[ Mac] New Users

[JP]

Yeah, that's the way I do it.

Not sure where this should go but after OS-X code being found in the latest version of Steam Valve have been sending out some viral images which seem to pretty much confirm it.



I've never really been into PC gaming but as an Mac user it would be nice to have the option to access Steam for the occasional game.

[Herbalizer]

thats great stuff. I've never played a Valve game so it would be an ideal opportunity for me to get in on it.

[Brad]

Sounds cool, however I don't think my MacBook would cut it. It just about manages early campaign World of Warcraft. Those with Desktop systems, newer iMacs and MacBook Pros should get the chance to play some cool stuff though.

[randombs]

Wicked!

I've been meaning to play a bit of CS 1.6 but have managed to keep away from Bootcamp (I use Virtualbox for the odd Windows task now).

I'm almost completely Mac'd up now, so Steam on OSX would be very welcome indeed.

I imagine we'll have to wait and see what games will be compatible?

[sofasurfer]

Right then..I know Macs are supposed to be free from viruses but years of using a Windows based machine has made me paranoid and cautious. I did install iantivirus but this hogged my CPU and made my CPU temp jump by 20 degrees.

So do I need anti-virus software and if I do can you recommend a good free one?

[JP]

Got a questions concerning iTunes and there's a few iTunes threads on her but couldn't find one that was relevant.

We've started buying quite a few albums on iTunes now, the quality is far from perfect but I'm loving how convenient it can be to want an album so you press a button and it's there for you.

After having a bit of a tidy up of the library I was wondering how to download stuff that we'd previously bought but could find no way of doing it so had a look online and managed to find this passage in Apple's terms & conditions which I wasn't aware of...

Products may only be downloaded once; after being downloaded, they cannot be replaced if lost for any reason. Once a Product is purchased or rented (as applicable) and you receive the Product, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage the Product, and Apple shall be without liability to you in the event of any loss, destruction, or damage.

It seems a bit stupid to me that you can only download things once and if you somehow lose them for whatever reason then you have to buy them again.

Unusually for me, I didn't read the terms & conditions before starting to buy things so it's my own fault for not checking. Due to this I want to start backing up the stuff that we've bought on an old hdd that we've got lying around.

I'm not really sure how to back up the purchased items? I know there is a Back up To Disc option in iTunes, will this allow me to just back up the purchased items as our library is over 500GBs I don't have space to back up everything at the moment.

If that doesn't work am I able to just drag and drop the albums to the hdd and if I do this will they be able to be restored later with the DRM that Apple uses.

I'd appreciate any assistance with this and I don't want to start messing around with the albums at the moment until I know if the backups will be able to be used again.

Thanks.

[wakka]

Yes you can move the files wherever you want. They will play in any up to date version of iTunes on any computer, as long as you have used the 'authorize' feature (in one of the drop downs) to authorize your account. You just enter your username and password. Then all the files which you've bought will be playable (as long as they're accessible).

[thegreathopper]

I use time machine, I have a 1 Tb drive connected to my airport extreme to back up itunes.

[Ginger Tosser]

It seems a bit stupid to me that you can only download things once and if you somehow lose them for whatever reason then you have to buy them again.

Seems daft, but if you lost a physical CD/DVD you'd have to purchase it again.

As for backups I use Time Machine on and old WD MyBook, plus the library is spread on to a couple of Mac's. Not too sure of a way to just back up purchased items though, other than looking at the purchased items list on iTunes and manually backing them up.

With regards to quality, I've only had one issue. I contacted iTunes and they refunded me. They said to try again in a few weeks as the item may be sorted by then. In the end I ordered a CD of it from Amazon.

[Ginger Tosser]

So do I need anti-virus software and if I do can you recommend a good free one?

You don't really need one. I very occasionally run ClamXav (free) though, not found anything yet. There's a few rogue* programs about, but they're usually attached to torrent's of CS4 and iWork. So long as you avoid dodgy apps you should be fine.

*Snow Leopard does protect against these at the moment and warns you the files may contain a trojan.

[sofasurfer]

You don't really need one. I very occasionally run ClamXav (free) though, not found anything yet. There's a few rogue* programs about, but they're usually attached to torrent's of CS4 and iWork. So long as you avoid dodgy apps you should be fine.

*Snow Leopard does protect against these at the moment and warns you the files may contain a trojan.

Thanks. I can now sleep in peace!

[samanosuke]

Just bought WRadio and thought I'd recommend it here. It's a great dashboard widget that streams practically all the UK stations along with loads of foreign stations. Tried listening to a bit of Radio Exterior de Espa?a as I've been unable to pick it up on SW lately (maybe the frequencies have changed) and right now I'm listening to Talksport. You'll need Flip4Mac to listen to WMA stations but the free version works okay. Widget uses little overhead judging by the fact that my Wallstreet isn't choking right now.

[JP]

Valve have confirmed that Steam is on the way next month with Portal 2 being their first simultaneous release.

Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve's gaming service, and Source, Valve's gaming engine, to the Mac.

Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

"As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients," said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. "The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services."

"Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac," said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve. "Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play."

"We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation," said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. "The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows."

Portal 2 will be Valve's first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. "Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step," said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. "We're always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac."

[Ginger Tosser]

Wonder if I'll have to buy a new orange box? Worth it though, no more boot camp needed!

[KIT786]

apparently you won't if you've already brought the PC version!!