While I’ve kept Flash updated religiously over the years, last month I finally reached the point where the plugin was adversely impacting my Mac Pro’s performance. So I uninstalled Flash. This rectified the stutters and I eliminated one of the Mac’s most vulnerability-plagued pieces of software. Here’s a list of vulnerabilities that have been discovered in Flash…
Category: macOS
Posts about macOS
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FaceTime microphone input bug
Yosemite introduced a bug that impacts a relatively small group of Mac users, including myself. I use a Mac Pro with a Logitech USB webcam. Mac Pros don’t have a built-in microphone, so I use the webcam for sound input. This configuration generally works fine throughout Yosemite, except for FaceTime. There is a microphone input setting on the…
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The menu bar debate
One of the more notable user interface differences between Macs and PCs is the location of the menu bar. On Macs, one menu bar is located at the top of the primary display. On Windows, every application gets its own menu bar. The advantage of the Mac approach is that it saves screen real…
For most of the history of personal computing, large companies shunned Macs because there were few tools available to manage hundreds or thousands of computers. Large companies have scalability needs that small offices do not. Apple has addressed some of these issues with OS X Server and Apple Remote Desktop. These tools are adequate…
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Questionable advice
I came across the advice of a Mac consultant who wrote that you should restart your Mac once or twice daily to prevent your Mac from slowing down. This seems like a rather dubious way to fix a problem. Your Mac should not be slowing down as you use it. There are a variety…
Under Mountain Lion, Apple removed the ability to sync notes between your Mac and iOS devices without iCloud. This option used to be available on the iTunes “info” panel for your iOS device. The option is no longer present. This was not a welcome move for anyone who values information security because, as mentioned in…
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Mountain Lion bugs
I’ve encountered the following bugs on my Mac Pro running 10.8. Feel free to comment on the bugs you’re experiencing. Incoming mail.app notification sound does not always play. Spontaneous wake-ups from sleep mode, fan runs at full speed. (I’ve turned off “wake for ethernet.” We’ll see if this resolves the issue.) Weather widget does not…
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Mountain Lion
Assuming your software and hardware are compatible with Mountain Lion, it’s a no-brainer upgrade. For $20, you’ll get a nice set of new features. Before you upgrade, check the following for compatibility: Supported Macs and other requirements: http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/ Application compatibility: http://roaringapps.com/apps:table Also, check with your printer manufacturer to see if your printer driver is compatible with Mountain…
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Safari slow after booting Mac
Many of you have probably experienced glacial Safari performance right after booting your Mac. This is due to a flurry of hard drive activity. A simple solution to this problem is to clear Safari’s cache on a regular basis. This can be done via the Safari->Empty Cache menu. Since installing a solid state drive in my…
There are two annoyances with Apple IDs that Apple hasn’t addressed. 1. Many users have two distinct Apple IDs – one for iCloud and the other for iTunes purchases. While Apple’s software supports the use of two accounts, this isn’t desirable. It would be simpler and cleaner to have one Apple identity. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t…