Hasta La Gadget!

As was foretold by the ancients, Apple will hold its holiday iPad jamboree on October 22nd. We’ll see some new tablets, sure. But there also might be a trove of other odds and ends awaiting us next week.

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It has been widely believed that Apple’s latest operating system, OS X Mavericks, would see a release sometime later this month, although specific release dates have yet to be given, but it looks like those rumors could come true as the ninth beta of Mavericks has since been released to those participating in the program. Interestingly enough the latest release has dropped the “Developer Preview” from its name, suggesting that work on the software could be drawing to a close and possibly meeting its rumored October release.

The latest build is 13A598 which is close to the previous release, 13A584, indicating that there has not been major changes made to the operating system, apart from some minor tweaks which we guess is to be expected. Once again this points to the fact that it is possible that the beta could be in its final stages and it shouldn’t be too long before a Golden Master build of the operating system is announced. We’ll definitely keep our eyes peeled but until we hear from Apple officially, try not to get your hopes up just yet.

Latest OS X Mavericks Beta Drops “Developer Preview” Tag original content from Ubergizmo.

VMware regularly upgrades its Fusion virtual desktop client to support major new operating systems, and it’s keeping up that tradition with today’s release of Fusion 6. The new Mac app is optimized for OS X Mavericks’ most important features, including a reworked full-screen mode that plays nicely with multiple displays. The software is equally ready for Windows 8.1 virtual machines, and lets users place shortcuts for Windows Store apps in a Mac’s Applications folder or the Dock. There’s also fine-tuning for Haswell-based Macs, a simplified setup assistant and support for virtual machines with up to 16 processors and 64GB of RAM. Fusion 6 Professional users get a few business-friendly upgrades, such expiring virtual machines and cloned machines that link back to master copies.

Both variants of Fusion 6 are available today, although pricing has increased significantly since Fusion 5. It now costs $60 for a stand-alone purchase of Fusion 6, and $130 for its Professional edition. Anyone who buys Fusion 5 between August 1st and September 30th can get the newer version for free, but they’ll otherwise have to pay either $50 (for a standard copy) or $70 (for Professional) to stay on the cutting edge. %Gallery-slideshow73880%

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Source: VMware

There was no OS XI at WWDC. There was no plan to reinvent the wheel. The takeaway message at the launch event was simple: Apple is committed to OS X. What that means, in the long run (naming scheme aside) is that changes to the desktop will probably continue to be gradual. New features will be added and things will evolve over time. Like other recent versions of OS X, version 10.9 Mavericks follows the lead of iOS, culling from its most successful features — though there’s nothing on the order of iOS 7’s dramatic redesign in store. But while the iPhone operating system seems to have taken the lead in terms of innovation, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of feature crippling in Mavericks, which some feared would come with the mobilization of the OS.

In fact, there are a number of welcome upgrades here — things like folder tabs, tags and a more interactive Notification Center will likely improve the workflow of many Mac users. Built-in apps like Safari and Calendar have gotten nice facelifts, as well. We’ve spent a few days with the most recent build of OS X and are ready to give you a peek at what you’re in store for, come fall. Still, knowing Apple, the company’s likely still got a couple of tricks up its sleeve.

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While we learned many things about OS X Mavericks’ feature set at WWDC, there were a few important details hiding in the woodwork. Apple has just revealed a few of them through a new overview of the platform. Among them is a potentially huge step forward in the Mac’s willingness to play with others: Apple has switched its default network file sharing system from the ages-old Apple File Protocol to the more universal SMB2. The move gives OS X the same approach to sharing as more recent versions of Windows, helping it slot into the corporate world and mixed-platform households. AFP and the original SMB are sticking around, but they’ll now kick in only when needed.

The crew in Cupertino has also filled in many of the blanks surrounding Mavericks’ vaunted performance and power optimizations. Battery-saving tricks like App Nap and timer coalescing mostly involve heavy task rescheduling and throttling. Memory compression, meanwhile, relies on an old yet largely untapped algorithm to avoid hard drive access. A deeper dive into the new OS X release is available at the source, although it’s not for the faint-hearted — the overview’s developer focus doesn’t exactly make for casual reading.

Filed under: Networking, Software, Apple

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Via: Ars Technica (1), (2)

Source: Apple