Works Like You Do

What’s wrong with me? I tried it again. I had my MAC reimaged so that it had a new Leopard and new Boot Camp partition. I set up all my data on the MAC side and set up Entourage for email. I think I might have made it if it hadn’t been for Entourage. The Office apps weren’t great but Firefox is Firefox. The problem was Entourage. It’s cumbersome to use. It made Outlook look easy. I was working so slowly that I gave it up and moved everything back to the Boot Camp partition. I use the MAC for presentations but all work is done on Windows. I may try Open Office or some other non-Microsoft MAC products when I get more time but for now, I’m back from MAC.

School started and two out of two times, the video output has not worked with the overhead LCD in the classroom. I decided to copy the files from the Windows to the MAC side and the output works fine. I haven’t had time to work on it but tomorrow I intend to get there early and see if I can’t make it work.

There are two other things I need to check out:

1. How do I set it up for I can access the same Windows partition from Parallels and Bootcamp?

2. How do I set up the access so that I can read and write to the Bootcamp partition from the MAC side? I can see and copy the files but I’d like to set it up so that I can use the MAC side, which has much more disk space available, as an archival area to keep the Bootcamp partition less full.

Answers to these questions will be the next posts.

It had to be done. There was no escaping the fact that I use the PC side more than the MAC side so under the knife it went. Bootcamp has been installed and I’m now working with a MAC on the outside and Windows on the inside. It’s a most unsupported configuration but it allows me easy access to the most up to date MS software which is our standard. I can also use Outlook and the Exchange server for sharing calendars and connection to my new Blackberry.

Which OS does it boot into? What do you think…

I was trying to get ready for class last week when I realized I was working way too hard to do something that used to be simple on my PC. I just wanted to update a few PowerPoint presentations and it wasn’t working. Apparently, I can’t link to files in other directories. I’m not sure exactly what the limitation is because I bailed and moved the files to the Parallels drive where I could quickly finish my work. I’m still trying to do one of my courses on the MAC side but since the course management system we use seems to only allow some features if you have IE or FF for the PC, I may have to give that up as well. I really like the hardware, but the lack of software support from others is killing me.

I needed to get something done this weekend. Fast. Like it was due two weeks ago. Unfortunately it required a PC. Here’s the problem. My PC is broken and I haven’t been making a serious effort to replace it because this forces me to use the MAC and get used to it. I’m really trying to make the change stick. But I had no choice. Really. I borrowed a PC laptop and started working. I couldn’t believe how comfortable it was. Oh, the display wasn’t as nice and the laptop itself seemed rather crude compared tto the MAC but I could find everything I needed in the applications and the keys work just the way I remembered. What’s more, the file manager sorted and worked just right. I was able to complete the task in less time than I expected.

The dark side is that as I sit here now doing another project, I keep thinking about that IBM laptop sitting on the credenza behind me and wonder how long it would take to copy over my data and just start using it from now on.

I usually not change-averse, but this time is proving to be very, very difficult…

I’m spoiled. Windows XP allows you to set up and sort your files and folders the way you like to work. The MAC? Well, it doesn’t offer many choices and none of them are the way I work. As I was searching to find out about this one I discovered an interesting comparison site (I’ll add it to the links list) and a great post about the most frustrating things about OSX from a Linux user. With the exception of multiple desktops (which I didn;t have on Windows), this guys nails it. Check it out here: Top X List of Mac OS X Annoyances

The more I read and hear about Vista, the more committed I become to making the MAC my home base. Vista would be the logical next step for a Windows user and no one I know can stand the problems they are having. At least the MAC works like it is supposed to work. I still find it to be in the way of getting work done but I haven’t yet resorted to using Boot Camp and working full-time in the Windows world.

I learned how to change the size of the virtual disk drive in Parallels which menas space on the Windows side is no longer a concern. I also had help setting up a true shared directory so all my files can live in one place and be accesses from either OS. It’s a bit cumbersome - the directory appears as a network resource in Windows and not a folder - but it works. I’ll need to reorganize my file structure so this is less work but it’s an encourageing start.

I still use one old DOS program. It uses function keys, including F9 and F10. Anyone using Parallels knows that the MAC and Expose use these same keys and no matter what mode you are in, they default to MAC behavior. There are workarounds for Windows, but I couldn;t find anything about DOS. Here’s what I discovered:

You can use these keys but you need to be careful. FN+CMD+F9 and FN+CMD+F10 will do the job but if you take your finger off the FN key first, Windows will respond to the CMD key and display the Windows Start menu, taking you out of the DOS window. If you just hold them down and don’t let go, it works most of the time; but if you are careful, you can get to the point where it’s relatively consistent.

So there is my first tip. For all you Neanderthals like me who insist on using a program that’s 20 years old on a computer that’s brand new, you can do it successfully!

My PC has problems. It started life as a souped up Linux machine. I traded a nice Dell tower for it and expected to have the fastest PC on the block. The only problem is that it doesn’t appear to like Windows. It was hanging so I had it completely stripped and reloaded. Now it just reboots on its own, several times in an afternoon, with no warning. It does come back up really fast so I guess that’s an improvement. As I was lamenting this, it became apparent that I need a new home PC (I don’t use my work laptop for personal use.) As I started to consider my options, what was the first thing that came to mind? Why not check out the MAC Mini? It looks cool. It doesn’t take a lot of space. I have an LCD so I don’t need a new monitor. I have external USB hard drives and don’t really need to cram a lot of extra cards into the big tower I usually have. So I looked into it and then I remembered why I never buy Apple. Cool stuff, high price. I made the mistake of looking at what a new Dell will cost. I can still get way more machine for way less money than the MAC. Too bad the hardware and technology is so cool.

Things went pretty well this week. I was able to access the on-line apps I needed for my courses and use the LCD projectors without needing to reboot. I didn’t find anything special that allowed it to work, so I’m a bit nervous about it. However, I’d say it looks like this will work.

I also discovered that if I plug in my LCD monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 191Tplus) without opening the laptop, the screen resolution is perfect (no cut off bottom and top screen to match the wide-vision aspect ratio.) This leads me to believe that I can somehow select this view instead of mirror and get to use my monitor fully.