

iOS 6 beta 1 is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 4th gen, iPad 2, and iPad 3. There is a separate version available for Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 as well. Installing any of the beta builds requires iTunes 10.6.3, and Xcode 4.5 developer preview is also available for developers to download.

Registered developers can get the updates now from Apple’s Dev Center, joining Apple’s developer program costs $99 per yearly membership. For everyone else, iOS 6 will be released in the fall as a free update.

Apple officially announced iOS 6 at WWDC 2012 today with a “Fall” release date, such a release is likely to coincide with the announcement of the next generation iPhone.

Current hardware supported by iOS 6 includes the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 4th gen, iPad 2, and iPad 3, though noticeably absent are iPad 1 and iPod touch 3rd gen.

iOS 6 includes over 200 new features including a redesigned Maps app with turn-by-turn navigation, major updates to the Phone app, significant Siri updates including Siri for iPad 3, Facebook integration, FaceTime over cellular connections, Safari Offline Reading List with iCloud tab syncing with Macs running OS X Mountain Lion, Photo Stream sharing, Passbook app, Guided Access and Single-App mode, VIP Mail inbox, and much more.

iOS 6 betas are available today for developers, along with a new developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion for Macs. OS X Mountain Lion will be available in July.

No more guesses or vague release schedules, Apple has announced that OS X Mountain Lion will be released in July at a price of $19.99. The download will be available exclusively through the Mac App Store and following along with Apple’s generous purchase policy, a single purchase of Mountain Lion will install on all personally authorized Macs.

Versioned as Mac OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion includes a wide variety of new features, including iMessage integration, AirPlay Mirroring, Dictation (think Siri minus the responses), Sharing Sheets, Notifications, Notes & Reminders apps, GateKeeper, Game Center, improved full screen support, and all-around heavy iCloud integration.

As we have mentioned before, you can upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion directly from Snow Leopard in addition to Lion.

Any new Macs bought from here until the official release date qualify for free upgrades to Mountain Lion, that includes the fancy next gen MacBook Pro.

Apple revealed an all new “next generation” MacBook Pro at WWDC 2012 today, it’s the first retina Mac to be made available and comes in addition to their standard MacBook Pro line. The enclosure looks similar to existing unibody MacBook Pro models, though it is significantly thinner and lighter than any previous models.

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It’s always a good idea to backup a file if you’re going to be making some changes to it and you’re uncertain of the outcome. In the Finder this is as simple as just selecting the file and hitting Command+D to create a duplicate of the file in question, but in the command line you typically have to use the cp command, point it at the file, and then specify the copied version. Here’s a nice variation of that to make fast backups of any file through the Terminal.

The simple syntax to create an instant backup of a file at the same location (directory) would be as follows:

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You can delete specific cookies for any website from the Safari web browser on iPhone and iPad fairly easily. Though the setting to do so is buried a bit, it’s super easy to use and provides a lot of control, offering a complete list of all cookies stored on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and allowing you to edit or remove any cookies on an individual basis. The process is the same in all versions of iOS, as we will detail below.

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Do you remember how you could make small and precise 1/4 incremental changes to brightness and audio volume in Mac OS X Snow Leopard by holding down the Option key? Many thought this feature disappeared with OS X Lion, but it turns out you can still make those incremental adjustments in both OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, and een Mac OS Sierra though the keyboard shortcuts to do so have been changed ever so slightly.

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If you think a Mac display looks fuzzy or blurry there are a few common solutions to check into before assuming the screen itself has a problem. Likewise, if your screen text just doesn’t look right it may be due to a few settings within Mac OS X.

With that in mind here are a couple tips to troubleshoot a Mac screen that appears blurry, and also how to optimize font smoothing in Mac OS X to make antialiased text look its best on your display.

We’ll cover a few different tricks that can help you make your screen fonts no longer look fuzzy or blurry.

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This weeks Mac setup comes to us from Marc D., a programmer in Austria who has a nice clean desk with some great hardware. From left to right you’ll find:

• Macbook Pro 15″ – Late 2011 – 2.4GHz i7 4GB
• Apple Cinema HD 23″ connected to the MacBook Pro (and viewing OSXDaily.com!)
• iMac 21.5″ – Late 2009 – 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo 4GB
• iPad 2 (in Leather casing from Galeli) accompanied by a Bamboo stylus for my note taking pleasures.

The single Apple keyboard and wireless Logitech M510 mouse are shared between both computers with the help of Synergy.

Other gear that isn’t pictured but worth mentioning includes a custom built Hackintosh which functions as a web server, a 2009 Mac Mini running Boxee and iTunes serving as a media center, and an Apple TV which works as an AirPlay hub. Of course the photo was taken with an iPhone 4 16GB too.

Great Apple setup Marc, thanks for sending it in!

Want your Apple gear or Mac setup featured? Send us a brief description of hardware, what you use it for, and a decent picture to osxdailycom@gmail.com

We often get asked what the single most useful Mac tip is, or what a handful of the best tricks are. It’s impossible to answer such a question given the diversity of use cases of OS X, but here’s a collection of what are surely some of the absolute best tips for Mac OS X that should be considered must-knows for all Mac users. We’ve covered just about all of these on an individual basis before, but if you want to learn a whole lot in one sitting you’re in the right place.

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Keeping a portable Mac turned on while the lid remains closed is commonly referred to as clamshell mode. Clamshell mode basically docks the MacBook Air / Pro / etc and allows the GPU to power an external display only, which can help performance of some games and graphics intensive tasks. Additionally, some MacBook users just prefer clamshell mode because it can offer a more minimalist desk experience when using their Mac laptop connected to an external screen.

