REVIEW: My First 5 Minutes with OS X Yosemite

Holy Caw! This beast is… SLEEK.

I didn’t think I would like the non-skeumorphic icons. I’m not crazy about them on iOS. Yosemite will probably carry me over that hump.

Right off the bat I was concerned about app compatibility. We’ve all been stung by that with these updates. Yet, here it is 30 minutes in. I’ve launched all my go-to apps and I only have 8 requiring update via Software Update. Yet, they launch fine, docs open, save, reopen. Try THAT Windows!

I’ll run Yosemite for a while on this production machine before I take anything else past Maverick. But, there’s plenty of reason to appreciate the polish Apple has applied to this latest version of OS X.

First impression of the UI is the login screen after installation. That’s a really nice “Hello”. Very subtle. Very beautiful. Very elegant. Very… Jonny Ive (honestly).

Next, and particularly impressive, is Safari. I’ve nearly exclusively moved over to Chrome (and Firefox for one very specific site cpanel). Safari hasn’t factored for a long time in my daily use except on iOS. Th new OS X Safari *may* lure me back across the aisle. Realistically, I doubt that… I have too much configuration invested in Chrome at this point to really seriously a permanent move. Kudos to Apple for getting their browser tight and right though. (fwiw, I still miss RSS)

There are so many fresh new nooks and crannies to explore. I’m genuinely looking forward to this one. Those who know me well, know I just plunge into these updates with a reckless pursuit to see what’s waiting on the other side and know the price for that will (usually) be picking up the broken pieces of busted apps and such. And, usually, that’s apparent within the first thirty minutes. Judging by the stability, ease of migration and lack of core apps misbehaving I have to say right now, barely 10 minutes in this is going to be one of the easiest updates I’ve been through of all the OS X releases. It does make me wonder what Yosemite Server must be like. That hasn’t happened in a long time. Which also makes me wonder about ZFS implementation (or lack of) in Yosemite. More on that later if there’s anything to pass along. A boy can hope 🙂

Safari RSS v. Google Reader (PIX)

The undisputed heavy-weight contender of the world… Is Google Reader.

Call me a pessimist. Call me a Doubting Thomas. Mr. Scoble was right. Google Reader has it all over Safari, endo, NetNewsWire, even some other things I tried that can’t quite be disclosed until some time in October (wink, wink).

Starting fresh with Google Reader is super easy. Migrating from a heavily entrenched position in Safari isn’t hard either. It’s the mental and emotional migration of going from the one thing to something world better that takes a big leap of faith. How’d I make the break? Follow along:

1. I first had to realize there was a problem. Safari RSS is actually quite good – up to a point. Past the 300 feed mark (or so) it just gets a little dicey and unpredictable. My biggest complaint was seeing updated feed notices despite the feeds not having been updated. That one thing precipitated the fall.
2. Admitting there might just be something better.
3. Downloading and evaluating the options.
4. Swapping horses.

This last one required just a modicum of work. Download Safari2OPML, run it, open up Google Reader (in Firefox… my Safari install is partially borked and doesn’t play nicely with http upload… which could also explain some of the ass pain I’m having with Safari in general… I digress.)

 

Upload the resulting OPML file to Reader.

Enjoy.

Now, you’re really not done. I mean, where do you go from here? Sure you add more feeds. But, what if you want to read content offline? No problem. Google Reader has Gears under the hood which syncs for offline enjoyment (AS LONG AS YOU’RE NOT USING SAFARI 3.0.3). There are hints at the Google Gears site Safari support is not far off. Well, OK, we’ll not hold our breath.

Firefox works just peachy with Gears. So, not only is Safari RSS out… Safari is out (for the time being). Apple’s also hiring a Safari Evangelist. At least they recognize the need…

The Downfall. Safari as RSS Reader, Part II

I’m abadoning Safari as my RSS reader. Yes, I know, I’ve written several times Safari was my favorite child. Lately though, and quite inexplicably, Safari has been exhibiting repetitive repetitive disorder. Meaning, it keeps telling me about feeds I’ve already read. A waste of my time. (Even a year ago Safari had cracks in the armor.)

Second, Apple’s putting RSS into Mail.app for Leopard. This isn’t some kind of secret bit of news. Steve Jobs demo’d it on stage at WWDC07. It’s supposedly not the default method of capturing/reading feeds. But why, if I’m exposed to feeds in a browser, would I want to read them in my mail application? That’s just weird.

