Antipresto: Deviant Magic

I love the Apple computers, and Mac OSX Leopard is awesome in many ways. But I have some issues with it, nothing as serious as those with Vista, and nothing I see being impossible to correct, but here they are:

1. External Drive issues: I’ve had issues with drives not being recognized, networked drives, and Time Machine. A properly-formatted, previously properly-functioning LaCie external terabyte drive suddenly stopped working after an attempt to use one of it’s partitions for Time Machine.
2. WiFi disconnects, over-simplified interface. By default, the settings chosen as “primary” by Apple in Leopard undermine many user’s abilities. Yes, I know that part of Apple’s semi-unique appeal draws in a user-group “new to computers” through ease of use—that’s a good thing, but when something doesn’t work, it’s often feels harder to figure out how to fix it than it actually is to fix. For some reason, more than any other desktop, notebook or device, my fully-updated Leopard iMac 24inch disconnects from (and cannot locate) my home WiFi network. I keep wishing for an update for the Airport Extreme Base Station or Mac OSX Leopard.
3. MovableType “visual editor” issues. I commend Apple for working hard on the Safari browser; in fact, I commend the company for opening up much of it’s software to Windows users—not just Safari… iTunes as well. Microsoft apps Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player are offered to Mac users; even though many of “us” don’t use these options, it’s nice that they’re there. (Random-related info for Mac users: If you’re looking for a great media player option check out VLC Player and Flip4Mac.) MovableType is great; I’m using it for most of my sites, I love the fact that (when I can, finally) it canbe modified so easily and installed via “1-click” through my favorite host, Media Temple. However, using Safari 3, when MovableType defaults to the “Visual Editor,” none of the assumed formatting actually happens! Each and every time I go back to correct something, add something, or just look-over the entry, much of the formatting is stripped, the worst of it being: break-lines and paragraphs are gone. That sucks.

I’m still looking for writing software, blogging software and options, and a writing gig. I need to make massive changes… and I hope I can still post my un-bought, unbiased opinions on technology and software. Though, if someone wants to offer me some cash…

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Apple, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.