mac

An ongoing issue for some people who have installed Mountain Lion is the inability to access their systems' internal optical drives. Once installed, inserting a disc results in a couple of noises before the disc is ejected. While this can sometimes happen for burned discs that are no longer readable, it appears to happen for all discs, be they home-burned or commercial.

If this is happening on your system, first try testing the problem with multiple operating systems to see if the problem is hardware or software based. If your system came with gray boot discs, try inserting them and … Read more

Computer malware authors exploit weaknesses in software. Developers combat computer crooks by patching their programs to block malware attacks. That's why we're encouraged to keep our software up-to-date. Every now and then, a software update fails, leaving our systems a little less secure.

I got a first-hand look at the problem the other day when the Apple Software Update program balked at installing iTunes version 11.0.3 on my Windows 7 PC. The installer reported "insufficient privileges" and suggested I log on as an administrator or contact my system administrator. Of course, I was logged … Read more

Apple's Preview program is the default PDF viewer in OS X, and has a number of options for annotating and otherwise managing PDF files. One of its features is support for Quartz filters, which can be applied to PDFs and image files to convert them, for example into sepia, black-and-white, or gray scale. A Quartz filter can be used to reduce the PDF's file size, but while it's effective at doing so, you may find images in the resulting PDF too grainy to use.

These compression routines are done by adjusting the embedded image quality of the … Read more

Windows users, rejoice! Leap Motion is coming to a PC near you, and for the first time, you can see what it will be like.

Today, Leap Motion released a video showing what its 3D gesture-control system will be like on a Windows computer. That's important, given that it has struck partnerships with Asus and Hewlett-Packard.

With Leap and Windows, the company said in a blog post, "You'll be able to browse the Web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can … Read more

Signs may point to a refresh of Apple's popular MacBook Air. Possibly next month.

AppleInsider said Friday that at large online retailers like MacConnection, stock has vanished for the popular 13.3-inch Air with a 1.8GHz processor and 256GB solid-state drive.

That said, Best Buy has stock, but it's the "only reseller on AppleInsider's Mac Price Guide that is currently advertising available inventory," according to the Apple-centric site.

Dwindling inventory at authorized Apple outlets is usually an indication that a product refresh is imminent.

And what, pray tell, will Apple deliver with the next … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions on the locations of the various libraries in OS X, the options for using an old internal hard drive from a MacBook as an external hard drive, and the options for managing Wi-Fi networks that span greater distances than their radios can cover.

I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: The location of various libraries in OS X MacFixIt reader &… Read more

When Apple releases Mac firmware updates, the system undergoes a special installation procedure in which it shows a progress bar on a gray screen and then reboots. If you have an update available but do not see the progress bar when applying it, it may not have installed properly. As such, you may see the update still showing in Apple's Software Update service.

There are some special requirements for handling firmware updates as opposed to standard software updates, and if they are not met, the system may fail to install the update.

The first requirement is to ensure that … Read more

Though OS X offers great multitasking features, having multiple windows open in multiple applications can sometimes hinder concentration. If you don't want to put the application you're mainly working with in full-screen mode, there are other options.

For example, you can minimize windows to the OS X Dock, but this has its limitations, including filling the Dock so it expands across your screen. Additionally, it requires you to click and expand the window from the Dock to preview its contents, which results in the documents being reordered in the Dock when you minimize it again.

If you're … Read more