User Profile for N.K. Clark

The Missing Sync for BlackBerry 2.0.1 (Mac OS X)

Do not attempt to sync with BlackBerry 8300 ("Curve") series  

Please note that this review and my low marks for this application pertain only to users who attempt to use The Missing Sync with a BlackBerry 8300 series (the "Curve"). This is a very easy to use, helpful application. Unlike PocketMac, which is free but makes you guess at what went wrong when data does not sync, the sync log for The Missing Sync is accessible and understandable. However -- and this is a big however -- do not attempt to use this application with a BlackBerry Curve. This is one of those times when it pays to read the "readme" file before installing. The Missing Sync does not support the BlackBerry Curve . If you merrily disregard this warning and go ahead you will come to grief. The calendar synchronization was flawless, something that is not always the case with PocketMac. However The Missing Synch could not handle my 887 contacts. My first clue that something might be wrong was when it took more than two hours to do a "write over" synch of about 580 contacts from my Apple Address Book. It is true that the Missing Sync did have to add some fields to the BlackBerry's woefully inadequate database, but the time was still excessive. The Missing Sync completely corrupted the contacts data on the BlackBerry, mismatching names and e-mail addresses, for example. When I rebooted my BlackBerry all but one contact was erased (and the lone survivor was duplicate eight times.) The uninstall application removes only the application, but none of the application support files. [alert admin]

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Sunday, March 22 2009 @ 10:21 AM PDT

Apple iWork 09 (Mac OS X)

A few improvements, but a lot of disappointments  

Don't be fooled. This is not a truly new version of the iWork suite. Although it continues the strengths of iWork 2008, especially in Keynote, Apple has not addressed many of the weaknesses that prevent iWork from being a serious office suite suitable for business. For iWork 2008 users who can spare $79 to upgrade to iWork 2009, the investment is marginally worth it. If you want to save your money and skip this upgrade, you will not miss much. All three applications deliver some improvements in terms of functionality, integration, and ease of use. Some of the improvements will be pleasant surprises, but I haven't found any breakthrough "must have" new features. Pages and Numbers continue to be disappointing. Apple has not addressed some very basic weaknesses that prevent the two otherwise attractive applications from replacing Microsoft Office in most businesses that, like mine, produce a lot of documents and spreadsheets. Global strengths: Although Numbers and Pages do not have the functionality of Excel and Word, they are easier to learn and easier to use. As an experienced user of both suites, I find that I can create a document much faster in the iWork suite than using Microsoft Office. On my basic MacBook, at least, the iWork applications run noticeably faster. Global weaknesses: The Help function remains vague for all three applications. The search function is inaccurate and the information, if you find it, is very basic. iWork 09 file formats are not compatible with iWork 08. For organizations that use iWork 08, this is a significant disincentive to upgrade. Files tend to be much larger than those produced by their counterparts in Microsoft Office. iWork does not have an export or import capability for Open Document files. Currently more users worldwide use OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice, the two leading open source office suites for Mac, than iWork. Pages: Despite its shortcomings, Pages is easy to use. The user has a greater sense of "control" over what is happening on the screen than is sometimes the case with Word, especially with format changes. Formatting is much easier than with Word. Pages continues to lack, however, several basic functions. I am sure that there are other shortcomings that annoy other users, but here is my list. - You still cannot change paper size or orientation within a document. Instead, you must break the document into separate files. - File sizes tend to be larger than in .doc format. - Pages still lacks an auto-recover capability. - The search and replace functions are still very primitive. - Spell checking remains unreliable. - You still cannot change text orientation in tables. Numbers I remain puzzled by Apple's apparent refusal to invest the relatively slight effort needed to make this application better than Excel. The tables-based structure of Numbers makes it much easier to use than Excel. It produces better looking spreadsheets. However, there are at least two weaknesses that keep it from being the first choice for individuals and businesses who need spreadsheets that not only look pretty but also do "industrial strength" data analysis. - Numbers cannot link a cell in one spreadsheet file to a cell in another spreadsheet file. - The charting function is very inflexible and primitive. Keynote Keynote remains vastly superior to Powerpoint. It is worth the $79 price just to have this application Bottom line: I am disappointed that Apple would charge $79 for a version that introduces marginal improvements and leaves so many basic flaws unaddressed. I have to give iWork 09 a positive review, but there still are some curious weaknesses that prevent the suite from reaching its full potential. [alert admin]

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Sunday, January 25 2009 @ 06:45 AM PST

Adobe Reader 9.0 (Mac OS X)

