A friend of mine—a longtime and formerly ultra-enthusiastic Mac fan—recently summed up his frustration with the direction Apple has taken. He still uses Apple computers because, he says, he’s too lazy to learn a new system, but he detests the “ecosystem” model Apple has constructed around the iOS and, increasingly, OS X as well.

One big difference between Mac and Windows users, especially over the past dozen years, has been the proportion of Mac-users willing to (and even enthusiastically) stay upgraded to the latest version of Apple’s desktop operating system. This was true even back in the days when full version upgrades cost $129.95 as opposed to $19.95 for the current cutting edge OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

With tips on an eclectic array of OS X topics ranging from organizing your workspace to strengthening your computer’s security, Master Your Mac will show you how to tweak, customize, and control your Mac. And since many of the best tools for unlocking your Mac’s potential don’t come with OS X, as noted above, Cone gives you the skinny on the best third-party apps to fix those everyday Apple annoyances and make your computer do things your way.

NetMarketShare’s desktop Operating System Market Share metrics for December 2012 show Windows’ overall market share gaining a quarter point, with OS X and Linux logging modest share losses on the month. Over in the mobile/tablet category, the iOS lost a point in December, despite the successful iPad mini and 4th Generation iPad releases, and iPhone 5 shipment volumes picking up.

NetMarketShare’s desktop Operating System Market Share metrics for November 2012 show Windows’ overall market share dropping a fifth of a point despite the Windows 8 launch, with both OS X and Linux logging modest share gains on the month. Over in the Mobile/Tablet category, the iOS gained more than a point in November, presumably on the strength of the successful iPad mini and 4th Generation iPad releases, and iPhone 5 shipment volumes picking up.

Pundits and analysts evidently aren’t alone in noticing OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard’s extraordinary staying power, which Apple now tacitly acknowledges by re-offering Snow Leopard installer disks at the Apple Store after an absence of more than a year, priced ten dollars lower than what 10.6 originally sold for.

NetMarketShare’s desktop Operating System Market Share metrics for October 2012 show another basicly sideways month in terms of market share, with Windows dropping infinitesimally, the Mac stayng exactly the same as in September at 7.16%, and Linux edging up ever so slightly.

Apple has updated its iCloud web portal, adding the ability for users to share reminders. Mac users running OS X v10.8.2 have been able to do this for some time via the Reminders app in Mountain lion, but the feature was limited to the Mac. With iCloud support, it should now work easily across multiple platforms.

Apple has released small software updates to OS X Mountain Lion (v10.8.2) and Lion (v10.7.5), bringing minor enhancements and a few bug fixes. Both supplemental updates are recommended for all users of the respective OS X versions.

NetMarketShare’s Operating System and Browser Market Share metrics for September 2012 show no major changes in desktop category share standings, but the iOS and Safari suffered significant setbacks in the past month.