OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review
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thanks to many hours of hypercritical, I now hear this review in jon's voice. this is a good thing.
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Now the NDA has been lifted, I wanted to mention a couple of issues with the GM that I experienced.
1) Clean install to a FileVault 2 drive: with the release of the GM I decided to clean up an do a clean install just to reset myself. Here's the sequence that followed:
- Booted to a 10.8 GM thumb drive
- Launched Disk Utility to erase the drive
- Select the previous system disk and tell Disk Utility to repartition (Only one partition, but IME this is faster than just erasing the volume)
- Disk Utility errors out after a short period
- Original startup disk is now greyed out and untouchable, rebooting, reset NVRAM, etc... nothing get the disk back
- Boot into 10.7.4 install USB Thumb Drive and Disk Utility calmly lets me reformat the drive just fine
- Reboot into 10.8 Installer - very smooth and quick install from this point
- Others in the DevForums have seen this issue and the work around listed above seems to have worked for them as well
2) Installing printer driver in GM (this may be a printer specific issue): Konika Minolta 5440DL networked color laser printer
- Used the same printer driver that I have always used
- After installing the printer driver, printing to the 5440DL always fails (note: a similar, but newer KM 4650DN works fine) from both an MBA and a Mac Pro. For some reason the wrong protocol is selected in the configuration file (this actually started happening in 10.7.4, see this thread). Fixing this required editing CUPS configuration file for the printer.
3) Some observations from my installs
- MacPro: Frequent Finder beachballs in Finder for the MacPro, have had to kill the Finder several times and the console is usually spilling some kind of graphics error (it varies)
- MacPro: I've recently started getting drive unmount warnings (drive gets unmounted while computer is unattended), but the drive unmounted appears to be random (internal, external SATA, internal SATA and firewire)
- MBA: getting a few (pretty rare) drive unmount warnings, all on an external FireWire drive
- MacPro/MBA: Shortcuts to AFP mounts (Lion server in my case) in the Dock loose their icon across reboots, so I get a nice big question mark in my dock after a reboot
- Messages/Alerts: Messages/alerts are NOT synching across my Macs. MBA consistently gets iMessages, MacPro will occasionally synch after launching the app, or if already open I have to send a message to get it to synch. Dismissing an alert on the MacPro does not dismiss the same alert on the MBA (I was really looking forward to this working).
- Mail: (solved:turn off "Include Related Messages" in the viewing preferences, phew!) conversations are now collected across all mail boxes, including "On My Mac" folders - I really hate this behavior. For instance, if I get a receipt for something I bought, I'll assign a "Blue Flag" to that email so that when I do budgeting, I only have to go to the "Blue Flag" Smart Mailbox for all receipts. When budgeting, I normally enter the purchase, clear the flag, and move the email to an archive folder for receipts. Worked very cleanly in Lion. In Mountain Lion, if I go to the appropriate smart mailbox and select the receipt email - IT HAS EVERY DAMN RECEIPT I've gotten from that vendor listed in the conversation list, even though only one has a flag on it and all the rest are in my archive folder and NOT in the inbox. Yes, I could turn off conversation view, but it's useful in other situations and I can't find a way to turn off per mailbox.
- SMB File Sharing still seems somewhat broken (I have to turn SMB sharing off and on again for my Windows7 systems to successfully log into my MacPro if they've been rebooted), this is not a change from Lion
- Not a gripe, but an observation: while software update is now done through the Mac App Store application, it works just like it did before with local/remote servers - it does NOT use the MAS itself for updates - it goes to the same servers as before except it uses https vs http, so if you're doing DNS spoofing on a local network, it won't work - you'll have to update the catalogURL. Lion server is capable of serving Mountain Lion updates just fine.
- Somethings are a little harder to do due to changes in permissions (can't update icons with CandyBar as it doesn't ask for permission for example)
Other than the MacPro behaviors, I'm liking ML over Lion, despite my issues above.
