Ever wondered how you can conserve space on your Mac? Ever thought that you have far more installed for the OS than you really thought you should? We have the answer.

When you first turn on your Mac you will have a full (or “easy”) install of the OS, not all of which you want. The main things installed can be broken down into 3 categories:

Of all of this, how much do you use? Do you use multiple languages? Do you ever use the iWork free trial? If the answers to these are no then we have a couple of suggestions for you.

Firstly, for those that don’t want to mess too much with their OS installs there is a great little free-ware program called DeLocalizer. This little app easily removes your unused language files, leaving you with only American English. We would like to note though that some users experience issues with Mac OS 10.4.0+ when GB_English is removed, for the most stable results do not remove American English or British English.

Well what about those of us that have decided we want our Mac to look and work as new, but with more space? Well, there is a way for us too, and best of all, it’s on the OS X disk. Insert the disk and choose the “Install OS X and Bundled Software” option. You will need to restart your Mac, leaving the DVD in the optical drive. When your Mac restarts, it will boot from the disk. For a completely clean install you can choose to Format the drive and then choose customize on the final screen before the format takes place. Here you can uncheck the options you won’t use including:

Follow your on screen options and there you will have it, 20 minutes later you will have a fresh, streamlined and only a 2Gb install (min.).

[Warning: Of course, it is recommended that you back up all of your data, media and other files before you run either of these options, especially the format option as this completely erases the hard drive before re-installing OS X.]

As I posted earlier today, iLife ‘06 made it’s way into my hands earlier today. Sadly though it wasn’t all bells and whistles. I had real trouble getting my most looked forward to application of the suite, GarageBand 3, to work. Since then I may have seemed unresponsive to the floods of messages I am getting asking for help, advice and more feedback pending future purchases. I for this I can only apologise and say that although it’s not a great work around, I have one. iLife ‘06 is officially working fantastically well right now.

What took so long? I was constantly rebooting, reformatting and reinstalling on both my PowerBook and also on a friends iBook in order to try and resolve the issue. This takes time. So, what was up? I don’t know. How did I fix it? I simply installed it under an administrative user account and then ran it in another user account. I found a difference between this and using a second administrative user account.

I honestly don’t know why this is, but I have been testing relentlessly all day long. I hope this is helpful to you and I will again, update if I find out any more information or a better workaround.

[Note: Apple iLife '06 consists of: iPhoto 6, iWeb, GarageBand 3, iMovie HD 6, iDVD 6 and also contains iTunes 6.0.2 and QuickTime 7.0.4]

A quote from the Cult of Mac tonight caught my eye. I think, only think mind you, I can’t be sure but…

So tonight I’m sitting in a bar when I run into an old friend, who is very highly placed in the Apple world. I hate to cite an anonymous source, but trust me, he knows.
And he tells me the keynote that Jobs gave was not the keynote he had planned. Some of the speech had been cut out. Key products were missing.

My source said there was some stuff, “some very, very cool stuff,” that Jobs couldn’t unveil because of “supply issues.”

“They can’t get enough Core Duo (chips),” said my source.

He also said that if he were me, he probably wouldn’t order one of the new MacBook Pros.

I asked if there would be MacBook replacements for the 17-inch and 12-inch PowerBooks, but he said, “Oh, it’s much cooler than that. Much cooler.

Hey, didn’t I said on day one, during the keynote, that this is only a temporary thing? Releasing an iBook with that kind of power would blow us all away too much, too soon. Frankly, the MacBook Pro is not a good release and I think the name is a refelction on that. It looks unfinished, it’s a test subject, Alpha work. I don’t believe that these models will stick around. Steve must have something else planned.

Additionally, I also thought that Steve was simply slightly ill to begin with, but the more I look at it, the more obvious it becomes that all was not as planned.

Today I received my copy iLife ‘06 from Apple. I have been very excited about this release since before Christmas and was correct in my predictions that there would be built in blogging and podcasting tools as well as another application to add to the package.

Of course, the second Steve Jobs announced to the world that there was indeed an iLife ‘06 release this past Tuesday, I updated my software and got the new versions of iTunes (6.0.2) and QuickTime Pro (7.0.4). This was not without it’s drawback however, as I documented here.

