Messages is the all new iChat replacement coming to Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, it provides for the same unlimited messaging features that iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users have right now, but brings this right to the Mac desktop. With Messages, you can send photos, videos, attachments, contacts, locations, and more, without any SMS or MMS fees, and you can initiate a FaceTime video chat with a click of a button.

While OS X Mountain Lion’s release date is this summer, you don’t have to wait to download Messages for Mac, you can grab a fully functional beta for free right now.

• Get Messages Beta directly from Apple here

Messages will ultimately replace iChat, but all iChat services and protocol support continues to work the same. You’ll still be able to use iChat accounts, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Jabber, and FaceBook.

What are you waiting for? Grab Messages for Mac beta today. If you are a developer and plan on downloading the OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview, Messages is already bundled and you won’t need to get it separately. Compatibility seems to be limited to OS X 10.7 Lion or later, so earlier versions of Mac OS X will need to update to use the new messaging client.

Update 6/11/2012: OS X Mountain Lion will be available in July for $19.99!

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is currently available as a Developer Preview, meaning registered Mac Developers can access and download the next Mac OS right now. But what about the rest of us? When can we expect to have OS X Mountain Lion on our Macs?

The public release date of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is slated for “Summer 2012” , this is posted both on Apple’s Mountain Lion preview site and was mentioned by Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller.

A summer 2012 release is just a year after the release of OS X 10.7 Lion, indicating that Apple is cranking out new OS versions faster than ever before. In fact, Mac OS X is now expected to have a major update every year from now on, a break from Apple’s previous tradition of releasing major updates every other year.

How will you get OS X Mountain Lion? The same way as OS X Lion became available, it will be an upgrade offered directly from the Mac App Store as a simple download and install. Prices aren’t yet known, but it’s largely expected to be another $29.99 update, matching OS X Lion’s price.

Stay tuned, we’ll update you as we learn more specifics.

Apple has released the first developer preview of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion today, the next major release of the Mac operating system. Mac OS X Mountain Lion looks has even stronger iOS influence than OS X Lion and brings many iOS features to the Mac platform. Some of the rumored features like iMessage and AirPlay Mirroring are included, although as of yet there is no mention of Siri. Here are the prominent new OS X 10.8 features to be expected:

• Messages – replaces iChat to bring full iMessage support to the Mac
• Notification Center – just like iOS
• Share Sheets – allows easy sharing of links, videos, photos between apps
• AirPlay mirroring – send wireless video to an Apple TV
• Notes
• Reminders
• Game Center
• Twitter Integration
• Gatekeeper – anti-Malware app installation guard

OS X Mountain Lion is reportedly built with iCloud integration in mind, and we can expect to see many conveniences of the cloud tied further into Mac OS X.

Here is what Phil Schiller said about OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview:

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

You can read more about Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion on Apple’s Preview Page.

Developers can download OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion right now from the Mac Dev Center.

Screen shots taken in Mac OS X save to files prefixed with “Screen Shot” in the file name, but the names of screenshots can be changed to anything else. We’ll use a defaults write command to adjust the naming convention of screen shots taken on the Mac. This can be helpful for many purposes, and it’s easy to do and undo back to default if need be.

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We have shown you how to uninstall Mac apps before, but some applications can leave residual elements around in the form of preferences, plist files, caches, logs, and even the origin DMG or PKG installer. If you want to thoroughly remove all traces of an application but don’t want to dig around in various directories to find and delete those extra files yourself, you should download AppCleaner for Mac OS X.

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Sometimes, Mac OS may not remember wireless networks that have been joined or connected to before. This may be due to an error, or it may be because of a settings option. In this article we’ll discuss what to do if you find that a Mac is not remembering wi-fi networks as expected, including the settings to look for, as well as a troubleshooting technique that may resolve these issues.

