How to get your scroll bars back, permanently
I have spoken to a few people recently, who have called the Amsys Helpdesk, that find the default feature in 10.7 and 10.8 which removes the scrolling bars in different windows, such as Mail and Safari, a bit frustrating. However, it’s not as difficult as you would think in order to turn it back on…
Simply load System Preferences from either the applications folder or the logo and select General.
Within General there are some different settings you can use regarding your custom requirement with the scrolling bars, pick which option you would like and from then on you will be able to see the scrolling bar.
Let us know if this issue affects you and if this quick fix helps.
How to arrange your Applications folder by category
OS X Lion introduced a few nice updates to the OS X Finder, one of which is improved sorting. I’d like to tell you all about one example which I find rather handy.
I am often rummaging through my Applications folder to see what apps I have installed that could open a certain type of file, fortunately OS X Lion added a useful option called ‘Application Category’.
What this little gem does is intelligently sort through all your apps and place them into their corresponding categories. Unfortunately, there are apps it doesn’t know how to categorise, therefore you will end up with an ‘other’ section at the bottom.
However, all in all, this can be rather useful to sort out your apps for easier definition.
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1. Navigate to your /Applications folder on your hard drive.
Step 2. With the Applications folder open in the Finder, select the main ‘View’ menu and select ‘Arrange By’:
Step 3) Now select, ‘Application Category’:
Step 4) Enjoy looking through all your apps which are now sorted into useful categories!
This ‘Arrange By Application Category’ option is also available for the default Utilities folder (within the Applications folder), as well as any Applications folder created within a user’s home folder.
Disclaimer:
While the author has taken care to provide our readers with accurate information, please use your discretion before acting upon information based on the blog post. Amsys will not compensate you in any way whatsoever if you ever happen to suffer a loss/inconvenience/damage because of/while making use of information in this blog.
This feature has been tested using OS X v10.8.3 which was the latest Mac OS release at the time of writing and also using the latest Internal and external Apple keyboards.
5 useful OS X timesaving tips
If you have a preferred shortcut or tip that we haven’t yet featured, please feel free to add them in the comments below or email, blog@amsys.co.uk and we’ll include them in a future blog.
image credit: constant contact
1. Add your signature to PDFs
Forget about printing off a document in order to sign it and then scan or post it back to the recipient! With the release of Lion you can add add your signature directly to PDF documents, read how you can do this on your Mac here.
2. Prevent accidental replacement: use Stationery Pad
Hugo, one of our Apple trainers, recommends Stationery Pad, which has a great and easy way to convert a normal document into a template. You can use the “stationery pad” option to prevent accidental replacement of the original file by enabling this feature when you try to open that file, the Finder then creates a duplicate and opens that instead.
To find this option, get “info” on a file (⌘+I) and select the “Stationery pad” check-box under the “General” section.
3. Sorting folders/sub folders in Apple Mail
Mark Palmer, from our helpdesk, shows you how you can sort your Apple mail folders into sub folders in these simple steps.
4. Clear all open windows in one click to show the finder
Anton, also from our helpdesk, says that there are two ways that you can achieve this.
- Perform the keyboard shortcut CMD and F3 to tidy away, and same shortcut again to return all windows back to the foreground
- While holding down the CMD and ALT keys click on the Dock’s Finder icon.
5. Setting up window policy banner in OS X Lion & Mountain Lion
Many companies have usage policies which users have to be made aware of whenever they use a company computer. Applying these policies has often been done via email, word of mouth or on printed documentation or signs. However, since the arrival of Lion you can now display a banner at the Login Window that requires a user to acknowledge before proceeding. Find out you can enforce your usage policies on OS X here.
Setting up window policy banner in OS X lion & Mountain Lion
I cannot believe I haven’t yet blogged about this superb feature which was released in OS X Lion.
Many companies have usage policies which users have to be made aware of whenever they use a company computer. Applying these policies has often been done via email, word of mouth or on printed documentation or signs.
Many schools, colleges and universities will need to make students aware of exactly what access they are entitled to on a public computer and perhaps where to correctly save their work.
OS X Lion introduced the ability to display a banner at the Login Window that requires a user to acknowledge before proceeding. Perfect for enforcing these usage policies.
