This week Apple released OS X 10.9 Mavericks for free through the App Store. Even though downloading from the App Store works great for updating, I also want to be able to perform a clean install and create VMs running OS X 10.9 Mavericks. I also don’t want to download the 5+GB update file every time I upgrade a system.
Unfortunately Apple doesn’t provide an ISO download or a tool to create an ISO or bootable USB drive. There are however many people with similar needs that provide information on how to create both. The downside of these methods though, is that you need to have a working OS X system to be able to use them.
Create an OS X 10.9 Mavericks bootable USB flash drive
A new Humble Bundle, the Humble Origin Bundle has been available for a while and will be over in 12 hours. don’t miss out on the great games.
This is a way to give to charity and get great games (or the other way around). Basically you can determine how much you give and you can even specify who should receive which amount of your donation. You can read more about the concept and other bundles in a previous blog post.
It’s also good to note that ALL proceedings will be going to charity. Even though Electronic Arts (EA) has been criticized a lot in the past, this is a great thing they’re doing.
The Humble Origin Bundle
The Humble Origin Bundle contains the following steam redeemable games:
Dead Space
Crysis 2 Maximum Edition
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Medal of Honor
Mirror’s Edge
The Sims 3 (along with two expansion packs in The Sims 3 Starter Pack)
Battlefield 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising
Populous
To give you an idea what these games look like, take a look at this YouTube video:
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 has been released and includes official support for Windows 8 through bootcamp. For the full list of changes, take a look at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5612
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:
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”
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”
A new Humble Bundle, the Humble THQ Bundle is available now and it includes some great games.
This is a way to give to charity and get great games (or the other way around). Basically you can determine how much you give and you can even specify who should receive which amount of your donation. You can read more about the concept and other bundles in a previous blog post.
The Humble THQ Bundle
The Humble THQ Bundle contains the following steam redeemable games:
It’s up to you how much you pay, but paying more than the average might get you bonus games. Sometimes even also previous bundles.
You can decide how the paid amount is split between the developer, charities and organizing party.
Games are multi platform (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android), but this differs per game.
Games are DRM free, but this differs per game.
Games are redeemable on the steam and/or desura platform, but this differs per game.
(Indie) Humble Bundle 6
(One of) the first bundles with this concept was the Indie Humblebundle and they have just released their latest bundle: Humble Indie Bundle 6 which in my opinion contains the best games I’ve seen in a bundle yet:
The Humble Indie Bundle 6 contains the following games:
PS: Even though it’s not in the Humble Indie Bundle, Torchlight 2 is coming out tomorrow as well. It is fairly priced (especially in a 4-pack), looks promising and will include modding options (expect a lot of fan made content).
Other game bundle offers
Besides the Indie Humble Bundle, there are more bundles available. Not all of them involve charity and not all of them allow you to set your own price. But it might be interesting to check some of them: http://indiegamebundle.wikia.com/wiki/Indie_Game_Bundle_Wiki
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