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| Note Tiger incompatibilities |
Patrick Chinn
Distributed Network Computing Consultant
pchinn@uoregon.edu
Apple's April release of Tiger, also known as Mac OS X 10.4, introduced a few new big features (Spotlight and Dashboard) and several hundred small features. While Spotlight and Dashboard have been the focus of most of the publicity, many of the small changes help make Mac OS X 10.4 an easier and more comfortable place to work and play.
Spotlight. Spotlight is Apple's new search technology. Most search utilities look for a file using the name you specify, a strategy often doomed to failure because a file's name may not directly match the file's content. Apple had previously attempted to solve this problem by offering file content searches, where the contents of your files are searched along with the file names. Those efforts failed because the process was too slow.
Spotlight attempts to solve this problem by using a new technique: every time a file is opened or saved to your computer the contents are added to the master index, producing a constantly updated and (relatively) fast way to search your computer. A Spotlight search for a single word will return text files, Word and Excel documents, PDFs, photos, email messages, music, calendar events, fonts, and nearly every other type of file on your computer.
However, Spotlight is not without some limitations. Primarily, some files, like Microsoft Entourage email databases, cannot be searched until the program is redesigned by its publisher. Secondly, Spotlight cannot index all file types automatically; some files require a Spotlight plug-in. Lastly, performing a file content search is excessive when you know the file name and need only that simple search.
Spotlight has already spawned its own new feature: smart folders. By creating a new smart folder (select "New Smart Folder" from the File menu in the Finder) and entering search criteria, the folder will automatically display those items that match your search terms. Create a smart folder that displays files larger than 100MB to help you find and remove big, space-wasting files on your computer. Or, if you often name files based on projects, create a smart folder that lists all files by project.
Dashboard. Tiger's new Dashboard has also garnered some press. Dashboard is a synthesis of desk accessories from Mac's days of old and Exposé, the window-shuffling feature added in Mac OS X 10.3. It provides extra desktop space reserved specifically for utilities called "widgets." Invoke Dashboard by pressing F12, and the Dashboard zooms into place, revealing the default set of widgets: a calculator, a clock, a calendar, and the current weather. Press F12 again to make the Dashboard disappear.
Apple includes translation, dictionary, address book, iTunes, and stock price widgets, among others. Many other widgets have been created since Tiger's release. See http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/ for several hundred more widgets.
Mail updates. Mac OS X 10.4 has redesigned Mail's main window, removing the pop-out list of mail folders and integrating it into the main Mail window. The way Mail handles pictures has also been improved. For outgoing messages with photos, Mail provides on-the-fly picture resizing in four sizes (small, medium, large, and actual size). It also indicates the size of the outgoing message, making it much easier to ensure your messages are under the 5MB email attachment limit. Look for these two features at the bottom of the new message window after you've added pictures to the message.
Another new feature is that Mail offers an iPhoto-like slideshow when a mail correspondent sends a set of pictures via email. Look for the Slideshow button next to the Save button below the subject line of the message. Slideshow lets you move backward and forward through the pictures, view a contact sheet of all photos, zoom the image to fill the screen, and, in some cases, add the image to iPhoto.
This same slideshow feature also made its way into the Finder. Select a group of pictures, command-click on one of them, and select "Slideshow" from the menu that appears. This feature has limits: it will not traverse folders within your selection to display photos, which means you can't watch a slideshow of photos that are organized into folders.
Spell checking-plus. Earlier versions of Mac OS X provide system-wide spell checking. Tiger supplements this feature with the addition of the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus. To look up a word, highlight and command-click it and select "Look up in Dictionary" from the contextual menu. The dictionary also runs as an application; you can find it in the Applications folder.
Safari enhancements. Apple's web browser Safari also received some attention from Apple's programmers in the form of private browsing, RSS support, PDF viewing, and emailing web pages.
The most talked-about new feature is RSS support. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is a headline-and-summary version of web pages that some websites offer as supplements to their full-featured pages. When Safari loads a web page with RSS, it displays a blue "RSS" button in the address bar. Click the blue button to view the RSS version of the page.Since RSS addresses are stored like any other bookmark, you can create a folder that contains similarly themed website feeds. Set that folder to open all links when clicked by checking the "Auto-Click" box in the bookmark management window. When you click that folder button, Safari will then load all the feeds on one page.
In Safari's new Private Browsing mode, the program does not cache web pages, make history entries, or track text entered in the search field, among other things. This feature effectively obscures a person's web-browsing habits, a wise choice for those who use Safari on publicly-accessible computers.
Another new feature is Safari's ability to mail a web page address, or the page itself, directly from within the application. When you select "Mail Link to This Page" from the File menu, Safari automatically creates a new mail message (in Mail) with the web page's address listed in the body of the message. The "Mail Contents of This Page" command will create a new mail message (again in Mail) and insert the current web page into the body of the message.
Safari also now displays PDFs in a browser window without requiring a plug-in. Given the ubiquity of PDFs, this feature is a welcome addition. Simply click on a link to PDF and the application will display the file in a browser window. This feature lacks some of the advanced options that other PDF plug-ins provide, but it offers the basic functions of zoom in and out, auto-size document to the window, and view with Preview (Apple's image viewing application).
Troubleshooting help. Apple has added a few features to help troubleshoot web browser and email connection problems. Tiger's version of Safari will present you with a "Network Diagnostics" button if the program cannot connect to the Internet. In my tests, Network Diagnostics did a good job of using plain English to step me through the troubleshooting process. Mac OS X Mail's Connection Doctor will test whether the mail program can connect to each of the mail servers configured in the program. Connection Doctor was more useful to me as a connection summary than as a troubleshooting tool, especially compared to Network Diagnostics.
Augmented parental controls. In prior versions of Mac OS X one could limit a user's access to specific applications. With Tiger, parents can create a list of allowable websites, email addresses, and Internet chat participants for each account on the computer.
Address Book additions. In Tiger, Address Book has become a more mature application. With a few clicks you can print an envelope with the selected person's address, and you can also print a pocket address book from the data stored in Address Book. Apple has also added more import options, making it easier to move your data into Address Book.
CD-burning extras. To augment the Finder's CD-burning feature Apple added burn folders to Mac OS X 10.4. Create a burn folder by selecting "New Burn Folder" from the File menu, drop the files you wish to write to CD into that folder and then click the burn button in the top right corner of the window. This new feature is especially handy if you have a collection of files or folders that you frequently burn to CD (for backup purposes, for example).
And more... Mac OS X 10.4 has many other new features not covered here. For more information on all the new features in Mac OS X 10.4, see http://www.apple.com/macosx/
UO site license. The UO has purchased a site license for Mac OS X, which makes Tiger free to current UO students, faculty, and staff. You may borrow an installation DVD or CD-ROM set from the Documents Room (175 McKenzie Hall) or buy an installation DVD from the UO Bookstore's Digital Duck (895 E. 13th Avenue). For more information about the UO site license for Mac OS X, see http://micro.uoregon.edu/macosx/licensing/
Before upgrading to Tiger, you should check to make sure that your existing software applications and utilities are compatible.
Microcomputer Services is maintaining a website that tracks Mac OS 10.4's compatibility problems with software that's commonly used at the University of Oregon (see http://micro.uoregon.edu/macosx/tiger/ )
For a complete list of Tiger's known software compatibility issues, see Macintouch's "Tiger Review: Incompatibilities and Workaraounds" at http://www.macintouch.com/tigerreview/incompatibility.html