Questions about Free Download of WordPerfect
From Nancy Egner
Dear Mr. Moore,
My college student son is asking (for X-Mass) for word processing
software for his Mac iBook (OS X) that has spell and grammar
check. Will the free download of WordPerfect 3.5 work with
OS X?
Nancy Egner
Hi Nancy,
Unless you have a lot of WordPerfect documents or
another compelling reason to use WordPerfect, I would not consider it
an ideal choice as a Mac word processor these days.
WordPerfect 3.5 should run okay in Classic Mode in
OS X, but there has been no development done on this application
since 1997, and it is essentially obsolete. On the other hand, it costs
nothing to download from one of the sites I linked to.
I would suggest that a better choice for a word
processor with grammar checker would be Nisus Writer, which is
under active development with an OS X version coming in the new
year. In the meantime, Nisus Writer 6.5 runs well in OS X Classic
mode, and I'm guessing that there will be an inexpensive upgrade
path to the OS X version for people who buy version 6.5 between
now and the OS X version release.
Charles
Logitech Cordless Mouse and More for Mr.
Moore
From Niels Vølund
I've had some problems with my Logitech cordless mouse. I bought it
on sale and kind of expected it to be a monster, as most of the USB
things I've added to my Umax S900
and 8200/8500 has been unstable from time
to time. The mouse was no exception. After trying various drivers, the
mouse came with a CD and a driver way under the current driver number,
and it would lock up after 10 minutes of use.
The scroll wheel didn't work, either, but after fiddling around,
trashing various preference files, and reinstalling USB update 1.4.1,
it seemed to work acceptably. It would stop working after an hour or
so, but nothing a restart couldn't cure.
Last week I gave my 8500 (which is the Mac with the USB card right
now, also my print server) the monthly cure of fresh copies of System,
Finder and system resources, plus trashing preference files (MacTCP
DNR, Apple menu, ASLM, Finder Expansion manager, Mac OS preferences,
generelt (don't know the name in English), and TSM.
After a restart the mouse worked great a week, scroll worked all the
time, and I was quite pleased with myself - until today when I found
that Virtual Memory was turned on. I'd forgotten to turn it off when I
trashed Mac OS prefs, so I turned it off - and the mouse didn't work,
or it did, but the control panel didn't recognize it, and scrolling was
done by clicking, not turning the scroll wheel.
I trashed the Mac OS pref again, but before restart I turned Virtual
Memory off, first restart the mouse didn't work properly, second it
did.
Thought this might be of interest to other people, as I read on the
package that some millions of these cordless wonders are sold, and
other Mac users, on OS 9.1 like me, would be using them too.
Sorry to hear bout your trouble with the phone company and ISP, but
I guess you have a far better view from your window than you would have
in a city with ADSL and all.
I have a question. I consider trying the 9.2.1 upgrade on my
unsupported S900 and 8500, only I seem to remember reading about some
trouble with the firmware (ROM) upgrade not allowing the user to go
back to OS 9.1 should that be preferable after the upgrade. Can you
confirm my suspicion ??
Thank you for a very good column !
Niels Vølund
Musician
Denmark
Hi Niels,
It's just a thought, but I'm wondering whether your
USB troubles might not be related to the USB PCI card you're using. I
mention this because a friend of mine with a Power Mac 6500 had horrible
stability and peripheral support problems with a Sonnet combination
USB/FireWire PCI card in his machine. I suggested that he try another
brand and type of USB card, and when he installed a relatively cheap
Belkin unit, all of the problems he had been having disappeared and
have not returned.
I have a Macally PCI USB adapter card in my S900, and
it has worked flawlessly in both OS 9.0 and 9.1.
I don't really see much advantage to upgrading to 9.2
unless you are using it for Classic Mode in OS X. I have both OS
9.1 and OS 9.2.2 installed on separate partitions on my Pismo PowerBook hard drive and
have had no problems. However, I'm quite happy with the performance of
OS 9.1 on the S900.
