Appletell

iWork and MS Office are both great apps depending on your needs and wants.  MS Office is great for people who need to have compatibility with Windows users and iWork is a great addition to the rest of the Mac apps.  So the question is, which one should you get?  Each has its upsides and downsides, but how do you know which one will be right for you? Well, right off the bat there is a few things you can look at to help you make your decision.

1) Price. iWork comes in at a nice $79.00 whereas MS Office is anywhere between $149.95 and $499.95.  They both offer the same apps (text editor, presentation maker, and spreadsheet creator), but iWork is a lot cheaper.  However, they both offer free trials to see which one you like, but I imagine the price is enough to turn some away from MS Office.

2) Viruses. Cult of Mac has written a post stating that of 6 viruses in the wild for Mac OS X, 5 of them are exploited through MS Office.  As far as I’m concerned, this is enough of a reason to not go with the Microsoft product.  I don’t want my machine being more susceptible to attacks from simply editing a text file.

So when the day comes for you to decide between these two apps, which one is it going to be?  Have you already made up your mind?

Parallels, Inc. introduced a new update to its popular Parallels Desktop application on Friday. The latest version, 3.0.5600, brings support for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP Sp3. It also fixes some other issues, including: Kernal panics, unusually high CPU usage, and improvements to shared folders. This update should have automatically downloaded for existing registered Parallels Desktop users - if not, you can download the update here as a DMG (88MB)

If you’re not a fan of Parallels Desktop, there’s always alternatives like Apple’s own Boot Camp and VMware Fusion. Boot Camp is included in Mac OS X Leopard and VMware Fusion costs $60.

Via [TUAW]

You may be familiar with Plasq’s popular Skitch screenshot-sharing application, and their comic book application: Comic Life (which was pre-installed on many Macs). Plasq have just released another amazing application called Comic Life Magiq. It sports a brand new interface, which aims to be more easy to use and even fun to use. This is not an update to the original Comic Life software that most of us are familiar with, but rather a “Pro” version of it - with more features and a newer-looking interface. Some of it’s unique features over Comic Life include: Professionally-designed templates and comic graphics, advanced object manipulation, Vector brushes, masking tools, a built-in image editor, and more.

I tried the demo myself and was very impressed by the user interface. It doesn’t feel like a typical Mac application, yet it works in a way that you can use it without prior knowledge - unlike Photoshop, for example, which can be frustrating for new users.

Comic Life Magiq can be purchased for the low price of $40, current owners of Comic Life can get a discount of $20 (includes Mac pre-installs). See Plasq’s official site for more details and a 30-day demo.

Via [MacUser]

A White Plains, New York robbery case was open and shut, all thanks to a resourceful college student and Back To My Mac.  An unfortunate student (who happened to work at the local Apple Store) and her roommates returned to their apartment to find it ransacked and burgled.  The stolen items included a Macintosh laptop, which happened to have Back to My Mac installed.  Days later, the victim received a call from a friend, asking her if she was online, she replied no, but seized the opportunity to get her stuff back.  Using a work computer, she went online and logged into the Back to My Mac service, proceeding to open Photo Booth and getting a snapshot of the first perp.  Then, searching through the computer, she found pictures of the other burglar. The victim did not recognize the men, but her roommate recognized them from a recent party.  She then took those pictures to the local police, who made arrest within a day.  Almost all of the $5,000 in tech goodies, including her computer and two plasma TVs were returned.

Have you had any interesting computer experiences? If so, feel free to comment below.

Read [LoHud]

Mailplane was one developer’s answer to bridging the gap between desktop e-mail clients and Google’s highly popular webmail service: Gmail. The app looks just like a site-specific web browser for Gmail - however, it has many extra functions that a regular web browser won’t provide you. Mailplane allows you to quickly browse through the iLife Media Browser and attach a file from iPhoto or iTunes, and convert or resize images as necessary. You can also use multiple Gmail/Google Apps accounts within the single app - this is very useful for those with multiple accounts, who often find themselves having to constantly login/out from Gmail. It can also be the default app responding to “mailto:” URLs and can be launched from Address Book - rather than having Apple’s Mail.app be the default.

Version 2.0 public beta supports “Gmail 2” shortcuts and add-ons, e.g. the new Apply/Remove Label and Navigate to Level functions. Attachments can now be formed from the clipboard, which is a useful tool. Account notifications have also been improved from the previous version, now with a “do not disturb” status mode. Mailplane costs $25 and version 2.0 will be free to registered users of version 1. Mailplane requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer.

