Maintidget

Maintidget is a useful addition to your Dashboard. Use this widget to run the daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts for Max OS X.

I upgraded to Leopard

I upgraded to OS 10.5 (Leopard) last night. No serious problems, easy upgrade process, and my Macbook Pro laptop definitely seems faster using the new operating system. My observations:

• Before the upgrade, I moved off some data files to ensure I had sufficient disk space. I took all software patches from the various vendors (Apple, Microsoft for Office on my Mac, Parallels, AdiumX, and so on). I also did a backup of my data files.
  
• I have not installed any unusual software on this Mac laptop. Unknown if that made my upgrade be fast and successful.
  
• I rebooted just prior to the upgrade to ensure most applications were stopped.
  
• Total time to upgrade was approximately 90 minutes.
  
• Seems to be a tad higher on memory consumption. Nothing drastic, but now I'm thinking I'd like to increase from 2Gb to 3Gb of memory for when I have everything running (including Parallels).
  
• As of this morning I only have a slight problem with the third-party chat/IM client AdiumX - it connects to Google and Yahoo, but not to MSN.
  

Leopard spanks Vista

So says this ComputerWorld article.

As for me, I bought OS 10.5 (Leopard) but will likely not upgrade until the end of November (read: I rely on my single Mac and will wait for the 10.5.1 set of any fixes to appear)...

Parallels with OS 10.5

If you're using Parallels for your Windows VM, ensure you're on the latest version and patch of Parallels. See this support article.

The Threatened Monopolist

ComputerWorld article on Microsoft throwing its WSUS customers under the bus.

What happened to Configuration Management, ITIL-compatible processes, and so on? Give me Mac on the desktop and Linux on the server...

AdiumX for chat/IM

I've been using the consolidated chat/IM client AdiumX for two months now and am incredibly happy with it. Tabbed chat windows, works with Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and so on.

Tidbit. AdiumX does not automatically show you as Away if you're away from your Mac for an extended period of time. You may change this in Preferences.

Price of Leopard

Apple quotes the new OS at $129, but Amazon.com quotes the new OS at $109. You might shop around if you don't immediately need the new OS.

Getting ready for the leap to Leopard

ComputerWorld article...

Spoof IE in Safari

I stole this tip from the September, 2007 issue of MacLife magazine. It allows you to make a website think your Safari web browser is Internet Explorer (IE) version 6.

1. If running, close your Safari web browser.
   
2. Launch a Terminal window (Application/Utilities/Terminal).
   
3. Enter this command defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1 and then press Return. This will enable the Debug menu in Safari.
   
4. Close the Terminal window.
   
5. Start your Safari web browser. You should see the additional Debug menu.
   
6. Navigate to Debug -> User Agent and select Windows MSIE 6.0.
   
7. Now, try using Safari with the Microsoft-centric website!
   

This approach may not work if the website has any ActiveX controls or similar, but it's worth a try. It worked reasonably well for me on the Quick Arrow website.

NOTE: You'll need to change the User Agent to Windows MSIE 6.0 each time you start Safari!

Best Mac software?

bestmacsoftware.org

Nifty screen saver based on iTunes artwork

If you use iTunes on your Mac...

Navigate to System Preferences, click on Desktop & Screen Saver, click on the Screen Saver tab, and select the iTunes Artwork screen saver.

Right-click in Parallels

By default the Mac mouse is not setup to do right-clicks. To change this, open System Preferences and then click on Keyboard & Mouse. Enable the Secondary Button (right side of the mouse).

I sometimes find that right-click does not work in Parallels. If you encounter this problem too, hold down CTRL+SHIFT and left-click. This will emulate a right-click event.

Alternatives for Project and Visio

Visit the Omni Group and their OmniPlan and OmniGraffle products.

Unknown if the products are comparable to Project or Visio, if one can save to formats compatible with Project or Visio, etc.

Dashboard Widget - Chuck Norris Facts

Chuck Norris. Humor is just a click away...

