Computers

Jul 19 2009

Life with Mac – Stuff that Worked

Optical DiscsSoftware.  Without it a computer would be an expensive door stop or paper weight.  With it, a computer can become far more.

Over time we all end up with our favourite applications that let us do what we need in the way we are used to doing it.

In moving from Windows to Mac I was determined not to just cop-out and install Parallels and XP and just keep using all the Windows programs I was used to using.  I wanted to do as much as I could in native Mac.

As a starting point, I went looking for programs I’m used to using in Windows that have an equivalent in the Mac world. More →

By David • Apple, Computers • • Tags: , , , ,

Jul 15 2009

Intro to Mac-land

White MacBookIn the past, I’ve enjoyed some fairly nice computer hardware.  A fringe benefit of owning a computer business as well as a necessity for someone asking a lot of their day-to-day computer.

I’ve been using a laptop as my main computer for almost ten years.  I’ve found this works for me and suits my needs pretty well.

After a few fairly ordinary laptops, I moved up.  First, to an Acer Ferrari 3400.  A nice laptop with, for it’s day a great high res LCD was truly lovely (1400 x 1050 on a 15″ LCD).  From there it was on to a Hewlett Packard NC8430.  Again, a very nice laptop and, again, the high res LCD screen (1680 x 1050 on a 15.4″ LCD) was a joy to use.

For a variety of reasons, when it came time to consider a replacement for the nc8430 I took a bit of a tangent.  At various times over the years I’ve used (and quite liked) Apple computers – all the way back to an Apple II when I was in high school (in the very early 80′s for anyone keeping score).

So, the new laptop in my life is a MacBook (a white one). More →

By David • Apple • • Tags: , , , ,

Apr 8 2009

The Build Disc – Part 5b (Extras – Office 2003)

Office 2003A fully standardised install only takes us so far.  At some point you have to cater to the stuff that doesn’t fit in with the standardised stuff.  This article is about the extra bits that help Office 2003.

What do I install?  Pretty much just the file format converters to allow Office 2003 to read files created with Office 2007.

(As an aside, the Office viewers normally only open Office 2003 files but if you install them and then install the converter, they will also read Office 2007 files.)

I’ve worked out an unattended install but for only one install it’s not really all that relevant.

For what it’s worth, this is the unattended install command:

Office2003-FileFormatConverters.exe /quiet /passive /norestart

This article is part of a series dealing with my standard system build.  It starts with this article and the post you’re reading now is directly related to this one.

By David • Build Disc, Unattended Installs • • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Apr 7 2009

The Build Disc – Part 5a (Extras)

copyA standard install is all very well but you reach a point, at least at the home user/small business level, where standardization falls down.  Not every computer is going to have the same version of MS Office installed (or even have Office), some computers will not already have Acrobat Reader (or have an older version pre-installed).

Having already dealt with service packs, Windows/Microsoft Updates and standard utilities, now it’s time to come up with a good way of handling these extra items.  I’ve set this up with our typical customers in mind and it handles the stuff we usually need.  Obviously once you get to this level there is almost infinite scope for how you might handle things.

More →

By David • Build Disc • • Tags: , , , , , ,

Apr 6 2009

The Build Disc – Part 4b (wrap-up)

Next ButtonOver the past week or so I’ve posted separate articles on each of the standard utilities that comprise the unattended installs portion of my standard build disc. Now I’m going to build on the starting point of unattended installs and talk about how to implement these installs as a component of the overall standard build.

The benefit of using unattended installs is that all of these tools get installed with no interaction required on my part.  Just set it going and come back when its done.  How did I do this?  Largely be combining each silent install into a single batch file that does the whole install process.

Unfortunately, it’s not just a matter of doing a cut and paste on each item.  In order to do this properly I need to work out which operating system I’m dealing with.  For example, there’s no point trying to install Sidebar Gadgets under Windows XP.

More →

By David • Build Disc, Unattended Installs • • Tags: , , , , , ,

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