O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: 10.7.2

  • Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.2 build 11C62 to developer community, includes additional iCloud tools

    System updates: they’re a good thing.

    Per AppleInsider, sources close to the story have stated that Apple has released a new beta of Mac OS X 10.7.2 was supplied to developers on Thursday with no known issues.

    The latest build, coined “11C62”, and weighs in at 740.2MB in its delta form. It comes less than a week after the last beta of Mac OS X 10.7.2 was supplied for testing.

    The latest Lion betas have included iCloud integration, while previous builds required that developers download a separate installer to test Apple’s forthcoming syncing and storage service.

    The new beta comes the same day that Apple has warned developers it will reset all iCloud data. The reset is being done in preparation for the launch of the new free service.

    Apple has not officially announced a specific release date for iCloud, and instead revealed in June that the service will become available this fall. It will store content such as photos, e-mail and contacts, and wirelessly push it to devices, including Macs, iPhones and iPads.

    People familiar with the beta issued on Thursday said the latest build again has no known issues. The focus areas are said to remain the same as they were previously, and include Address Book, Graphics Drivers, iCal, iChat, iCloud, the Mac App Store, Mail, MobileMe, Safari, Spotlight and Time Machine.

    Mac OS X 10.7.2 will likely be released when iCloud and iOS 5 are made available to the public. They are expected to be released at an event rumored to be scheduled for Oct. 4, where Apple is also expected to introduce its fifth-generation iPhone.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.2 seed to developers, includes built-in iCloud support for the first time

    It’s inevitable.

    And with system updates, that’s never a bad thing.

    Per AppleInsider, Apple on Sunday seeded Mac OS X 10.7.2 beta to developers with support for the beta version of iCloud incorporated directly into the build.

    For the first time, the pre-release version, labeled build 11C55, does not require a separate install of iCloud services. No known issues are listed for the beta. Apple reportedly lists iCloud, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Safari, and MobileMe as focus areas for the release.

    One source familiar with the matter also indicated that Apple has begun transitioning user accounts from MobileMe to iCloud, allowing the transfer of mail, contacts, and calendars to the iCloud.com.

    The last beta release of Mac OS X 10.7.2 came on Sept. 2 and included the 10th test version of iCloud as a separate install.

    Developers have seen a steady stream of beta software as Apple gears up for several major releases this fall. The launch of iOS 5 and iCloud will be supported by updated versions of iTunes and Mac OS X. Last Friday, Apple issued a beta release of iTunes 10.5, along with pre-release versions of iWork for iOS. The company also recently extended the test period of its iTunes Match service to additional developers.

    Apple launched Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on the Mac App Store in July. The company then updated its flagship desktop operating system to version 10.7.1 in August, adding improvements to Wi-Fi and audio out functionality.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Apple seeds updated Mac OS X 10.7.2 build, iCloud beta 9 to developer community

    Apple on Friday supplied developers with a new beta build of Mac OS X 10.7.2, as well as iCloud for Lion beta 9 for testing purposes, just a few days after the last beta builds were issued.

    Per AppleInsider, sources familiar with the latest beta of Lion 10.7.2 said it is known as build 11C43 and carries no known issues. Developers have reportedly been asked to focus on AirPort, AppKit, GraphicsDrivers, iCal, iChat, the Mac App Store, Mail, Spotlight and Time Machine.

    Beta builds of Mac OS X are meant for testing purposes only, and are available to members of the Mac Developer Program. The last major update to Lion came just last week in the form of Mac OS X 10.7.1, packing fixes for Wi-Fi reliability, HDMI output resolutions, and optical audio output.

    The last beta build of Mac OS X 10.7.2 was issued to developers this Monday. It came along with iCloud beta 8, and similarly on Friday, the new build of 10.7.2 debuted alongside iCloud for Lion beta 9.

    iCloud for OS X Lion beta 9 is an add-on installer for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion that adds in-development iCloud functionality to Macs for developers.

    If you’ve gotten your mitts on the new builds, please let us know what you make of it via the comments.

