lion

Mountain Lion now on 3.2 percent of Macs, firm says

Apple has not yet released sales numbers for its Mountain Lion operating system, but a new report suggests it's off to a stronger start than predecessors.

Advertising and analytics company Chitika today says that 3.2 percent of Macs are now running Mountain Lion, Apple's latest release of OS X that went on sale Wednesday. By comparison, the firm says it took Lion (the previous OS X release) three months to get a 14 percent share.

"It is rather impressive for an operating system to capture 3.2 percent of market web usage after just 48 hours … Read more

Apple Up-to-Date Program woes continue

Apple's Up-to-Date Program for issuing qualified users free copies of its latest version of OS X has been a bit of a rocky road.

For those who purchased Mac systems after June 10, Apple is offering a free upgrade to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which requires submitting a serial number and purchase information to Apple's Up-to-Date Web site followed by receiving a redemption code for Mountain Lion in the Mac App Store. Unfortunately this process has hit a few snags.

Apple's Up-to-Date Program prematurely went live on Monday, two days before it was scheduled to … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

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

This week readers wrote in with questions about switching between 32- and 64-bit mode in OS X, using Target Disk Mode via Thunderbolt connections, how long Snow Leopard will be supported now that Mountain Lion is released, the best route to take for upgrading to Mountain Lion, and options for adding RAM to an older iMac system. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, post them in the comments!

Question: Switching between 32- and 64-bit … Read more

How to use AirPlay Mirroring in Mountain Lion

If you've managed to get your hands on Mountain Lion for Mac, there's a really cool feature called AirPlay Mirroring where you can show your desktop and more on a big screen hooked up to an Apple TV. AirPlay Mirroring is something you might use when you want to show your work at a meeting, show your photos to your family, watch video, and so on, but on an Apple TV-connected big screen. Here's how to do it.

Editors' note:Unfortunately, AirPlay Mirroring only works on Macs made in 2011 or later. For those on older machines … Read more

Tackling Mountain Lion download errors

Apple's Mountain Lion upgrade is available through the Mac App Store, and while most purchases are downloading just fine, a few people are experiencing a problem where the download will not complete. Instead of initiating a download, the Mac App Store issues a warning stating it could not complete the purchase because the product distribution file could not be verified, indicating damage to the file or an invalid digital signature.

People experiencing this problem have tried quitting and relaunching the Mac App Store, restarting their systems, and even trying Safe Mode, and have also tried waiting to see if … Read more

Mountain Lion's PowerNap feature requires firmware update

One of the new features in OS X Mountain Lion is the PowerNap energy-saving option that allows newer MacBook Pro and MacBook Air systems to continue to use network and backup services when in sleep mode. However, even after installing the OS X Mountain Lion upgrade, qualified systems may not be able to use the PowerNap feature.

When activated in the system's Energy Saver system preferences, PowerNap will perform hourly checks for new e-mail and updates to Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, iCloud documents, and Photo Stream. It will also maintain a connection for Apple's Find My Mac service. … Read more

How to sync your iPhone, iPad with Mountain Lion via iCloud

With the introduction of iCloud -- Apple's service for storing your data and content online rather than on your devices -- you can now sync all of your stuff wirelessly between your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. This is great for adding things like appointments into your calendar as they will instantly appear on all of the Apple gizmos you're using.

If you haven't set up iCloud on your devices, it's easy to do, but you have to ensure you're using the same Apple ID on all your gadgets. By default, my iPhone was set to … Read more

Mountain Lion roars onto Macs

Mountain Lion roars onto Mac computers and Netflix is getting some new competition:

Mac users can now upgrade their operating systems to version 10.8. The official CNET review praises Mountain Lion for its cloud functionality and useful updates to some core apps. However, a lackluster gamecenter and a dictation feature that requires an internet connection are a bit disappointing. So should you upgrade? If it were any more than $20 we'd say no, but the price for this update is just right.

Apple also announced its Q3 earnings, and while iPad sales soared, a drop in iPhone consumption … Read more

AirPlay mirroring hands-on: Free Hulu on your Apple TV

Apple's Mountain Lion operating system is packed with improvements, but home theater enthusiasts have been patiently waiting for one feature in particular: AirPlay mirroring.

That's because AirPlay mirroring solves the question I'm most often asked: how do I stream any Web video from a laptop directly to your TV, wirelessly? With an Apple TV and a Mac running Mountain Lion that supports AirPlay mirroring (check Apple's Web site to see if your Mac is compatible), anything you can see on your computer's screen -- including Flash video and free Hulu content -- you can stream … Read more