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Mac OS X 10.6.6 Introduces App Store
Orome1 writes "Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.6 which increases the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. What's also very important in this release is the introduction of the long-awaited Mac App Store with more than 1,000 free and paid apps."
People were previously not able to buy enough Apple products online, in the Apple store, and Best Buy and Walmart. Finally a new way to consume more!
I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
I think this comes as no surprise to anyone. It's an interesting move, and it brings us one step closer to the end of the "PC era." Is this really what people want? I guess it must be.
Apple "innovates" again and re-invents the package manager Linux has had for ages...
Can I get Photoshop CS9 for $0.99 with ad's all over in it?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Um, I'm using SL with Exchange 2003. No problems.
If the iOS App Store has been evidence of anything, this isn't necessarily a good thing. The App Store will obviously garnish lots of attention, and will likely be the primary sales point for most Mac software within a few years. The problem I see is that the more use this App Store sees, the less power developers will have, as more and more people use the Mac App Store for their primary software needs. I would also be worried about the possibility of Apple closing off software sales outside of the App Store, which has been the primary policy regarding iOS applications since it's initial release.
Shudders.
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
But do Debian and FreeBSD repositories have anything like the Mac App Store guidelines? These can be read to reject entire categories of applications, as I pointed out in a comment to the Armageddon story. Watch the sparks fly over the precise interpretation of these guidelines.
TFA makes it sound a lot like apt or the package manager for any Linux, except here you have to pay for some of the apps, and without a community repo.
They had to change a few features and re-brand it to avoid confusing it with the full version, but you can already download it:
http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/Download.html
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Pixelmator can now be fighting on the same place as Photoshop.
Not if the ranking algorithm includes counting inbound links from web sites. Photoshop's existing brand recognition may serve to boost its visibility in the App Store.
What happened to the price Armageddon that Slashdot so intelligently reported on yesterday? I see $15, $20, and $75 apps in that article! Shouldn't they all have fallen to $1 to compete against the iOS apps???
Looks like CmdrTaco has been studying at the Fox News School of Journalistic Neutrality. I believe the preferred formulation would be, "Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.6 which Apple claims 'increases the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac'".
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
It’s nice and secure and you don’t have to think outside the box. Er, cage.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
without a community repo.
And that's the big difference. Developers can't just set up their own PPAs and the like; instead, they have to pay $8.25 per month for hosting and rely on review guidelines that will be hotly contested.
I predict this will be the most flamebait-laced thread in the history of /.
> everyone always told me macs were perfectly safe and never get viruses!
OH HAI WE PATCHED SOME 0DAY SPLOITZ B4 NE1 COULD P0WNZUS
egypt urnash minimal art.
It would be interesting to hear from anyone with more experience on the subject.
PC users don't like that. Mac users will like whatever Steve Jobs tells them to like.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Using software update, anyone know if this can run without mods on my hackintosh?
I've yet to see that Safari is automatically installed on Windows if you just want QuickTime. The option is there, fine, but don't people complain if their options are limited for the sake of simplicity and ease of use? Either way, I feel that one bunch of people praises everything Apple does without critical or even rational thought and the others just bitch and moan. Apple indeed seems to be the new Microsoft.
Dang Apple and their short-term support of hardware.
Since you have an intel Mac there's always the Linux upgrade option. Personally, I plan on installing Slackware on my iMac when Apple decides that they no longer wish to support it. I agree, their support life is way too short.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
And I would be willing to bet that you are using IMAP or POP3 rather than a native Exchange 2003 connection.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
Um, I'm using SL with Exchange 2003. No problems.
Yes, but you're connecting to Exchange 2003 with IMAP or POP, so you don't get calendar/address book integration.
An OS with a repository of thousands of free apps? So it's like what we have had in the open source world for YEARS??? Ah, no, free as in "free of charges", not freedom...
