I often find myself wondering if there is a freeware application of something I may be looking on any particular day. I’ll Google hunt, but sometimes I can spend more time than I want looking for the application than it’s sometimes worth in the end. I can also search some of the mega-download sites but then I get peppered with shareware. I just need something easy and I’ve found it. The new way for me to find freeware is to use Eagle of Liberty’s XTastes.
With XTastes, you can browse categories and then drill down to a specific application. At this level, you can see its latest version number, size, the date it was updated, and you can leave a five star scaled rating if you’d like. More information about the program is just a simple click away with full details on the app including a link to the authors website.
XTastes also allows you to use CoverFlow if column view ain’t your thing. In this mode, you get a large icon of the application with a drop down drawer containing application information…in French as it were for us. 
Hopefully us English speakin’ folk will get an update to that real soon.
So if you’re looking for an easy way to find some freeware and you don’t wish to open your browser and wouldn’t mind a snazzy interface to do it in, whelp, hit the XTastes, baby. Oh ya, it’s free.
For the last two weeks, I’ve been a unhappy participant of the wonderful volley of the finger pointing game. It all started when my Entourage events, which are put into my iCal calendar via Microsoft’s Sync Service, disappeared from iCal one day. Yes, that day was when I accepted the 10.5.1 patch update from Software Update. Since iCal broke with Apple’s patch, I called it up for help. After enjoying an hour conversation and being bumped up to level two, the final answer came to, “Call Microsoft.” Yes, it was Microsoft’s fault.
Okay, I was game. I had nothing better to do than waste another hour of my time with another computer software giant. Why not? SInce the writers strike had sapped all of my existing fun and joy out since Michael and his office staff were no longer around to make me giggle, what did I have to lose? So Microsoft I called and Microsoft I explained my problem and Microsoft actually laughed — I kid you not, the support guy laughed! — and asked me why I was calling it with an Apple application (iCal) problem. So for amusements sake, remember this is the only reason I was performing this exercise, I explained how the data was using Microsoft’s Sync Service and thus Apple believed it was a Microsoft problem. After confirming with me that everything worked prior to the 10.5.1 patch, I was told, “Call Apple.” Joy.
So, having little of my life left of any true value anymore, I once again called Apple. This time I was able to enjoy Spanish music for nearly two hours before someone picked up. But with a quick explanation of my little journey, I was told without a doubt this was a Microsoft issue. Umm-hmm.
Well, if you read my previous post, Is Leopard Apple’s Vista, then you’d know I ended up going back to the more stable 10.5.0. When I had let Microsoft’s Sync Service do it’s thing for a while, I opened iCal out of curiosity. Yup, there was all my events. Go figure. I knew it would be there and why it is, neither Microsoft nor Apple know. Sadly, I’ll probably lose it again when 10.5.2 comes out, unless, that is, Entourage 2008 is on my hard drive first and Microsoft improves Sync Service. We’ll see…
Are you a web designer needing to check how your perfectly XHTML and CSS tuned site looks breaks in Internet Explorer (IE)? Don’t really want to let your RAM and CPU cycles get bitten just to be only greeted with your dismay due to Parallels or VMWare’s overhead? Just want something fast to see what you have to fix, fix it, and then be done with it? Well, then you and other web designers can rejoice, ies4osx is here!
Using ies4linux by Sérgio Luís Lopes Júnior as the foundation for ies4osx, Kronenberg Informatik Lösungen (Mike’s the guy behind the big ‘ol German name) has brought to OS X for the first time Internet Explorer 5, 5.5, 6.0, and 7.0 beta without the need for a full blown virtual machine or a restart into Boot Camp. Nope, using just WINE and X11 windows, you’ve got a simple double click on the ies4osx icon of your choice (which poor standards version of IE will you open?) and up come Internet Explorer in a flash. Granted, I have a 3 GHz Mac Pro with 3 GB of RAM, but I know your whimpy Mac can open this nice and fast, too. 
Now “buyer” beware (this is donate-ware, by the way,) there is no support for Active X or Java. So, many people might be disappointed thinking that they will be able access certain sites such as QuickBooks Online which requires Active X. So know that this is mostly for testing sites and really for nothing little more.
All in all, this is a treat for those in need for a quick access to Internet Explorer without the fear of waiting for long start ups or large system resources overhead. Thanks, guys!
