AppleTVHacks.net puts together a 13-step guide on installing regular Mac OS X onto the $299 Apple TV. With USB keyboard and mouse support, the Apple TV turns into a full blown mini computer. The 1GHz CPU and 256MB RAM might be a little slow, but for only $299, it could be used as a nice little media center or an in-car media center.

Here’s the steps, a little hacking required:

1) remove the drive from the Apple TV

2) back up your drive! Make an image of it.

3) Connect the drive to a regular Mac (use a Firewire or USB drive dock)

4) Install OS X (Intel version) to the drive.

5) Boot from this drive, and set it up as you would like it. Make sure you do updates so it is at least 10.4.8.

6) Reboot to your normal OS X install.

Ok, you now have your fresh OS X install which will form the base of the customised OS X you will need for the Apple TV.

7) Remove mach_kernel from root of the drive containg the ATV install.

8 ) Replace it with the customised mach_kernel that you’ll find on Hackint0sh.org.

9) Replace /System/Libary/Coreservices/boot.efiwith the same file from your backup of the Apple TV OS drive (OSBoot partition).

10) Run bless:

bless –folder=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices –file=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi –setBoot

11) Delete all the Nvidia kexts (all beginning with NVD, there should be 5) from the target drive (in /System/Library/Extensions).

12) Transfer the drive back to the Apple TV

13) Turn the Apple TV on and cross your fingers.

This is probably the first thing you will ask when you just made the switch to pick up a shiny new Mac. You probably are expecting an Installer of some kind to guide you through the installation of the program. When you see something called a disk image (or *.dmg file), you might get a little confused of what to do. So here I will tell you everything you need to know to install applications to your Mac.

here are 2 types of installations you will encounter when downloading a new app:

1. Standalone Apps:
The most common mistake I see new switchers make is that after they downloaded Microsoft Messenger they expect an installer to install the program. Strangely, they get a strange *.dmg file. They double click the file and see the app inside, don’t know what to do with it. They double click the file and Messenger launches. They think that’s how the program works and repeat the previous steps every time they want to use Messenger. I blame Microsoft for not having any clear instructions in the disk image like some other neat applications.

Most Windows users are not familiar with the easiness of installing a standalone application. A typical standalone application simply requires you to double click the disk image (*.dmg file) and drag the application file into your Applications folder (or anywhere you want on your hard drive.

An example of a good standalone application installation: simply drag the clock into the provided Applications folder shortcut.

Another good example: my favorite instant messaging app Adium. Simply drag the duck into Applications folder.

2. Installer or Package.
Traditional apps usually come with installer similar to the ones you are familiar in Windows. To install, simply double click the installer and follow the steps. Usually they will ask for a location to be installed to (typically your primary hard disk) and sometimes they will ask for administrator password to get access to some system files.

That basically covers the steps to properly install any new Mac application. Sometimes it can be confusing when things get too simple right?

Boot Camp 1.2 beta includes:

• Support for Windows Vista (32-bit)
• Updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (synch), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera
• Support the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player)
• A Windows system tray icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions
• Improved keyboard support for Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, and French Canadian
• Improved Windows driver installation experience
• Updated documentation and Boot Camp on-line help in Windows
• Apple Software Update (for Windows XP and Vista)

Get Boot Camp here…

On the 10th year anniversary of Yahoo! Mail, they will begin offering everyone unlimited email storage starting in May 2007. When Yahoo! Mail launched 10 years ago, users got a whopping 4MB of storage for their entire mailbox. Yahoo! will be rolling the unlimited email service out over a few months to facilitate a smooth transition.

Mac News Network reports:

Apple’s iPhone has surfaced in the public eye after a long absence, photographers noted Tuesday at the CTIA phone expo. During his keynote speech earlier today, AT&T Chief Operations Officer Randall Stephenson brought out the elusive device when discussing the success of the carrier’s e-mail sign-up program.

Read more…

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 product line, a revolutionary offering of tightly integrated, industry-leading design and development tools for virtually every creative workflow. Adobe’s new Creative Suite 3 line-up unites the best of Adobe and Macromedia® product innovation to provide designers and developers with a broad spectrum of creative options for all facets of print, web, mobile, interactive, film, and video production. There are six all-new configurations of Adobe Creative Suite 3. These include, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Design Standard editions; Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Web Standard editions; and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium (see separate releases). Rounding out the product line is Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection which combines 12 of Adobe’s new design and development applications in a single box—the most comprehensive creative environment ever delivered.

More…

Reuters reports:

Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. said they have reached an agreement that allow both to use the “iPhone” name, after Cisco sued the iPod maker for using it for a new multimedia phone.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

In a joint statement, they said both companies are free to use the “iPhone” trademark on their products throughout the world, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark.

In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities to work together in the areas of security, and consumer and institutional communications.

ArsTechnica reviewed the newly released final version of Adobe’s “Aperture Killer” – Photoshop Lightroom. Here’s the list of Pros for both apps:

Pros for Lightroom

• More responsive interface
• Faster feedback for edits
• More color correction options
• Much better spot removal and cloning
• Plug-in architecture
• Works well on older hardware/doesn’t rely on a fast video card
• Cross-compatibility with Photoshop via updated Camera RAW
• Multiple filters and adjustments don’t slow down processing
• Better quality non-RAW image adjustment
• History is better than multiple undos

Pros for Aperture

• More control over sharpen
• More color profile and rendering intent options
• Loupe tool is more powerful than just zooming and provides easier quick navigation of image
• Area average settings for white/neutral/black point tool
• Light Table mode
• Vault for one-click backups
• Book printing
• Separate black, gray and white point settings
• Makes a good demo for selling your wife/husband on why you need a new computer when you already have seven

Read more…

Steve Jobs writes, “With the stunning global success of Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to ‘open’ the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future.”

Continue…

After quite a long period (one and half years) of active development, my favorite chat client on Mac is finally in it’s glorious 1.0 version. Head over to the official Adium blog for an interesting read on the history of the development of Adium X 1.0:

The big difference between 1.0 and the other releases is that it’s really 2 release cycles combined. We decided around the time that 0.80 came out that we would not be releasing 0.90, and instead forge ahead to 1.0 with a “fix everything” attitude. The additional time spent would allow us, we thought, to create a release that would be truly spectacular. It worked out well, but just not in an acceptable timeframe. We will not ever be doing that again if it can be helped. Taking on too much at once leads to lots of complications and unexpected delays.

Download Adium X 1.0 now »