MSN Messenger 8 for Mac (BETA)

On March 24, 2010, in Blog, by Mike Hudson

MSN MessengerNews has hit the wires today that the latest incarnation of MSN Messenger for Mac. Version 8.0 brings both video and audio conversations to the table. Something that’s been sadly lacking in previous versions of Mac messenger.

The fancy new messenger feature comes with it’s own pitfalls, which I am sure are being worked on by a team of developers..
1.  Display pictures currently don’t work in the msn chat windows, leaving you with the default MSN ‘person’
2.  File transfers between contacts don’t work
3.  AudioVideo calls don’t work on some network configurations
4.  Some custom emoticons don’t work in the msn chat windows, leaving you with a blank box, or just text.
The system requirements of MSN Messenger 8 are:
1.  Apple Mac OS X 10.5 or higher
2.  Processor: 1.83 GHz or better
3.  Memory: 2 GB or more
4.  Video and audio obviously require a web camera and a microphone
So although the app is far from ‘polished’ at least it’s a step closer and it’s going to save some time having to load skype purely for VideoAudio needs.
If you fancy your chances, download a copy of the beta here
2 Comments
Leave A Response

Tagged with: • • • • • • •  

Two Click DVD and Blu-ray extraction

On March 22, 2010, in Blog, by Mike Hudson

If like me, you are an avid laptop user who’s laptop travels with them everywhere, then carrying a collection of DVD’s with you is essential for those times when you exhaust the internet. However, carrying a large collection of discs everywhere you go is so last year! Especially now with the price of terabyte drives dropping at the rate they are.

Which means it makes perfect sense to copy all the DVD’s you own to image files, which you can mount directly on your laptop and watch without hassle. Not only does this save on what you have to carry, but also the amount of battery power you laptop consumes as there are less moving parts. Over the many years of laptop use I have been exposed to many different flavours of DVD extraction applications, all with their own different benefits. However MakeMKV is pretty special. In the way that you only need two clicks on you mousetrackpadtablet screen in order to initiate the ‘ripping’ of your DVD and even your Blu-ray movie! 
Yes! That’s right, I did say Blu-ray…. This perhaps has to be one of the first ever free applications with Blu-ray capabilities! Obviously there are some prerequisites to this.. In that your laptop will need a Blu-ray drive, and you will need a shed load of storage space! I am not able to test the Blu-ray functions, as I have not yet made the leap to Blu-ray but I’ve heard its functions are faultless.
All you need to do is download MakeMKV for your operating system:
Windows XP, Vista or 7 (32bit or 64bit) – MakeMKV 1.5.2
X86 Mac OS X 10.4 or later – MakeMKV 1.5.2
Once you have done installing, pop in the DVD hit the ‘Make MKV’ button, and go put the kettle on!
Now, to play back your MKV file, you are going to need and advanced player.. Something like VLC from VideoLan will do the job nicely.
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac

On January 26, 2010, in Blog, by Mike Hudson

For a good few months now I have been happily migrating my computing habits and loosing my windows dependancy to shuffle over to being completely Mac based. When I first migrated over I was happily using Sun’s VirtualBox, but recently one of my friends told me about Parallels.

My first impressions where that I am happy with my current Virtual Machine set up and no need to change! However, I today managed to get round to downloading a trial copy of Parallels. First impressions was a bit of mixed feelings. It took quite some time to convert my VirtualBox VM to Parallels. However now it’s done – I love it! 
The Windows applications and icons integrate seamlessly with the Mac OS X. Giving you your running Windows apps in the dock, along side your other Mac apps. You even get your normal system tray apps in the toolbar!
Upon running your Windows based applications, they launch as if they are standard mac apps. Seamlessly integrating into the Mac Environment. All the file opensave menu items operate as if there running as normal, giving you access to your windows file systems. 
I really can’t believe how seamless the integration is.. This is a must have application for any heavy mac user. Even Steam powered games seem to work well. With for VM’s is quite unusual! 
Parallels even claims it’s able to support the aero application switching, I am currently unable to test the fact as I only have XP on the VM currently.
Parallels is available direct for £59.99, I have seen it selling in high street stores for at least £10 more then the online price. So this really isn’t a bad price!
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • •  

Rowmote – Gets virtual dock

On January 10, 2010, in Blog, by Mike Hudson

Early in December I blogged about Evan Schoenberg’s Rowmote the ultimate iPhone/Mac remote control. Well Evan’s been busy developing Rowmote, and has come up with this new fantastic feature. Rowmote’s latest update (2.4) includes this on phone dock. Which mirrors the applications on your Mac’s Dock, highlighting the dock application on your iPhone either activates the app or launches it if it’s not already running.

But why not just use a hardware remote I hear you say! Rowmote is so much more then just a normal remote control. Rowmote has the ability to take full control of your mouse curser, keyboard and trackpad. Meaning (with good eye sight, or a big enough monitor) you can use your mac from miles away!
Not only does it support remote controlling Mac OS X – but also the fantastic Apple TV. (which is next on my planned investments list)
As for support for this app, I had issues trying to get it to work with my Mac at first. It turned out my VPN Connection Software’s (Checkpoint SecureClient) firewall was blocking Rowmote’s traffic. A quick email to Rowmote’s support email address and Evan was straight on the case! 
I really can’t promote this app enough! I have both hardware remote and magic mouse, but still find myself using Rowmote to control my Mac!
There are two versions available in the App Store:


Rowmote Standard:($0.99/£0.59)
 Rewmote Pro:($4.99/£2.99)

0 Comments
Leave A Response

Tagged with: • • • • • • • •  

Run Windows apps on your Mac

On January 6, 2010, in Blog, by Mike Hudson

As a recent windows to mac convert, I quickly realised there was some applications which as of yet had not been ported to Mac OS X. An these where the things which I was really starting to miss! 

I have previously used many various Linux Distro’s so was fully away of the Wine Project, however I was having problems with some of my windows apps. So I decided the only way to go was a virtual machine with windows installed. For this I used Sun’s Virtual Box. This filled the gap nicely. However, it was a little processor intensive to run some of the smaller apps.
Luckily for me (and you) a new wrapper for Wine has been released. WineBottler manages and wraps your windows based applications into Mac OS X apps. 
So – once downloaded and installed, WineBottler will keep an eye out for any Windows files (with .exe extensions) and offer to kindly wrap them for you in a wine based OS X app.
WineBottler even comes with the ability to download pre-wrapped Windows applications, apps such as Amazon’s Kindle, BusPro 8.1, Diva-GlS, Filzip, Guild Wars, Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8, K-Melson, Steam, Tech2000, Textpad, Total Commander, Winzip and WixEdit.
I have yet to install and test Wine, but I have read on other blogs that it works pretty well!
In the meantime, why not download your copy and see what you can wrap!
0 Comments
Leave A Response

Tagged with: • • • • •  
Previous Entries Next Entries

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...

Archives

All entries, chronologically...