Some niceties:
- The reminder and notes apps and synch
- VIP inbox in mail
- Ability to see groups and contact details at the same time in Contacts
- Notifications: despite the lack of synch of state, it's a lot less in your face than alerts used to be - I like it pretty well
- Search in address bar in Safari (despite the fact that Safari beachballs a lot more in ML)
- It's really hard to put my finger on a lot of specifics, but it just seems faster/smoother than Lion
For reference:
- My MacPro was an upgrade install over a pretty recent (about a month) 10.7.4 clean install
- My MBA was a clean GM install
MacPro Configuration:
- 2010 Dual Hexacore 2.26GHz
- 15GB RAM
- ATI 5870 Video Card ( 3 x 30" monitors HP ZR30W)
- 4-port PCIe USB Card
- 2-port PCIe USB3 Card (I need to pull this, I don't use it as the drivers are absolute crap, or at least they were in Lion, haven't tried under Mountain Lion)
- 4-port PCIe eSATA Card (FirmTek - absolutely stable)
- Boot drive is a 256GB SSD, the rest of the storage is a mix of eSATA, SATA, FireWire and USB drives - total storage: 23.75TB
MBA
- 2011 i7 1.8GHz
- 4GB RAM
- Thunderbolt Display
- 256GB SSD; 1.5TB Thunderbolt Drive; 2TB Firewire Drive (backup)
1) Clean install to a FileVault 2 drive: with the release of the GM I decided to clean up an do a clean install just to reset myself. Here's the sequence that followed:
- Booted to a 10.8 GM thumb drive
- Launched Disk Utility to erase the drive
- Select the previous system disk and tell Disk Utility to repartition (Only one partition, but IME this is faster than just erasing the volume)
- Disk Utility errors out after a short period
- Original startup disk is now greyed out and untouchable, rebooting, reset NVRAM, etc... nothing get the disk back
- Boot into 10.7.4 install USB Thumb Drive and Disk Utility calmly lets me reformat the drive just fine
- Reboot into 10.8 Installer - very smooth and quick install from this point
- Others in the DevForums have seen this issue and the work around listed above seems to have worked for them as well
2) Installing printer driver in GM (this may be a printer specific issue): Konika Minolta 5440DL networked color laser printer
- Used the same printer driver that I have always used
- After installing the printer driver, printing to the 5440DL always fails (note: a similar, but newer KM 4650DN works fine) from both an MBA and a Mac Pro. For some reason the wrong protocol is selected in the configuration file (this actually started happening in 10.7.4, see this thread). Fixing this required editing CUPS configuration file for the printer.
3) Some observations from my installs
- MacPro: Frequent Finder beachballs in Finder for the MacPro, have had to kill the Finder several times and the console is usually spilling some kind of graphics error (it varies)
- MacPro: I've recently started getting drive unmount warnings (drive gets unmounted while computer is unattended), but the drive unmounted appears to be random (internal, external SATA, internal SATA and firewire)
- MBA: getting a few (pretty rare) drive unmount warnings, all on an external FireWire drive
- MacPro/MBA: Shortcuts to AFP mounts (Lion server in my case) in the Dock loose their icon across reboots, so I get a nice big question mark in my dock after a reboot
- Messages/Alerts: Messages/alerts are NOT synching across my Macs. MBA consistently gets iMessages, MacPro will occasionally synch after launching the app, or if already open I have to send a message to get it to synch. Dismissing an alert on the MacPro does not dismiss the same alert on the MBA (I was really looking forward to this working).
- Mail: (solved:turn off "Include Related Messages" in the viewing preferences, phew!) conversations are now collected across all mail boxes, including "On My Mac" folders - I really hate this behavior. For instance, if I get a receipt for something I bought, I'll assign a "Blue Flag" to that email so that when I do budgeting, I only have to go to the "Blue Flag" Smart Mailbox for all receipts. When budgeting, I normally enter the purchase, clear the flag, and move the email to an archive folder for receipts. Worked very cleanly in Lion. In Mountain Lion, if I go to the appropriate smart mailbox and select the receipt email - IT HAS EVERY DAMN RECEIPT I've gotten from that vendor listed in the conversation list, even though only one has a flag on it and all the rest are in my archive folder and NOT in the inbox. Yes, I could turn off conversation view, but it's useful in other situations and I can't find a way to turn off per mailbox.
- SMB File Sharing still seems somewhat broken (I have to turn SMB sharing off and on again for my Windows7 systems to successfully log into my MacPro if they've been rebooted), this is not a change from Lion
- Not a gripe, but an observation: while software update is now done through the Mac App Store application, it works just like it did before with local/remote servers - it does NOT use the MAS itself for updates - it goes to the same servers as before except it uses https vs http, so if you're doing DNS spoofing on a local network, it won't work - you'll have to update the catalogURL. Lion server is capable of serving Mountain Lion updates just fine.
- Somethings are a little harder to do due to changes in permissions (can't update icons with CandyBar as it doesn't ask for permission for example)
Other than the MacPro behaviors, I'm liking ML over Lion, despite my issues above.
