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Apr 27 2009

IRC Update

To join us on the bleeding edge of the 2005 MacWorld Keynote, you’re going to need an IRC client. Pick one up here and join us Tuesday (details).

ChatZilla

First off, if you are browsing with Firefox, all you have to do is install the ChatZilla extension. This add-on acts as an IRC client within Firefox and has more options that you’d expect from an extension.

mu IRC Update Colloquy

If you’re hung on the iChat interface, here’s a free IRC client with a polished and very Aqua interface. It supports plug-ins and file transfers.

mu IRC Update Conversation

Here’s another iChat look-alike. Conversation supports drag-and-drop and is the pick for several of us at MacMerc.

mu IRC Update MacIrssi

If your flavor is a little more geeky, try this uber-terminal port of the UNIX Irssi client.

mu IRC Update Fire

In this new 1.5 version of the OS X classic multi-protocol chat app you’ll find tabs, logging and more.

You ought to be all hooked up for the Keynote now. See you Tuesday. Oh, and do enter your identity info into your client. I don’t want to see an ircNewbie in the channel.

Brian

mu IRC Update Downloads provided by MacUpdate

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: aqua interface, bleeding edge, client, colloquy, drag and drop, file transfers, Fire, geeky, identity, info, IRC, irc client, irssi, Macworld, pick, plug ins, port, terminal port, Update, version

Apr 27 2009

Tracking Tiger

I’d like to start off by saying that Tiger has a lot of exciting new features, and represents a significant milestone in the development of OS X. With no disrespect to the year and a half Apple’s programmers have put in, we’re going to do our best to match some of the Tiger’s best features – for free, or close.

Quicksilver

One huge bonus in each of this week’s picks is the excellent community support that make these applications so powerful. Quicksilver, like Spotlight helps you find things on your Mac faster. Through an extensive plugin library, Quicksilver finds select files and folders on your system, and provides you quick access to their contents.

You have to try Quicksilver to fully appreciate its convenience. The website hosts a bunch of plugins which give you commands and search data from your favorite applications. The next Tiger-only version will feature many new features, but the latest beta will be preserved for Panther users.

Adium

Tiger will ship with a new enhanced version of iChat. This new version will support video conferencing. Adium does not support this. The new iChat is now Jabber-based, and Adium is probably the best Jabber client for OS X.

Again, part of what makes this such a great application is the community supporting it. Adium is much more than a multi-protocol chat client. On Adium’s site users share sound sets, window themes and scripts. The forum is full of users too. Did I mention a strong community?

OnMyCommand

Now, this is not quite Automator, but this custom contextual menu system could save you all kinds of time on repetitive tasks. In fact with the plethora of commands available from the website, you can create contextual menu items to do everything from Force Eject to Track a UPS Package. This great utility should save you at least as much time as you will waste playing with it (and trust me, that’s a lot of time).

Konfabulator

Okay, this one is neither a surprise, nor is it free. However, I’m willing to make an exception here if you’ll indulge me. Konfabulator is a konfabulous way to both make your desktop more useful and attractive and is hauntingly similar to Tiger’s Dashboard. There are more user-contributed widgets than you can shake a stick at, and the community support is great. If all you want from Tiger is lick-able widgets, save yourself some money and go with Konfabulator.

There you are. It’s not quite Tiger, but you can’t argue with the price.

Brian

Downloads provided by MacUpdate

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: adium, chat client, client, contextual, convenience, development, jabber client, Konfabulator, menu system, milestone, plugin, plugin library, repetitive tasks, search, search data, strong community, time, users share, version, window themes

Apr 27 2009

Alternative Office

As software models emerge, the scenery of software changes. Only forces this strong could dethrone a dominant software suite like Microsoft Office. Both web-based services and Open Source software have produced the following free office suites.

Last week we looked at a couple free AJAX services, Writely and NumSum that respectively replace Word and Excel. But these are feature-limited and experimental. This week’s picks come with office-sized feature sets.

ThinkFree Office Online

ThinkFree has years of experience in office applications. In its newest version, ThinkFree has taken its Java-based alternative to the web. This new online office suite opens, edits and saves Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. In addition to supporting all kinds of Office features, like columns, advanced formatting, graphics and more. ThinkFree Office Online also supports web-based presentation via document embedding in your blog.

thinkfreeonline Alternative Office

Whats more, your files and the software reside online and are accessible from any computer with a browser and Java. The web-based aspect of the suite makes it convenient, but also requires patience as the software loads into your browser. The initial load is longer than subsequent ones. But unlike many Java applications, its performance on the Mac is more than adequate for regular use. While ThinkFree’s beta professes limited support for Mac, Linux, Firefox and Safari I found it to work well on both Mac browsers, Safari working better.

OpenOffice.org 2

This Open Source project is in its fifth year of adapting Sun’s Star Office into a Microsoft Office replacement. While there have been some early criticisms of the new version’s speed, I have found it the best Office replacement yet. In testing the suite I found OpenOffice to handle complex features like conditional formatting, tables, columns and embedded graphics.

OpenOffice 2 for Mac is available now as an Advanced Build, a prelease version that is described as stable. In my testing I did not experience any troubles. This new build includes the complete suite and interface – making it the first OpenOffice version for Mac with full feature parity. This includes Base, the Access-like database tool and Math (used for scientific formulas) and Draw in addition to the standard Writer, Calc and Impress.

openoffice2 Alternative Office

All that functionality comes at a price – more than 300 megabytes. The suite also requires and uses the X11 windowing system: a free install from Apple. But, this new version comes with valuable functionality and performance improvements. OpenOffice provides Mac users with a very compelling option. Mac Office has been incomplete in comparison to its Windows companion. With a full-featured replacement, there’s no reason to upgrade Office for Mac.

So, whatever your style of word processing and spreadsheeting – there is a compelling, complete and modern alternative to Microsoft Office. Isn’t freeware great?

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: alternative office, dominant software, initial load, Java, Java-based, NumSum, office features, online, Open, open source project, open source software, OpenOffice, replacement, software, software loads, software models, thinkfree office online, version, Word

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