Utilities and drivers

Recently Apple updated iPhoto and other software packages to make it possible to delete photos from the Photo Stream feature that is part of its iCloud service. Today Apple has further supported this option by adding it to its Aperture professional photo management tool in an update that is available today.

The Aperture update also addresses small performance and stability issues, and is recommended for anyone using Aperture, especially for those who make use of iCloud.

The Aperture update is around 635MB in size, and should be available via Software Update if you have Aperture 3.2 installed on your … Read more

When working on Ice Cream Sandwich, Google aimed to create a font made specifically for high-resolution screens. The end result was Roboto. Up until now, Roboto was limited to Android devices running ICS. Late last week, Google posted it for all to download and use on their personal computer.

You can download a ZIP file containing all 16 variations of the font by visiting the Android Design site.

After downloading the font files, you can either open each design's file and install it to your system or by adding the files to your system's Font folder. … Read more

Apple's iPads and other iOS devices have become some of the most popular electronics out there for consumers, and schools and businesses.

While the iPad is excellent for quick access to portable tools to use in a laboratory, office, or classroom, one problem is managing all the iPads that are available and restricting features on them to work properly with your needs.

The iPad is built to be associated with one person and then customized by that person for his or her needs; however, depending on your business setup you may wish to restrict the iPad for specific purposes. … Read more

With two new desktop operating systems on the horizon from the big hitters, you might be wondering how best to check them out. Microsoft's Windows 8 was just made available as a public preview, and Apple has released its own developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion to a select group of testers.

Unfortunately, as with any prerelease software, these previews are likely to be fraught with bugs and other details that must be tested and ironed out, so even if you have the option of installing these operating systems, you might not want to do so … Read more

Last Saturday Apple released a number of EFI firmware updates for various Mac models, which addressed problems with NetBoot features, the use of HD displays for protected HD content, and boot drive selection when external drives are plugged into the systems. The updates were for Mac Mini, MacBook Air, iMac, and MacBook Pro systems.

After releasing these updates, Apple has issued another update for the MacBook Pro (version 2.7 was released on Saturday; this is version 2.8), which addresses a problem in which 15-inch models from late 2008 developed flickering displays. This fix is only applicable to the … Read more

Apple's move to Intel processors for its Mac systems in 2006 opened up many opportunities for Mac users, one of which was the ability to install and boot Windows directly on the Mac hardware without any emulation. To facilitate this for those who needed it, Apple introduced Boot Camp to easily partition the hard drive and supply drivers to the Windows OS for various features like iSight cameras and multitouch trackpads.

Boot Camp is a great option to have on the Mac, but unfortunately its support from Apple is rather limited, especially if you need to migrate from your … Read more

Apple has released a small patch to fix a problem a number of iMac users have been experiencing with network connectivity on their systems after waking from sleep. Apparently, after the latest OS X 10.7.3 update, people with iMac systems from late 2009 or newer found that the system wouldn't connect to their preferred wireless network, requiring the user to manually select the network from the Wi-Fi menu.

While not a serious bug, it was a problem that caused a bit of frustration with users. MacFixIt readers wrote in asking about this issue, and while some have … Read more

Apple has released new firmware updates for a number of its early- and mid-2011 Mac systems. The updates, which require OS X 10.7.3 or later to install, address problems with NetBoot features, and fix problems with HDCP authentication after rebooting (which may prevent HD content from being displayed on certain monitors). The updates also fix a problem with the selection of the boot drive when a USB drive is plugged into the system.

The updates should be available via Software Update for iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air systems released in early to mid-2011, but you … Read more

You know you're supposed to make regular backups, yet you're just not doing it. Why?

If it's because you're not wild about the idea of spending money on backup software, here's good news: you don't have to. There are plenty of full-featured backup utilities (for Windows, anyway) that don't cost a dime.

Indeed, your only out-of-pocket expense should be a USB or network hard drive--a place to hold your precious data in case your primary drive goes belly-up.

Below I've rounded up five of the most popular and well-known backup programs for … Read more