Mac OS X 10.5.5 released

Earlier this week Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.5. There are a lot of fixes but I will just list the ones potentially useful to Pro App users.

* Addresses stability issues with video playback, processor core idling, and remote disc sharing for MacBook Air
* Includes extensive graphics enhancements [not sure what this means really]
* Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
* Addresses performance issues that may affect initial and in-progress Time Machine backups.
* Fixes an issue in which an incorrect alert message could appear stating that a Time Machine backup volume does not have enough free space.
* Time Machine can now back up items in ~/Library/Application Support.

Usual disclaimer applies - don't update in the middle of a project, don't update unless it's absolutely essential and always have a backup or clone of your system handy in case things go awry.

The iPhone Development Story

Mike Ash has an interesting and witty article about the hurdles he went through when submitting his application to the iTunes App Store.

He sums up at the end:


We are currently at the Step 3: Wait for your account to be verified stage. We have been at this stage for weeks now with no communication from Apple or any company appointed by Apple. And that is why none of our web apps have counterparts in the store as of yet. I fully agree with Mike that the iPhone development and submission processes are not up to the high standards we have come to expect from Apple and I hope this is a temporary phase.

[via TUAW]

QuickTime 7.5.5 released

Apple today released QuickTime 7.5.5 to coincide with iTunes 8, FrontRow and various other patches released today. The update is required for the latest iTunes update and also fixes vulnerabilities from maliciously-crafted movies and images. If you just use your machine for editing, this patch is not necessary. If you are likely to be using iTunes 8 or doing a lot of web surfing on your FCP machine (it's ideally best to avoid using your FCP machine for other purposes) I would advise waiting around for at least a week for any issues to surface.

As always, only update if it is absolutely necessary, NEVER update in the middle of a project unless there is a serious problem preventing you from completing the project, and always clone your disk before updating so that you have an exact copy of your original configuration to revert back to.

QuickTime 7.5.5 for Leopard
QuickTime 7.5.5 for Tiger

Apple releases ProRes codecs for non-FCP machines

A couple of days ago, Apple released Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac and Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows. This allows Windows users and Mac users without Final Cut Pro 6 installed on their machines to view ProRes-encoded files. This is great because in my experience, there are very few options when it comes to sending high-quality files to Windows machines and it should aid adoption of the ProRes format.

It should be noted, however, that you still need Final Cut Pro 6 in order to write ProRes files.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates but I haven't had internet access in about a month, which sucks big time.

iTunes App Store RSS feeds

As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit disappointing that Apple hasn't offered up RSS feeds for iTunes App Store applications. Well, the kind folks at Pinch Media have decided to fill that gap, offering up their own feeds. They've got four feeds listing New Applications, Recently Updated Applications, Top 100 Free Applications and Top 100 Paid Applications.

While I was on their site, I also spotted another article detailing how the percentage of free apps is falling. This doesn't really surprise me but it is a little disappointing. All of our apps so far (both web apps and desktop apps) have been free - I am running a business but I don't like charging people for something I don't feel is worth paying for. That's not because I feel the quality of DR's apps is poor, just that the functions they perform fall into a very narrow category (e.g. FCS Remover). I will undoubtedly create certain paid software applications in the future but these would be larger applications with more wide-ranging uses and not small utilities for a single purpose. It disappoints me to see people offering "flashlight" applications (basically just a white screen) for $0.99 when you could just open a blank Safari page for free to achieve the same effect. It really cheapens the store, as do the applications with loads of symbols in front of their name (e.g. "!!!!!!AAAAAAAAA++++++ Application" just to get their apps to the top of the alphabetical listing.

Unless your app is very popular (or very expensive) you will lose out because Apple won't even write you a check until you hit $250 (which is quite a high threshold compared to other revenue schemes such as Google AdSense), and if you're past the cutoff date for that particular month, you have to wait until next month to receive your check. The small apps are free money to Apple because Apple can earn interest on the money while the developer is trying to reach $250 and in some cases, they may never end up having to write that check. I know Google makes tens of millions every year from small sites that never reach the $100 threshold.

DR apps will come, I promise. Just not this month. Maybe late next month, when I should have fewer time pressures. Come the end of August, I should have some more time to work on things like this and work on improving our other apps like FCS Remover and Preference Manager, in addition to creating a few new ones that I have in my head. In the meantime, we still have the web apps.

Removing Easy Setups

A question caught my eye on Apple's support boards today. Someone had created an Easy Setup in Final Cut Pro, deleted it and yet it was still present in the Easy Setups menu.

