Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Dear IT: We're here, we're Mac users…get used to it
Why 'No Macs' Is No Longer A Defensible IT Strategy
Office 2008 vs. iWork '08: Can they get along?
Psystar Mac Clone Opens Apple's Can Of Worms
Psystar Office Exists, But Not Yet Open To The Public
MacBook Battery Calibration
MacBook Air From Apple Just Might Be Too Breezy
Apple MacBook Air Ultraportable Laptop
Other World Computing Builds "Green" Corporate Headquarters
Apple in Israel
Leopard's Wireless Woes
Non-widescreen Laptops Are Becoming An Endangered Species
Press Release Distribution for the Mac Faithful
The Mac Night Owl: The Leopard Report: Almost Six Months Later
Dear IT: We're here, we're Mac users…get used to it
MacUser's Dan Pourhadi says:
IT hates the Mac. The explanation as to why has always been up for debate: IT is slow to adapt; IT doesn't like diversity; IT is masochism disguised as a career; IT people want to keep their jobs; etc., etc. Whatever the reason, the Mac has always been the leper of corporate tech.
But the times they are a'changin....
To read more, click here.
http://www.macuser.com/business/dear_it_were_here_were_mac_use.php
Why 'No Macs' Is No Longer A Defensible IT Strategy
InfoWorld's Galen Gruman says:
What has changed to make the Mac fit better IT can embrace that Mac momentum, not just tolerate it, thanks to several shifts in computing that make the Mac a better enterprise fit than in the past - first and foremost being a rising threat to Microsoft's other mainstay in the enterprise desktop environment, Internet Explorer.
Firefox, which has risen in popularity to account for 16.8 percent of browser use on the Web, according to Net Applications, as of December 2007, has broken IE's stranglehold on Internet app delivery, which it had maintained through ActiveX controls. Because Microsoft never released a version of IE for Mac OS X, Mac users were frozen out of ActiveX-based Web sites, making many SaaS (software as a service) offerings and enterprise-app Web clients off limits to the Mac.
To read more, visit here:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/21/17FE-macs-in-business_2.html
Office 2008 vs. iWork '08: Can they get along?
Macworld's Dan Miller says:
Can iWork '08 really replace Office 2008? That was the question we sent out to answer in last week's series pitting Pages '08 against Word 2008, Numbers '08 against Excel 2008, and Keynote '08 against PowerPoint 2008. We had each pair take on the same task (the same word processing document, spreadsheet, and presentation), to see how well each handled the job...
Apple has long touted the fact that iWork can open and save documents in Office format. And, indeed, it works pretty well: You can open documents created in Office 2004 in iWork without major mishap....
But along with a bunch of other new features, Office 2008 introduced new, XML-based default document formats for its three main programs. The question on many readers' minds: Can iWork open those new files?
Find out at:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133041/2008/04/iwork08office2008.html
Psystar Mac Clone Opens Apple's Can Of Worms
ITWire's Stan Beer says:
In the past week, there has been an eerie silence about a certain issue from 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, Apple headquarters. A tiny upstart system builder from Miami called Psystar is boldly taking orders over the net for Mac clones - Intel PCs modified to run the latest version of Mac OS X. A can of worms has been opened and the question is what is Apple going to do?
Reports that Apple initially shut down Psystar's website were wrong....
Apple and its legendary co-founder Steve Jobs have repeatedly let it be known in no uncertain terms that the idea of Mac clones in anathema to them. So why hasn't Apple already bombarded Psystar with a legal barrage of writs and demands to cease and desist?
For the full report, visit:
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17765/1023/
Psystar Office Exists, But Not Yet Open To The Public
IDG-News-Service's Juan Carlos Perez reports:
Psystar, the controversial seller of Mac clones that has drawn a lot of press scrutiny over the past week, seems to be in the process of getting its new office up and running.
Psystar is apparently operating out of an office with an attached warehouse space in the city of Doral in Miami-Dade County.
For the full report, visit:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133087/2008/04/psystar.html
MacBook Battery Calibration
The Apple Core's Jason D. O'Grady says:
Colleague and PowerPage contributor Kenn Marks Sr. contributes some tips on calibrating your MacBook battery.
A customer's MacBook Pro was shutting down while displaying that it still had 20 percent power remaining. Following are some links to calibrating your battery so that the power remaining indicator is more accurate.
For the full commentary, click here.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1596
MacBook Air From Apple Just Might Be Too Breezy
The Chicago Tribune's Eric Benderoff says:
I adore Apple's MacBook Air so much I'm starting to think I can live with its shortcomings. At 3 pounds and about as thick as a weekly magazine, this is the most endearing laptop I've ever used.
But if you've read anything about this remarkably thin beauty, you know it achieved its fine figure because it lacks an optical disc drive, offers only one USB port and, perhaps its biggest blemish, has a hard drive of only 80 gigabytes.
Those are serious sacrifices, especially when you consider how we use computers and laptops today. We store so many songs, photos and video for personal use that there would be precious little space on the Air for vital work content.
For the full commentary, click here.
http://www.ohio.com/business/17965049.html
Apple MacBook Air Ultraportable Laptop
PCWorld's Darren Gladstone reports:
The Air's looks can't be denied, but its performance and expandability are whole other matters.
The MacBook Air is a super-slim ultraportable laptop computer that you can slip into very thin spaces. Like anything else that Apple crafts, the Air's industrial design is phenomenal. But its beauty is little more than skin deep....
Despite having a 1.6-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 (that's a relatively powerful CPU for an ultraportable), the Air scored behind some of the ultraportable notebooks in its 3-pound weight class - even ones that had slower processors...
