MySimmons - Simmons College Community Intranet

About Apple's Dock

Apple TechNote on the Dock

Posted: June 16, 2008 8:23 am | 0 comments
Tags: Apple, Dock, Mac OS X

Apple Updates Safari

Apple has released an update/upgrade to it's Safari browser.

I tested the new version of Safari on some our our hardware and images on Campus and
found little or no problems. AARC, eLearning, WebMail, Kronos. I found that the new version
is wicked fast.

So far I have found no terminal failures or problems.

For eLearning, there were two instances where I had to reset Safari to get eLEarning's browser check
to complete. One Mac was a Mac Book Pro, running 10.5.2 and the other was a G5 tower running 10.4.11. Probably resetting the Cache, instead of completely resetting Safari would have been sufficient. eLearning worked fine regardless. To "reset Safari", go to the Safari menu item and choose reset Safari.

There have been posts on websites and forums of quite a few people having issues after upgrading.
MacFix article
I have not seen or personally heard of any of the issues that this article describes.

Posted: March 19, 2008 4:12 pm | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X Safari Update Upgrade Browser

Basic Safari Tutorial

Safari Basics

Posted: March 10, 2008 10:40 am | 1 comment
Tags: Mac OS X Safari

KeyChain Issues

See the MacWorld Magazine article below for more information:

MacWorld 911 Manual Keychain Editing

Posted: March 10, 2008 9:43 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Leopard OS Mac OSX Keychain storing passwords

Microsoft Office 2008 & TurningPoint

Microsoft Office 2008 and TuningPoint software have compatibility Issues

Micrsoft Office 2008 and Turning Technologies Macintosh based version of TurningPoint are not currently compatible. TurningPoint is an audience response software used in conjunction with "clickers". TurningPoint software uses VB scripting and depends on certain program files. Microsoft has deprecated VB scripting in Microsoft Office 2008 and has moved program files within the application.

Both will install, but TurningPoint will not open. An error stating that PowerPoint cannot be found occurs.

TurningPoint has verbally acknowledged this issue in a support call and stated that they are working on
a new version that is due out in the 2cd quarter of 2008.

Microsoft Office 2004 is fully compatible with current and past versions of TurningPoint software.

Posted: March 10, 2008 9:35 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X Mac Office Turning Point

MS Office 2008 & Math Type

If you use Math Type, read the link below before upgrading to Microsoft Office 2008

Math Type:
http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype%5Fmac/office2008.htm

Excerpt from the link:
"Microsoft has omitted VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) support from Office 2008, claiming that it would cost too much to port this to the Intel Mac platform. Lack of VBA support is going to cause problems for many users, especially those that use Excel macros, MathType, and many other products that contain features implemented as VBA macros. MathType's toolbar and menu inside Word are no longer possible. Features such as equation numbering, formatting, etc. will not be available."

Initially I though that you could run both Office 2004 and Office 2008 at the same time, apparently not:

From a MacFixIt forum:
".. When you install Office 2008, you are given the option not to uninstall Office 2004, presumably so you can revert to Office 2004 if something important doesn't work right. Well, at least in my case when I installed Office 2008 it broke Math Type in Word 2004, and so far 2 reinstalls haven't been sufficient to restore it."

Posted: February 26, 2008 11:20 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac Leopard OS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Office 2008, MS Office

Mac OS X Performance tip

Performance tip: Keep the Desktop clutter-free

From MacFixIt website:

Mac OS X's Desktop is the de facto location for downloaded files, and for many users, in-progress works that will either be organized later or deleted altogether. The desktop can also be gluttonous, however, becoming a catch-all for files that linger indefinitely.

Unfortunately -- aside from the effect of disarray it creates -- keeping dozens or hundreds of files on the Desktop can significantly degrade performance. Not necessarily because the system is sluggish with regard to rendering the icons on the desktop and storing them in memory persistently (which may be true in some cases), but more likely because keeping an excessive number of items on the Desktop can cause the windowserver process to generate reams of logfiles, which obviously draws resources away from other system tasks.

As such, keeping as few items as possible on the Desktop prove a surprisingly effective performance boon. Even creating a single folder on your Desktop and placing all current and future clutter inside, then logging out and back in can provide an immediately noticeable speed boost -- particularly for the Finder.

Link:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2007051510154393

Suggestion:

Make 1 or 2 aliases on the you Desktop and put the files you need quick access to there.

Posted: February 26, 2008 9:46 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac OS X, Mac Troubleshooting