Archive for November, 2006

Best Backup Mirror Software for Mac

November 30, 2006 at 6:02 pm · Filed under Mac Software

I’ve been looking around for the best backup mirror software for my Mac and it looks like iBackup is going to do the trick. iBackup protects you from stuff like hard drive failures, accidental deletions, etc. by doing scheduled backups of your files, folders, applications, and settings.

iBackup software for Mac’s is also free which is a plus…

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So, Is the Mac OS User Friendly?

November 30, 2006 at 1:18 pm · Filed under Mac OS X

So, is the Mac OS user friendly? In one word, yes.

I’ll admit it. As a longtime PC user and despite Mac OS X’s reputation for being a very user friendly operating system, I was still nervous. Plucking down several thousand dollars on a new MacBook Pro without every owning a Mac before took a little courage, but after week one of living with Mac OS X… I’m thrilled.

I haven’t had a single crash or hiccup yet, aside from a problem with Firefox hanging (this had nothing to do with OS X, it’s a bug in Firefox 2.0 that I resolved by disabling the Google toolbar). Getting around in Mac OS X is a piece of cake and although the organizational style is different than Windows, it’s very easy to get familiar with.

The Dock took a little getting used to at first, but I really like it now. I’ve moved the placement of the Dock from the bottom middle to the right side of my screen. On the MacBook Pro widescreens, there is more space to burn on the sides of the screen vs. the bottom so I switched the Dock placement to take advantage of this.

There are 2 things however that I still am not used to:

  1. No Backspace – In order to access the backspace feature, you have to use fn+delete. Sure, this isn’t the end of the world, but a traditional backspace key just makes things easier.
  2. ctrl Key for Keyboard Shortcuts – I’m still getting used to the Mac command key which replaces the ctrl key on Windows machines. I’m so used to using ctrl+a, ctrl+c, ctrl+v, etc., that switching to the command key is causing a little frustration. I’m sure it’ll get easier as time goes on, but it’s a pain as of right now.

Overall, Mac OS is very user friendly and making the transition from Windows to a brand new operating system has been no big deal so far.

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Security Software for Mac and PC

November 30, 2006 at 11:01 am · Filed under Mac Software

Since I’ll be running Windows through Parallels on my MacBook Pro (that is, if I can ever get any support from Parallels), I’ll be installing anti-virus software. There are several choices for security software for Mac and PC, here are the ones that I’ve narrowed it down to.

  • Avast – Highly recommended virus protection for PC’s. Both free and paid versions.
  • AVG – I’ve used this for years on my PC’s and it works well. AVG also comes in a free and paid version.
  • ClamXav – Free anti-virus software for Mac’s. Open source.

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DVD Backup Software for Mac OSX

November 29, 2006 at 4:16 pm · Filed under Mac Software

I stumbled onto DVD Backup software for Mac OSX today but unfortunately it appears that it’s no longer being developed. That’s too bad, it looked pretty good…

The good news is, I found another program which looks promising. It looks like MacTheRipper may work just as well for backing up DVD’s, we’ll see.

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Brenthaven Pro 15.4-17 MacBook Pro Shoulder Case Arrived…

November 29, 2006 at 2:55 pm · Filed under Mac Accessories

My new MacBook Pro bag just arrived… it’s the Brenthaven Pro 15.4-17.

The bag is very well built and looks like it will be extremely durable. There is plenty of padding and the computer should be very well protected in this bag.

Also, there’s ample storage space for stuff like an external mouse, files, media, power cable, USB cables, etc.

I ordered the case through Amazon who has a great price on it, over $70 off retail.

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How to Zip and Unzip a File on a Mac

November 29, 2006 at 8:44 am · Filed under Mac OS X

I just downloaded a zip file onto my Mac for the first time and I wasn’t quite sure how to unzip the file. To my surprise (I guess it shouldn’t really be), everything you need to zip and unzip files on a Mac is already on the system…

  • To unzip a zip file, you simply double click. There’s no need for 3rd party software!
  • To zip a file, simply to go “Finder”, browse to the file and highlight, then select “Create Archive of” from the “File” menu.

It’s little things like this that make you go “hmmm”. Why in the world wouldn’t Microsoft include this ability in Windows by default?

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Problems With Firefox 2.0 Hanging on my Mac

November 28, 2006 at 4:28 pm · Filed under Mac Software

I’ve been using Firefox 2.0 for a while on my PC and it’s been great. Yesterday I loaded Firefox 2.0 on my MacBook Pro and I’m having issues with it hanging. It doesn’t happen all of the time, but quite often it will freeze and a spinning color wheel appears for a few seconds until it loads the page. Strange.

I’ll do some looking around to see if anyone else is experiencing this hanging when running Firefox 2.0 on a Mac and if I find a solution I’ll be sure to post it.

Update: After doing some searching around, I found that the Google toolbar seems to be causing this issue. After disabling it, Firefox isn’t hanging any more so that appears to be the cause at this point.

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Apple Mail Client – First Impressions

November 28, 2006 at 3:36 pm · Filed under Mac Software

I set up Apple Mail on my MacBook Pro today and everything was very straightforward. No troubles at all. I do wish there was a POP email account import feature, moving all of my accounts over from Outlook took quite a while.

The default settings on Apple’s mail program didn’t need too many adjustments. The only thing I really needed to change under “Preferences” was disabling “Display remote images in HTML messages” for security purposes.

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Mac Shortcuts Keys

November 28, 2006 at 12:06 pm · Filed under Mac OS X

Being new to the Mac world, I’ve had to spend a lot of time over the last several days searching out and getting used to the Mac shortcuts keys. If you’re in the same boat, here’s a list of some good ones to save you some time.

  • Press X during startup – Force Mac OS X startup
  • Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup – Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
  • Press C during startup – Start up from a CD that has a system folder
  • Press N during startup – Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot)
  • Press T during startup – Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode
  • Press Shift during startup – Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later)
  • Press Command-V during startup – Start up in Verbose mode.
  • Press Command-S during startup – Start up in Single-User mode
  • Command-W – Close Window
  • Option-Command-W – Close all Windows
  • Command-Right Arrow – Expand folder (list view)
  • Option-Command-Right Arrow – Expand folder and nested subfolders (list view)
  • Command-Left Arrow – Collapse Folder (list view)
  • Option-Command-Up Arrow – Open parent folder and close current window

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Shipping Software – Macintosh

November 28, 2006 at 10:18 am · Filed under Mac Software

I’ve just started looking around at different shipping software programs for my Macintosh computer. Here are a few that I’ve checked out so far:

  • NRGSoft.com’s programs
  • Mail Merge Pro
  • Mail Factory
  • Label Templates from WorldLabel.com
  • KiBizSystem
  • FasterBooks

I haven’t made any purchases as of yet, but it’s really encouraging that there are several great looking shipping software solutions for businesses running Macintosh computers.

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