Cool Mac Gear

I downloaded the new Nisus Email for OS X over the weekend. This is one of my favorite applications in OS 9, and I depend on it both for its extremely cool quick send features, and its preview option that allows me to cull spam from several especially spam-plagued accounts without downloading it -- not a trivial matter on a slow, dial-up Internet connection.

Nisus Email X installed without any problem, although unlike its Classic stablemate, it distributes files in three locations rather than one -- the program itself in the Applications Folder as well as other bits buried in two other folders in different locations. Had to dig with Sherlock to find them, although someone with more X experience would likely have been able to anticipate where they would be.

I tried dragging the Contacts file, Preferences, Personalities, and mailbox folders over from my OS 9 installation, but with limited success. The empty default mailbox folders were recognized when replaced with full substituted with the same name, but in order to get the application to recognize my several custom email folders, it was necessary to reconfigure the filtering system, which is tedious and time-consuming, but worked fine. I also had to manually enter all of the configuration information for the four email accounts I manage with Nisus Email, but I was able to restore my contacts list using the clipboard.

Once set up, Nisus Email 1.6 for OS X seems to work fine -- very similarly to the OS 9 version., I had a couple of program crashes while setting it up, but that seems to be par for the course with OS X software. An X version of Nisus Email is an important component of the suite of software I want operative before I switch to OS X for production work.

Aside from OS X support, one of the most significant new features in Nisus Email 1.6 is support for SMTP authentication, which facilitates sending mail through Apple's iTools mac.com SMTP server and other email services that require this protocol.

Nisus Email is unique among mac email clients in its ability to integrate its functions with virtually any text-crunching program, and to send chunks of dragged and dropped text or attached files with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Working from a word-processor or text editor of your choice, you have access to much wider variety of text formatting and proofing functions than even in powerful e-mail clients like Eudora 5.0.1. However, I mostly just use the program's DragSend feature, which allows me to send e-mail using drag and drop from any text application, in my case usually Tex Edit Plus.

Other Nisus Email features:
The preview window: see what's in your mailbox before you download
InstantWindow: send emails quickly
QuickMessage window: compose emails quickly
Listing window: see mail you've downloaded
Personalities window: handle multiple accounts

Nisus Email saves received and copies of sent e-mails As Nisus Writer text documents that you can open and read or edit individually with any word processor or text editor. However, this motif does result in an awful lot of small, individual files being added to your directory. The good aspect of this is that you can open and read or edit them with any text editor or word processor.

Nisus Email sells for $29.95. The 1.6 update is free for registered users.

A 14 day, free evaluation version of Nisus Email is available. This version is not disabled in any way, and allows you to try Nisus Email before making a purchase. If you do decide to keep Nisus Email, no additional downloads are required. Simply obtain a serial number and enter it into the version you already have.

Minimum System Requirements
• MacOS 8.5 and up or Mac OSX
• PPC 601 or greater
• 12MB RAM
• 10MB free disk space

For more information, visit:
http://www.nisus.com/Products/NisusEmail/

For my full review of Nisus Email version 1.09, visit:
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/nisusemail.shtml

From Toni Alamea

OS X and Homeschool

Charles,

Your attempts to use OS X and your reports are valuable. We have a 6 month old iMac with a 9.1 OS. Our previous computer was a 6100/66 with an 8.5 OS. I only used the old computer when I had to. the iMac I use 4-5 hours every day.

I understand very little of the commentary and the letters. but I will continue to use the computer to maintain our family office, to homeschool, to shop, to stay connected to friends and relatives, to assist with my hobbies and to do medical research. I will do what I did with the iMac; I waited until iMacs came with a big HD--40gb and moderately fast processors; I added more memory myself, so now there's 640mg. I have an OS X in my file drawer and I will wait until they come out with os 11 or 12. The hype can pass me by. I need an OS that actually works for the average person and which can be explained to me in plain English.

Thank you Thank you Thank you
Toni Alamea

You're welcome, welcome, welcome, Toni.