Good product, but with few advantages over Preview  

I have had none of the problems that other reviewers have noted with Adobe Reader 9.0. It installed and operates very well on my 2 GHz 1 GB Intel MacBook running OSX 10.5, even with other applications, such as Pages and Filemaker running. I have noticed two areas in which the Adobe product outperforms Preview; but I agree with other reviewers that it would be hard to find many killer advantages over Preview. The significant differences that I have noticed so far are: - Adobe Reader 9.0 requires 251 mb of hard drive space -- more than 3 times what Preview occupies -- but it certainly doesn't deliver three times the features and functionality. - For people who rely on, or prefer to use, speech capabilities, Adobe Reader 9.0 is the better choice. Preview was able to read a 33 page PDF document with highly technical language fluently -- even while doing a Time Machine backup. Curiously it flubbed some very simple everyday English words. Adobe Reader was very slightly better in terms of speed, but substantially superior in terms of accuracy. It read the same 33 page document with no errors whatsoever. - The non-functional menu choices in Adobe Reader 9.0, which require other Adobe products, are annoying; but Reader is, and always has been, essentially a marketing product for Adobe. I can forgive them that. - Adobe Reader 9.0 provides a little more flexibility in printing documents than does Preview; but I would probably need to use Adobe Reader 9.0 for printing a PDF document, rather than Preview, not more than 5% of the time I am going to keep Adobe Reader 9.0 on my machine, but I cannot envision many situations when I would use it rather than Preview. Like most Mac users, I doubt that I would be hooked by Adobe Reader 9.0 into considering other Adobe products, but it is worth keeping in the Dock. [alert admin]

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Saturday, January 10 2009 @ 10:23 AM PST

Daylite 3.7.3 (Mac OS X)

Database access problem solved - updated review  

This is an update to my previous review, which reported database access problems with 3.7.3. Thanks to the persistence and great support of MarketCircle's tech support people, the problem was solved (by installing the 3.7.4 beta). We still have one notebook that won't run Daylite, but we suspect the problem is with Leopard, not Daylite. This version is a great improvement over a previous version (which we gave up as "too hard" and "too much" for our needs. The learning curve still is significant, but (once we got it running) we have had no problems (other than not having learned how to do something). It is possible that, as we go through the trial period, our small business may conclude that Daylite is more than we need; but we have been pleasantly surprised by our experience so far. We knocked our evaluation down one notch because of what we think is inadequate documentation; but tech support so far -- and we are only in a trial period, not a "real" customer yet -- has been beyond our expectations. [alert admin]

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Thursday, May 29 2008 @ 04:14 PM PDT

Daylite 3.7.3 (Mac OS X)

Problems with MacBooks?  

This is an update to my review of two days ago. Version 3.7.3 (or perhaps more accurately the OpenBase database engine that powers Daylite) appears to have a problem with our Intel MacBooks running OS X Leopard. We were able to install and operate Daylite on an Apple Mini that we use in our back room as a backup. It will install on the MacBooks, but stubbornly refuses to open or create a database. Daylite's tech support people have been working with me for more than a week on this. They continue to get high marks for responsiveness and persistence, but they haven't found the solution yet. If you want to try Daylite on a MacBook, you might want to wait a little while longer for the next build. [alert admin]

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Friday, May 23 2008 @ 10:41 PM PDT

Daylite 3.7.3 (Mac OS X)

The Spinning Pinwheel of Death  

Has anyone ever noticed how the Daylite icon resembles the "spinning pinwheel of death" in OS X? We wanted to like this product, but our "review" failed in the early stages. It installed easily -- but defectively -- on our Apple Intel MacBooks running the latest version of Leopard. We can open the application, but whenever we try to open or create a database, it hangs and requires a force quit. All we get is the Spinning Pinwheel of Death, which vaguely (and in this case, appropriately) resembles the Daylite icon. I will give Market Circle's tech support many points for responding within hours and continuing the email conversation promptly -- for just a trial user. They haven't been able to solve the problem however. The user documentation is virtually nonexistent, which pulls down the otherwise respectable mark that we would have given tech support. We are beginning to wonder whether Daylite requires more time, effort, and endless reinstallations than it is worth. If it is so difficult now, how much more time-consuming and labor intensive will it become when we start up the "steep learning curve" that some reviewers have mentioned? This has to be a significant concern for any small business considering introduction of this product. If we can't even get the product to run on our plain vanilla Apple MacBooks, with no more than one or two false starts, we can't rate this product much higher than "poor." That might be a little unfair, because other reviewers have said good things. But a product is useless if it won't run; and if it won't run for us, many other users will probably also be disappointed. It's too bad, because Market Circle lost an almost certain sale. [alert admin]

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Wednesday, May 21 2008 @ 09:27 AM PDT

BusySync 1.5 (Mac OS X)

Great application --- when it works  

I hate to sound a sour note, but our experience with this application has been markedly different from that of other reviewers. Our small business has been trying BusySync for three weeks. It has caused more problems than benefits for us. As other reviewers have pointed out, BusySync is a delight to set up and configure. One great feature, for people who can get BusySync to run, is the Log, which records every transaction with the calendar. Unfortunately, it has not helped us to solve our problem, but it can be a useful troubleshooting tool. However, on our four-user network (all of us running Leopard), BusySync does not synchronize reliably and has required numerous resets, which sometimes solved the problem and sometimes didn't. The result has been that BusySync has made our company's common iCal calendar almost unusable. [alert admin]

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Sunday, February 03 2008 @ 12:00 AM PST

SOHO Organizer 6.3 (Mac OS X)

At least it never crashed ...  

