The average person doesn't really need to look at their Mac's logs or status messages, but more advanced users and tech troubleshooters turn to Console to glean important information on what's going on under the hood. Thanks to a redesign in macOS Sierra, if you're looking for more information on what your Mac is up, it's much easier to find and read the information than ever before.

Mar 12, 2017 Can You Play Games on a Mac? Macs are made of the same components as any other PC. They’re just an Intel x86 computer in a fancier case with a different operating system. This means there’s no real hardware barrier to gaming on a Mac. It’s not like a PC has some magic video game component that your Mac lacks. I read your thread. My problem is a bit different. You said the MAC address was accepted for yours, mine isn't even getting accepted. It's telling me the address is invalid which makes absolutely no sense. What is the difference between a PS4 MAC and PS3 MAC address? I mean it's an internet thing not because it's a new console.

Console gets a new look

Previously, data in the Console app looked like run-on sentences. Distinguishing the process from the event was difficult, at best. Now, these lines of text are separated by columns, which can also be filtered by errors and faults. You can customize the columns to specify what data you are most interested in.

When you search for a term, you'll be given a secondary search option to look for the queried term under a specific category, like Process, Library Path, Message Type, and more. When you find the term and category you are looking for, you can save the filtered information in your tab bar, so you can click on it to check data at any time.

There is a new Now button that will immediately zoom you to the end of the data stream, looking at the most current threads. Zuma deluxe free. download full game. Even as new data appears, your window will remain at the bottom, so you can always see the newest incoming information.

You can also view data by Activities to see what actions are taking place by different processes. This is helpful for developers working on debugs for their apps, but is also a quick way to look for issues you may come across.

When you select a line, something that is causing an error or fault, for example, you can view additional detailed information about the problem. You can also share that information to someone else via email, text, and social media. Or, you can save it to your Notes or Reminders app, or another third-party note-saving app.

Unfortunately, Console has also been redesigned to only show you data from the time you open the app. That means, if your Mac crashed and you want to find out why, opening console after the fact may not yield you any useful information. You can browse Console's log archives, but it is an arduous process that involves creating a system diagnostic report first.

Why should I care?

When you first look at the Console app, it might look like a bunch of confusing tech jargon that only engineers and computer scientists would give a crap about. But, even the everyday Mac user could, potentially, benefit from using Console.

Let's say your Mac is starting to act up – maybe you keep getting error messages when trying to empty the trash, or a particular app doesn't load properly.

You've tried all of the general troubleshooting options, turning it off and on, deleting and reinstalling software, etc., but you can't seem to fix this one problem.

You can launch Console, filter the data by Errors and Faults (or search for the app), find the line that seems to refer to your problem, and do a quick search on the internet for a solution. Oftentimes, Console will provide an error code, which is very useful when troubleshooting a problem on your own.

Even if you can't diagnose the issue yourself, you can send the error details to your IT support, so they can better understand the problem and help fix it remotely.

Console isn't a go-to app for the average Mac user, but for those that do use it, it's invaluable. And, thanks to a complete redesign in macOS Sierra, it's even easier to find and track the data you need.

What do you think?

Are you a regular Console app user? Let us know your best practices and what you think about the redesign.

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Apple is now redirecting (PRODUCT)RED purchases to COVID‑19 relief fund

Now through September 30, Apple is redirecting 100% of a portion of (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund’s COVID‑19 Response.

With a little work you can turn your Mac mini into a powerful Windows gaming system. So why not?

I just heard something: A tectonic eruption of eye-rolling from PC gamers. Look, if you've got a custom rig with Nvidia Titan hardware and 4K displays to run Crysis 3 in ridiculous mode, move along. There's nothing for you here. If, on the other hand, you already have a Mac mini, or if you've been thinking about getting one but think it's underpowered for gaming, what I have to say may surprise you.

Civ 6 may not be the most detailed Mac strategy game on the market (that honor goes to Europa Universalis 4), but it’s certainly the most fun.Everyone feared Civ 6 would simply ride Civ 5’s coattails, but thankfully, it didn’t. You get to create cities, raise armies, research technologies, build an economy, and expand your empire. Civilization 5 was one of my favorite strategy games of all times and yet Civilization 6 managed to top it.In Civ 6, you take control of an entire civilization. Well, turns out Stardew Valley is addictive and fun, no matter your gaming preferences.Plus, as the game uses retro-looking graphics, Stardew Valley version can be played on most Macs, including older models.Our benchmark results (in FPS). Mac classic 2 games 2017.

