There are two events today of which you should be aware.

First, Microsoft is offering $100 rebate on Microsoft Office 2004, any version. This means that you could buy Office 2004 today for around $125 (Student/Teacher Edition), get back $100, then upgrade to Office 2008 when it comes out next year for $7. In short, act today and you can receive your copy of Office 2008 for around $32 when it’s released. But it’s ONLY today.

The rebate form is here:

http://tinyurl.com/2cqlhn

The upgrade form is here:

http://tinyurl.com/2sgs9z

Amazon has the Student/Teacher Edition from Amazon for $125 with free shipping:

http://tinyurl.com/22veyj

The other event is Apple’s Black Friday where they offer discounts on a number of items at their online store. These include iMacs, MacBooks, iPods, AirPort products, and more. You can see all of the items by going to the Apple online store and clicking on the link that says “Let the holidays begin”:

http://store.apple.com

Again, that’s TODAY ONLY.

When the iPhone first came out, my recommendation was patience. Wait to see what the bugs were, wait to see what the problems were, and wait to see if it would live up to the hype.

I’m happy to report that the wait is over. After its release several months ago, few problems have been discovered or reported, and the device has generally met expectations. There are some drawbacks of course (see below), but it’s remarkable how many things they got right.

If you are on the fence, you probably know all the areas where the iPhone excels so I’ll list only the trouble spots here:

– You will be limited to AT&T.

– Slow Internet service. One of the drawbacks of AT&T is that their Internet service is comparatively slow and, for a unit that is marketed as a great Internet device, this is a big deal. This is supposed to change in the future (but it’s unclear whether these first iPhones will benefit from that anyway) and you can always use a local wireless network to speed things up when you are near one, but when traveling, be prepared to wait a bit while loading pages. (Important note: It is annoyingly slow, but still usable.)

– No cut and paste. I have at least one client for whom this is a deal breaker. There is currently no way to cut or copy text from, for example, one e-mail and paste it into another. I hope this will change in the future, and it can be worked around, but this 1980’s technology is a glaring omission from an otherwise bleeding-edge unit.

– Lack of expandability. Right now, there is no legitimate way to add apps to the iPhone. Developers are limited to “web apps”, which are just web pages that you can view using Safari, but you cannot add icons to the iPhone’s front page. Apple is supposed to be releasing a developer’s kit in January that will change all that, but for now, it is what it is.

If none of these items is a compelling flaw to you, go ahead and get an iPhone. Among those I know who have already taken the plunge, not one has regretted it.

Since I know some of you will ignore my advice about waiting a few weeks (or months) before upgrading to Leopard, here are some tips if you want to do it yourself:

– Buy Leopard. It’s not free, and there is no “upgrade” version, nor can you download it from the Internet. Not legally, anyway.

– Check your drive for corruption. If there is directory corruption on your hard drive, any major installation could worsen it and leave your Mac inoperable. While this is very unlikely with modern Macs, it’s best to leave nothing to chance and, at the very least, start up from an alternate disk (like your backup) or the Tiger Installer and run “Repair Disk” from Disk Utility. If you have a current version of DiskWarrior, that would be even better. Backing up before a repair is always recommended.

– Sync your iPhone, iPod, Treo or whatever else you normally sync to your Mac. There may be problems with synchronization later, and it will be good to know that you have a backup of that data. As of this writing, for example, The Missing Sync v.6.0.1 (my preferred app for synchronizing the Treo) is not compatible with Leopard. [Update: Missing Sync has since been updated. See here.]

– Perform a Software Update. There might be firmware updates available that Leopard will require so go to the Apple menu and choose Software Update to see. Be sure to repeat this step until you are told that there are no further updates, and do not skip ones that you are “sure” you don’t need. It would be a good idea to backup before performing this step (see below).

– Check for updates to your existing applications. Many programs will already run without issues in Leopard, but quite a few have already been updated specifically for the new System. Be sure to review your applications, plug-ins and other software to be sure that you have the latest versions. A good resource for this is VersionTracker (http://www.versiontracker.com) where you can search for software by name to find the latest.

– Repair permissions. This is a maintenance routine that should be performed after every System update or before a major System installation. You can do by going to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, highlighting your startup drive and pressing the “Repair Permissions” button.

– Backup, preferably twice. The last thing you should do just before installing anything major is backup your system. In fact, it would be preferable to do two backups, one that you can hold onto while you test the new installation. My idea of a backup includes “cloning” your entire startup drive to an external hard drive. That way, if there is a major problem, you can clone the external back to the startup drive to revert back to the previous system. Be sure to test the backup before proceeding.

– Disconnect peripherals, especially the backup drives. There was a bug in one of the older system installers that could lead to data loss on external drives, and while that’s unlikely to happen again, it’s always safer to make these unavailable before starting the process. As for other types of peripherals, the fewer there are, the less chance that something external will interfere with the process. Be sure to disconnect hard drives the right way by ejecting them first.

– Perform an “archive & install”. During the installation process, you will come to a screen that will ask you to choose an installation drive. There is an “options” button there that will give you the choice of using “archive & install”. This means that the installer will put aside your existing System and install Leopard as if there had been nothing there before. If you check the “preserve…” button that is directly below that option, all of your files will remain in place and intact, although some applications might need to be reinstalled to regain full functionality. “Archive & install” is the safer choice as it will prevent any existing problems (even ones of which you are unaware) from reappearing, or even worsening, in the new System.

– Don’t skip the disk check. When you first start the installation, Leopard will start checking the installation DVD to make sure it is free of defects. Because this is a time-consuming process, you might be tempted to skip it, but a faulty disk will lead to a partial installation that will render your Mac inoperable, so let it finish.