What the fuck are you on about? The Mac App Store has the same requirements as the Snow Leopard release:
1) Mac system running Intel processor;
2) 1 GB of RAM;
3) 5 GB of disk space;
4) DVD Drive
That's it. The entirety of the "required specs" to run Snow Leopard. There is no Intel mac that's been released since 2006 that doesn't have at least those specs, unless you ripped hardware out of it, or put together a Hackintosh of your own, and did it badly, and cheaply.
Or are you complaining because *you decided* not to upgrade to Snow Leopard, and now can't upgrade to the latest Snow Leopard patch, which includes the App Store?
I don't think we're going to see this blow up like the iPhone app store. I don't think people are crazy for apps - they are crazy for mobile apps. The mobile platform offers a specific set of benefits and drawbacks that makes it ideal for the app explosion we've seen:
- Location awareness
- Accelerometer functionality
- Forward and/or rear-facing cameras
- The novelty and utility of the web in your pocket
- Bandwidth limitations and limitations imposed by the form factor, reducing the utility of what's possible in the browser and raising the relative value of proprietary applications designed for the form factor
In my head, the average Apple fan's interaction with the store will be something like the following: "Awesome, a new app store for my desktop/laptop! Let's check it out.... oh. I guess I don't really need any apps because Safari already gets me everywhere I need to go, and rest of these aren't apps, they're just programs." People aren't as likely to pick up cheap distractions and website-replacement apps for a desktop or laptop. Maybe it will make them more likely to purchase higher-priced software, but this isn't going to be another "app revolution."
If "developers will hand over 30 percent of the purchase price to Apple," what will consumer prices be?
I once was stupid enough to purchase ipod, moved to OSX and purchased an ipad for my wife two years later. Never got used to OSX and the rest of apple jail (app store, sync restrictions, itunes restrictions, etc). The moment my macbook became my only home computer OSX was erased and replaced with Linux. Will never ever buy any of restrictive shite. The idea of paying my own money and yet being dictated what to use, where to purchase and how to upgrade makes me angry. I've seen projects (in Oz) when they somehow manage to move tens of schools to mac + ipads for kindergartens yet they killed Xserve thus proving they're not interested in providing any decent infrastructure or complete solution. All they want is to squeeze stupid ppl like me selling fart apps and other drm'ed content.
Apple finally invented a shitty, drm'd version of apt! Hooray!
I encourage all software vendors to avoid the Apple App store. Why would you want to contribute to a companies effort to become the central point of software distribution when they've demonstrated oppressive practices such as censorship and unfair rejection on their IOS app store? No, they won't be controlling all apps on the Mac (..for now...) but its important not to support a company that has repeatedly put small software companies out of business by changing their standards and rejecting applications from their iPhone store.
Why do we need to upgrade and reboot the operating system to run, just, a new application? What has changed in the OS itself that enables this AppStore application to run (and I'm confident that it's not the additional Postscript patch) ?
Security? But... but... everyone always told me macs were perfectly safe and never get viruses!
I think they're referring to the security of your information, but go ahead and keep trolling. As a side benefit, yes, this would provide more oversight if a virus ever did successfully make it to the wild.
Also, a lot of people think this is something that's forced upon the user and is the only place to buy an application (which clearly isn't the case.) I think it's meant for the majority of the computer-using public that really has no idea that there are other options than going to a brick-and-mortar store for software.
Weren't intel macs first released in January 2006? (In other words wouldn't every intel mac meet those specs?)
My four year old Intel-Mac doesn't have the required specs.
It has. You are just too cheap to spend $29 on Snow Leopard.
...all OS X users are sincerely fucked.
iOS devices outsell OS X devices 7 times over. OS X also doesn't provide further revenue for Apple in App Sales. Today's release is market research to see what happens when an App Store is present on a desktop system. If it's at all successful, 10.7 will be the last operating system in which a user has the option to legally install their own software without going through the app store.
Steve will present it as a future free from viruses and crashes, and 99% of the user base will nod their little domes in approval and buy it.
