LA MACTECH

In this issue of  iFAQ's:

• LA MACTECH Goes Bi
  
• WWDC and Me
  
• Apple Update Makes Leopard Purr
  
• Leopard Redux

That's Hot!:

Dude. Don't get totally frapped up when your Mac goes down:
We're in Los Angeles, and still in the Big Apple. LA MACTECH is now bicoastal.  We support your Mac, network of Macs, Mac OS X server, new and upcoming Apple technologies, and we can integrate them into your current network schema, including Windows Servers. 

LA MACTECH serves the New York metropolitan area and, starting right now, the Los Angeles Metro Area. Check out our support options here.

Whether we take the Subway or the Freeway, LA MACTECH is here for you!

WWDC and Me:

With all bets down and the odds even, the customer wins:
Breaking with tradition, Mac rumor sites scored big during this past Monday's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC), held in San Francisco. Analysts and Apple Fanboys alike trumped the über-secretive Apple machine with on-target predictions that fueled iPhone 2.0 frenzy.

From the Tech Beat to Wall Street, and with the cat all but out-of-the-bag, Apple's visionary leader still inspired and delighted the crowd. Minor leaks from AT&T, and other telecoms, did not spoil the party. 

In fact, they added to the excitement. iPhone 2.0, along with Apple's innovative MobileMe Push Technology (out this July) promises to one-up every major PDA on the market.  The next gen iPhone also sweetens the pot with 3G high-speed mobile broadband featuring Apple’s signature design, functionality, and branding.

Techmuscle will give you a concise breakdown of Apple’s new offerings with links to Websites sure to make for great summer reading leading up to the iPhone’s July 11th release, and certainly long after. First, here are the benefits of the iPhone 2.0, officially called iPhone 3G:

Introducing iPhone 3G:

• The new price point -- $199 here on the AT&T network -- and nearly global availability. Enchanting!
• Vastly increased speed: Email attachments and Websites load 2.4 times faster than EDGE on the new 3G network.
• Simultaneous talk and data browsing.
• GPS technology with a new Twist: A-GPS that allows faster location pinpointing by finding the closest satellites to your location.
• A modified design: A new plastic back is sleeker and feels better in your pocket.
• Better range and battery life: The new design increases the iPhones range and reception, all using less battery power.
• Tougher Construction: Metal buttons replace the old plastic ones.
• The App Store!: Starting in July, a wide-range of applications designed to enhance the functionality (with a capital fun) of your iPhone will be available on iTunes.
• MobileMe, the feather in Apples cap: This technology literally pushes your email, contacts, calendars and media to your iPhone, other Macs and even PCs.
  
• iPhone 2.0 software will be available to users with first generation iPhones, though the phone will continue to operate on the EDGE network.

Push, don't pull!

Apple’s MobileMe is sky-high breaking new ground:
Apple’s always been ahead of the pack in the wireless revolution. Now they’ve done it again with something called MobileMe. While this new innovation replaces .Mac, it takes that service to a new, literally higher level -- the MobileMe cloud.

Look mom, no hands (or wires)!
Sans wires, your email, contacts, calendars and more will appear on your home computer (Mac or PC), iPhone and/or PDA, and your office computer all at once. 

  Changes you make are instantly and automatically reflected on each and every device.  Here’s how it works: your data is pushed up into the MobileMe cloud, and rains down (or, more accurately, is pushed down) onto all of your devices. MobileMe is compliant with every major Web browser that provides users with a cool interface for this complex technology.

No More Corporate High Wire Act: IT Without a Net!

MobileMe, iPhone loves Company:
Both MobileMe and iPhone 2.0 now give joy at home and in the office. Microsoft Exchange Server, Cisco VPN and other Enterprise technology is built into the new iPhone, making it a functional and secure workplace communications tool. 

Over the years, Push Technology became synonymous with corporate America’s de facto email server standard, Microsoft Exchange Server, and with RIM’s BlackBerry handheld. The original iPhone could not easily provide business users with access to their corporate email accounts -- but that didn’t always stop them from buying the hot sleek device. Corporate IT departments -- historically not Apple friendly -- were stuck between a rock and an iPhone.

Don’t ask. Do tell:
iPhone 2.0 makes Exchange issues a thing of the past with built-in tools to connect to the Enterprise. No more hassles with your Windows IT staff. Your email, contacts, calendars and media find you!

At home, at play or in the office:
MobileMe is the answer to keeping all of your important information on hand whether you’re on your home computer, on the Web, using your iPhone or your laptop. And, a MobileMe account offers users a generous 20 GB of storage capacity!

Time to Upgrade: Leopard’s Cautious Cats Tear Into 10.5.3 and Like What They Taste

How to Catch this Grown-Up Cat:
On May 28th, Apple posted the 10.5.3 Leopard Combo Update.  You may use Software Update (located in the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your screen) to automatically perform the update, or it can be downloaded directly from Apple.  

You must have administrator access on your Mac to download and install the 10.5.3 update following these practical guidelines:

1. Shut down all running applications/programs (make sure to Quit them from the application's pulldown menu in the Menu Bar).
   
   
2. Go to your Applications Folder (Macintosh HD [or whatever you've named your Hard Drive] > Applications > Utilities) and open the Utilities folder.
   