Charles
Re: Logitech Mouse
Hi Charles
It could be the card, there seems to be a difference between the two
ports, the left one works okay, but the right one gives trouble. One of
my Mac friends in DK suggested I try cleaning the cable and the port
with some tape head cleaner, as I have used reel to reel machines a lot
I have a very good product called Caltron that I am going to try later.
If that doesn't do the trick, I might try another card - they sell
pretty cheap in dk
I take your not mentioning the ROM trouble I suggested as that it is
nonexisting, so maybe I'll give it a go sometime. The guy who makes the
patch for installing 9.2 on unsupported machines says the network and
Finder are far better than in 9.1, but as I read your mail it is not so
significant. I guess it depends on who one asks, as is often the case.
One guy might feel quite comfortable with a "fast" upgraded S900, and
another will cry out for more speed in his G4 1.1 GHz DP. If it
works for me, then its okay.
Greetings
Niels
Hi again Neils,
Re: the ROM issue, I have never heard of it, but can't
say categorically that it is a myth.
I find any difference in performance between OS 9.1
and 9.2 on my Pismo negligible.
Charles
Flirting with Retro PowerBooks
From Bernard Blander
Dear Charles,
I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Just two days ago, I happened
upon someone at a cafe who had a PowerBook 1400. I had never seen one before, and found it very
beautiful. Its owner was kind enough to give me a guided tour of the
machine. I thought the transparent cover for mounting wallpaper very
charming.
I just happen to be interested in procuring a Mac portable. I like
the current iBook, but my budget won't allow it. I currently use a
Performa 5200 (75 MHz/64
MB/1 GB), and despite it's all-in-one design I still find it's
form factor bulky. It has served me well, but I'd like to switch to a
portable Mac - something I can put away in a drawer or take with me on
an outing. Based on some research I have done, I think that a PB 1400
or PB 3400 would meet or exceed
my needs - and probably perform better than the 5200. I also think they
would be in line with my small budget.
Thing is, how do you find good ones that have been well taken care
of on the inside as well as on the outside. Cosmetics as well as
functionality are important to me. Cracks, scratches, bad scuff marks,
broken latches or hinges, and manifestations of other forms of less
than gingerly treatment turn me off. So how do go about finding one of
these machines? Of course, I took a look at offerings on
eBay, but found 1400s in mint condition scarce. Any tips?
Also, the 3400 has built in ethernet, which I need for DSL, but the
1400 doesn't. Is there a PC card for the 1400 for ethernet
functionality. Which PowerBook would you recommend, the 1400 or the
3400? I know the 1400 - unlike the 3400 - is G3 upgradable, but I would
only do that if it made economic sense. How much should I be prepared
to spend while keeping in mind that these machines and their underlying
technology are already quite old and. I'm thinking $200 to $250 (US
dollars) as a budget.
Thanks for your thoughts,
B2
Hi B2,
Used PowerBooks are where you find them and vary
widely in condition. I would suggest that the individual price and
condition of the machine may be more important to consider than the
model in the context of your question.
Both are nice computers. I prefer the form factor and
keyboard of the PowerBook 1400, but the 3400 is a substantially better
performer - the difference is a lot more than the nominal clock speed
difference would indicate. The 3400 has a faster system bus and is a
PCI-based machine, while the 1400 is based on the old NuBus motherboard
architecture.
You can get ethernet PC Cards for the 1400. My
daughter uses one in hers very successfully. However, they are a bit
hard to find these days. She got hers used from a friend of my
son's.
Also note that there is quite a range of relative
performance in the 1400 models. The 117 MHz version is pretty slow -
probably about the same as your desktop 5200 in real-world performance.
The 133 MHz and 166 MHz models are much livelier, not just because of
the increased clock speed, but also because they have a level 2 cache,
which the 117 MHz version does not.
I think Wegener
Media still has some PowerBook 3400/180 models available for
US$209.
