iBooks for Mac debuts in Apple's OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 5

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple on Wednesday released the latest beta versions of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, allowing developers for the first time to test its iBooks software for Mac.

Mavericks


OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 5 comes a little over two weeks after the fourth preview was made available at the end of July. Due to an eight-day downtime after Apple's Developer Center was affected by an intruder, the timing of the latest Mavericks release is slightly off from the two-week cycle Apple had kept until Developer Preview 4.

Notable in the latest preview is the inclusion of iBooks for OS X, which was announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Like Apple Maps, iBooks will make the crossover from iOS to OS X when Mavericks launches this fall.

iBooks


As with previous version of Mavericks, Dev Preview 5 contains minor backend changes. Release notes from a previous Developer Preview suggested changes were made to bring support for iCloud Keychain.

Mountain Lion


Apple's maintenance update for the current OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, dubbed build 12F33, comes with no known issues and once again requests developers focus on graphics, Wi-Fi and wake from sleep functionality. Prior to the temporary Dev Center shutdown, Apple was releasing builds of 10.8.5 on a weekly basis.

Both Mavericks and the Mountain Lion update are slated to launch this fall.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Seems snappier.
  • Reply 2 of 22
    Is it a known fact that OSX 10.8.5 will launch in the fall? Is it aimed at customers who won't be able to run OSX Mavericks?
  • Reply 3 of 22
    am8449am8449 Posts: 392member
    Can't wait to use the new mapping features.
  • Reply 4 of 22
    10.8.5 is not that far out, should be in a month or less.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ombra2105 View Post



    Is it a known fact that OSX 10.8.5 will launch in the fall? Is it aimed at customers who won't be able to run OSX Mavericks?


    If not before.  From past history, it usually takes about 3 months or somewhere in that neighborhood for bug fixes, so if they have any more bug fixes to 10.8, then they'll release them when they are fixed.  I'm not aware of any beta development for 10.8.5, but it they are circulating it amongst the Developers, then I'm sure it might actually come out soon.


     


    I wouldn't worry about it, even after the next major release has been made public, if there are any bug issues, they still fix them and they still release security updates, etc.


     


    Thankfully Apple typically doesn't take forever to get the product stable and most users upgrade to the most recent version in a timely manner. It's always best to keep on top of OS releases as much as you can, but obviously some hardware or third party s/w might be a limiting factor.

  • Reply 6 of 22
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ombra2105 View Post



    Is it a known fact that OSX 10.8.5 will launch in the fall? Is it aimed at customers who won't be able to run OSX Mavericks?


     


    No. OS X 10.8.x is just the next update in a continuing series. It could be released at any time and there's nothing to stop Apple from releasing another update after Mavericks is out. They've done it before.

  • Reply 7 of 22
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ombra2105 View Post



    Is it a known fact that OSX 10.8.5 will launch in the fall? Is it aimed at customers who won't be able to run OSX Mavericks?


    Any computer that can run Mountain Lion will run Mavericks.


     


    32 bit CPU machines are stuck at Snow Leopard and 32 bit kernel, 64 bit CPU machines are stuck at Lion.

  • Reply 8 of 22
    iBooks is in... Just great !!
  • Reply 9 of 22
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    ombra2105 wrote: »
    Is it a known fact that OSX 10.8.5 will launch in the fall? Is it aimed at customers who won't be able to run OSX Mavericks?

    Generally the last update to the previous OS is released at the same time as the new OS. Since fall for Mavericks…
  • Reply 10 of 22
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Generally the last update to the previous OS is released at the same time as the new OS. Since fall for Mavericks…

    Not that it matters all that much and I could be wrong, but I think there are sometimes updates to superseded versions of OS X some time later. Or am I thinking if Java and security updates that go on for several years?
  • Reply 11 of 22
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Not that it matters all that much and I could be wrong, but I think there are sometimes updates to superseded versions of OS X some time later. Or am I thinking if Java and security updates that go on for several years?

    Both. I believe 10.4.11 was a few months after 10.5 came out, but I can't remember any others that did that.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    Both. I believe 10.4.11 was a few months after 10.5 came out, but I can't remember any others that did that.


    Go to this page and look up the OS X major release date and then click on which one you want and it will list each minor update and the date of release.


     


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X

  • Reply 13 of 22
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    drblank wrote: »
    Go to this page and look up the OS X major release date and then click on which one you want and it will list each minor update and the date of release.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X

    Yep, 10.4.11, 10.6.8 (v1.1), and 10.7.5 came out after the launch of the next OS. All the others came out before. Looks like they've moved to a "slightly after" timeframe.
  • Reply 14 of 22
    iBooks looks Great and should knock Amazon Kindle out for the count.
  • Reply 15 of 22
    darthwdarthw Posts: 62member
    Icloud keychain doesn't work for me even with this latest mavericks update. Is this true for everyone? System preferences freezes when I try to activate iCloud Keychain.
  • Reply 16 of 22
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    darthw wrote: »
    Icloud keychain doesn't work for me even with this latest mavericks update. Is this true for everyone? System preferences freezes when I try to activate iCloud Keychain.

    Fine for me. Ooh, and new icons for that stuff.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    ashbymashbym Posts: 2member
    I had the exact same problem, you want to make sure you have iCloud keychain enabled on your iOS device first (under settings, iCloud, keychain) I had enabled it on my iPhone but a more recent beta had disabled it again. It's required to enable it on your Mac, but it doesn't tell you that, it just gives the grey screen you're describing.
  • Reply 18 of 22
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    iBooks looks Great and should knock Amazon Kindle out for the count.

    Keep dreaming. Digitally speaking e-ink in the only to go for novels. I know because I've owned every iPad and a recent Kindle and the e-ink screen is a much nicer novel reading experience. Textbook are a different matter, but I'm not in school, so. That said, Amazon are not great hardware manufacturers, and their software isn't great either.

    For now I'm sticking with and prefer paper books. I dislike my books being permanently tied to any single platform, and at this point I don't read enough books to warrant going digital.
  • Reply 19 of 22


    While Apple has been dragging their feet getting iBooks ready for the Mac, Amazon has had (for a loooong time) the ability to read on your iOS devices, as well as via the web (something that is handy while at the office...).


     


    So I've built up a Library of Amazon books now.... Why would I want to switch to iBooks and give up the ability to read on the Web?  I love Apple products, but someone give me a compelling reason to do this...

  • Reply 20 of 22
    darthwdarthw Posts: 62member
    ashbym wrote: »
    I had the exact same problem, you want to make sure you have iCloud keychain enabled on your iOS device first (under settings, iCloud, keychain) I had enabled it on my iPhone but a more recent beta had disabled it again. It's required to enable it on your Mac, but it doesn't tell you that, it just gives the grey screen you're describing.

    Thanks for the help. You were right it was off again on my iPhone. I'll see if it works on my imac at home tonight.
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