Pages 08 and Microsoft Word

Well yesterday I picked up iWork 08 and I haven't had a whole lot of time to check it out yet but I do plan on reviewing several (if not all) of the applications in the coming month. Regardless, this morning I needed to prepare a legal pleading for work and I thought it was the perfect time to check out just how well Pages 08 plays with MS Office. I took a word document with a legal pleading paper embed and imported it into Pages. For those non-lawyer types that means the document has a ton of formatting including lines down the left side, line numbers and a variety of other unique formatting that doesn't make much sense but the courts require. Anyway, it looked perfect in pages. Not only did it look just like it did on my windows box, it even recognized the tracked changes.

At this point I am fantasizing about not using that slug Mac Office anymore and already looking for other word processors to delete off my drive (Sorry Bean). Well I got it all done and then clicked "Export" to "Word". I snapped it onto a thumb drive and loaded it into my PC Office 2003 program. That is where the trouble started.

It did recognize the format, more or less, but the font and line spacing was inconsistent, the font size shrunk from 12 to 8 points throughout and the numbering down the left side of the page was all jinky. Put simply, it was a mess. I don't have time to sort out if this was operator error or just the way it works on complex documents. I've got to fix this mess on my screen now. Regardless, I thought I'd drop a quick line in from the trenches on this issue.

Mac Hardware and Software Updates

Although I generally don't consider MacSparky a "news" site, there is some great live coverage of the Mac event today at Engadget right here. At the time of this posting, Steve has released the new iMacs, iLife 08, and iWork 08 and a bump of .Mac drive space (I think) to 10 gb. The software updates look fantastic and will be finding their way on to my hard drive soon.

Screencast 5 - The Quicksilver/Address Book Shuffle

Screencast #5 walks you through the various Quicksilver tricks available for supercharging the Apple Address Book.

 You can Download it Directly Right Here

or better yet subscribe in the iTunes store

The Steve Jobs Conspiracy

Okay, so I know certain news agencies and web sites are reporting that Fake Steve Jobs is not, in fact, Steve Jobs. Sure. That is what they all want us to think. In fact (at least in my mind) fake Steve IS Steve. That is all I'm going to say on that subject. Now I'll be getting back to my own nerdy self delusion.

The New Logo

My good friend, Darren Rolfe, did a brilliant job of making a logo for the MacSparky web site and podcast feed. In addition to being an excellent graphic artist, Darren is also a fellow Mac geek and runs a great website at MacWingnut.com. I really like his site. It is an eclectic mix of Mac news and first hand reports of how he uses his MacBook for fun and profit. If you haven't already, check it out.

Review - Mophie Knox iPod Nano Case

This Review also appeared in the Surfbits ReviewCast #119

I’ve never owned a video iPod. For some reason, my nano always seemed to be just right for my needs. I like the way it fits in my pocket or drops into my car. Now that I have an iPhone, the Nano has taken a bit of a backseat but is still really useful for listening during my commute or working in the yard. The problem with this little Nano is that I abuse the heck out of it.
That is why I was really interested in Mophie’s Knox case for the Nano iPods. The Knox case is an aluminum bodied hinged case with a magnetic closure. The materials say that it is “aircraft grade” aluminum and while I’m not all that sure why that is important, it certainly sounds techy. The case also just looks cool. It has rounded edges and closes with a satisfying snap. It has a small hole in the bottom so you can plug in headphones with the unit still closed.

It is not just an iPod case however. It is also a wallet. It has a little clip on the inside that can hold your cash and a few bank cards. What is interesting about the Knox is you really get two cases.

It also comes with a two piece clear plastic case that snaps over your Nano. This is actually Mophie’s separate Relo product which is a second layer of protection. Once in the Relo plastic case it slides right into the Knox. So with this product you have your slim line plastic case and (for going out) your bigger Knox case.

One thing about the Knox case is that it is big. It puts a noticeable bulge in your pocket if you are traveling light.

I really like this case. It looks good and I like having the option to go big with the Knox or small with just the plastic Relo. It is really made for the G2 Nano but it will also work with a G1 so long as you only use one half of the Relo case. If your in the market for a way to secure your Nano, you will want to take a serious look at the Knox. It lists for $45 but I found several online sellers carrying it at about $30.

Details of iGTD Pro Released

Bartek has released the details of his plans for upgraded versions of his excellent iGTD. Specifically there will continue to be the free version (basic) but he will be adding "iGTD Home and Office" that allows you to sync between Macs and "iGTD Pro" which allows you sync with the web. While I am continuing to use OmniFocus, iGTD is really tempting me. Since I have a windows box at the office it would be really nice to log in to my iGTD data from it. Omni has been quiet about syncing features but I do understand they are racing to finish the 1.0 version. If Omni could just get a reliable iPhone sync that doesn't require me to turn my MacBook into a server, that would probably be enough for me. Still and all, I'll have to keep my eye on iGTD.

You can read about the different versions of iGTD right here.

MS Office 2008 Delay

Today Microsoft announced Mac Office 2008 will not release until ... well .. umm .. 2008. I know a lot of Mac users are on a Jihad against Microsoft. I'm not their biggest fan myself but I use Word. I have to. My entire industry works on it. I've played with NeoOffice a bit but seem to run into problems when working in the "track changes" which I frequently do. All this being said the delay doesn't bother me so much. I'm not even sure if I'll upgrade. The whole new file system seems to me like more trouble than it is worth.

The one thought I'm left with is if MICROSOFT thinks it is not ready for release ... it must be really ugly.

TwitterSparky??

Well I've been reading about this twitter madness for some time and I'm sort of baffled about it but decided nonetheless to give it a go. At this point I have one Twitter friend so if you want to get in my circle let me know. My twitter name is MacSparky.

Fun with Skitch

Thanks to my friend Darren over at MacWingnut, I am now an official Skitch beta user. This little app really makes sharing and commenting on anything on your screen a breeze. You can draw arrows, text, change colors, and even upload to the web with just a few clicks. This one is going to be big when it releases.