Here's how to remove them properly:

1. Close Final Cut Pro.

2. Go to /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Custom Settings and delete the preset in question.

3. Go to ~/Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data and delete the file called Final Cut Pro 6.0 Prefs (or whatever version you have).

Alternatively, a much easier method is to use our free Preference Manager application to do it for you, along with a whole host of other options.

4. Empty Trash and start up FCP again.

The downside to this is that you lose your user preferences and must set them again.

Browser corruption bug still not fixed

I can't believe Apple still hasn't fixed this. This bug has been in Final Cut Pro for as long as I can remember (since at least version 5) and is so simple to replicate that you'd think they'd have fixed it by now. I've been experiencing it for a long time but for some reason it really annoyed me today.

1. In the Browser, modify the height of the window so that the bottom element in the list is at the very bottom of the window but not so much that the scroll bar appears.



2. Use your mouse's scroll wheel to scroll downwards.



It's really annoying when it happens accidentally, especially if a client is looking over your shoulder. I fix it by making the window a bit smaller to force the scroll bar to appear.

This is by no means the worst bug of Final Cut Pro but it really shouldn't have been here for so long. It's ridiculously simple to fix because it's so easily replicable.

What to do if you lose your Pro App serial number

Apple have a new AppleCare doc on their site asking a question that comes up quite often - what do you do if you lose your Final Cut Studio (or other Pro App) serial number?

You need to fax or email them proof of purchase giving details of the product purchased, the price paid, when it was purchased and the name and address of the reseller. I am emphasizing reseller here because the purchase must have been made from either Apple or an authorized reseller in order to qualify. If you bought it from eBay or from a friend, you're out of luck, unless they happen to be authorized.

This actually raises one more question - legal purchasers of Final Cut Studio are allowed to transfer their license to one other person as long as they remove all traces of FCS from their system, but most people sell their software and don't bother to fill in the transfer form. The article doesn't state whether the recipient of the transferred license would be eligible for this scheme, although I would imagine the answer is yes. Apple used to provide a way of offering feedback on AppleCare docs but unfortunately they no longer do this.

Hopefully we'll have another doc up soon answer another common question - what do you do if your disc gets lost, stolen or damaged?

[via LAFCPUG]

Third party Mac Pro Blu-ray drives

MCE Technologies has announced the availability of an internal 6x Blu-ray drive for the Mac Pro that seamlessly fits into one of the existing bays inside the machine.



The drive alone is $499 but there is also a version bundled with Roxio Toast 9 for $599. An external version is available for $749. It requires OS X 10.5.2 or higher but no device drivers are needed.

Currently the only Mac applications capable of burning Blu-ray movies are Roxio Toast 9 and Adobe Encore CS3, however there are quite a few more available for Windows if you have a Boot Camp partition available.

[via TUAW]

Leopard 10.5.4 update

Yesterday Apple released OS X 10.5.4. I'm going to post the full list of changes as it's quite short. I get the impression that this is not the full list of actual changes because Apple asked developers to test more than just these areas in pre-release versions of this patch, unless those additions were taken out for some reason.

General

* Includes recent Apple security updates.
* Resolves an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server.
* Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
* Addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application.
* Improves L2TP VPN client reliability.

AirPort

* Addresses AirPort reliability issues with 5GHz networks.
* Addresses AirPort issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal

* Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
* Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
* Addresses an issue in which events in all calendars affect availability. A checkbox now enables information-only calendars to be transparent from free/busy lookups.
* Resolves a UI issue preventing delegated calendars from showing up as a separate window.
* Addresses an issue with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another.
* Resolves an issue in which iCal may not delete events after a specified time interval, even when set to do so in iCal preferences.
* Addresses an issue in which To Dos cannot be marked private.

Safari

* Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages.
* Resolves issues that may be encountered when accessing secure web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card.

Spaces and Expose

* Addresses an issue in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
* Fixes an issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.
* Resolves an Expose issue that may result in only a subset of windows being shown.

Delta installer (88 MB)
Combo installer (561 MB)

The combo updater is recommended for safety. Usual warnings apply - clone your system before installing, don't update in the middle of a project and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Tiger users today received the Security Update 2008-004 patch which was included in the above update for Leopard.

PPC
Intel

This update marks a milestone for me. I always wait until at least version x.x.4 of an operating system before upgrading to it for professional use. This gives Apple time to iron out bugs and improve stability and gives third party developers time to make their software compatible with the new OS. So I will now be thinking about upgrading. It's complicated, however, by the fact that I am still on a G5 PowerMac and have a fair amount of PPC software that cost an arm and a leg to buy, so what I will probably end up doing is buying an Intel Mac Pro and gradually upgrading my software packages one at a time.