Here’s the simple steps to create a Login window policy banner:
Step 1: Create a text document with the information you wish to display at the login window. You can use either a Plain Text File (.txt), Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Rich Text Format Directory (.rtfd).
Step 2: Save this file with the title ‘PolicyBanner’ to your desktop. (The document MUST be titled exactly ‘PolicyBanner’ as one word, with a capital P and B).
Here’s an example of a document you could create, notice you can add images as well as text to the document, so perhaps a company logo would be a nice touch:
Step 3: Copy the PolicyBanner file to the /Library/Security/ folder, authenticating as an Administrator user.
Voilà! You’re done! Next time the login window is displayed on the computer, the user will be faced with this policy banner, which is titled ‘Agreement’. They will have to click ‘Accept’ before they can login.
This feature has been tested with OS X v10.7.0 through to OS X v10.8.2 which was the latest Mac OS release at the time of writing.
Lion Tip : How to Quickly Force Quit the Current Active Application
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.7.4
By Richard Mallion
Apple has released the Mac OS X 10.7.4 Update for client and server. This update includes a variety of bug fixes and security updates. Two of the most significant changes are a fix to a restoring windows bug and a patch for a potential security issue with FileVault passwords. An update to Safari is also bundled within the software update.
The complete change log for 10.7.4 client is as follows:
- Resolve an issue in which the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting is always enabled.
- Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards.
- Addresses permission issues that may be caused if you use the Get Info inspector function “Apply to enclosed items…” on your home directory.
- Improve Internet sharing of PPPoE connections.
- Improve using a proxy auto-configuration (PAC) file.
- Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to an SMB server.
- Improve printing to an SMB print queue.
- Improve performance when connecting to a WebDAV server.
- Enable automatic login for NIS accounts.
- Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital cameras.
- Improve the reliability of binding and logging into Active Directory accounts.
The complete change log for 10.7.4 Server is as follows:
File Sharing
- defining custom names for file share points
- using Kerberos authentication
- emptying trash when using a network mounted home directory
- using WebDAV with third-party iOS clients
- copying files and Finder information over SMB
- general reliability of SMB file services
Profile Manager
- enhanced payloads and management settings for iOS and OS X clients
- reliability of device enrollments after changing server hostname
- configuring VPN management settings
- using profiles to join 802.1x networks
- installing enterprise iOS applications
- setting iCloud, Spotlight and Media Restrictions for OS X clients
Web Server
- improved handling of URL redirects and alias matches
Mail Server
- improved reliability of SMTP services
- prevent overwriting of manually configured greylisted mail servers
The update also includes specific fixes for:
- more flexible service data storage
- reconfiguring DNS settings when changing hostnames
- editing DNS expirations
- archival and migration of Open Directory
- preserving local accounts during upgrades
10.7.3 server update – WebServer
The recently released Mac OS X 10.7.3 update finally added some functionality to the Web Server, is this a sign that Apple is listening to the masses?
Now we have some of the functionality back that we had in 10.6 server, for me the only thing that is missing is the ability to turn
the Modules on and off without having to go through terminal and modifying the config files!
Apple specified the following capabilities about the web pane in the 10.7.3 Server release notes:
enable .htaccess overrides- edit web sites’ domain names
- map multiple domains into a single web site
- configure redirects and aliases
- specify custom index files
- choose SSL certificates for individual websites
by Hugo Costa
Will Apple’s New Annual Upgrade Cycle Cause Problems?
By Richard Mallion
When Apple announced the developer preview of Mount Lion, Mac OS X 10.8, one of the changes that has kind of gone unnoticed was that OS X was moving to a yearly release cycle like iOS. This is great way to introduce new features for consumers, but will it cause problems for organizations that have a large number of Macs such as businesses and education?
If you take Microsoft Windows as an example, businesses typically take 2 or 3 years to fully transition to a major new release. Not only has it not been 3 years since Lion shipped, but it has not yet been 3 years since the release of Snow Leopard, Lion’s predecessor.
For each OS X release, businesses and schools have to test all their apps for compatibility, both commercial and bespoke in house apps, no easy task considering I know of one company who has over 200 different applications deployed to their Mac suite. If 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 are any indication we can alway expect issues with the new release, Active Directory integration being a great example.