Macs were a big part of our family's homeschooling project too.

Incidentally, my daughter is now, after 10 years of homeschooling, enrolled in public school, and finishing three years of high school credits in two years, holding an average in the high 90s.

Charles

FromTom Terryn

Welcome to the OS X fold, Charles

Hi Charles,

Glad to see you made the jump to OS X! Even though I posted a positive OS X "user review" some time ago, I recognized a lot of the troubles and confusion you're encountering for the moment. I got over them after a week or two and really enjoy using OS X now, but my "Classic" system wasn't nearly as customized as yours, so it was a lot easier to adapt for me. I can only hope you'll get to like Apple's new baby as much as I do. Time will tell, I guess...

Some of the comments you've made actually got me thinking and -you know- your remarks may not be as "dumb" as some people would like to call them. :-)

Especially the fact that the OS only displays windows on a "per-window level" instead of a "per-application level" IS annoying when you're working on a lot of files. I know there's a third-party app that changes this, but I've lost the name...

Some people forget that you've put in praise for OS X too: you hailed OS X's system-wide support for the G4 AltiVec routines in your fifth OS X installment. OS X finally made me feel my G4 wasn't a waste of money.

What I still find annoying is the huge discrepancy between the user interface of the Classic layer and MacOS X's Aqua interface. It really is an ugly mess. For me, it would have been better to either run Classic in its own window (like VirtualPC does with Windows) or to have it "aquatized" (but I guess the last option is near-impossible). Either of the two would make for a much clearer experience, one by clearly differentiating between the two layers, the other by integrating them into one seamless interface.

Don't give up on OS X (not that you're doing that, you've shown more perseverance when you've encountered problems than I would have had), it's a great Operating System once you get past its oddities.

Finally, a remark to David Chilstrom's mail (december 6, 2001): While it is perfectly true that MacOS X supports type/creator codes 100%, it is at least worrying to see that Apple's developer notes state that it is no longer necessary to program those into your applications ("programmers may do so when they wish to"), indicating that Apple itself thinks type/creator metadata are no longer important. Even more worrying, some of Apple's OWN MacOS X apps no longer save metadata along with their files. These files can be butchered up to the point where they are rendered useless by simply changing their extension!

Not using metadata other than a filename extension relegates the user experience to the days of Windows 3.1 and MS DOS. With even Windows moving to a more refined way of defining filetype, Apple should not take a step back into the stone age when they have had a perfectly working solution since 1984.

Have a very nice weekend,

Tom Terryn
Belgium

P.S.: the sleep problem I had has disappeared since I upgraded to MacOS X 10.1.1. For that matter, I now have "moving desktop icons" (they switch places just like my screen was in 640*480 sometimes) at startup.

Thanks, Tom.

I expect tha I will eventually get used to X, and I hope Apple comes to meet me with some Finder interface improvements.

I'm with you and John Siracusa on the metadata issue, but some disagree:
http://www.petitiononline.com/osxnomd/petition.html

Charles

From Jeremy Hooper

OS X Window Management

Just read yor description of how you typically work and your struggle with window management in OS X.

The irony that I find is I also tend to work with lots of open windows in lots of applications as well but I have found using the dock to be better than the method I used in OS 9 (which was the Application Swticher pallette, the Window menu, in the Finder and various placed in apps and the Finder and Window Shade.

In OS X I do the following.

cmd-opt click on a Dock app icon to bring that app and all its windows to the front AND hide all others in a single click. as opposed click the app in the Application Switcher pallette and then go to the application menu hide others. that one mouse movement is one click with a modifier vs two mouse movement and three clicks. I virtually never use minimize just hiding the application by cmd-opt clicking. If I need and uncluttered view of the desktop I just cmd-opt click the finder. It opens one window if one isn't open but this is a lot faster for me that the same function in 9.

