Compatibility issues stand in the way of installing Windows 10 May 2019 Update on some Macs
Some Mac users -- who, thanks to Boot Camp, are running Windows 10 on their Apple machine -- are encountering a problem upgrading to Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903).
A compatibility issue with the Mac HAL Driver (machaldriver.sys) is blocking the installation. The problem remains more than two months after the May 2019 Update was released, and Microsoft is still working away on a solution.
Apple teams up with Best Buy to expand repair services to hundreds of stores
The next time you have a problem with your Apple product -- be it an iMac, MacBook, iPhone or iPad -- you could take it to Best Buy for repair rather than an Apple store.
The new repair options are thanks to Apple's expansion of its authorized service network. There are almost 1,000 Best Buy stores with over 7,600 newly Apple-certified Geek Squad technicians ready to help you out.
Microsoft To-Do comes to Mac
Apple makes great hardware and operating systems, but when it comes to applications, the company has plenty of room for improvement. For productivity, Microsoft still reigns supreme. Apple's iWork, for instance, is passable, but it is largely garbage compared to Microsoft Office. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote may look great, but smart professionals will invest in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- they are far more powerful. Even the totally free LibreOffice bests Apple's iWork.
With all of that said, macOS users should be very happy that Microsoft supports Apple's operating system. Quite frankly, without Microsoft's excellent productivity software -- such as Office and OneNote -- Mac computers would be far less attractive to power users and professionals. Today, Microsoft brings another fine app to the macOS platform -- To-Do. It is chock-full of useful features, including the ability to add tags/hashtags by simply typing a #.
Shocking! Apple launches voluntary recall and exchange program for some power adapters
Apple has announced a voluntary recall of some of its AC wall plug adapters and Apple World Travel Adapter Kits over fears that they could cause electric shocks.
While the number of known incidents is low -- Apple says there have been just six worldwide -- there is a risk of the wall plug adapters breaking and causing a shock if touched. The recall relates solely to three-prong wall plug adapters, not USB power adapters. Anyone who has one of the adapters can obtain a replacement free of charge.
Apple no longer charges for transferring data to a new Mac
Apple is now offering data migration services free of charge when you get a new Mac.
Previously, the company charged customers $99 to transfer data from an old Mac to a new one, or when data transfer was needed as part of a repair. While not the most taxing of tasks, the dropping of fees means more people are likely to leave the process to Apple rather than undertaking it themselves.
The best new features in Visual Studio 2019 (and Visual Studio 2019 for Mac)
Visual Studio is not only one of the oldest IDEs around, having launched in the late-1990s, but it is also one of the most popular. Chances are, if you ask developers what they use, Visual Studio will be among the top answers. And, for good reasons: it is a mature, powerful and versatile IDE that is used across the globe to create websites, desktop software, mobile apps and games in a number of popular programming languages, like C# and C++.
And, every couple of years, Microsoft gives it a major update to add new features, refine existing ones and make it look more modern. This year is no different, as it introduces Visual Studio 2019 -- and, for the first time, a Mac version is ready to go from the start as well. Here are the biggest changes that are coming with it.
Microsoft brings its Windows Defender antivirus software to Mac
In February, Microsoft announced Microsoft Threat Experts, a new service within Microsoft 365 Security designed to better protect businesses.
Today, the software giant extends its endpoint protection platform to Mac, and in keeping with that move renames the Windows Defender ATP platform to Microsoft Defender ATP.
These are the best apps, games, music, movies and more of 2018... according to Apple
The end of the year approaches and so the "best of" lists start to emerge. Jumping on the bandwagon is Apple, providing us with a lengthy list of the best apps, games, music, podcasts, TV shows, and just about everything else digital you can think of.
The charts have not been compiled by simply calculating which apps have proved most popular with user. Apple describes it as "an invariable list of the who's who and what's what from the past year" which is a combination of both "top charts and selects from our editors". Are your favorites featured?
From now on Apple is going to keep its sales figures a secret
Apple has announced that, as of next quarter, it will no longer report unit sales figures for iPhones, iPads and Macs. The news came at the company's Q4 earnings call at which it was revealed that iPhone unit sales have remained static -- despite a revenue increase.
The change is in line with how Apple already treats other hardware sales -- such as those of the Apple Watch and HomePod -- which it groups together rather than revealing sales in individual categories.
New solution provides adaptive authentication for Windows and Mac
Once a user is logged on, they typically have access to a wealth of sensitive applications and systems. Strong authentication at the front door therefore helps boost the overall security of the entire system.
A new adaptive authentication system developed by identity automation specialist SecureAuth Corp + Core Security, is available for Windows and Mac systems enabling adaptive and multi-factor authentication for users logging into servers, desktops, and laptops.
Notepad on Microsoft Windows 10 gets Linux and Mac line endings support
Notepad is a classic piece of software. It is the unsung hero of every Windows installation. If you want to jot down a quick note, it is a blank canvas awaiting your keystrokes. As a young man, I used Notepad to write my school papers. Microsoft Office was reserved for rich folks, and there was no LibreOffice -- or even Open Office -- yet. Even the no-frills Microsoft Works was priced out of my family's reach, but I digress.
As Microsoft turns its attention away from the wonderful Paint to focus on the terrible Photos and Paint 3D, you'd expect the company to forget about good ol' Notepad. Surprisingly, however, it hasn't. In fact, the Windows-maker today announces that Notepad on Windows 10 is getting both Linux and Mac line endings support. Wow -- this really is a new Microsoft...
Apple announces education-themed spring event -- what new products will we see?
It's been a while since Apple introduced a new product and it looks like the wait will soon be over, as today it announced its first major event of the year. It'll take place later this month and it focuses on education, one of the company's core markets.
The location for the spring event is a bit unusual, given that Apple has a perfectly good venue in its spaceship campus in Cupertino. It'll be held in Chicago, at the Chicago High School, Lane Tech, on March 27. Given the theme, we're likely to see new hardware aimed at educators and students.
Twitter kills its Mac app, and that's a good thing
In 2016, I bought my very first Mac -- a beautiful MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Since then, the laptop and I have been inseparable. The computer comes with me when I go to, say, a coffee shop, but it also serves as my desktop when I am home by connecting to a large monitor, keyboard, and mouse. In other words, I love the computer, but also, I really admire macOS.
When I first began using the Mac, I downloaded a bunch of software I thought I would enjoy. As a big Twitter user, I obviously installed the official app for that social network. You know what? It sucked. I tried to make it work, but ultimately, using a web browser was just a much better experience. On any desktop operating system, users are wise to use a browser. Let's be honest -- Twitter apps are best saved for smartphones and tablets. Twitter the company apparently agrees, as today, it officially kills the Mac app.
Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac gets major update with real-time collaborative editing, cloud saving
Since you can get Office on both Windows PCs and Macs, you may be lead to believe that the user experience is similar between the two suites. After all, they share the same name and major programs, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. But, when you look past the similarities, you will find that there are quite a few differences between the two.
Microsoft has been working on closing the gap, with the latest update for Office for Mac 2016 adding quite some powerful features. Among the highlights are real-time collaborative editing and the option to save your work directly to the cloud.
macOS High Sierra lets you unlock App Store preferences with any password
Most of the security vulnerabilities we write about are hard to exploit by the average computer user. I consider myself fairly experienced but, honestly, without a step by step guide I would not be able to "hack" a program or operating system even with the full bug report in front of me. And even then I probably would not know what to do to get any meaningful data from it anyway.
But some security vulnerabilities are so easy to exploit that anyone can do it. Unlocking the App Store menu in System Preferences on macOS High Sierra 10.13 is one of them.
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