FAQ when choosing a Mac

Walt Mossberg has FAQ for those who are thinking of buying a Mac. Below are some questions that he answers in the FAQ:

• Who should consider a Mac?
• Who shouldn't consider The Mac?
• Can I run Microsoft Office on a Mac?
• Can I use all my Windows files on a Mac?
• Can I mix Macs and Windows on the same home network?
• Can Macs run standard peripheral hardware?
• What minimum specs should I look for on a Mac?

This is a good read for those who are considering in getting a Mac. It's also for those who have friends or relatives who are asking about the Mac. Give them the link to Mossberg's FAQ to have some of their questions answered.

Tweak that Leopard Dock and Menu Bar

Some Leopard users are really hung up about the look of the new Dock under Leopard. Some consider 'hate' as too mild a term to describe what they feel every time they see the 3D dock. Hacks into the terminal can turn that 3D Dock into the 2D strip seen in Tiger.

Others seem to like the 3D Dock but not in its current state. LeopardDocks.com has a tutorial on how to replace the 3D dock or how to make it 2D.

The site also has a gallery of 3D Dock mods users have submitted. There's Chain Link, Dark Cherry, Grass, Real Marble, and many more.

Another hack is for bringing back the hierarchal browsing in the Dock. With Stacks, Apple has removed the ability to right-click an item on the right side of the Dock to access the hierarchal menu. The Unofficial Apple Weblog suggests using the free to download Hierarchy as a solution to bring back the now missing feature.

TUAW has declared the problem of the translucent Menu bar as solved. This does require hacking into the innards of Mac OS. Not for the newbie, novice, amateur or the faint of heart.

Prince McLean's Road to Mac Office 2008

AppleInsider's at it again. After bringing us the nuts and bolts of Leopard, they've brought Microsoft Office 2008 in focus.

Prince McLean is back again with his dissection of Office 2008: its history and a comparison with the competition: iWork 08.

The road to Office 2008 starts with an introduction then the installation experience and a discussion about the user interface.

The series continutes with an Office 2008 vs iWork 08 face off. Word vs Pages. Excel vs Number. Powerpoint vs Keynote.

Word vs Pages

• In Word 2008, Page Layout View is renamed as Print Layout View. A new Publishing Layout View is added.
• In editing Autoshapes in Word, you still have to click OK in the editing window every time you want to see the changes made in a shape. In Pages, changes are reflected as you make them.
• There's no WordArt equivalent nor a bibliography feature in Pages.
• Pages has strong graphics and composition tools.
• Word 2008 now supports Automator while giving up VBA macros. However, Automator support will setback interested parties $300. 

Excel vs Numbers

• Excel 2008 supports 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns
• Excel's formula bar is not integrated into the spreadsheet window but is instead it has its own window.
• Numbers only has half the functions of Excel. Can't do pivot tables, has weak statistical and financial functions, and has no engineering or database functions.
• Numbers' templates are consumer oriented. More professional templates are needed.
• Excel has more charting options like radar, surface, X-Y scatter charts.
• Numbers uses the same non-modal editing like in Pages, allowing you to see changes as you are making them. 
• Numbers' 3D charts can be tilted, rotated, given shadows and texture.
• Though Excel has is more powerful and has more features than Numbers, Excel 2008 might turn off those who plan to use it for business. Numbers is for those with 'less technical needs'.

Powerpoint vs Keynote

• Powerpoint 2008 cut the number of view modes from five down to three: Normal, Slide Sorter, and Slide Show.
• You can now rearrange slides in the sidebar in Powerpoint 2008.
• Unlike in Keynote where slide transitions is previewed in the Inspector, you have to switch to Slide Show to see what a transition looks like in Powerpoint.
• Tables in Powerpoint are nothing to write home about. Formatting Palette is awkward to use like those in other Office apps. 
• You can't do charts in Powerpoint without Excel. They're tied together in this task. Keynote is independent of Numbers when it comes to making charts for presentations. 
• SmartArt Graphics in Powerpoint make it easy to "make it easy to lay out automated designs". Keynote doesn't have anything comparable.
• Both presentation softwares can export to the same formats but Keynote has more options. Export QuickTime movies under Keynote preserves animations and interactive hyperlinks can be used.
• Powerpoint has weak graphical presentation tools and the modal approach to editing makes it annoying to edit presentations. 
• Keynote has better templates, animation and transition sets. Added features like Instant Alpha for erasing backgrounds, Smart Builds, intelligent masking and image editing tools makes Keynote far superior than Powerpoint. 

Microsoft Office 2008 starts at $150. iWork 08 costs $79. $69.99 in Amazon.com.

Old news: Mac OS 10.5.1 update out; freezing iMacs patch out, too

Here's a bit of old news. Apple released an update to their latest operating system. That was fast. Less than a month of Leopard's release. Three weeks to be more precise.

Fire up your Software Update, Leopard owners or you can download it manually from Apple's website.

Also released last week was Apple's fix for freezing iMac displays. The iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 (link to Apple's website) is "for 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics processor." Not all aluminum iMacs need this update. If you don't have the required hardware, the update won't show up in your Software Update.