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Mac OS X has a hidden super quiet volume setting that is somewhere between completely muted and the lowest volume level, here’s how to access it:

• Use the Volume Decrease key (F10 or F11) until the volume is muted, signified by the volume graphic with a slash through it
• Now press the Mute key (F9 or F10) to see the slash disappear and the volume level set at zero bars

The audio output level is now set at the super quiet setting, with sounds just barely audible enough that you can identify them. This is a perfect setting to couple with temporarily muting the boot sound for using a Mac in meetings, libraries, classrooms, or other places where silence is necessary, allowing you to continue to hear audio without distracting others.

Update: The precise keys vary depending on the Mac and Apple keyboard in use. Newer MacBook models may be F10 and F11 rather than F9 and F10, you may want to focus on the keys icons rather than the label instead to be sure.
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You can prevent the installation of new apps onto an iOS device by enabling a restriction setting. There are plenty of reasons to want to disable app installing, but this is a particularly effective kid-proofing feature before letting a youngster use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to prevent any accidental charges or purchases.

Disable App Installation in iOS

• Launch Settings and tap on “General”
• Tap on “Restrictions”
• Tap “Enable Restrictions” to allow access to additional options and set a passcode
• Scroll down to “Installing Apps” and swipe to OFF

While in the Restrictions settings, disabling in-App purchases is a just a bit further down the list and makes some sense to use as well. Similarly, you can also disable the ability to delete apps in the Settings screen, preventing any accidental deletion of data or apps.

To undo the app install restrictions, you will need to reenter the previously set passcode, then swipe the ON switch next to “Installing Apps” again.

Rarely, you will need to force quit an iOS app. While iOS is generally very stable, every once in a while you’ll encounter a third party app that misbehaves. iOS apps can freeze or become stuck, and you’ll usually know instantly because the iPhone or iPad becomes unresponsive to touch behavior, or something within the app is clearly running amuck. A stuck app is different from a normal crash, which randomly quits an application, and it’s different from a full system crash which usually brings up the spinning wheel logo.

When an iOS app becomes unresponsive, the best thing to do is to forcibly quit the app using the trick we’re going to demonstrate here, the app can then be relaunched and usually is sufficient to remedy the apps situation back to good working order again. If you’ve never done it before you will find the process is actually similar to turning off an iOS device, but you stop one step short of that. The whole thing only takes a few seconds and it’s extremely easy to do.

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It’s the rumor that just won’t die, Apple is said to be actively testing an iPad with a smaller 8″ screen, according to a new report from Wall Street Journal.

Officials at some of Apple’s suppliers, who declined to be named, said the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has shown them screen designs for a new device with a screen size of around 8-inches, and said it is qualifying suppliers for it.

The smaller screened iPad is said to feature the same display resolution as the existing iPad 2 at 1024×768 pixels. The Wall Street Journal cautions that “Apple, which works with suppliers to test new designs all the time, could opt not to proceed with the device”, but suggests that Apple is continuously looking at the smaller iPads as a way to expand the product line in an increasingly competitive market.

Many competing Android tablets have opted for smaller displays, most to limited success, although the Kindle Fire has become quite popular since it’s launch late last year. Rumors of Apple working on smaller iPads, or “iPad Mini“, have existed for quite some time, with a recent report from DigiTimes stating such a device could ship in the fourth quarter of this year.

For the time being, the only new iPad you should expect is iPad 3, which is expected to be announced on March 7 with a retina display, 4G LTE, and a quad-core CPU.

Boosting the speed of Mission Control animations can make Mac OS X feel a bit faster when switching between windows, spaces, and apps within the feature. It’s easy to do and reversible if you decide you don’t like it, launch the Terminal to get started. These defaults commands work in Lion, Mountain Lion, and beyond.

Speed Up Mission Control Animations

This will speed up Mission Control quite noticeably but still maintain a decent looking animation:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.15

Now kill the Dock to restart Mission Control:

killall Dock

Do a three-fingered swipe up or down to see the difference in speed.

Super Fast Mission Control Animations
If you want extremely fast animations, this is your defaults write command:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.1

Again, kill the Dock for changes to take effect:

killall Dock

As you may have guessed, you can adjust the animation speeds by changing the number after the -float flag, the larger the number the slower the animation, and the lower the number the faster the animation. The default setting is probably about 0.2 or 0.25, meaning anything larger than that starts to be slower than default. Whole numbers become increasingly slow, similar to holding down the shift key.

