It took a few years, but Apple finally got Spotlight right, according to Matt Neuburg, who takes a deep look at the improved search technology in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. In other Leopard news, we’re tracking Leopard-specific updates on our Web site, and print versions of our Take Control ebooks about Leopard are now available. Changing gears, Glenn Fleishman analyzes Google Android, the Open Handset Alliance, and how it all affects Apple and the iPhone. Speaking of cell phones, AT&T has begun offering international data plans designed to avoid bankrupting iPhone users. We also note the releases of BBEdit 8.7.1, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.9, and VMware Fusion 1.1 (along with VMware Importer). Plus, we pass on links to new Apple ads (along with a great parody) and welcome Freeverse as our newest TidBITS sponsor!
We're tracking Leopard-specific updates to programs in another article on our Web site; let us know if we're missing anything that we've previously covered.
BBEdit 8.7.1 is a fairly minor update, though with welcome changes and fixes. Adam also explains how to configure BBEdit to protect from remote data loss.
We're pleased to welcome our latest long-term sponsor, Freeverse, publishers of offbeat games and serious audio and graphics tools alike.
Microsoft has just made available the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.9 Update, which solves a crashing bug in Word 2004 when you try to print a document.
Are we shallow for enjoying Apple's new Get a Mac ads, or just enjoying having the obvious pointed out on national TV for a change? Also see a leaked Saturday Night Live sketch about the iPhone that never aired.
Fusion 1.1 is out of beta, with some moderately interesting features. Even more interesting is VMware Importer, which lets you move Parallels virtual machines easily into Fusion.
iPhone users travelling abroad often returned home to sky-high bills for data usage. That may be a thing of the past, thanks to AT&T's new international iPhone data plans, which provide either 20 MB of 50 MB of usage.
Congratulations to our friend Jay Nelson, who is celebrating 15 continuous years of publication of his Design Tools Monthly newsletter, best thought of as the executive summary for the design community.
And the winners of our latest DealBITS drawing are...
Google is not building a phone; it's building its vision of the future. A consortium of companies, many of them competitors, are backing a free, open-source cell phone platform that could be customized at will, providing unprecedented options for consumers. We'll see.
Spotlight on Leopard is so much better than Spotlight on Tiger, it could be a major reason for upgrading. It's full of power user tricks you might not realize are there - until you read this article, that is!
All of our Take Control books about Leopard are now available in print form, for those who prefer to read on paper or refer to a book during the Leopard upgrade.
This week's discussions continue to revolve around Leopard, as well as jamming cellphones, IMAP email access using Gmail, the popularity of Google compared to other search services, and the difference in tactile response on Apple laptops.