You're right, though I believe some of them (esp. the early Minis) don't fully support all Snow Leopard features - some of the video stuff, I believe, actually requires ATI or Nvidia graphics, and iirc, the early minis used the integrated Intel graphics.
This is just going to be the Apple Sweat Shop. Apps that used to be $75 now for $25 and Apple taking a big chunk. Not many developers are going to survive. I'll keep buying from indie programmers and not from the App Store. I'd rather dead directly with the developer.
How the frack was this modded 'Insightful'? Are there modding Trolls now?
I have a Mac Mini Core Solo, 1.50ghz ... works fine. And this was the slowest intel mac shipped.
Since you have an intel Mac there's always the Linux upgrade option.
PPC Macs are an option too: http://penguinppc.org/
Dilbert RSS feed
Not to nitpick, but the MBA come without the DVD drive. :-)
[--- PGP key and more on http://www.root42.de ---]
I'm sold on the concept, but the store sells (and will undoubtedly sell more) apps that I've already paid for and have license/serial/whatever. I'm wondering what the process will be for letting Apple know I've purchased these? I would guess that (with Apple's help) the manufacturer would offer a "coupon" to existing users that lets them download the app for free or upgrade fee if it's already been registered? BBEdit, for example?
I'm also wondering why they didn't roll the iOS apps into this process - iTunes is really poorly suited to apps.
I've had Macs for about 6 years now. So far I haven't found anything that restricted me. I do have enough sense to keep my data in formats that I can move around but there's nothing in OS X that forces me to stay there. On the Mac I keep my photos in iPhoto but only use jpgs, all my music is in iTunes but ever file is an unrestricted mp3, I use Firefox or Chrome, OpenOffice, Emacs, Adium, KeepassX, etc. A couple of times I've backed up my data onto an external drive and moved it over to a Linux computer and was able to use all of my data. I use a Mac purely for convenience but I could be just as functional with Linux. I don't have an iPhone or Pad so I can't argue with you on those.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
and 99% of the user base will nod their little domes in approval and buy it
Not just a fanboy, but a condescending fanboy. How charming.
Security? But... but... everyone always told me macs were perfectly safe and never get viruses!
Viruses != trojans.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
The built-in mac email program used to work perfectly with Exchange 2003.
When snow leopard came out, Apple removed the native Exchange 2003 connectivity entirely.
Why? No one knows. Oddly enough, iphone still works perfectly with Exchange 2003.
Umm...there WAS no native Exchange 2003 connectivity in OS X, ever. It was not removed; it never existed.
The only way to connect to Exchange 2003 is if IMAP is enabled by the Exchange admin. If it is, then it "works perfectly" in every version of every email client on every platform.
Here are the stats I see on our website (major financial institution):
The remaining 2.73% is crap data.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
It's becoming a part of the OS.
iOS devices outsell OS X devices 7 times over. OS X also doesn't provide further revenue for Apple in App Sales.
OS X in fact provides a huge amount of revenue. It sells laptops and computers for Apple.
If you listen to the last quarterly report, Apple stated that if you took just the computer division alone, it would be a fortune 500 company by itself.
It's pretty obvious the Mac as we know it is going to be around for a long time.
I agree that lots of people are also buying iOS devices, but they will tend to be companion devices (although there are people buying only iOS devices and that's it).
As for a world where 99% of the population has no more viruses (thinking computers will be immune from crashes in our lifetime is wishful thinking), well what's wrong with that for MOST PEOPLE? The fact that you think of it as horrific shows you care not a whit for the poor average user who doesn't undertstand how to maintain a computer, but only about your own selfish needs.
We'll always have computers we can tinker with. But isn't it about time we ALSO had computers where people didn't have to? That's what iOS devices, and to a lesser extent the Mac, are meant to be.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
She sells sea shells at the App store.
True, the DVD is an install-time requirement only; if you want to install it on an MBA, you'll need the external superdrive or the remote install using a DVD drive shared from another system.