One of my kids wanted to play Windows games that weren't available on the Mac. He can certainly play plenty of games that are out for the Mac, but most stuff still isn't out for the Mac. That's not going to change. Apple accepts that, otherwise they wouldn't provide you with the Boot Camp Assistant utility to begin with.

Our victim is a 2010-era Mac mini. That's the last Mac mini model to sport a built-in SuperDrive. It has Nvidia GeForce 320M integrated graphics. Not as fast as the average gamer GPU card in a custom-built PC, granted. But enough to run a lot of games at acceptable frame rates.

It may surprise you, but the Mac mini is an adept little Windows gaming system. Its graphics speed can't compare to a dedicated gaming rig, but it doesn't have to. Because while it spends some of its time running Windows, it's also a great general purpose Mac running the latest version of Mavericks.

Better at Windows games than Mac games

Whatever Mac mini you use will probably run Windows games faster than it is does Mac games. Windows graphics tend to run faster than OS X graphics do on the same hardware, thanks to more extensive Windows driver optimization and underlying differences in the way the OSes are structured.

It took a few afternoons to get everything squared away. This Mac's been well used since it was new, and its drive partition didn't pass muster with Boot Camp Assistant. Once Drive Utility patched things up I was able to get started.

I used Windows 7, which has broad game support and is available in Home Premium trim for $99 or less from online retailers.

The alternatives

Running Mac games natively and exclusively is always an option. There are a lot of good games on the Mac, games that will run well or decently on the Mac mini. They're available from the Mac App Store, Steam, MacGameStore.com and elsewhere.

If you're looking for a Windows game experience but are reluctant to have to reboot your Mac each time to do it, you can install software that bridges the Windows gap.

VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop get the lion's share of attention, partly because they broad appeal for Mac users who also want to run business software and specialty apps that won't run on OS X natively. Both continue to optimize their releases for the broadest and fastest driver support they can.

CodeWeavers' CrossOver is worth a special look from gamers. It's optimized for games, and unlike the other two or Boot Camp, doesn't require you to have a Windows license.

Putting the pedal to the medal

How well does it actually run, you ask?

A lot of it depends on the individual performance requirements of the game. Obviously some games employ enormously sophisticated 3D engines that want more horsepower than the Mac mini can muster. Many don't, and the relatively modest integrated graphics in the mini are perfectly sufficient to play them.

If you keep your expectations realistic, you can usually tweak settings and resolutions enough to get a really playable experience. For many games, that's frame rates of 20 to 30 frames per second; for others, it's even higher, with higher levels of detail possible.

I've played a combination of FPS, strategy and RPG games on our little Mac mini, and it's held up well. My 14 year old has been pretty happy; he's been dividing his time between various Steam games he couldn't play on the Mac and other fare; a particular favorite is Smite, a multiplayer online battle arena strategy game from Hi-Rez Studios. He also says that old favorites he could play on the Mac, like Valve's own Team Fortress 2, subjectively run better on Windows than on OS X.

The bottom line

I'm never going to ditch my Mac in favor of a Windows PC — I prefer the Mac user experience to the Windows user experience, that's all there is to it. But I can't dispute that there are a lot of fun Windows games to be played, and I'm grateful that Apple's made it easy to equip my Mac as a Windows PC.

As much as I love Sony and Microsoft's game consoles, they're just that — game consoles. The greatest thing about using a Mac for Windows gaming is that you're still using a Mac at the end of the day.

Tune back in tomorrow as I walk you through installing Boot Camp yourself. In the interim, I'm curious to see what you think: Have you set up Windows using Boot Camp Assistant? Are you tempted to?

Apple is now redirecting (PRODUCT)RED purchases to COVID‑19 relief fund

This Mac Address Does Not Game Console Change

Now through September 30, Apple is redirecting 100% of a portion of (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund’s COVID‑19 Response.