Tip: How To Sort Contacts by First / Last Name in FaceTime for Mac Beta

A surprising high numbers of readers asked me last night if it’s possible to change the way FaceTime for Mac (the current beta version) sorts contacts by first or last name. Basing on readers’ emails, it seemed like sorting was random: some of them were reporting contacts sorted by last name, some by first name, Apple’s website shows contacts sorted, indeed, by last name.

It’s really very simple. Like I wrote last night, FaceTime for Mac depends on your existing Address Book and doesn’t let you create additional buddy lists, or FaceTime-specific ones. Hopefully Apple will bring this feature in a future version. So to change how contacts are sorted in FaceTime.app, you actually have to change how your contacts are sorted in the Address Book. Is that simple.

Fire up the Address Book app, open the preferences, see the screenshot below.

An Open App Store On The Mac→

An Open App Store On The Mac

A number of prominent app developers would have to commit to supporting an open Mac app store, by making their apps available on that store. These announcements would pretty much have to happen this week in order to have enough impact to sway the course of discussion. There’s no reason these would have to be exclusive, or say anything negative about Apple’s app store, but could just be expressions of these developers pursuing every distribution option available.

Interesting ideas based on Sparkle and Growl, but not going to happen. The Mac App Store will likely become most people’s way to discover and install Mac apps; developers’ websites will be there for demos and trials. And for apps that can’t go through Apple’s approval process.

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The Air’s Place In An iPad World→

The Air’s Place In An iPad World

In fact, the MacBook Air’s biggest competition is the iPad. Both can be used as a standalone product, but really shine when used as a secondary device. Both have great battery life and are thin and light. The smaller Air is even close to the size of the iPad.

The difference of course is all about software. For some people, iOS just doesn’t meet their needs. The new 11.6″ MacBook Air offers all of the features of Mac OS X in the smallest package ever. For people who need a full-blown computer that can go just about anywhere, the Air is an obvious choice. For everyone else, though, the iPad is really, really hard to ignore.

The iPad is similar in size to the new Air, and it’s cheaper. But don’t forget and don’t underestimate the importance of a small device running OS X at an acceptable form factor. For some people working in certain conditions with very few space available and frequent travelers, the 11.6-inch Air is a God-send.

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Marco Arment On The New MacBook Air→

Marco Arment On The New MacBook Air

Insightful analysis by Arment:

The 11” looks impressively tiny, but realistically, most people are unlikely to see significant benefits in portability or practicality from the 11” over the 13”. There are very few situations in which you’d be able to comfortably carry or use the 11” but not the 13”.

The 11” screen resolution of 1366x768 is great for its size, but it’s going to bevery cramped, especially vertically. Screen size is very important and noticeable in everyday use, and it’s often the limiting factor for how much work advanced users can comfortably get done on a laptop.

The 11” is also significantly slower and with less battery life, although these are less important factors.

The whole post is a must-read. Although in my opinion, that 11-inch model is damn tempting.

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