Utility Software

Do you really want AppleCare?

Although Macs are well-made machines, they’re all things considered, exactly that-machines, and extremely complex ones, although most of that complexity is hidden in the user. While Macs have numerous advantages over Windows PCs, nothing is perfect.

At my last day job, I oversaw ordering a new Mac. Even though I recommended ordering AppleCare, my advice was not heeded. One day, upon startup just a while following your end of the one-year warranty period, the Mac showed not the friendly Apple logo, but a black screen filled with UNIX characters.

None of the standard troubleshooting methods worked-restarting the Mac, turning it off and letting it rest awhile, running DiskWarrior, and even looking to reinstall the operating system. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be a hardware failure, in order that it would have to be shipped to the nearest authorized Apple repair facility. Once it arrived there, it turned out reported who’s started up fine. Kudos to the repair center for not creating charges, but the shipping and expense and inconvenience of accomplishing without the machine for a few weeks was something we could have done without.

AppleCare is here in handy for my current machine, an iMac. Shortly after the one-year warranty period expired, the hard drive of the Mac failed. Fortunately, I had purchased AppleCare. After an hours’ drive with my iMac on the most conveniently located Apple Store with a retail center inside the neighboring state of Illinois, the issue was diagnosed, and I was able to grab the Mac the very next day. The amount I would have paid without AppleCare was $364.69.

That’s not all. Less than a year after the repair, the replacement drive also failed! Another trip to the Apple store and also the failed 500 GB hard drive was substituted with a 750 GB unit (because the smaller drives were out of stock). I didn’t complain. Again, the total cost from the repairs would have been $364.69 without AppleCare.

One often-overlooked feature of AppleCare is you will also get free phone support for the complete extended warranty period. This covers not simply the Mac OS but also all in the included iLife programs for example iPhoto, iTunes, GarageBand, iMovie, iWeb, and the like. AppleCare phone support coverage even handles questions on iWork. I have called Apple often to troubleshoot various issues under my AppleCare coverage and often gotten advice that solved the downsides.

Because Apple makes the operating-system, many in the software packages you use, as well as the machine they are powered by, you should not fear being bounced around from one company to a different one once you demand support. The hardware maker can’t claim your trouble can be a software issue and vice versa. Macs are integrated systems, and Apple takes responsibility for the complete package.

So is AppleCare definitely worth the cost? In a word, yes, especially if you use a Mac for business, but really for everyone. Even if you think you’re handy using a screwdriver, might you really replace the display with an iMac on your own, if you may, might you undertake it for just the AppleCare price? In addition, might you repair the hinges or latch with a Macbook? I don’t think so. Apple merchandise is superbly engineered, but a section of this means these are not always the best devices to repair.

In addition, in case you use their Macs running a business, time is money. Wasted hours spent trying to get your machine repaired can turn out costing you much more than the price of AppleCare itself.

And the comfort you receive with AppleCare alone could be definitely worth the investment.

My advice: AppleCare is really a must for virtually any Mac-using professional.

This may be the twenty-first century, for Pete’s sake! Wouldn’t you expect the chore of getting to recollect dozens of passwords to be a thing of the past? After all, isn’t that the complete function of a laptop computer, to handle our information for us?

Instead, the Internet has built a large number of additional passwords we need to recollect. Every shopping site requires its password. So does every social bookmark submitting site. And every forum. And every social media site. And, and, and…

And yet, built-in computer tools don’t do a very good job of managing our passwords.

That’s why I recommend a browser add-on/standalone software combination called 1Password ($40) from Agile Web Solutions.

Why use a password manager? Doesn’t the Mac keep track of passwords using its keychain? I can supply the answer in a single word: Firefox.

Firefox will be the 800-pound gorilla of browsers, no less than as much as web marketers have concerns. This is because Firefox supports many plug-ins which might be necessary to Web marketers, as described in the earlier section. Firefox uses its own password scheme for remembering your logins. That means sites that you create in Firefox won’t be obtainable in Safari.

1Password does require yet another investment of $40 and, yes, it really is another software program that you will learn to utilize, so normally I might not work with it, but, as Internet marketers, we have to cope with a large number of websites. Not only the websites we create, but social network sites, social bookmark management sites, the blogs we reply to, the blogs we create guest posts on, and the like. So the additional investment essential for a plan like 1Password is unquestionably worth it.