Twenty updates from Apple

MacMerc.com lists 20 updates Apple released in the week or so.

Security Update 2007-008 (10.3.9 Client)
Security Update 2007-008 (10.3.9 Server)
Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2
Server Admin Tools 10.4.11
Final Cut Pro 6.0.2
DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1
Motion 3.0.2
Color 1.0.2
Cinema Tools 4.0.1
Compressor 3.0.2
Pro Applications Update 2007-02
iPhoto 7.1.1
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update (Intel)
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (Intel)
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update (PPC)
Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 Update (Universal)
Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 Combo Update (Universal)
Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 Update (PPC)
Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)

Leopard's mosaic screen saver

I didn't even know that this feature exists until I heard it from a podcast. I think it was the MacCast Loop or the Typical Mac User Podcast. There is a screensaver option creates a photo mosaic out of pictures in iPhoto. The effect is hypnotic, according to Michael Rose. From what I understand the effect goes something like A picture will first show up on the screen and it will slowly zoom out revealing more pictures in the process. Then the pictures will resolve into a mosaic of a picture from your iPhoto library and this will just go on and on and on.

I think this is a really cool feature. Unfortunately, I didn't know about this until after the Davao Mac Users Group meeting. I couldn't have demoed it anyway since I don't have iPhoto '08 yet.

Can't wait to try this out soon.

Mac ultra-portable at Macworld San Francisco 2008 - AppleInsider

AppleInsider is reporting that their sources is telling them an ultra-compact, ultra-portable Mac is going to be introduced next year at Macworld San Francisco. The much rumored, much anticipated sub-Macbook will be 50 per cent lighter and much slimmer than the Macbook Pro. The ultra-portable is shedding off some flab by getting rid of the optical drive. A NAND-based drive will result into faster boot times and better power efficiency. Also contributing to power efficiency is the adoption of a 13-inch LED display. MWSF will be held on January 15 to 18, 2008. More from AppleInsider.

The good and the bad in the Leopard

The Unofficial Apple Weblog asked its readers to vote for the little good things and the little bad things in Leopard. What topped the 'Good' list are Quick Look, an improved Finder, and iCal Dock icon showing the correct date. The top 'Bad' things are the changing Stacks icons, two step edit of iCal's info, and Spaces pulling you away from dialog sheets. That last bit's got me confused though. I don't know what that means. I'm surprised the translucent menu bar and 3D Dock didn't make the 'Bad' list. Then again, the topic's been talked about, discussed and argued ad nauseam.

Mac tip for newbies: Guest accounts part 2

On a previous post, I talked about Jeff Gamut's tips on creating Guest accounts. Setting up a guest accounts lets your family and friends to use your Mac without having to deal with the worry they might accidentally close or delete a project you were working on. But does having a guest account also let's you dictate what a guest user can or cannot do or use? Yes, and this is where Parental Controls comes in.

Jeff Gamut returns to discuss the finer points of Parental Controls, a new feature under Leopard. Using Parental Controls you will be able to limit what applications your guests can open and what websites they can access. There's also a nifty feature for parents where they can limit the number of hours their child spends on the Mac on weekdays and weekends. A bedtime limit restricts access to the Mac in a specific time period when the child is supposed to be asleep.

Read more of Jeff Gamut's quick tip of Parental Controls here.

Finding Leopard's intro movie and music

Victor Cajiao who does the The Typical Mac User podcast put up a tip on how to get the Leopard intro movie and music off Leopard.

It involves digging into the Core Services folder and after six folders down, you can find both the movie and audio. The movie doesn't have the music included in it so the mp3 file plays simultaneously with the movie on launching Leopard for the first time.

Apple Store turns 10

On November 10, 1997, Apple opened its virtual doors to US customers. Within the first 12 hours, Apple had $500,000 in orders and 4.4 million hits.

10 years later, there are more than 20 online Apple Stores spread across Asia and Europe.

My Leopard install experience

4:03 PM Powerbook restarting.

4:06 PM Welcome screen on.

4:39 PM I'm back. Got interrupted. I've now started the installation process. Chose the default drive. Doing an erase and install. Removed all printer drivers and excess languages.

Time Remaining: Calculating.

4:21 PM Time remaining. Calculating.

4:46 PM 28 minutes remaining.

4:54 PM 14 minutes remaining. Have to administer an exam.

5:09 PM: Installation done. Restarting now.

5:41 PM: More interruptions. Leopard's up and running on my 12" 1GHz Powerbook. No translucent menu bar as expected. All in all, installation without the interruptions took about 15 minutes. Time to play with this baby.

I'll be posting my own review of the features I've been meaning to play with like Quick Look, Cover Flow, and Spotlight. Stay tuned.

iPhone update 1.1.2 released

Breaking news.

Apple has released iPhone update 1.1.2. which adds multilingual support.

That's it.

Seriously, for more details and pictures just click on the link.

Leopard bugs: don't move, just copy.

