Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

In between days

Pique is upgrading, although it doesnÕt feel that way. After years of running the OS9.X operating system the entire office is at last upgrading to OSX Ð just as the fourth edition, Tiger, of AppleÕs popular operating system hit the market.

Pique is upgrading, although it doesnÕt feel that way. After years of running the OS9.X operating system the entire office is at last upgrading to OSX Ð just as the fourth edition, Tiger, of AppleÕs popular operating system hit the market.

This might seem like a simple thing, but the leap from one operating system to another is so huge and fraught with perils and problems that Pique staff are practically ripping hair out. Advancements in technology are supposed to make life easier after all, not trigger crying jags and nervous breakdowns.

Not that we could have stayed with OS9.X forever. When the rest of the world upgrades, standing still is not an option Ð older web browsers donÕt read websites as well as new browsers, older word processing software canÕt open files written on newer versions, older layout software wonÕt open pages laid out with newer versions of the same program. We had to upgrade eventually, and sooner is always better than later.

HereÕs a little friendly advice if youÕre planning a serious upgrade any time soon:

A) Do not attempt an upgrade when you have back-to-back Victoria Day and Memorial Day long-weekend newspapers to publish because you have enough on your plate without computer glitches and the stress of getting used to a new operating system.

B) Make sure your important software works with the new upgrade. Because of the heightened system requirements of OSX the paper had to acquire new computers to accommodate the upgrade, as well as purchase new office software compatible with the new operating system. This gets expense, especially when youÕre dealing with Macs.

A new basic eMac costs about $999 these days. Pretty cheap, at least until you consider that a new version of Microsoft Office Standard is $599. QuarkXPress is about $1,099 for the latest edition, and Adobe Photoshop is about $900. Our production staff also use Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver and other titles that jack up the total price even more.

Rather than buy all new software at once, weÕve been using a feature in OSX that allows you to continue using dated OS9.X software Ð which is time consuming and increases the number of error warnings exponentially. Running two operating systems Ð working between two software generations so to speak Ð also eats up a lot of Memory and CPU, which in turn leads to a variety of other issues.

Another problem with the upgrade is the fact that weÕve only upgraded our versions of Microsoft Word, choosing to use OSXÕs propriety email software for the future Ð thereby losing all of our Outlook Express messages and contact lists. Attempts to import our old Outlook Express files into Mail have so far failed.

Other issues weÕve faced include font management, software conflicts, and comprehension. OSX doesnÕt work the same way as OS9 at all, and that makes it harder to find files, use the network and to open and save documents and images. Because weÕve been upgrading computers one at a time, weÕve also hit some frustrating compatibility snags.

Based on this experience, I would recommend doing nothing halfway Ð rather than upgrade a few computers and software editions at a time, itÕs better to bite the bullet and do everything all at once to get it over with once and for all.

C) Expect the unexpected. Computers are expensive, marketed as simple to use time savers, and we naturally expect them to just work. Real life is seldom that easy. There will always be issues with software upgrades, but at least you can console yourself with the fact that if itÕs happening to you, itÕs also happened to someone else who knows a lot more about computers than you do. So go online and get some help. Start at Google and describe your problem in a few simple words and I guarantee your search results will include a few links to sites where users are discussing and solving your exact problem.

D) Update everything. Once youÕre in OSX and everythingÕs working, find out if any of your programs need upgrading by using the Software Update feature in the System Preferences window. That can solve a lot of problems before they even start ÐÊevery new operating system leaves software companies playing catch-up, and sometimes it takes months for companies to start offering updates.

E) Lastly, IÕd recommend taking some time out to look through your hard drive, finding the programs you use, the network connections you need. Once you know your way around, spend some time putting your desktop in order and learning how to use the dock.

Not only will this save you time and frustration down the road by putting the things you need in easy reach, it will make the crossover from one system easier by helping you to understand where everything lives.

Remember, all operating systems are organized logically, efficiently, and with a hierarchy that makes perfect sense ÐÊthe only problem is that the logic is not your own.

Yahoo! goes big

Yahoo!, once the top of the search engine food chain, was relegated to second almost immediately by the Google phenomenon and is currently in danger of slipping to third with Microsoft getting into the game.

Rather than going quietly into that goodnight, Yahoo! has answered back with a new suite of features that people canÕt seem to get enough of.

One of them is PhotoMail, a new feature that allows Yahoo mail users to attach up to 300 pictures to the body of a message. You can also add captions and borders to the pictures, and adjust size and quality.

Yahoo is also the first search engine to offer a video search feature to go with the image search, and the newly launched Y!Music service is getting rave reviews for good reason Ð you can download from a library of over a million songs for a subscription fee of just $4.99 a month.

If youÕve been Googling exclusively for the past few years, it may be time to give Yahoo another look. Better yet make Google.ca your default, then put Yahoo.ca front and centre on your toolbar.