Three themes permeate this issue: Mac OS X 10.5.2, iTunes movie rentals, and AT&T’s increasing role in the lives of Apple users. The release of Mac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard generates an overview from Glenn, after which Matt revisits his “Six Things I Hate about Leopard” article to see what has improved and what remains broken. Glenn then rants about how the new iTunes movie rental model doesn’t meet the needs of an overworked and under-served class of people: tired parents of young children. Mark Boszko joins us with a look into how to extend the rental time beyond 24 hours, slightly ameliorating Glenn’s annoyance. But Glenn’s much happier about the new deal AT&T has to provide Wi-Fi service in Starbucks stores, and with the new AT&T ExpressCard for 3G cellular data connections. And speaking of new parents of young children, Jeff manages to sneak off to the Mac long enough to write about what’s new in Apple’s Aperture 2.
Aperture 2 is now available, bringing plenty of new features and performance improvements to Apple's digital photo management and editing application.
MacBook Pro owners can now access 3G cellular networks with a new ExpressCard provided by AT&T for free, as long as you sign up for a two-year, unlimited usage contract at $60 per month.
The release of Mac OS X 10.5.2 brings Leopard much closer to being sufficiently reliable for production tasks. Some showstoppers have been fixed, many bugs squashed, and cosmetic problems cleaned up.
With the release of the recent 10.5.2 update, how does Leopard stand up under the criticisms I leveled at it in my article, "Six Things I Hate About Leopard"? Hint: Two out of six isn't bad, but it isn't good either.
Version 1.2.3 of FontExplorer adds Leopard compatibility, and fixes problems introduced by Mac OS X 10.5.2.
All those of you who can get through a feature film at home in a single sitting in one night, take one step backwards. Those remaining in front have tiny children, limited time, or short attention spans. We'd like iTunes Store movie rentals to give us more flexibility.
Apple says that iTunes movie rentals expire after 24 hours, but is that really true? Mark Boszko investigates, and find out that you're not necessarily out of luck if you can't finish in that 24-hour window.
Starbucks is likely a launch partner for the 3G iPhone, based on yesterday's deal to bring in AT&T as their in-store Wi-Fi provider. The tea leaves - excuse me, coffee grounds - aren't hard to read.
In this week's discussions, readers weigh in on the changes in Mac OS X 10.5.2, discuss AT&T's recent announcements about progress on their 3G network and their new relationship with Starbucks, try to solve the problem of a recurring beachball icon, and more.