It’s been a long time since I switched to Mac but about a year ago my Mother-in-law switched back over to a Mac and so I inherited her used HP PC laptop. And until just recently it has sat lifeless on my shelf - so sad

I have been using my MacBook Pro as an iTunes server for my two Apple TV’s, I keep all my shows and movies on an AirDisk connected to an Airport Extreme all of which streams wireless throughout the house. The only downside to this is when I take my  MacBook Pro with me, so to goes the iTunes Server content which leaves my wife movie-less.

So I got an idea, PC’s can run iTunes, why not turn my aging PC laptop into an iTunes Server? And then I remembered the AirDisk my movie data was on, which on a Mac is very easy to connect to and share. An so the Googleing began… I needed to find out if/how a PC could connect to an Airport AirDisk. A few minutes later and the results where in, PC’s can connect to AirDisks too, maybe not as elegantly as a Mac does it but at least it was possible.

So this is what I did or should I say did twice because the first time I got the PC iTunes Server up and running she decided to go down about a week later virus ridden and ashamed, nothing a day and of my time and a format and reinstall couldn’t fix! No more casual surfing with PC iTunes Server for me And yes I had Virus software on it to boot! Read the rest of this entry »

 (UPDATE -  they’re done and they are live, you can get them here)

I wanted to give you a bit of a teaser preview of some Video Tutorials I’m working on, they’re part of a series I’m calling “Quick Start Your Mac”. There will be a total of approximately 40 or so short and informative videos shot using screen capture at a very crisp 1024 x 768 resolution so they look like I am sitting right there in person demoing them on “your” Mac.

Here is a preliminary list of what the end content should look like:

Navigation

• Finder Views
• Cover Flow & Quick Look
• Apple Menu
• Menu Bar
• Dock
• Red-Yellow-Green
• Opening Files or Applications
• Expose
• Stacks
• Spotlight
• The Trash
• Inserting & Ejecting Media
• Key Commands
• Quitting Applications
• Managing Open Applications

System & Settings

• System Preferences
• Power Management
• System Info
• Installing Applications
• Deleting Applications
• Setting up a Printer
• Change Desktop Images
• Sharing your Mac
• Right Mouse Click
• Changing File Names
• Time Machine

Extras

• File Management
• Contextual Menus & Items
• Force Quiting
• Save as PDF
• Zoom
• Target Disk Mode
• Recent Items
• Word Processing Options
• Web Browser Options
• Media Player Options
• Widgets
• Help menu
• Software Updates
• Windows on a Mac

I have not worked out the cost as of yet for the series but I do plan on making them available as an affordable download.

So take a look at a few samples and let me know what you think…

(Depending on your Internet connection the movies may take several minutes to load and play)

How do I make my non-network printer accessible to my Mac and/or PC on my home or small business network?

This is a common question with PC to Mac Switchers, indefinitely there are potentially one or two PC’s hanging around and now that Mac has taken over the roost or at least planted itself firmly, how do you go about sharing your Mac’s printer or even an Airport’s connected Printer with a PC and or other Mac on your network?

Luckily for us, Apple was wise enough to make a very nice utility called Bonjour for Windows (Compatible with Windows 2000/2003, XP and Vista) that does a very nice job of making all of this printing on multiple platforms without the need for an actual network printer a real option for even the faint of heart. Read the rest of this entry »

For all you Canadians out there, this iTunes Movie rental tip may just make your day.

While I was visiting the US last week purchasing my iPhone, I also picked up a couple US iTunes Gift Cards to be used here in Canada to fund my iTunes Store account.

Now if you have tried to trick iTunes into thinking you where from the US (to get all that great US content) you have probably found that you get shutout at the Credit Card info section. Unless you have a US based credit card that is and most of us don’t.

By entering a US based iTunes Gift Card you can bypass having to enter any credit card info, here’s what you need to do…

• Launch iTunes.
• Select the “iTunes Store” from the left side menu.
• Make sure you are at the home level of the iTunes Store.
• Scroll to the very bottom and change the “My Store” tab to “United States”.
• In the “Quick Links” section (near the top right area) select “Redeem”
• Enter your iTunes Gift Card Code (case sensitive).
• You will now have to create a US account, go through the steps but make sure to use a different email than your Canadian iTunes Store account (if you have one).
• In the address section just use a random US based address (look one up online).
• Also make sure to select “None” for your Credit Card information
• Thats about it, you should now have a US based iTunes Store account preloaded with your iTunes Gift Card funds.
• Enjoy your Movies and TV shows…

If you don’t live near the boarder or maybe you don’t want to make the trip across the boarder there are lots of people selling iTunes Gift Card Authentication Codes online, usually with a slight markup. Once you have payed for the iTunes Gift Card all that is needed is the Authentication code, which can be emailed right away.