But saying that iOS has proved an annual release schedule can work.
So going forward IT departments will have to embrace this change. More planning will be required. For example you may have to buy extra spare machines to deploy if the apps you rely on require an older legacy system. Having sophisticated deployment solutions , such as Casper from JAMF, to help you manage the upgrade process would always help as well as having procedures to test the next OS in your environment.
When it comes to actual testing then you don’t need to wait until Apple release the OS to the public. Anyone can sign up to the Mac OS X developer program and grab the betas that Apple will release. Not only will this give you a head start in your preparations but you can also send feedback to Apple based on bugs and features requests which can only help in the long term.
If you need any advice on areas covered in this blog then feel free to contact our support department at support@amsys.co.uk
How To: Repair User Permissions in Mac OS X Lion
By Richard Mallion
One issue with Mac OS X that pops up every now and again are incorrect permissions. For various reasons permissions on folders, files or applications can get set incorrectly causing random problems from applications quitting to not being able to save your files.
The Disk Utility application, which can be found in your utilities folder, has a repair permissions option. This is useful for repairing system wide and application permission problems.
However an area it will not repair are incorrect permissions in your home folder. In Lion, there is an additional Repair Permissions application utility hidden away. This tool is located inside boot Repair Utilities. Here’s how to access it.
- Restart Lion and hold down the Command and R keys. This boots your Mac to the recovery partition Lion installed.
- You will boot into the Repair Utilities screen. On top, in the Menu Bar click the Utilities item then select Terminal.
- In the Terminal window, type resetpassword and hit Return.
- The Password reset utility launches, but you’re not going to reset the password. Instead, click on the icon for your Mac’s hard drive at the top. From the drop-down below it, select the user account where you are having issues.
- At the bottom of the window, you’ll see an area labeled ‘Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs’. Click the Reset button there.
The reset process takes a couple of minutes. When it’s done, quit the programs you’ve opened and restart your Mac.
Carbon Copy Cloner Updated to Better Support Lion
By Richard Mallion
My old favourite disk cloning tool has been going for 10 years. Mike Bombich has just released a new version, bringing it up to version 3.3.4
Among the hi-lights is the ability to clone Lion’s recovery hd and to more easily make an Lion Installer.
Full release notes can be found here.
Lion Internet Recovery for older 2010 Macs
By Richard Mallion
Apple has released new Firmware Updates for the older 2010-model Macs, including the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac. The update adds Internet Recovery for Lion. Internet Recovery enables installation of Mac OS X 10.7 via an internet connection. This is intended for use on a failed hard drive or a blank drive that’s never had OS X installed on it.
All Macs introduced from 2010 onward now have access to Internet Recovery features with the exception of the Mac Pro which so far has been left out.
Problems with Apple’s Latest Mac OS X updates
By Richard Mallion
After the flurry of updates from Apple this week we now have some fall out.
The first is to do with Apple’s Security Update for Snow Leopard. Many of the users who updated their systems with Apple’s most recent security patches found themselves unable to run PowerPC legacy apps via the Rosetta compatibility layer. Apple today released a new version of that update (Security Update 2012-001 v1.1) which is now available, and it should resolve the issues.
The second is do with the 10.7.3 update for Lion. Apple have pulled the delta version of the update and left just the combo version available for download. No reason was given but speculation is thats its todo with issues of applications crashing followed by graphical artifacts in response to user input in various windows. Hopefully Apple will post a new version of the delta update shortly. For the time being if you have installed the 10.7.3 delta update and are experiencing problems then try reapplying 10.7.3 with the combo update.
Problems Installing the 10.7.3 update?
By Richard Mallion
If you have experienced problem installed the 10.7.3 update for Mac OS X via software update or are experience strange post update problems then a quick fix to try is to reinstall the 10.7.3 update via the larger combo version which you can download from Apple’s support page at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1484
Apple Releases 10.7.3 update for Lion client
By Richard Mallion
Apple has just rolled out the largest update so far for Lion, 10.7.3 which weighs in around 1GB depending on which version you download. The update consists of quite a few bugs fixes and support for some new languages. The list of changes can be found below but the standout for me are all the listed fixes for directory services and the annoying wifi issue when waking from sleep.