(Meanwhile my 9 year old XP-PC is still going strong and is upgradeable to Seven
*blink*
You must be joking, what are the specs on that box?
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
No, all Intel Macs are fully supported. Some advanced features might not work with early Intel graphics chips, but those are not required features. The OS simply uses alternate methods to get the same thing done - with less eye candy. I have a core duo that works great with Snow Leopard - first iteration of the Intel Macs.
Then that simply underscores the fact that C64_love is lying through his teeth in a blatant attempt at trolling:
There is NO 4-year-old intel Mac (early 2007) that "does not meet the requirements" for Snow Leopard.
Rapidshare?
My dual G5 is IMMUNE to your evil "App Store" Virus. Suck it, Jobs.
It's still a supercomputer, and it's STILL a weapon.
Even if I can't watch Flash video on it.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
How high is the death toll of the predicted Macdevelopermageddon so far?
Fandroids hate facts.
My dual G5 ... Even if I can't watch Flash video on it.
Go back to Flash 9.x - it becomes almost bearable and most things still work.
Fandroids hate facts.
Yes, I know Apple already gave up on those of us that administer Macs when it torched the XServe line, but do they kindly provide a way to not install this as part of the core OS, or limit it?
It appears to require an administrator password the first time it's run, but all subsequent runs go without it. So the administrator can't use it, lest they unlock the store. But in the meantime, Apple drops their shiny, happy "new" app right into everyone's menu bar.
I gave my sister an old Dell Optiplex Pentium 4 (Prescott system dated 2003, 3GHz+). I spent $50 on it get it up to 2GB of RAM and dropped in a 7400GS video card. My brother in law plans on dropping in a new hard drive and trying windows 7 in it.
And it -more- than meets the specs. I could see an even older unit pulling it off. Really, 32-bit Vista and 7 run on just about anything, as long as the video card is remotely modern and you've dumped ram into it, in my experience at least.
Exactly. I used to respond to his posts but now for the most part I don't even bother. Some people are just so far out there you can't reach them with logic, and when they get to the point that they're misinterpreting or ignoring reality, it's no longer worth the effort.
You don't have to use it. If you never open it up, then you'd never know it was there.
One thing that concerns me regarding the App Store is whether they will continue with artificial national boundaries for their content. I am quite mobile regarding country, having lived in the UK and now in the US, and one thing that really pissed me off regarding my purchases for my iPod touch is that when I moved here and moved my account to the US, I can no longer get updates for most of the apps I bought in the UK. Moreover, the couple of books I bought while in the UK are not accessible to me while my account information says I am in the US. The main advantage of the previous Mac Software was that if you bought the DVD at the store, you could move country and reinstall your app. Does anybody know if there is any restriction about country for this App store then?
www.meneguzzi.eu/felipe
In the early days of safari on windows they put it selected by default in the list of "updates" with no indication that it was a whole new program rather than an update to something already installed.
I think they may have changed it now but it's a while since i've used a windows computer with apple stuff installed so i'm not sure.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
I can't sign in to the app store download apps. The sign in page says MZfinance.guide.notoken. Any help please?
4) DVD Drive
There is no Intel mac that's been released since 2006 that doesn't have at least those specs, unless you ripped hardware out of it, or put together a Hackintosh of your own, and did it badly, and cheaply.
Or are you complaining because *you decided* not to upgrade to Snow Leopard, and now can't upgrade to the latest Snow Leopard patch, which includes the App Store?
Uh, what about the Macbook Airs ? Do *they* have a DVD drive ?
I gave my sister an old Dell Optiplex Pentium 4 (Prescott system dated 2003, 3GHz+). I spent $50 on it get it up to 2GB of RAM and dropped in a 7400GS video card. My brother in law plans on dropping in a new hard drive and trying windows 7 in it.