What’s with this cat? Apple had two years to make it happen as good as Tiger and yet, things all over the hard drive don’t spin like they should. While I’m not quite prepared to call this a Vista issue like some are, I am disappointed. Ironically, I’m more grieved with Apple’s update, 10.5.1, than the out-of-the-box version. As previously blogged, the update does more harm than good. Constant crashes, complaints of applications not responding to log outs, and permission issues, Apple’s update to fix its network copy bug is just horrible. I couldn’t believe that Apple’s very own iMovie 08 would not open for the life of me after installed last week. I never did get it to open under 10.5.1. Carbon Copy Cloner made a perfect copy of my not-so perfect install and I went back to 10.5.0. Things are better but still, minor issues are there.
Now Oliver Rist at PCMAG.COM has a whole different feeling on Leopard. He thinks Apple pulled a Vista. While his article has some valid points, I find it a bit comical to go that far. His first point is the “wait for the service pack” before you install it. Since I’ve already established the 10.5.1 is actually worse than 10.5.0, and since it only corrects the network copy bug with a few other minor fixes, this already is untrue. Granted, it kind of puts more credence into his statement, but only at face value. The truth is (and by the way, NEVER move files people, COPY and you’ll be just fine), Vista has been out just nearly a year now and there are still tons and tons of issues that the upcoming SP1 will supposedly to fix. The number one issue with Vista is hardware. No one can get even peripheral less than a year old to work in Vista. Ah, last I checked, this isn’t an issue in Leopard. Read the comments in Rist’s article and you’ll find one poster stating that he used his PowerBook (Apple stopped making these nearly three years ago) to upgrade to Leopard and then download drivers for his Vista machine!
Other complaints from Rist include “useless” visual effects. He thinks Apple’s translucent Finder menu bar is very much like Vista’s all-over-the-place translucent borders and title bars. I agree with Rist, Aero is horrible. I turn it off any Vista machine that I must work on. Apple’s single bar on the top is not that bad. Unlike Aero, it actually grows on you. Rist also poo-poos the Dock and I do agree, the dinky shinny star as a running application indicator is a poor choice for a company known for it’s expertise in user interfaces. The reflective Dock, though, ain’t that big of deal to complain about.
Other issues, such as networking (outside of my fluke first install, I’ve had zero issues with networking), and Rist’s whining of Time Machine as a poor bundled app, again, does not make this a Vista comparison.
In summary, I agree, Leopard has its issues and I am quite annoyed with Apple for allowing this to happen; however, Vista it ain’t. When a multi-billion corporation has nearly seven years to update it’s operating system, the mistakes should not be as great as it is with Vista. There is not a mass exodus of Mac users returning to Tiger as there are Vista users running back to eXPerience (remember that? ) With major PC manufacturers going back to Windows XP as a pre-install choice and Vista installs with a “Go Back to Previous Version” options, I really can’t see how anyone could honestly call Leopard Apple’s Vista. No, Microsoft has earned its smelly fish of an operating system all by itself.
Having worked on the Windows platform exclusively since Windows95 OSR2 (yes, I was an OS/2 hold out), I’ve seen a lot of software for all sorts of uses. Having heard through all those years that Windows dominated for software availability and diversity, one would be surprised to find a killer app on the Mac that wasn’t available for Windows. I first discovered such a killer app several years ago called LaunchBar when slowly migrating to the Mac platform. I soon found others (and by the way, QuickSilver has since replaced LaunchBar in my Utilities folder) and of late, I’ve officially discovered MarsEdit.
MarsEdit is a blog editor with gung-ho power. Supporting various popular blogging engines such as WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Drupal, and Vox, Red Sweater Software has pretty much covered the majority of you bloggers out there. I’ve seen MarsEdit before but was apprehensive to download and try it because my previous experience with blog editors, mainly on Windows, because they just couldn’t replicating my web interface experience of WordPress well enough. I found myself constantly having to log into my blog via Firefox to “touch” things up before posting. Why bother with an editor then? But I relented and gave MarsEdit a try and boy, am I glad I did. It immediately became one of my “Must Have” software installs!
