Andy's Un-Official Unsolicited Mac Advice Thread

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  • bwgbwg Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,119 SmugMug Employee
    edited September 21, 2006
    wxwax wrote:
    I also deeply miss the Windows status bar, where I have an icon on the bottom of my screen for every open program and document. Having it makes it super simple to keep track of everything, especially multiple Word documents. Mac doesn't seem to have an equivalent, so navigation is more challenging - actually, downright frustrating when it comes to multiple Word docs.
    ding ding ding. that's my #1 complaint as well. expose' is fine, but it's an extra step that isn't necessary on my pc.
    Pedal faster
  • bwgbwg Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,119 SmugMug Employee
    edited September 21, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    Yeah, I've seen that. I got lucky. Upgraded, and nary a problem. I read that an update is imminent.
    the only problem i've had is that it says my iPod nano is 'undergoing restoration' on my windows box and that i need to do a factory restore. works fine on the mac. odd especially considering the nano is formatted for windows.

    other than that no problems....well besides the already documented functional shortcomings. :bwg
    Pedal faster
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    bigwebguy wrote:
    ding ding ding. that's my #1 complaint as well. expose' is fine, but it's an extra step that isn't necessary on my pc.


    I know it's not the same, but have you tried Witch?
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  • bwgbwg Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,119 SmugMug Employee
    edited September 21, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    I know it's not the same, but have you tried Witch?
    nope
    Pedal faster
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    colourbox wrote:
    What did you do in Windows with multiple Word docs that you can't replicate on the Mac?
    I can look down at the half dozen icons on my task bar and with a single click call-up the Word document I want. I usually memorize which is which by their position, so i don't waste any time.

    I write for a living, do a lot of cutting-and-pasting, and back and forth for references, so I like having everything spread out before me, if you will.

    From what I understand, there's no way to duplicate this ease of experience in a Mac. ne_nau.gif The task bar thing kinda works, but isn't as easy.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    colourbox wrote:

    I can't bring myself to touch any Mac desktop under a Mac Pro. The issues are RAM and drive bays. Because of the rising file sizes, if the iMac could handle at least 4GB of RAM, I might look at it. No way would I spend 3 grand on one. I am thinking about getting a dual 2.0 Mac Pro for $1999 after rebate at macconnection.com and using my current monitor. With four cores on board already, I don't have to have the fastest CPU. I need RAM and drive bays.
    Nice to know I'm not nuts. this is pretty much my concern. Not so much drive bays, as the 3GB memory limit.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • StevenVStevenV Registered Users Posts: 1,174 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    thanks for the suggestions re: partition magic and recovermyfiles.

    re: iTunes7 - installed(upgraded) both PowerBook G4 and Windows XP systems, no problems here (for whatever it's worth).
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    I don't know how to duplicate this exact experience, but I do something different which solves the same problem with a very different model, virtual desktops. The idea is that you can have a separate virtual desktop for each project you have in flight. I use one for web browsing, one for programming, one for email, one for photoshop. Switching to a different desktop shows all the windows for that desktop and hides all the others. A window can be moved between windows. I love virtual desktops, don't know how I existed without them (well, that was a very long time ago, about 15 years.)

    Supposdly this functionality will be built into Panther, the next major release of OS X. For now, you can get the functionality with a free third party utility, Desktop Manager. Don't be put off by the nerdly appearance of the home page. Once you install it, it's very easy to use. Just download the most recent dmg from the download page, copy the program to the applications folder, and run it. Look in your tool bar for the new icons. Then play for a while, being sure to check out the preferences. Don't worry about trying it;l you can always just delete it. I'll try to answer questions.

    wxwax wrote:
    I can look down at the half dozen icons on my task bar and with a single click call-up the Word document I want. I usually memorize which is which by their position, so i don't waste any time.

    I write for a living, do a lot of cutting-and-pasting, and back and forth for references, so I like having everything spread out before me, if you will.

    From what I understand, there's no way to duplicate this ease of experience in a Mac. ne_nau.gif The task bar thing kinda works, but isn't as easy.
    If not now, when?
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    rutt wrote:
    Supposdly this functionality will be built into Panther, the next major release of OS X.


    That would be Leopard. Panther is old news. :D

    Rutt, I know you know that, just want to make sure others are clear.
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  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    Andy wrote:
    Never tried Boot Camp.

    ||s requires some gentle care when running on a Mac Pro.