MacDailyNews reports on a problem when moving data from a Mac to another hard drive in a network. Tom Kaprik identified the problem as the loss of data whenever a hard drive in a network a user is moving files to suddenly becomes disconnected.

When a Mac user drags a file to another hard drive the file gets copied and not moved. Only by pressing the command key while dragging the file to another location causes it to be moved.

This bug is a headache when you are into moving files a lot. A practical advice is to not press the command key. Instead of moving files, it's probably better to copy it, verify the copied file and then delete the original.

HTC's touch can't touch the iPhone

When Apple announced the coming of the iPhone early this year, handset makers like HTC scrambled to bring out a competitor worthy of the yet to be released iPhone. In the case of HTC, what came out of that frenzied panic was the HTC touch.

Last September, HTC's CEO Peter Chou remarked that the iPhone is not up to par with HTC standards.

"The iPhone design is very beautiful. However, the phone design is quite weak; it's very, very basic."

Chou continued on to say that HTC, in contrast, understands the different needs of cellular operators and so can tweak its handsets as necessary. This, according to Chou, gives HTC 'a huge advantage'.

Unfortunately for Chou, reviews of the HTC touch disagree with his optimism.

Crunchgear called the HTC touch as "a valiant effort" but "it still falls short" of Apple’s iPhone.

Another review by Electronista cites the HTC touch as having a "tiny interface, poor web and media software" and "sub-par battery life and camera." The review wrapped up by saying:

"...it becomes apparent HTC's best intentions have resulted in a compromise. The Touch really does try to shoehorn an iPhone-like experience into an operating system and phone design that are largely unsuited to the job."

The videos below might help illustrate how a threat the HTC touch poses on the iPhone:

The Apple iPhone


The HTC touch

What Arik Hesseldahl loathes about Leopard

Writing for Business Week, Arik Hesseldahl list's Leopard's Time Machine as his top Leopard peeve. Particularly, when it comes to using Time Machine with Mac portables. Having Macbooks or Macbook Pros as your main system requires you to either carry an external drive with you all the time or have one setup at work. The lack of support networked drives, which was promised before Leopard's release.

Another feature that has earned Hesseldahl's loathing is the lack of visual consistency of Stacks. It would seem that Apple has taken the name too literally in that every time a new item is placed into the Stacks folder, the icon changes to look like that document or file. Visually appealing but annoying in the long run.

Mac tip for newbies: guest accounts

There are times when a family member or a friend asks us to let them use our Macs to check their emails or find something on Google. There's really nothing to worry about unless you're currently working on a project of some sort and they accidentally close the application or window you were using. Oops... Sorry?

A way to this avoid this potential nightmare is to setup a guest account for them to use. The Mac Observer's Jeff Gamet has a guide on how to set up a guest account on your Mac. The guest account has options that limit the apps and files a guest user can have access to. You can also turn on parenteral controls to limit the sites that can be accessed.

Using a guest account for your friends and family is one way to protect yourself from losing those valuable and important files that you have in your Mac. A must-do tip.

Mac tip for newbies: watch that open Wi-Fi

We live in a city where 80 to 90% of wireless hotspots we find in cafes are open and free. Some would require a password to log in to but it is freely given if you ask nicely. This makes our city one of the most open wireless cities in the world.

But this openness is a security nightmare waiting to explode. One particular issue is when you are on an open hotspot and if you are not mindful about security on your Mac, you are inviting other people to browse, open and even copy your files.

Christopher Breen of Playlist magazine tells his story regarding this issue he encounters during his travels. According to Breen, his favorite past time when on the road is to look at other people's iTunes playlists when he is on a public network. He's found out that most people who use iTunes are probably not aware that they are sharing their playlists.

Another security hole most of us aren't aware of is other people can browse your files in your Public Folder through iDisk.

Turn off the iTunes sharing feature in the iTunes preferences menu if you don't want anyone seeing your playlists. Another tip is not to put any file in your Public folder that you don't want other people to see. I'll have more post about how to make your Mac more secure in the near future.

Jay-Z sez hiz new album iz like a movie.

Jay-Z, or Shawn Carter in real life, is quoted as saying "As movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles." He's banned his latest album American Gangster from being sold on iTunes as individual tracks. According to Jay-Z, his "imaginary soundtrack" is "a work of art" and should be listened to in its "entirety."

I might get a copy of American Gangster the music-movie to see (or is it hear) whether this iTunes-hatin' playa can live up to his own hype.

Spate of Apple hardware issues

Things are not looking good in the hardware front lately.

• Seagate Technology is settling a lawsuit which said the compamy misled consumers by offering 7% more disk space than what was available or usable to the user. Seagate will offer a refund or a free backup or recovery software. Refund or the free backup or software is only valid in the US.


• Some Macbooks with 2.5-inch SATA Seagate drives may lead to data loss when the read/write head detaches from the arm and plows into the platter. This is deemed as a design flaw. The drives are made in China and has the firmware version 7.0.1.


