I noticed on a few of the product release websites that Proteron today released a freeware program called LiteSwitch X. This simple program replaces (or adds on to) the alt-tab application switching behavior of OS X. As I was a huge fan of Proteron's Action GoMenus in OS 9, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did, as it's a very useful utility.
Read the rest of the article for a mini-review covering LiteSwitch X and its key features...
In December of 2000, I published a hint about jEdit, a multi (programming) language text editing application. It had been a long time since I used it, as I haven't done any intensive PHP coding in about that amount of time.
This weekend, I began to convert macosxhints and its customized PHP code to run on the latest version of Geeklog (the "engine" behind the site). I downloaded the newest version of jEdit from the project's home page, and was very impressed with what I saw. Enough so that I made jEdit the pick of the week for this week.
Read the rest of the article for a mini-review of jEdit...
While on our weekly grocery run this evening, I was surprised to see Macworld's Total OS X special issue on the magazine rack. Surprised because I didn't think it was out yet, and surprised because our grocery store doesn't normally carry Macworld!
This $9.95 package includes a 120+ page 'OS X only' version of the magazine which includes an overview of OS X, a "Where did feature XYZ from OS 9 go?" write up, and articles on network security, AppleScript, web serving, and more. The package also includes a booklet with 50 top Mac OS X Tips an UNIX Tricks, culled from the magazine and O'Reilly's 'Learning Unix for Mac OS X'. There are also two CD's packed full of goodies, including a visual tour of OS X, a collection of product demos (Illustrator, After Effects, etc.), 250mb of shareware, 300mb of sponsored demos, and a product guide with over 2,500 OS X products.
All in all, I was quite impressed with the content of this special issue. Between the magazine and the booklet, there are a number of good tips for using and optimizing OS X (I learned quite a few new tidbits while reading!).
In the interest of full disclosure, I need to mention that my 'OS X Solutions Guidebook' is included on the CDs. However, I am not receiving any compensation for either the inclusion of the Guidebook or this hint (heck, they didn't even tell me the issue had gone to press!). I just think Macworld did a good job with this issue, and many OS X users may find it useful, especially those who are just coming over from OS 9.
I have posted my review of Proteron's MaxMenus, a powerful new menuing utility for OS X. I was addicted to Proteron's Action GoMac in OS 9, and was looking forward to trying this OS X user interface enhancement.
Short summary: I was quite impressed by the features and level of customization available in MaxMenus, and the program has quickly become indispensible to me. You can get the full story in my review.
Read the OS X Guidebook2" by robg ;-) (linked in the box on the right of the screen). If that's not enough, then buy Mac OS X Unleashed.
I've been working on UNIX systems of different flavour for over 12 years in my daily work. I set up dozens of UNIX systems as webservers, bastion hosts, firewalls and gateways. I used Macintoshes since the mid 90-ies for professional and "home" work. I thought I knew my way around Mac OS X, been using it as my primary platform since 10.0.4 came along. Killed all my Linuxes, using my Mac for everything now.
BUT I did learn a lot, repeat A LOT! All the stuff that's not really in other UNIX systems such as HFS+, the way OS X does startup stuff, NetInfo etc. is explained at depth. But I guess you won't need to be "born" on UNIX to get a lot from that book.
The only negative point: it's about as heavy as my IceBook ;-)
-- skyko
[Editor's note: I have not read this book yet; I'm still working my way through David Pogue's also excellent Mac OS X - The Missing Manual. But Unleased is on my "I'd like to read!" list.]
Thursby's Dave, for connecting Macs to Windows networks, and Connectix's Virtual PC both have new, OS X-capable versions out that I've reviewed on lowendmac.com. Take a look at the Dave 3.1 and VPC 5.0 reviews, and feedback on the reviews is always welcome!
While browsing CompUSA this evening (hey, I had to do something non-strenuous according to the dentist that yanked a couple of wisdom teeth today!), I was pleasantly surprised to see that TaxCut Deluxe from H&R Block was available in an OS X native edition. It was also a bargain at $24.95, which includes a free (after rebate) state tax form. Sitting right next to it was the non-native TurboTax Deluxe for $49.95 (plus the cost of the state return).
Needless to say, I made a quick and easy decision to try TaxCut this year. After a simple installation process, I launched the program and started walking through it. At first glance, it seems more than competent for the task at hand. You work in an interview format in the top half of the window with the tax form visible in the bottom half of the window, and the right-hand column is a selection of context-sensitive help items. I noticed a couple of very minor visual glitches (radio buttons, mainly), but overall, this appears to be a nicely ported application and it's quite easy to use.
If you're want to stay away from Classic (and save a bit of money in the process!), you may want to give TaxCut a try. Although this is clearly an example of 'first to the OS X market' winning my dollars, it appears that TaxCut was worth the investment based on my initial look at the program.
This is actually more of a mini-review, given that it's only a few paragraphs long!
I've held off on getting a new color inkjet printer for quite a while. Until yesterday, I used an Epson Stylus 800, which I purchased nearly five years ago. Inkjets have improved greatly in that time, and the combination of its serial port interface and Epson's lack of drivers for OS X doomed the machine. It served me well, but it was time for replacement ... and it was time to remove another reason for booting into OS 9!
After doing a little research, I picked the Epson Stylus Photo 890. This was based primarily on website research and instore demos of both Epson and HP models.
**NOTE: That link will not go to the correct page, due to Epson's use of session cookies. Click on InkJets link and then find the 890 in the list (near the bottom) for more info on the printer.
If you're considering a new inkjet printer for OS X, read the rest of the article for my impressisons of the Epson Stylus Photo 890.