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[Treefingers]

On other news, iTunes 10.5 and Safari 5.10 have been rock solid for me. No performance or bugs so far.

iTunes 10.5 doesn't seem to scroll properly with a (non-Apple) mouse for me, other than that it's been great.

Loving the Reading List, such a handy function. Only wish middle-clicking worked to open a page in a new tab. Also I wish I could drag items around to change their order.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

iTunes 10.5 crashed once for me on SL. A disc finished burning, the machine chimed, and then the app crashed.

 

[Wallach]

I bought a new Macbook Pro 15", with the idea of selling the 27" iMac to cover it's cost - now that I need to be a bit more mobile and all that.

But when it comes to it... I don't want to part with the monster screen. Help me GAF.


On other news, iTunes 10.5 and Safari 5.10 have been rock solid for me. No performance or bugs so far.

Well... you can always get a new iMac later that'll have faster components (I'm assuming your iMac is not one of the newly released ones).

 

[Sean]

Does anyone know of Mac software that can edit .m2t files? I can play them back in VLC but haven't found anything to edit them.

I sometimes record TV shows into my Mac via Firewire cable from DVR and I want to strip out commercials, or clip out a certain interview segment, etc. I haven't found a way to actually edit those files without converting the whole video to H.264 first which is kind of shitty.

 

[KtSlime]

iTunes 10.5 doesn't seem to scroll properly with a (non-Apple) mouse for me, other than that it's been great.

Loving the Reading List, such a handy function. Only wish middle-clicking worked to open a page in a new tab. Also I wish I could drag items around to change their order.

It doesn't scroll properly with *any* mouse or trackpad. iTunes as ever is still broken, only slightly less than normal with 10.5. Hopefully they have plans to majorly rework some of its bits.

 

[Technosteve]

itunes 10.5 on pc crashes alot and when i minimize and expand it loses all the controllers buttons. =/ I can't really say it's a step back because itunes for pc has always been a giant piece of shit.

 

[deim0s]

True.
Plus, the quicktime interface is a lot better.Heck, I might just dl perian now..

You could try MplayerX, I ditched the OSX extended version and VLC when I tried it.

 

[KtSlime]

You could try MplayerX, I ditched the OSX extended version and VLC when I tried it.

I can't recommend this enough, MplayerX is great, runs pretty much everything, is free, small, and even in the Mac App Store so really easy to install and update. My only complaint is that his controller takes up a lot of space, but that disappears in less than a second like Quicktime's.

 

[guest1321]

You could try MplayerX, I ditched the OSX extended version and VLC when I tried it.

I can't recommend this enough, MplayerX is great, runs pretty much everything, is free, small, and even in the Mac App Store so really easy to install and update. My only complaint is that his controller takes up a lot of space, but that disappears in less than a second like Quicktime's.

Seeing as you both are fairly familiar with it, is there any way to control it externally? Also, how does it handle .m2ts video files. My one really issue with VLC is that it does not show how far you are into a video if it is an .m2ts source file. It just shows a 00:00/00:00 when you try and scroll through and it is extremely frustrating. If mPlayerX was able to solve this I think I would jump ship.

 

[Willectro]

So I just got a MacBook (as previously mentioned). I also have an iPod Classic and iPhone 4.

My question is: I have all my music on an external hard drive in folders and this music is also on my iPod classic. I had previously synced this music on to my iPod on my desktop Windows 7 rig. Will I be able to copy my music to iTunes on my MacBook from my iPod or will I have to copy the music over my MacBook from my external hard drive and start fresh with my iPod?

I hope that doesn't sound too confusing.

 

[mr stroke]

First time Mac user here and trying to play Star Craft 2 on a Pro and noticing I cant Alt/Tab to desk top? is there a way to do this?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

First time Mac user here and trying to play Star Craft 2 on a Pro and noticing I cant Alt/Tab to desk top? is there a way to do this?

Cmd + M to switch between windowed and full screen.

Most games on Mac are a fucking dream to Cmd+Tab out of compared to Windows. You can even set wacky resolutions and it doesn't care.

 

[r4z4]

First time Mac user here and trying to play Star Craft 2 on a Pro and noticing I cant Alt/Tab to desk top? is there a way to do this?

Tried Command-Enter?

 

[kr2t0s]

So I just got a MacBook (as previously mentioned). I also have an iPod Classic and iPhone 4.

My question is: I have all my music on an external hard drive in folders and this music is also on my iPod classic. I had previously synced this music on to my iPod on my desktop Windows 7 rig. Will I be able to copy my music to iTunes on my MacBook from my iPod or will I have to copy the music over my MacBook from my external hard drive and start fresh with my iPod?

I hope that doesn't sound too confusing.

