Mac OS X

Ars Technica reports that a new online petition has been created to request that Apple bring the ZFS file system to OS X, along with support for the more advanced OpenGL 4.3 libraries.

ZFS is a relatively new file system format, which Apple hinted at supporting in developer builds of OS X 10.5, and was expected to debut in Snow Leopard; however, the company ended up dropping support for the format following disagreements with Sun Microsystems. The support for ZFS has since fallen to several third-party efforts such as the open-source MacZFS project.

Though Apple's native HFS+ … Read more

If you use popular computational programs such as spreadsheet workhorses Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers, you might run into an issue in which, when using large number values, the system will appear to truncate the values of numbers entered.

For instance, if you open Excel and enter the value "12345678901234567890" into a cell, the program will change this to "12345678901234500000," where every value past the 15th character is set to zero. This happens in Apple's Numbers spreadsheet and other programs as well.

While the significance of the last numbers is perhaps questionable, it does limit … Read more

9to5Mac is reporting an issue involving Apple's AirPort utility and Time Capsule updates released last week. A number of Mac users who use IPv6-based tunneling to connect to their devices have found they can no longer do so after installing the latest firmware and updates to their AirPort and Time Capsule devices.

This problem mirrors similar past issues with firmware updates on Apple's router devices, and is likely from a small configuration bug in the firmware. Unfortunately the issue likely can only be fixed with a supplemental update. In the meantime, if you use IPv6 tunneling and are … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about a system not loading past the gray Apple screen, an external DVD player not working, how to switch to internal speakers with headphones attached, and trouble enabling X-Ray folder view in the Finder. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: System not loading past the gray Apple screen MacFixIt reader Greg asks:

Java is not the only runtime that malware developers use to target victims of their attacks, and yesterday Adobe released an update to Flash that fixes two zero-day exploits in its popular Web plug-in software.

The two vulnerabilities in question affect both OS X and Windows systems, and allow malicious Flash content on Web sites to deliver malware to Macintosh systems via Firefox and Safari. The second vulnerability targets Windows users by tricking them into opening an e-mail attachment that contains the Flash-based exploit.

These problems are considered critical, so if you have Flash enabled on your system (which most … Read more

With the release of its raw compatibility update 4.04, Apple software now can handle raw-format photos from two hot new cameras, the Nikon D5200 SLR and the high-end compact Sony RX1.

The D5200 is a relatively inexpensive SLR whose 24-megapixel sensor looks to have promisingly high performance -- the top rating for an APS-C-sized sensor, according to DxO Labs' DxOMark test results. The $2,800 RX1 has an even larger full-frame sensor, also with a 24-megapixel resolution, but its design uses a fixed 35mm lens.

Also supported in the Apple update is support for raw photos from Pentax's … Read more

Apple's AirPlay feature is a convenient technology for sending audio to various devices. If you are on the same wireless network as the device then it will be available to your Mac, iPhone, or iPad to play music via iTunes, or even be used as a general audio appliance for system sounds.

In general, AirPlay devices are hardware accessories like routers such as Apple's AirPort, or media appliances like the AppleTV. However, if you are not willing to shell out about $100 or more for a new AirPlay and you have an old Mac lying around (especially a … Read more

Tabbed browsing is one of the more useful features to make it to Web browsers. However, as with using single windows you might inadvertently close one and need to restore it. While you can create a new tab and then peruse the browser history to find a link to the content it contained, an easier option is to use the built-in tab restoration options in your browser.

To do this, there are two hotkeys to keep in mind. The first is the classic Command-Z for undoing an action, which in Safari will undo a recently closed tab in a specific … Read more

In Mountain Lion, Apple split off its reminder options from the provided calendar program and put them into a separate program similar to the Reminders app in iOS. This program lets you keep track of your projects, routines, or what have you, with to-do lists for each. As you make progress, you just mark each reminder as completed, and it drops off of its respective list.

But if, say, you inadvertently mark the wrong reminder as completed, don't worry, you can still get it back.

The Reminders program does have a Completed section that you can click to see … Read more