Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with osxlion

The Lion, the Switch, and the MeFite

roger ackroyd — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:51:29 -0800

Now that you've been living with OS X Lion for a few months, what do you wish you had known before you upgraded? I'm going to ring in the new year by giving Apple thirty bucks and upgrading to Lion...unless you warn me otherwise. What features sing? What changes suck? I read all the reviews back when Lion rolled out, but I'm curious to hear from people who have lived with the new system for a while.

I'm on a MacBook Pro (2.3 Ghz/4 GB) I purchased in May 2011.

ROGUES ROGUES EVERYWHERE but there is unfortunately a more limited selection for Macs

Nattie — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:34:49 -0800

I need roguelike or roguelike-like games that will work on OS X Lion or an iPhone 4, maaaaybe a PS3 but I'm not looking to spend much money. I have some optional preferences. I just blew through The Binding of Isaac, beat it twelve times including with ???, and only have five more items to find. I'm going to need something else to play once this is over because I still have the roguelike (and roguelike-like) bug.

I'm not picky except that it must work on OS X Lion or an iPhone and maybe a PS3. Unfortunately, Nethack no longer works on OS X Lion, so my old standby doesn't seem to be an option. By roguelike and roguelike-like, I mean something where there are randomly-generated dungeons and lots of items to equip, and is usually pretty difficult (death is permanent, or there's at least a permadeath option).

HERE ARE MY OPTIONAL PREFERENCES:
- A GUI would be nice, even a lame one, but I can do without.

- It does not need to be turn-based, hence roguelike-like.

- One thing I don't like about Nethack is that you really do need to get some specific items to have any hope of winning, since there are monsters that will instant-kill you otherwise; sometimes this feels really tedious. One thing I like about The Binding of Isaac is that you can actually make due with anything you find, it's just harder if you only find bad stuff. If you can actually win the game based on skill, not luck, without finding ideal items, please note this as that will greatly appeal to me! (In Nethack you can technically win even without certain items if you're very lucky, i.e. you keep winning the rolls against instant-death. That doesn't really make the items optional in my mind.)

- I tend not to like first person controls, especially shooters, but I'll make exceptions for certain games (Bioshock) if they're interesting enough. Third-person I like.

- Games that can be won in less than two hours are pretty neato. I've found that in The Binding of Isaac but not much else.

GAMES I HAVE PLAYED:
- The Binding of Isaac
- Nethack
- Angband (been a long time, if there's a Mac port I'm willing to play it again)
- 100 Rogues on iPhone (fun, but not many items)
- Diablo and Diablo II, if you tell me to play the D3 beta I will cry because DON'T YOU THINK I WISH I HAD A BETA KEY, DON'T YOU THINK
- Torchlight
- Kings Field I, II, and whatever that one after it was; granted these aren't randomly generated OR turn-based, but there are items and they're brutal enough that they hold the same appeal

I'm willing to be a @ symbol in other games, Angband and Nethack are just the only roguelikes I ever really tried out.

To Drobo or Not to Drobo: That is the Question

dfriedman — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:36:48 -0800

Talk to me about Drobo. I need a backup system for my three macs. I want something that is plug-and-play, requires little fiddling with, and which works well with OS X Lion and Time Machine.

In other words, I want something that I can plug into my router, which my three OS X Lion computers will recognize and which will work with Time Machine in order to facilitate easy backups.

Things I am not interested in: RAID, arcane command-line interfaces, bad documentation, crappy support, etc.

I think that Drobo offers everything I am looking for (and likely more) with none of what I am not looking for.

I am looking to have 2TB of storage in the Drobo device, though I understand storage can be expanded as necessary.

I am less concerned about price here than I am about its features.

What are your thoughts given the above?

Thanks!

Help me corral technology

dfriedman — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:28:11 -0800

How do I make OSX Lion, Netgear's ReadyNAS Duo device, and Time Machine work together? Apparently, OSX Lion caused some hiccup with the software that is supposed to communicate with the ReadyNAS device for Time Machine backups.

NetGear indicates that I have to download a software update here. However, when I do so, my Mac doesn't recognize the file format. Maybe it's missing an extension?

Thanks...