If I need to bring a window to the front at any point I click its icon in the dock and select the window from the pop-up menu. All running apps have a menu of open windows on their dock icon. Even if the app is hidden. Selecting a window brings just that window to the front. so I can interlace windows. This allows me to write while looking at a reference in another program. This always involved a lot more window juggling for me in 9 as you couldn't interlace windows. If I need to see all windows in an app I just click the dock app.

Personally, I find the combination of clicking the dock app cmd-clicking the dock app and using the window menu on the dock to be a faster and more convenient than the same processes in 9. I used to use various third party add ons in 9 for window management. Oddly I don't feel I need them in X.

The one thing I would like is keyboard method for using the dock window menus.

For example. I would like to be able to hold down cmd-TAB and tab through open apps and then when an app is highlighted I want to be able to move to say the `~ key and have that then move through the window menu.

Anyway. just someone with a different expererice of window mangement.

Jeremy Hooper

Hi Jeremy;

Thank you for this information. I will try it out and see if it is a method that could work for me. As I've said, there's a lot I haven't discovered yet about X.

Charles

From Anthony Papineau

Re: OS X Odyssey 8 - The Way X Does Windows

Just read your Dec 6 article: "OS X Odyssey 8 - The Way X Does Windows " and thought I'd send a comment and relate my OS X experience.

First, I should say that while I've used Mac's regularly, I have never actually owned one of my own until now. The Combination of a wide screen, ultra thin notebook and a UNIX based operating system was too good to resist and I am now the very happy owner of a G4 Powerbook.

So in your article you say:

"Now, I can appreciate that some users may like the way things work in the OS X Finder batter, and I'm happy for them, but I don't like it, and I'm doubtful that I ever will. The Classic Finder suits the way my thought processes work to a "T.," and I don't think that's just familiarity."

While I personally don't dislike the way things work in the OS X Finder, I do agree that more flexibility is always a good thing. I am too much of a catalyst though not to challenge you to ask yourself whether the Classic finder suits your thought processes to a "T.," because you developed your thought processes while using the Classic finder. I'm not suggesting that you don't like the new way because you are used to the old way (er.. perhaps I should say 'OS X' and 'Classic' instead of 'new' and 'old') but instead that you don't like the 'OS X' way because you've developed a process that works using the 'Classic' way.

It's a slight distinction, I know, but worth making I think.

That being said, here's my OS X 'story' so far:

I ordered my Ti G4 Powerbook on Oct 16th - and by a total coincidence (really) they happened to release the new models that day so I ended up getting a 667 Mhz PowerBook instead of a 500, and also ended up with built in Airport network that I wasn't expecting.

So, about two weeks later, I booted up for the first time and poked around. I was already pretty familiar with OS 9 but I wanted to make sure I could get it all networked properly at home and at work etc, and it took about 5 minutes in each location to get everything working.

Then I tried OS X (10.1) .. Works beautifully at home. (Using an SMC Wireless firewall/basestation) Take it into the office on the built in Etherent - nada. I can launch a terminal window and ping, ssh, telent etc, without any problems, but none of the graphical applications can talk on the network. - Bizzarre. And Apple tech support while very eager, were unable to do anything more than say "I'll have to get someone more senior to look at this for you" (I'm still waiting for a call from them - though I did get a market research person calling to ask about my satisfaction on the results of the call - which had been closed already)

So within a couple days of this, update 10.1.1 comes out, and since I can actually get on the Internet at home I update everything and low and behold, everything works the next day at the office.

So now comes the challenge - integration of OS X with our Linux/Solaris office network.

Well - setting up the printer was easy. I'm using LPR to the UNIX print server (I could have printed directly to the printer but jobs comming from multiple sources at the same time always seem to screw up HP printers - so I try to set things up to all go through a central server.)

Next was file sharing - we are running NFS shares and SMB shares (for the few Windows machines we use for testing). As you'll find in the Apple Support discussion groups - it isn't obvious how to specify a network share - and OS X doesn't seem to be able to browse either the NFS (no surprise since NFS doesn't work that way really) or the SMB shares. OS X was able to mount the SMB shares without any problem.

