Keeping us up with the latest, here's from Jim Hamm: "The next version of OS X is to be called El Capitan, named after a 3000 foot-high chunk of granite in Yosemite National Park. See the picture below. And here an article describing 10 new features of El Capitan. It is to be available in the fall, and will be a free upgrade. Here is an article describing some of the features coming in iOS 9, which is expected to be released in late October."
How to Make Handoff Work
For you early adopters of Yosemite Jim Hamm has found some info that might help: "If you've upgraded to Yosemite and find, like me, that Handoff doesn't work right off the bat, see an article that might be helpful here ."
Yosemite Tutorial Available
"If you've upgraded to Yosemite, no doubt you are aware of the many reviews and articles that are available about the new features contained therein. Here is a 50-minute video tutorial that I found helpful," writes Jim Hamm. "Two comments from the reviewer that I take exception to: he mentions that he feels a minimum of 8 GB of RAM is required to run Yosemite. I concur that 8GB would be nice, but by no means necessary. I have 4 GB of RAM and am running Yosemite quite satisfactorily.
"He also believes that Yosemite was released prematurely, and that people should wait about 6 weeks before upgrading. That may or may not be true, but the release is close enough for me. The few bugs I can deal with, and I like experimenting anyway.
"There is one feature that most reviewers think is 'half-baked' or 'buggy' — Handoffs or Continuity. This is where one can be on, say, a website in Safari on your Mac, then go to your iPad or iPhone, and pick up right where you left off."
Jim comments, "I can't tell if this 'tis or tain't' true because I've not been able to enable this on either my Mac or iPad. More research needed here on my part.
"Other than that, the reviewer does a nice job of explaining the nuances of Yosemite. If you've got 50 minutes to spare or invest, sit back, get a cup of coffee, and take a look. Also, you'll note, the website contains many other reviews available."
Updates, New Versions of Safari . . . and . . .
"Here's some news about Mavericks," says David Passell. You'll also read about updates for earlier OS X versions, multiple new versions of Safari, and patches for Xcode, OS X Server and Apple TV. http://www.zdnet.com/apple-updates-os-x-mavericks-safari-and-other-products-7000033836/
Upgrade Options for OS X
Snow Leopard updates are probably done — you will want to see your OS X upgrade options. Prez Art Gorski says, "If you’re still running an older version of OS X and are interested in upgrading, here’s a great article on your options."
Yahoo Groups: Upgrades & Changes
"If you are using one of the Yahoo Groups and your Mac is not at the latest OS update, you may find that you can’t upload files/photos to your Yahoo Group anymore," John Carter says. He goes on to explain, "A friend of mine posted this comment:
Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, etc. have all recently made significant "upgrades??" - in their minds, not mine - to include numerous social networking capabilities to their e-mail sites, group sites, etc. They all require significant upgrading of the Mac OS on my primary desktop computer from OS 10.4.11. I cannot upgrade the OS for this computer because it's a PowerPC G5 and I still want to maintain OS 9 Classic for a couple of legacy programs. It appears that the changes Yahoo, Google & Microsoft made to the functioning of their various sites are incompatible with OS 10.4.11. I only get rudimentary e-mail capabilties on my desktop now - barely functional. The sites work perfectly fine on my MacBook Pro OS 10.6.8 - for now."
John explains his conclusion, "So, if you thought that you could continue to use your old OS for years to come, then the changes that are happening with websites are in the direction of what’s happening with the new versions of any OS, be it Mac or Windows, will leave you behind and not able to work with those websites. If upgrading your computer or OS means giving up a legacy app, welcome to the 21st Century! Find the best alternative, if any at all, and move on. And all this just to be able to continue browsing the Internet and using online services!"
The 16 Best Things About iOS 7
"If you're still wondering/waiting on whether to upgrade to iOS 7, here's some comments that might help you to decide. The more I use it, the better I like iOS 7," writes Jim Hamm. The 16 Best Things About iOS 7: http://mashable.com/2013/09/19/16-best-things-ios-7/
Another iOS 7 Upgrade Report
Prez Art Gorski reports on his experiences with the iOS 7 upgrade. "Well, I upgraded my decrepit iPhone 4 to iOS 7. Even though a lot of features aren't available on a phone this old, I like the improvements that I do get. Mary Ann upgraded her iPad 2 with no problems as well.
"Macworld.com has a huge list of articles covering all aspects of iOS 7 that are very informative.
"We'll be upgrading to iPhone 5s's shortly, so that will be even better."
iOS 7 Comments
Here's Jim Hamm's comments on upgrading to iOS 7. "Realizing that it's better to wait for some time before updating to a new iOS, I, of course, ignored my own advice and went ahead just now and updated my iPhone 5, iPad 2, and iPad Mini to iOS 7.
"All went well, and so far no problems or bugs noted, but discovery still underway. iOS 7 is quite different visually, functionally, and aesthetically -- but so far I like it quite well. I'm listening to the new iTunes Radio as I type this, and I'm gonna appreciate this as I enjoy listening to music as I surf the net on my computer. I suspect iTunes Radio may well put a little hurt on Pandora and other radio apps."
And now, what did Zee do? "My wife was showing me a few tips after her update and one she liked was telling Siri to play James Taylor -- which Siri obligingly did. And she asked Siri 'what is the weather in Prescott?' -- which Siri kindly told her. Kinda cool."
Jim winds up this report with, "I did the update by plugging my devices into my MacBook Air, and the process went much quicker than my wife's updates, which she was doing via Wifi only and not plugged into her Mac. If you decide to update to iOS 7, don't forget to do a backup first, just in case. I backed up both to iCloud and my MacBook Air -- belt and suspenders, don't you know...(grin)."
Camera Features in iPhone 5a
He starts off with, "I'm not much of a camera buff, but if you are here is an article describing the new and enhanced camera features in the new iPhone 5S," and then Jim Hamm gives a bit of detail, ending with his grin!
"Looks mighty impressive to me. Bet the manufacturers of 'regular' cameras are a bit bit disconcerted to read about all these improvements in the iPhone 5S which, nominally, is supposed to be a phone."
How to Know If the iPhone 5s Camera Upgrade is Right For You
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how-to-know-if-the-iphone-5s-camera-upgrade-is-right-for-you
Anticipating Mavericks
With the latest from WWDC mentioned in earlier postings today we are looking to the next upgrade, and Jim Hamm sends this, "Here is a tentative list of requirements to upgrade to Mavericks. I noticed that perhaps one can go directly from Snow Leopard to Mavericks."