About two weeks ago, Apple hosted the yearly World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) where it presented new products and services. More information and a video of the keynote can be found here. My main focus will be on OS X and iOS 7 though.
OS X Mavericks 10.9 Preview
I’m relatively new to OS X and have only been using Mountain Lion since last November, but I was planning to try the new 10.9 Preview. After reading the below articles though, I think I’ll just wait for the final version.
As you have probably noticed, I’m not particularly excited about any of the changes, though I must say that better performance and better battery life is always a very welcome addition. In my opinion Apple has very good hardware, but its operating system is increasingly getting behind on the competition with regards to innovation. So they’d better come up with something very good with its next release. Personally I think they can’t escape adding touch capabilities with the next release, but time will tell. I hope for a complete overhaul though that will spark the competition.
iOS 7 Beta
The new iOS 7 for iPhone, iPad and iPod doesn’t seem to be revolutionary either and opinions differ greatly. Users are getting more demanding (especially on tablets) and I believe the redesigned user interface, new features and improvements just doesn’t cut it. Apple does have a huge loyal user base though and they have a big library of apps that are generally speaking also of relatively high quality. Also because of the limited number of hardware and software models, it is easier to manage and develop for. Speaking about managing, this new version is also providing more enterprise management options.
Closing thoughts
I do believe Apple is on the right track by providing more options and flexibility, but in my opinion they’re trying to catch up instead of leading. I am very curious to see how this will unfold and how they will innovate while maintaining the performance, stability, battery life, simplicity and design that Apple users love.
On a side note, according to the article Apple CEO Adjusts Bonus in Shift to Performance Rewards the Apple board is linking more of Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s compensation to the company’s stock performance. Seeking to reassure investors who have seen the shares drop 41 percent from a record in September. As already mentioned by HPO center, one of the characteristics of a High Performance Organization is long-term orientation so I don’t think this is a good development.
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Tags: Apple, ICT, iOS, ios 7, ios7, mavericks, OS X, os x 10.9, osx, osx 10.9, wwdc, wwdc 2013
As I already wrote in yesterday’s post Apple – Notes / summary for the “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”, I’ve mainly been working with Microsoft products all my life. Since recently however, I’m also trying to get more familiar with Apple, Mac products and OS X and am trying to become certified.
One of the reasons, I’d never used Apple products before was because I never really deemed it necessary. Nowadays the number of Mac users seem to be growing and there is more demand for people with Mac / OS X knowledge.
As such my quest for knowledge and certification began. For me personally this meant:
- Using Apple online resources
- Reading books (mainly the great book Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Support Essentials. Before purchasing, you might also want to look for coupon codes as it might save you 30% off or more.)
- Watching computer based training (CBT) videos
- Working with OS X (thanks go out to my employer Open Line for providing me with a MacBook Pro, books and most importantly … TIME)
- Personally I didn’t think it was necessary to take a course at a training center, but some people might prefer this.
- Asking colleagues for help (thanks guys !!!)
- Making sure that I understood everything and if it wasn’t the case, look it up.
- Taking notes / creating this summary blog post that can be used as a reference if needed
- Testing my knowledge using test questions from Revise IT
I’ve taken the exam last friday and passed with 92.5%. Even though I think it was a pretty good score, I still had to make some educated guesses. This made me realize that there’s still a lot to learn and that getting more experience is important as well.
I also want to mention that I took the exam at LAI the training institute for IT professionals in Schiedam (The Netherlands). They were really kind, helpful and service oriented. The waiting area and test room were great and they even provided a pastry and all kind of drinks at no charge. This has been my best test taking experience to date, so keep up the good work guys.
I’m looking forward to attending the OS X Server 10.8 course at LAI the training institute for IT professionals at the end of March. I’ll try to create another blog post about this as well.
But now back to the important stuff, here are my notes/summary. I hope it is useful. If you find any errors or have any suggestions, please leave a comment.
Notes / summary for the “OS X Support Essentials 10.8 Exam”
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People that know me, know that I’ve mainly been working with Microsoft my whole life. Lately however, I’ve been working with an Apple MacBook Pro with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion however and I intend to enough knowledge and experience to get the following certifications:
- Apple Certified Associate – Mac Integration 10.8
- Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8
- Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8
So keep an eye on my blog if you want to learn more about Apple’s Mac OS X and its certifications. Read more about other Apple certifications on their Training and Certification page.
