Apple has had a big year. We wanted to break down the new products and improvements introduced this year as we look towards 2016.
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Mac
One of the great things about using a Mac is the number and variety of shortcuts available. We're still learning new ones and most of us has been using these devices for years and years. This week we wanted to share a few of those lesser known shortcuts with you.
Last week, Apple launched their newest version of OS X as an update to last year's Yosemite. If you do any kind of work on your Mac, then you have plenty of reasons to be excited about this software launch.
Today we are thrilled to announce something special for Mac users. We've been working hard on a brand new service that will shape how Foojee supports you for years to come. After the video head over to the Foojee FAST page for details. We've added the video's transcript below!
Ok, hold on. I think Justin took this a little too far.
We are thrilled to announce a brand new product today, that we’ve been working hard on for months, called Foojee FAST. And while Justin has been hard at work preparing for the launch, I think he’s taking the name a little too seriously.
You know when your Mac may be acting kind of funny, but it may be hard to explain what’s going on, or maybe it’s just running a little slower than normal. Well finding the root cause can be difficult at times. And having to book an appointment to diagnose the issue is even more inconvenient.
Wouldn’t it be great if your Mac knew what was wrong, and could let us know? Today we are announcing Foojee FAST. Or the Foojee Alert & Support Toolkit. FAST is a small utility that runs in the background on your Mac, and is always looking out for potential problems, and of course will let us know when it finds one. So what does it report? Among other indicators, Foojee FAST will let us know when you’re hard drive is reporting errors, which is commonly mistaken for a slow computer. It’ll also let us know your laptop’s battery health. If it finds any malicious software installed on your Mac. And even how full your hard drive is. And most importantly, it will let us know if your computer hasn’t backed up recently. If any of these indicators are tripped, FAST alerts Foojee instantly without you even having to pickup the phone. The Foojee team will reach out to you to address the issue at a time that’s convenient for you.
Foojee FAST is perfect for preventing downtime, foreseeing IT risks, and even avoiding data loss.
Now for all this reporting, time-saving, and overall disaster avoiding, FAST is just five bucks a month. And for our home users, we’re making FAST available for FREE. FAST will also be free for all of our clients who are on the Foojee Service Plan.
So, if you have any questions, or want to get started, shoot us an email at helpme-at-foojee-dot-com. We are thrilled about this new product, and we think you are going to love it. Now where did we leave off with Justin?
Hey everyone! In case you missed their press event in San Francisco yesterday, Apple announced a ton of new products and updates. There's a lot to cover - in fact, there were so many things discussed in the nearly two-hour-long keynote that we couldn't possibly fit it all into our monthly video!
Instead, we'll be taking a slightly different approach this month and talk about everything that was announced on Tuesday right here on our blog. We'll break down the features and benefits of each new product across several posts over the next few weeks. We'll also share our favorite new features in Mavericks, and offer some tips on how to get the most out of the latest version of OS X.
There's a lot of ground to cover, so for today's post, we'll give you a quick run-down of everything that was announced yesterday.
Just in case you’ve been under a rock, Apple held their annual World Wide Developer’s Conference this week. On Monday, they announced a few new products, as well as new versions of their iPad, iPhone, and Mac operating systems. In this video, we’ll show you our six favorite things we’re looking forward to most.
We had a great turnout at our Lunch & Learn today hosted by Roam Atlanta! It is always a blast meeting new people that love to use the Mac for business. As we mentioned during the L&L here are the links to some of our favorite Mac Apps for Business.
Over the last couple of years, Apple has been pulling back its efforts of making website creation easy. Namely, iWeb has not been updated in over a year, and new Macs don't even come with it, nor is it available on the Mac App Store. iWeb was a super simple tool that many consumers and businesses could use to create a simple website, fast. In fact, many businesses (including us!) would use iWeb to create their first site after incorporating, until they designed and published a more capable website. Unfortunately it's not so easy anymore.
The nail in the coffin for Apple's web creation efforts was the discontinuation of its MobileMe service, which allowed your iWeb-created website to be published to the web in one click. Many of our customers have not only had to jump through hoops to install iWeb on their new Macs, but are now having to publish their iWeb-created websites to a traditional hosting provider. Although this is a working solution, the writing on the wall indicates that if you want to continue updating and editing your website, it's time to find a new tool to design your website. Better yet, if you can find a total package that makes design and publishing a snap, like iWeb and MobileMe used to, then you'd be set.
There are a few options out there, but none that I've felt proud enough of to recommend to our friends and customers as a complete alternative to iWeb. The criteria I am looking for are as follows:
- Easy and quick to add content and publish to a host.
- Customizable to a point where you can still show your own brand and personality.
For example, Godaddy.com's Website Tonight doesn't make the cut. It's fast and simple, but the tools encourage in-the-box thinking, and the end result is often sterile. Bludomain.com is neat, but isn't too customizable, and is primarily geared toward creative professionals.
For those of you who are looking for a more advanced alternative to iWeb, and lets you have more customizable control with HTML and CSS, check out RapidWeaver. It's not quite as easy to use as iWeb, but I want to mention it if iWeb was beginning to hold you back from your website goals.
However, if you want to hit both of these goals above for simplicity and customizability, then I would highly recommend checking out SquareSpace. SquareSpace has been around since 2004, and they seem to be constantly updating their templates and capabilities with new services. Here are few things I like about them:
- Drag and drop images to upload to your site.
- Mobile versions for your website are created automatically.
- The designs reflect the look and feel of today, and you can further customize them with your own layout and your brands colors.
There are two pricing options, $8/mo and $16/mo, and you can also start with a 14-day free trial.
Every business and website has different goals, so it's hard to make a recommendation for everyone. However if you're using iWeb now, and are looking for a newer alternative, SquareSpace will be the best replacement for overall simplicity in designing and publishing your website.
- Lucas
We're always committed to informing you on important Apple news. A large story that has surfaced is the security threat of the Flashback Trojan.
What is the Flashback Trojan?
The Flashback Trojan is a malicious software program that embeds itself into your Mac. The tricky part is, the software looks like it is helping you install Adobe Flash. The Flashback Trojan has the potential to capture information from your Web browsing activities, including usernames and passwords. Crafty, right?
Am I at risk?
No need to worry, it is estimated that only about 1% of Mac users were affected by Flashback. The great news? Apple has already included a patch that fixes the issue, and prevents any further infection. All you have to do is run Software Update and install all updates. If you want an in depth look at the issue MacWorld has written up a comprehensive article you can check out.
Do I need to install extra software?
So is our team installing anti-malware software on our computers? We sure aren't, and here's why. A security threat this far-reaching hasn't happened in over ten years. Additionally, not only has Apple stomped this threat, but Apple's new Mac OS, named Mountain Lion, will have a feature called Gatekeeper whose purpose is to further minimize threats just like this one.
If threats become more common, then yes one day we may have to use anti-malware software like our Windows pals. Until then, however, Apple appears to have our concerns in mind and is building stronger prevention mechanisms into it's future software.
This one's for you HD buffs out there. Looks like there's finally a method to easily playback Blu-ray discs on a Mac. That's right, up until this point there's been no real supported way to pop in a Blu-ray disc into a Mac.
The software, called "Mac Blu-ray Player" (I know right) will set you back $39.95.
Keep in mind this software still requires a Blu-ray drive, either internal or external. See TUAW's link for recommendations on where to buy your Blu-ray player first.