Chat or IM apps

The August, 2007 edition of Mac Life magazine has a review of several chat/IM applications: Adium X, meebo, and Spark.

I've been using the native clients for Microsoft Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, but Adium X looks promising! I like that Adium X offers tabbed chats (one window, with one tab per chat).

Optimize your Entourage database

I always found it beneficial to periodically compress my .PST files for Outlook on a Windows computer. The same is true for the Entourage database on the Mac.

Begin by stopping Entourage. Then in Finder, navigate to Applications -> Microsoft Office 2004 -> Office and click on the Database Utility. Once the utility starts, select the desired identity (typically Main Identity) and select Compact Database.

Entourage's Project Center

Entourage includes the hidden gem Project Center (not available on Outlook in a Windows environment). I'm using Project Center to correlate tasks, calendar entries, emails, files, etc. to individual projects.

Read the Beginner's Guide article.

Connecting Entourage to salesforce.com

My move to the Mac and (ultimately) to Entourage initially meant I could not integrate Entourage to the CRM application salesforce.com.

I have since found and installed the Maildrop application. Maildrop provides integration between Entourage and salesforce.com for email and Cases, but it does not provide synchronization between calendars.

Annoying problem with Parallels v3.0

See this discussion forum on the Parallels website.

I have Office 2004 for the Mac installed (on the Mac side of my world). I also have Excel installed on my Parallels/Windows virtual machine. What is happening is I click on a file with a .XLS extension (on the Mac side) and Parallels wants to start Excel on the Windows virtual machine.

My Mac is already ghetto

See the screen comparison (between old/recent and new) in this ComputerWorld article...

I upgraded to Parallels v3.0

I don't have an immediate need for v3.0, but it does provide better/compatible graphics support for some software.

Ensure you stop/quit your virtual machine before upgrading Parallels. A friend told me that having the virtual machine in a suspended state may result in some nasty side affects after one upgrades the core Parallels software.

Tidbit. Parallels v2.0 has build numbers in the 3xxx range, and Parallels v3.0 has build numbers in the 4xxx range. A tad misleading for the user.

Sharing files (or not) between Mac and Parallels/Windows

Parallels provides the option for you to share/access files between the Mac and the virtual Windows machine. I have the option disabled since I want a level of isolation between the two machines. I don't want a virus or rogue script to be able to destroy data files on both sides of the "fence".

How to force background maintenance tasks

See this Apple article on how to force background maintenance tasks.

In a nutshell, you might periodically run these three commands from a Terminal window:

1. sudo sh /etc/daily
   
2. sudo sh /etc/weekly
   
3. sudo sh /etc/monthly
   

Keeping your Mac secure

See this InformationWeek article on OS X and security.

I use Parallels to provide the virtual machine for Windows XP on my Mac laptop, and therefore I am also running an anti-virus program (McAfee) on the WinXP OS.

Mac vs Windows cost analysis

See this ComputerWorld article.

My experiences were similar. Go online and config/price a Macbook Pro laptop and a HP or Dell laptop with similar specs. You might be pleasantly surprised.

One fellow's thoughts on forthcoming OS

Read here. It's an interesting hypothesis that the forthcoming Leopard OS would natively run Windows applications (ie., no need for Parallels).

Next version of Parallels

The website TechCrunch has a review of the upcoming release (version 3.0) of Parallels.

Further detail on Parallels

In April I wrote about my initial experiences with Parallels. I still think it is an incredible piece of software and allows one to run Windows XP seamlessly (and concurrently!) on the Mac.

When you first install Parallels, consider the following:

• If you have 2 GBytes (or more) of memory on your Mac, install or change Parallels such that you give Windows at least 512 MBytes of memory. It doesn't take long for Windows to use 256 MBytes of memory.
  
• Sit down and estimate your disk requirements for Windows. The default of 8 GBytes may be insufficient, and you won't be able to easily increase the size of the disk drive without software such as Partition Magic. If your Mac has a lot of disk space, then I recommend that you consider allocating say 20 GBytes of disk space to Windows. If you will install a lot of software in Windows (e.g. Visual Studio) then you might go to 30 GBytes or even larger.
  