Via [MacNN]

TUAW has received information from an anonymous tipster about future Apple plans. Apparently, .Mac is going to undergo a complete revamp - and will be re-launched at the same time as the iPhone 2.0 launch - which is expected some time in June (most likely in the Worldwide Developers’ Conference). .Mac’s new changes would bring new features to the service for both Mac and Windows users for the first time; some of these features include:

• .Mac push e-mail
• Wireless syncing for calendars, contacts, and email (similar to Microsoft Exchange)
• .Mac syncing on Windows

It makes sense for Apple to integrate .Mac into the iPhone. Wireless syncing of calendars and contacts would make it a big competitor to Microsoft’s Exchange service - which is widely used as the standard for many businesses. .Mac hasn’t been too successful either, this could be Apple’s way of bringing the product to success.

Via [TUAW]

In a recent MacWorld test, the controversial Open Computer was pitted against the likes of the Mac Mini and the lower-end iMac.  In the tests, one thing was clear from the beginning.  The Mac Mini doesn’t really hold a candle to the Open Computer, making it more of an iMac competitor.  Using the Speedmark performance-measuring tool, the base-line Mac Mini scored 28% lower then the opposition.  Although the base-line iMac scored higher then the Open Computer, it didn’t win by much.  There was only an 8% deviation between their scores. 

With very similar specs to an iMac, and at almost $500 less, you may think that an Open Computer would be a worthy investment, but don’t jump too soon.  First off, the Open Computer seems significantly lower quality then anything Apple would put on the market.  The reviewer of the computer from MacWorld reported not only that there was only a box and packing peanuts protecting the computer from the elements during shipping, but that he had to reroute the power cable, as it was getting caught in the cooling fan.  I wouldn’t ever trust a computer with such simple design flaws.  Another aspect of complaints is the software update issue.  Somewhere along the line, someone decided to disable the Software Update application.  Instead, you have to trudge on over to the Psystar website and fetch the updates manually.  Some of the out-of-the box updates needed (shipped systems come with basic OS X 10.5, no updates) include one that enables Time Machine, which for some reason doesn’t work automatically.  Supposedly an update is in the works for an automatic updater, but its not here yet.  The software updater issue is one of the main complaints of users so far. 

Have you had any Open Computer experience?  If so, please detail some of what you like or dislike in your machine in the comments below.

Read [MacWorld]

Recently, Apple has been stepping up in the business environment and has really begun hammering it home that they are ready to more aggressively enter this field.  With the new iPhone software to contain ActiveSync support for Microsoft Exchange and possibly more business geared features such as a camera for video conferencing, this move is no joke.  Furthermore, it was recently reported that according to a rumor from TUAW, .Mac will soon include “Full over-the-air syncing including calendars, contacts, and email (similar to Exchange).” What do both of these have in common?  They are very attractive offers for anyone involved in a high business position at a big or small company.  Apple has made their impression in the everyday consumer market and is now moving onto bigger goals.  A smart move, I may add.

By making their products better for a business environment, Apple is opening them up to a large amount of potentially new customers.  Many businesses have stuck with Windows as their main OS for years, and Apple has realized that.  By realizing that, they are now beginning to compete with it.  Most of their new products and updates have more features that are meant for business type people which can only lead to good.  Good on you Apple for taking a risk and putting your cards into this deck.  Keep on innovating, we all look forward to you having more of a presence in larger corporation settings!

If you remember a while back, I wrote about a third party app that allows for handwriting recognition on the iPhone called HWPen. Now, according to recent reports, build number 5A258f of the iPhone 2.0 beta software supports a handwriting recognition interface that currently allows only Chinese character input.  A translated page of the website of the man who is reporting about this, Kenneth, goes into detail about the interface and contains tons of screenshots.

This app works by suggesting four character possibilities on the right hand side of the screen as the user begins to write the symbol.  AppleInsider also points out that a recent patent filing by Apple suggested a next generation multi-touch surface that would allow for this and many more touch operations.  All this handwriting news brings back the good old days of the Newton.  Let’s hope it gets a little better of a reputation if it does appear on the iPhone.  Would you like to see this on the next iPhone software update?

Mozy is one of the leading online back-up services. It’s been available on Windows since its launch, and a beta version for the Mac was released not too long ago. The service from EMC allows consumers to back up data on their desktops and laptops to a remote data center, then recover it later if their systems crash. Mozy claims that MozyHome for Mac is the only online backup service out there for the Mac platform - however MacMiniColo.net, a much smaller company I mentioned yesterday, already offer Mac Mini and Time Capsule external hosting (this is great for users who want to take advantage of Time Machine and online backups).

MozyHome lets users upload as much as 2GB of any type of content for free, with no expiration date, according to EMC. Though, for unlimited capacity, the service will cost you $4.95 per month. MozyHome encrypts the files with 448-bit Blowfish encryption and transfers them via a 128-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection - in case you were worried about security.

Via [Macworld UK]