One post is all it took, folks. With nearly full support of WordPress’ posting features, including the new keywords feature from the latest minor revision, and its seamless integration with flikr, I was hooked. I was greatly impressed with the simplicity of MarsEdit’s layout and the ability to easily customize it for my blog. I can add my site specific CSS tags and edit the preview template for exact representation of a post with SvenOnTech’s look-n-feel as I bang away on the keys of my thin metallic Apple keyboard. The former I had to hack WordPress to allow for custom tags and I would lose those tags after every upgrade. Now, no worries. If that’s not enough customization for you, then crank out some AppleScript and sky’s the limit, baby!
The cool feature list goes on with integration with your favorite editor (TextWrangler for me), macros to handle common repetitive tasks, support for more than one blog, integration with RSS readers such as NetNewsWire, and bookmarklet power. In short, you’ll be hard pressed finding something that sucks with MarsEdit. Look, like I said, I used a half of dozen Windows programs in the past and while they all promised a blogging experience that would lead be away from my web browser, I always found my self un-installing the disappointments days later. MarsEdit hasn’t led me to AppZapper. In fact, it has given me reassurance that there really is a good off-line blog editor out there worthy of $30. Heck, don’t tell Red Sweater, but I would have probably paid even more!
Ever since I updated to OS X 10.5.1, Leopard’s first update, things just keep crashing. It’s not just one or two applications like Microsoft Office applications, but other well behaved programs such as MarsEdit and by beloved 1Password. Prior to install the update, all these applications worked flawlessly and never gave up a final breath until I closed it. Now, I’m getting crashes left and right. Some applications refuse to even stay open for any usable amount of time unless I reboot. Ugh, what’s going on, Apple? This update seems so horrible.
I haven’t seen or heard others complaining about this update, yet, so maybe it’s just me. Thinking this, I did a format and install of Leopard off the DVD and then migrated by Carbon Copy Cloner image of my previous 10.5.1 install. Since this only sucks up preferences and applications along with user documents, stability should be better if not return to normal. Nope, same old problem the minute Software Update informed me of 10.5.1 and I accepted its offer to destroy, er, upgrade my operating system.
So, buyer be ware.
Apple releases its much awaited update to Tiger, OS X 10.5, or, Leopard, today. With over 300 new features and improvements, many are excited to slap the cat onto their Mac today. I know I am. But I’ll have to wait until Tuesday when it arrives from Amazon.
While Leopard isn’t Earth shattering, it also didn’t take six years to produce like Microsoft’s Vista, the Redmond-based computer software giants update to Windows XP. Again, unlike Vista, Leopard isn’t just eye candy with annoying security pop-ups with little else to offer than maybe five different version in which to chose from.
No, Leopard isn’t going to woo most like the iPhone, but it will do things better, more securely, and improve on other lack-lusting applications such as iCal. Interesting tid-bits is that there will be a new screen saver, “Word of the Day”, for all to watch when their Mac goes idle. A new font, Braille, is included and no, I don’t know if you put your finger onto your screen if you’ll be able to “read” it. The Danes will also get a built-in spell checker for their language. Wikipedia is now also fully integrated into Dictionary. Now you’ll be able to access the free online encyclopedia with the Apple look-and-feel.
One of my favorite and most missed feature of UNIX and Windows is X-Mouse. This lets the mouse constitute what is the active window. So you may have Mail.app open and in the foreground and Safari in the background to the left. If something is selected in Safari, say a word, in UNIX or Windows (with TweakUI installed) you could simply move the mouse to Safari, without clicking on it, and select Command+C, for copy, and then go back to your e-mail and paste the word into a message. Well, Leopard kinda has this with scrolling background windows. You’ll be able to scroll a window that is not the forefront with your mouse without clicking on the window. So maybe OSX 10.6 will have true X-Mouse in it.
If you’re interesting in seeing what else is this new cat, take a look at Apple’s Guided Tour of Leopard. You can also hone down on each of the 300+ features at Apple’s site as well.
Apple Stores to release the feline at 6:00 PM local time nationwide tonight.