... because I could never get it to run properly in the first place. Like other reviewers, I had hoped that this update would cure some of the bugs (such as not really being able to import Apple Calendar and Address Book entries with any degree of reliability). It didn't. [alert admin]

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Sunday, October 14 2007 @ 03:43 AM PDT

Apple iWork 08 (Mac OS X)

Pages '08: Good product, but strange shortcomings  

These comments relate solely to Pages. We are still evaluating Numbers and Keynote. Our firm has been evaluating the Pages component of the iWork 08 suite for one month, with a view to using it as our primary word processor in a document-intensive business. This is a good product: easy to use and capable of producing great results. The "layout mode" is fabulous for producing more sophisticated or complex documents. We also like the integration with other Apple applications. There is a little bit of a learning curve for those used to Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org, or NeoOffice, because some of the logic underlying Pages is different. Actually, this is more of an "unlearning" curve, because one must unlearn some of the more cumbersome processes, such as formatting, that these other apps use. There have been several shortcomings, however, that dampen our enthusiasm for this product. Some of these are really strange to find in an application that is elegant and a very good value otherwise. For example: 1. The help function is vague in places. Simple document formatting tasks can take a long time for a first-time user to figure out. Lesson learned: Be ready to spend some significant time learning how to use Pages to its full capability. 2. On-line support at www.apple.com is non-existent -- no "Knowledge Base" or FAQs, just a PDF users manual and a support forum with apparently little or no interaction with Apple staff. (Where is an Apple "genius" when you really need one.?) Lesson learned: Disappointing products usually have disappointing support. 3. There is no auto-recovery. If the application crashes -- and Pages crashes more often than it should -- all unsaved work is lost. Lesson learned: Save save save save. 4. When closing a document in Pages, be sure that you have also saved all other documents that you want to keep open. About half of the time, Pages crashes under these circumstances. When this happens all unsaved data in the documents that you want to keep open is lost. Lesson learned: Save all open documents before closing any of them. 5. The "layout" mode is great! However, you cannot switch between "layout" and "word processing" modes on the fly. A document created in "layout" mode cannot be opened and edited using the more powerful and efficient functions of the "word processing" mode. Lesson learned: Decide which mode to use before you start. 6. There is no support for Open Document format. Lesson learned: Keep that copy of OpenOffice.org or NeoOffice up to date. Summary: This is a good product, and a big improvement over the iWork '06 version. It still has some problems that keep it from being a solid business application. [alert admin]

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Monday, September 10 2007 @ 11:20 AM PDT

NeoOffice 2.2.1 patch 1 (Mac OS X)

Some weaknesses remain, but a credible alternative for small businesses  

Our firm has been using NeoOffice for about eight months as our primary office suite, having migrated from Microsoft and Windows at the first of this year. In terms of value (a reasonably reliable office suite for free), NeoOffice can't be beaten. We would all rate NeoOffice as: --- Better than Microsoft Office for Mac in terms of versatility, ease of use, and speed. --- Far better than OpenOffice.org X11, which locked up frequently for us and produced poor print quality. We're not very interested in seeing their Aqua project because NeoOffice appears to have decisively beaten the OOo team to market. --- Comparable in most respects to iWork 08, although some of us prefer iWork 08 for more sophisticated document design and overall ease of use. The only negative aspects of NeoOffice that we have observed are relatively minor: --- Help functions are still poorly documented (but iWork 08 wins no prizes for its help functions) --- Conversion to/from MS Office documents is only about 90% to 95% reliable. iWork 08 seems to us to be better than NeoOffice in this category. --- NeoOffice recognizes, but does not fully integrate the Mac OSX set of formatting palettes. Color selections are therefore unreasonably limited and use of special characters is cumbersome. --- Document layout capabilities are primitive compared to iWork 08. --- Exporting to PDF is still not quite right.. We find that it is better to use the OSX 'print to PDF" function. --- NeoOffice tends to slow noticeably on our MacBook/Intel laptops when working with documents larger than 1 mb. iWork 08 is better for large documents. --- NeoOffice crashes often, especially when working with large documents, We therefore would respectfully challenge the characterization of NeoOffice as "stable." "Usually works well" would be more accurate. Fortunately, NeoOffice has an excellent auto-recovery feature. iWork 08, by contrast, appears to have none. -- The Impress application failed to do so. There is nothing wrong with the application, but we could find no advantages over Powerpoint (other than price) or Keynote. As a result, we use both NeoOffice and iWork 08. They complement each other well and give us a flexibility that is a real benefit to a small firm, like ours, that produces a disproportionately large volume of documents. [alert admin]

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Sunday, September 09 2007 @ 02:20 AM PDT

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