Personally, I was fed up with the erratic behavior of Apple’s keychain. I don’t know whether it really is some sort of corruption on my own Mac or possibly a bug in the software, but Safari would fill within the password for a website sometimes although not others. On OnlyWire, for instance, Safari filled in a password when I visited the web page for several days back to back after which suddenly stopped the process. Much to my annoyance, I found your website wasn’t even listed inside the keychain.

Enter 1Password. Of special usefulness to Web, marketers are 1Password’s ability to store separate logins for a similar website. So, if you’re promoting several unique unrelated websites on, say, Twitter, you may create separate identities that correspond to each site you promote. This way you can keep your tweets relevant to each identity.

1Password even offers your password strength generation feature for the creation of totally random passwords so you aren’t tempted to use something like your dob or the same login for every website. Since 1Password keeps track of your passwords, it’s not necessary to bother about causing them to be memorable. 1Password boasts a “Strength” meter to tell you how “unguessable” your password is (but this is just in line with the length of the password, not whether it contains letters, numbers, and symbols, so it’s simply a rough guide).

If your Mac is just not 100% secure (as an example, if you use a laptop) you should use 1Password to store your private data, such as Social Security number, credit card numbers, and in many cases software serial numbers. 1Password is secured which has a master password and uses 128 bit AES encryption.

In addition to your desktop Mac and laptop, 1Password can run using your Windows PC, iPad, and iPhone or iPod touch, which means you can share passwords among devices.

Macintosh troubleshooting is a thing a large number of people who need a new computer think about. Unless you really are a Mac fanatic the idea of getting repairs done and also getting some Macintosh troubleshooting help can be something that you can consider when purchasing a brand new computer.

In this informative article, I am going to coach you on a little in regards to the advantages and downsides of buying a Mac and hopefully offer some Macintosh troubleshooting advice that may sway your selection inside the Mac direction.

Macintosh Troubleshooting and Mac Advantages

I like to think about telling people the huge benefits and downsides of owning a Mac is a type of Macintosh troubleshooting. If you really consider it helping someone opt to go Mac is really a type of troubleshooting.

#1 – Microsoft Products – Most individuals who consider purchasing a Mac initially are worried about compatibility with Windows computers.

Mac computers can run almost every important Microsoft product so there won’t be any compatibility difficulties with your Windows friends. Microsoft office runs perfectly with a Mac so productivity will not be affected.

#2 – Convenience – Macs are built with the user planned. I find that whenever introduced to a computer initially most of the people fare better which has a Mac when compared to a Windows machine.

If my Dad can type in the computer world and love a Mac…you can now.

#3 – Compatibility – Macs are plug and play, giving them the ability to quickly connect with and recognize devices including printers, external computer drives, cameras, plus much more.

#4 – Wi-Fi Ready – Every Mac offers you the opportunity to go with a wireless network and join without delay, there is not fiddling while using settings and tweaking involved as you would find on the PC.

#5 – Solid Foundation – The Mac operating system is built on UNIX, which seems to be more inherently stable than other systems.

#6 – Safety – Since Mac users are a smaller percentage of the computer using public most hackers think it is almost useless to style viruses and malware for your system

Few businesses exclusively use Macs so there is little change chance of financial gain within it for those below honest people within the world.

Macintosh Troubleshooting, the Disadvantages

#1 – Repairs – Since Mac users are a real small part of your computer pie it may sometimes be hard to find an experienced technician.

#2 – Macintosh Troubleshooting – Once again due to the smaller amount of users there are fewer resources the Mac user can look to during times of trouble, though there are some good forums for that Mac user they’re fewer in number than PC forums.

Macintosh Troubleshooting -Resetting PRAM

If you are encountering random shutdowns, blackouts without response, failed starts, or connectivity problems to blame may be the Parameter Random Access Memory or PRAM.

To reset PRAM abide by these steps.