OSX: Run script on UPS shutdown?

pompomtom — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:46:35 -0800

Can I run a script when my mac shuts down due to instructions from a UPS? I'm planning UPS setup for my home. I would like to connnect a mac mini (running Lion), and a netgear ReadyNAS NV+, and I need them both to shutdown gracefully when the power goes out. I believe I can shut the ReadyNAS down by invoking a particular curl command. What I don't know is whether I can get OSX to run this command on a shutdown instruction from the EnergySaver UPS panel.

So, how can I run a shell script on this particular kind of shutdown (Applescript could work too). I don't really want this to happen every time I shut the mac down... only when this was invoked by the UPS.

Alternatively, is there a better way to achieve this aim?

Bulk import word docs to apple wiki?

pompomtom — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 23:01:57 -0800

I have a Apple Lion server, and would like to import a bunch of word documents as wiki pages. How can I do this with the smallest level of effort? I'd like to avoid applescript if possible, but if that's the only route then it's not a total dealbreaker. More generally, is there any decent documentation for this available online. My googling tends to either turn up Apple's ads for Lion Server, or any number of wikis about Apple stuff.

OS X Lion apps re-opening documents?

xmutex — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:01:20 -0800

OS X Lion: the fact that Numbers, Pages, and Preview open up documents I had open is really making me want to stab myself. I've even installed Excel to avoid it. How can I turn off this horrible feature? I unchecked 'Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps' but it does nothing. The stupid applications will even re-open documents I never saved and didn't want, and it's just an awful clutter. Please help.

I'd like to be a power user, not luser in OSX-land

kalessin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:33:40 -0800

I'm a Windows systems administrator and power user and an enthusiastic user of Unix/Linux-based operating systems. I have hand edited make files and recompiled linux kernels manually. I know how to do administrative scripting and am a Microsoft products (SharePoint, if it matters) support professional/systems engineer in my job. I am certainly not the geekiest person I know but I'm in the top 5 percent. I am switching to a Mac Mini (Lion Server, specs maxed toward storage) after decades of using Windows laptops/desktops and some Linux machines. I'm prepared for the lack of physical mobility, but I don't feel prepared for not being a power user. What methods/resources would you suggest I could use to get up to speed with being a Mac Mini and OSX Lion power user? I have used Applescript to make shortcuts for my Dad to use on his older Mac Mini (like starting Safari with private browsing turned on, or starting Safari with the GMail URL, etc.)

I'm totally unafraid of experimenting, but I want to know where to start. I have interests in:
- Systems automation and interesting scripting/shell tweaks
- Desktop customization
- Having the server do household NAS services (music and pictures, primarily)
- Having the server share printing services and possibly scanning services with other devices on the network (we will be acquiring an AirPrint-enabled printer, so this is less of a priority)
- Using the server as an internet-browsing workstation
- Using the server as a gaming platform
- Experimental edge cases but not hacking
- Integrating as fully as possible with our household iOS devices (1 iPads & 1 iPod Touch)

I also have some bonus questions:
- If I run a Windows VM via Parallels, do I back up its image/filesystem via the host operating system (OSX Lion) or do I back it up within the VM (I already own Acronis TrueImage for that kind of backup)?
- If I should get to the point where I'm using a significant portion of the 1.5TB of storage available on the Mac Mini, what backup options should I plan to use for the data? Should I just get a bunch of 750 GB hard drive enclosures and keep using the same image-backup utilities I use now? (Acronis TrueImage for Windows, SuperDuper for OSX) Should I plan to get a Thunderbolt enabled Raid array from Pegasus (Expensive!). Should I back up media/data locally but use cloud backups for personal/identity things? Should I do the reverse? What's the industry standard? What do you do?

As always, thanks very much in advance to anyone who takes the time to answers. Also, please no flaminess. I'm not going to revise my choice about platforms now.

New word processing programme

Partario — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 08:41:41 -0800

Is it worth it to buy Microsoft Office 2011 to run on my OS X Lion Macbook? I just upgraded my Macbook Pro to Lion, and now Microsoft Word (2004, I believe) does not work. Should I bother to buy the 2011 Office for Mac or should I download something like OpenOffice (or any other suggestion)? If I do switch to another programme, will I be able to open old documents? Further info: I'm moving to the UK in about a month for school - in case that affects my options.