There’s still a Messages for Mac link at the bottom of Apple’s Downloads page — as you can see below — but again, it just redirects to the Mac OS X page, where a Messages beta cannot be found.
It’s likely that Apple is now happy with how beta testing has gone, and that it has already prepared a final release that will launch alongside Mountain Lion in July.
Apple has not removed the download entirely, however, as it is still accessible via direct download (63.8 MB). It is unknown how long Apple will continue hosting the download, but text strings found within the app earlier this year suggest that the app itself will expire once OS X Mountain Lion is released and Messages will be a Mountain Lion exclusive.
Apple announced yesterday that OS X Mountain Lion will launch in July and be priced at $19.99 through the Mac App Store. Users of Snow Leopard and Lion will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion for the same price.
Users of the Messages beta for Lion have complained of a number of issues including crashes and problems with syncing across devices, failure to send, and disappearing messages. Many have been hoping for an update to address some of these issues, but it appears that Apple is focusing its Messages efforts on the final version it plans to include with OS X Mountain Lion.
I'm looking forward to the day when Apple (just to rub it into Microsofts face) decides to sell their next MacOS for 99 cent.
You obviously don't understand the difference between making money on hardware or software.
For your clarification: Apple only allows their OS to run on Apple made hardware. Therefore they are making tons of money on the hardware side. Technically, they could give the OS away for free and still make enough money.
MS is only selling software which means that they have to make all their money by selling software... So, there is no option for them to sell their OS for a low price... On the plus side they typically don't force their users to upgrade to a new OS by claiming that new add-on applications can only run on the new OS even though it has been beta-tested on the current OS...
Stinks that the Beta will be inoperative eventually, because my girlfriend's Mac Mini won't be able to update to Mountain Lion and she's getting alot of use out of Messages.
I bet they charge .99 for it and put it on the MAS, like facetime.
:apple: Buy Apple "I'm a mac" T-Shirts here :apple: :apple:
Guess where I think you should stick your MERCHANDISE!!!
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I've encountered some weird quirks too. Overall, I like it a lot. I've been using it as a replacement for Yahoo! since the day it was released in Beta.
The only feature that I really miss is the ellipses when someone is in the middle of typing. I wish that worked with Yahoo!.
I liked the concept... it is terrible at staying synced.
Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Saturday April 27, 2024 12:41 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
There are widespread reports of Apple users being locked out of their Apple ID overnight for no apparent reason, requiring a password reset before they can log in again. Users say the sudden inexplicable Apple ID sign-out is occurring across multiple devices. When they attempt to sign in again they are locked out of their account and asked to reset their password in order to regain access. ...
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show. Earlier this year, Schaub generated two charts: One showing the base memory capacities of Apple's all-in-one Macs from 1984 onwards, and a second depicting Apple's consumer laptop base RAM from 1999 onwards. Both charts were...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the announcement of Apple's upcoming "Let loose" event, where the company is widely expected to announce new iPad models and accessories. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's event invite shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Apple CEO Tim...
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman outlined some of the new products he expects Apple to announce at its "Let Loose" event on May 7. First, Gurman now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro models will be equipped with Apple's next-generation M4 chip, rather than the M3 chip that debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac six months ago. He said a ...
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
As noted by Cult of Mac, Apple has removed references to the Messages for Mac beta that the company released for OS X Lion in mid-February to provide a preview of the functionality coming in OS X Mountain Lion.
Top Rated Comments
This happens for everyone. But I like it too much to justify uninstalling it. I agree, however, the badge is annoying.
You obviously don't understand the difference between making money on hardware or software.
For your clarification:
Apple only allows their OS to run on Apple made hardware. Therefore they are making tons of money on the hardware side. Technically, they could give the OS away for free and still make enough money.
MS is only selling software which means that they have to make all their money by selling software... So, there is no option for them to sell their OS for a low price... On the plus side they typically don't force their users to upgrade to a new OS by claiming that new add-on applications can only run on the new OS even though it has been beta-tested on the current OS...
it would be worth every one of those pennies for use with macs not making the cut for mLion but still good machines
I bet they charge .99 for it and put it on the MAS, like facetime.
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I liked the concept... it is terrible at staying synced.