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
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Tags: App Store, Apple, Apple App Store, clean install, Diskmaker, Diskmaker X, DiskmakerX, InstallESD.dmg, ISO, Lion Disk Maker, Lion Diskmaker, LionDiskMaker, mac, Mac App Store, Maverick, mavericks, OS X, os x 10.9, osx, osx 10.9, Untitled, VM
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
My blog reached 50.000+ views. Thanks everybody, this really exceeded my expectation and motivates me even more to keep going. Special thanks go out to my fellow bloggers in my blogroll and to those who shared my posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.
Even though my blog exists since January 2012, I really started to blog actively around August and ever since I’ve tried to keep posting on a regular basis. At the start of 2013 I even intended to blog every day. I was able to keep it up for a short while, but it was just too time consuming. Now I try to blog something at least once every 5 days. The blog post count is now at 170.
Personally I think Microsoft is on the right track. I’m really looking forward to all new Microsoft product (preview) releases including Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 and you can expect some blog posts about this in the near future.
Popular posts
From the stats, it turned out these are the blog posts that are being viewed most, if you’ve missed any of them you might want to take a look at them:
Stats
For those interested in the view stats, here they are:
Comments and suggestions
If you have suggestions about what I can do to improve, please let me know. Also if you’d like to see some things covered more or in more detail, just leave a comment.
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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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Tags: ACSP, ACTC, AFP, App Store, Apple, Apple Certified Associate, Apple Certified Associate - Mac Integration 10.8, Apple Certified Support Professional, Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.8, Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC), Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.8, Apple Filing Protocol, Apple ID, Apple Mac OS X, Associate certification for Mac Integration, authentication, Bonjour, Boot Camp, Calendears, CardDAV, certification, certify, CIFS, Cisco IPSec, Contacts, Cross Platform, encryption, Exam, Exchange, eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, File Sharing, FileVault, Finder, FTP, Gatekeeper, HP Jetdirect, iCloud, IMAP, Instant Messaging, Internet Printing Protocol, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, IPP, IPsec, iTunes, Jabber, Keynote, L2TP, LDAP, Library Randomization, Line Printer Daemon, LPD, mac, Mac App Store, Mac Integration Basics 10.8, Mac Integration Basics 10.8 Exam, Mac OS X, Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, mail, Messages, Migration Assistant, NFS, notes, Numbers, Open Directory, OS X, OS X 10.8, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Pages, Parallels, Parallels Desktop, POP, PPTP, Preferences, Printing, QuickTime, Sandboxing, Server Message Block, SMB, summary, System Preferences, Time Machine, virtualization, VMware, VMware Fusion, VPN, WebDAB, XMPP
Last sunday I warned about a major vulnerability in Java.
It wasn’t expected that Java would come have an update available this quickly, but it is good that they did. So be sure to update to Java 7 Update 11 : http://java.com
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Tags: Apple, chrome, Cisco, firefox, Google, google chrome, IE, Internet Explorer, Intrusion Prevention System, IPS, IPS signature, Java, Microsoft, Microsoft IE, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, mozilla firefox, MS IE, Oracle, OS X, plug-in, plug-ins, plugin, plugins, security, security issue, Signature, US-CERT, vulnerability, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows XP
[EDIT 14-01-2013]
Oracle release Java 7 Update 11 to fix this security issue. Be sure to update: http://java.com/
[EDIT]
Normally when I read about security vulnerabilities, I don’t really get a sense of urgency.
With the current Java vulnerability however, I do feel like people have to act quick because there are so many respected companies and even countries actively taking action:
Apparently this vulnerability is actively being exploited already and Oracle hasn’t released a Java fix yet. You might want to consider a combination of the options below:
Personally I like the way FireFox is handling the issue because it blocks by default, but allows users to easily override this behavior for specific sites. Also I’m getting quite fed up with all these Java security vulnerabilities lately 😦
I’d like to know what you’ll be doing. Have you or are you going to disable Java ? Which methods will you use ? Why ?
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Tags: Apple, chrome, Cisco, firefox, Google, google chrome, IE, Internet Explorer, Intrusion Prevention System, IPS, IPS signature, Java, Microsoft, Microsoft IE, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, mozilla firefox, MS IE, Oracle, OS X, plug-in, plug-ins, plugin, plugins, security, security issue, Signature, US-CERT, vulnerability, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows XP
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