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RE:Apple Releases (Finally!) the Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update - OS X Odyssey 895
Re: Great 'Books
How to Save Word Docs. as PDF?
Re: The Death Of OS X Classic Mode
RE:Apple Releases (Finally!) the Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update - OS X Odyssey 895
From torch_55
I installed 10.4.11 and Safari does not quite correctly. Closing a Safari page crashes the program. It is also quitting unexpectedly at other times as well. Wish I had waited on this update. This is the first time I have had trouble with an Apple update. Hope they come out with a patch to fix this.
Also having trouble with Aperture reading the Canon 40D RAW format pictures. This may not be all Apple's fault because Canon recently upgraded their firmware to version 1.0.4. Photoshop can not read this new version. The fix according to Canon will come in the form or firmware update 1.0.5 due in a couple of weeks.
Hi;
That's depressing. I'll be checking it out later today if all goes well. I downloaded the updater overnight (10 hours on dialup!) and will try to squeeze in getting it installed.
Thanks for the report. If persistent Safari 3 bugginess is a general problem, hopefully Apple will release a patch ('course, I thought OS 10.4.11 WAS sort of the ultimate Tiger patch :-b )
Charles
Re: Great 'Books
From John Black
Hey, Charles, I just read your Applelinks article, “Some Thoughts On Leopard And Optimum OS Versions For Older Hardware.” Very insightful as always.
I’ll chime in on favorite OS for my Pismo. It came from Wegener with 10.2.8. I never cared much for that version; it always seems a bit sluggish, I don’t like the visual experience, and it seemed to be a little buggy. I’ve since upgraded to 10.3.9 on this machine, while we run 10.4.10 on the G4 DA at home. For this 400MHz G3, 10.3.9 seems to be ideal. I have no plans to upgrade the processor, as I have no real need to do that. It’s perfectly adequate as is for the main things I use it for, which are web access (broadband, plenty fast), email, and word processing. With 512MB and a 5400RPM drive, it’s a pretty snappy little machine.
All the best to you under the Lord’s kind hand,
John Black
Hi John;
I agree. Jaguar is a slug. In fact I never switched to OS X for production work until Panther come along, and I concur that OS 10.3.9 is probably the optimum performance OS X version for a 400 MHz Pismo, although I will add that I was pleasantly surprised at how lively Tiger was on my latest Pismo (500 MHz) before I upgraded to the 550 MHz G4 processor. It really was quite acceptable, and that was with 578 MB of RAM.
Charles
How to Save Word Docs. as PDF?
From Dolna
Hi Charles,
I'd like to be able to attach a Word document and be sure that it will appear the same to the recipient, e.g. when printed. It's a poster, so the appearance, e.g. font and size, are important. Is a PDF file the best or only way to do this?
(This comes after a long day of trying to send a printable attachment to a few schools.)
I have two versions of Microsoft Excel, namely 11.3.6 for Mac (070618) & an older one called simply "Microsoft Excel for Mac c 1985-2001.... but it seems that neither can turn a doc into a pdf file.
What would you recommend?
Thanks.
D.
Hi Dolna;
PDF is the ideal file format to use if you want to make sure to preserve the appearance and formatting of your file exactly.
However, it will no longer be a Word file and will not be (at least conveniently) editable by the recipient.
You can convert your document into a PDF file using OS X's Print dialog.
Open your document in Word, select Print from the File menu, and then click the PDF button in the lower left corner of the dialog box that appears. A submenu will open and "Save as PDF" is the first option. select that, and voila!, a PDF formatted copy of your document will appear on your Desktop or Documents folder.
Charles
Re: The Death Of OS X Classic Mode
From Kevin;
Hi Charles!
First just for info.
Global Village Fax Center can "save as" TIFF (200 dpi), Pict, Macpaint. It also exports to some word processor formats after OCRing. Perhaps it is applescript capable. Or for those who have it, the old printer driver PDFWriter could be used to create PDFs of all those faxes. Its time consuming. But sooner or later its going to be need to be done.
