Wondering how the new MacBook Air 11″ and MacBook Air 13″ benchmark against the older MacBook Air and the current MacBook Pro models? Wonder no more:

Update: This article has been updated with more information. Read on for further benchmark results for both the MacBook Air 11″ and 13″ models.

The above results are from the GeekBench program. In short, the new MacBook Air 13″ model with a 1.86ghz processor performs at roughly 80% of the performance of a MacBook Pro 13″, while it’s little brother the new MacBook Air 11″ reaches roughly 60% of the MacBook Pro 13″ performance.

The preliminary benchmarks appeared on PrimateLabs, who says: “There are two ways you can look at the new 11-inch MacBook Air; it’s either a much smaller but slower MacBook Pro, or a much faster but larger iPad,”

The results aren’t too surprising considering the slower processor clock speeds and half the shipped RAM, but remember that GeekBench scores do not take into consideration GPU or SSD performance. The flash based memory of the new MacBook Air makes working with the Air actually feel snappier with things like booting and launching applications, despite running at a slower clock speed than it’s beefier Pro cousin. Using a faster hard drive can make a machine feel significantly faster, and it’s a recommended upgrade to existing MacBook Pro machines because of this.

Here are some more generalized benchmarks as performed by MacWorld, they use a different benchmark program called SpeedMark which tries to give a broader overall performance view. In these tests, the new MacBook Air 11″ and 13″ is compared against the older MacBook Air models, as well as the baseline MacBook, and the MacBook Pro 13″ and 15″:

As you can see, the new MacBook Air fairs better in these tests, with the new 13″ model performing at a similar performance level of the MacBook Pro 13″. These gains are almost certainly the result of the high speed SSD drive.

The benchmarks reiterate my view of the new MacBook Air: it’s a wonderful lightweight travel companion and general purpose machine perfect for most user tasks. If you really need to be performing hardware intensive work, you should jump to the MacBook Pro 13″ line for performance and portability, or the MacBook Pro 15″ for powerhouse portable computing.

See that graph? That’s Apple taking over the world… if you think the iPad counts as a PC that is. The chart represents PC Market Share in the USA (AKA United States of Apple), and includes Apple with and without the iPad counted as a PC. That massive blue leap is Apple with the iPad.

Here’s what you need to notice about this market share graph:

• Every other PC manufacturers market share is declining
• Apple’s growth is exploding: Apple now has a commanding 25% market share counting the iPad as a computer

Did you catch that? Counting the iPad, Apple is shipping 1/4 of all computers in the USA. Did I mention that the other PC manufacturers on that graph are declining? Yea they still have dominant sales of PC’s, but look at the bigger picture and the trend is obvious. Is it fair to call the iPad a computer? I think so, because it’s changing computing. Why get a simple PC for simple tasks when you can get an iPad and have a better experience?

The chart is from Fortune, who quotes a Deutsche Bank analyst saying:

“The iPad is driving a rapid, unprecedented shift in the structure of the computing industry.”

This unprecedented shift is currently entirely Apple. Has anyone else noticed the complete and total failure of any decent iPad competitors to arrive? Nothing is competing against it yet. The upcoming Google Tablet running Android or Chrome OS show a lot of promise, but for now they are nowhere to be seen. Microsoft is also rumored to be working on a tablet, but where is it? Surely both Microsoft and Google can feel the market slipping between their fingers when they see graphs like this of Apple’s amazing growth. Will it be too little too late for the competition?

Minus the iPad, Apple’s market share of just Mac’s is still at a recent high of 10.4%, as AppleInsider recently reported. With Macs dominating college, that number has nowhere to go but up – even without the iPad.

Were you surprised when Apple decided to stop shipping Flash pre-installed with Mac OS X? I wasn’t. I posted the above screenshot last year after I experienced the most epic Flash disaster my Mac had ever encountered.

We know Steve Jobs hates Flash, and, well, Flash on Mac OS X is generally pretty awful. But if you were wondering why Apple opted against shipping Flash pre-installed with new Macs, read on.