That all done with, I have been impressed overall with the updates and was eagerly awaiting my early ordered iLife package from the local courier. I even formatted my PowerBook in anticipation and did not install the iLife ‘05 bundled with my copy of OS X. I was ready, I was updated… and I still haven’t published anything.

As always the packaging was beautiful, the disk was a DVD, the installer was even pretty exhilarating. Unfortunately though I have not gotten very far in my attempt to create either a podcast or an iWeb/.Mac website. Every time I try and do the smallest thing, such as change some pre-formatted text, every time I right click a typo or even just try to open a menu it freezes for a minute, sometimes ten. It’s very frustrating.

I will endeavor and will update you when I can.

[Specs: PowerBook G4 (Aug '05) 1.67Ghz, 768Mb RAM, Mighty Mouse, iSight, LaCie d2 160Gb E-HDD, OS X 10.4.4, All available software updates installed, absolutely no third party software or hacks or keys (with the exception of Carbon Copy Cloner)]

Update: This has been a surreal experience. I have Photocasting through iPhoto working great (if slowly compared to Steve’s presentation) and I also have iWeb working (all be it timed out because of my huge movie.

The issue really is GarageBand; my most looked forward too addition. It just keeps freezing up like there is no tomorrow. I have done everything I could and even restarted. Fresh access to all that RAM still won’t see it though. The CPU is working because I have power plugged in. iWeb was fine after the restart, why isn’t GarageBand? I don’t have all the answers, but you couldn’t get it on a cleaner system so it’s nothing third party or the like.

I am sure GarageBand will work eventually if I leave it for long enough, but right now it’s unusable.

[Note 2: According to Apple, my PowerBook is more than capable of running this entire suite; I even exceed the recommended requirements.]

Concerns have already been raised about the new iTunes 6.0.2 update, concerns that beckon back to the Sony catastrophe. It was rumored yesterday that the new iTunes feature, iTunes Mini Store, (not referred to in the update description by the way) was in fact “calling home”.

You are not told this is happening, but it’s clear that it must be — the store’s selections change each time you listen to a new song. So at a minimum, artist and title information must be being sent to the music store, each and every time you listen to a new song. I don’t know what other data may or may not be collected, but even just title and artist is enough to concern me.

Long since have worries flared about such capabilities buried within iTunes, however there has never been a recorded case. With the update to the iTunes application yesterday however, the unmentioned “feature” (shown below) was reported to be doing exactly that every time you manually started playing (or changed) tracks. This behavior does not occur when tracks are selected automatically in a playlist. The above quote is from robg of Mac OS X Hints.

It seems there is a work around however. You can simply use on of the three methods of hiding your Mini Store (either by hitting Command+Shift+M, or clicking Edit>Hide Mini Store, or by using the new “hide album art” button located this time on the right hand side of the iTunes window) and it will cease and desist. Good news for all those that are security conscious or don’t like being spied on.

At this time, Apple have yet to comment on the “feature”.

Personal take: My take on the matter was that it should have been mentioned in the update. There is little information on this right now and I have no idea exactly what information Apple is collecting. My suspicion is that they are gathering statistics on what was bought from the iTMS and what wasn’t in your iTunes music collection for purposes only benefitting us as end users. That said, I don’t like being spied on and it would have been nice to have either been warned, or have it turned off by default.

I did leave it open and have a play with it though and it was certainly responding to my song choices. Unfortunately, it seems to want to recommend buying the albums I was playing at the time, such as the Coldplay albums I bought from iTMS less than a month ago. Strange choice there, but perhaps it’s serving a purpose.

I am currently testing this product for a laptop (non Apple) and so far have found it to be a great product. Now they have it for the new MacBook 15″

Check it out
Victor

==============================

Press Release: TOM BIHN introduces the first laptop bag for the MacBook Pro

January 11, 2006

TOM BIHN - http://www.tombihn.com - designer, manufacturer and
retailer of laptop bags has created the new Size 4X of their hard-shell
Brain Cell and Monolith laptop cases specifically for the
15.4″ MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro, introduced today by Steve Jobs during his keynote at
the Macworld conference, requires an entirely new size of protective
case designed specifically around its dimensions, which include a very
thin 1″ height.

