Translating my thoughts into words.
This afternoon I installed Mac OS X 10.6, otherwise known as Snow Leopard. So far it is going very well. A few minor conflicts (Logitech’s Control Center, Nambu [twitter client]) but Exchange on Mail/iCal/Address Book is very nice. But it is the little things that are nice, such as my MacBook Pro being able to update the time zone automatically. (Cell phones have been able to do it for ages, why not notebooks?)
When Leopard came out I was very excited about Spaces, but realized fairly soon that it was more trouble than it was worth. I turned it off. The recent Mac OS update brings some improvements and John Gruber of Daring Fireball has reported a key advance in Spaces. I haven’t had time to turn it on and try it out, but if you are interested, check out his post. An excerpt describes a key change:
Some of these are simply bug fixes. Clearly, for example, switching between spaces shouldn’t have changed the window ordering within a space. But some of these describe new behavior which only kicks in if you turn off a new-to-10.5.3 checkbox in the Spaces panel in System Preferences: “When switching to an application, switch to a space with open windows for the application”.
By default, it’s checked, which means app switching under Spaces remains much the same as it was on 10.5.0–10.5.2. For example, let’s say you have two spaces, with one or more Safari windows in space 1, and no Safari windows in space 2. If you’re in space 2 and activate Safari — whether by clicking the Dock icon, Command-Tabbing, or opening a link in some other app’s window in space 2, then Spaces will jump you to space 1, where there are already open Safari windows.
If you turn this new checkbox off, however, activating an app, even one that has no windows in the current space, will not jump you to another space. Once you’re in a space, you stay there until you explicitly switch spaces, not just switch apps. This makes all the difference in the world for the way I, and others, want to use Spaces.
I have mentioned before that I have used Nisus Writer for years (my doctoral thesis and book were written in it). Although I still use Word for collaborative projects, to make sure comments can be read, etc. I love NWP, use it, and support it whenever I can. (It has support for right to left languages that only Mellel can compete with, yet is far more robust than Mellel.) TUAW has noted the update that was released last week.
Big changes in Nisus Writer Pro 1.1
In the latest skirmish in the endless battle for word processor supremacy, Nisus Writer Pro has been updated to version 1.1. The new features include enhanced commenting, a Mail Merge capability that uses the Mac OS X Address Book or csv files for a record source, a vastly improved Table of Contents generator, indexing, bookmarks for navigation or cross-references, an enhanced Nisus Macro Language (take that, Microsoft!), and the ability to embed Perl scripts. There are even more features, so visit the Nisus site for details.
Nisus does a great job of listening to their customers, and it appears that Nisus Writer Pro 1.1 has included many of the features requested by users of the initial release. The download version of Nisus Writer Pro 1.1 is $79 to new users, $49 for owners of Nisus Writer Express and free to owners of Nisus Writer Pro 1.0. A 15-day free trial download is available for this Universal Binary app (Mac OS X 10.4 or better required).
From The Wired Campus
If Monday’s earthquake in China has sparked an interest in seismology, and you happen to own a Mac laptop, you can transform your computer into your own personal seismic station. A free program from SeisMac takes advantage of the acceleration sensor inside you computer to register when it gets the shakes. The program was developed with support from the National Science Foundation and from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, a consortium of nearly 100 universities.
It’s finally here! The MacBU has just released Service Pack 1 for Mac Office 2008. You can download the update directly from the Mactopia website (it’s large — about 180 MB), or launch your favorite Office app and select Help/Check for Updates. There are well over 1000 fixes and improvements in this release, including the return of custom error bars and axis tick manipulation in Excel charts. The full release notes are available online as well, so go check them out to see if we fixed your personal pet peeve.
Thanks Erik
My immediate favorite fix? Scrolling in the “Style” list (and others) of the pallet.