1. Shut down the pc
2. Find the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option P, and R.
3. Turn the computer back on
4. Hold down all 3 key stated previously until you hear the beginning up sound twice.
5. Release the keys

If you continue to experience the same problems it is time to locate a service technician

Macs have advantages and disadvantages but I feel how the pros significantly outweigh the cons and that you ought to consider the Mac when you need a fresh computer. Resetting PRAM might help fix several problems but if this Macintosh troubleshooting solution doesn’t work take your personal machine to a professional technician.

A website and (almost certainly) your blog post could be the first step toward your Internet marketing strategy. To create the former, you need a website editor. This is a software package that lets you create webpages, frequently, and not having to understand how to write HTML. They do this which has a word processor-like interface that automatically and behind the scenes creates the HTML code that describes the webpage to browsers.

The Mac possesses an embarrassment of riches in relation to website or HTML editors. There are dozens-so many that I couldn’t start to describe all of them here. So I will have to limit myself towards the ones you happen to be most likely to come across.

Most likely, in case your Mac was manufactured within the past couple of years, you currently have a good website creation tool set up on your hard drive. That is Apple’s own template-driven iWeb.

iWeb is dependant on themes. When you first launch the program, you happen to be immediately presented having a template picker where you can choose an amount of Apple-designed “looks” on your website. Each theme carries with it a variety of page templates internal: a welcome page, contributing to my page, photos, blog, podcast, and so forth. Choose a template and it appears in the Main window, with placeholder pictures and text to give you a solid idea of what your finished site will look like.

Of course, the program is well-integrated while using other Apple iLife products. If you want to incorporate a picture, you can click on the Media button in the toolbar to call up the Media Browser (from this level you’ll be able to also access GarageBand to insert one of the podcasts or iMovie to include your videos). You add pages simply by clicking the plus (+) button for the left sidebar.

You go through the Publish button to upload the site to your server. The original version of iWeb could publish just to MobileMe accounts, although third-party add-ons allowed users to write anywhere. Now the capacity to choose your own web host was made into the program.

Unlike with traditional HTML editors, you should not ever go through the generated site pages on your hard disk. If you want to make changes with a page in your site, you only open the web page from within iWeb and re-save your projects and also the changes are automatically written for your hard disk, ready for uploading in your server.

Although all of this makes Web publishing simple, what’s more, it ensures that you are unable to make changes to your site externally of iWeb. After all, any changes you’re making for the site in the third-party program will likely be overwritten when it can save you the website from inside iWeb. Using the services of an online developer is going to be difficult unless the developer also uses iWeb.

Unfortunately for affiliate marketers, iWeb’s HTML just isn’t exactly SEO optimized; the title tag can have only text on the page, the web pages it generates don’t have any heading, meta, or alt tags, as well as menus, are JavaScript-based so engines like google can’t index them.

Another challenge with the program is that it creates rather large, slow-loading websites. The software is defined so that you are able to easily make edits to the photos you add on your own page anytime, re-cropping them as you like. This is because the first, uncropped photo is saved by the program. It also means, however, your website will likely be rather large. Fast loading websites are essential to marketers in order to avoid losing potential visitors. More and more people have broadband but you may still find a good quantity of dial-up users out there.

Most of the people who are having an Apple Macintosh for as long as they remember could find it difficult to make use of a different system even for a day. But there may be scenarios in places you just cannot make use of your Mac because of some technical difficulty. There may be situations where it may need an upgrade or a malfunctioning component has to be fixed. Such problems commonly manifest themselves however or that you make use of your Mac. When such a critical situation presents itself, the top option would be to pick a reliable Macintosh rental service. They will provide you with an option for your own personal Mac while it is being serviced.

Cost advantages

A Mac can be rented out at as little as half its actual sale price. For a small or medium scale business commemorate an intelligent option because they need not invest large sums into buying office equipment. A reputable Macintosh rental company that has a healthy inventory can meet most of your office needs. For individuals, renting is a good solution in case you require an alternative to your Mac while it is being serviced. Renting a Mac can be a good idea if you do not desire to lug around your own Mac in your client’s office or some other venue you may want to go to.

