Tag Archives | Snow Leopard

Magic Mouse Manual Suggests OS X Update is Coming

Posted by David Worthington on October 22, 2009 at 3:40 am

Apple’s new Magic Mouse has a lot of people talking, but not just about its features. A tantalizing tidbit is tucked away in the hardware manual saying that the device requires OS X 10.6.2 or later to operate. Given the short time period that it takes customer orders to be processed, the folks at AppleInsider have surmised that an OS update could be released within days.

The Magic Mouse, which was announced yesterday, is a revised take on the mouse that adds multitouch gestures as input–eliminating the scroll wheel. While the device may require a Snow Leopard update to run, it is also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) or later.

Beta versions of OS X 10.6.2 are reported to address some widely publicized bugs, including one which can cause user data to be deleted when logging in and out of a guest account. Other fixes address graphics and video display issues.

The 10.6.1 service pack was released in early September,  just weeks after Snow Leopard became available. It provided compatibility, security and stability fixes.

I’m usually very cautious about reading Apple’s tea leaves, but this one seems like a no brainer. I hope 10.6.2 will fix some of the random bugs that I have encountered.

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Snow Leopard Bug May Eat Your Data

Posted by Ed Oswald on October 9, 2009 at 11:46 am

Just as I was about to head to the Apple Store to pick up a copy of Snow Leopard, one of the most serious bugs yet is starting to get more play in the Apple media. Apparently, an issue in the way the new version of Mac OS X handles guest accounts could cause the computer to seemingly ‘delete’ all of a users files stored in their main account.

The gist of how it happens is this, according to user reports: shortly before the bug appears, a Guest folder appears in the /Users directory. Previous to this, no such folder exists. When the computer is restarted, the user is somehow logged in as a guest and all their files stored under their main account appear to have been deleted.

Apparently this issue is nothing new: CNet has an article from September 19 which seems to allude to the issues that people are experiencing, as well as offering a possible solution to your problems.

Note that this method does not restore your data. In order to do that, you’re going to need a backup. Moral of the story here? If you’re on Snow Leopard, start backing up your home folder regularly.

Apple is currently looking into the issue, however has not provided any guidance as to when the problem could be fixed.

I’m just guessing here, but disabling the guest account before upgrading to Snow Leopard might also be another way to prevent a problem if you’re still looking to upgrade. I just checked my accounts here and the Guest Account is labeled “sharing only.” I have to do some more research here to see if I’m safe.

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