Front Row removed with Lion update

[MBvV]

I bought Leopard then Snow Leopard and now Lion
and now someone within Apple decided to remove "Front Row"
WHY?
this is ridiculous they should put it back it has been paid for.

 

[schweb]

this is ridiculous they should put it back it has been paid for.

It was removed because barely anyone used it.

Also, you paid for it in Leopard and Snow Leopard, it was not part of Lion and you chose to buy that, hence you didn't pay for it in Lion.

If you can't live without Front Row, you can always go back to Snow Leopard.

 

[cwa107]

You can also add FrontRow back in:

How to install Front Row on Lion (Updated) | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

 

[Slydude]

There is supposedly a patch/hack to run Front Row under Lion. I have not tried it yet. Details here.

 

[cwa107]

Works for me, although it does not work with the latest iTunes. That's OK by me though, I mostly use it to browse through my movies folder.

 

[Slydude]

I see that your previous post beat mine by a bit. I really must type faster. lol

 

[chscag]

I see that your previous post beat mine by a bit. I really must type faster. lol

You and me both. The problem is the faster I type, the more mistakes I make. No winners.

 

[Oneironaut]

Thanks cwa107, that was incredibly helpful. I missed Front Row too.

 

[Flat Eric]

yep me too, great to have it back
Seem to have spent quite a few hours this week reclaiming back the pre-lion stuff, after waiting for a month in eager anticipation for the Lion release.

 

[cwa107]

yep me too, great to have it back
Seem to have spent quite a few hours this week reclaiming back the pre-lion stuff, after waiting for a month in eager anticipation for the Lion release.

I'm glad to have it too. I like being able to hook my MacBook up to a TV and sit back with the remote without having to fuss with getting a media player to go full screen. I realize that not a lot of people were using it - but I'd venture to say not a lot of people use many of the somewhat-hidden features in OS X. That doesn't mean you strip it out. Maybe don't install it with a clean install, but at least leave it there if it already exists.

In a lot of ways, Apple has been ticking me off lately. Not enough to get rid of my Mac, mind you, but enough to question their wisdom here and there.

 

[schweb]

Unless that feature was incompatible with the new OS or 64-bit iTunes. Then it doesn't make sense to leave it if you EOL'ed it. You'd just create more support questions.

 

[macbookjimbo]

Perhaps Front Row was removed to make room for something better in the near future. Until then......Plex.

 

[cwa107]

Perhaps Front Row was removed to make room for something better in the near future. Until then......Plex.

I tried Plex - I really wasn't looking for a persistent media server, which it seemed to be. And even though I disabled those components (or so I thought), it was always starting at boot (not a good thing if you're trying to extend the battery run-time on a laptop). Plex seems to be somewhat of a work-in-progress - perhaps they'll get it sorted out someday.

 

[Slydude]

I have downloaded both Plex and Boxee though I have not played with either much yet. Most of my time has been spent cataloging existing stuff and trying to capture quite a bit of home video before the tapes go bad. I always got the feeling Front Row could have been more than it was. Front Row even in its abandoned state is fine till I have time to make a serious effort at finding something better.

 

[chscag]

Thanks to cw107 I now have Front Row back up and running. The first thing my wife asked when I installed Lion on the new iMac was "Where is that program that shows our photos and plays music?"

 

[MBvV]

Lion removes Front Row

What I do not like about Mac's policy, is that it is looking like Microsoft. I paid for it, also for the remote control, it is mine. Only I will determine whether to remove it or not.
Sure I bought AppleTV2, with which I can do the same.
But I have a bad feeling that Mac quits a certain product, so that I have to spend more on other products. This is very tipical policy that Microsoft uses to increase their sales.
I did reinstall Front Row, but as you may know iTunes does not work yet.

 

[schweb]

What I do not like about Mac's policy, is that it is looking like Microsoft. I paid for it, also for the remote control, it is mine. Only I will determine whether to remove it or not.

It was your choice to install a new OS that didn't have that functionality any longer. You paid for it as part of Leopard and Snow Leopard, you did not pay for it as part of Lion.

It has nothing to do with looking like Microsoft. OS upgrades have always been this way on every platform since the beginning of time.

Not to mention there are so many alternatives out there that it's not like you're dead in the water without a version of Front Row that doesn't even work with the new iTunes anyway.

 

[macbookjimbo]

If you're concerned about Apple looking like Microsft, would Microsft only charge 30 bucks for a brand new OS? Probably more like 130 bucks. Plus, would Microsoft allow you to pay for it once then download it to all of your computers? No, you have to buy it separately for each.

 

[Oneironaut]

Whatever options we're left with, it does make me question what Apple is thinking when they remove useful features for no apparent reason. I mean, we all have choices, as schweb says, but it seems odd to take away choices that once existed. I'm just glad there's a workaround and that some of you are providing advice that's less glib and more, you know, useful!

 

[schweb]

So what you're saying is that you want Apple to leave in a piece of software which it has chosen to no longer to support that is not 100% compatible Lion and doesn't work at all with iTunes 10.4+?

What do you think would happen? You saying people would be ok with that and no one would complain?

Apple has discontinued software and features in the past in almost every OS release. What's different about now?

I'm going to be honest here and just say that if losing Front Row is the worst thing happening in your life, you should consider yourself pretty blessed.