The OS X Lion v10.7.3 Update includes Safari 5.1.3 and fixes that:
- Add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support
- Address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X
- Address compatibility issues with Microsoft Windows file sharing
- Address an issue printing Microsoft Word documents that use markup
- Address a graphics performance issue after sleep on some earlier iMacs that use ATI graphics
- Resolve a Wi-Fi connection issue when waking from sleep
- Address an issue that may prevent Safari from opening before joining a wireless network
- Fix a potential issue authenticating to an SMB DFS share
- Include RAW image compatibility for additional digital camerasDirectory Services
- Improve binding to read-only Active Directory Domain Controllers
- Improve binding and login speed for Active Directory users in a domain whose name ends in “.local”
- Improve reliability of Dynamic DNS (DDNS) updates by Active Directory clients
- Allow login with an Active Directory username that contains a space
- Improve compatibility with Active Directory schemas that have been extended with the “apple-user-homeDirectory” and “apple-user-homeurl” attributes
- Fix home directory Dock item for Active Directory users with mobile accounts
- Allow NIS users with MD5-hashed passwords to log in
Lion Server and VPN
As some of you know, I blogged last week about my experiences with Lion Server concentrated on a particular gripe with Lion’s VPN service.
Over the last week I’ve had the chance to play with 3 different solutions to my problem (hint: one isn’t alcohol!).
iVPN
The first solution I have found, and the most reliable in use, is a program called iVPN. It markets itself as the “GUI that Apple left out”. It’s main use is to tie into the UNIX core that provides the VPN service and is present in all versions on Mac OS X, to provide the VPN server service on any Mac, client or server.
Cost: £15.00 (GBP)
Pros: It enables the PPTP and L2TP service in a nice clean GUI interface.
Cons: The license fee is £15! Also through testing, we have found it will only work with the first user account created within the Application.
Thoughts: Due to the price and one user only issue, I would not recommend this. Additionally, despite a claim of a 60-day refund if you are not happy, Mac Serve does not respond to emails (at time of writing)!
Easy VPN
The second solution I came across is a program called Easy VPN. This markets itself as easy to use and the ‘same as OSX server’ and I have had great success but for a much worse reliability.
To make this application work, I found I had to use Server.app to turn the VPN service off, make the changes in Easy VPN, then use Server.app to turn the service on (rather than the built in on/off button). Once setup, I could successfully have 5 or 6 Macs connected without any issues. However, a few days later, it just stopped working and no amount of pleading could get it to work.
Cost: AUS $5 (around £3.35 GBP)
Pros: It enables the PPTP and L2TP service in a nice clean GUI interface, with multiple users.
Cons: Despite working fine at the start, it seems to have failed unexplainably.
Thoughts: Due to the lack of stability, I would not recommend this.
Admin Tool VPN
This product is unique in that it is available through Apple’s Mac App Store and for a low price. However, installed onto a fresh Lion server, this just plain refused to work. None of the settings stuck and the on/off switch did not work.
Cost: £1.49 GBP
Pros: Super Cheap, available on the Mac App Store.
Cons: Doesn’t actually seem to work
Thoughts: Avoid
Conclusion
It seems I have hit a stalemate at the moment. I’m not a fan of Apple’s implementation of VPN in Lion Server, nor its lack of stability. But the alternatives are few and far between. To make matters worse, they all use the built in command line VPN solution. At the moment, the only real solution appears to be either lump-it, or shell out for a dedicated network appliance.
I will be looking into other solutions, but most likely down the security appliance route.
Well that’s enough from me, what about your stories? Please share your own views on Lion Server, VPN, and experiences, below.
Links
Looking for Server Support? Why not check out our Server Support Service.
AirDrop has a Keyboard Shortcut
By Richard Mallion
There is always something new to learn…..
AirDrop is my favourite Lion feature but its always slightly awkward to get to as its buried in the Finder Window sidebar but help is at hand.
Just press Command+Shift+R in the Finder to instantly bring up the AirDrop window.
