MacBook

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MacBook Air Specs

January 15, 2008 in MacBook, apple, laptop, mac, macboo, macbook air, macintosh, portable, software, specifications, specs | No comments

Backlit 13.3″ widescreen display

Instant-on

1.8″ hard drive – 80GB

Option for 64GB solid state drive

Full size keyboard – backlit

Weight – 3.0lbs

Thickness – 0.16″

1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo

Optional 99$ optical drive

2GB RAM

802.11n Wifi

5 hour battery life

Disable the Dock in Apple OS X Tiger

February 7, 2007 in 10.4, Dock, Expose, Freeware, MacBook, Onyx, QuickSilver, Tiger, apple, hack, launchbar, mac, macintosh, os x, software | 2 comments

Many people find that they simply don’t have enough screen real estate on their MacBooks, and prefer to use application launchers such as Apple’s own Spotlight, or the third party applications QuickSilver and launchbar.

There are two ways to remove the Dock from OS X tiger – one easy, the other a more manual approach.

We’ll start with the hard one, since it’s better to understand what’s going on behind the scenes. If this simply doesn’t interest you and you’d rather move on – rest assured that scripting the hard part is just as safe, and works in a similar manner.

On to the hard part:

  • The first step is to move the dock from /System/Library/CoreServices so that it won’t be launched on startup as it is normally. This is a bit hackish, but I’ve yet to get anything else working properly.
  • Since the dock will no longer be called at startup as it is missing from the usual cave it hides out in, we’ll need to make the Dock start up from it’s new location when we log in. This can easily be accomplished by dragging Dock.app from its new hiding place to your startup items (found in the “accounts” system preference pane).
  • Since the idea here is to get rid of the Dock, we’ll need to close it after it is run on login. The easiest way to do this is to make an Applescript that terminates the dock for you, and have it run just after the Dock is launched on startup. This allows the Dock to start, get it’s act in gear, then disappear.
  • Now you can proceed with your normal modus operandi and utilize QuickSilver or whatever other application launcher that you prefer to use instead of the Dock.

The easier way to do all of this is to leverage a piece of software written by No Name Scriptware called Dock Death. Dock Death is an AppleScript that performs the same task we outlined above, and also gives you a back out strategy in case you really need to get the Dock back.

Both of these solutions will effectively disable Expose since it a Dock process. If you can’t live without Expose, you may want to try using the freeware Onyx, which allows you to move the Dock to the top of the screen and hide it, effectively eliminating it from view. Though this is a bit low-tech in that it doesn’t really disable the Dock, for some people it gets the job done.

Turn off Apple Startup Sound on your Intel Mac

December 29, 2006 in DMG, Howto, Intel, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, PPC, Power PC, Universal Binary, apple, hack, iMac, mac, mac mini, macintosh, os x, software, tip | No comments

If the chime your Mac makes on bootup drives you batty, have no fear – it’s controllable. You can mute, turn down, or even turn UP your Macintosh startup volume using freeware utilities!

There are a few applications out there that will allow you to adjust the Apple startup noise, but only one (as far as I can tell) that will allow you to adjust the startup chime on Intel based Macs – Psst from mistatree will let you do it on your x86 Apple computer, and it’s easy to use too!

Psst is a universal binary that runs in OS X, meaning that it will run on PPC Macs, as well as the newer Intel Macs like iMacs, MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac Pros.

To install the program, simply download the DMG image file using Safari, Firefox or your favorite browser, and mount the image by double clicking it. After that you can copy the file anywhere on your hard drive and run the application by double clicking it. Adjust the startup sound to your liking and reboot to see the changes. You will notice the difference on bootup/startup – the startup chime should be less noisy or muted depending on how you adjusted it.

Parallels 2.2 Workstation Features

October 11, 2006 in G4U, G5, Intel, Leopard, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Microsoft, OS X 10.5, OSS, Open Source, OpenSource, Panther, Parallels, PowerBook, PowerPC, SP2, Tiger, USB, Windows XP, Windows XP SP2, XP, eMac, g4, iMac, ibm, laptop, linux, mac, mac mini, macintosh, operating system, os, os x, pc, software, virtual machines, virtualization, vista, vm, windows, workstation | No comments

Parallels announced today the updated features of the newest iteration of Parallels Workstation.

Big new all around for Windows, Mac and Linux users.

Here’s the breakdown (from the newsletter):

Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution for running Windows and OS X at the same time – without rebooting!

The Desktop for Mac Official Update includes a number of powerful new features, such as:

  • Works on ANY Intel-Mac with ANY memory configuration with no system modification. This includes Mac Pro towers with up to 16GB of RAM, and the full line of Core 2 Duo iMacs
  • Support for Windows Vista as a guest OS
  • Support for Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” as a Primary OS
  • Better USB support, including support for isochronous devices and Windows Mobile 5 devices

Parallels Workstation 2.2 for Windows & Linux is a powerful, cost effective virtualization solution which boosts productivity and lowers IT costs by letting users run multiple OSes simultaneously – without rebooting – on any Windows or Linux PC.

The new version includes a variety of new features and improvements:

  • Full support for AMD Secure Virtual Machine Technology, and stronger support for Intel Virtualization Technology
  • Support for Windows Vista as a Guest OS
  • A new shared folder utility lets users share files and folders between OSes
  • Better networking
  • Better USB support, including support for webcams and Windows Mobile 5 devices

Parallels for Mac to support Vista and Leopard

September 7, 2006 in Dual CPU, G4U, Leopard, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Microsoft, OS X 10.5, OpenBSD, Parallels, Quad CPU, Release Candidate, Tiger, USB, Unicode, apple, beta, mac, macintosh, operating system, os, os x, software, solaris, sun, unix, virtual machines, virtualization, vista, vm, windows, workstation | No comments

I’ve been using Parallels Workstation on my beefy Windows test host alongside VMWare Server and Windows Virtual Server. Parallels, though a relatively new piece of software, is remarkably good.

Recently I received an email about the new Apple Mac version which adds a lot of features that have me very excited. I have been debating a MacBook Pro purchase, and this announcement just may be the tipping point.

So let’s hear them out on this spam, and have a look at why I’m so excited.

Big features to mention:

  • Support for new quad-processor Mac Pro towers outfitted with up to 3.5GB of RAM
  • This addition means that Parallels Desktop for Mac is now compatible with all Intel-powered Apple computers, which in addition to the Mac Pro includes the MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini!
  • Compatibility with developer build of Mac OS X 10.5, code-named “Leopard”
  • Experimental support for Windows Vista

Bugs Fixed:

  • Solaris guest OS no longer hangs after suspend/resume
  • An improved Parallels Tools package
  • Full support for OpenBSD 3.8 as a guest operating system
  • G4U hard disk cloning tool now works in virtual machines

The new Parallels release candidate adds many exciting features including (but not limited to):

  • USB improvements — easily use multi interfaced and isochronous USB devices (including Windows Mobile 2005 and webcams)
  • Mac OS X performance improvements — optimize Mac OS X or guest OS performance by switching off the Mac cache function
  • Graphic performance improvements — enjoy faster, smoother video playback
  • Keyboard support improvements — use all of the keys on your Mac keyboard, such as the eject CD button, right-left and Shift/Ctrl/Alt (option)/Windows keys, in any virtual machine
  • Unicode path support improvements — name files and paths in national languages
  • Shared folders performance improvements — open folders and files faster, and transfer data across OSes with almost zero lag

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