   
   1. Open the Disk Utility application.
      
      
   2. Choose your the name of your hard drive on the list in the large box on the left and click the "Repair Disk Permissions" button.
      
      
   3. Take a cat nap or grab a cup of coffee. This may take some time.
      
      
3. For a major update (an update that incrementally changes the version of your Mac OS such as from 10.5.2 to 10.5.3) Techmuscle suggests checking your hard drive for errors.
   
   
   1. Start up your Mac with the CD or DVD that it came with or the retail DVD you used to upgrade your Mac.
      
      
   2. Boot from your DVD by holding down the 'c' key immediately after you hear your Mac chime.
      
      
   3. Choose English (or whatever language you prefer) and click the right arrow.
      
      
   4. From the Utilities menu in the Menu Bar choose Disk Utility.
      
      
   5. Again, choose your disk in the left-hand column.
      
      
   6. Click the "Repair Disk" button on the bottom right of the Disk Utility window.
      
      
   7. If you receive a message that your "Macintosh HD seems to be OK" move on to the Step i.
      
      
   8. Repair your HD once more to correct any errors and move on to the next step.
      
      
   9. Quit Disk Utility.
      
      
   10. Choose Startup Disk from the Utilities menu.
       
       
   11. Choose Macintosh HD as your startup disk and click the "Restart Button."
   
   
4. Now you're ready to install the 10.5.3 update either via System Update (as Apple recommends, or with the standalone Combo Updater).
   


1. Avoid using your Mac (opening and using applications) until the entire installation process is complete.
   
   
2. After the installer is finished, you will be asked to restart your Mac -- it will restart automatically if you do nothing.
   
   
3. Upon restart, your Mac will take longer than usual to boot up. It will also boot again after you see the grey Apple screen. Do not panic! Your Mac is just getting set for the changes. Enjoy!

About 10.5.3: More Muscle and Agility, and Weight:
Apple's philosophy of giving users an intuitive, friendly, elegant, and powerful operating system is proven with this update.  With that in mind, it's hard to believe that 10.5.3 itself weighs in at a hefty 21,000 lines of new code!

That code squashes a number of bugs that plagued earlier versions, making 10.5.3 a critical update. 

Remember though, it's not the last Leopard update we’ll see, but it's a vast improvement over previous versions.  In fact, 10.5.4 is right around the corner (more on that later).

Here are 10.5.3's major improvements:

• Overall stability improved.
• Time Machine now conserves MacBook and MacBook Pro battery life (Stay tuned for a Time Machine backup tutorial in an upcoming issue of iFAQ's!).
• Better graphics performance.
• Spotlight searches are faster and more reliable, particularly on shared volumes.
• Wireless connectivity is improved for Airport and Time Capsule. 
• Spaces has been improved.

Techmuscle will provide more detail and track under-the-hood improvements in the weeks to come.  More information can be found at Apple's Knowledge Base article here.

Catch a Tiger by the Tail:
Just prior to going to press, a Techmuscle customer, happily using Mac OS X Tiger (aka 10.4), aksed why she should go through the trouble and expense to upgrade to Leopard. She involked the old adage, "If it ain't broke..."

Tiger is indeed a stable OS, though like with any legacy operating system, it has a finite shelf life. While Apple continues to provide support for Tiger, new features such as MobileMe will work best with Leopard. Some features, like Time Machine and Spaces, only work with Leopard. Also, Apple generally provides updates for its current OS and the one released immediately prior, but will then End of Life (EOL) anything older.

To learn whether your older Mac supports Leopard, click here.

Nine Lives?  At Least:
Mac sites are already buzzing with news of the next incremental Leopard update. Leopard 10.5.4 has been seeded to developers.  The new update concentrates on brining iPhone 2.0 and MobileMe compatibility to iTunes, Macintosh Sync Services and other parts of the Mac OS. 

An update to QuickTime, version 7.5, just released, also adds stability, compatibility and security, and is recommended for Panther, Tiger and Leopard users and can be applied via Apple Software Update.

A Leopard Refresher:
Leopard first pounced in late October 2007 -- ages ago in tech-years. Leopard (aka Mac OS 10.5), said Apple, was a sleek mature predator with amazing killing potential -- also the first version of Mac OS X to be UNIX-certified.

Techmuscle's fall review of Leopard sited many new features, including: Spaces, Coverflow, and the 3D Desktop and Dock. We also advised caution in seeing past the flash and potential, and realizing that  although tantalizingly fresh, this new upgrade was prone to bugs.  Out of the box, 10.5.0 exhibited some clumsiness that is being cured by some time on-the-prowl. 

Admin or Standard User:
Again, you MUST have administrator access to your computer in order to perform this or any update. If you are a corporate customer, please see your IT director for information on the updates mentioned in this iFAQ.

If you would like Techmuscle to perform this or any update for you or your business, please contact us.

How to get LA MACTECH support:

Our new Web-based Trouble Ticket Support System alerts us to your support issues immediately and keeps track of your request from start to finish.  You can even upload screen shots of alerts you receive, just by clicking a button.

In our next issue of  iFAQ's:

• Tasty Green Morsels
• 10.5.4 Update
• Snow Leopard (aka Mac OS 10.6)

Photos courtesy Apple.