Happy hunting,
Charles
CompactFlash RAM cards
From Eric L. Strobel
Hi,
There have been several articles on LEM of using CompactFlash RAM
cards as supplemental storage in PowerBooks - as virtual memory, for
example. As I'm getting a 3400 soon, I started looking into this. Some
folks claim CF will be "slow" (but no comparison as to what it is
slower than), although one said that grabbing pics directly off a CF
card is quicker than a USB transfer. But the biggest issue raised thus
far is that of the supposedly limited number of writes that Flash RAM
has. The claim is that one could rapidly wear out their CF card by
using it as virtual memory or any other disk-like use that does lots of
writing. Since the LEM articles were written quite some time ago, I
wonder if it's time to do a check back and find out people's
experience.
Thanks.
- Eric
Hi Eric,
Personally, I have no firsthand experience with these
products. Dan Knight recently wrote a
column on the topic.
Remy Davison of Insanely Great Mac has covered the
topic frequently.
If anyone out there has information or experiences to
share, let us know.
Charles
1400 Using a Flash Card
From Thomas M Barclay
Hello, Charles,
I've been looking into the use of 
Compact Flash as well, for use
on my (new to me) PB 190cs.
I believe your reader's problem was that he was trying to get a
read-only device (he describes a CF reader) to both read and write.
Most people whose notes I've read on the LEM PowerBook list have been using
Sandisk CF media inside a PCMCIA Card adapter manufactured to allow
simplified downloads (reading) and uploads (writing) of data for
cameras, MP3 players, and so on.
Excelsior!
Tom Barclay
Mini-drives
From Bruce Robertson
Though I suppose it is good of you to mention mini-drive USB
products (a.k.a. pen drive, thumb drive), it is really a substantial
disservice not to note that most of these drives offer
terrible performance. They are DOS formatted, and in OS X
deliver write rates of about 1 MB/minute.
Editor's note: I haven't seen any of these benchmarked
on the Mac yet, but Bare Feats compared USB and FireWire
Compact Flash card readers and found that the USB reader limited
performance to 0.6 MB/sec. I suspect solid state USB drives would offer
similar performance - and that these drives would provide better
performance reformatted as Mac drives. dk
More on "Kanga Whine"
From Gregg Eshelman
The "yo-yo" AC adapters should not be used with any of the cord
wrapped up. (IIRC, they store the cord in a slot around the perimeter?
If I'm misremembering, ignore this. ;-) That can concentrate
any heat from the cord, and if an AC cord is tightly coiled it can get
very hot, catch fire even, from induction heating.
Ford Motor Company found that out the hard way with an electric car
that had a built in recharging cord reel. People were only pulling out
just enough cord to plug it in and when most of the cord was left on
the reel, *FOOM*. The "fix" was a warning label.
Tightly coiled cords with AC current or fluctuating DC current can
also produce radio frequency and electromagnetic interference. For lots
of technical reasons, other electronic circuitry can pick up and
amplify that interference into audible sound.
So if your Mac's AC adapter has a coilable cord, don't try to be
"neat" or save space by leaving any of the cords partially coiled,
especially the AC cord.
Hi Gregg,
I expect you may have a point about coiled AC cords,
but in the case of the Apple yo-yo power adapter, it is the DC output
cord that goes to the computer's power adapter port that coils into the
slot in the yo-yo disk.
The AC input cord is just a standard, non-coiling
power cord.
I haven't noticed any unusual heat buildup while
leaving most of the DC cord coiled in my Pismo's yo-yo adapter.
Charles
Rural ISP
From George Mogiljansky
Hi,
Glad you made it, and in the dead of winter. Call it ''ISP anxiety
attack''. Around this time of year (1999?) the freebie ISPs went under
- remember excite.com? They were Mac compatible, req.8.6.
Serial port busy - I remember seeing that on my 3400 recently. You
have to go to FreePPP and turn off the something or other because it
hogs that modem port (which doubles as a printer port on a 3400) and
then the LaserJet with PowerPrint cable will print.
Best
George (Montreal)
Hi George,
Yes, the ISP registration software I used does install
FreePPP. Guess they haven't discovered the superiority of Apple's Open
Transport PPP/Remote Access.