It has decent performance for an ultraportable, but few standout features to speak of beyond the superficial. And yet, I still can't help wanting to stop and touch it.
To read more, click here.
Other World Computing Builds "Green" Corporate Headquarters
[ Press Release ]
Other World Computing (OWC) http://www.macsales.com announced in time for Earth Day 2008, that it has completed construction and moved into its new environmentally responsible "Green" corporate headquarters building, located in Woodstock, Illinois.
Designed according to Platinum Level specifications of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Program, the new OWC headquarters features Green design elements and materials, such as:
• Water savings
• Green materials selection
• Recycling and conservation
• Indoor environmental quality
• Energy efficiency
When all energy conservation elements are factored in, the new, much larger 37,000 square-foot building is expected to consume less energy resources than OWC's previous 10,000 square-foot building.
For info on the building, see:
http://www.macsales.com/LEED/map.html
On Track for LEED Gold Level - Striving for Platinum
LEED is a nationally accepted voluntary building certification program that defines high-performance green buildings, which are more environmentally responsible, healthier, and conservation-minded structures. The new OWC headquarters is on track to be certified at the Gold LEED Level. In addition, the project's intent is to achieve the highest and most rarely awarded status of Platinum LEED Level. There are only 130 commercial buildings in the entire U.S. with LEED Gold or Platinum certifications.
Other World Computing's Corporate Headquarters building Green Features:
• Geo Thermal Ground-Coupled Heat Pump System with an anticipated 300% energy efficiency rating over conventional natural gas based systems.
• Fiber optic rooftop light-harvesting technology to augment office lighting with natural light.
• High insulation value glass windows and exterior sunshade technology to reduce energy needed for cooling.
• High insulation value materials throughout the building to reduce energy use.
• "Smart" building technology, including sensors to detect and adjust for unused rooms.
• Limestone substrate and permeable paving for environmentally friendly run-off water handling.
• Use of Bio Swales in landscaping to promote water conservation.
• Use of native plants and prairie grasses to maximize water conservation.
• Long-term, ongoing conservation practices, including extensive recycling, low-impact cleaning products, and facilities for employees to commute to work by bicycle.
· Water conservation via waterless urinals and dual-mode toilets. The use of the waterless urinals saves an average of 40,000 gallons per year per urinal.
·Use of locally supplied materials to reduce use of energy and resulting emissions by reducing transportation distances.
·Energy/paper savings through use of high-efficiency hand driers that actually work.
·Energy/environmental savings through installed water filtration system, eliminating the need for delivered water and reducing staff bottled water usage by providing better than bottled water quality tap water.
"Building to 'Green' standards is a common sense decision. It's essential to conserve energy and other resources as the technology and environmental awareness we have make it possible to do today. It's an incredible win-win for Other World Computing to take this next step with our state of the art facility, built not just with our own growth in mind, but to be environmentally responsible as well," said OWC CEO, Larry O'Connor.
OWC was recently recognized by Computerworld Magazine as one of the "Top Green-IT Companies for 2008" in its February 18, 2008 issue.
For more information on OWC's new green building, see the OWC "Think Green" site at:
http://www.macsales.com/LEED/map.html
Apple in Israel
meydad.com blogger jay says:
Last week, when I was at the TheMarker COM.Vention in Isreal, I noticed the presence of a very impressive Apple booth on the Expo floor. It was very nice and added to the feeling that this is a true international event (beyond the fact the program was in English and dozens of speakers and many attendees arrived from the US and Europe).
While I was at the Apple booth, I was looking for one of the iDigital mangers to provide some tips & feedback, but since I could not find any of the managers, I will use this post to do it.
Since I first blogged my thoughts about Apple's web site in Israel, I have been receiving questions and comments from people who visited Israel, purchased an Apple product there, and later on had a need for customer support. Since iDigital's web site is only in Hebrew they could not find their answer there, and so using the help of Google, these people searched and landed on my blog. I was glad to help as much as I could with basic questions & translations, but did not have answers to all of their questions. So, here's tip #1 for the iDigital team - create an "English" page with at least "contact us" information. You'd be surprised how many people who do not read Hebrew are looking for a way to contact you.
For the full commentary, click here.
http://www.meydad.com/2008/04/21/apple-in-israel-part-3/
Leopard's Wireless Woes
9to5Mac's Andy Space reports:
Mac users are becoming frustrated at a strange bug in Leopard that's causing problems with wireless connections.
These bugs are sufficiently serious to have driven the New York City Department of Education to have temporarily suspended receiving shipments of new Macs.
Recent reports have suggested Apple is working to repair the issue within its upcoming Mac OS X 10.5.3 release, but user anxiety continues to grow, with its discussion forum full of complaints from aggrieved users.
For the full report, visit:
http://www.9to5mac.com/leopard_wireless_woes
Non-widescreen Laptops Are Becoming An Endangered Species
CrunchGear's Devin Coldewey says:
As Lenovo retires its last line of non-widescreen laptops, it sounds like one of the final nails being hammered into the squarish aspect ratio screens we grew up with. I think that the move to 16:10 and related aspect ratios is a good thing, but I mourn the passing of the standard aspect ratio (SAR) screen....
To read more, click here.
Press Release Distribution for the Mac Faithful
{ Press Release ]
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The Mac Night Owl: The Leopard Report: Almost Six Months Later
I recall writing several articles detailing my original expectations of Leopard, and my sincere hope that Apple, having extra time to finish it up, would grace us all with a more stable release.
Here's the link to the story:
http://macnightowl.com/2008/04/the-leopard-report-almost-six-months-later/
Notes: You can also access our RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/rss
Or our Atom feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/atom
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