And it -more- than meets the specs. I could see an even older unit pulling it off. Really, 32-bit Vista and 7 run on just about anything, as long as the video card is remotely modern and you've dumped ram into it, in my experience at least.
That would be an upgraded 7 year old system, not a 9 year old system. Average system configurations changed radically between 2001 and 2003 due to the uptake of WinXP.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
Oh my god, you're so clever!
Actually yes, Macbook Airs *do* have a DVD drive. It just happens to be an external peripheral, known as the External SuperDrive.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC684ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA2Nw&mco=MTk0MjUxMjc
And if you want to install Snow Leopard on an MBA, you will need one of those (or perhaps a similar external DVD drive), or another system capable of sharing *its* DVD drive for a networked install.
I updated my system software and browsed the store earlier this morning. I found and purchased a couple games (Flight Control HD is great with a tablet!) and a really useful utility (Find Any File -- it can search within a file name, unlike OSX's find). As I was looking over some of the other selections, I inadvertently clicked on on of the sidebars, where Apple Remote Desktop ($79.99) was listed. There is no warning if you click on the Buy button -- the application was downloaded, installed, and charged to my account faster than I could say, "Noooooooooooooooo!"
I have an email into Apple Support, I am hoping they will refund the transaction (I haven't even opened the application once), but who knows... I mentioned in my email that you ought to get a popup or screen indicating that something pricey was about to happen.
Be careful where you click.
-g-
That would be an upgraded 7 year old system, not a 9 year old system.
Happy new year! Its 2011. 2003 is now 8 years ago, not 7.
Average system configurations changed radically between 2001 and 2003 due to the uptake of WinXP.
I disagree. RAM jumped from 128 to 256/512. That's about it. Northwood/Willamette P4's were superseded by Prescott... which would have happened anyway. Piles of people including me upgraded our older Win98/ME/2k PCs with Pentium III 500/800/1000MHz CPUs to XP.
Having said that a 9 year old system with a northwood cpu and 256/512MB of ram would need the same $50 in upgrades... 2GB RAM and a modern video card. The directx video card requirement kills a lot of old laptops, but its a minor and inexpensive upgrade on a desktop.
I would be more happy if Apple released a Darwin CD for generic PC with their open source packages , even if they charged it for 50$. I have no need for Cocoa or Appstore or Quicktime. I am fine with macports or pkgsrc.
This is why Apple will never be in enterprise. Many businesses still run XP and are only now upgrading. With Apple, if you use 2 year old OS, you are obsolete and if you don't want to pay $100 per seat for new version, then "you decide" not to upgrade.... Funny that.
But then I forget. This is apple.s.o, where anything that is a criticism is considered a troll..
1) It's $29 per seat retail. Less in bulk purchases, unless you have horrible, horrible legal & purchasing teams. And yes, if you opt not to pay that upgrade fee, *you* have *decided* not to upgrade.
2) Do you really think that Microsoft is issuing free bulk licenses for Windows 7 to enterprises? I can assure you that my company (of about ~50,000 people) is paying a whole lot of money to Microsoft every year for enterprise licensing & support.
3) Enterprises didn't adopt Vista in great numbers because it was an unusable mess of an operating system. Windows 7 has corrected many of the shortcomings of Vista, and so enterprises are looking to upgrade their software now.
4) No piece of Mac hardware released in the last 5 years (since the initial intel conversion) is being "left behind" by anything more than a refusal to upgrade to Snow Leopard.
5) The Mac App store would never have a substantial penetration in "the enterprise" anyway. This is simply not an "enterprise" feature - your IT staff doesn't want you downloading and installing a bunch of random stuff onto your corporate-owned PC.
6) Most corporations I've dealt with depreciate hardware and have it on a hardware refresh cycle of 3-5 years. If you're not doing that, I'd suggest you're working at a "small business" that doesn't really fit the term "enterprise".