Ergonis Software has announced today that it has updated KeyCue for Leopard, the next generation of OSX due to release early next month by Apple, Inc. If you’re not already familiar with KeyCue, then you’ve been missing short cuts. Ergonis has created a delightful application that is a menu shortcut cheat sheet of sorts. Simply by holding down your Command key for a few seconds, you’ll be soon presented with a menu displaying all the possible keyboard shortcuts for the application you are currently in. If you’re like me, I’d rather keep my hand on my new aluminum keyboard then have to take my right hand off and move it to the mouse for some screen navigation. It’s all about saving time, folks. But don’t worry, if you like using your mouse, new in 4.0 is the ability to click on menu shortcut in the display and off is the command executed. Best of both worlds. I know.
“KeyCue is for menu shortcuts what PopChar is for special characters. A simple and unobtrusive utility that makes your daily work easier and automatically enhances your productivity,” Christoph Reichenberger, founder and CEO of Ergonis Software, told SvenOnTech. “With the new version we are happy to deliver the number one customer-requested feature and to take the productivity boost to the next level.”
Take it from me a long time user of KeyCue. This is a great program and now the power of clickable menu, you’ll easily be able to find unforeseen menu items that are easily lost in the dizzy of drop-downs from above!
Users that have purchased this in the last two years receive a free upgrade to 4.0. New users can pick it up for EUR 19.99 (about $25 USD).
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the release of Adobe(R) Digital Editions 1.0, a new software application built from the ground up for acquiring, managing and reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. Available as a free download for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) and Macintosh systems, Adobe Digital Editions software transforms the digital reading experience and offers new creative possibilities for publishers.
Leading publishers, online retailers and channel partners have announced their support for Adobe Digital Editions today. By using a new export feature built into Adobe InDesign(R) CS3, publishers can easily create new Adobe Digital Editions-ready content, helping to significantly reduce cost and conversion time. In addition, with versions for mobile platforms and reading devices also planned, Sony has committed to embed Adobe Digital Editions technology into its portable reader product line.
“Adobe Digital Editions will revolutionize how publishers deliver eBooks and other digital content and how consumers experience it,” said Rob Tarkoff, senior vice president, Corporate Development at Adobe. “The combination of Adobe Digital Editions, InDesign CS3 and a new generation of hardware from innovators like Sony shows that digital publishing is front and center for content owners — and millions of readers who are looking forward to innovations in the delivery of their favorite works.”
“We’re excited to work with Adobe to pioneer new applications for eBooks and other digital documents,” said Ron Hawkins, vice president of portable reader systems marketing at Sony Electronics, Inc. “This collaboration will give us the opportunity to expand our offerings to a larger audience and new markets, allowing individual consumers, businesses, and other customers to take advantage of the portability and ease of use of Sony’s Reader products with a wider spectrum of content.”
With native support for Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML-based publications, Adobe Digital Editions already works seamlessly with more than 150,000 commercially published titles. Using Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 readers will find that content automatically re-flows, adapting to different screen sizes and support for Adobe Flash(R) software promises to enhance digital publications through the integration of rich audio and video.
Features and Enhancements
The public beta of Adobe Digital Editions generated more than 300,000 downloads in less than six months and user feedback influenced the feature set. Adobe Digital Editions now enables users to annotate content through bookmarks, highlights and text notes. The library view offers advanced organization with multiple bookshelves. A slick new user interface enhances zooming and the overall reading experience, while support for the new IDPF Open Publication Standard (OPS) for XHTML-based re-flowable eBooks, guarantees a seamless viewing experience.
The Adobe Digital Editions 1.0 download is less than 3MB and leverages Adobe Flash Player technology to enable quick installation as part of the content download. The integration with Adobe Acrobat(R) 8 and Adobe Reader(R) 8 applications allows users to install and launch Adobe Digital Editions automatically within these industry standard products. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple showed off it’s upcoming operating system, OSX 10.5 (code named Leopard,) today in front of a crowd of 5,000 in San Francisco at WWDC this morning. CEO Steve Jobs showed off a slew of new features including a revamped Finder. New to Finder is a Dock that reflects icons images and holds a new feature called Stacks (picture). Finder has also changed its window to look more like iTunes complete with Cover Flow. With the ability to view any file without opening it in its native application, Quick View will be another killer application in Leopard many will talk about in the new Finder. A favorite of mine is better network browsing that even includes the ability to browse other Macs over the Internet via a .mac account.
With too much to list here of the new features in Leopards 200 plus pack, Apple has secretly put all the details on it’s undisclosed new site which most likely is just waiting for a switch over. But see it now thanks to SvenOnTech.