How to Remove Apps from Launchpad in Mac OS X
By Richard Mallion
Launchpad is the iOS-like application launcher that came to Mac OS X with the release of 10.7 Lion.
I want to love it, but in its present format its not perfect. One of the biggest issues I face its that it has every application on my hard drive, 8 pages worth. Not only does it have all my main apps but as an example it has 18 different Adobe uninstaller applications as well.
Launchpad can also be difficult and inconsistent when deleting apps from it. Apps that where purchased from the Mac App store can be easily deleted by holding the option key and once the icons start jiggling click the “X” shown in the corner of icons that you want to delete. Be careful as this also uninstalls the app from your hard drive. However applications that were not purchased from the Mac App store cannot be removed via the UI.
Using the command line there is a way to either remove all the apps or selectively remove apps from LaunchPad, regardless of where they where purchased. LaunchPad maintains a SQLite database. We can edit this database directly to remove any app or all apps we wish.
Using the Terminal – remove a single application
Open Terminal and use the following command, replacing “APPNAME” with the name of the application you want to remove from Launchpad:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps WHERE title='APPNAME';" && killall Dock
For example, removing ”TextEdit” would be:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps WHERE title='TextEdit';" && killall Dock
Launchpad will automatically refresh, open it to see the changes.
Using the Terminal – Remove All Applications from Launchpad
Using the Terminal again, the entire Launchpad database can be wiped free of all apps, giving you a fresh start. To do this, enter the following commands in the Terminal:
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps;"
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from groups WHERE title<>'';"
sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from items WHERE rowid>2;"
killall Dock
Note that there is no undoing this unless you have a backup of the database, once you have done this you will have to manually add any applications by dragging them into the Launchpad dock icon but at least you end up with a leaner Launchpad with just the apps you want.
Magnifier in Preview for Lion
By Richard Mallion
Sometimes when viewing documents in Apple’s Preview application, especially PDFs, I need to zoom into a specific part of the document to look at some fine detail.
Preview for Lion has a nice magnifier. This is in addition to the standard zoom in/out which applies to the whole document.
To activate the Magnifier tool, select from menu Tools->Show Magnifier or simply press the backtick ` key.
A rectangular view will be displayed once the tool is activated displaying the area of the document you are viewing. You can move the rectangle and adjust the size of the rectangle using pinch gesture.
Now you can add your signature to PDFs
Ever wanted to be able to quickly sign a document you need to email without having to print it off, sign it and then scan it back on to the computer? Well new in Lion is the ability to add your signature directly to PDF documents.
To start the process, Open the Preview application and then select Preferences from the Preview menu. Navigate to the Signature pane.
Click Create Signature and a window will pop up asking you to hold your signature to the built in camera. Please note you must sign your name in black ink on white paper.
Click Accept and your new signature will appear in the Signature preference pane.
To use your newly created signature, go to the View menu in Preview and select ‘Show Annotations Toolbar’. Once the annotations toolbar has appeared, simply add your signature as shown below!
Firefox 9 released
By Richard Mallion
Firefox 9 has just been released for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. The latest version brings some significant boosts to javascript performance, some theme fixes, and a variety of other under-the-hood enhancements. For Lion users it adds 2 finger gesture support for left and right swiping.
Apple Squeezing in one last release before Christmas
Apple today seeded developers with an updated version of OS X 10.7.3. The new version, comes with no documented known issues and is said to include iCloud Document Storage, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Spotlight and Safari as focus areas for developer testing.
Apple Releases Second Edition of Lion Server Advanced Administration
By Richard Mallion
Apple have released their new Lion Server Advanced Administration documentation.
Enjoy…….
Mac OS X Lion Shortcuts
By Hugo Costa
With Lion, Apple added an option to move a file after the Copy shortcut has been pressed!
Mac App Store tops 100 million downloads
By Richard Mallion
The Mac App Store has reached a significant milestone. According to an Apple press release, customers have downloaded over 100 million apps inless than a year. Phil Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said, “With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world.”
Restoring the Library Folder in Lion
By Richard Mallion
In Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), the Library folder in your home folder is now hidden. There are a couple of ways gain access to it.
