iTunes, and the Mac App store can be a funny and frustrating place sometimes.. Yes, I understand they need to ‘protect’ less tech savvy people.. However if you are running the pre release Lion Golden Master, perhaps you know what your doing when you attempt to download the released OS X Lion from the app store.
If you try and buy OS X Lion from the AppStore on a mac that’s running OS X Lion Developer Preview the ‘buy’ button will simply say Installed, and you will be unable to purchase it.
That is of course, unless you hold the ‘Alt’ key and click on the lion above the button, it will then change to the expected buy button.
Which takes you to challenge number 2! OS X Lion Golden Master has a higher version number then the one in the app store. Meaning you will get the following window popup:
Now, if you press and hold the Alt key and click the Buy App button it will bypass the version check and Lion will start downloading!
Installing OS X Lion over the Golden Master image may also be a challenge, watch this space for a blog post on how to perform the installation as soon as I have done it!
In a recent blog post I detailed how to use advanced SQL statements to remove applications for OS X Lion’s Launchpad. Which works well, however it can be a little frustrating if you’re constantly wanting to adjust Launchpad’s contents.
Luckily for us Lion users Andreas Ganske over at chaosspace.de has come up with a solution!
Launchpad-Control is a simple straightforward tool that enables you to hide/unhide applications at the click of a button!
LaunchPad-Control Features:
- It’s a system preference pane (update #1)
- Displays a table with all apps that are in Launchpad
- Checkboxes for every app allow you to easily specify apps you want to hide or show
- Backups/Restores your original database file
- It’s completely free!
You can download Launchpad-Control from chaosspace.de or by clicking here
System Requirements:
Launchpad-Control requires OS X Lion (obviously)
Microsoft have released news of an up and coming software update for Office 2011 for Mac, the update is due to bring some of OS X Lion’s new features to the top selling Office package. Users will benefit from full screen functions, version history and auto save functionality.
The update has not yet been released but when it is it will be available to all Office 2011 users through the built in software update functionality.
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is available from PC World for only £99, and is a must have for all Ms Office Fans
There are many POP and IMAP mail checking apps on the market for OS X, some are expensive and clunky, some are free and light.. Much like the one in todays post, Google Notifr by James Chen is a free open source RubyCocoa application.
With a very small foot print, Google Notifr is a set and forget application. Which will happily sit on your menu bar and check your Gmail account or accounts, and notify you upon arrival of new mail via a growl notification, a sound or both!
Google Notifr Features:
- Separate check and notification setting for each account!
- Support multiple accounts!
- Support Google hosted account.
- Check mail at a specified interval.
- Growl & sound notifications.
- Small & fast.
- Sparkle automatic update.
- Mailto handler.
- No background daemon processes installed as Google’s official notifier.
There are a few machine remote control applications for iOS on the AppStore market, one of the biggest most well known applications in LogMeIn Ignition, which is perfect for controlling your Mac when you are connecting to it over the internet.
However, if you are working on the same network connecting back over the internet seems pointless. Which is where Rowmote comes in, Rowmote is a iOS remote control application that works on a client/server relationship.
Installing Rowmote’s OS X helper on your mac gives you the ability to connect and mouse around the screen using your iPhone’s screen as a touchpad, with gestures as if you where using your trackpad on your mac.
You also have complete control over the keyboard, enabling you to type without being anywhere near your keyboard. Access to all the ‘special keys’ such as the Option, Command and Tab keys etc is also provided.
You also have the ability to browse a Dock like interface and switch between open applications on your Mac.
Then last, but by no means least is the full media remote control capabilities, stop and start your media files, fast forward and rewind, adjust the volume all from your iPhone’s screen. Save carrying/buying the separate Apple Remote.
I have been using Rowmote since I first got my MacBook, and have never had any issues with it. The developer Evan Schoenberg is always willing to help either via twitter or email, and always seems to be actively developing the Rowmote app. Updates are often with new features being added all the time.
When I started using Rowmote, I started with Rowmote Standard – but soon found myself upgrading to Rowmote Pro, I really can’t praise Evan’s work enough and strongly recommend you give it a go!
Evan has also developed many other quality applications, all of which you can find details about on his website Regular Rate & Rhythm Sofware
