Blackberry -> Windows -> Scary
As an Apple fan, I associated Blackberries with Windows. And with Windows, I associate these videos.
Downright scary!
microsoft
Comparing Apple and Microsoft’s Web Sites
Here’s a pretty detailed article dissecting the usability of web design of apple.com and microsoft.com. Although there does seem to be some Apple loving in the article, it’s kinda interesting to see the impact of web design.
A Zuny New Year!
2009 rang in and Microsoft Zune players around the world stopped working. Due to a glitch with its internal clock, 30GB Zune models froze and would not reset. This “Zune Y2K9” bug should rectify itself by letting the battery die, recharging it, then turning the Zune back on.
Frustrated Zune users, if you’re looking for a change, this guy might have a suggestion.
Breaking up Bill and Jerry
Is it really over already? Many sites are saying that the Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld have been cancelled.
Not understanding the point of these commercials is the widely accepted reason for the cancellation. I was confused by the first ad at the shoe store. The second one was fun but still aimless.
I did like Bill’s dancing moves though. I was hoping to see him do the Sprinkler move in future commercials. I guess not…
Technorati Tags: Microsoft
Quirky, Geeky Fun of Windows Ads
A new Microsoft Windows television ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is now showing. Seinfeld provides the quirkiness and Gates pokes fun at his geekiness for a somewhat entertaining commercial. Though like the Seinfeld television series, the commercial seems to be about nothing, but does pave the way for more quirky, geeky Windows ads.
Watch the commercial.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft
Mac Office 2008 Is Too Slow
After upgrading to the latest Mac Office 2008, I think I’m about to revert back to the older 2004 version. The latest Office suite is sooo slow on my MacBook Pro (2 GHz Core Duo and 2 GB RAM). Word, Excel, and PowerPoint take forever to start up.
And even once started, performance of these apps is sluggish. I’ve also come across memory issues running 2008. In Excel, I’ve actually had low memory errors several times. No problems with Excel 2004. This is the first time I’ve had memory issues on my MBP.
The only app I might keep around is the newest Entourage. It’s still slow, but seems better able to handle my gigs of email that I’ve collected over the years. Entourage 2004 kept stalling and occasionally crapping out, but so far so good with Entourage 2008.
I also have Office 2008 installed (legitimately) on my home iMac and that feels slow as well, but that’s a new machine!
Technorati Tags: Macintosh, Microsoft
Mac (Hardware) Officially Does Windows
My how things have changed! Today, Apple officially endorsed the installation and running of Microsoft Windows XP on Intel-based Mac hardware. Using Apple’s Boot Camp (in public beta), legal WinXP users can install XP on a Mac and dual boot between the “X” operating systems, OS X and XP.
There have been recent hacks that allowed the installation of XP on Mac hardware, but now Apple’s making this an official reality. Why would you want to run XP? I don’t know, but if you got to, you might as well run it on the best and most elegantly designed hardware on the market.
Now I definitely need a MacBook Pro!
Technorati Tags: Apple, Macintosh
Experience with Mac Office 2004 Update
I installed the Mac Office 2004 Update 11.2.3 last night, wanting to see the Spotlight integration and Entourage syncing with .Mac. After installing the update, I repaired disk permissions and kicked off a sync with .Mac. Things didn’t go too smoothly though. Initially, I got expected warnings to deconflict contact information between Entourage and Address Book. No surprises there. Then I got a few strange error messages that I unfortunately didn’t write down. Something about inconsistent data and telling me to sync with a computer with good data. Kinda scary.
But even with these repeated errors, syncing seemed to eventually work since I saw changes to my contact info in Entourage (and Address Book). To be on the safe side, I repaired disk permissions once again. Since then, I haven’t got any sync errors.
In all fairness though, I didn’t follow good troubleshooting techniques since I had also installed the info management app, Yojimbo, and was trying to use its .Mac syncing feature as well.
Now that the update is installed, syncing works and Spotlight can search my Entourage data. I’ve found some old forwarded emails in Entourage using Spotlight with keywords I remembered in the email.
But I’m getting used to configuring Spotlight and .Mac syncing via the System Preferences. Seems like for Spotlight, Entourage email searching is clumped together with Mail Messages searching which is represented by the Apple Mail icon and for syncing, I’m guessing Entourage contact syncing is part of Contacts syncing, represented by the Mac OS X Address Book icon? For syncing, there is a new entry to sync Entourage notes however.
Bottom line is that the features in the update works.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Office, Macintosh, Entourage
Mac Office 2004 Update!
Lookee, lookee, the Microsoft AutoUpdate kicked in today and showed an update to Mac Office 2004. This update now enables “Mac OS X Sync Services and Spotlight searches to sync and find Entourage items, use smart cards with Entourage 2004, and enjoy improved overall security…”
Oooohhh, Spotlight integration. I must say using Spotlight on my Mac has made it much easier finding things since I store stuff all over, in my Documents folder, in Entourage email, in iPhoto, etc. Having Spotlight able to search through all of this is so, so much better. And, syncing Entourage! Hope that means I can sync contact info without the need of additional software.
The 11.2.3 update is a huge 57 MB.
Technorati Tags: Macintosh