The “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”
For people new to Mac and OS X, Apple offers the Associate certification for Mac Integration. This covers OS X basics and describes options to integrate OS X into an existing (Windows) environment. The exam costs $65 and can be taken online.
Even though the guide that Apple provides isn’t that big to begin with, I decided to summarize it anyways. I hope it is useful to someone else as well.
Also if you want to get more in-depth knowledge about OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, check out this great book: Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Support Essentials. Before purchasing, you might also want to look for coupon codes as it might save you 30% off or more.
Notes / summary for the “Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam”
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[Update 14-12-2013]
It’s been more than a year since my initial post, so here are some updates from my point of view:
- Tablets and ultrabooks are coming closer together due to all the available form factors. Tablet, clam shell, slider, convertible, dockable / detachable, etc. This provides more choice, but makes it also harder for people to choose the device that is most appropriate for them.
- Cheaper Windows 8.1 based tablets (based on the new Intel Atom processors) have become available that make it a more viable alternative to Android and iOS based tablets.
- Windows tablets based on AMD processors seemed interesting to me last year because of their added graphical power, but they didn’t seem to get any traction up until now.
- High end Windows based tablets (Intel Core i5/i7 based) are still relatively expensive.
- Many companies that previously produced Windows RT tablets, stopped making them (Asus, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, HTC. The only companies that are still producting Windows RT tablets are Microsoft, Nokia (largely backed by Microsoft) and Dell.
- Rumours are floating around that Microsoft will be reducing the number of Windows versions and in my opinion it would make sense to get rid of Windows RT.
- The new and improved Intel Atom (quad core processors) are making ARM based Windows RT devices even less interesting because they provide better performance and use less energy than the previous versions while allowing people to run x86 programs.
- Windows tablets have become available in smaller sizes (8 inch) and Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have updated to better work with this.
- Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 have been released and many minor adjustments made it more tablet optimized.
- Most major apps have been released as a “Metro”/Modern app for Windows 8 / Windows RT, but it’s still lagging behind Google’s Play Store and the Apple App Store.
- The graphical performance included in processors is increasing, reducing the need for seperate GPUs for generic use and bringing more options for apps.
- Google Android based tablets are still going strong and provide a lot of bang for buck. Also the Android OS is still getting many useful updates. Security and OS version sprawl is still an issue though, especially in the enterprise. Also there’s a big gap in user experience because there are still very cheap tablets with lots of disadvantages, while the normal and high end models are very good in general.
- The Apple iPad (hardware) and operating system (iOS) received updates and they’re still doing very well what they’ve always done while providing great stability and improving battery time and performance. To me however it’s more of the same without much added value over previous versions. I’m curious to see if, how and when Apple will make their devices more popular for people that want to be able to do more. Maybe some kind power tablet running OS X with touch and iOS options ?
If you have something to add or if you think something that’s incorrect, please leave a comment.
[Update 14-12-2013]
Since I’m seriously considering buying a Windows based tablet, I’ve been very closely following all developments. Even though a lot of information has become available, it’s often spread across many different websites and articles and is often incomplete in my opinion. Since the Microsoft Surface RT tablet is available for pre-order and will be sold when Windows 8 will be available on the 26th of October I decided to write this article.And even though a lot of people have complained about this on various sites, most sites don’t have one article that covers all the things to look out for. In this post I try to do just that. One of the most useful resources I’ve used are the articles from Paul Thurrott on his website supersite for windows.
Also it’s not just consumers that are having trouble understanding / explaining the differences between Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets though, Microsoft employees are also still being trained to properly handle questions.
In this post it’s important to realize that Microsoft Surface RT is not the same as Windows RT, Microsoft Surface RT is a tablet from Microsoft (hardware) that runs Windows RT (software). Microsoft Surface Pro is another tablet from Microsoft (hardware) that runs Windows 8 (software).
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Tags: android, Apple, apps, Google, hardware, ICT, iOS, iPad, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Surface Pro, Microsoft Surface RT, Office 2013 RT, tablet, Windows 8, Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8.1, Windows RT, Windows RT 8.1
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