Some interesting Mac freebies you might have not even heard about. If you have lready worked on a Mac, you may know that a «serious lack of software» for OS X problem is overestimated. Yes, there’re much less programs for Mac than for Windows, but still you may easily find a good alternative to what you’re used to. Mac OS X 10.4.2, which is due for release from the company this week, will reportedly deliver over 80 fixes and enhancements to Tiger, in addition to those included with Mac OS X 10.4.1. Among the many fixes expected in the release are Finder updates to finding by kind and using Slideshow, updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers, and improved.
Apple Computer this month is expected to update its retail copies of Mac OS X 10.4 to include the first two maintenance releases to the Tiger operating system, ensuring that all new customers obtain the most stable and reliable version of Mac OS X directly out of the box.
The company's online store in Canada is already listing for sale the current version of Mac OS X as 'OS X V10.4.2 'Tiger' Retail,' although the latest official release remains at 10.4.1. Developers contacted by AppleInsider also said they are expecting to receive Mac OS X 10.4.2 on optical media -- something Apple did not offer with the release of Mac OS X 10.4.1 last month.
Mac OS X 10.4.2, which is due for release from the company this week, will reportedly deliver over 80 fixes and enhancements to Tiger, in addition to those included with Mac OS X 10.4.1.
Among the many fixes expected in the release are Finder updates to finding by kind and using Slideshow, updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers, and improved autologin for managed user accounts.
Other areas of change will reportedly improve user experiences with AirPort and wireless access, iDisk synching, installation reliability, and file sharing using AFP and SMB/CIFS network file services.
The release is also rumored to deliver enhancements to Address Book, Automator, Core Graphics, Core Audio, Core Image, iCal, iChat, Mail, Safari, and Stickies.
Sources tell AppleInsider that Mac OS X 10.4.2 will likely arrive in two versions: a 42MB Delta release containing only the changes made since Mac OS X 10.4.1, and a 55MB Combo update that will pack all the enhancements made to Tiger since its inaugural release on April 29th.
According to reports already present on several Internet sites, Apple over the weekend provided its developers with Mac OS X 10.4.2 build 8C29, which at the time contained no known bugs.
Still, it's rumored that Apple continues to work on Mac OS X 10.4.2 this week and is considering builds from the 8C3x milestone as final candidates.
The latest generation of Mac applications have really focused on the way an application looks. Developers are creating beautiful user interfaces and slick looking icons that make their apps more pleasing to look at. I appreciate the time and energy that people have put into making their apps look great.
Here's a list of 10 Mac OS X applications with really cool icons. What are your favorite OS X application icons?
AppZapper
Imagewell Mac Free Version
An uninstaller application on steroids - AppZapper is not only useful, but has a killer icon.
Cyberduck
This is the only open-source FTP and SFTP application that will run on my mac. While it's not as efficient as Transmit for SFTP transfers, Cyberduck is free and has a great icon.
ImageWell
'The Handy Image Editor that will save you time and money.' ImageWell is a program that really lives up to its hype. I had my doubts about ImageWell, but find it extremely useful when I want to make a quick edit to a picture without spending the time to open Photoshop or Fireworks. Oh, and it has a great icon too!
Midnight Inbox
I had high expectations for Midnight Inbox. I've been looking for a good GTD app and Midnight Inbox looked promising. Unfortunately, the application is so confusing that it's nearly impossible to use. On the bright side, the developer did spend a lot of time on the icon, and it looks great! I'll be keeping my eye on this app.
Little Snitch
Little Snitch monitors outgoing network traffic to let you know when applications are connecting to the internet. It also gives you the ability to block interent access for certain applications. Little Snitch has many of the features of ZoneAlarm with a much cooler name and icon.
SuperDuper!
This application makes fully bootable backups of your Mac hard drive. I like SuperDuper's icon because it moves beyond the normal shiny 3D look of most OS X icons and does something more original.
svnX
SvnX is a must-have application for mac developers who need to work with Subversion repositories (a version control system). Their icon subtly displays the idea of version control and looks amazing in my dock.
Tangerine!
Imagewell Mac Free Trial
Tangerine is an application to help you 'create magical playlists'. Huh? I haven't found this app very useful, but the icon is sweet!
Toast
Roxio's all-purpose CD and DVD authoring software has one of the most clever icons around. Sure, it's expensive and doesn't smoke while it burns, but Toast's feature set is unmatched in the macintosh market.
Transmit
Imagewell Mac Free
Transmit is commonly considered to be the best mac FTP application. It comes with a very detailed, toy-like icon. I guess these guys didn't hear the speech from Senator Ted Stevens about the Internet. After all, 'It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes.'