}

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

iMac spell

I've been getting used to my new iMac, not that it's difficult to do. Mostly, I love it, a few things I'm not sure about, and a couple others, well, not so good.

First, I love how zippy the thing is—the fastest computer I've ever used. Even running Windows software via Vmware Fusion and Bootcamp with not much memory allocated and one processor produces acceptable results. But on the Mac side, things fly. Like start-up and shut-down, for example, which is really fast—the way all computers should be, but no PC I've had has been.

I hadn't used Mac OS X before, and I really like it. I also like all the cool toys that come with it, like the iLife suite. I've played around a little bit with all of it by now, including producing a podcast in Garage Band, where I had mixed results. More successfully, I “played” the virtual grand piano in Garage Band (don't get excited—it was that “doe o deer” thing, hunt and peck style). I'll have more use for this program once I'm used to it.

I've played with the built-in iSight camera, video chatting with Nigel (to test it), and I used Photo Booth for the photo above and also for the weird photo I made earlier. I've looked at iMovie, but with no video to use (yet), I couldn't really do anything with it.

All of which is the fun side. On the more serious side, I've been trying out different word processors on the Mac, and so far I haven't found one I like. The iWork suite test drive that comes with the iMac reminded me too much of Microsoft Works, so I ignored it because I need a full-function program.

So then I tried the Office for Mac tryout and found that I didn't like Word for Mac as much as the PC version from 2002 (I haven't tried the new version of Word for Windows, so I may not like that, either). I also tried NeoOffice, which is the Mac-specific version of OpenOffice (because OpenOffice for Mac is simply ported to Mac, not written for it). The reason I dislike these two programs is the same: Spelling. Neither one can find simple spelling errors. For example, both programs see “htings” (instead of “things”) as spelled correctly. NeoOffice also doesn't allow removal of a hyperlink from text, which Word:mac at least does.

Ironically, only “Pages” from iWork identified “htings” as incorrectly spelled (along with every other incorrect word in the document). So, as an experiment, I'm trying out Pages for this post. Hopefully, that means that there will be fewer spelling errors than has been the case lately.

About the hyperlinks problem I mentioned: On the PC I used to write my posts in Word, add hyperlinks, the copy and paste the entire thing onto Blogger and the links were there. On the Mac, those hyperlinks are lost no matter what word processing program I use, though that seems to have something to do with Firefox for the Mac.

And that's my adventures in Mac so far. Videos are inevitable, as are other creative things.

5 comments:

d said...

Welcome to the world of Mac!

When we were back in the US, we came across "MacJournal 4", which is supposed to make blogging supereasy - including pictures etc. I think it's available for purchase/downloadable from the Apple store. I am planning to check it out soon!

Anonymous said...

Glad you are enjoying the new iMac, I will be treating myself to one later in the year, the full 24" (who said size isn't important).

If you want use iChat which is a cute little application, i'd be happy to chat with you from the other side of the world.

Best wishes and sorry to hear about your recent pet bereavement, time is a great healer but it is so sad and takes a long time to get over...

A n d r e w

lost in france said...

Hmm. I gave Tonton a mac book last year and he loves it except for the integrated graphics chip that somehow doesn't allow him to play all the video games that he would like.$

And how about the Kiwi rugby players in this year's rugby world cup going on in France?

Arthur Schenck said...

Dawn: Let me know how you like that program if you get it. I'd be curious to know.

Actually, this is a trip back to Mac. I used them for most of my working life, though the last company I worked for in Auckland has now switched to PCs. I only switched to PCs because they were so much cheaper and some of the software I wanted was only on PC. Not so, now.

Andrew: You'll love the iMac when you get one. I can't say how glad I am to be back on a Mac!

I have you added to my Buddies List, actually--since you provided the name on your site, I added you. iChat is completely compatible with AIM, which is what I always used before.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, too.

LiF: I don't have any experience with MacBooks,but I can see how the graphics card issue could've been a problem.

The rugby players, yes, well! One of the NZ news websites had photos of All Blacks players frolicking by a pool somewhere. Nice--yes, very nice.

lost in france said...

Tonton and I watched the South Africa - England match yesterday (on television, alas!) and it has confirmed our desire to see Cape Town!