Charles
Inexpensive Combo Drive Upgrade for Pismo,
Lombard - Not
From Andrew Main
Charles,
I've been wondering when I might feel flush enough to buy MCE's
rather expensive ($350) DVD/CD-RW drive for my
Pismo (not anytime very
soon, alas), so at first I was excited to read about the "Inexpensive
Combo Drive Upgrade for Pismo, Lombard," which appeared to offer a
bargain alternative for the even slightly handy.
Noting that the linked Web page was headed "Pismo CD/DVD Mod," I
prepared to download the instructions, and went to take a look at the
the $74 drive unit at Upgrade Solution - which was when I discovered
that it is a CD-RW drive only, not a "Combo" (i.e. DVD/CD-RW)
drive like the MCE. This would be fine for those who don't mind losing
the ability to view DVDs, but that's not me. It certainly is cheaper
than MCE's $300 CD-RW-only drive, or even than the old VST CD-RWs (not
OS X savvy, I gather) that have been going for well over $100 on
eBay lately. But it won't do DVDs - just when I'm beginning to
think about getting some of my favorite films to watch on my PB. I
looked on Upgrade Solution's CD/DVD page, but didn't see anything that
combined both DVD and CD-RW.
If anyone knows of a real "Combo" DVD/CD-RW drive alternative for
the Pismo/Lombard, I'd sure like to hear about it.
Andrew Main
I'm sure others have pointed this out...
From Tod Abbott
... but the inexpensive Sony drive being used to upgrade the
Pismo/Lombard in your recent item is not a combo drive, but a plain ol'
CD-RW. I see that the linked page is titled "Pismo CD/DVD Mod" but that
presumably refers to the fact that the Pismo had either a CD-ROM or DVD
drive and that whichever you have, this is what will be modified.
That's a big difference for those of us with a DVD drive who might
not want to lose the ability to watch movies on the plane (or let the
kids watch them in the car).
Tod Abbott
Hi Tod,
My error. Brain fade, I guess.
Charles
Combo drive in Pismo
From Tim Harmon
Just read the report on adding a Sony CD-RW CRX700E to a Pismo. Does
iTunes recognize the drive, or do you have to use Toast?
Tim Harmon
Hi Tim,
Unfortunately, I have not used this drive myself, so I
can't vouch for whether it works with iTunes or not.
As noted above, the combo drive headline was an error.
It is a plain CD-RW drive, without DVD support.
Charles
USB 802.11b for Mac?
From Ed Hurtley
Okay, I've tried searching, I've tried a couple newsgroups, but I
just can't find any information on it.
I've got an iMac Rev
B, and I want wireless network access. I know that there are
802.11b PC Cards that work with pre-Pismo PowerBooks, and 802.11b PCI
cards that work with pre-Sawtooth PowerMacs, but what about 802.11b USB
adapters for the tray-loading iMacs? (Or, for that matter, for my USB
upgraded beige G3,
which doesn't have a free PCI slot.)
Thanks in advance.
Ed Hurtley
Beats me, Ed.
Can anyone in readerland help with this?
Charles
bbs.applescript.net Moves to a New Home
From Ray Barber
Hi Charles,
I wanted to send this to you in hopes your readership may find
interest.
We are delighted to announce our new forums @ applescript.net. While
we are working hard to bring the archives back online, the board is now
available to the scripting community.
Our new bbs offers a much better user interface, with a feature set
that is very approachable-one that we feel compliments Scripting and
AppleScript specifically. In addition, we will be adding more scripting
centric features in the very near future.
Surf by and leave us feedback, as your comments/ideas do matter to
us.
Thanks in Advance
& Kind Regards
Ray Barber
New User? Please register here.
http://bbs.applescript.net/profile.php?mode=register
Our goal is to provide a well balanced scripting resource for the
applescripting community and the evangelism of AppleScript, now and
into the future. Look forward to seeing you there -
http://macscripter.net - News,
SOTW, ScriptBuilders, Links, etc ... http://bbs.applescript.net - BBS
http://osaxen.com - Scripting
Additions
DataBase hotline://hotline.macscripter.net
- hotline.macscripter.net
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