• This is how to install Mountain Lion version 10.8.5 on any unsupported Core 2 Duo Mac. This will also work on Core Duo/Solo Mac Minis and iMacs that have bee.
• You need at least a mid-2007 iMac or newer to install and run Mountain Lion. The app store won't even let you download it - it will tell you your machine is unsupported. If you got ML from someone else and are trying to install it, you are on your own with that.

Oct 07, 2020 Hello, first I wanted to say: big thanks for doing such a usefull open source tool:) Second: i got Error: unknown or unsupported macOS version::mountainlion in xQuartz. Can it be related to tha. OS X Mountain Lion can run on unsupported Intel Mac Pros While unsupported, if needed, Apple's earliest Mac Pros can be used to run Mountain Lion.

Mac News Review

This Week's Apple and Desktop Mac News

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - 2012.02.24

You may not remember the name of the security software thatplayed a huge role in TheNet, the 1995 Sandra Bullock thriller, but our own Dan Bashurdid, posting a note about it to our Facebook pagelast weekend. Maybe you've guessed by now - it shares a name with a newOS X 10.8 feature: Gatekeeper.

Instead of providing security against malware, the fictionalGatekeeper instead provides a back door to any computer on which it isinstalled, as intended by the cyberterrorists behind it. I'm sure thatApple's choice of a name is merely coincidental. I certainly hope itis!

Mac notebook and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, andApple TV news is covered in iOS NewsReview. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

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It's Relatively Easy to Install Mountain Lion onUnsupported Macs

Hardmac's Lionel reports that he's successfully installed OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion on a Core 2Duo MacBook that is officially unsupported based on Apple's list, usinga a procedure similar to the one described by Jamie Cruickshank and used for the Mac Pro2006.

Lionel cautions that with the lack of drivers for the GMA X3100graphics processor, there is no accelerated graphics, but he will tryto find some workaround, possibly grafting in the driver from Lion, andif that works he'll publish the procedure in detail.

Publisher's note: OS X Daily has a report of Mountain Lion installed on an even older MacBook, onewith GMA 950 graphics, along with instructions on how to do ityourself, stating, 'Not only does OS X 10.8 run on the old MacBook, itreportedly works very well and with full graphics acceleration.' You doneed a supported Mac to make this method work. dk

Link: It's RelativelyEasy to Install Mountain Lion on Non-Supported Mac Models

Dropbox: 'A Feature, Not a Product' (but What aUseful Feature!)

Yankee Group blogger Pim Bilderbeek notes that the late Steve Jobstold Drew Houston, founder and CEO of Dropbox, 'You're a feature, not aproduct.'

Dropbox was a feature Jobs very much wanted, but Houston turned downhis offer, so Apple went on to create iCloud, which Apple positions asa feature. But, says Bilderbeek, 'Dropbox is a product for those thatwant their cloud content synchronized independent of device, operatingsystem and browser vendor.'

Editor's note: I am a big Dropbox fan. I can't imagine how I managedwithout it, and it's become a structurally key element of my workflow,by which I synchronize and access work in progress among my three Maclaptops and my iPad 2. iCloud, not so much, although that's a partlyvicarious observation. My iPad will support iCloud, but I've beensticking with OS X 10.6Snow Leopard on my newest (Late 2008) Intel Mac laptop,and the other two are PowerPC machines running OS X 10.4 Tiger. While iCloudrequires OS X 10.7 Lion oriOS 5, Dropbox supports all four devices, including the two ancient butstill very useful and serviceable Pismo PowerBooks from 2000, andit works reliably and flawlessly on all four. cm

Publisher's note: I'm in the same boat. My production Macs are a2002 Power Mac G4 runningOS X 10.4 Tiger, a 2001 Power Mac G4 runningOS X 10.5 Leopard, and a2007 Mac mini - my onlyIntel-based Mac - running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Thanks toDropbox, not only can I sync files on these three Macs, as well asothers should I feel the need, but I can also make old freeware andshareware apps and utilities available for download that are otherwisedifficult to find. All this for free and with no need to deal withOS X Lion. Even though I can't use Apple's iCloud feature on myMacs, since I have no need for Lion, I can use Dropbox. dk

Link: You're a Feature,Not a Product

Mountain Lion Will Be Available Only at the Mac AppStore

Pocket-Lint's Stuart Miles says Apple has confirmed that OS XMountain Lion, will be available only via the Mac App Store when itgoes on sale this summer.

That means Apple has finally abandoned all forms of hard media todistribute its operating systems and is likely to spell the end of theCD or DVD for software in the future as well. Miles notes that the MacApp Store is now the home for all Apple software, as well as forsoftware from companies such as Adobe and Intuit, and that Apple hasconfirmed to Pocket-lint that customers were not remotely interested inthe USB drive offering, commenting , 'It was an interesting test, butit turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS.'

The new OS, which has been released as a developer preview, isexpected to be available for customers at a yet unspecified datesometime over the summer.

