Options for Office Suites for PowerPC Macintosh running 10.4 to 10.5

If you recently acquired an older PowerPC Macintosh, you may ask what are your options for an office suite? You know, a word processor, a spreadsheet, and a presentation program.

You have three options:

First, you probably have the Appleworks program on the computer or on the installation disks that should have come with the system. If you didn’t get them, go back and harass whomever gave you the computer for them.

Apple has discontinued Appleworks in favor of the iWorks suite. iWork is available on the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store needs OS X 10.6 and that’s only available on an Intel Mac.

Appleworks is still a good suite. If you want a book, The Missing Manual series has a book on Appleworks 6. It’s available from Amazon.

Second, you could get Microsoft Office 2004 or 2008. By yourself, you could go to eBay or Craigslist to look around.

Or you could come to a user group meeting, such as Macvalley’s June 6th, and ask if anyone has an old copy of Office 2004 for sale or barter. (Yes, I do. Send me an e-mail)

Finally, if you want something that won’t cost you anything, try LibreOffice 3.5.3 for PPC here or NeoOffice 3.1.2 here.

These two programs trace their roots back to the OpenOffice.org project, which DOES NOT offer a PowerPC version. At least not of recent vintage.

You're All a Part of Macvalley

Over the years, MacValley has done one thing really well -- we’ve survived. Especially over the past five years, in spite of the economy, and in spite of all that’s been thrown at our group, we’ve stayed in business. Even though dozens of Apple User Groups all over the country have shut their doors for good, we of Macvalley have worked together and we’ve come up with ways of staying viable as a group. This is real solid achievement. And as a result of all that work, we’ve had people come through Wilkinson’s doors, looking for help. Maybe just one, maybe two, or even three people a month, yet they do keep on coming. 

I believe that people, mostly 45 and up, come through our door at Wilkinson because they are looking for peer group support. They are looking for the sense of belonging to an active team that can answer their questions about their Mac, their iPad, their Apple products. They want the sense of being a part of a group that will answer their questions. A group that treats older Apple Users with respect, both for their intelligence and their capabilities. 

We don’t have any people left in our group who come to our meetings to just passively sit back and fold their arms and watch the show that’s being put on for them by the people at the front of the room. Instead, we have folks who come up to the microphone and say, “I’m having a problem with my Mac, and I need answers.” 

It’s just like watching popcorn pop. One person in the back of the room comes up with a suggestion. Then another person seated front-right expands on that suggestion. And still another person comes up with a couple of other possible ways to attack the problem. And before you know it, the person who originally asked the question has gotten a dozen or more suggestions, clarifications, and some healthy servings of good sound help for their problems. 

That’s teamwork. That’s when our MacValley members who attend the meetings become players. That’s when they’re all in the game. That’s what makes MacValley great. Our members, guests, and visitors, are the ones who make MacValley work. 

Apple users like you can come to our meetings and ask the hard questions. You can come up with thoughtful suggestions and great ideas. When you come to MacValley, you’re in the game, you’re playing the game, and you’re it playing hard and fast. And that includes both men and women, people who know their Macs pretty darned well, and people who are beginners or basic users. Everyone is welcome, everyone is included, and everyone is treated with total respect.  

And because everyone is included in the game of learning about their Mac and their iPad, everyone walks out of Wilkinson’s door with a thoughtful look on their faces. Everyone has at least one bit of information to take home, something they can use That’s because everyone at our meetings pitches in to turn terrific presentations and Q&A’s into a real team experience. Everyone is invited. All are welcome. And any person who attends our meeting can quickly and easily become totally involved. 

And that’s MacValley. 

Cristael Bengston

President, Macvalley UG

The iPad, iBooks, and some very smart 7th graders and their teacher

This story comes from MacLife. Andrea Santilli at the Woodlawn Beach Middle School in Gulf Breeze, FL, realized the potential of iBooks Publisher and got her 7th grade Advanced Life Science Students involved in a project.

The project culminated in an interactive field guide to the flora and fauna of Northwest Florida called Creatures, Plants, and More!. I just downloaded it from the iBooks Store. It’s free, so go see what some very smart kids and their teacher did.

I remember school reports with construction paper and library paste and pictures cut out of old issues of The National Geographic. (Sigh).

I will show this e-book at my presentation on June 6th.

Rumor Roundup

Hello and welcome to MacValley’s round-up of rumors, canards, and all-around falsehoods.

Jonathan Geller reports in Boy Genius Report that Microsoft will indeed launch Office for iOS in November. His source tells him that M$ will port the full Office suite to iOS and Android.

I have questions. Even Office 2011 for the Mac only has Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. Now Microsoft has ported OneNote to iOS. What about Microsoft Access, the database? It would face head-on competition from Filemaker for iOS and its little brother, Bentos for iOS.

So we’ll have something to look forward to in November. I’ll deal with you after the dirty Thanksgiving dishes.

Now for something real and tangible. Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design for Apple, Inc., is now Sir Jonathan Ive. He was knighted by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace. Congratulations to Sir Jonathan.

And in hard-core nerdery, Apple filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office patent paperwork showing how OS X would accommodate higher and higher screen resolutions.

And finally, a long-time Apple hardware vendor, LaCie, has been bought by Seagate. For $186 million. So we’re not talking Facebook-sized sums, but $186 large is nothing to sneeze at. As a long-time user of LaCie products, I can attest to their value.

