For years, PC users have figured out ways to modify OS X in order to run it on regular non-Apple-designed machines. According to a video published on YouTube, a Microsoft Surface Pro user has managed to install Apple’s newest operating system on the newly-released Microsoft PC device.
If you own any iOS device, or have at least used Apple’s mobile operating system in the past, the multitasking feature has likely stood out to you for its simplicity and ease of use. If you wish you could bring it over to your Mac, good news: you now can, thanks to AppsBar, a small utility that emulates the multitasking feature that has been successful for years on iOS, allowing you to launch your most recently closed / backgrounded apps.
Apple produces some of the best keyboards on the market. It's something I have discussed at length with others whom spend much of their lives typing, and in terms of key spacing and layout, pressure of keys, adjustable backlight, and general efficiency, even hardcore PC evangelists have conceded that the keyboard is something the Cupertino company has worked down to a fine art. It would stand to reason, then, that we'd want to utilize this keyboard wherever possible, and software developer Eyal Weiner has clearly taken this on board with the development of 1Keyboard, which allows you to use your Mac's keyboard (and mouse / trackpad) with any Bluetooth device.
Mozilla has just released Firefox 19 for users of the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, and among a plethora of new features comes an in-built PDF viewer. Since increasing its release schedule, Mozilla has stuck almost religiously to its six-week cycles, and although it's rare - in software terms - to see a whole number update pertaining to only a few minor changes, it helps Mozilla keep up with Google's rampant Chrome browser.
If you have been a loyal user of Skype, you have likely run into the hurdle of reaching a user when they are offline. While sending SMS messages often does the trick, sometimes a video message is just more convenient. The good news is that Skype has begun rolling out this feature in the form of an update for its Mac, iPhone and Android client, with support for other platforms such as Windows coming very soon.
Many of us like to, or are often forced through work commitments, to travel around on a frequent basis. As a hardcore geek, blogger, and general Internet obsessive, I take my MacBook Air pretty much everywhere I go, but as any seasoned journeyman would vouch, plugging in for a charge at any given location can be a trying task. With so many variants of the two-pin plug aiming to make life as difficult for somebody like myself, who has only ever used the three-pin here in the UK, it winds up being another annoying thing to tick off the list of pre-travelling to-dos.
Apple's range of iPhone, iPad and Mac hardware generates significant interest and revenue for the company, but there is also an extremely healthy interest in the software that leaves through the company's Cupertino doors and ends up on our digital shelves. The company's iOS firmware has been top of the discussion agenda over the last few weeks for various reasons, but we mustn't forget the recent speculation and interest surrounding the next-generation of Mac OS X. We are under no illusion that Apple will manage to blindside us with certain aspects of OS X 10.9, but it seems that the current recruitment drive for interface engineers is suggesting that Apple's next desktop OS could come bundled with the Siri digital assistant, as mentioned before as well.
With the release of the iPhone 5, the iPad mini and a revamped iPad just in the last few months, some may think that Apple is slowly forgetting about the Mac. Despite all of the speculation, traffic from Macs running OS X 10.9, which has not yet been announced, has increased dramatically over the past few weeks, which strongly suggests that a Developer Preview might be just around the corner.
While gaming on Apple's OS X platform may not nearly be as prevalent as it is on Windows, there are still plenty of Mac users out their looking to get their fill of some of the world's most popular titles. Half-Life certainly fits into that category, and thanks to Steam, those on a MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro can enjoy the original first-person shooter on their machines.
If you are thinking of buying a laptop for a bargain price, you are likely not going to have much luck with Apple. Discounts on Apple products are scarce and often not too compelling, yet Best Buy is making an exception by selling MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros for up to $700 off, at least for the next 2 days.