To quickly browse your Library folder, open a Finder window and click the Go menu. Then press and hold Option . You’ll see a new entry temporarily appear for the Library folder, which will disappear when you release Option .
To permanently restoring access , open a Terminal window and type the following:
chflags nohidden ~/Library/ Now when you visit your home folder, the Library folder should be visible.
Note that you’ll likely have to repeat the chflags command each time you install a major system update for OS X
Protect USB Memory Sticks or drives with a Password
By Richard Mallion
One of the new features of Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is the addition of a new volume format, Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted).
This lets you format a USB memory stick or drive so that its contents are encrypted. You’ll need to enter a password whenever it’s inserted/mounted.
Instructions:
1. Launch Disk Utility from your utilities folder in the applications folder
2. Connect your disk or memory stick
3. Select your disk in Disk Utility (Make sure its the correct disk) and click the erase tab
4. From the format menu select Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted).
5. Click Erase
6. You will be prompted to enter the password that will be used to mount the drive.
7. Click Erase.
Once the erase is finished you will be prompted to enter the password every time you go to use the drive, thus protecting your data
See the iTunes Track in the Dock
By Richard Mallion
Here’s a great little tweak for the Dock that will cause a pop-up window to momentarily appear each time iTunes begins playing a new track
Quit iTunes if it’s open, then open a Terminal window and type the following:
defaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool TRUE;killall Dock
Then start iTunes and try playing a track. The pop-up fades away after a few seconds.
To add the iTunes icon to the pop-up window, type the following into a Terminal window:
defaults write com.apple.dock notification-always-show-image -bool TRUE; killall Dock
To deactivate the pop-up at a later date, quit iTunes again, then open a Terminal window and type the following two lines:
defaults delete com.apple.dock itunes-notifications
defaults delete com.apple.dock notification-always-show-image;killall Dock
Mac OS X Lion Resume Tip
How to quickly close an application AND all it’s open windows.In Lion, Resume now allows Applications to resume any windows and documents left open when the Application is quit.
For those of you like me that wish to quickly quit an application and also quit all open windows, you can quit the application using the ‘Command+Option+Q’ keys so that when you reopen the application there won’t be any open windows!
Certainly a tip i’ve been using myself! :)
Russell Harris
Managing and deploying Time Machine in Lion
By Richard Mallion
Quite a few environments are using Time Machine for their backup solution. But prior to Lion there hasn’t been a simple way to manage or deploy Time Machine. With Mac OS X 10.7 Apple has introduced a new command line tool, tmutil, to help us manage Time Machine. The tmutil command allows administrators to enable Time Machine, make snapshots, kick off backups, delete snapshots, perform restores, configure options within Time Machine and, with a little scripting, build a centralized dashboard, pulling in Time Machine statistics from clients.
Pretty much everything you do in Time Machine is going to require elevated privileges. So if you are writing a script, it should run as such, or if you’re running each command independently you will likely need to prefix them with sudo.
So lets us look at some examples of using the tmutil command line tool.
To Enable Time Machine:
tmutil enable
To Disable Time Machine:
tmutil disable
To enable local backups, turning on snapshots:
tmutil enablelocal
To associate Time Machine with a disk:
tmutil setdestination /Volumes/backupdrive
To associate Time Machine with a network mount:
tmutil setdestination afp://user:password@server.amsys.com/backupShare
To add a directory or volume to the exclusion list:
tmutil addexclusion /Developer
To remove a directory or volume from the exclusion list:
tmutil removeexclusion /Developer
To manually run the backup:
tmutil startbackup
To stop the current backup:
tmutil stopbackup
New OS X Revision Tool for iPhone from Amsys
By Richard Mallion
Amsys is pleased to announce the release of their new iPhone revision app for Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.7 (Lion). If you want to test your knowledge of Mac OS X v10.7 (Lion) or you are preparing to take the Mac OS X Support Essentials v10. 7 Exam (9L0-410) then this is the app for you.
Over 200 practise questions.
Features include:
Study Mode:
You can select questions from any of the nine chapters of the Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.7 curriculum.
Test Mode:
Mimic exam conditions. Get tested with a random set of questions against the clock.
History:
Track your history. The app keeps your previous tests which you can review as well as check your progress via a chart.
