O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: 10.15

  • Valve celebrates Half-Life’s 25th anniversary by posting the original game to Steam storefront at 90 percent off

    Valve celebrates Half-Life’s 25th anniversary by posting the original game to Steam storefront at 90 percent off

    If you were looking for some amazing “Half-Life” retro goodness to run on an older Mac for next to nothing, you’re going to like this.

    Marking the 25th anniversary of the game’s release, Valve Software has made Half-Life next to free for a limited time, although you may need to use older hardware to actually play it on macOS.
    The famed PC game Half-Life was released to the world on November 19, 1998. The groundbreaking first-person shooter introduced many new technologies and concepts to the gaming industry and enabled Valve to become a major force by creating the Steam digital storefront.

    As of this writing, the game is available at 90 percent off. Although marked down to an incredibly low $0.99 price point, Valve has warned that the software is “not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina or above,” due to Apple’s ending of 32-bit application support with that operating system release. Workarounds include playing the game on a Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, installing Mojave on a separate APFS volume and booting to it, or using Boot Camp to launch the Windows version.

    The game is also available on Windows and Linux.

    The game places the player in the role of Gordon Freeman, a research scientist in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Following an accident, Gordon introduces an alien invasion to Earth, overrunning the facility and prompting a fight to escape. The game features incredibly immersive storytelling for a first-person shooter, as well as an in-game atmosphere and impressive visual effects. The story continued in Half-Life 2, a few episodic releases, and the VR game Half-Life Alyx.

    Half-Life requires mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of hard drive space to run. Graphics require an Nvidia GeForce 8 or higher, ATI X1600 or higher, or Intel HD 3000 or higher.

    If you’ve had a chance to download and play the game, please let us know what you think in the comments.

    Via AppleInsider and Valve

  • 1Password 7.7 released, offers macOS Big Sur support, Apple Watch Unlock, other significant changes

    If you’re a fan of 1Password, you’re going to like this.

    1Password, the ubiquitous password locker program, has been updated to version 7.7. The new version, which incorporates support for macOS Big Sur, offers the following features and changes:

    • Support for Apple Watch Unlock. If you’re using macOS 10.15 or later and using the latest devices, you’ll now see an option in 1Password preferences to turn on Unlock with Apple Watch alongside the Touch ID option.
    • 1Password X support to analyze webpages in the background. This suggests relevant items in your vault to fill forms as you browse. In other words, 1Password X anticipates the action you’re trying to take, then makes it easy to perform that action.
    • Support for virtual payment cards with Privacy. 1Password will also offer to save that card so it’s ready the next time you need it. If attackers were to breach that website, they would only gain access to your virtual payment card details, which are useless to them.
    • Improvements in the password generator, which now easily allows you to switch the password type between random alphanumeric codes, memorable passwords, and PIN codes.
    • You can also now adjust options to capitalize or use full words, and the password itself is now clearly visible in the generator window.
    • Assorted small changes that clean up the application’s performance and user experience.

    1Password 7.7 requires macOS 12.2 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new version, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via blog.1password.com

  • Apple releases Security Update 2020-002 for macOS High Sierra 10.13, macOS Mojave 10.14, and macOS Catalina 10.15 operating systems

    It never hurts to snag the security updates.

    Apple on Wednesday released Security Update 2020-002 for High Sierra and Mojave on March 24. Apple also released macOS Catalina 10.15.4, which includes the same security fixes.

    macOS 10.13 High Sierra users can snag the update via the Mac App Store. For macOS Mojave 10.14 and macOS Catalina 10.15 users, the update can be found via the Software Update application in the System Preferences.

    Full details of the updates can be found here.

    Via The Mac Observer

  • Apple releases macOS Catalina operating system

    You’ve been waiting for it and it’s here.

    Apple on Monday released macOS Catalina to the public today, complete with the following new features and changes:

    • Apple Arcade
    • iTunes split into Podcasts, Music, TV
    • Sidecar lets you use your iPad as a second display or use it as an input device as a drawing tablet
    • Accessibility based on a grid system lets customers with disabilities control their Macs easier than ever before
    • Catalyst lets developers bring iOS apps to macOS
    • Screen Time lets people monitor their usage of apps and websites and set limits
    • And more

    macOS Catalina can be located, downloaded, and installed by going to System Preferences -> Software Update.

    If you’ve had a chance to play around with macOS Catalina and have any feedback to offer, please let us know what you make of it in the comments.

    Via The Mac Observer

  • macOS Catalina 10.15 Golden Master expected today

    Only a few days after the 10th beta release of macOS Catalina 10.15, Apple is expected to release the Golden Master today.

    The macOS Catalina Golden Master 10.15 is available now for those on the beta.

    macOS Catalina will offer the following new changes and features, including the following:

    • Standalone apps for Music, TV, and Podcasts.
    • The retirement of iTunes.
    • The inclusion of the Sidecar feature, which allows an iPad to be used as a second Mac display.
    • “Find My” has been revamped to combine Find My iPhone and Find My Friends and will now be available on the Mac.A new Accessibility focused feature called Voice Control brings an even more powerful experience with rich navigation to users with verbal controls via on-device processing.
    • Screen Time will be migrated from iOS to macOS to help users be more aware of the time they spend on their notebook or desktop.
    • Apple’s UIKit framework is coming to the Mac now officially named Project Catalyst, formerly called Marzipan. This lets developers seamlessly port iPad apps to macOS.
    • Apple Arcade is also expected to arrive with macOS Catalina as well.
    • Apple Arcade also arrives with the latest software, Check out our early hands-on with the new gaming service for Mac here.

    macOS Catalina 10.15 will be compatible with the following Macs:

    • 12-inch MacBook
    • MacBook Air, 2012 and later
    • MacBook Pro, 2012 and later
    • Mac mini, 2012 and later
    • iMac, 2012 and later
    • iMac Pro
    • Mac Pro, 2013 and later

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac