This week has been another really busy one in terms of app news so let’s get started and see what’s been happening!
Tweetbot for Mac alpha released
After months of speculation and rumours, Tapbots finally released the alpha version of their Twitter client Tweetbot for Mac to the public on Wednesday for all to try out and see.
The main interface of the alpha release of Tweetbot for Mac
The interface borrows heavily from the iPad version, with easy access to tweets, mentions, direct messages and so on running down the left-hand side and even the gestures have been brought to the Mac version, so to view a tweet in a bit more detail you simply swipe to the right. It also stacks up quite nicely against the iPad version in terms of features, with some missing for the time being (such as iCloud sync across devices).
Remember that Tweetbot for Mac is currently in alpha status so it has more than its fair share of bugs and problems. You can check out our full review of the most current version here before heading over to Tapbots’ website to download the alpha.
Check your app compatibility with Mountain Lion
With the Mountain Lion release just over the horizon, many developers are rushing to make their apps compatible with the new version of Apple’s operating system. If you’re worried whether your existing apps won’t be compatible then Roaring Apps have set up a free website with a wide range of Mac programs allowing you to check whether your favourite app will work under Mountain Lion.
Roaring Apps have created a website to check if your favourite programs are compatible with Mountain Lion.
The website’s information is compiled by its own users who have tested the apps under the various Developer Previews of Mountain Lion. Some have also been tested under the GM release, which was released at the start of this week, strongly hinting that they will be compatible in the final release.
You can check whether your apps are compatible with Mountain Lion by heading over to their website here.
Parallels Desktop for Mac goes retina
Parallels Desktop received a slight update back on Wednesday that brought retina support for the new MacBook Pro. This came after the iPad version was updated to support the new iPad’s retina display back in May. The new version supports (like previous versions) not only Windows 7 but also the Release Preview of Windows 8, Chrome OS and Ubuntu Linux. The app will also be updated to support both the final release of Windows 8 and Mountain Lion when these are both on the shelves.
Parallels Desktop is currently on offer as part of the iStack Mac Bundle, with 9 great Mac apps for $49 (normally Parallels on its own retails for $80) ending July 27th so if you haven’t already got it, now’s the time to grab it!
New Java malware discovered for OS X
Yet another Java malware bug has been discovered for OS X this week by the security firm F-Secure and relies on social engineering to convince users into running a Java Archive file which, if permission is granted by the user, remotely connects to an IP address via port 8080 to obtain additional code.
Java-based malware attacks have been rising in occurrence in recent times.
The anti-virus developer Sophos stated on Wednesday that the bug has the potential to affect a high number of users owing to its cross-platform potential (the malware automatically detects whether the user is running Windows, OS X or Linux on their computer). On a Mac, it is known as Backdoor:OSX/GetShell.A and is a PowerPC based binary, meaning that anyone who has Rosetta installed (or has an older PowerPC based Mac) is at risk.
Anyone who uses Lion is unaffected as the operating system does not provide any support for PowerPC based programs. So far, there has been no official comment from Apple but if you’re running Snow Leopard or lower, then it is strongly recommended to grab yourself a decent virus scanner (such as avast!) and give your system a thorough scan.
Mountain Lion incompatible with older Macs
Users of older Macs – look away now. Apple has officially released the list of models which will be compatible with the new release of Mountain Lion, due at the end of this month. The list includes:
- iMac (mid-2007 or newer)
- MacBook (late 2008 aluminium or early 2009 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (mid/late 2007 or newer)
- MacBook Air (late 2008 or newer)
- Mac Mini (early 2009 or newer)
Steam Summer Sale on: up to 88% off your favourite games
And finally, Steam’s Summer Sale is in full swing with some extremely generous discounts and price cuts, some up to 88% off single games. Their website has been updated to feature these reductions, with daily deals on throughout the sale, which ends on July 22nd.
Steam’s Summer Sale is running until July 22nd, with daily deals on selected games.
Some of the games are at their lowest prices ever, including one of my particular favourites, Portal 2, which can be had currently for the minuscule price of $4.99.
Heard Anything Else?
If you’ve heard anything else exciting that’s happened this week then go ahead and post a link to it in the Comments section below for the benefit of our other readers!