  • Apple releases Mac OS X 10.7.2 build, eighth iCloud beta to developer community

    It’s the updates that make things interesting.

    Per AppleInsider, Apple recently issued a new build of Mac OS X 10.7.2 along with the eighth beta release of iCloud for Lion.

    According to people familiar with the release, Apple’s beta build 11C40 of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 is a 730MB download. Focus areas for the update include AirPort, AppKit, Graphics Drivers, Mac App Store, Mail and Spotlight.

    iCloud for OS X Lion beta 8 is an add-on installer for OS X Lion that add in-development iCloud functionality to Macs.

    The first external beta of Mac OS X 10.7.2 arrived in late July. Mac OS X 10.7.1 was released to the public last week, with improvements to Wi-Fi and fixes to audio out.

    Apple released Lion via the Mac App Store on July 20, quickly selling more than a million copies in 24 hours. According to one analyst, Mac sales got a 26 percent boost in July from Lion’s launch and the release of updated MacBook Airs and Mac Minis.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and if you’ve gotten your mitts on the beta, please let us know what you think of it in the comments.

  • Apple to officially end MobileMe sync for certain features in iCloud transition

    Apple’s transition to the iCloud is coming and it won’t always be easy…

    Per AppleInsider, while many of the features of MobileMe are simply being upgraded in the move to iCloud, Apple has previously noted that Gallery, iDisk and iWeb are on the chopping block. Now, the company has further made it clear that data sync features will also be canceled in its iCloud transition steps.

    A key feature of .Mac and later MobileMe was the cloud integration of iSync, Apple’s Mac-centric tool for keeping data in sync among a variety of devices as part of its “digital hub strategy” first unveiled a decade ago. The data sync of .Mac and subsequently MobileMe moved the “truth database” from the user’s Mac into the cloud, making it possible to sync additional types of data between Macs.

    MobileMe currently allows a user to sync a variety of settings between Macs, including the layout of Dashboard widgets, Dock items, passwords and credentials saved in the Keychain, email account information including Mail Rules, Signatures and Smart Mailboxes, and System Preferences.

    However, all of these features will terminate as soon as a user migrates from MobileMe to the new iCloud, according to Apple’s transition pages at me.com/move.

    Other MobileMe features that are not being carried forward into iCloud include Gallery media hosting, iDisk cloud storage and its integrated iWeb web hosting, will be continued for exiting MobileMe subscribers until June 30 of 2012, even after migrating other data to iCloud. These features are easy to maintain independently from iCloud, because there is no direct equivalent in iCloud.

    Gallery media hosting is being dramatically reworked as a Photo Stream feature, a push updating feature that presents a user’s photos on the mobile devices, Mac photo albums, and on Apple TV rather than via a web site. Similarly, iDisk is making way for an entirely new type of document and data updating that focuses on a users’ own hardware rather than web-centric hosting.

    The iCloud migration process is currently only open to developers, as it requires users to have iOS 5 beta 5 on their mobile devices, Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 with the iCloud for Os X Lion beta 6 package on their Macs, and the iCloud Control Panel for Windows beta 4 running on any PCs they use.

    Apple notes that while Mail, Contacts and Calendars can be migrated from MobileMe to iCloud, shared calendars may be affected in the move, while Bookmarks will simply be imported from a client system. This indicates the reduction in data supported in the transition to iCloud may largely be explained by Apple’s hopes to keep the migration as simple and problem-free as possible, avoiding the issues users had in the move from .Mac to MobileMe.

    Another reason for the shift in features between MobileMe and iCloud may be explained by the underlying security changes that differentiate the wide open iDisk from the carefully sandboxed design of iCloud’s Documents & Data.

    Currently, data synced to MobileMe by Mac OS X Sync Services is copied into openly accessible folders. It is likely Apple hopes to completely secure all iCloud data to avoid any embarrassing lapses and contain sensitive data from potential malware attacks. Individual apps, such as Keychain Access, Launchpad and System Preferences, may be modified in the future to take advantage of iCloud’s key value data store, duplicating the old MobileMe features in a more secure fashion.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.