• Reports of freezing iMacs have surfaced and Apple has recognized the problem exists. They already have sent out an iMac software update which was supposed to address the issue. For some it didn't. AppleInsider has reported that the problem may not be that easy to fix after all since it's not software that's having the issues; it's the hardware. According to some users, the problem of the freezing Mac went away as soon as Apple replaced the Radeon ATI chipset. It seems Leopard is the culprit here. The new OS is exerting a heavy toll on the graphics chip because of all the eye candy. Downgrading to Tiger resolves some freezing problems.
  

Application watch

There are a lot of applications that I want to try out but I'm waiting to upgrade to Leopard before I start using them. Most if not all applications are Leopard compatible or optimized. I'll be making a list of these applications and perhaps write a mini-review for each. I'll be adding more in the future.

---

Baseline is a disk scanning utility that lets you take a 'baseline' of your hard drive and compare subsequent scans to that baseline. The application will let you view changes that have been made to a file or directory. You also are able to delete, compress or archive files within Baseline. Shareware. $10. 14-day trial period.

Tidy Up "you can search for duplicate files and packages; by the owner application, content, type, creator, extension, time modified, time created, name, label, visibility and delays. Tidy Up! allows you to search for duplicate folders; by name, date modified, date created, label visibility, empty folders, their contents and more." Shareware. $30. Trial duration unknown.

Youpi Optimizer "is an application which enables you to delete resources localized in unused languages, and then free disk space. You can gain more than 100 MB of free space with a standard Mac OS X installation." Freeware.

November 9, 2007
Maked Light: "Non-destructive image editing. Node-based compositing. Live filters. High-end tools. And infinite resolution. It's image editing, re-invented." Sounds interesting. Count me in. Beta release.

Using Back on your Mac without .Mac

One of the 300+ features in Leopard is Back on my Mac with allows users to retrieve files in the Macs from a remote location. The caveat is that you must have a .Mac subscription in order for you to use this feature. A .Mac subscription cost $99 per year.

Melvin Rivera of All Forces has figured out a way to use Back on my Mac without .Mac. The hack uses iChat's screen sharing capability and instructions can be found on All Forces.

I'm not so keen in using Back on my Mac and this hack since our bandwidth here is generally sucky. That will sure to mess things up.

What's up, Dock? Ey, men...u.

So many litanies have been made about the menu bar and Dock. I'm reserving my judgment for now. But for those who already have Leopard running in their Macs and you abhor the translucent menu bar you can hack it to be become solid . Eternal Storms Software also has released the freeware app, OpaqueMenuBar which makes the menu bar, well, opaque.

For those who are not into hacking the menu bar, they may choose to use Peter Krantz's method of just putting a 12 pixel high strip of white or black on top of each wallpaper.

The Dock also is getting a lot of flack flak because of the changes. If you're one of those who hates the boring new Dock with a passion, Yellatducks has some nifty ways to customize the look of your Dock.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm reserving judgment for now. I'll give myself a week before I can say whether I like the menu bar and Dock or not.

Time Machine advisory [UPDATE]

People have been posting in Apple's discussion boards of having problems with using Leopard's backup utility, Time Machine. Some of the problems encountered, which includes stalled backups, may be due to the backup drive's partitioning, according to Apple.

If running Leopard on a PowerPC, the external drive must be partitioned in the Apple Partition Map scheme; those running Intel-based Macs should use GUID partition scheme. Use Disk Utility to reformat the drives and then select it again in Time Machine.

Another problem encountered is not being able to see the backup volume. The problem lies, according again to Apple, is in using non-alphanumeric characters in the computer's name. Others say even after renaming the computer the problem still persists.

Update:
The Mac Observer pointed out that Apple has support documents for the issues relating to stalled or interrupted backups and for the invisible backups.

The "Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine stops backing up to external disk" document deals with the issue that "after about 10 GB or more of data is backed up to an external disk, Time Machine may stop backing up."

In the meantime, "Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine backups are not visible" deals with a problem in Time Machine "time travel" window where "past backups may not appear if your computer name includes certain characters."

Mac touch soon?

CNet reported that a source from Asus whispered into their ear and said that they were developing a Mac tablet for Apple. The device, dubbed as the 'Mac touch', will have will have a multi-touch interface like the iPhone and iPod touch and will run a version of Mac OS 10.5. No date has yet been set on when this fabled tablet device is coming.

Pre-Leopard installation: compatible third-party apps

I'm expecting to get my copy of Leopard tomorrow and I'm going to install it into my 12" Powerbook as soon as I am able. I'll blog the entire process of upgrading to 10.5 and what happens after. I'm doing a clean install and so I don't expect to run into any problems. The difficult part would be putting back the files from my backup.

My excitement in using the new OS is matched by my apprehension on what will happen to some of the third-party apps that I am using. There has been reports of problems encountered when running a third-party app not compatible with Leopard.

So my first account into installing Leopard is to find out which of my most often used applications are or aren't compatible with Leopard.

Here's the list of the applications:

• Adium: version 1.1.4 addresses almost all of the Leopard-related issues.


• Twitterific: version 3.0 has an issue where changing Logins may cause it to hang under Leopard.


• iStat menu: version 1.2 addresses some Leopard issues.


