October Leopard getting closer…
Here we are in the beginning of October. The new OS is due out sometime this month. Apple is still humming to get it released on time. Randy probably has a good handle on the actual date, though officially it remains a mystery. The question is: will they have a big release gala event or just Ho, Hum… The big question is – how long will Wes delay his installation?
The previews continue to get better and more impressive. The Apple website has seven whiz-bang video demos on Leopard features, including Quick Look, Spaces, and Mail. Mail will have support for RSS to keep Mail-heads in the loop with the rest of the world, and Notes integrates directly with emails. (So now we'll ignore our e-mail in addition to our to-do lists.)
As predicted, the Apple market share continues on the upward spiral. Getting close to 7%. Good news, Apple.
Leopard appears to be on track for the October release in time for the Christmas buying season. I'm ready for it, but in the meantime, I'm off to play with my 15" MacBook that just arrived.
I continue to learn more about the idiosyncrasies of the Intel chips. The next new horizon might well be the AMD chips. One cannot stay still for very long.
That's it for now…
SLMUG Minutes 9-6-07
John Mitchell: some experiences in solving problems. He is a constant user of Disk Warrior. However, when he booted DW 4.0 it ran at an unusual slow pace. He then booted DW 3.9 … again a problem. Ran DW 4.0 again and the problem was solved … the overlapping files were repaired! DW 4.0 is a must-have software. Check the Alsoft web site for full info on DW 4.0.
John had a problem in printing Google Maps. A second unneeded page was printed. He attempted to demonstrate the solution to the problem in both Safari and Firefox, but was unsuccessful. So he will contact tech support. More on this in October.
Bob Shayler and John Mitchell recently attended the "Head Shed" user group (Silicon Valley User Group) meeting. The VMWare Fusion program was demonstrated. You will need an Intel Mac to use the program. Smith Micro gives a 20% discount to user groups for the $79.95 software. Their website makes this statement:
Bob demonstrated the use of Onyx 1.7.1 for Tiger, a HD maintenance and cleaning program (1.8.3b.3 is on this month's DOM). The program will take from 10 to 60 minutes to do the job depending on the size of the HD. Bob went through the various aspects of the program. Note the menu bar below.
By using the "Automation" part of the program you can have the maintenance and cleaning done at night (computer needs to be on and "sleep" turned off). Some say that there is no need to optimize the HD. If your system is running slowly, launch Onyx. Bob went through the "Cleaning" screen items and made suggestions on which boxes to be checked: Internet (first 4), Caches (first 2; if you check the next 2 boxes, it will take a long time to reboot your computer the first time), Logs (keep software update), Trash (check trash before deleting), and Misc (not sure what Bob said here). Restart your computer upon running the program. He stated that he always runs DW and Onyx prior to any update or new program installed on his computer.
Bob demo'ed Version Tracker. Upon launching, the most recent software and updates are displayed. You can type in the software you are looking for to discover the most recent version. You can uninstall the old version prior to installing the new version. Bob puts Onyx into his utilities folder. The new version does a hard drive check upon starting.
Ed Matlock reviewed the DOM. Included on the disk are the following: Applekeyboard is for the new iMac; ClamX is a free virus checker; Drop converts to Jpeg; Eudora 8.0.0b1; Flip runs WinMedia files in QT; Handbrake converts DVDs to MP4s; Little Snitch tracks what is going on; MacTracker lists all old Macs produced with details; Smart Reporter tells how your HD is doing with an icon in the menu bar; Tinker Tool 3.7 allows you to modify system and files and puts Debug in menu bar. Thanks Ed!
John Mitchell indicated that we would install 9 more memory chips (1 GB) at our next SIG meeting on September 20.
The meeting was closed and many departed for the Board Meeting at Bakers Square.
Dayle Scott, Secretary
President's Column
Since our illustrious leader is under the weather, we are replacing his usually erudite column with some high-tech definitions to enlighten your day!
- MUG: Mac User Group
- SLUG: slow Mac User Group
- SLMUG: unpronounceable Mac User Group
- Bored meeting: meeting attended by only one person
- Guru: someone who knows everything about everything, mostly… Laptop: not your mother's cat-resting place!
- MacBook: high-tech gambling apparatus
- Leopard: future spotting activity
- Screensaver: collector of old movies
- Woz: what isn't, woz
- Widget: wide midget
- Fidget: fat midget
- Gidget: Hawaiian midget
- Terminal: end of this article
October 4th meeting features…
Workday forthcoming. The ram chips should be arriving this week. We need to plan a workday some Saturday this month. Think about it. We need to clean up a laundry list of little things for the lab. Some of us will come early for the regular Thursday meeting to start on the memory installation. As we speak, Ed is finishing up the CDOM. The Mac adventure continues…