I would personally start fresh with the ipod. copying from an ipod is still harder/messier than it should be IMO

 

[mr stroke]

Cmd + M to switch between windowed and full screen.

Most games on Mac are a fucking dream to Cmd+Tab out of compared to Windows. You can even set wacky resolutions and it doesn't care.

Cmd+M doesn't always switch

I can play in windowed moded and go back and forth but for some reason it won't let me do it in game. A google search says WOW has the same issues?

 

[KtSlime]

Seeing as you both are fairly familiar with it, is there any way to control it externally? Also, how does it handle .m2ts video files. My one really issue with VLC is that it does not show how far you are into a video if it is an .m2ts source file. It just shows a 00:00/00:00 when you try and scroll through and it is extremely frustrating. If mPlayerX was able to solve this I think I would jump ship.

I don't really use .m2ts files, so I don't have a whole lot of experience with them, however I did just try one and it does appear to work fine. You could give it a shot, if it doesn't work to your needs you'd only be out the minute it takes to download and install.

 

[guest1321]

I don't really use .m2ts files, so I don't have a whole lot of experience with them, however I did just try one and it does appear to work fine. You could give it a shot, if it doesn't work to your needs you'd only be out the minute it takes to download and install.

This is very true. I didn't have access to my movies earlier so I was unable to check, but thank you for looking into it!

 

[Jasoco]

No iTunes 10.5 problems here so far. Seems to work better than ever before. Plus it's 64-bit now. So that's something.

 

[guest1321]

No iTunes 10.5 problems here so far. Seems to work better than ever before. Plus it's 64-bit now. So that's something.

Really? I have found it to be extremely clunky and a huge hog on my system by comparison to 10.2. I'm n the latest snow leopard and it boots into 64-bit, so it really has no reason to not take advantage of it being faster. What's even stranger is that when I check my iStat pro widget while iTunes is running it shows that it is barely using and memory or CPU, but it is still a pain in the ass on occasion to maneuver through the OS with iTunes open. Glad to hear it may just be me though!

 

[Jasoco]

Really? I have found it to be extremely clunky and a huge hog on my system by comparison to 10.2. I'm n the latest snow leopard and it boots into 64-bit, so it really has no reason to not take advantage of it being faster. What's even stranger is that when I check my iStat pro widget while iTunes is running it shows that it is barely using and memory or CPU, but it is still a pain in the ass on occasion to maneuver through the OS with iTunes open. Glad to hear it may just be me though!

If it helps, I have a SSD and 8GB RAM.

 

[guest1321]

If it helps, I have a SSD and 8GB RAM.

hmm, running 4gb, dual core 2.53ghz, and 5400 rpm HDD. Unless iStat was getting the information wrong though my usage of ram is fairly minimal.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

hmm, running 4gb, dual core 2.53ghz, and 5400 rpm HDD. Unless iStat was getting the information wrong though my usage of ram is fairly minimal.

ouch. upgrade dem shits, dogg.

 

[guest1321]

ouch. upgrade dem shits, dogg.

Haven't quite gotten around to it but I will most likely be getting a 750gb 7200rpm drive from hitachi for files, and then dump the OS on an SSD in place of my optical drive. Either way, that shouldn't affect the performance of iTunes. Or would/should it?

 

[J-Roderton]

Can someone help me out? I disabled my dashboard on my Macbook a long while ago and I forgot how I did it. I would like to turn it back on but I seriously have no idea how to do that. I can find it in my finder and everything just fine, but after I double click it to open it, it just flashes and does not open.

 

[KtSlime]

Haven't quite gotten around to it but I will most likely be getting a 750gb 7200rpm drive from hitachi for files, and then dump the OS on an SSD in place of my optical drive. Either way, that shouldn't affect the performance of iTunes. Or would/should it?

It should affect it a bit. My library has over a gig of Album Artwork cache alone, loading things like that take time.

 

[travisbickle]

Can someone help me out? I disabled my dashboard on my Macbook a long while ago and I forgot how I did it. I would like to turn it back on but I seriously have no idea how to do that. I can find it in my finder and everything just fine, but after I double click it to open it, it just flashes and does not open.

click on "expose and spaces" in system preferences, expose gives you keystrokes and "active corners" for dashboard.

 

[KtSlime]

Anyone know of a good DLNA server? I have medialink and it is a piece of crap, I swore to myself I would never buy a product from NullRiver again after the way they treated me with PSPware, but I caved, I thought it looked nice and would give it a shot - mistake, constant errors and even on the off chance it might work once in a while it still refers to my PS3 as an unsupported device, or it registers a hundred copies of the device until I get another error half way into my show.