Some niceties:
- The reminder and notes apps and synch
- VIP inbox in mail
- Ability to see groups and contact details at the same time in Contacts
- Notifications: despite the lack of synch of state, it's a lot less in your face than alerts used to be - I like it pretty well
- Search in address bar in Safari (despite the fact that Safari beachballs a lot more in ML)
- It's really hard to put my finger on a lot of specifics, but it just seems faster/smoother than Lion
For reference:
- My MacPro was an upgrade install over a pretty recent (about a month) 10.7.4 clean install
- My MBA was a clean GM install
MacPro Configuration:
- 2010 Dual Hexacore 2.26GHz
- 15GB RAM
- ATI 5870 Video Card ( 3 x 30" monitors HP ZR30W)
- 4-port PCIe USB Card
- 2-port PCIe USB3 Card (I need to pull this, I don't use it as the drivers are absolute crap, or at least they were in Lion, haven't tried under Mountain Lion)
- 4-port PCIe eSATA Card (FirmTek - absolutely stable)
- Boot drive is a 256GB SSD, the rest of the storage is a mix of eSATA, SATA, FireWire and USB drives - total storage: 23.75TB
MBA
- 2011 i7 1.8GHz
- 4GB RAM
- Thunderbolt Display
- 256GB SSD; 1.5TB Thunderbolt Drive; 2TB Firewire Drive (backup)
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Without knowing the configuration for said Mac Pros, could it possibly be Intel Quick Sync?
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Just skimmed it, but it's probably going to save me $20. A bit disappointed, I guess. It's nicer than before, but seems like a thousand small things rather than anything big.
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Given that this is an incremental update and you spent 24 pages going over it, I'm hoping to see 25+ on Windows 8... and no I'm not a Windows fanboy (I'm in the process of switching to Mac), I'm just tired of seeing what feels like disproportional Apple coverage.
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Was there something in there about PERFORMANCE versus the last version? I did not see it.
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First Great Review! Thanks a lot. Helped me decide to upgrade.
Second:
FINALLY NO MORE SEPARATE SEARCHBOX IN SAFARI.
Welcome to the 2010s Apple. I use Safari because I just have the impression that its a bit more stable and slightly better integrated (file saves) than Chrome. But seriously that anachronistic separate search box started to annoy me. That alone is worth the upgrade. (I suppose I can get Safari6 with OSX 10.7? But anyway the update looks good.
Second:
FINALLY NO MORE SEPARATE SEARCHBOX IN SAFARI.
Welcome to the 2010s Apple. I use Safari because I just have the impression that its a bit more stable and slightly better integrated (file saves) than Chrome. But seriously that anachronistic separate search box started to annoy me. That alone is worth the upgrade. (I suppose I can get Safari6 with OSX 10.7? But anyway the update looks good.
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Disappointed the full screen dual monitor bug isn't fixed but still a great update.
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You can get rid of the overlays and just have proper scrollbars via the preferences? I never knew that!
I'll be doing that as soon as I get in tonight. Bloody *hate* the overlays - imho, poor experience for desktop / laptop users.
I'll be doing that as soon as I get in tonight. Bloody *hate* the overlays - imho, poor experience for desktop / laptop users.
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jon.hartmann":399fcy4v said:
We've already done huge amounts of Win8 coverage, including:
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... ual-guide/
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... rd-hybrid/
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... ill-rough/
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... r-preview/
http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2012/06/ ... ation-pcs/
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... -skydrive/
And yes, we'll have big team coverage when Win 8 actually launches. If you're counting words/pages, Win 8 coverage will certainly be longer--but they aren't really comparable due to the way Apple and MS handle development and beta versions. With Apple, we generally end up with one review to rule them all. MS products are often discussed much more along the way to release.
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jon.hartmann":23gvse9b said:
Clearly you are new here.
John has written these amazingly detailed reviews of every version of Mac OS X since it first arrived. He sets the standard for what a review can be; discussing not only the superficialities, but digging in and exposing what's beneath, and not discussed in the ad copy.
The Windows reviews are written by Peter Bright.
http://meincmagazine.com/information-tech ... the-review
I expect you will see similar detailed coverage of Windows 8.
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Yeah, I guess this means the external display will be staying in the closet a while longer. Absolutely ridiculous, and I'd be rather upset if mission control and three finger swiping weren't so gosh darned amazing.