I have not encountered any software-compatibility problems with Windows-based software running under Parallels. I am periodically using the following: Excel 2003, Project 2003, SQL Server 2005, Visio 2003, and Visual Studio 2005. I sometimes need these tools for my technical work. Note that I run the core Microsoft Office suite on my Mac, and not on Windows.

I now use the new "Coherence" feature of Parallels (I don't think Coherence is a good descriptor of the functionality). Coherence essentially changes your view of Windows/Parallels. By default, you will see your Windows machine as a window on the Mac. Coherence it makes the window disappear and instead you have a Start bar on the bottom (just like on a true Windows machine). It takes a few minutes to get used to, but I love it. Now my windows for Mac stuff and Windows stuff are simply blended together. I can move the windows/applications around and I don't need to switch back to the single view of the Windows machine/session.

External peripherals - 3 for 3

I've used three external peripherals with my Mac to date: Canon A75 digital camera, HP 6300 combo printer, and Nikon D50 digital SLR.

The Mac recognized each of them immediately (by actual make/model) and I did not need to install any drivers or software. I like it. :)

T + 2 months, and no going back

It's been almost two months since I gave up my laptop with Windows XP and moved to the Mac. I've had a few delays and stumbles, but nothing dramatic.

Overall, there is no going back to Windows XP or Windows Vista as the core operating system on my computer. I still use Windows XP (running under Parallels on my Mac) for a few needed tech applications, but I'm spending 90%+ of my time on the Mac side and loving it.

How to make the Tiger OS roar like a Leopard

This ComputerWorld article discusses how to improve the power and pizazz of the current version of OS X.

Beta Office Open XML file-format converters

Microsoft has released file-format converters, such that one can open documents from the latest version of Office. Download here.

Dashboard

I REALLY like the Dashboard on the Mac. I downloaded free, custom widgets for the weather, gas prices, near-real-time traffic maps for Seattle, technical/utilization statistics (iStats) for my Mac, calculator, dictionary/thesaurus, and so on.

One click of the mouse... and all of this data is in front of me. VERY handy.

Of course, there is no free ride. Each widget consumes memory on the Mac. However, I have 2 GBytes of memory/RAM and so I've got some headroom.

Moving from Outlook to Entourage

These scripts on scriptbuilders.net are useful for exporting your Outlook data (Windows) and then importing to Entourage (Mac). The scripts cost USD $20.00.

Entourage is an Outlook-type email/organizer from Microsoft. I originally started using iMail and iCal, but I'm moving to Entourage since there is direct integration with an Exchange email server (needed for work/business purposes), and I also can have Notes and Tasks again (integrated with my Calendar).

UPDATE: I used these scripts to successfully migrate my Contacts, Tasks, and Notes from Outlook 2003 (on Windows XP) into Entourage 2004 (on the Mac). Cripes, it was simple and well worth the $20! I have a huge volume of data (e.g. 400+ Tasks) and it was not practical for me to manually enter the data into Entourage.

Windows Media Components for QuickTime

You'll want to install these Windows Media Components for QuickTime.

Retraining oneself - Menu bar

The Menu bar (File, Edit, Window, Help, etc.) of options is along the very top for any application on the Mac. Not at the top of the application itself, but at the top of the Mac's screen.

It took me a while to get used to this change. I have retrained myself now. Remember this so you are not fumbling around...

CrossOver Mac (another Windows VM)

Macworld article on CrossOver Mac.

I haven't tried CrossOver, and am quite happy with the application compatibility provided by Parallels.

VPN-for-hire protection

This is a good article in the Seattle Times on VPN services one could use with their Mac laptop. I have not tried any of these services.

ComputerWorld article on Parallels

ComputerWorld has a good article on the latest version of Parallels.

Browser and Email

I started using the Mac's default web browser Safari, but I like Firefox better and so have been using that browser.

The Mac's default Mail client has been working fine for me. I used Thunderbird on my previous Windows laptop. Each email client is slightly different but provide similar levels of functionality, and so I stayed with the Mac product.