    1) you have to set your boot args to 3.5gig if you have more than 3.5 gig of ram

    2) you have to sleep the machine and then wake it

    3) now launch ||s

    Otherwise, you get Kernel-panic city. There's plenty of help and commiserating on the ||s forum:
    http://forums.parallels.com/forum53.html

    I have it running now, it works fine once you know how to beat it into submission lol3.gif They promise a new build by end of year, and hopefully you won't have to go thru these hoops.
    8 days later, and they've fixed it quite nicely. New build available for Parallels, and all the Mac Pro issues are resolved. Parallels uses all available Mac Pro RAM, and there are no Kernel Panic issues. They really did a nice job, worked hard and resolved some stickly issues. There are *no* hacks or workarounds required to run the latest build of Parallels on a Mac Pro.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:

    Rutt, I know you know that,

    :poke :rutt
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    That would be Leopard. Panther is old news. :D

    Rutt, I know you know that, just want to make sure others are clear.

    Well, actually, once you get to be a certain age, it's no longer clear what you know. I suppose I could know that if I tried harder.
    If not now, when?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 23, 2006
    rutt wrote:
    Well, actually, once you get to be a certain age, it's no longer clear what you know. I suppose I could know that if I tried harder.
    :rutt :rutt :rutt lol3.gif

    (and I'm right behind you!)
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 24, 2006
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 24, 2006
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited September 24, 2006
    colourbox wrote:
    I can't bring myself to touch any Mac desktop under a Mac Pro. The issues are RAM and drive bays. Because of the rising file sizes, if the iMac could handle at least 4GB of RAM, I might look at it. No way would I spend 3 grand on one. I am thinking about getting a dual 2.0 Mac Pro for $1999 after rebate at macconnection.com and using my current monitor. With four cores on board already, I don't have to have the fastest CPU. I need RAM and drive bays.

    Something to think about. Clock speed versus the software's ability to use multiple processors.
    Many applications, like iMovie, iTunes, Photoshop, and Microsoft Office—not to mention tasks most folks spend the day running on their Macs, like word processing, spreadsheets, Web browsing, and 3-D games—are either not as CPU-intensive or are less savvy when it comes to multiprocessing. Thus, the iMac Core 2 Duo’s faster clock speed trumps the multiple Xeons found in the 2GHz Mac Pro.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2006
    So, I just finished reading iWoz, and at the end of the book, he's talking about the late 90's, when the Mac was suffering from instability. Everyone was complaining about it seemed. One day, his son is surfing in iCab, not IE. Well, everyone was pretty much using IE back then, especially because it was bundled with the Mac. Woz started using iCab, and found that his crashes stopped. The crashes didn't just happen when you were running IE, apparently, but everyone that was using it was having problems with the system crashing. He did a lot of research (informal) and found that those running Netscape, iCab, anything but IE were fine.

    And yet, no one at Apple would listen to him. Probably because of the agreement they had with MS. But what Woz was saying was don't blame the OS for it. Sure, it's part of the problem, but it's not the OS that's crashing, it's IE, which no one ever expected.

    In any case, what Apple did in response was license NeXT from the other Steve.

    Also, the other thing I learned was where the whole Motorola chip thing came from...Gus said somewhere that it took Mac this long to start using the chip everyone else uses...and the reason for using Motorola chips (actually a clone in the beginning) was that they could be had for $20, and the two Steves were running this thing out of their apartment/mother's home when they built the Apple I.

    Anyway, these types of things were interesting, but what was best about the book (and I'm not raving about it--it was OK, engaging enough, but not great), was to get to know what drove and motivated Woz, and to understand how revolutionary his ideas were. This man conceived of and built the first computer with a keyboard and a screen. Before that it was punch cards and blinking lights. The man's a genius in many ways.
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  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    The man's a genius in many ways.

    And he wants to make sure you know it. I heard him interviewed on the radio, and found him to be truly insufferable. You can hear this interview here.
    I guess it's worth hearing, but take it with a ton of salt.
    If not now, when?
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    rutt wrote:
    And he wants to make sure you know it. I heard him interviewed on the radio, and found him to be truly insufferable. You can hear this interview here.
    I guess it's worth hearing, but take it with a ton of salt.