Slowing Down Mission Control Animations
This is marginally slower, but can quickly become a nuisance with usability:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 1

Followed by:

killall Dock

Disable Mission Control Animations
This removes all animations, making Mission Control just snap in and out:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0

Killing the Dock is required for the animations to disappear:

killall Dock

The effect of disabling the animation is quite jarring and unless you’re trying to preserve frame rate for some reason it’s not very pleasant.

Return to Default Mission Control Animation Speeds

Want Mission Control to be back to normal? Use the following defaults command to clear any customizations, returning to the default setting:

defaults delete com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration; killall Dock

Check out more of our Misson Control tips.

The next iPad will feature high speed 4G LTE wireless capabilities and be available on the AT&T and Verizon networks, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Citing several sources, WSJ says the following:

Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. will sell a version of the coming iPad that runs on their newest fourth-generation wireless networks, according to people familiar with the matter, as the battle to cash in on big investments in mobile broadband heats up.

Apple Inc. appears to be planning to announce the latest version of its tablet computer in the first week of March, according to another person briefed on the matter.

Whether other carriers will also sell the device couldn’t be learned. Sprint Nextel Corp., T-Mobile USA and Apple declined to comment.

The iPad 3 is said to drop down to 3G and possibly even EDGE connectivity if 4G access points are not available. The remainder of the report is behind the WSJ paywall, but the important takeaway is the next generation iPad supporting 4G LTE. This is contrary to what many have believed (including us) given the existing battery issues with 4G connectivity, but this suggests that Apple has found a way to overcome the notorious battery drain issues of current generation 4G LTE cell phones.

While it’s unclear if the 4G iPad will also be offered on Sprint or T-Mobile, we have only a few short weeks until the expected announcement date of March 7 to find out.

Just a few days ago The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that iPad 3 will be released the first week of March, and now new claims have surfaced suggesting that the next iPad will be announced on Wednesday, March 7. Specifically, iMore says:

According to sources who have been reliable in the past, Apple currently plans to hold their iPad 3 announcement on Wednesday, March 7, 2012. Along with the 2048×1536 Retina display, the iPad 3 will feature a quad-core Apple 6 system-on-a-chip, and possibly 4G LTE networking.

The date wouldn’t be too surprising considering March 7 is the only date vacant during the first week of March that is open on the Yerba Buena Center event calendar, and Apple has traditionally announced prior iPads at the YBCA in San Francisco. The rumored specs seem to add up to past expectations, although the 4G LTE capability is reasonably unlikely given Apple’s reluctance to adopt the battery hungry technology.

Earlier today, pictures claiming to be a partially assembled next-gen iPad showed up online at 9to5mac, and other than a few very minor differences they look practically identical to iPad 2.

Keeping the same enclosure could indicate that the next iPad may be labeled as an iPad 2S or iPad 2HD, similar to the recent iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S update, rather than calling the device “iPad 3”. Ultimately the naming of any Apple device is largely insignificant beyond speculation and Apple’s marketing efforts though, and whatever the next iPad is called it will surely be popular.

Update: The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that the next iPad will have 4G LTE connectivity.

Using a portable Mac with the lid closed is frequently called clamshell mode, and using clamshell has been made easier than ever since the introduction of Mac OS X Lion. There are actually two different methods, the first is for using a MacBook closed lid with or without external input devices attached, and the second is for using clamshell mode with a wireless device like a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

Use a Mac in Clamshell Mode with OS X Lion

To get the most out of clamshell mode, you will want to have an external keyboard and mouse as well, but they are no longer necessary. Here’s how to use a closed lid MacBook Pro/Air in OS X Lion either with or without external input devices attached:

• Attach the power adapter to the MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air
• With an external display connected to the Mac, close the lid

The screen will flicker blue briefly, then the external monitor will refresh and automatically be set as the primary display, moving your desktop, menu bar, and all other windows over to the attached screen.