A better Remote Desktop for the Mac?

Luke called out the CoRD open-source project to me. Definitely worth a look...

Experiences with Parallels

Parallels is an incredible piece of software. It allows you to seamlessly(!) run Windows XP as a window on the Mac.

Installation is easy. Install Parallels, and then feed it the CD and license key for Windows XP. It looks just like you're installing Windows on a new computer. Once done, one must point the IE web browser to update.microsoft.com multiple times to download all the latest fixes. I also installed an anti-virus program on the Windows installation.

One lesson learned on this. I used the option in Parallels to quickly and easily create a typical virtual machine (VM). This works great, but note that it only allocates 8 GBytes of disk space. I strongly encourage you to think about the total disk space you may need for Windows and related software, and allocate the disk space when creating the virtual machine. Parallels does allow you to create a second drive later, but one cannot enlarge an existing NTFS drive/partition unless you have software such as Partition Magic. Plan ahead.

Parallels will dynamically manage the memory footprint on the Mac. I have 2 GBytes of RAM on my Mac and so using 512 MBytes or even 1 GByte of RAM for Windows/Parallels is not a problem. One can also dynamically change the Screen Resolution for Windows, and Parallels will automatically resize the window.

Newer versions of Parallels provide a more transparent perspective into the virtual machine. I have yet to play with these features.

T + many. "insert dork here"

I'm up and running, everyday use of the Mac, and generally things are going well. I even got a wireless/cellular data card (model USB720) from Verizon Wireless and am impressed with the performance (1507 kb/s down, 680 kb/s up). I used speedtest.net to obtain those metrics.

Last night I got flustered over nothing. I was using Terminal to connect to my Linux server, and then was using the emacs editor on Linux to edit some Perl scripts. The command keystrokes (e.g. save file) didn't seem to be working and I thought there was a difference in the keystroke mapping between Windows and the Mac. Nope. PICNIC (problem in chair, not in computer). Turns out I was just so used to the position of the keys on my previous Windows laptop that I was simply entering the wrong keystrokes.

So once again I am finding this to be a relatively seamless transition (ignoring my own stupidity).

T + 4. Everyday use now

Today is the second day of bringing the Mac to work. I'm forcing myself to use it, and things are going well. My coworker Luke gave me this list of must try software...

Menu Meters
$ Free
A Very handy system resources meeter for your menu bar (top of the screen)
Similar information to that of the iStatPro widget, but more compact
and easy to view

Quicksilver
$ Free
Keyboard launcher, file orginizer, finder, swiss army knife. VERY useful

iTerm
$ Free
Terminal.app replacement. Features tabs, Unix style copy/paste, etc
It's configuration screens are kind of unintuitive, but it's worth it.

Growl
$ Free
Nice system wide message tool. Basically it works with dozens of other
apps to deliver messages and status in a single way.

TextWrangler
$ Free
The free version of the extremely powerful BBEdit text editing tool.
Very nice for coding and scripting

OfficeTime
$40
Absolutely must have for the Mac based consultant. It's a time
tracking, reporting and invoicing tool. I've tried at least 4 of these
tools on the mac and this one is by far the best. Two of my friends
who do independent consulting and use macs have come to this same
conclusion. Worth every penny of the $40.

AdiumX
$ Free
Very nice multi network IM client. Works with MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk, AOL,
and a dozen others



And another list of if the need suits you software

Yojimbo
$39
Simple but very effective organization tool. Stores text, passwords,
documents, PDFs, etc in an easy to tag and organize system.

NetNewsWire
$29
RSS/RSS2/ATOM/XML reader. I've used over a dozen of these tools (there
are TONS) and this is by far my favorite. Very worth the money if you
read a lot of news and other RSS feeds. I save lots of time with this.

Ecto 2
$18
Good blog editor. If you plan on continuing your blog, this tool will
prove handy.

Why Microsoft should fear Apple

A good article in ComputerWorld.