NFS is a different story - it seems to have problems unless I specify the 'insecure' option for the Linux NFS Share.

I now use OS X full time for everything I need to do - except for syncing my Palm Pilot. I don't have a USB cradle and don't figure I should have to since I have IR on my notebook - but OS X doesn't sync via IR yet - not to mention that there aren't really any good OS X Palm apps yet.

Next step is to install the OS X build of MySQL so I can start doing my php/MySQL development down at the local park instead of sitting at my desk....

Hope this was interresting for you...

Anthony

Hi Anthony;

Very interesting, thanks, and I expect that readers dealing with networking issues will find it especially so. I must get around to downloading that 10.1.1 upgrade (I've got 10.1).

I agree that users coming directly to OS X from another, non-Mac OS, or new to computers, will probably take to OS X like ducks to water. I'm gradually getting more used to it so I don't feel entirely out of my element. But OS 9 is so familiar and intuitive to me that I can operate it when half asleep (and too-frequently do, alas).

Charles

From: Leif Smith

Windows and Application management

Hi Charles,

"Usually, I will keep browsers, of which I most often have three running, hidden using the Application Switcher's Hide command, and they can be summoned instantly when desired with a quick click on their icon in the Application Switcher floating palette, which I also keep open on the extreme right of the screen all the time."

DragThing 4.2 substitutes well for Application Switcher floating palette. I have a narrow, vertical, drag thing dock along the left edge of my screen. Vanishes when I don't need it, and reappears when I move the cursor anywhere on the left edge of the screen.

DragThing gives astounding ability to navigate. Takes a bit of time to figure out the large number of configuration options. But very worth taking the time. I use it to provide a hot key to "Hide all other apps", and hot keys for folders I use most often. Also to activate the finder without having to go to the dock. It's a great tool!

Good article. I miss window shades (MacOS), and minimize icons to anywhere on desktop (NeXT).

Leif Smith

From Charles Arthur

Multiple windows in OS9 or OSX: you never heard of Applwindows??

Hi..

A quick comment on OS X Odyssey 8 - The Way X Does Windows.

You have lots of windows open in OS9 but you haven't used Applwindows (sic, no e)? You should. It's brilliant for Classic/9. Do a Google search and download it. It's old but it's freeware and it works on everything from Sys 7 upwards. Even in Classic under X.

It lets you navigate directly to a window from a menu display. You can define the edges of the screen as a "hot spot" that brings up the menu that's usually at the top RH and then navigate directly to the named window you want, whether the app is hidden or not.

In OSX, you would simply click-and-hold on the icon in the Dock. That gives you a list of named windows. And in the meantime you can hide (Apple-H) the whole app, or the apps including any browsers.

Windowshade seemed nice but it leads to thickets of window remnants. Though I agree that it's addictive.

best
Charles

Hi Charles;

I have heard of Applwindows, and my son used to be a big fan of that hack. I think I had it installed on one of my computers several years ago.

I've begun using the application submenus in the Dock, and they work quite well. However, as you say, WindowShading is addictive, and I especially like its speedy facilitation of temporarily getting rid of something with a single mouse click, and bringing it back likewise.

Charles

From Duncan H. Holley

The OS X Crowd

Hi Charles,

Just a thought on 9 vs. X. And I like them both.

OS 9 - Best UI I've seen, I crashed it too much by running my software hard.

OS X - Best UNIX I've ever seen.

I'm a multiple OS user, and I even like things about Windows 2000 (task bar, protected memory, if I ever find anything else, I'll let you know), so that second bit doesn't bug me as much as it does a lot of Mac Users. Like it or not though, every Mac User is now a UNIX user. I think this is a great thing for Apple the company, and I am sure you as much as anyone has noticed the renewed respect in the business world. UNIX is a 'real OS', so it will do wonders for Apple in the business world. What does it mean to you and me? Well, if you believe in the low-end Mac theory, there's no reason you can't keep using nine for an awful long time. A lot of folks still use six and aren't unhappy about it.

