Everyone expected an announcement at some point today, and it seems that it’s come a few hours ahead of the anticipated time of 9am PST. I’m really excited to let you know that the latest OS X update (10.6.6) is now available for download through Software Update.
The main addition is support for the newly released Mac App Store, that allows you to quickly find, download and update software on your Mac. It’s a revolutionary new way to handle the process of finding and downloading desktop software, and has received a warm reception from many popular Mac developers.
Read on to find out more about how to install and navigate around the all-new Mac App Store!
Having problems downloading software through the store? Just click Store > Sign Out, reboot your Mac, and you should be good to go!
Family trees are a great way to visualize the trajectory of your own family, but most people relate them to “that thing they used to do in elementary school for homework”. They are actually a great way to find out more about your own heritage, and they can make you appreciate your family history to a greater extent.
Today, we are reviewing MacFamilyTree, an app that can help you make family trees as in-depth as possible. In fact, it goes beyond the family tree maker description, to become a full fledged family history record app.
Let’s find out how it works!
Hot on the heels of our recent roundup of blockbuster Mac games, I thought it would be interesting to see just how many of you do use your Mac for gaming on a regular basis.
In recent months, I’ve actually found my iPad to be the go-to choice for trying out new games and killing time. Although there are a vast array of games available for the Mac, I often find the high price point to be too much of a barrier. If I can instead pay $5 or $10 for a fun iPad game, I’m more likely to go for it.
Consoles certainly still rule the market when it comes to gaming, but more and more Mac users are finding that their machine is much better suited for gaming than they originally thought.
I’d love to hear what you think, so be sure to fill out our weekly poll and leave your own thoughts in the comments. Are you a regular Mac gamer, or do you prefer to stick to a dedicated console?
Even after the most recent UI refresh, Twitter on the web is far from optimal to consume the tweets & mentions from our friends and followers. The meteoric rise of Twitter’s popularity and adoption is attributed mainly to the third party apps – both on desktop and mobile. These apps made Twitter “cool”.
For a long time now, Tweetie has been the leader in the Mac and mobile apps market. After getting acquired by Twitter, new updates are hard to come by and people are waiting for the next killer indie app. Enter Weet for Mac.
After the jump we will take stock as to whether Weet has got what it takes to be the ultimate Mac Twitter companion.
I’d like to take a moment to say a big thank you to this week’s sponsor, LittleSnapper. This is a wonderful application for collecting, organising, and sharing inspiring snippets and images you come across on the web.
LittleSnapper really does make this whole process incredibly simple and, if you’re the type of person with screenshots scattered across your desktop, it can be a huge time-saver. I love the design of the interface as well, which feels really intuitive to use.
Editing your screenshots—adding arrows, boxes, and text—couldn’t be easier. And I don’t think I’ve ever come across a more beautifully designed arrow…
When you’re done editing, sharing is versatile and fast, with support for FTP, Flickr, exporting a file, or Realmac’s very own Ember web service.
If you’re a visual person, and like the idea of a central repository for all the inspiring design work you stumble across online, you absolutely have to give LittleSnapper a try. It costs $39, but a completely free trial is available.
We’ve collected the top five reviews, roundups and how-to articles from across the AppStorm network in December. Whether you’re interested in Mac, iPhone, or Web apps, there’s bound to be something you didn’t spot over the course of the month. Now would be a good time to explore a part of the AppStorm Network you’ve never seen before!
Thanks for reading AppStorm, and I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday period!
We’d like to say a big thank you to this month’s Mac.AppStorm sponsors, and the great software they create! If you’re interested in advertising, you can purchase a banner advertisement through BuySellAds, or sign up for a Weekly Sponsorship slot.
Thank you to the fantastic applications we had sponsoring each week during the month, all of which we personally recommend you download and try out!
- RapidWeaver 5 – Released just a few weeks ago, RapidWeaver 5 is a worthy upgrade to an already stellar piece of web design software for the Mac.
- Pixelmator – One of my all-time favourite apps, this is a fantastic alternative to the increasingly-bloated Photoshop for all manner of graphic editing work.
- Courier – This fantastic piece of software makes it easy to quickly share files, images, photos, movies, and more with all your favourite online services – including Flickr and Facebook.
- Yellow Media Group – This innovative company offers a telephone support service for Mac developers, making it easy to add an extra level of support to users without spending 24 hours a day by the phone.
Thanks for reading AppStorm this month, and for checking out the software that our sponsors create. I really appreciate it.
It used to be that if you wanted to buy a game for your Mac, you had to dig into the crates at your local CompUSA and find a version of Tetris that might work on OS 7. But now, Mac gamers are starting to be taken seriously, and there’s a whole world of to programs to buy.
If that wasn’t cool enough, we also have the Steam platform, making it simple to purchase games on the fly. But enough about that, let’s get into the good stuff. After the jump, check out some great, blockbuster games that are available to download and play on your Mac right now!
Winners Announced
I’m pleased to let you know that we’ve selected the five book winners! It was fascinating to read all your New Year resolutions – I hope you’re managing to stick with them…
Congratulations are in order to:
- Travis
- Luiz Felipe Berti
- Frankelly Valdez
- Johan B.
- Lia Belle
We’ll be in touch shortly with information on how to download your free copy of the book. Thanks for entering!
Competition Now Closed
If you’re anything like me, this is the time of year when you start planning all the resolutions and achievements you want to try and reach in 2011. It’s always an exciting process, and something that often leads to an unusual brainstorming process of weird and wonderful things you could try in the New Year.
Well, why not add another idea to the pile? We published our first AppStorm book a few months ago, iPhone App Entrepreneur, which explains everything you need to get started in the wonderful world of iPhone (and iPad) software development. It isn’t as difficult as you may think, and could definitely be something to explore next year.
We’re giving five copies of the eBook today, to help you on your way. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, sharing one idea for a New Year’s Resolution. It could be anything at all…
We’ll be picking the winners in one week – best of luck, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday!
Improving the scrolling experience on your Mac might not be the first thing you think of doing, but it turns out that a few tweaks and changes can actually make scrolling around much easier and more efficient. Smart Scroll from Marc Moini offers an abundance of features to make scrolling a better experience, and after using it for a few days, you might not want to go back.
A big feature of Smart Scroll is smooth scrolling – a feature now implemented by default in new MacBooks and the Magic Mouse, but a must have for users of older hardware. It’s also packed with other useful features for those of us already up to date with smooth scrolling. Read on to find out more!