How to connect to a Windows share from the Mac

I saw an article on LifeHacker.com and thought it was worth posting here.

Monitoring resource utilization

From Finder, Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor

Or perhaps the free iStat Pro widget for one's Dashboard.

Both are suitable for monitoring the processor, memory, and disk resources on the Mac.

T + 2 days. Plenty of progress!

I successfully used the rsync command to copy files from my Linux (backup) server to the Mac. Here is the sample syntax to copy my MP3 files to the existing Music folder (change mylogin to your actual user name on the Linux server).
rsync -a -v -z -e ssh mylogin@192.168.1.101:/home/mylogin/Music /Users/petersamson

I will ultimately use one or more rsync commands to backup my Mac to my Linux server. I do not need the backup service with .Mac. For example:
rsync -a -v -z -e ssh /Users/petersamson mylogin@192.168.1.101:/home/mylogin

It was easy to install Office:mac. This gives me Excel, PowerPoint, and Word on my Mac.

It was also easy to install Parallels and my virtual Windows XP Professional machine. I installed the core Parallels software, started Parallels, registered the Parallels product, and then installed Windows XP Professional (within Parallels) using the Express installation. Seamless! I am very impressed. It looks and feels just like Windows XP, except it is within a window on my Mac. Of course, I had to work my way through multiple, critical updates to my Windows XP installation since the base/CD image is not current with the latest fixes. More details to come on resource management of the virtual machine, security considerations, etc.

For the Windows XP Professional virtual machine, I also installed McAfee anti-virus (yes, I feel it is prudent even in a virtual machine), Visio, and MS Project. I will install other tools such as Visual Studio and the SQL Server client in the near future.

T + 1 day. File transfers

I used Fugu for some of my file transfers from Linux to the Mac last night, but Fugu is just not as evolved as WinSCP. So I'll complete the job using command-line rsync.

I'll write more details on rsync this weekend since it may be of use to others.

T + 0.5 days. Decisions

I haven't turned the Mac on since the initial setup the other night. I've been emailing questions to friends and striving to make informed decisions.

For example, copying my data files over to the Mac. My home directory/folder has high-level directories for Documents, Movies/Videos (I forget the name), and Music. I spoke with a friend and reaffirmed that it would be wise to drop my MP3 files in the existing Music folder, vids and stuff under the existing Movies folder, and then my other documents under the existing Documents folder. Sounds trivial, but I want to be thinking in Mac as I perform these initial tasks.

Same for the email client. I need a POP3 email client for some business stuff, and the consensus seems to be the provided Mail client is sufficient. Moreover, there are add-ons available for it out in the market. Ivan recommeneded www.hawkwings.net to me.

Oh, please let me know if you have any recommendations for a GUI client to move files between my Linux server and the Mac. I downloaded something called Fugu(?) but it's not nearly as good as WinSCP for Windows. I only want this for the initial, mass-move of files. Once I'm setup, I'll use the rsync or rsyncx command to backup to my Linux server.

T + 0 days. Setup

I opened the box last night and went through the setup process. Cripes, I'm impressed. Easy process, incredible graphics.

The Mac identified and used my wireless network. Software Update popped up and prompted me to download and install several upgrades. No problem.

System Preferences. Set the date/time and timezone. Screen saver. Lock down the box with some security settings. Again, all no problem.

I didn't get as far as copying over all of my data files yet. I spent time just playing around and then watched Borat.

I was also reminded of the old Clint Eastwood movie Firefox. Clint is told You must think in Russian.... I was attempting to configure the Safari web browser, kept looking for Preferences and Options on the top of the browser window, couldn't find anything, and then realized everything is there along the very top of the screen. I just need to stop thinking like Windows and be a little more flexible in my mind...

Jumped off the cliff

Well, I did it. Bought the 17" Mac last night. Haven't even opened the box yet. More blogging to come as I make the transition...

Information Week article on switching to the Mac

Switching to the Mac - a guide for Windows users

The Great Mac Software Hunt

An interesting ComputerWorld article...

