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30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

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Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#61
post #6

The "features" in that video are a joke. Does anybody know if there are under the hood improvements in this version that would make upgrading worth the money?

They've hardened OS X's security model a lot. Gatekeeper + new IPC system (XPC) is great. But the best thing is App Sandbox. They've introduced a lot of new entitlements, like "file bookmarks" that'll make it easy and virtually pain free for most apps to embrace Sandbox. Also, Sandboxed apps can now be "Scriptable" - so users can put scripts in a folder in ~/Library/User App Scripts/com.apple.qt and those scripts will execute "without" any restrictions (i.e. outside of Sandbox). The rationale is that users have intentionally put those scripts in that folder (apps don't have access to that folder), so it's OK to run them.

Application Groups: you (or OmniGroup) can mark multiple apps with the same developer ID, and they can share files, use IPC/XPC directly, a shared file system location for user data, etc.

You can watch session 700 at WWDC 2012[1] that's I (poorly) summarized above.

I think OpenGL on OS X is also upgraded to 4.0 on ML, but I'm not sure. Siracusa's review at Ars (when published later today) will tell us if it's true or not.

[1]: http://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2012/

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#62
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also keep in mind that AirPlay mirroring requires at least a Sandybridge CPU, so you need a mac released in 2011 or later.

Can you cite a source for that? Experience suggests that is not the case.

Searching "airplay mirroring mountain sandy bridge" suggests otherwise.

http://www.google.com/search?q=airplay+mirroring+mountain+sa...

http://www.mindofthegeek.com/2012/07/05/airplay-mirroring-in...

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#63
post #12
post #6

The "features" in that video are a joke. Does anybody know if there are under the hood improvements in this version that would make upgrading worth the money?

Yeah, a list of bug fixes would be great. I'm still having issues with reconnecting (after sleep, on startup, ...) to wifi on my air. Also the problem with fans (who apparently think they are propellers on a WW2 bomber) remains to be solved. If this update fixes this I'll upgrade just for that (since apparently Apple can't be bothered to fix this issues via regular free updates).

> I'm still having issues with reconnecting (after sleep, on startup, ...) to wifi on my air

The good news is that this cancer has spread to iOS 6 as well. I curse Apple every time it happens (on my Macs or iPad) and I have to open/close the lid again and again...

< 10.1.7 was all right. I don't know what they did that caused this behavior...

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#64
post #2

Hey, Dashboard still exists. I'm wondering why I never use it anymore. It was fun to play around with and design for, but nowadays I... well, I actually forgot the shortcut to open it. Am I the only one?

I use it few times a day:

* Checking traffic (I have safari snipped to traffic website).

* Sticky notes.

* Calendar to check what is the date of specific day of some week (i.e. date for Wednesday next week).

* Clock with second hand.

* Countdown timer (installed widget - TeaTimer).

* Time in other time zones I need to know (installed widget).

* Weather.

* Snow forecast for ski resorts in season.

* And, rarely - iStat Pro.

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#65
post #3

I installed the GM build on my MacBook Pro, not sure if it's just psychological but apps definitely feel snappier than in Lion. Got caught out with one old app that didn't have a developer id (for a 3g dongle) so had to disable the gatekeeper install it then I could reapply gatekeeper. Otherwise it's been running great for the past few days.

Which MacBook Pro? I'd like to know.

I'll buy ML when it comes - I used beta 2 and 3 and they were ridiculously stable, but they weren't really as snappy as Snow Leopard on my poor 2009 15" MBP (2.53GHz C2D, with 8GB 1333 RAM and 7200rpm HDD).

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#66
post #53
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, a list of bug fixes would be great. I'm still having issues with reconnecting (after sleep, on startup, ...) to wifi on my air. Also the problem with fans (who apparently think they are propellers on a WW2 bomber) remains to be solved. If this update fixes this I'll upgrade just for that (since apparently Apple can't be bothered to fix this issues via regular free updates).

For the fans - SMCfan - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

This seems to do the exact opposite of what I want (haven't tested it yet).

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#67
post #66
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the fans - SMCfan - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

This seems to do the exact opposite of what I want (haven't tested it yet).

The description on the site is not so good, but you can set the speed to anything, for instance setting it at 2000rpm rather than the 4000rpm default or 6000rpm on high

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#68
post #2

Hey, Dashboard still exists. I'm wondering why I never use it anymore. It was fun to play around with and design for, but nowadays I... well, I actually forgot the shortcut to open it. Am I the only one?

Dashboard is actually one of my favorite features; I can't live without it. I use the dictionary/thesaurus widget every time I write (or read) and I take down short, temporary notes on the sticky notes. Besides that, I use the clock (to keep tabs on different time zones), weather and calendar widgets, and iStat Pro.

  > I use the dictionary/thesaurus widget every time I write
  > (or read) 
When reading, try this: hover over the word and press ctrl+cmd+d.

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#69
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also keep in mind that AirPlay mirroring requires at least a Sandybridge CPU, so you need a mac released in 2011 or later.

Can you cite a source for that? Experience suggests that is not the case.

http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/ lists the following macs as supporing AirPlay

  * iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
  * Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
  * MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
  * MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)
I remember reading that AirPlay mirroring uses the video encoding capabilities of SandyBridge CPUs, but I can't find a source for that now. Anecdotally, http://airparrot.com really taxes my 2010 MacBook's CPU.

Re: 30 New OS X Mountain Lion Features in 2 Minutes

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Under the hood"? Not really. There are a few nifty new APIs – SceneKit, NSXPCConnection, NSUserNotification, the sharing stuff – and the 64-bit kernel (with kernel ASLR) is now the default. Regarding user-visible features, I think there are a couple nice ones: - AirPlay mirroring is slick, especially in meeting situations - Document auto-save and versioning are a lot less annoying and more useful - Improved sharing…

Safari uses Core Animation for rendering, much smoother scrolling. It also has a sort of "Tab expose" feature.

and shared tabs through iCloud to your iOS devices.
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