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Published at Computerworld – 6/10/2009

The 2009 Apple WWDC keynote gave plenty for Mac users to crave – a faster and more compact Mac OS X, over a hundred new iPhone features for free in just over a week ($9.95 if you own an iPod Touch), new MacBooks that are both cheaper and faster, and a new iPhone model that promises both speed and unique new features. But what does this mean for business and IT staffers? Join me as I take a look at the announcements from the IT/business perspective.

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Published at Datamation – 6/9/2009

Apple’s marketing may lead you to believe that your Mac is 100% secure out of the box, but the truth is that Macs can be as susceptible to malware and viruses, network attacks, and excessive spam as other computing platforms (particularly as their market-share rises, giving malicious users more reason to target them). In this guide, I profile the best Mac security tools on the market (from freeware to business tools) to help you find the best way for you to keep your Mac safe.

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Published at InformIT – 5/22/09

With Apple boasting 50,000+ apps in the iPhone/iPod Touch app store, finding the ones that you really need and want to use can be a challenge. So, here’s my guide to the top twenty apps that every iPhone or iPod Touch user has to at least check out once. This may not be the definitive app guide, but it some of the cream of the crop and chance are you’ll end up hanging to a few of these and using them on a daily basis.

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Published at InformIT – 4/17/2009

For years, NetRestore has been one of the staple tools for systems administrators that need to quickly and easily deploy large numbers of Macs – be it in a school or an office. Late last year, however, Mike Bombich (who created and maintained the free tool) announced that there would be no future versions of NetRestore and declared the product to be at the end of its life. So, where does that leave IT departments need to handle mass Mac deployments? With a number a number of free, commercial, and even cross-platform options to choose from.

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Published at InformIT – 4/13/2009

Remote support and systems management tools allow help desk support and systems administration professionals to be able to manage, update, diagnose, and troubleshoot workstations throughout a company easily and effectively without requiring a desk side visit to each machine. This can make them invaluable, provided you pick the right tool for your needs. In this article, I take a look at the criteria you need to consider when choosing one as well as some of the common options on the market today.

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Published at Datamation – 4/13/2009

In this tongue-in-cheek article, I take a look at fifteen signs that prove you’re not just a Mac user, but a true and hardcore Apple fan – and a few tips to spot when your fan nature might be verging into serious obsession.

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Published at Computerworld 4/10/2009

Apple’s release notes for the 8.0.2 update to iPhone ’09 did specified “minor fixes” and “over stability” as reasons for users to install the update, the company actually included some major updates to the functionality of iPhoto’s Faces facial recognition feature and to the Places location/geotagging functionality – updates that greatly improve the usability of both technologies. Since some of them are very easy to miss, here’s a guide to all of the changes and why they’re important updates that you should know about.

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Published at InformIT – 3/6/2009

One of the great features in iTunes 8 (particularly if you have a large iTunes library) is the Genius feature that automatically generates playlists around a single song. Genius also appears in the latest iPods, iPhone, and Apple TV. But, it doesn’t always make the best matches. However, with a little work, you can make Genius smarter and it’s resulting playlists much more accurate to your tastes.

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Published at Computerworld – 3/2/2009

It’s happening in a growing number of fromerly Windows-only businesses – the Macs are creeping in. First one or two, then a handful, and every one seems like a new headache to the systems administrators, support technicians, and other IT folks that need to be responsible for managing them. The good news for those folks is that tried and true solutions already exist for everything from basic file sharing to full scale management via group policies in Active Directory. In this article, I take a look at the options that predominantly Windows-based IT shops can use to get a handle on their Macs.

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Published at Computerworld – 2/27/2009

If you’re a Mac user and you haven’t tried iLife ’09 yet (or even if you have, but haven’t explored every app yet), here’s the skinny on all the features that make this a must-have upgrade. From the revolutionary Faces and Places features in iPhoto to learning an instrument in Garage Band to finally filling in some long-time gaps in iWeb, this update has something for everyone.

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Published at Computerworld – 2/26/2009

The future of web-browsing (at least with Apple’s Safari) offers up a number of great new features including a Top Sites view, Cover Flow as a way to quickly review your bookmarked or previously viewed pages, and a new take on tabbed-browsing. There’s also a lot of powerful under-the-hood changes that seriously increase rendering of pages and that add compliance for emerging open web development standards. Get all the details about why I sold on Safari 4 (even as a beta) within my first of using it.

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Published at Computerworld – 2/8/2009

With the exception of the online document sharing service, iWork.com, Apple’s iWork ’09 doesn’t introduce many revolutionary new features. It does, however, offer up a healthy dose of refinements to an already powerful suite of office and productivity applications for both consumers and business users. And iWork.com itself provides an interesting take on simplifying collaboration. Find out all the details in this review.

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Published at InformIT – 2/6/2009

Managing a large number of workstations is a challenging prospect for any IT department. When you have a mix of Macs and PCs to support, secure, and manage this challenge can seem like it doubles because of the need to manage two rather different platforms. With the right tools, however, you can streamline and simplify the process. Check out this article for my top three picks.

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Published at Datamation – 2/3/2009

Mac users today are not lacking in options for office/productivity software. Apple’s latest version of iWork, Microsoft’s Office 2008 for Mac, and the web-based Google Docs are all options for home users, students, and businesses. Having put all three to the test, I can say that all of them can be good choices, but understanding the features you need and your comfort with the varying interfaces is key to making the right choice.

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Published at Computerworld – 1/29/2009

The App Store has redefined how developers sell and distribute software to users of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Meanwhile other smart phone vendors scrambling to catch the wave with similar stores for their devices – but can this approach work for devices like netbooks or traditional computers? Find out the pros, cons, and challenges faced in applying the App Store concept beyond the smart phone market.

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