Bye PC, Mac Got Me

I just read a post about the new MacBook trackpad gestures that will be implemented in Firefox 3.1, and I started to wonder if my MacBook Pro supports any gestures. I quickly found that it supports 2 finger gestures, such as vertical and horizontal scroll. However, upon trying more of the newly supported gestures, I found that I cannot use the “Pinch” gesture as with the iPhone, and I cannot use the “Rotate” gesture, and I cannot use the 3 finger swipe gesture.

So, on my old MacBook Pro, here’s what I’m looking at:

Works like a charm!

Does not seem to work on old generation MacBooks

written by Brady \\ tags: Apple, gestures, MacBook, MacBook Pro, trackpad

I’m still very new to the Mac, so i was never really 100% sold on NeoOffice 2.x, I just decided to use that as my primary office software because it had further integrated with some of the internal operating features of OSX. Less than a week after I installed NeoOffice, OpenOffice.org released OpenOffice 3.0, so I decided to test it out. Needless to say, the reason that I’m writing this post is because I not only decided to check out OpenOffice 3.0, but I decided to switch and let that now be my primary office program. Have I ruled out NeoOffice? Not at all, but I’m going to stick with OpenOffice for now, at least until the September release of NeoOffice 3.0.

Some of the features that I find very useful in the new version of OpenOffice 3.0 are:

• The new splash/open screen, allows documents to be created, opened, etc.
• Multi-page view in the word document editor
• Notes in the margins of word documents

I’m sure there are many other features that I’m overlooking, but those are some of the features that I noticed at first glance.

written by Brady \\ tags: NeoOffice, office applications, office suite, OpenOffice

If you’re converting from PC to Mac like I have, you may be beginning to look for a new office suite to install. If you’re looking for something familiar, Microsoft Office for Mac is always available, but if you don’t mind spending a little extra time to learn a new interface, there are some very viable alternatives to Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac. Especially when you consider the $349 price tag on Office for Mac, it makes these others look more enticing.

Microsoft Office 2008
Your most familiar option when selecting a new office suite for your new Mac will probably be Microsoft Office 2008. When it comes down to it, Microsoft Office is still the most popular office productivity suite and its document formats are widely used and accepted among almost all companies, organizations and universities.

iWork
If you switched to a Mac for all things Apple, then iWork will probably be the platform for you. It comes with 3 applications Pages (word processor), Keynote (presentations) and Numbers (spreadsheets).

OpenOffice
OpenOffice is a free open source application that is available for all operating system platforms. It offers compatibility for opening and saving all popular Microsoft formats. OpenOffice has a handy autocomplete feature that recognize commonly used words and completes the word for you. With a look and feel very similar to that of Microsoft Office, OpenOffice will be a quick transition for any current Microsoft Office users looking for a quick switch, and best of, OpenOffice is entirely FREE!

NeoOffice
NeoOffice is a port of OpenOffice made specifically for the Mac OSX platform. NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native OSX features, which makes it a great choice for Mac users (new and old). Some of the native OSX features found in NeoOffice are:

1. Media Browser
2. Native Floating Tool Window
3. Magnify and Swipe Trackpad Gestures
4. Menus available when no documents are open
5. Import images from scanners and cameras
6. Cmd + Clicking on the window titlebar
7. OSX Leopard grammar checking support

In terms of functionality, you’re not going to find much in Microsoft Office that isn’t offered in NeoOffice.

Summary
If you’re looking for familiarity and don’t mind forking out $349, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is probably going to be the best choice for you. Or if you love everything about Apple, and the simplicity of all things Mac, iWork is probably the platform you’d like to consider – with a price tag of only $79, it is very fairly priced and will get the job done for you. If you’re looking for a fully functioning office suite on a budget (or on no budget), your choices are simple – OpenOffice or NewOffice. I’ve chosen to go with NeoOffice due to the fact that it was ported from OpenOffice, and it builds upon native functions of Mac OSX.

My choice – NeoOffice.

Download Links:

NeoOffice
OpenOffice
iWork
Microsoft Office

written by Brady \\ tags: iWork, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, NeoOffice, office applications, office suite, OpenOffice, productivity software