Status on new OS

AppleInsider.com is reporting that the forthcoming 10.5 OS (Leopard) will likely not be released for the end of March. It may delay my purchase - I'm not sure yet...

Only 5 years of support for some Vista variants???

See this ComputerWorld article.

Microsoft Corp. yesterday said it would limit support for three versions of the Windows Vista operating system, including its most expensive, to five years rather than the usual 10 years. The company defended the difference by noting that the clock just started ticking. "End of life-cycle support for Windows Vista is still five years out," a spokesperson said in an e-mail response.

Miscellaneous links

Confessions of a Mac switcher at Microsoft

Mac virtualization: VMware and Parallels side by side

The truth about switching

The Genius Bar

Each Apple store has a Genius Bar. It is a place where one can go to ask questions for free. I went into the local Apple store thinking I could obtain and wait for an appointment, but the queue was too long. I then learned I could make a reservation for a date/time over the web, did this, and was able to get answers or preliminary ideas to many questions. Locate your local Apple retail store and you'll see the link. High-level categories of my questions:

• Dual-boot and Parallels.
• Working with and connecting to other computing resources when everything else is using Windows. I need to have some level of compatibility with my customers.
  
• VPN software. Again, compatibility with my customers.
  
• Anti-virus software. These were the only questions where the fellow tried not to laugh or give me the "just how stupid are you?..." look (or at least that is how I felt anyway).
  

Other configurations considered

Before finalizing the decision to go with the Mac laptop, a friend and I discussed other wild-ass possibilities:

• Windows (XP or Vista) as the core operating system, and a virtual Linux machine
  
• Linux (Ubuntu) as the core operating system, and a virtual Windows machine

It always came back to how much care and feeding would be needed for any of these alternatives, and these discussions further solidified my decision to go with the Mac...

This fellow (Nick) is well into the transition to a Mac, and he's done a great job documenting his experiences.

www.keynote2keynote.com

The What and When

I checked in with my four friends on what to purchase, visited an Apple store on two occasions, and have selected this hardware configuration:

• 17" Macbook Pro laptop. I like more real estate on the screen, even if there are penalties for size and weight.
  
• 3 GBytes of memory. The extra memory will allow me to concurrently run many Mac and Windows (via Parallels) applications.
• Undecided on disk space.
  

Software. This is still a moving target but will likely include:

• Parallels, and Windows XP to use with Parallels. My understanding is that Parallels is just a shell and so I need to acquire the Windows operating system too.
  
• Microsoft Office for the Mac. This puts me behind since the Mac version of Office 2007 isn't due out for a while, but I don't care. The 2003/2004 version is sufficient for my needs.
• Microsoft Project. I'll run it in Parallels.
• Microsoft Visio. I'll run it in Parallels.
  

The When is easy. I am waiting for Apple to release the newer operating system (aka Leopard, or OS X v10.5) for the Mac. ETA is perhaps the end of March.

Why?

There are many reasons I have Mac "envy"...

• I just need it to work. I am no longer interested in being a test pilot by having to tinker with the operating system, drivers, etc.
• Simplicity. I didn't need to open a manual to use my iPod, and I can probably locate/learn anything on the Mac without opening a manual. I am consistently impressed by the simplicity and useability of Apple's designs.
  
• Incremental improvements. I think Apple's incremental-improvement approach to the operating system is simply better. Microsoft Vista has a lot of new code in the operating system. There is a huge risk of security flaws in Vista for at least the first year.
• Security. There are simply less viruses and hacks out there targeting the Mac (although this may increase in time). I don't fault Microsoft for this since they are the dominant personal-computing platform and hackers tend to go after the biggest market first; however, this does not alleviate Microsoft from striving to release secure, stable software.
• I can use the Parallels software to run almost any Windows-only software on the Mac. Moreover, I can run this as a window on the Mac - I don't need to choose between starting the Mac or starting Windows.
  
• A Mac gives me an underlying Unix system for some of my technical consulting or R&D work.
  
• Four trusted friends have transitioned to a Mac in the past nine months, and they adamantly tell me there is no going back.
  

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