Here are some more lovely screenshots demonstrating the wonderful ability of Flash to decimate your web browsing experience in Mac OS X:
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You can easily increase the font size of text displayed on webpages within Safari by hitting the text size change keyboard shortcuts Command and + keys together.

That increases the font size on a per-page basis, and you can reduce the font size with the opposite, Command and -.

But a problem with this is that you’ll notice that if you close the browser window or tab, the font size is changed back to its default size when a new page is visited.

We can adjust that behavior by going into Safari’s preferences and setting a minimum text size to display on the Mac browser:

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You can password protect a Microsoft Office and Microsoft Word document quite easily, this is a great feature to keep sensitive documents completely private, such as your finances or a personal journal. Once the password is set, anyone trying to open the file will be required to enter a password within Word. If the document is brought into other applications, it will appear as gibberish.

You may be familiar with this technique from Windows, and it’s no surprise that Mac OS X has the same ability. Here’s how to set a password so that any Word document will be protected from either being opened completely, or from being modified.
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The college football season is halfway over, but that doesn’t mean you have half the interest. If you follow NCAAFB, things are just now starting to really heat up, so keeping track of your alma mater or favorite team is absolutely essential.

The iPhone and iPad make great tools to follow college football, and the best app I’ve found is called Sportacular. It’s a free download for either iPhone or iPad HD, and it’s feature rich instant-updates make it my go-to sports app all season long.
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Want to know how fast a Mac is? You can check a Macs processor clock speed, chip type, and CPU architecture a few different ways, but we’ll cover two quick methods to determine the clock speed of a given Mac. First, a super easy glance at processor speed through the GUI, and second, a more advanced way to find processor details through the command line.

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This is not quite a Mac setup, but it’s close enough given the product lines. Hey, it’s an Apple setup, right?

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iLife ’11 has just been released, including the all new iPhoto, iMovie, and Garageband. The exciting new version comes bundled with all new Macs, but if you already own a Mac you can grab the newest version at a discount thanks to the wonders of online shopping.

If you buy iLife 11 from Amazon you can save 8% and get free shipping. This brings the price of iLife ’11 to $44.99, which is the cheapest I’ve seen it available. Free shipping and a discount, not bad for some sweet new software right?

Update: the Amazon price seems to fluctuate between $44.99 and $49, always with free shipping.

Remember those Steve Jobs and Bill Gates fake chat comics? Here’s a new one. I like the new MacBook Air, I really do, but this is too funny:

You can see more of the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates fake chat comics. Some of them are really funny, poking on Windows 7, making fun of iPhone 4, their success, and more.

Thanks to Thomas for sending this in!

Want to generate some 8-bit Nintendo style sounds? Maybe you need sound effects for an iPhone game you’re working on, a song you’re making, or you just want to have some good old 8-bit nostalgia.

Cfxr, which is short for… well I have no idea, is a fun app that makes and endless amount of 8 bit sounds instantly. You can completely adjust sounds, or just click the ‘random’ button and it will make and play a randomly generated sound effect for you.

As you can see in the screenshot below, there are a few pre-determined styles of sounds that fit your classic 8-bit gaming needs: Pickup/coin, Laser/shoot, Explosion, Powerup, hit/hurt, Jump, Blip/select, and Random. You can then use the sliders to adjust all aspects of the sound effects and then export the files in either 16 or 8 bit audio as a wav file so you can use them later.

You can grab the Mac version of Cfxr here, it’s a free download.

If you want to generate some Nintendo style sound effects in Windows, or you don’t want to grab the Mac download, there’s a Flash version available here that has basically the same interface and functionality, and also allows you to export your sound effects as .wav files.

What better use for an old dead Mac server than turning it into a Mac Kegerator? It looks like this is on a tradeshow floor, maybe this awesome beer server made an appearance at MacWorld expo? Thanks to Ezra for sending this in.

Excited for the Mac version of Civ 5? Me too. Now we have a video trailer showing it off! The video trailer also provides a Civilization 5 for Mac release date range of “Fall 2010” which is another way of saying “any day now.”