Anyone have a sense for how much effort it takes to migrate? Older versions of OSX always felt messy when upgraded rather than clean-installed. I'm doing rails development right now and would like to get on board, but I'd hate to find out all the internals have been scrambled in a way that means starting over from square one and waiting a month for bug fixes!
Anyone have a sense for how much effort it takes to migrate? Older versions of OSX always felt messy when upgraded rather than clean-installed. I'm doing rails development right now and would like to get on board, but I'd hate to find out all the internals have been scrambled in a way that means starting over from square one and waiting a month for bug fixes!
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Only on page 5 so far but great review so far, great work John.
One neat trick regarding Save As... you add a Keyboard Shortcut for all applications for CMD+Shift+S to return the pre-lion functionality. It will be the old shortcut key, as well as the default option in the Menu.
Previously this would have placed Duplicate under Opt+Cmd+Shift+S, but it looks like it just adds an extra option for Duplicate with the final build. If you add the above mentioned keyboard shortcut for Duplicate it will be hidden under Save As... in the menu.
One neat trick regarding Save As... you add a Keyboard Shortcut for all applications for CMD+Shift+S to return the pre-lion functionality. It will be the old shortcut key, as well as the default option in the Menu.
Previously this would have placed Duplicate under Opt+Cmd+Shift+S, but it looks like it just adds an extra option for Duplicate with the final build. If you add the above mentioned keyboard shortcut for Duplicate it will be hidden under Save As... in the menu.
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"Despite the oft-cited prediction that Mac will eventually be subsumed by iOS, that's not what's happening here. Apple is determined to bring the benefits of iOS to the Mac, but it's equally determined to do so in a way that preserves the strengths of the Mac platform."
It's a real shame that similar can't be said of Windows 8.
It's a real shame that similar can't be said of Windows 8.
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Haven't read the article yet, but the article header graphic is a work of beauty. Well done Aurich.
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There wasn't a ton in the review about the AirPlay Mirroring, which is maybe the feature I am looking forward to the most. Everything I have read says you need to launch this from your Mac, is there any way to launch the mirroring from your Apple TV instead? Looking to use my Mac Mini as a centralized HTPC with the various Apple TVs as remote clients. It would be a bummer to have to walk up to my computer to turn mirroring on everytime I wanted to use it though...
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"Notes have been removed from their awkward home in the Mail application and given their own application in Mountain Lion. "
Oh FINALLY.
Thank you MS for putting notes in Outlook and getting everyone to believe this is where they should live. Over a decade later we finally have this fixed.
Oh FINALLY.
Thank you MS for putting notes in Outlook and getting everyone to believe this is where they should live. Over a decade later we finally have this fixed.
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Great review. It emphasizes how far Mac has diverged from what I want. I've been using Macs for over 20 years now but Mac OS these days makes me extremely uncomfortable. It's too cheesy, too unnecessarily coupled, and often in ways that provide no benefit to novices. Sorry, I have no interest in Apple's mandatory march "forward".
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grahamtriggs":1atmszn8 said:
That is so true. I am really not sure what MS is doing there. Win8 It looks like a jumbled mess. Like somebody high up had given out a strategy direction and developers at the bottom are doing there best to put it together without any real hope of making a consumer friendly whole.
On the other hand Apple in the end seems to be ruled by interface persons. If a touchscreen on a Laptop is stupid they will not force you to use one. (Because its stupid to reach up)
And this is esp. disappointing since both Win7 for normal computers as Windows8 for tablets look even or better than the Apple counterparts (at least from the concept, Win8 has a long way to do to fill out functionality) On the other hand Win8 for the Desktop looks like a terrible badly put together inconsistent mess.
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Siracusa, you're the reason I started reading Ars, and you're the reason I continue to come back, even though your contributions are few and far between.
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This is probably the only time I'll get to steal John's thunder, so thanks.Ninhalem":29wsnc4m said:
The sad truth is that even though I've had access to the (draft) versions of the story for a while I haven't actually read it myself yet, beyond some skimming, so looking forward to settling in with it just like everyone else!
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MrMcLargeHuge":z4gpb25i said:
reminds me of the childish notion of fair. so and so got a cookie so i deserve a cookie too.
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I can't do this justice now, but will read in detail this evening using the Safari reader on the iPad. Seems this is what Apple had in mind when they created that. I love all the prior reviews, great work.
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In my testing, performance seemed to be about the same as Lion.Danathar":2w2z0a0e said:
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I wonder why the ARS resident Apple Newsie (Chris Foresman) doesn't get to write the Mac OS reviews ?
Hmm....
Hmm....
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