Use Clamshell Mode in OS X Lion with a Wireless Keyboard & Mouse

The requirements for using a MacBook in clamshell with a wireless keyboard and mouse are basically the same, although you must configure an additional option in System Preferences. First you need to be sure the Bluetooth device is paired with the Mac (if you’re already using a wireless input device, it is), then proceed:

• Launch System Preferences and click on “Bluetooth” pane
• Click on “Advanced” in the lower right corner
• Check the box next to “Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer”



• Now connect the external display
• Close the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro’s lid

If you want to get around the physical hardware connectivity requirements, use the NoSleep tool we mentioned recently which lets you run the Mac closed with no hardware attached at all.

Overall, using clamshell since OS X 10.7 is quite a bit easier than with prior versions of Mac OS X, when you had to either reboot or wake from sleep with an external display and mouse connected.

Thanks to Matt for the tip

Update 2/22/2012: Want your iPhone to look like this? Here’s how to install the iOS 86 theme on an iPhone and iPod touch!

What would iPhone’s iOS look like had it been made in 1986? Maybe this, and it looks awesome in that retro sort of way. This is just concept art from a few designers who posted their ideas to LiveJournal, but I know I’m not the only one secretly hoping that someone will make a jailbreak skin or theme that matches the concept art, and if it happens we’ll certainly let you know.

Check out some more pictures below:

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If you’re looking to upgrade a Macs hard drive to an SSD, Amazon is featuring a great deal on an ultrafast OCZ Technology Agility 90GB SSD SATA III drive for just $99.99 with free shipping. The drive is 2.5″ and fits standard laptop drive bays, allowing you to install it in a MacBook Pro, MacBook, and Mac Mini models, and other Macs with the proper drive caddy.

This is a Gold Box “Deal of the Day” so it will expire by the end of today, grab it while you can:

• OCZ Technology Agility 90GB SSD SATA III 2.5″ Solid State Drive for $99.99 at Amazon

SATA is backwards (and forwards) compatible, but double-check that your Mac supports SATA III before buying to take advantage of the full speeds. Generally this means 2011 model year or newer Mac, although earlier models will still get the huge general speed boost of upgrading from a slow spinning drive to the wonders of an SSD.

iCal has a hidden debug menu with 24 additional options and features that can be accessed with the help of a defaults write command.

• Quit out of iCal and then launch the Terminal
• Enter the following command:

defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu 1

• Open iCal again to find the “Debug” menu

Many of the options are only useful for developers, hence the Debug label, but there are a fair amount of tweaks that are potentially useful to the average user as well, particularly these three:

• Open multiple iCal Calendar windows with Command+L – probably the most useful option, making it easier to compare dates and schedules on any level
• Change the number of weeks that appear before and after the start date in Day View
• Show more than 7 days in a week (7, 14, 21, and 28 days)

You can hide the debug menu again by relaunching Terminal and entering the following command:

defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu 0

Quitting and reopening iCal will again cause those changes to take effect.

Overall the iCal menu is probably not quite as useful as the Safari debug menu but it’s still interesting to take a peak at. Great little trick from MacGasm, who used it to alter the amount of days shown in a week.

The Command+Tab application switcher gets a lot use by many Mac OS X power users, and by default it will include the Finder in the apps to be able to switch to and from. If you’d rather limit the App Switcher to only swap between open applications and not include the Finder though, you’ll have to dig out the command line.

• Launch the Terminal and type the following:

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Info.plist

You’ll need to authenticate because you are using sudo to edit a system file

• Add the following strings near the top of the plist file but under “<dict>”:

<key>NSUIElement</key>
<string>1</string>


That should look like this:


• Now hit Control+O to save the changes, then hit Control+X to exit out of nano
• Finally you must kill the Finder to relaunch it with the following command:

killall Finder

• Exit out of Terminal and hit Command+Tab again to verify the change

You can undo this at any time by editing the Info.plist file again and removing the two lines you added.

This tip and topmost image come from joshdzielak.com, we modified the process slightly and chose to use the simpler nano editor rather than vi.

Thanks for sending this in Dan