So far I have already downloaded a couple of movies, one in HD and the download speed is very impressive, my HD movie was ready to view in under 5 minutes.

So being a Canadian just got even better, in less than a week I got a 16GB iPhone and I can now purchase and rent all of the US based iTunes Store content.

One concern for switchers is the investment they have in the PC software licenses they have accumulated over time, this can add up to a lot of money! What may not have been considered is the fact that many software companies offer software cross-grades, the option to pay a nominal amount to switch your PC software to a comparable Mac version. In many cases the cost is very low and may only factor in shipping and manual costs.

Here is an account of one users experience dealing with just such a situation with his Adobe Creative Suite 3 PC software.

I had recently purchased Adobe Creative Suite 3 for the PC, and buying a whole new copy was not an option. “Call Adobe, I bet they’ll switch it for you,” the co-worker said. So I thought about it some more.

So I called Adobe’s customer service, and much to my surprise, they will switch your software. You give them the product key, you fill out a form and send it over to them, pay for shipping ($7), and they send you the version you need.

Checkout the full account here

In the style of JamesJM-Switching To Mac Forum Member, we start with a little at-first-glance off-topic story telling, I wrote it for you to read, but those of us that are rather busy folk then you can skip down to where the pictures start; around that area is where the “topic” starts. This is for setting up Mail without a “.Mac” account.

I use MSN messenger, well actually as of Friday 25th January I no longer do. It was the last piece of the Microsoft puzzle that needed to be gotten rid of to make my Mac Bill-free.

But why did I use MSN if I dislike the idea of Microsoft software? Well its simple: email. By using MSN messenger I was not only kept in contact with all my friends, but immediately told when I received a new email, without having to go through the rather arduous task of going to the website, then having to log in. Read the rest of this entry »

Accounting Programs

• Quicken
• Quickbooks
• Jumsoft
• myob-us

Add-ons

• AB Menu - AddresseBook Menu Addition - Linked at MacUpdate
• Google Stuff For Mac
  
• iPhoto Buddy

Audio

• Audio Hijack - Audio Stream/Recorder
• SoundSource - Switch Audio Input/Output On The Fly

Audio Books

• Audio Book Builder

Read the rest of this entry »

Ever want to quickly Show and/or Hide the hidden files in a folder or your entire System? Now you can easily do just that with a simple right click.

1. Download this file and unzip it so you get this “ShowHide Files” Automator script.
2. Put the “ShowHide Files” Automator scriptin this director:
   (/Users/YourUserAccount/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder/ShowHide Files.workflow)
   *If the folders are not on your system then make them.
3. Right click wherever and whenever and select “More/Automator/ShowHide Files”

Thanks again to Wraith2021 for making this useful script.

Turning the Dock 2D

There are people out there who don’t like the new 3D Dock in Leopard. Well if you are one of them, here is a quick and easy terminal command to make it 2D. In Applications > Utilities > Terminal, type:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES

killall Dock

This will turn the Dock 2D. If you want to put it back to normal just type:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO

killall Dock Read the rest of this entry »

Some Tips and Ticks Leopard style, thanks to Wraith2021 from our S2M Forum.

Spaces

Application Binding In Spaces

To set up application binding, launch ‘System Preferences’ and select the “Exposé & Spaces” pane under the “Personal” heading. Switch over to the “Spaces” pane, and press the little plus button below the “Application Assignments” box. In the pop up, choose an application and select “Add.” Under the “Space” column, select which space the application is to be assigned to. Now, whenever you attempt to launch a bound application, OS X will immediately shift to the assigned space and launch it there.

Application Binding to All Spaces

Launch ‘System Preferences’ and select the “Exposé & Spaces” pane under the “Personal” heading. Switch over to the “Spaces” pane, and press the little plus button below the “Application Assignments” box. In the pop up, choose an application and select “Add.” Under the “Space” column, select “Every Space”. Now, whenever you switch spaces the application will follow you to every space you move to.

Moving Windows Between Spaces

If you want to move a window or application between spaces you can do this a number of ways. If you want to stay focused on a single window or application just drag it to the top, bottom, left or right of the screen while keeping hold of it with your mouse, this will switch to the corresponding space without having to let go. Read the rest of this entry »