Editor's note: D'ya think the failure of the USB drive Lioninstaller might have been due to it costing costing twice as much asthe download? cm

Link: OS X Mountain LionWill Be Mac Store Only, Apple Tells Us USB Key Will Not BeAvailable

Messages Beta Available for OS X 10.7.3

PR: OS X10.7 Lion users can download Apple's Messages beta and get a taste ofwhat's coming in OS X Mountain Lion. When you install Messages, itreplaces iChat. But iChat services will continue to work. And Messagesbrings iMessage to the Mac, just like on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touchrunning iOS 5.

Here are the features you can expect with Messages:

• Send unlimited iMessages to any Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touchrunning iOS 5.
• Start an iMessage conversation on your Mac and continue it on youriPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
• Send photos, videos, attachments, contacts, locations, andmore.
• Launch a FaceTime video call and bring the conversationface-to-face.
• Messages supports iMessage, AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, and Jabberaccounts.

System requirements: Mac OS X 10.7.3 or later

Link: MessagesBeta

Messages Beta Will Stop Working When Mountain LionLaunches

The Register's Anna Leach reports that the beta build of Apple's newMessages app for Macs, released as a free download last Thursday, willself-terminate unless you buy Mac OS X Mountain Lion when it comes outin the summer.

'So,' Ms. Leach warns, 'don't get too used to it if you're not goingto upgrade your operating system,' noting that a French blogger spottedthe beta app's expiration date in the software code of thedownload:

'Thank you for participating in the Messages Beta program. With theinclusion of Messages in OS X Mountain Lion, the Messages Beta programhas ended. To continue using Messages, please visit the Mac App Storeand purchase OS X Mountain Lion.'

Link: Apple's MessagesBeta Will Self-Destruct on Mountain Lion Launch

Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion Is Cause forWorry

AppleTell's Patrick Lutz says ifyou've checked out the new features to be included in OS X MountainLion, you know about Gatekeeper, the new security system that preventsusers from unintentionally installing malware. This new systembasically keeps apps that weren't downloaded from the Mac App Store oran identified developer outside of the App Store from launching unlessusers change Gatekeeper's default settings to allow them.

Lutz observes that with Gatekeeper, Apple is ramping up emphasis onhaving OS X apps distributed more within the Mac App Store rather thanthrough outside sources - albeit in the name of security - noting thatApple will be imposing these limitations (and your ability to changethem) within System Preferences under Security & Privacy, in whichyou'll be able to manage all of Gatekeeper's settings.

Users can bypass the Gatekeeper check (for now, at least, asMountain Lion is only in developer preview and Apple can easily changethis), but while Lutz appreciates Apple's efforts to fight againstmalware in OS X, he wishes they'd take a different approach, contendingthat telling users that they want them to only go through Apple'sapproved channels for their software is a pretty scary move that hashim a bit worried.

Editor's note: Me too. cm

Link: Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion &emdash; Why It Has MeWorried

Security Experts Suspicious of Gatekeeper

The Register's John Leyden notes that security watchers areexpressing reservations about whitelisting security that Apple plans tointegrate with OS X Mountain Lion this summer with a feature dubbedGatekeeper that restricts installation of downloaded applications basedon their source.

Leyden notes that while that's a laudable aim from a system securityperspective, there may be less palatable consequences, notably thatGatekeeper could be a step along the road to making OS X as closed tounapproved developers as iOS is already, making it, ironically, a bitof a Trojan itself in another, more traditional context. To wit,extending the garden wall to surround OS X by stealth.

Leyden cites F-Secure security advisor Sean Sullivan commenting thatit's not much of a reach to imagine revoking third-party peripheraldrivers in order to 'secure' the Apple user experience on Macs, andobserving that while Gatekeeper is being touted as offering 'Morecontrol for you' - 'I keep reading it as: more control over you.By 2014, I expect somebody out there will be jailbreaking theirMac.'

And apparently Gatekeeper 'security' is pretty leaky as well.

Link: Security BizScoffs at Apple's Anti-Trojan Gatekeeper

The Tools You Need to Repair a Mac mini

Amsys' Russell Harris says that one of the most important day-to-daytasks for Apple Certified Macintosh Technicians (ACMT) is making sureyou have the correct tools to carry out repairs at hand. With the vastrange of models, knowing what tools to set out for each repair isn't aseasy as it sounds. Over the coming weeks, Harris will take brief looksat the list of tools required for Qualified Technicians to repair eachMac model, starting with the Mac mini.

He notes that most of the tools needed are available from mosthardware/DIY stores, although a small range are Apple specific toolsthat can be purchased direct from Apple.

You may find the need for some additional tools, which are optional,but Harris lists the minimum required to do the full range ofrepairs

Publisher's note: The Mac mini has some very small, easily lostscrews. Be sure to keep track of them! dk

Link: How to Repair aMac mini: The Tools You Need

Apple Extends Mac App Store Sandboxing RestrictionDeadline to June 1

AppleInsider Staff report that Apple yet again extended the deadlinefor developers to make their applications compliant with the new MacApp Store sandboxing restrictions, moving it back to June 1. Theprevious deadline was March 1.

Link: Apple Extends MacApp Store Sandboxing Restriction Deadline to June 1

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