Tried TVMobili - terrible, CPU leaching, crap - It worked better than medialink, but constantly stuttered, zombied, then I couldn't find out how to quit the program, fortunately there was a section on their site for uninstalling it, did that right away.

Now I am running PS3 Media Server, which is overly complex, but would be fine if I could play my videos. At first I tried just straight streaming the file, you know, shouldn't be a problem to stream a 250MB file over a wireless G network, I do it with 0 effort with iTunes Home sharing to my iPad. I was wrong, paused every second to buffer, I checked my network and my computer claimed it was uploading the file at about 1.2MB/s - Should have been plenty fast. So I read the FAQ and changed my settings to clear down to 11mbps, should have done the trick, but it didn't. Stuttered every 3 seconds and was grinding the hell out of my MacBooks fan.

Out of curiosity, I went and copied the file using DLNA from my Mac to my PS3, it took around 4 minutes. Why if it takes 4 minutes to transfer the file would it stutter constantly over a period of 24 minutes?

 

[Ashhong]

I am using PS3 Media Server this very second on my MBP with no problems. The only reason your computer isnt able to handle it is if its transcoding the file because the file isnt compatible with the PS3.

 

[Jasoco]

Transcoding takes a lot of CPU. What kind of Mac do you have?

 

[Sutton Dagger]

What program(s) do people use to handle HD movies etc? Itunes can't handle MKV's and I hate having media in different locations. I have heard videodrive is good for putting MKV's into a container in Itunes (without losing quality), anyone used it before?

 

[KtSlime]

I am using PS3 Media Server this very second on my MBP with no problems. The only reason your computer isnt able to handle it is if its transcoding the file because the file isnt compatible with the PS3.

It's a perfectly encoded mp4, it plays directly from the HD just fine. It copies and plays without transcoding in about 4 minutes, it stutters when playing over the network. H.264 High 3.1+AAC 160kbps. Should work flawlessly, streaming to my iPad/iPhone does, but to my PS3 does not - it makes no sense.

Transcoding takes a lot of CPU. What kind of Mac do you have?

It can do it in the time allotted, the encoding isn't the bottleneck, but my mac is getting a bit old - it's a first gen unibody 2.4.

Sutton Dagger: I only use mp4s, it makes my life easier that way (generally), I use handbrake to convert anything. If it is a disposable file and I plan on deleting it right after watching I generally don't bother and just use MplayerX to watching it on my Mac, or Air Video to stream it to my iPad. If the MKV is H.264+AAC I use subler to remux the file. It's a piece of cake.

 

[Jasoco]

It still needs to consume a lot of CPU to convert the video in real-time. Isn't a first gen Unibody a Core Duo? Or is it a Core 2 Duo?

I have both AirVideo and Plex/Nine and both will have to convert any video that isn't compatible with an iDevice, and that's most of my library. And even when it's doing it, I don't notice any CPU hit on my 2010 C2D 2.4GHz mini.

 

[KtSlime]

It still needs to consume a lot of CPU to convert the video in real-time. Isn't a first gen Unibody a Core Duo? Or is it a Core 2 Duo?

I have both AirVideo and Plex/Nine and both will have to convert any video that isn't compatible with an iDevice, and that's most of my library. And even when it's doing it, I don't notice any CPU hit on my 2010 C2D 2.4GHz mini.

It's a C2C, I expect it to hit, and for the fan to go on is fine, but I'm about 99% sure that's not the cause of the stuttering video. =/

 

[mr stroke]

new OSX user with no clue what apps to download. OP doesn't list much, any must have apps that you guys use on a daily basis?

 

[Treefingers]

new OSX user with no clue what apps to download. OP doesn't list much, any must have apps that you guys use on a daily basis?

The Unarchiver for opening RAR, 7z, etc etc

CloudApp for uploading & sharing files

Adium for chat

Perian for letting Quicktime play more codecs

Transmission for torrents

Growl for notifications

Bowtie for desktop iTunes controller, Last.fm scrobbling, global iTunes shortcuts

Handbrake for video conversion

 

[LCfiner]

new OSX user with no clue what apps to download. OP doesn't list much, any must have apps that you guys use on a daily basis?

I’ll add:

BetterTouchTool for advanced trackpad gestures (app specific gestures)

TunesArt for adding lyrics to currently playing iTunes songs (and keyboard shortcuts and other bits)

Dropbox for being awesome and for integrated cross platform document sharing.

f.lux to save your eyes while on the computer at night

 

[mr stroke]

TunesArt for adding lyrics to currently playing iTunes songs (and keyboard shortcuts and other bits)

[

oh shit

so awesome, using now, thanks

 

[QueenOfThorns]

I've been thinking of getting a Magic Trackpad for my imac. Good idea? The reviews for it seem to be generally positive, and I can always just use a mouse when playing games.