Oh, we musn’t leave the continuing saga of Apple and Samsung, the Bickersons of high-tech. The Court ordered them to sit down and behave like adults, but nothing came of it. Oh well, Another day, another billable 24 hours.

New MacBook Pros, MBAs, and iMacs at the June WWDC?! Really? Plus the end of a valuable open-source project

Welcome back again. I’m having cynicism attacks after reading about the new fall TV shows. The hyperbole over the forthcoming Macs doesn’t help much.

Here goes.

Gene Munster with the firm of Piper Jeffries predicts that Apple will announce the new Macs of various kinds, all with the Retina displays, at the June 11-15 Worldwide Developers Conference. They will also announce OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. It would be nice if they narrowed the range of dates for the release of Mountain Lion, too. But that’s just my opinion.

As for the rumored Apple TV, Foxconn has denied they are working on it. At least for now. This is going to be like the video iPod, people. Steve Jobs denied it would happen for years. Then, one day, boom, there it was. So it will be with the Apple TV.

Just relax. The programming won’t get any better soon. If your current HDTV can hook up to a Mac, install the Fracture screensaver and let it rip. After a few drinks, you’ll be entranced.

Now to the end of a great open-source project,Perian. Perian was begun 6 years ago to augment Quicktime. With Perian installed, you could view more video formats.

We began the Perian project over 6 years ago,” the website reads. “We wanted to simplify viewing your content. Our team has attained that goal and with that in mind, Perian will be retired soon. Our stewardship has been a blast but it's time for all of us to move on.“From the beginning we kept Perian simple,” the post continues. “Our preferences were minimal, updating was easy, and we gradually grew the product to add in extras like subtitles and different formats. We've contributed a lot. Today, Perian stands as complete as it ever will be under our stewardship.”

Thank you guys and girls. We look forward to your next project.

Will Apple go for the MacBook Air Pro or just slim down the existing model.doc

Will Apple go for the MacBook Air Pro or just slim down the existing model?

The 15 inch MacBook Pro is in short supply. J&R reports that the 2.2 Ghz model is “out of stock” and the 2.4 Ghz model is currently advertised as “on order.” BestBuy also reports running low (or out!) of the 15” MacBook Pro. This shortage of desirable models portends…wait for it…An Upgrade! Yea!

So what can you expect in the new MacBooks?

Well, they’ll feature the new “Ivy Bridge” microprocessor chips from Intel. These chips feature out-of-the-box USB 3.0 support. This could mean that Apple will finally incorporate support of the popular interface in its models. Up to now, Apple has stressed the very-high-performance (and high priced!) Thunderbolt interface.

Personally, my guide for emerging standards is the computer aisle at the Costco on Roscoe Boulevard in Canoga Park. If they have a peripheral with this standard , then it’s hit the big time. I’ve seen plenty of USB 3.0 stuff at Costco, but nary a hint of Thunderbolt.

9 to 5 Mac published mock-ups of the envisioned MacBook Pro (Figure 1). As you can see, the new MacBook Pro on the left lacks a Firewire 800 port and an Ethernet port. I can see some adverse reaction to Apple removing these two ports. (And lest I attract a take-down letter, thanks to 9 to 5 mac for the illustration)

I would note that the mockup keeps the same rectangular form factor. The front and the back are the same height. The MacBook Air famously features a tapered back to front profile.

To achieve this thinness, Apple would have to make the SuperDrive an external option. Would they also swap out the roomy hard drive for an ultra-speedy (and expensive) SSD? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Retina Display!

9 to 5 Mac made a big deal over the introduction of the Retina Display for Macs. Sources familiar with software strings left behind in OS X Lion 10.7.4 and Mountain Lion betas say that this Retina Display MacBook Pro features multiple Retina resolution modes, so users are able to adjust the sharpness and image sizes to their liking. Unlike Mac display settings of today, these Retina Display settings will not be marked with numbers/resolution sizes, but with descriptions such as big, small, or optimal, according to these software-based findings. The long-awaited “resolution independence” is upon us.

9 to 5 Mac’s inside sources could not provide a specific time as to when these new MacBook Pros would hit the stores other than the general and vague “summer 2012.” But Apple did promise us new and exciting stuff for 2012, so check back here regularly.

Kid's Paint is a lot of fun-just beware of in-app purchases

I went looking for free painting apps for my new iPad. I found this set of brief reviews and links here

I would like to thank the author, Mustapha, for this set of reviews.

Anyway, I downloaded several of these apps to play with. I really enjoyed Kid’s Paint from Virtual GS.

The features I liked most are the ability to take a picture with your iPad and then play with it. (Figure 1). You can also import pictures from your Photo picture gallery.

With one finger, you can free draw. The color of the paint changes every time you touch the screen.

With two fingers, you get a line. Extend it out and you get a spectrum of colors.

With three fingers, you can clear the drawing and start over again.

This is a fun application for kids of all ages. Just one caveat. The app contains advertising for other games and apps. You may want to set your iPad in AirPlane mode (no Wi-Fi or cellular) before handing the iPad over to a kid. Tell the kid if they want to get an advertised app, they must ask their parents first.

Tom Briant

Editor and Media Manager, MacValley User Group