December 2005 Archives

No more Mac IE

Microsoft recently announced that they will officially end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31, 2005. Also on January 31, 2006 Internet Explorer (IE) will no longer be available for download. Microsoft is recommending that Mac users migrate to a more recent web browser such as Safari.

This is not news unless there are Mac users who are still using IE and the number should be slim. Microsoft stopped development of IE for Mac in June 2003. Over two years with no development with the exception of security enhancements.

Firefox was the topic in the last discussion in which I briefly explained the features. Firefox currently only works on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Mac users who are on OS 9 or earlier cannot use this. There is another solution.

Enter Opera. Opera works on multiple operating systems. Opera currently works on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris Sparc, OS/2, QNX, and mobile phones. Users of Mac OS 8 or 9 can also use Opera. Although the version used for Mac OS 8/9 is 6.03, the current version for Windows and Mac OS X is 8.5.1.

Opera is free and has many features that make it stand out. Opera even makes the claim, The Fastest Browser on Earth. Opera is the most full-featured Internet tool on the market. Special features include a built-in E-mail client and Opera’s IRC chat client.

This is just another option for anyone looking to get rid of IE whether you use Windows or Mac.

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Better Web Experience

There is a web browser that many people use to surf the web. This browser many times will cause spyware and viruses to infect your computer, which in turn may cause an enormous amount of pop-ups. For this reason surfing the web would have many running scared. This happens daily for many business and home users.

I am talking about using Microsoft Internet Explorer. This browser is known for not being secure. Unfortunately not many people know that there are alternatives for viewing information on the web. One of those alternatives is Firefox. This browser is currently in version 1.5 and has proven to be a very powerful browser to replace Internet Explorer.

Mozilla is the company who actively develops Firefox. Who is Mozilla?

From Mozilla’s website

Mozilla Corporation relies on the talents of a core group of employees, as well as a vast community of worldwide contributors, to build and deliver great, user-friendly products. Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation. Established in July, 2003, the Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote choice and innovation on the Internet.

You are probably asking “Why should I bother with Firefox when I am working fine with Internet Explorer?” Well, there are a few reasons why using Firefox would be a better choice for web browsing. Firefox blocks viruses, spyware, and popup ads for a better web experience. Below are other features of Firefox.

Faster Browsing:

You will notice that pages open faster even on a dialup connection.

Tabbed Browsing:

Open multiple web pages in a single browser window. You can even drag and drop tabs to keep related pages together.

Live Bookmarks:

Instead of constantly checking web pages for changes, a live bookmark will deliver updates to you automatically.

Customization:

You can add more features by installing extensions or even change look of the browser. You have more control of your web experience.

I recently installed Firefox on my parent’s computer and immediately there was a difference in page load speed. They are on dialup. They also mentioned that pop-ups have ceased.

Firefox works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. This is just a brief overview of Firefox. If you would like more information about the browser or would like to install, then check out Firefox and change the way you experience the web.

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Note to del.icio.us: Sorry to see you sell out

Last week I briefly discussed del.icio.us and how the service has replaced .mac as my bookmark sync. Essentially, I have my bookmarks in my browser, but also would like to have them available when I am not at my computer. Most of the time this translates to when I am at work. I liked del.icio.us for my own bookmarks, but did not really care about the whole community thing.

I am rethinking the service ever since I read that Yahoo! bought them (Yahoo! will be written as Yahoo because punctuation in a name is rid.culo.us!). I am not a fan of Yahoo and I got rid of my Yahoo account long ago when I was getting more SPAM than I could count. I have tried several Yahoo services which I have found to suck. This is also the reason why I have not jumped on the flickr bandwagon. I have read good and bad comments about flickr and thought that this would be a good way to share photos.

But to use flickr I would need a Yahoo account, which I really do not care to get. I try to avoid Yahoo the same way I avoid AOL. All my bookmarks that are on del.icio.us are located in my browser in case the site were to go down for any reason, which is possible with Yahoo. For now, I am not going to be adding any more bookmarks to del.icio.us and will be using .mac sync for my bookmarks until I can find a replacement.

For the developers of del.icio.us the big paycheck from Yahoo is wonderful, but for some of the users this may not be so wonderful. From what I have been reading, it is a mixed bag. Currently flickr is going to Yahoo accounts and I know that del.icio.us will go the same route. It would not shock me if Yahoo starts a pay service with flickr and del.icio.us. Such as a premium account would allow you more features for bookmarks and photos that are not allowed with a basic free account. Of course if that does not happen then they will probably slap you with so many advertisements that you will think SPAM is great.

Let’s look at a Yahoo service. Y! Music is not a service I have tried for the fact that I use a Mac and Yahoo Music does not support Macintosh. Not that it matters because I use iTunes which blows away Yahoo’s service. Not sure why anyone would use that piece of shit. I can leave that rant for another day.

It is too bad that a good idea has to be swallowed up by a giant. It seems that Yahoo and Google are fighting head-to-head on centralizing internet services with Microsoft not far behind. I fear that any good small company that has a great service will be gobbled up by a larger company to the point where small players have no chance. Also seems as though the great services come out of smaller companies.

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.mac: Your services will no longer be needed

Apple’s .mac service has served me well over the past two and a half years and I have used nearly every feature of .mac at one point or another, except for Groups. The features that I used the most were Mail, Bookmarks, Address Book sync, and iDisk. However, my yearly service expires next May and this time there may not be a renewal. I can no longer justify the price when I do not use many of the features.

There are features that do not neccessarily need a .mac account which I will still use. One is the sync feature and the other is iCards. I sync my addresses and calendars to my iPod and not the internet. iCards are free electonic postcards that can be sent to anyone. Of course there is extra functionality with .mac, but I do not need them.

I have found alternatives for the other items I used. Instead of using iDisk I now keep data stored on my domain server. I even used Homepage for a short while until I wanted to start implementing PHP and MySQL, which is used for this website and not a feature of .mac. Syncing bookmarks was a great feature until I found del.icio.us which seems to be a better option without a .mac account. I like the setup and all my bookmarks are web based.

Backup is a program I used once or twice and then stopped. I now use a different program for backing up my data which I feel better suits my needs. This is another feature that I believe can be used without a .mac account as long as you backup to something other than iDisk.

The only feature I still use is Mail and I am in the process of phasing that out. Again since I have my own domain I can create as many address and aliases as I want. Once this is done then my account will not be used. Now the only way I would consider keeping the service is if I had multiple computers. In this case I could keep all my data synchronized on every computer and not have to worry about having incorrect information.

Apple’s service works well and is very useful for many situations. But the time has come for me to move on and use other services that offer more functionality for my needs. Apple is constantly improving the service and adding more functionality. If I find myself wanting to use functionality that is offered by .mac, then I may consider renewing. I have until May 25, 2006.

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