Click here for Mac Support Essentials v10.7 revision app
Lion Tip – Turn off your screen immediately
By Richard Mallion
You can press CTRL+SHIFT+Eject to turn off your screen immediately.
You can also combine it with the requirement to enter a password in your security settings
Apple releases Java updates for Lion, Snow Leopard
By Richard Mallion
Java for Mac OS X 10.7 Update 1, released Tuesday, updates the software to version 1.6.0_29, and offers Mac OS X Lion users improved reliability, security, and compatibility.
For Snow Leopard users running 10.6.8, Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 6 is the update to turn to. It also updates Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_29, and delivers similar improvements to that of the Lion version.
The patch addresses several vulnerabilities in Java 1.6.0_26, including one that allows an untrusted Java applet to execute code outside the Java sandbox. You can read more about the security content on Sun’s website, or Apple’s knowledge base article on the update.
You can download these updates via Software Update on your Mac and Apple’s Support Downloads website.
New EFI firmware updates released by Apple
Apple today released EFI firmware updates for a number of Macs that added or made more reliable Lion’s internet recovery mode as well as other minor fixes.
The list of machines include:
- iMac (Early 2011)
- Mac Mini (mid 2011)
- MacBook Air (mid 2011)
- MacBook Pro (early 2011)
Amsys System Admins Conference
We are delighted to announce this years Macintosh System Administrators Conference.
The event aims to bring together technical support professionals from Apple and cross platform environments to share news and views and discuss everyone’s favourite technology! The Macintosh System Administrators Conference will be held over a full day and will incorporate a mixture of seminars, discussions and workshop. The workshops will have machines ready so you gain some hands on experience as well as having access to Amsys technical staff for face to face discussions.
This years event will focus on Mac OS X 10.7 and IOS 5
Conference Date
Thursday December 8th, starting at 10:00.
Conference Venue
The conference venue will be the same as the last 2 years – Regent’s College in Central London.
Conference Sessions
Mac OS X 10.7, Lion
- Whats new in Mac OS X 10.7 Client
- Whats new in Mac OS X 10.7 Server
- Deploying Mac OS X 10.7 in business and education
- Indepth look at Profile Manager with Lion clients
iOS 5
- Whats new in iOS 5
- Using profile Manager to manage iOS 5 clients
- Managing and deploying iOS 5 Devices in Business:
- iCloud and cloud services in general
We are making 50 places available so if you are interested, reserve your spot now!
Price per delegate £95 + VAT
We look forward to seeing you there!
Lion Tip 8 Local Backups in Lion’s Time Machine
One of the most popular features of OS X has been Apple’s built in Time Machine software. This innovative software easily allowed users to make complete backup’s of their operating system in case of hard drive failure or if they had accidentally deleted a file.
The only problem with this has been remembering to plug in your external drive so that it could perform the backup. Granted, you could use Apple’s Time Capsule which will backup whenever you are in range of it but even this only works in one location, not ideal if you spend large amounts of time travelling away from home or the office.
Allow me to set the scene, you leave your backup device at home while you go abroad for a business meeting. Your only copy of the important presentation you will be delivering the following day is on your computer. You accidentally delete the document. No backup in sight, no time to recreate the document…
In the past this would have been a disaster situation, causing an immense amount of hair pulling and stress but not now, for in Mac OS X Lion, we have a new local backup feature in Time Machine.
Local Backups essentially mean that when your selected backup device is not connected or not in range, your computer keeps a local Time Machine backup on your system. There is no configuration for this and it is enabled on your Mac by default. By simply clicking on the Time Machine icon in the dock, we can easily go back in time and retrieve a file from our local backups.
It’s not going to help if your hard drive fails on the road but on the off chance the above scenario becomes a reality, you will be glad it exists..
regards
John
for more info on data backups click here
Mac OS X lion – Tip no 7 – Spotlight New Feature
You can now use Quick View in Spotlight search results, including documents, web pages, contacts, emails and media files and can also expand word definitions from Dictionary.
This will allow you to preview you documents and videos before you open them!
If you choose Search Web from the Spotlight menu, Safari opens and displays search results using your default search engine.
