Extra Future[A successor to the “Sweet solution,” an HTML5-based iOS app creator for Macs.][link] Looks great in theory, looking forward to trying it out.
[link]: http://handhelddesigner.com/ “Handheld Designer, Easily create and host beautiful HTML5 mobile web applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch”
[It’s a rebuttal of a rebuttal][link], but it’s really worth reading. Jesper is one of the smartest people I know on the subject of modern computing, and this is a great example as to why. Not contrary to be contrary, not a Mac fanboy response, just some good sense.
[link]: http://waffle.wootest.net/2011/06/12/why-w8-flawed-ipad-response/ “waffle → Why ‘Why Windows 8 Is Not Fundamentally Flawed As A Response To The iPad’ Is Fundamentally Flawed As a Response To ‘Why Windows 8 Is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad'”
[A great-looking update to the self-described “image editor for humans.”][link] I’ve been using Acorn since version 1, and I spend more time with Acorn and less with Photoshop every week.
[link]: http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ “Acorn, a great Mac image editor, built for humans.”
[A downgrade in every sense:][link]
>Unfortunately, instead of making the Windows version of Skype better, they’ve decided to fix the discrepancy by making the Mac version of Skype more like the Windows version.
Always, always, a bad idea.
[link]: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/03/30/skype_5/ “ignore the code: Skype 5 for Mac”
[Panic Inc. is donating 100% of all profits from their software sold today to the relief efforts in Japan.][link]
[link]: http://www.panic.com/blog/2011/03/lets-help-japan/ “Panic Blog » Let’s Help Japan”
Flying Meat, makers of fine Macintosh softwares such as [Acron (the image editor for humans)][acorn], [are selling t-shirts][link]. A Flying Meat t-shirt is your ticket to me buying you a beer.
[link]: http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=flying-meat-shirt “buyolympia.com: Flying Meat – Flying Meat”
[acorn]: http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ “Acorn – The Image Editor for Humans”
[A progress and “what comes next” report for every active project from what is possibly the most beloved (and accomplished) Mac software house.][link]
[link]: http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/10/panic-state-of-the-union/ “Panic Blog » Panic State of the Union”
Hello, gentle reader. Since the publishing of this post, Aspyr has ported Civilization 5 to Mac OS X. That means you can just Buy Sid Meier’s Civilization V for Mac OSX on Amazon
The following how to was written for Intel Macs running Mac OS 10.6. It will probably not work if either of those two prerequisites are not met. The test machine is a 2.4ghz Macbook Pro with a GeForce 8600M GT and 4gb of RAM. Your mileage, as always, may vary.
The advances in virtualization software in the past 5 years have made it possible to enjoy PC-only games on your Mac legally, even new releases, without needing to install Windows. Leading the Windows virtualization push is [a project called Wine][wine]. Wine is an open source project, and as is so often the case it suffers for lack of a user interface, which can make it a non-starter for those who prefer not to use the command line. But from the wasteland there comes a developer named Mike Kronenberg, who has created [a Mac OS X native application called WineBottler][bottler].
[wine]: http://www.winehq.org/ “Wine’s official website”
[bottler]: http://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ “WineBottler”
WineBottler handles the deeply unpleasant process of creating a Windows virtualization space for applications (called a Bottle. Get it?) on your Mac with minimal fuss for the user. Using WineBottler I was able to install Steam, purchase Civilization 5, install the game and play it in about the same amount of time it would’ve taken on a native Windows computer. Here’s how.
## Step 1: Hit The Bottle
Installing WineBottler is as simple as installing any other Mac OS X application. Go to [the WineBottler website, and download the Disk Image][bottler]. Once it’s downloaded, mount the disk image and drag WineBottler to your Applications folder. Once WineBottler has been copied to your Applications folder, double-click the icon to launch it. It’ll look something like this:
Your window won’t have the extra entries in the right pane that mine does, which are Bottles I’ve made in the past. Don’t panic. To create your “Bottle” for Civilization 5, click the *Create Custom Prefixes* item in the sidebar on the left. This screen is a little less friendly, but don’t worry, we’ll be out of it soon. For now hide or minimize the WineBottler window, as there’s something we have to do first.
## Step 2: Steam
Steam is the distribution platform that Civilization 5 uses. If you want to play Civilization 5 legally, the only way to do it is through Steam. Lucky for us, Steam is free. Go to [Steam’s download page][steamdl], and click the link that reads “also available for Windows” to download the installer. Once it’s downloaded, open up your WineBottler window then click and drag the SteamInstall.msi file onto text field labeled *Install File*. You don’t have to change anything else on this screen, so click the *Install* button in the bottom right.
A Save As box will drop down from the WineBottler window. Type in **Steam PC** for the name, for the *Where* field select your *Applications* folder then click Save. WineBottler will start installing Steam. Soon you’ll see the Steam installation window, and if you’ve ever used a PC before then you’ll know what to do. If not, it is simple: Just keep clicking Next in the bottom right of the screen, and eventually click Finish. The WineBottler window and progress bar will stay on screen while Steam installs and runs for the first time, so don’t freak out if it won’t leave.
Once Steam updates (it does so automatically on it’s first launch), go ahead and close the Steam login window. This will let WineBottler know that Steam installed correctly and we don’t need to see WineBottler’s window anymore. WineBottler will prompt you as to which Executable you’d like to run when your launch your Steam PC application. From the menu select *steam.exe* and click OK.
## Step 3: Try The Demo and Buy Civ 5
Now that we’re all done with WineBottler, just go to your Applications folder and double-click the icon labeled *Steam PC*. You can log in to Steam or create a Steam account form there, and buy Civ 5 or download the Demo just like any other user. Once the game is downloaded it will take awhile to install, primarily the portion where the installer is fetching DirectX. This can take up to 10 minutes, and you might worry that your app has frozen. It hasn’t.
When it comes time to launch Civ 5, select the DirectX 9 option. When the game launches the window will be complete white for a minute or two due to some weirdness with the introduction video. This is totally normal, so don’t panic. After about one minute of the white screen you’ll see the game’s welcome screen and be well on your way to getting your ass handed to you by Montezuma.
[steamdl]: http://store.steampowered.com/about/ “Download Steam”
[Very cool graphs with data collected from Valve’s opt-in hardware stats software][link].
[link]: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/?platform=mac “Steam Hardware Survey”
… and here is where to [download it from the Steam homepage][link]. It is a 2.7mb Disk Image. I expect a press release shortly. Hurry up before the server melts.
If you aren’t in the closed beta you’ll get a message saying so, but at least you’ll have the client downloaded and updated before the rush.
Steam is open for business on the Macintosh. I never thought I’d see the day. As a bonus, Valve has added Portal as a free download for Mac or PC users from now until May 24th. That’s a damn fine hello.
[link]: http://store.steampowered.com/ “Steam for Mac”
[Panic’s release notes for Transmit 4][panic]. Contrast with [Bare Bones’ release notes for BBEdit 9.5][bb].
[panic]: https://panic.com/transmit/releasenotes.html “Transmit 4 release notes”
[bb]: http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/arch_bbedit95.html “BBEdit 9.5 Release Notes”
[Since they’re porting Source][link], that means Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Portal 2 and all Source-based games will be available for the Mac. Jimminy.
[link]: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/03/steam-mac/ “Valve Brings Hit Games, Steam Service to Mac | GameLife | Wired.com”
[A very useful looking Interface Builder plugin][link] from Brandon Walkin.
[link]: http://brandonwalkin.com/bwtoolkit/ “BWToolkit – Interface Builder Plugin for Cocoa on Mac OS X”