Teching Mac vs. PC
In my new position I do tech support on Macs and PC’s. In some ways the problems are the same whether they are email issues or trying to figure out how to do things in Word or Excel. However, there are areas that are vastly different.
Old Machine
Check this out. My old partner at work had never erased my old Mac Pro. So, when I returned there yesterday he gave me back my old machine which was untouched. Pretty amazing. Getting back into the corporate Mac thing is like riding a bike, but doing the Windows thing is a whole other ball game.
New Job
Well, today I start my new/old job. It is the corporate IT tech support thing. I am looking forward to it. It appears the department I will be working for is operating with pretty thin margins. We will be busy. More to follow as this position develops.
Doug
Plist Files
This article on deleting Preference files in OS X to fix problems with applications is excellent and very good advice. Give it a read, you may save yourself some grief in the long run.
Doug
iPhoto Color Correction
This is another great article on how to use iPhoto’s editing features. iPhoto is not Photoshop by a long shot, but it can do more than people realize. The article is a bit technical, but you will definitely get something out of it if you are doing any photo editing at all.
Doug
XP/VMWare Fusion
As you know I have been doing a bunch of studying on Lynda.com of the Windows XP OS. The actual tutorials are very well done. I can’t recommend Lynda.com enough, they do a fantastic job. However, the Windows XP OS compared to Snow Leopard or even Leopard is rather crude.
VirusBarrier X6
I know, I know you don’t need virus software on the Mac. I happen to believe that is true. I think you can get alone pretty well without virus software on the Mac if you are intelligent about how you download and about what files you open.
iPhoto Histogram
If you are an iPhoto user and like to touch up your photos this article on the iPhoto Histogram may be helpful. However, of late I have been using the “Enhance” button on some photos. It dos not always do well, but more often than not it really helps photos along. Check it out.
Doug
The Windows Phenomenon
I start my new position a week from today. I will be doing some Windows XP support along with Mac support so I thought a little brushing up on the Windows world was in order. A great place to learn different apps and/or OS’s is at Linda.com. They have tutorial videos and other training material on just about every application known to man. It is a great resource for a tech support person. If you need to learn an application or are in the tech support business an account there is worth the money.
Doug
The More Things Change
Well, I haven’t hinted much at what is going on in my Mac environment, but I just wanted to mention I am changing jobs from working in the Service Department at an retail Apple Specialist back to the major corporation I used to work at previously. From a retail environment to a corporate environment. I am looking forward to it. My posts flow from what I am doing so I am sure the content will change a bit over the next few months, but hopefully they will still be useful to a few people.
Doug