• Microsoft Office: version 11.3.9 fixes the problem of Word quitting unexpectedly when printing a document.


• Grand Perspective: No word yet. Last update was on July 24, 2007.


• Onyx: Website only says compatible with Tiger.


• WhatSize: Last update was on June 2007. No announcement yet regarding Leopard compatibility


• Audacity: Still no word from the group on whether Audacity is stable under Leopard or not.


• ImageWell: A free image editor. Now compatible with Leopard.


• Aurora: An application that makes my iMac into a very expensive alarm clock and countdown timer. This lets me play a podcast while I go to bed and Aurora stops the podcast after a specific amount of time. It can also put your Mac to sleep.


• Little Snitch: Firewalls keep things from coming in but what's keeping things from going out. Little Snitch monitors stuff your applications are sending out and warns you if an application is trying to connect to the net without your consent. A must have.


• Tinkertool: version 3.8 now supports Leopard and has added the ability to disable Leoaprd 3D Dock appearance. Free download available.

---

I will update the list as needed. Little Snitch is ready for Leopard.

For a more comprehensive list of what's compatible and what's not, go to Dommy's World. Last update was on November 6.

UPDATE: Added ImageWell

Mail 3.0: the good and the bad

Mitch Wagner of InformationWeek has his list of what's great and what stinks in the new version of Apple's Mail application. His greats are the ability to link to individual email messages, the built-in RSS reader better search capability, and the ability to pick out an address, email, contact number, events or any other information and quickly and easily bring it to iCal or Address Book.

What stinks in Mail are Notes, buggy To-Do, hard to figure out IMAP integration, and Stationary.

Personally, I've stopped using Mail quite some time ago. Using Google Mail is more than adequate for me.

MacNN's review series: Spotlight and Spaces

Jon Fingas pens the fifth part of MacNN's series of reviews of Apple's latest operating system, Leopard. The first section covers Spaces which Fingas calls as a "hidden time-saver." He notes that unlike some of the new features in Leopard like Time Machine, Spaces is not by default present in either the Dock or menu bar. Spaces has to be enabled in the Systems Preferences.

Spaces allows users to have multiple desktops called virtual desktops. Usually, when I use my Mac I will have several applications and windows open; i'll have two to three Safari windows open, Adium, iPhoto, a Word document, and an Excel spreadsheet. Things are a little disorganized here. Using Spaces, I can assign an application or group of applications to their own virtual desktop. In this example, I can group Safari and Adium together in one virtual desktop or "space," then assign iPhoto, Word and Excel into their own respective spaces. Viewing the different spaces only requires a key press or a click on the Spaces Dock icon (if available). Seeing all your available spaces is like viewing applications using Exposé. This is a useful feature for those using Mac portables. According to Fingas, "the only real drawback of Spaces may be that many users will assume that they have no need for it."

I've used virtual desktop applications before and I pretty much got rid of them after about a week. More than anything, it made things more complicated than they were. But I am willing to try out Spaces since some Mac pundits I've heard saying that they didn't think Spaces would work for them instead did a 180-degrees and says that Spaces is really well implemented.

Another wow for Mac users is how much better and faster Spotlight is on Leopard. I've been using Tiger ever since it first came out and I hardly ever use Spotlight. It's slow. Really, really slow for me. I always get think to myself every time I use Spotlight in Tiger, "This is not supposed to be in my Mac. It's so un-Apple like." But I've heard and read a lot of reviews and reactions and the consensus is Spotlight is way much better under Leopard. One drawback, says Fingas, is the inability to narrow the search to a specific folder or location and the lack of prioritizing options.

Download 1Password 2.5.3 for free

Agile Web is offering a free license to their password management app, 1Password. 1Password "keeps track of all web passwords, automates sign-in, guards from identity theft," according to the website. The limitations of the free license is that it isn't eligible for upgrading to newer versions and the user cannot access the online version of 1Password.

TUAW's "How I set up my Mac" series

The reviews are over an done with. People already have Leopard purring inside their Macs. The Unofficial Apple Weblog team has done a tremendous job in covering all things Leopard; from retail to computers. Still continuing their watch over the new cat, the team will be putting up their own experiences during and after the installation of Mac OS 10.5. The series is called "How I set up my Mac" and first on the bat is Nik Fletcher.

Nik Fletcher's installation went rather quick. He first made a full system backup, which he confessed to rarely ever doing, and then did a clean install. It was completed in about 15 minutes (Hint: do not include localization or the language pack as well as all the printer drivers that comes with Leopard. Unless you plan to use your Mac in German or Swahili, don't bother with localizations.) He did Migration Assistant, copied back his iTunes library and Keychain and he was good to go.

He then proceeded to install his essentials applications (head on over the link for find out more) and twiddled with Stacks. He says his best new feature is Quick Look (Can't wait to try this out) but he dislikes the Dock's 3D effect.

More TUAWers to follow.

