It’s beginning to look a lot like iOS, everywhere you go… Christmas may be over but Apple delivered one little surprise gift with an update to their AirPort Utility. As described by Apple, the AirPort Utility 6.0 allows you to “set up and manage your Wi-Fi network and AirPort base stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule.” The newly upgraded interface bears a striking resemblance to the iOS counterpart and “starts off with a visual topography for the user’s network including the active status and whether or not updates are waiting.”
Those that have tried the newly updated version of the app are reporting that the interface itself doesn’t appear to be much different or offer more features but that it seems to be a lot easier to use, particularly for those that are new to networking and may not be as familiar with how a router functions. These steps toward a more user-friendly experience are all good strides forward for Apple as they try to appeal even more to the average user, a market that has been more than a little intimidated by their products in the past. Using this latest utility it has become very graphical and easy to manage and change the settings for any router on your network (including your Internet connection directly as well).
AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express, and Time Capsule routers were not ignored by Apple either, with each receiving a firmware upgrade to 7.6.1. This update promises to address speed issues experienced over their wireless connections and the addition of access being granted to AirPort or Time Capsule drives using iCloud.
To take full advantage of these updates, you need to be running a Mac with Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 though a less up to date version is available for older operating systems.