And your text browser solution is just going to have to wait till broadband reaches your area. I am an American who lives in Germany and my exwife lives on top of a mountain. Affordable Satellite connections now exist and she is finally online with a decent transfer rate. Which is good because she will never live anywhere else.
About engineering software, it's engineering software companies who are ignoring OS X not Apple. It is better to direct complaints to them.
That is what is ironic, as more and more people "switch" to Macs, more and more software is being developed for OS X. Its just that the old System 7-9 developers have seem to have given up.
As far as iLife goes or the "dumbing down of OS X" Apple is a hardware company that happens to deliver basic functionality with its products. Where are they suppose to draw the line? I as an advance user buy and use third party products (some of which are even free). That is the way it should be. Third party developers have an incentive to build a better mousetrap. But as mentioned above, the same applies here. Complain to Apple - feedback @ apple.com - At every Apple event Steve Jobs claims that they listen to their costumers who get in touch with them and use that feedback to make product decisions.
What worries me is the appearance that Apple is stretching its resources. A lot of the incidents that have come to light since the release of 10.5 should not have happen. I was affected with the log-in/key chain bug and there is only an after the fact solution and not a preventive method for those who in the future want to update. In any case why did this not come to light during the development of Leopard. Other cases such as install disks not working with some Superdrives indicates lack of quality control with its manufacturing processes and hardware. (Hardware defects have plagued Apple history over and over again)
Hi Kevin;
Thanks for your comment.
Yes; I'm aware of the 200 DPI TIFF save function in GlobalFax. Used to use it a lot for OCR-ing FAX messages back in the day. Your suggested workaround would work - if only one could find the time.....
"And your text browser solution is just going to have to wait till broadband reaches your area"
So easy to say....
We have been promised by the Nova Scotia government that broadband coverage will be universal by the end of 2009, but that means it could be still more than two years away even if the promise holds up.
I need a text browser for production work. I'll see how things go when I finlly get Leopard (my US-sourced copy is still apparently caught in the massive backlog at customs due to the tsunami of cross-border shopping by Canadians taking advantage of the newly-mighty Canadian dollar) I'll have to see how things go. The text browser issue my keep me in Tiger for production work for some time yet, and I have no plans at this point to try upgrading my two Pismo PowerBooks to Leopard anyway.
As for satellite Internet, I suppose "affordable" is a relative concept. The bottom line here is that based on my most recent pricing research, the least expensive satellite option in this neck of the woods would run me three to twioce what I'm paying for dialup monthly on top of an up front capital outlay of about $1,000 for the dish, modem, system access fee, and installation, and that's more than I can justify,
The hardware is Can$400, plus about Can$269 for installation - plus extra for mileage to outlying areas like where I live - guesstimate another hundred bucks or so. Then there's a "system access fee" that appears to be somewhat elastic depending upon how long a contract you sign up for, but is nominally $Can$199.00. The monthly fee on top of all that starts at Can$59.95 for 150Kbps (which is not that great) and of course 14% Harmonized Sales Tax on the whole kit and caboodle. That's substantially bette than the last time I priced it, but still....
Wikipedia also lists the following disadvantages of satellite Internet:
* Very high latency compared to other broadband services, especially 2-way satellite service
* Unreliable: drop-outs are common during travel, inclement weather, and during sunspot activity
* The narrow-beam highly directional antenna must be accurately pointed to the satellite orbiting overhead
* The Fair Access Policy limits heavy usage
* VPN use is discouraged, problematic, and/or restricted with satellite broadband, although available at a price
* One-way satellite service requires the use of a modem or other data uplink connection
* VoIP is not supported.
* Satellite dishes are huge. Although most of them employ plastic to reduce weight, they are typically between 80 and 120 cm (30 to 48 inches) in diameter.
The unreliability issue is a biggie for me, because I have to be online daily for my job. If I had to maintain a dialup account for backup as well as the satellite account, it sours the economics even more.
Charles
***
Charles W. Moore
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