Mac OS X Lion Tip No 6 – Dock gesture for App Exposé on non-running apps
By Hugo Costa.
Make sure that gesture for App Exposé, is selected on your trackpad settings (System Preferences/TrackPad).
Put the mouse cursor over the Dock icon of the app you want to run Exposé on, and then swipe down with three fingers.
This will launch App Exposé for the app, even if it isn’t currently running!
In that case, it will show a row of recently opened documents at the bottom of the screen, which you can click on to launch the app and open the document.
enjoy!
Hugo.
Quickly add a Gmail/MobileMe account to Mail/iCal/iChat
By Richard Mallion
One of the nice features of Lion is that we have a nice new system preference pane “Mail, Contacts & Calendars” to easily add new email accounts to Mac OS X.
Safari has has a feature which will automatically setup Mail, Ical and iChat for you.
When you first login into your gmail or MobileMe account using Safari you will prompted if you want to use your native applications with for gmail account:
If you click add you will then be prompted which application you wish to setup:
Choosing to add will automatically setup the selected apps with your gmail.MobileMe credentials.
This is a one time only option. If you choose not to setup your native apps, Safari will not ask you again on subsequent logins. However you can reset this. Safari maintains a list of domains not to setup in its main preference file “com.apple.safari.plist” found in your home>Library>preferences folder. Just edit this file and remove the entry for google.com or me.com as shown below.
This tip also works for Mobile Me.
Enable AirDrop Over Ethernet & Unsupported Macs Running OS X 10.7
By Richard Mallion
AirDrop is my favourite feature is Lion. It allows you to easily send and receive files wirelessly over a network just by dragging and dropping. It’s a great addition to Lion, but it’s not supported on all Macs (some 2008 model MacBook, MacBook Pros, some Mac Pro’s and Mini’s, etc)
You can enable AirDrop with Ethernet and enable AirDrop support on unsupported Macs running OS X 10.7+ by using the following defaults write command in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1
Lion Tip no 3 – Changing iCal’s default Event duration
By Russell Harris.
Lion’s new iCal App has a great new interface, but new Events still have a
default duration set to 1 hour. I find that I set many events to half an hour, so can I make this the default?
Well, i’m sorry to say that the interface wont let you do this, so we’re off into the command line if you dare follow me!
If you open the ‘Terminal’ Application from inside /Applications/Utilities, and enter, (or you can copy and paste), the following :
defaults write com.apple.iCal 'Default duration in minutes for new event' 30
(The ’30’ at the end is the duration in minutes, so you can tailor this to your own needs).
Mac OS X Lion Tips No. 2 – New Customize System Preferences feature.
By Russell Harris.
Tucked away within the new Lion System Preferences menus, is a handy new feature that lets you customize the icons that appear in System Preferences. So now, instead of always seeing the whole collection of System Preference Panes, you can just see the ones that you regularly use.
This new customize feature, allows you to hide the preference panes you dont want to see by selecing the ‘View’ pull down menu in the menubar of System Preferences and then selecting the new ‘Customize’ option.
You can now ‘check’ and ‘uncheck’ the icons you want to show or hide.
The ones you uncheck are NOT deleted, just hidden from view.
You can access these ‘hidden’ ones by selecting the ‘View’ menu which lists them all, but also by clicking and holding the ‘Show All’ button in the upper left corner of System Preferences.
Nice little feature.
Cheers! Russ.
Mac OS X Lion – Tip No 1
By Russell Harris.
Admit it, you all love it when Apple release a new Operating System and you have to play around for hours trying to find all those neat little tricks and hidden ‘Easter Eggs’? Or is that just me?… ;)
Well, for those of you that do appreciate a good little hidden feature, here’s the first in a series of tips for Mac OS X Lion :
-
Resizing a Finder Window.
You’ll often find PC users moan about the fact that the Mac OS doesnt let you properly resize a window like Windows does.
Well, Lion will stop their complaints! Lion now lets you resize windows from any corner or side, but it doesn’t resize ALL corners at once. To do this, just hold the ‘Option’ key whilst resizing. (Remember that the ‘Option’ key is what us Brits call the ‘Alt’ key! ;)
Check out our training pages at http://www.amsys.co.uk/training/
