operating system
CleanMyMac Review (Mac OS X)
March 2, 2010
CleanMyMac is a utility for Mac OS X from MacPaw that helps keep your Mac running smoothly, and recovers disk space from your hard drive by removing files that you don’t need on your system. Being a Mac user for some time now, I’ve become accustomed to just dragging an application from my Application folder to the trash when I no longer want it on my MacBook Pro or Mac Mini.
However, unwanted files are always left behind which were used by whatever program is deleted, and these not only take up disk space, but can cause OS X to run slowly and get in the way of your productivity.
During my testing of CleanMyMac, it has become the most essential utility I’ve ever used on OS X, and does a great job of keeping my Mac in good shape. When you first open CleanMyMac, you may want to take a look at the various preferences which are available to you, which allow you to select which language translations you don’t need for your applications and enable options such as the automatic application uninstaller.
Continue reading »Microsoft Browser Ballot – You’re “Open To Choice”
February 23, 2010
In recent months and years there has been an extremely lengthy and somewhat tiresome squabble between technology giants Microsoft and the European Commission over how unfair it is that Internet Explorer web browser is packed into the Windows operating system and many users never become aware of any alternative such as Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari or more recently Google’s Chrome. Anyway, the result of the conflict is that users of Windows PC’s will soon be faced with a big decision.
You will be presented with the choice via a selection process that will appear on your PC within the next few weeks. Testing of the process will be next week in several countries including the UK, and you can download it via Windows Update. Eventually though, it will be an automated update that everybody that’s connected to the internet, should receive.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week: Which Distribution To Choose?
February 21, 2010
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Linux in the past week of using it is how versatile it is. I’ve concentrated on using Ubuntu 9.10 and found it to excel, in many ways, further than Windows and Mac OS X.
Of course Ubuntu is just one of the many distributions available out there, and Linux comes in many forms, including ones you may not expect; even Google’s Android OS runs off a modified version of the Linux kernel.
So with so many distributions to choose from, which should you go for? There are too many choices to cover, but there are definitely some main contenders. If you want an experience close to what you’re used to with Windows, you may want to consider openSUSE – an easy to use distribution with great hardware support and a Windows-esque start menu to match.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week: Customisation
February 19, 2010
One of the great things about any Linux distribution is the ability to customise the look and feel of it to your taste. Throughout the past week, I’ve discussed software availability, compatibility and ease of use, but I haven’t gone as far as modifying the way I use it.
Coming from using a MacBook Pro and its OS X operating system, I was eager to see what docks were available, as I’m accustomed to using a dock on Mac OS X. As well as modifying for added functionality, I also wanted to add a little eye candy with the help of Compiz.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week: Ease of Use
February 17, 2010
For most consumers, the number one factor when buying a computer is for it to ‘just work’ without them having to play around with various settings or install drivers for various hardware components.
There’s certainly quite a long way to go for many Linux distributions, but my experience so far with Ubuntu 9.10 has been painless, with everything seemingly slotting in to place and co-operating nicely. This also applies when installing software, and thanks to the Ubuntu Software Centre, it couldn’t be much easier…
With the introduction of the Software Centre, there’s now one place where the user can install, remove and update all of the software on their computer. Introduced with Ubuntu 9.10 in October, the functionality of the Software Centre will grow with the release of future versions, eventually replacing other applications such as the Synaptic Package Manager and taking over their functionality by incorporating it into the Software Centre.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week: Software Availability
February 16, 2010
One of the biggest issues when moving away from Windows is software availability; what we do on a computer isn’t defined by the operating system, but the third party software we use on that operating system. Because most of the software written for Linux operating systems is open source, it may be difficult to find a replacement for the everyday software that you use on Windows or Mac OS X.
Web Browsers and Email
Everybody has their favourite browser, and you’ll find many available for Linux. I chose to use Firefox (which is installed on Ubuntu by default), Google Chrome (my browser of preference on Windows and OS X) and Opera 10 Browser in addition to this.
When testing each browser, I found them to be on par with each other, although Opera was definitely slower than Firefox and Chrome. I found Chrome to be extremely fast and lightweight in comparison to Firefox, and it remains my browser of choice on Linux. If you make the switch, or already use Ubuntu, I definitely recommend checking Chrome out. Enabling Flash was also an easy process – I simply downloaded the plugin on first use and everything worked great.
Continue reading »Tuxera NTFS for Mac Review
February 16, 2010
I love Mac OS X, but for some reason it still doesn’t have the ability to write to NTFS formatted drives, only read them. This is a major drawback, especially when working with Windows systems that use NTFS formatted partitions. For me, being able to write to NTFS drives is essential; all my external hard drives and pen drives are formatted for Windows, so I need to be able to access them whenever I want from any OS I want.
Created by Tuxera, the same development company that also developed NTFS-3G, an open source solution for Mac OS X NTFS writing, Tuxera NTFS for Mac adds an abundance of options and data protection to your partitions as well as delivering top speeds when writing data. Like NTFS-3G, Tuxera NTFS places itself in System Preferences.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week: Setup & Compatibility
February 15, 2010
If you saw our introductory post yesterday, you’ll know that this week on Zath is Linux training week! Over the next week, I’ll be using Ubuntu version of Linux in place of my norm of Mac OS X and Windows 7 to see how it stacks up against its rivals and whether it’s viable for the average computer user to make the switch.
Installing Linux on your hard drive is a much easier affair than it used to be, with an almost automated GUI that takes you through the necessary steps of installation. One of the computers I chose to install Ubuntu 9.10 on was my Mac Mini. I chose to install it side by side with Mac OS X as I didn’t want to erase my personal data or swap out the hard drive in the Mac Mini as it’s a rather tricky operation inside such a small case.
Continue reading »Linux Training Week – Introduction
February 14, 2010
5 years ago, the average person would have never heard of Linux or known what it is, but with the netbook boom carrying along many flavours of Linux with it, more people have become aware of open source alternatives to the Windows 7 operating system.
Despite this, many distributions of Linux are still too difficult to manage for the average computer user – most see ‘Windows’ as the only computer available, and the majority of PC users don’t see any advantage in switching operating systems after learning the ins and outs of Windows over the years.
Continue reading »Crossover Mac Review (Mac OS X)
February 11, 2010
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of CodeWeavers’ flagship product ‘Crossover Mac’ this week. The software is designed to allow applications from other platforms, primarily Windows, to run seamlessly on Mac OS X without the need for emulators or dual booting the computer which requires a restart and wasted hard disk space.
To say that the software achieves this is an understatement to say the least. During the testing of the program, I found all aspects of it to be pretty much flawless.
The first element of the program that needed testing, was naturally the installation and setup. As with the majority of OS X software, installation was simply a process of drag and drop into the applications folder. Registering the software was a breeze too. I simply had to register on the CodeWeavers website and then register the software using the same details.
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