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20 Years Ago Steve Jobs Unveiled Mac OS X Aqua

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

At Macworld January 5, 2000 Steve Jobs revealed a new user interface for Mac OS X called Aqua. Aqua introduced the Dock, it redesigned the Finder, and it introduced a new design language that made certain UI elements look 3D, like radio buttons, checkboxes, scroll bars, and new kinds of animations. Mr. Jobs introduced it by saying:

When you design a new user interface, you have to start off humbly. You have to start off saying “What are the simplest elements in it? What does a button look like? And you spend months working on a button.

You can watch the video below, and read the original press release here.

Dissecting APFS and macOS Catalina with Mike Bombich – Mac Geek Gab 796

· John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · Mac Geek Gab Podcast

Carbon Copy Cloner developer – and APFS guru! – Mike Bombich joins John and Dave this week to talk APFS, backups, upgrades, and more. Listen as your two favorite geeks become your three favorite geeks, sharing everything they know plus some cool stuff found to kick it up a notch into the new year.

Be Good and Don't Get Caught – Mac Geek Gab 793

· John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · Mac Geek Gab Podcast

macOS Catalina might finally be ready for prime-time with 10.15.2. Your two favorite geeks discuss. Then it’s on to your tips and questions. Listen as John and Dave talk through Keyboard Shortcuts, third-party display issues, full-page screenshots, watching TV in multiple locations, outbound VPN, Mail, Bluetooth, and more! We guarantee you’ll learn at least five new things before the band plays you out for the week.

When Your Mac Sleeps Too Deeply – Mac Geek Gab 792

· John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · Mac Geek Gab Podcast

Sleeping computers are good, until they don’t wake up. Thankfully, John and Dave are here each week to answer your questions, including this one. But that’s not all! Listen for answers to questions about Apple Watch hourly chimes, registering Apple devices, and tips on using the camera adapter between two iPhones, opening windows in new tabs, and more. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things on this week’s episode of Mac Geek Gab.

3 Cool Ways Apple Could Make Major macOS Upgrades Easier

· John Martellaro · Editorial

It’s getting to be quite a process to upgrade a Mac to a new version of macOS. Here are three things John thinks could make the process less nerve-wracking and increase user confidence.

Build Better Web Apps and Software with This Full-Featured API Tool for Mac: $21.24

· Bryan Chaffin · TMO Deals

We have a deal on Paw, a full-featured HTTP client that lets you test and describe the APIs you build or consume. It features a native macOS interface to compose requests, inspect server responses, generate client code and export API definitions. Paw is $24.99 through our deal, but coupon code BFSAVE15 brigs it down to $21.24 at checkout.

macOS Mail Stores Encrypted Emails in Plain Text

· Andrew Orr · Link

Apple mail logo

IT specialist Bob Gendler found that macOS Mail was storing encrypted emails in plain text. He first notified Apple on July 29, but only got a temporary fix from the company 99 days later on November 5.

The main thing I discovered was that the snippets.db database file in the Suggestions folder stored my emails. And on top of that, I found that it stored my S/MIME encrypted emails completely UNENCRYPTED. Even with Siri disabled on the Mac, it *still* stores unencrypted messages in this database!

Mr. Gendler shard a fix in his blog post.

Hey Presto! I Outsmarted Myself! – Mac Geek Gab 787

· John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · Mac Geek Gab Podcast

Hey Presto! I Outsmarted Myself! – Mac Geek Gab 787

Tips about new functionality, including moving Catalina’s windows, scanning with your iPhone, fixing mail, running cron jobs, and downloading installers from the Terminal are just scratching the surface. Then it’s on to diagnosing some network problems and learning how Time Machine can keep your volumes from being resized. Listen as John and Dave walk through all of these, to ensure everyone (including them!) learns at least five new things this week.

6 Reasons Why Apple’s New Operating Systems are Buggy

· Andrew Orr · Link

macOS Catalina logo

You may have experienced some bugs with iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. David Shayer shares six possible reasons for this.

The betas started out buggy at WWDC in June, which is not unexpected, but even after Apple removed some features from the final releases in September, more problems have forced the company to publish quick updates. Why? Based on my 18 years of experience working as an Apple software engineer, I have a few ideas.

What I’m most annoyed about is the fact that some shortcuts have been broken by iOS 13.