There are several ways to use and enter into clamshell but what we will discuss here is probably the fastest approach for those who use an external keyboard or mouse with a MacBook that is also connected to an external screen.

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Want some retro Apple wallpapers featuring the classic rainbow  logo? Of course you do, so get ready to feel like you’re somewhere back in the 80’s and early 90’s again with this collection of six old school wallpapers.

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Want to show a quick slideshow to your friends and family of pictures contained within Photo Stream? Assuming you already have Apple TV signed into your iCloud account, do the following:

1. From the main Apple TV menu choose “Internet” and select “Photo Stream”
2. Choose “Slideshow” to start the slideshow

By default this will go through all images contained within Photo Stream, that means every picture in the photos library of an iPhone and iPad, keep that in mind if you have pictures on any such device that you don’t necessarily want to share.

You can also set the Photo Stream to show as the default Apple TV screen saver:

1. Go to Settings and choose Screen Saver
2. Choose the Slideshow and under slideshow settings choose iCloud Photo Stream

Again you’ll want to remember that everything in the photo stream gets displayed, so you may want to create a specific folder or collection of images if you have some pictures you don’t want to share with everyone in your living room.

If you do find yourself embarrassed by some of the pictures in your iCloud stream, do yourself a favor and transfer the photos from the iOS device and then delete them all from Photo Stream.

You can redownload and reinstall any previously purchased apps that have since been deleted from an iOS device, even if you deleted them a long time ago or never even installed them in the first place. As long as the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is using the same Apple ID where the original app was bought and downloaded with, the re-download process is quick and simple.

And for clarification, yes, re-downloading an app will re-install that app into iOS. You can use this to reinstall apps you have deleted, or with apps that are assigned to an Apple ID but have not yet been installed onto a particular iOS device using the same Apple ID. That means you can download an app to your iPhone that you previously downloaded or bought onto a different iPhone or iPad, as long as it remains compatible.

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Are you looking for a way to make the command line a bit more user friendly? If so, you may find Fish to be a pretty nice alternative shell whether you are completely new to the OS X Terminal or you just want some general assistance when at the command line.
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Closed Captioning places written text at the bottom of video content, allowing for anyone to read along with the video rather than listen to the audio. This is an essential feature for certain accessibility purposes and for individuals who are hard of hearing, but it’s also just a useful feature to enable if you want to watch a movie silently and read subtitles.

We’ll cover how to enable Closed Captioning on the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and also in iTunes for videos on Mac OS X and Windows.

Enable Closed Captioning on iOS Videos

This applies to all iOS devices, including iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch:

1. Launch “Settings” and tap on “Video”
2. Next to “Closed Captioning” slide the switch to ON

Turn On Closed Captioning in iTunes

This applies to Mac OS X and Windows:

1. Launch iTunes and open Preferences from the “iTunes” menu
2. Click the “Playback” tab and check the box next to “Show closed captioning when available”

Find Closed Caption Supported Video in iTunes

Enabling closed captions is only useful if you have video that supports it however, and thankfully many videos offered through iTunes do. The process of finding compatible video is the same in iTunes on iOS, OS X, and Windows:

1. Open iTunes and using the search box in the upper right corner, type “closed caption” and hit return
2. All video content that is returned should support closed captioning, individual videos can be verified by choosing them and looking for the familiar “CC” logo in the description

With Closed Captions enabled all supported videos will use them when played through the Videos app or iTunes.

Oddly, Closed Captioning does not appear to be widely supported in the iTunes Trailers app for iOS. This seems like an unusual oversight for Apple, who is usually very good at maintaining accessibility options, though many of the features have to be enabled separately on a per-case basis, such as text to speech in iOS, screen zoom in iOS and OS X, and the aforementioned closed captioning abilities.

Thanks to @julesdameron for the tip idea.

The MacUpdate June 2012 Bundle is an absolute whopper of a deal with 11 killer Mac apps that would otherwise retail for $457 for just $49.99. Some particular highlights in the bundle are Parallels 7, ScreenFlow 3, Civilization 5, Jaksta, and My Living Desktop, but you’ll find every app in the bundle to be quite useful, making this one heck of an app bundle deal. Mac apps included are:

• Parallels Desktop 7 – Run Windows, Windows applications, Linux, and more directly in Mac OS X. Virtual Machines made easy.
• BusyCal – Ultimate calendar and to-do list manager for the Mac
• ScreenFlow 3 – Powerful yet easy to use screencasting software for Mac OS X
• Civilization V – Incredibly fun turn-based strategy game that takes you from the dawn of time and through the ages
• Jaksta – Capture audio and video from the web with ease
• Espionage 3 – Protect files and folders right from the OS X menu bar
• Speed Download 5 – Lightning fast download manager, lets you pause and resume nearly any download
• Attachment Tamer 3 – Take complete control over Mail attachments
• KeyCue 6 – Handy utility for learning and memorizing keyboard shortcuts
• A Better Finder Rename – Bulk rename files with drag & drop simplicity
• My Living Desktop 5 – Transform your desktop wallpaper into a moving, living environment

Grab the MacUpdate bundle now or check out the promo video below.

Do you need to check the sha1 hash of a string? You can easily find the sha1 hash of any string from the command line, and this trick works to check sha1 hash from Mac OS or Linux.

We’ll use the openssl command to

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