When your criticism takes the form of ill-informed trolling, don't be surprised when it's considered a troll.
auto updates, streaming video, cloud computing, and now we'll se downloads for minor updates to minor (often unused) apps, as we watch as the internet choke and die.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1929880&cid=34773824 where I see you have committed felonious acts against others here clone (or should I say, Stephen Alongi?)
Having said that a 9 year old system with a northwood cpu and 256/512MB of ram would need the same $50 in upgrades... 2GB RAM and a modern video card. The directx video card requirement kills a lot of old laptops, but its a minor and inexpensive upgrade on a desktop.
A matter of perspective perhaps. If all you are going to do is browse the web and run Word it might be tolerable. Given what I do with computers I would rather give up computing entirely rather than try to run Win7 on a P4, the license alone costs more than the computer is worth.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
...it's like Synaptic, only it eats my bank account. Yay.
WALSTIB!
some simple questions //
_ if i purchase an app, am i the owner of the copy + or "only" a user?
_ can i resell the app officially to somebody else?
_ you don't get a bill/invoice for your purchase, right? // thx in advance
A matter of perspective perhaps. If all you are going to do is browse the web and run Word it might be tolerable.
Agreed.
Given what I do with computers I would rather give up computing entirely rather than try to run Win7 on a P4, the license alone costs more than the computer is worth.
In their case, they picked up Win7 through some promo... $35 for 7HomePrem. But otherwise, I agree completely.
The rankings are very simple, and spelled out: Top Paid, Top Free, Top Grossing. That's it.
Then perhaps my hypothesis was wrong. Please allow me to suggest another: Because Adobe promotes the Photoshop brand elsewhere on the Internet, it can run up more brand recognition, and people will choose Photoshop Elements over a similarly priced independent photo editor. Furthermore, Adobe marketing materials can link directly to the product on iTunes Store, as I'll explain below.
those change so often that they are unlikely to be related to any external factors, like inbound links from the internet; assuming that's even possible since this is an application, not a web page.
Just because it's not a web page doesn't mean it can't have a URL to which web pages can link. In the days of AOL dial-up, AOL registered a custom URL scheme aol: with operating systems upon installation. Likewise, each product in iTunes Store has a corresponding web page that tries to open the same product in iTunes Store if iTunes is installed. Try opening iTunes Store, right-clicking an album's cover art, and choosing copy URL.
It may not blow up, but there will certainly be a benefit to it. Most people don't know where to find Mac apps, and brick and mortar stores don't stock many Mac apps. This store will help dispel the long-running myth that there's little software available for the Mac. (Once the store fills up properly in the next few weeks.)
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Family Pack $49.00
Less than $10 per seat. It is way cheaper than any Windows version on sale and you don't need to worry about activation keys.
Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
Bullshit. This upgrade will run on all Intel Macs. It you've bought Snow Leopard. You of course don't get updates to software you haven't bought.
Just like your Intel Mac is upgradable to Snow Leopard. For considerably less money than the Windows upgrade would cost you.
Just to be pedantic, the first gen Intel iMacs shipped with one stick of 512Mbytes of RAM in 2006 (I know this because my family has one). Putting an extra 1Gbyte stick of RAM in the bottom is straight forward but the machine can only take a maximum of 2Gbytes RAM in total.
Now now, it's just barely possible he's too cheap to spend $25 on memory.
#4 is wrong, my Mac mini server runs just fine without a DVD Drive, so I cannot see it as a requirement.
The OS can be downloaded (ADC) and the store sells downloads, no physical media.
For all you know he could be running a very old Mac Mini with 512MB ram and a measly hard disk in it. that would not fit the minimum specs. It probably does still run, but i suppose the user expirience will suffer.
Some people had crashed after update.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2710139&tstart=60&messageID=12882976
And this is Apple's fault... how exactly?
Most people wouldn't call "no one ever bothered to develop an app to do X" as a "restriction", unless Apple somehow explicitly forbid the development of such an application. Since we're talking about OSX and Apple's desktop/laptop line, and not the iPhone, you're full of shit.