16 little known, but cool, Leopard features

There have been so much talk about the shiny new features in Leopard like Time Machine, Quick Look, Mail, and iChat. However, there are some little improvements in Leopard that aren't getting any attention that they deserve. The Sitening blog has the 16 coolest features in 10.5 that you aren't aware of. Some of the ones I'm interested in are:

• TextEdit now supports Word 2007 and OpenDocument formats. Most people don't know this but for basic word processing, you don't need to have MS Word installed in your Mac. TextEdit gets most of the job done less the bulk.
• Scrolling non-active windows. This will probably leave some to go "Huh? What's that?" Imagine you have two Safari windows open and you have them side by side. You are researching something and you often need to switch from one window to another. Normally, in order for you to scroll up or down a page you have to select the window to make it active and then scroll. With this feature, you don't need to click, make active, scroll, click, make active, scroll, click, make active... Well, you get the idea. All you need to do is simply hover over the window and just use your scroll wheel to scroll up or down. Very nifty. Of course, you will need a scroll wheel mouse. If you don't have one, you can but one rather inexpensively.
• Manipulate PDFs with Preview. You can now edit your PDF using preview. Move pages around, delete unnecessary pages and even add pages from another PDF.

Those are just three of the sixteen features that for me will give more value to Leopard. Check out the other 13 and see what else could make Leopard more worthwhile for you.

More raves for Leopard

Eric Benderoff, Chicago Tribune: "Leopard upgrade helps polish any Apple"

So to me, and millions of other Mac users, the real question is whether upgrading to Leopard will make my humble little iBook better. The answer: Yes.

Joe Hutsko, MSNBC, "Feature-rich Leopard will wow Mac users"

The users who will be most impressed with Leopard are those new buyers saying goodbye to Windows and hello to Mac for the first time. For the rest of us, Leopard’s sum of parts adds up to an even better experience with an already excellent operating system.

Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, New Mac OS is apple of my eye

As you use Leopard, you'll find which of those 300 features fit the way you work, communicate or play. As I've played with it, I'm constantly being surprised by smart, useful and convenient touches. It is a pleasure to use.

...Leopard's a winner. If you're a Mac user, you will want this on your computer.

If you're a Windows user who's been tempted by the Mac, I'm not sure there's much here to add to the siren song you're already hearing. But if you make the leap, there's a lot in Leopard to make you glad you did.

Chris Dannen, Fast Company, Apple's Leopard, First Take

Leopard's salient improvements will trickle down to the next version of Windows, as well as the next round of cell phones, public computing systems, and handhelds. As more companies look to Apple for copycat material, more of what makes the Mac OS great will improve computing on the whole. Apple may have only 6% market share, but it's safe to bet that whether or not you intend to, you'll eventually be loving something about Leopard. So save yourself some time, give in, and try it now.

Tom Yager, InfoWorld, Apple OS X Leopard: A beautiful upgrade

Leopard is a legitimately big deal. It's underhyped compared to iPhone, and yet unlike iPhone, Leopard is a genuine triumph of customer-focused engineering. It's a pleasure and a relief to see that Apple remembers how to deliver open, affordable, standards-based products. There probably won't be lines around the block at Apple retail stores for people who can't wait to get their hands on Leopard. If they had been using Leopard as long as developers have, Apple wouldn't be able to stamp Leopard DVDs fast enough.

Listen to MIT, Yale or Stanford lectures for free

The Washington Post has an article on the rising popularity of lectures on podcasts particularly those found in iTunes U. iTunes U is a collaboration between Apple and various colleges and universities in the United States like Stanford, MIT, Yale and UC Berkley.

According to Jeffrey Selingo, materials from the different universities and colleges have been downloaded 4 million times since iTunes U was launched last spring. These lecture podcasts have also become a hit among professors since this is a way for them to reach a much bigger audience. Students benefit in being able to choose from a wide variety of courses. From psychology to architecture, from physics to information management. From art to the neurosciences.

For more information, go to Apple's iTunes U page or go on to iTunes to start downloading.

Leopard compatible applications

As with any OS release, there are bound to be problems with third-party applications. Before upgrading one of the things you must first do if find out whether your application under Tiger or Panther will run on Leopard (too many cats in this sentence). You should go to the developer's website and see what they have to say about compatibility with Mac OS 10.5. That can be a little tiring especially if you use a apps. Luckily for us, there are some helpful souls on the net that has documented what software is or isn't compatible with Leopard.

Mac Rumors Guides listed the applications that have major or minor compatibility issues with Mac OS 10.5.

Another resource is at Dommy's World. I guess Dommy has taken the time to browse through forums and listed down what applications are compatible and not compatible with Leopard. His last update was on October 31.

Again, before you stick a new cat into your Mac, find out first whether your installed third-party applications will play well with Leopard. If most of your apps don't work, better wait for a few weeks and then decide. By the way, the other first thing you should do before you upgrade is to backup, backup, backup.