So, I’m either going with Google Reader (highly likely) or NetNewsWire or Endo. Since it’s been a while what’s the take on the Mac’s RSS feed reading landscape. (offline reading’s not important to me at all – when I’m on a plane I’m working on code).

Now, this also hints at something more ominous… I just realized Safari has lost a LOT of value to me. I have Firefox, Opera, Webkit and Camino installed. (No way Flock comes back onto my Mac) I’ll probably even consider buying OmniWeb (in fact, the demo is downloading in the background).

Adieu Safari.

Safari As RSS Reader

Safari’s not giving up it’s secrets easily. I still like it far better than any of the options. Better than Google Reader. Better than NetNewsWire.

Occassionally, very rarely, I catch a glimpse of something it does I haven’t seen it do before. And, it gave up one more ghost to me today.

While reading Ross Mayfield’s entry on Pownce delivered by RSS to my Safari 2.0.4 browser… I noticed there were “friends” listed in the rightmost column (see picture to left). Those aren’t coming from my computer. Those are coming from Mr. Mayfield. How’s he doing that?! Hell, how can I do that?! Not because I want or need to. Just because I’m curious.

I have a gazillion feeds I keep up with in Safari. It serves me very well. So, when it does something special and out of the ordinary… I’m curious as hell WHY. Anyone want to take a crack at this? It seems Typepad blogs are the only recipients (or causal generators) of this out of the ordinary behavior. Interesting. What is Typepad doing so out of the norm? I’d really like to know.

iPhoney Goes 1.1. iPhone RSS News.

Marketcircle’s updated their iPhone emulator (iPhoney) to version 1.1.

MacRumors reports Apple has an AJAX/Web 2.0 RSS reader in the works specifically for iPhone. Safari gets a big thumbs down. However, iPhoney (using the iPhone agent string) doesn’t get turned away… Nothing is currently served up. But, no “go away” message either. Wish there was some way to ‘view source’.

AJ, how about it?

Creating an RSS Feed (Mac)

Several people have asked me how I create my non-blog-related RSS feeds.

Short answer is a snap – I use Feeder from Reinvented Software and then publish the files to the roots of my sites. See, if they’re sitting at the root, most RSS enabled browsers and plugins and agreggators will automatically detect the xml files allowing your visitors to subscribe.

There’s a bit more that goes into the production end. But, not by much. Feeder is one of those potentially very complex apps that can do amazing things (QuickSilver, InDesign and the like come to mind). Or, if you’re not inclined to go gonzo with it you can make good things happen scratching the surface, like I do.

My feeds currently have enclosures and the bare minimum of embedded HTML formatting. I seldom put graphics in… but have been known to on occassion.

I haven’t a clue on the Windows side of life. I’m sure your options are about 9,000 fold. Happy hunting 🙂

Plugins and Contextual Menus for Safari

As mentioned yesterday I’m dead set on improving Safari 2.x’s behavior in the RSS view.

I should be able to ctrl+click on a feed’s subject or even a link within a feed and select something like “Email this” or SOMETHING! for crying out loud. So, that’s what I’m going to create… That is, unless someone else out there knows of just such a thing. In which case, I’ll still do it and accidentally learn something new/cool in the process.

I’m Going to Improve Safari’s RSS Abilities

You know… when you see something needs doing, you either roll up your sleeves and tote the weight or sit around and grouse about it. I’m not inclined to be a whiner.

Well, I’m tired of Apple’s Safari taking second seat to some otherwise really good feed readers. Since Grocio (my grocery comparison shopping engine) imploded on me I’ve been looking for another meaningful project and I think I’ve found it.

Just now downloaded the subversion client for WebKit and will begin the process of getting plugged into the WebKit developers group and learning a LOT more about X Code. Wonder if it’s OK to use X Code 3 yet? (which came with the Developer preview of Leopard)…

RSS Revisited: Safari v. Google v. ??

OK, Mr. Cutts’ review of the Google Reader is pretty great. Saved me a lot of poking and prodding and I’m weighing in with my bit. First, Safari still reigns champ in my book. However…

Safari’s RSS Reader Features

I was going through comments recently to see what folks have been most vocal about and the postings about Safari as an RSS reader have captured the most visits to date. And, I saw Maryam’s recent postings asking about RSS feed readers on Mac. So, let’s give the audience what they’re most insterested in: Safari as an RSS reader.