Service and maintenance

Leasing a Mac coming from a reputed rental company provides you with access to at any hour tech support team. Customer service handles all queries related to anything from the hardware itself with technical issues. A well-equipped provider normally has a team of trained technicians at their disposal to aid you in case of any technical difficulties. If and when you need any maintenance operations to become performed, locating a simple mobile call in your rental company will take care of your issues. In case you are new to the equipment, the technicians can easily and efficiently show you how to operate and run the device.

Flexibility

A Macintosh rental company allows you to quickly adapt to your changing company. In case your company is changing its primary address, your rental company will allow you to move as well as set up all your rental equipment in the new address. Most rental services don’t charge anything extra for it.

The flexibility of a rental service also allows you to extend your rental plan without too much hassle. It is important to have a flexible rental plan in case the device you own remains tied down for service and repairs. This enables you to continue your operations unhindered.

A rental service can provide you with the most recent hardware you can purchase and never having to purchase it. You can also use a rental company to test and test new equipment should you be actually thinking about purchasing your personal hardware. Thus it lets you make efficient purchase decisions for your small business.

A Macintosh rental can conserve your financial resources and time. It helps you in making wise business choices. It will give you the financial flexibility to bypass major capital investments and relieves you of service and maintenance issues. Make sure you complement using a rental company that features a reliable track record and knowledgeable technical staff.

Today the Apple manufacturer product line holds a universal appeal, but perhaps its most critical captive audience is young people. With the ability to shape consumption preferences like no other group, today’s kids are feverish consumers of technology and also the future of the industry. But many of today’s dedicated Macintosh users remained as inside push-chair, or maybe even years from birth in the event the company first set out. It’s about time to look at a history lesson I think!

In 1976 the ‘two Steves’, Jobs and Wozniak, designed a union that could embark on to revolutionize the facial skin of private computing. First from Jobs’ bedroom, and then his parent’s garage, the 2 put down to conquer the rapidly emerging computing scene. And in time the potential for Wozniak’s technical skill and Jobs’ sheer enthusiasm and know-how would embark on being proven about the largest scale. Early Apple models, including the Apple I, were hand-built by Wozniak and shown off in a variety of Silicon Valley enthusiast meetings. At this stage, however, computers were the reserve of true ‘nerds’ – not the groundbreaking and widely adopted piece of kit we realize today.

And it was the Macintosh (or Mac) that changed all this. As you view this short article you will end up getting together with a GUI (or Graphical User Interface). You almost certainly take this without any consideration, because hey, every computer has graphics capabilities with an intuitive interface so that you can navigate, right? Not always so. And it was these manufactured goods took computers from an early tech dream to a requirement for almost everyone within the western world. The Mac premiered back in 1984 and became a sales success almost immediately, nevertheless, it faced stiff competition some years later from your famous rival. Microsoft launched its Windows operating system soon after with a lesser shelf price it started to quickly consume market share. This was an issue of price instead of quality – many shared the fact that Apple was the real innovator along with the superior product. However, Windows proved to have stamina as well as a broad range of useful software titles.

The performance figures from the original Macintosh started to sour and Jobs himself was forced out in the company he founded in 1986 after corporate disagreements. The years that followed almost saw the business swallowed up entirely, due in large part to its find it difficult to compete with Microsoft as well as an ailing product line, Then one day, with an entire circle stroke of fate, Apple’s destiny changed dramatically. The company Steve Jobs left to create was acquired by Apple CEO Gil Amelio and as a consequence Jobs was brought back into the loop first just as one adviser, and in just one year, CEO.

In 1998 the very best selling Mac ever launched at that time, the iMac, shifted over seventy-five percent of a million units in just 4 as well as a half months about the market. Reinvigorated by this success the Macintosh team put down to rival the Windows platform by rapidly acquiring proprietary software titles bundled into its iLife suite. This was another wise move to the Mac, your personal computer whose beauty and satisfaction was really uncertain but sometimes overshadowed by way of a deficiency of complementary programs. In the years to follow along with the MacBook Air/Pro and Mac Pro workplace computers followed, each changing the eye of its respective marketplace. To this day the Mac still possesses a comparatively small business – but just the same an extremely powerful one. More than sixty-six percent of top-end personal computers sold inside the United States have emblazoned achievable iconic part-bitten Apple. And today more than ever it seems like the legacy of Mac is set growing.