Twitterific 3.0

Twitterific version 3.0 has been released and sports a lot of changes. From Iconfactory's website:

• Twitterrific now handles multiple sources of tweets in the list. Normal timeline updates are gray while replies to you (@yourusername) are colored orange. Your direct messages are displayed in blue with a letter icon.
• An AppleScript scripting dictionary was added thanks to a contribution from Grayson Hansard at From Concentrate Software. Please refer to the TwitterrificScriptDemo.scpt file for more information on how to access Twitterrific from your AppleScript.
• The dialogs for connection errors have been replaced with a message in the tweet list that explains the last error (only one error is displayed.) To turn this feature off, uncheck "Show errors in tweet list" in the System panel of the configuration window.
• If you are using the Dock instead of the menubar, the Dock icon now contains an unread message count. The count will be displayed in orange if any new tweets have arrived since the window was last opened. The menubar icon will also be removed if you are using the Dock to control Twitterrific.
• The volume of the bird sounds used to alert you to new tweets is now adjustable using the Sound > Sound Effects panel in System Preferences.
• Improved configuration interface for updating status with chat clients. There was some confusion about how this feature worked in the last release, so we tuned up the user interface. Also, some users were getting "Where is application?" errors, so you must now choose the chat application you want to use.
• You can now select any tweet in the list and use ⌘C to copy its URL to the clipboard.
• If you post something by accident, you can now delete the tweet: just select it in the list and press ⌘⌫. You cannot delete someone else's tweet.
• The arrow keys can now be used to open URLs from the tweet list: the right arrow opens all links in the tweet and the left arrow opens the user's "with others" page.
• Added a warning dialog when there are no tweets to download from Twitter. This will help new users who are just getting started.
• Two new power user preferences were added: tweetScreenNameFilter and tweetTextFilter. These preferences allow you to filter out tweets based on either a tweet's screen name or the text in the message. See the Read Me file for more information on how to configure and use them.
• Screen names in tweets (@name) are now linked to the user's page at Twitter.
• A power user preference for Sonic Twoosh Technology™ was added to let you know when your tweet is "extra special."
• Development of Twitterrific is now being funded in part by advertisements from The DECK. You can still use Twitterrific free of charge, but for every hour you run you'll be shown a single ad. Registering the software for $14.95 eliminates all advertising and helps support future development and improvements.

Admittedly these are big improvements to a fantastic program. However, I am annoyed by the fact that Iconfactory changed the way users toggle the window off. Whenever a Tweet comes in, the Twitterific window pops in. Previous version would require only one key press to toggle the window off. On version 3.0, for some inexplicable reason, they are forcing users to press the toggle keys TWICE! I find it inane and stupid. Why fix something that wasn't broken?

New Macbooks out!

Mactactic had it right. Macbooks upgrades came right on time. Apple quietly released an upgrade to their Macbook line yesterday. Upgrades consisted of a change to the Santa Rosa chips, bigger frontside bus, and a new graphics processor. It's also 0.1 pounds lighter, too.

Time to grab me one of these. I'm disappointed that SuperDrive is still not available across the board. What's up with that?

iSlayer iStat menu updated

I'm an information junkie. That's why I have 100+ RSS feeds to browse through and 600+ podcasts that I'm supposed to listen to. The RSS I can handle. The podcasts... Not so sure.

I also like knowing what's going on inside my computer. These include processor and memory usage, fans, temperature and network activity. The first application that I used in monitoring my computer was MenuMeter. At the same time I was also running another monitoring tool but it resided as a widget in Dashboard. iSlayer's iStat was graphically more appealing but it involved having to go into Dashboard to see what my Mac was doing at that time. MenuMeter finally got the boot when iSlayer released iStat menu which essentially is the iStat widget on the menu bar. iStat menu is more customizable and easier to configure.

iStat menus version 1.2 has improvements such as processes monitoring, enhanced Date & Time, enhanced bandwidth monitoring, better temperature and fan support, better support for temperature sensors in G4 PowerBooks, disk performance monitor and more.

This 2.6 MB download is a must have if you want to know what's going on inside your Mac.

Gentle poke or slap in the face?

If a Mac running Leopard hooks up with a computer running Windows, this is the icon for that Windows PC:



Reality bites. For Windows users, that is.

Thanks, MDN.

LiveQuartz

Adobe's Photoshop is considered to be the king when it comes to editing pictures or images. However, if I were to get a copy of Photoshop, it would set me a couple of hundreds of dollars. If I stop and think about it, the cost is not really justified since I only use less than 20% of the features in Photoshop. That's why I'm always in the look out for alternatives to Photoshop that has the basic functionalities but won't cost me an arm and a leg.

LiveQuartz is a free image editor that has the basic tools such as brush, eraser, drawing, gradient, text and lasso. LiveQuartz is based on layers and CoreImage filters. The application also has a Leopard compatible version ready for download. Other image editing programs that is worth looking at are Pixen, Pixelmator, and Seashore.

iPhone is Time Magazine's Invention of the Year

Five reasons why the iPhone is invention of the year:

1. Apple takes design seriously. Most companies don't bother with aesthetically pleasing products. For Apple, it's not just about the ease of use and feature but also how a device looks. They make products that makes you proud to show it around.


