COMPUTER CHAT December 2012
by Keith Richardson
First off, hearty wishes for a very happy Holiday Season and a healthy and satisfying New Year.
November saw Windows 8 become a hit with the kids, perhaps not so much with “our crowd.” Do ads for the Surface tablet (running versions of W8) leave you, too, wondering what Microsoft thinks they’re marketing? Online reports claim that a great many Windows users have no plans to upgrade beyond Windows 7. Indeed ,many still cling to XP! Even Industrial/business users are reportedly steering clear of W8 (See TechRepublic online: “Rejected: 74% of organizations have no plans to deploy Windows 8”). At the same time, those who take a closer look will find many positive reports about W8. I just don’t know that seniors are going to be quick to embrace such a major change or that they’re going to feel as comfortable with a Surface as with an iPad. MacWorld reports that Mac users, too, have been slower than expected to give up OS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) in order to embrace Mountain Lion (10.8).
Speaking of Apple, through most of November, Lower Mainlanders couldn’t buy an iMac anywhere except perhaps at Chris Smythe’s Crs24tekk used Mac shop in North Vancouver. Stopped in to visit him in mid November and found, as usual, a good assortment of 2 to 5 year-old iMacs in excellent condition.
Several MacSeniors clients had been desperately and unsuccessfully seeking old stock at locations like London Drugs because the new iMacs—as spiffy as they look—no longer provide a SuperDrive for CDs / DVDs. Apple, remember, in 1998, years ahead of their competition, abandoned floppy drives in the first iMacs. So as many of us did back then, some will fork over $79 to purchase portable, thin, efficiently designed, USB plugin SuperDrives. Many, moreover, will grumble about the painful cost of “progress.”
Finally got my Mountain Lion MacBook Pro (13”, non-retina display, with built in SuperDrive, extra RAM and a larger hard drive than the entry level model). So far it’s performing extremely well. I do a lot of file sharing between Macs and find Apple’s (ML) AirDrop file sharing is fantastic. I’m also enjoying the dazzling speed of my first Thunderbolt/USB 3 external disk drive (Buffalo product).
Yes, the MBP is a deductible expense. If I weren’t in business, though, I’d settle for an iPad mini, a product I’m told is moving steadily at London Drugs outlets. (“They’re so light and so thin!” my wife whispers). Many clients tell me that iPads are slowly replacing their “old Macs,” and, as they stop “over-thinking” them, winning a place in their hearts. iPad lessons, they insist, are well worth the cost!
November also led to investigating my High Speed Shaw Internet connection. The configuration of Shaw’s new Cisco DPC3825 modem/router and my older Cisco Valet M10 router was not giving me the Broadband 50 speed I was paying for. Happily, Shaw tech-support speedily and cheerfully helped resolve the problem. I’ve seen significant improvement in Shaw’s tech-support and customer service in the past three months—after over a year of dreadful “under service.”
Thanks to Chris Smythe for sharing a terrific source for free desktop wallpaper. There are dozens of free suppliers out there, but if you’re looking for fabulous easy to download backgrounds in the size you need, have a look at interfacelift.com. I also recommend wallpaperswide.com, especially the HD (High Definition) choices.
And, finally, thanks to Keith W-B for keeping in touch and offering some feedback. It’s nice to know that someone is reading this column!
Don’t forget to check our our webpage at macseniors.ca !