    That comes through in the book a bit, too. But his is an interesting story.
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  • StevenVStevenV Registered Users Posts: 1,174 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    David (and anyone else who might know), do you know of a good book, website, vidcast, etc. where I can learn about various CODECs and encodings, when to use which ones, the pros and cons of each, etc? I'm building shorts in FinalCut Pro, but am mostly clueless when it comes
    to the final render & export phase. I want to put my stuff on youtube, iPods and the school's "jumbotron" (which takes some specific-settings AVI of some strange sort) and am just trying to understand it all.

    thanks
  • PoseidonPoseidon Registered Users Posts: 504 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    As a Mac newbie..... When the next version of OS X is realeased, is that a free upgrade? I can't seem to find any upgrade information on Jaguar as far as cost goes....
    Mike LaPorte
    Perfect Pix
  • W.W. WebsterW.W. Webster Registered Users Posts: 3,204 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    Poseidon wrote:
    When the next version of OS X is realeased (sic), is that a free upgrade?
    Version upgrades, for example, Jaguar (10.2) -> Panther (10.3) -> Tiger (10.4) -> Leopard (10.5, early next year) are chargeable. Intra-version upgrades, for example 10.4.7 -> 10.4.8 (the current release), which come through every couple of months or so, are not chargeable for existing users of the current version.
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    StevenV wrote:
    David (and anyone else who might know), do you know of a good book, website, vidcast, etc. where I can learn about various CODECs and encodings, when to use which ones, the pros and cons of each, etc? I'm building shorts in FinalCut Pro, but am mostly clueless when it comes
    to the final render & export phase. I want to put my stuff on youtube, iPods and the school's "jumbotron" (which takes some specific-settings AVI of some strange sort) and am just trying to understand it all.

    thanks


    I don't. I should. I work in FCP, but I always only need to output DV quicktimes. ne_nau.gif
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  • PoseidonPoseidon Registered Users Posts: 504 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    Version upgrades, for example, Jaguar (10.2) -> Panther (10.3) -> Tiger (10.4) -> Leopard (10.5, early next year) are chargeable. Intra-version upgrades, for example 10.4.7 -> 10.4.8 (the current release), which come through every couple of months or so, are not chargeable for existing users of the current version.

    DOH! I guess my fingers were moving faster then my proof reading....

    Thanks for the answer on the "chargeable" upgrade, any idea on how much?
    Mike LaPorte
    Perfect Pix
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    Poseidon wrote:
    DOH! I guess my fingers were moving faster then my proof reading....

    Thanks for the answer on the "chargeable" upgrade, any idea on how much?


    Usually $129 for a single license, and $199 for a family pack, up to 5 computers. Or free, if you buy a new computer with it...if you're ready to upgrade, it's worth figuring into the equation.
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  • PoseidonPoseidon Registered Users Posts: 504 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2006
    Thanks!

    I am thinking of a new laptop, but I'll bet that a new laptop purchase will not get me the upgrade on my MacPro right?
    Mike LaPorte
    Perfect Pix
  • StevenVStevenV Registered Users Posts: 1,174 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2006
    DavidTO wrote:
    I don't. I should. I work in FCP, but I always only need to output DV quicktimes. ne_nau.gif

    fwiw, over on Creative Cow I got this suggestion:
    Ben Waggoner's Compression for Great Digital Video (c) 2002 CMP books could stand an update but it covers the groundwork
  • StevenVStevenV Registered Users Posts: 1,174 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2006
    Poseidon wrote:
    Foor PC, www.recovermyfiles.com

    WORKS AWESOME! It takes FOREVER, but I had the same problem on an internal drive that I crashed using the wrong IRQ's... It recovered almost everything. It was well worth the $70 to get back about 60,000 pictures...

    you're right, it does take it's time (and hangs sometimes without looking hung; I got their tech guy on the line after letting it run overnight for 13 hours and he said "oh. no, it shouldn't take that long.") but does a good job. 42,500 files recovered, thanks for the recommendation.
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2006
    Anyone know why I would be having problems with connecting to a webDAV server with the mac? Not so much connecting I guess. I hit cmd-k and then the server and it connects just fine. But when I try to upload something I get the file name and that's about it. It shows up as 0K when I look at it on my web server (which is set up properly afaik btw). Is there anything special that I have to do? I know I had trouble connecting to my 802.11b because my WEP password needed to have a $ in front of it. So maybe it's something that easy that I'm just missing. ne_nau.gif
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • PoseidonPoseidon Registered Users Posts: 504 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2006
    StevenV wrote:
    you're right, it does take it's time (and hangs sometimes without looking hung; I got their tech guy on the line after letting it run overnight for 13 hours and he said "oh. no, it shouldn't take that long.") but does a good job. 42,500 files recovered, thanks for the recommendation.

    thumb.gif Your Welcome!
    Mike LaPorte
    Perfect Pix
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