2. Using the most usable pointing devices: your digits. Touchscreens are nothing new. They been in almost all devices: phones, cameras, computers. However, it was Apple who found out a way to make using a touchscreen the best method of using a device. Flick, pinch, tap. No other device in the market that came before the iPhone was closed to giving the user a sense of control and delight when using a device.


3. The iPhone challenges the status quo. Cellphone makers in the US were at the mercy of the the telecos. Apple challenged this convention by dictating the terms and what the iPhone should be like. AT&T is also said to be paying $18 per subscriber per month to Apple because of the iPhone.
   


4. Real OS under the hood. Even though the iPhone runs a stripped, slimmed down version of the Mac operating system, it's still is the Mac OS. Already a powerful platform, it's going to become better with the release of the iPhone SDK by February next year. 
   


5. The future is bright. The iPhone with all its glory is still a 1.0 product. There is still a lot of room for improvement and Apple is not the kind to rest on its laurels.
   

5 reasons why you should upgrade to Leopard

According to Rob Griffiths, the most common question about Leopard is not about Time Machine, Quick Look, or iChat. The most common question is when should Mac users upgrade to Leopard. Griffiths tries to convince readers to upgrade with his top 5 features that makes upgrading to Leopard worhwhile. He lists screen sharing, an improved Spotlight, Time Machine, Auto FS and an improved Finder as some of the best reasons to upgrade.

Leopard: a week later

It has been a little more than a week since Leopard was released and Mac related websites have posted their first impressions and reviews. Some sites also did a mini-review of most of the touted features in Leopard such as Time Machine, Finder, Mail, iChat, etc. Below is a list of a few of the sites that have done a full review of Leopard as well as the review of features. If you are still undecided whether to upgrade to Leopard or not, maybe these articles can help you by looking at the features and see if they are enough to push you to get Mac OS 10.5.

---

Macworld has their own Leopard page when you can find their full review as well as their Inside Leopard series. There are also links to podcasts and video podcasts, and news about Leopard.

Another very good resource for all things Leopard is the review series by Prince McLean of AppleInsider. The series started with an overall introduction into the new features and what's new with the Desktop. McLean continues the series with discussions on Mail and iCal, Address Book and iChat, Core Graphics and the new UI, and Developer Tools. The final installment of the series looks at the value of the previous versions of Mac OS X and what lies ahead for the operating system.

While Macworld and AppleInsider seem to be wrapping things up, MacNN just got started. Jon Fingas started the review series with a look at Finder and Desktop. Somewhat expect, the major issued raised was the translucent menu bar. Some people can't seem to get over it. Overall, Fingas was positive about the Finder and Desktop. It wouldn't be much of a Leopard review without a discussion on Time Machine. The third installment was an iChat review. Galen Wood wrote the fourth installment about Dashboard, Dashcode, and Front Row.

Don Reisinger's The Digital Home blog also covered Leopard from first impressions after installing, to discussing Time Machine, Finder, Spaces, and Mail. Reisinger gives each feature high marks. You can also checked out his blog for more tech and gadgets for the home.

---

A couple more reviews will trickle in the next few days but the initial excitement will slowly fade to be replaced by more practical matters such as bugs and compatibility issues with third-party software and hardware. I'll try to stay on top of the matter since I, too, have an interest in knowing what things need to be fixed since I'm about to stick the new cat into my Macs.

Quicksilver for Leopard

One of my favorite third-party applications just a new version out. TUAW reports that Quicksilver b53 is now available for download and this version is just a bugfix release. 

Question still is: will Spotlight kill Quicksilver?

Adium ready to do video chat (soon)

My all time favorite instant messaging client for the Mac will soon get an upgrade that will let users to video chat. I prefer Adium over Yahoo Messenger for the Mac since it feels like Yahoo isn't giving enough love to Mac users. Even though Adium may have some limitations, it's a feature-packed, multi-protocol IM client that can do most of the job and do it well. MacNN reports that the Adium team is hard at work in pushing version 2.0 out the door. Version 2.0 wil finally give the Adium users community the ability to do video chats. Other tweaks are also included in the impending 2.0 release. 

iLounge's 2008 iPod and iPhone Buyer's Guide

iLounge has released its annual buyer's guide to the iPod, and now they've added the iPhone into the mix. The iLounge Buyer's Guide first appeared in 2004 and covered everything that's iPod. Now, for the 2008 issue, the iPod family has grown bigger with the iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle plus the iPhone and iPod touch. The guide is a catalog of accessories for the iPods and iPhone: from earphones to cases, from docks to cables. Everything you need or never knew you needed can be found right in the iLounge 2008 iPod and iPhone Buyer's Guide. Download the PDF either in the wide version or the iPod touch or iPhone version. Download and drool.

Together with the release of the buyer's guide, iLounge also announced their Best of the Year iPod and iPhone Accessory Awards. Awards include:

• iPod Accessory Maker of the Year
• Portable Speaker of the Year
• Deluxe Speaker of the Year
• iPod + iPhone Accessory of the Year
• Accessory Innovation of the Year
• and more.

The list of this year's winners and runner-ups is included 2008 iPod and iPhone Buyer's Guide.