I really love my Performance MX mouse but logitech's software for it is horrible and I have to use a workaround for everything. And the third party software doesn't work very well.

 

[ramyeon]

I've been thinking of getting a Magic Trackpad for my imac. Good idea? The reviews for it seem to be generally positive, and I can always just use a mouse when playing games.

I really love my Performance MX mouse but logitech's software for it is horrible and I have to use a workaround for everything. And the third party software doesn't work very well.

Once Lion comes out you will definitely benefit by having one for all the gestures. Plus the gestures in Snow Leopard already are amazing.

 

[LCfiner]

I've been thinking of getting a Magic Trackpad for my imac. Good idea? The reviews for it seem to be generally positive, and I can always just use a mouse when playing games.

I really love my Performance MX mouse but logitech's software for it is horrible and I have to use a workaround for everything. And the third party software doesn't work very well.

great idea.

I have both a mouse and trackpad. I can use either one whenever I want. for a lot of browsing, the trackpad just feels better. and there’s a ton of space on it for gestures.

and ramyeon is right. the trackpad will see even greater attention in Lion

 

[QueenOfThorns]

Cool. I'll go for it. Thanks!

 

[Mobius 1]

Did anybody ever try a different music app such as Ecoute? I wonder if it plays nicer with external hard drives than iTunes.

 

[hirokazu]

Did anybody ever try a different music app such as Ecoute? I wonder if it plays nicer with external hard drives than iTunes.

My music library is external and iTunes works fine?

 

[aparisi2274]

new OSX user with no clue what apps to download. OP doesn't list much, any must have apps that you guys use on a daily basis?

I would suggest the following:

BetterZip: opening zip, rar and other compressed files

Growl: flashes messages in a corner of your screen.

HyperDock: Acts like the Windows 7 taskbar. If you hold the mouse over an open program, like iTunes, you can see the album art and control the song by being able to pause, skip or rewind.

Flip4Mac WMV: lets you play wmv in quicktime.

VLC: Allows you to play avi files.

Perian: Allows you to play a host of video files through Quicktime.

 

[glaurung]

So, maybe this has been asked and answered before, but here's my question:

Is it possible to have MKV icons replaced with OSX-generated thumbnails, like regular QuickTime clips?

Explanation: typical MOV files and I guess in Lion also regular DivX files get these pretty little thumbnails instead of the normal icon for the file. However, MKVs and OGMs and MP4s for some reason do not have those.

Is there perhaps some manner of a hack or workaround to have video thumbnails for these formats?

 

[hirokazu]

So, maybe this has been asked and answered before, but here's my question:

Is it possible to have MKV icons replaced with OSX-generated thumbnails, like regular QuickTime clips?

Explanation: typical MOV files and I guess in Lion also regular DivX files get these pretty little thumbnails instead of the normal icon for the file. However, MKVs and OGMs and MP4s for some reason do not have those.

Is there perhaps some manner of a hack or workaround to have video thumbnails for these formats?

I think searching for MKV QuickLook should yield some answers (no guarantees).

 

[Treefingers]

So, maybe this has been asked and answered before, but here's my question:

Is it possible to have MKV icons replaced with OSX-generated thumbnails, like regular QuickTime clips?

Explanation: typical MOV files and I guess in Lion also regular DivX files get these pretty little thumbnails instead of the normal icon for the file. However, MKVs and OGMs and MP4s for some reason do not have those.

Is there perhaps some manner of a hack or workaround to have video thumbnails for these formats?

I think Perian does this automatically? Although some of my mkv files are just showing up as regular icons, the rest are showing full icon previews with play/pause, etc.

 

[hirokazu]

I think Perian does this automatically? Although some of my mkv files are just showing up as regular icons, the rest are showing full icon previews with play/pause, etc.

It does for some of mine, but the vast majority don't.

 

[Haribo]

I've given up with Quicktime, perian, VLC etc and now exclusively use the excellent MplayerX for all my videos.

 

[guest1321]

So, maybe this has been asked and answered before, but here's my question:

Is it possible to have MKV icons replaced with OSX-generated thumbnails, like regular QuickTime clips?

Explanation: typical MOV files and I guess in Lion also regular DivX files get these pretty little thumbnails instead of the normal icon for the file. However, MKVs and OGMs and MP4s for some reason do not have those.

Is there perhaps some manner of a hack or workaround to have video thumbnails for these formats?

I'm not entirely sure if this will be the solution but you might want to try setting the application default to whatever player you are using (perian, quicktime, vlc). To do this right click on the file > get info > set default application > check the box "Change All" . I have looked around a little bit to see if you can directly change the thumbnail image that OS X associates with the file but from the looks of it: it either can't be done, or it is not a good idea to do it.