In an interesting turn of events, Apple appears to have pulled the fresh QuickTime 7.0.4 Update from it’s website and replaced it with a new downgrade update which returns users to a previous QuickTime version. Apple has yet to make a public announcement on this quiet change, more to come as it happens.

I have been testing the original update and nothing appears abnormal. More interesting is that the OS X.4.4 Combo update has not been removed.

Update: It seems that Apple had encountered a security flaw with their first release of QuickTime 7.0.4 for the day. This came down via Software Update before the airing of the MacWorld 2006 Keynote but was soon removed due to a security hole. Apple were on the ball and the effected download was only availible for a couple of hours before removal. It was replaced by the below linked un-installer.

The vulnerabilities in the media player put computers running Windows and Mac OS X at risk of being commandeered by an outsider, Apple said on its Web site. An attacker could exploit the flaws by tricking the user into opening a malicious file.

Since then, Apple have re-released both the fixed Software Download version of this update as well as the manual download version which is Download ID sd9363. Both should work fine now.

For those unsure about which version you are running, I would suggest checking the information below as well as using the uninstaller and then re-installing the verified “fixed” update.

Further Information: It seems the original flaw in this first update also had something to do with the iSight Camera. It was unusable with the original download although when reverted back to version 7.0.1 it quickly became usable again. Furthermore it works as expected in the new, updated 7.0.4. Just some trivia for you.

[Link: QuickTime 7.0.1 Reinstaller and the new, fixed, QuickTime 7.0.4 Update.]

Download Podcast

Play Podcast
[audio:http://www.typicalmacuser.com/mp3s/TMPU03-01-11-2006.mp3]

Show Notes
Hot Mac News Announcements

Listener Mail
Thanks to, Terry, Sal, Oabu for their email. You can write to me at typicalmacuser (at)(gmail)(dot)(com)
Apple Support Site
WhatSize Software to measure HD Size

Listener Matt on Repairing Disk Permission
MacFixIt thread on Permission
Disk Utilities

Typical Mac User One Minute Tip
One Minute Tip Podcast

Other Sites Mentioned
The MacCast
Typical PC User Podcast
Switchers Podcast from the Netherlands
Macannouncements.com Very good site and podcast

So how did I do in my Apple Predictions . . .

- 15″ Dual Core Intel Powerbook: CORRECT, Apple introduced a new Core Duo 15″ MacBook Pro (no more Powerbooks). One with a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo processor and one with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor. The surprise for me was the iSight Camera.

- New version of Sound Track Pro: WRONG, I missed the boat on this one by a mile.

- iWork/Life ‘06 (including podcasting features in Garage Band): CORRECT, I got this one right. All new iWeb, and added features for other iLife applications, including Garage Band Podcasting integration. The new iWork ‘06 includes Pages 2, a powerful word processor that’s perfect for everything from letters to newsletters to brochures, and Keynote 3, next-generation presentation software for building cinema-quality slideshows, photography portfolios, animated storyboards and more with ease and elegance.

- Front Row available for everyone: PARTIAL, Ok so it’s not available for everyone but the new MacBook Pros have it and it’s just a matter of time.

- Intel based Mac Mini: WRONG, what can I say took a gamble on this one.

Please remember the show that comes out late tonight\early tomorrow will include more on my opinions surrounding the announcements.

Enjoy
Victor

In a midnight post from Kevin Rose’s Blog who seems to have a “Directly connected” Crystal Ball when it comes to Macworld, said “I’ve heard 15″ intel Macbook - order tomorrow, ships Feb (thinner, dual core), iPod FM receiver, iWork/Life ‘06, New remote of some type, Photocasting (iPhoto)” Link.

My predictions include

- 15′ Dual Core Intel Powerbook
- New version of Sound Track Pro
- iWork/Life ‘06 (including podcasting features in Garage Band)
- Front Row available for everyone
- Intel based Mac Mini

Keep posted at Typical Mac User Podcast and Webpage for new posts on what the news really is.

We will all. . . Enjoy
Victor