Here’s the text from the video trailer:

Sid Meier’s Civilization V Mac reinvigorates the classic turn-based strategy genre with an astonishing new engine built from the ground-up for this flagship edition of the Civilization franchise. Players are introduced to an entirely new combat system, deeper diplomatic interactions and a cavalcade of expanded features that deliver a fully immersive experience providing hours of entertainment as players build and defend their empire on their quest to become the greatest ruler the world has ever known.

Features:
Civilization V Mac introduces hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire.

The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time.

Successful diplomacy will depend on players carefully managing relationships with other leaders, trading items and land, plying them with gold, and deciding if they are friend or foe.

Expanded visuals and immersive audio invite would-be kings to take up the reigns of power and forge a mighty empire. Civilization V offers a limitless variety of vast, realistic and diverse landscapes for players.

An intuitive interface eases both new players and Civ veterans into the game. Guided by a set of trusted advisors who will explain game functionality and provide counsel for significant decisions.

Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before.

The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield.

Write your own epic story each time you play. Choose one of eighteen historical civilizations to lead from the stone-age to the space age on your quest to build the world’s most powerful empire.

So no more rumors and no more speculation, Civ 5 is confirmed and guaranteed to come to the Mac platform.

We’ll keep you posted on more information when we get it.

Update on 11/23/2010: Civilization 5 for Mac has been released! The official release date of Civ 5 for Mac was November 23 2010.

You can order Civilization V for Mac from Amazon, which includes free shipping.

Great news for Mac gamers, Civilization 5 for Mac has arrived. We knew that Civilization 5 for Mac was coming soon but now the game has been released to the public after a “Fall 2010” teaser date.

We suspected they’d have Civ 5 for Mac launched well before the holiday shopping season, and they met that timeline. We will update shortly with system requirements, we’ll keep you posted.

The black screen bezel is featured on MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple’s Cinema Display, nearly the whole Apple lineup. It’s a prominent and attractive feature that makes a Mac even more identifiable in the wild. Why didn’t the MacBook Air get this distinct trait that has become a staple of Apple products?

One word: weight.

The MacBook Air needed to be light, but the black bezel is tied to a glass screen. If you’ve ever picked up glass, you’ll know that glass has weight to it. In the end it must have proven to be just too heavy to include in the MacBook Air given its strict weight requirements. The MacBook Air is the ballerina of Apple’s lineup, it has to be svelte. Just like there are weight limits in ballet, there are weight limits for the MacBook Air. Sorry black bezel, you’re beautiful but you had to go.
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Restoring an iPhone to a previous backup is really easy, and though it’s fairly rare that you will need to restore an iPhone, or any other iOS device for that matter, it can still be necessary from time to time. What restoring from a backup does is pretty straight forward: it clears everything off the device, installs a clean version of the iOS system software, then recovers all personal stuff to exactly what it was like from the last backup. This is one of many reasons why making regular backups is recommended, particularly if you’re participating in any major iOS upgrades, adjustments, or tweaks (jailbreak or otherwise), because it lets you return to the last guaranteed functioning state of the device, with all of your data, apps, and customizations intact.

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Just when I thought my personal record uptime of 160 days on a MacBook server was exciting, one of our readers blew my uptime away… by almost a year!

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So now we know that “Back to the Mac” refers to iOS coming back to it’s parent operating system, Mac OS X. Basically Apple is deciding to take some of the good ideas of the iOS experience (the iPad received particular emphasis) and bring them to the Mac Desktop.

Apple provided a limited sneak peak at Mac OS X Lion, including the upcoming Mac App Store. Seeing is believing though, so read on for screenshots and more information about each item.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Features

Here are the main features reviewed by Apple, with screenshots to show them off where available.

• Multi-touch gestures – (we called it) – Apple knows that touch screen notebooks don’t work, trackpads and mice are the way to multitouch a desktop operating system. With this in mind, Lion will have advanced gesture support
• Mac App Store (we called it!) – The App Store revolutionized mobile applications, so of course they bring it to the Mac. Features are automatic installation, one-click downloads, automatic app updates, apps will be licensed for use on all of your Macs. This will be available first under 10.6 Snow Leopard in 90 days. On the developer side, the Mac App Store will have the same developer 70/30 split as the iOS App Store, and submissions will be accepted soon. See screenshot below of the Mac App Store:

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