The one thing I can't tell you is, why they didn't just slap the OS9 UI over UNIX. That seems like a dream OS to me. On the upside, in theory, somebody could write a GUI to go over Darwin, that looks and works a whole lot like 9. Apple'd probably sue them though.

If you make the move to X, you're not upgrading to a new version of MacOS, you're making the move to UNIX. I'm not telling you to be happy about it, but I think that's really the way everyone needs to look at it.

As always, have fun
Duncan

Hi Duncan;

I agree with your analysis here. OS X is not the Mac OS, and that'd for the better in many respects. However, I , like you, wish Apple had given us the option of using the Classic GUI with the power of UNIX underneath. As you say, that would be the dream OS.

Charles

From Richard Hadfield

OS X and Pismo

Dear Charles,

Well you have got this G3 500 Prismo, the best computer Apple has ever made, without doubt.
I mean it's got everything.....DVD/CD player, 2 firewire ports, 2 USB ports, nice screen, up to 48gig internal hard drive, up to 1gig RAM, AirPort Card, Infrared window, Ethernet 10/100Base-T, runs OSX fine, VST ZIP 250 drive,................and.............it has.................a PC Card slot which supports both PCMCIA and CardBus formats. Totally cool.

Now, you are really into kinflicks so you have this way cool Cannon D30 digital SLR [hey you would like the Nikon.....but your wife won't let you spend the money unless it comes with a BMW and a world trip for her] and it uses CompactFLASH memory cards. So you have just taken your pictures and filled up the memory card, so you take it out of the camera and stick it into PC card type II adapter [$us20] in the PC Card slot on the lefthand side of your Prismo. Voila, a little drive icon comes onto your screen and you copy the jPEGs onto your hard drive. You have a external firewire 30gig drive just for the occasion. Cool, now you watch them using GraphicConverter's slide show. Just out of sight........you are so clever. And Apple is just so clever too; making this great great machine with this neat little PC Card slot. I mean you can use these tiny tiny tiny CompactFLASH memory cards to back up your important files if you are of a mind. And hide them just about where ever you like. You know like spies do with microdots etc.

Yeah well this is what happens using MacOS 9.xx. But in X or in X+classic.........nah nah nah.

I mean it don't work......I mean the memory card drive icon don't mount....I mean in X it's broken.

I mean what's the point of Jobs raving on about multimedia and X when X don't even support their own hardware.

Answer me that Charles, answer me Jack Campbell, answer me that Apple.

Well some bloke has made a hack ie driver for X......but installing it is as he says "not for the faint hearted".........and as far as UNIX commands go I'm a big big chicken......and anyway I shouldn't be having to do it!! So there!!!

Cheers,
Richard

Hi Richard;

All we can hope for is that Apple will get these issues ironed out in the fullness of time, and in the meantime, we are fortunate to have as fine an OS as OS 9.x to get our work done with.

To me, OS X still seems like beta software, and one hopes that 10.2 will be a lott less ragged around the edges.

Charles

From: Eytan

About Guenter A Plum's question

Does he have one of the newest iBooks? Has he tried the OS 9 CD that came with his unit? All the CDs he listed (Mac OS 9, 9.0.4, Norton, etc.) all contain older version of OS 9 that will not boot his hardware - if he has last spring's iBook, he needs at least 9.1. If he has the summer release, he needs at least 9.2.

Eytan

From Neil Anderson

Help Viewer crash

Email from David B. Gustavson:

"I do have one very annoying problem with OS X.1.1--the Help Viewer always crashes on launch, so none of the help system is available. Replacing it or reinstalling OS X doesn't help. I suspect there's a bad Help-related file somewhere among the apps that causes the crash, but haven't found any way to list all such files and disable them to isolate the cause. Very frustrating. Several other people have the same complaint, no solutions."

Best regards,
Neil Anderson
http://www.cyclelogicpress.com

CM

Charles W. Moore