
Apple Releases Final Mac OS X Mountain Lion to Developers - jpadilla_
http://mashable.com/2012/07/09/apple-releases-final-mac-os-x-mountain-lion-to-developers/
======
greedo
I was looking forward to ML until I read the supported hardware and found that
my 2006 Mac Pro won't be supported. This has happened in the past with other
Macs, but this is the first time it has bit me.

My Pro is perfect for me, I have it maxed at 32 GB of memory, dual optical
drives, and 4TB of local disk. Quad 2.66GHz cores is more than enough for me.

I understand that things like display Airplay mirroring depend on newer
CPUs/GPUs, but ML should still be supported, just with fewer features.

And yes, I know this is a 6 year old system. But it's still a good solid
system with a long life ahead of it. I'll keep running Lion on it until
something dies (system board?) that's irreplaceable.

~~~
jdboyd
When 10.5 came out, a lot of unsupported systems only required a minor hack to
make 10.5 install (copy the DVD to HD, edit a file, burn back to DVD).

With luck, there will be an easy hack this time as well. I believe the factor
that decides which machines got cut off is the lack of 64bit EFI, which Apple
requires for booting a 64bit kernel. Some people have already worked out how
to use hackintosh tools to boot from Legacy Mode into a 64bit EFI and then
into a 64bit kernel on the 2006/2007 Mac Pros, which apparently increases
expansion card compatiblity (particularly making it possible to put unflashed
PC video cards in the machine). Also, after doing this, some of the older
MacPro video cards will be unsupported (such as the 7300GT). A suitable Radeon
replacement is probably cheap though.

It is too early to tell, but with luck the same thing can be done by dedicated
MacPro owners to get 10.8.

Personally, I'm very disappointed that my wife's MacBook is also on the
unsupported list. I will probably end up just replacing her laptop rather than
trying to hack it.

~~~
greedo
If the hacks progress to the point where I can upgrade to a card that supports
display mirroring via Airplay, I may look into it. The video card on this
system is its only weak spot in terms of reliability. Too much WoW burned out
two prior cards, and replacement cards are outrageous.

EDIT: Now I see that it's a CPU issue, not GPU, so I'm screwed. Maybe I'll end
up getting a new Mini to replace my old one for HTPC.

------
cdrxndr
Just bought a new Macbook Pro and have recently gotten my first taste of Lion.
Two words: kernel panic.

Hoping for a stability boost on this one. No way my entire overpowered system
should crash from running a browser, text edit, and Skype.

~~~
sneak
Check your hardware. xnu is incredibly stable. It may also be a 1.0 driver,
considering what you're running it on. You _are_ on the absolute cutting edge
of the universe right now, GPU-wise, after all.

Lion itself is rock solid.

~~~
rangibaby
Agreed. The only KPs I've gotten since at least ~Snow Leopard have been
hardware-related. Off to the Genius Bar!

~~~
sneak
First, boot holding D. This will boot a special firmware-based hardware tester
(or one downloaded from Apple on latest hardware) that will test all aspects
of your system.

It's the first thing the Genius Bar will do.

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bstar77
Can anyone comment if airplay is disabled on pre 2011 macs? I'm going to be
royally pissed if airplay is disabled because I'm missing some BS drm chip.
Hopefully the era of "Jailbreaking" macs has not started.

~~~
st3fan
DRM Chip? What did that crazy rumour come from?

~~~
Zev
For a couple years, Apple shipped Macs with a TPM[1] chip from Intel.

1\. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module>

~~~
st3fan
Also false. They never shipped those and they were also nt Macs. those were
developer only machines that you could lease and they were built using
standard Intel boards which had that unused TPM module.

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chrismealy
Anybody know if Messages has improved? The beta I'm using is buggy as hell.

~~~
sneak
It's vastly better in the DPs. They haven't updated the beta _at all_ since it
was released months and months ago.

~~~
lobster_johnson
But still no MSN integration, right? I still have some MSN contacts that
forces me to stick to Adium.

~~~
Zev
iChat never had MSN support. However, there is a new plugin framework in
Mountain Lion that would let someone write a MSN plugin for Messages.app.

------
ethank
Still filing some radars against this, including the lingering text formatting
issue in Mail.

If this follows the typical pattern there will be some sys update right after
public release.

~~~
rangibaby
Apple .0 software always has at least one showstopper.

My favorite was the way the initial release of SL hosed fonts that it decided
conflicted with the system ones. Like non-Apple versions of Helvetica. Thanks
Apple! ;-)

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taligent
Something very odd is happening at Apple. Either there is a massive shortage
of developers (unlikely) or developers have been moved to a new project
(AppleTV ?).

Because Mountain Lion and iOS6 are by far the most underwhelming updates yet
in terms of features.

~~~
chrisdroukas
Eh. OS X has been on somewhat of a tick-tock update cycle since Leopard. Add
features then refine them.

Also, it's _twenty bucks_.

~~~
taligent
I think I might have been misunderstood. I have no complaints with Mountain
Lion and think it offers tremendous value.

My point was whether there had been a movement of developers to a new iOS/OSX
based project e.g. like an AppleTV. Because it seems that iOS6 and Mountain
Lion combined seem to lack the combined punch of previous releases.

~~~
jaylevitt
Frankly, if the only punch Mountain Lion packs is "breaks way less", I am
first in line.