– Repair permissions again. Yes, it’s redundant, but often safer with any new install.

– Test, test, test. Before you get down to any real work, test the new system. Does Safari work as you expected? Can you edit that video in Final Cut? Is Microsoft Word and Excel allowing you to save documents? If you find a major problem early before you’ve changed any real data, you can revert to your backup with minimal fuss and wait until the problems are corrected before trying again.

– Do NOT run any disk utilities after upgrading until you are sure they are compatible. Do not mess with DiskWarrior, TechTool or anything else until the manufacturer has announced that the version you have is compatible or (more likely) has released an update to make them compatible.

Performing these steps will ensure a smooth upgrade to Leopard and safety net in case things go awry. I realize that there are steps here that require more how-to information so feel free to ask about anything that gives you pause.

But don’t be surprised if my first answer is, “you should wait.”

FileMaker has clarified the incompatibility between FileMaker v.9.0 and Leopard. Specifically, Instant Web Publishing does not work and the language version you use must match the region that is set in your System Preferences. FileMaker Server does not install on Leopard at all.

You can get more information here:

http://filemaker.com/support/leopard.html

There are three things to note from this announcement. 1) If you use FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Pro Advanced, but do not use Instant Web Publishing (if you don’t know what that is, you don’t use it), FileMaker Pro is safe to use with Leopard. 2) They will be releasing a patch around November 19. 3) They will never update older versions so, if you intend to move to Leopard at some point, it’s time to upgrade FileMaker Pro to v.9.0.

[Update: FileMaker Pro v.9.0v3 has since been released and addresses all issues with Leopard while FileMaker Server remains incompatible. See the details here.]

Leopard (MacOS X 10.5) is almost here, but at least one major
publisher has already warned against it.

FileMaker (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple, ironically enough)
has cautioned against installing Leopard until they can release an
update to FileMaker Pro 9.0. They also warn against using earlier
versions as they have not tested compatibility.

Their notice is posted here:

http://filemaker.com/support/leopard.html

This simply underscores my advice to hold off on Leopard until
others can work out the kinks. Personally, since I rely on FileMaker
in my business, I will be waiting until FileMaker releases an update
or I find out specifically what this “incompatibility” is.

Apple has officially announced October 26, 2007 as the shipping date for Mac OS X 10.5, a.k.a. Leopard. If you are interested in upgrading, you can place a pre-order at the online store (http://www.apple.com), but, as always, I recommend that you wait at least a month or two until others have shaken out the major bugs.

In the past, new Macs that were purchased after a new OS was released either came with the new software installed, with an additional set of disks so you can install it yourself, or with a coupon so you can get a free copy. If you are in the market for a new Mac, wait until after the release date and be sure to inquire about Leopard when you purchase.

For more information about the features in the new OS, see:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/

Apple has released iLife ’08, the next generation of the popular image and sound management package. It’s available in stores now and you can get a rundown of the new features here:

http://www.apple.com/ilife/

It is important to note that the new version comes with iMovie, not iMovie HD as in the previous incarnation, and does not contain some features of the previous version. Apple has made iMovie HD 6 (the version that came with iLife ’06) a free download to iLife ’08 customers for those who need or want those features.

If you already have iLife ’06 installed, you should already have iMovie HD installed. Otherwise, you can download iMovie HD 6 from here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html

(In case you’re wondering, the new iMovie does not accept third-party plug-ins and does not contain some of the more advanced editing tools, but I cannot find more specific information than that.)

Along with their quarterly results yesterday, Apple’s CFO mentioned a “product transition” in September, although he declined to elaborate. Keeping in mind that OS X 10.5 is due in October, it would be a good idea to hold off on a new Mac and see what “product transition” means.

Of course, this assumes that you don’t have an immediate need. As always, if you need it today, buy it today because there is always something better “coming soon”.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/07/26/product.transition.in.q4/

Microsoft has changed the format of documents created in Word and Excel 2007 for Windows. While the same format will be used in the upcoming Office 2008 for Mac, Microsoft has not yet released an official translator for Office 2004. This means that, eventually, someone might send you a Word or Excel document that you won’t be able to open on your Mac. (These can be identified by the filename extensions of “.docx” for Word and “.xlsx” for Excel.)

If that happens, you have two choices. First, you can contact the sender and ask them to resave the document in an older format. If that is not an option, you can buy the just-released MacLinkPlus Deluxe 16.0 for $79.99 (or less for an upgrade).

For those of you that don’t know, MacLinkPlus Deluxe has been around for ages and handles translations between many document formats. It has become less relevant in recent years as more standards have been established that work across platforms. (There is not much need for translation if you can just open the original file directly.) But it’s still handy in those cases where someone uses software that you don’t want to, or can’t, buy for your Mac.

This version of MacLinkPlus Deluxe is being sold “pre-release”, and I don’t recommend getting it until required anyway. At that time, you can purchase, download and install it right from their site.

You can get more information here:

http://www.dataviz.com/products/maclinkplus/index.html

If you already own an older version of MacLinkPlus Deluxe, finding the “upgrade” page is tricky, so use this link:

http://tinyurl.com/2xxo8z

By the way, there are less-expensive shareware alternatives that purport to handle this translation, but I have no direct experience with any of them and cannot comment on their reliability. You can do a search at VersionTracker for some of these:

http://www.versiontracker.com

You can also use this online service to convert Word document for $2 per document. Again, I can’t comment further as I have no direct experience:

http://www.docx2doc.com/

And remember, once Microsoft releases official translators (due “real soon now”) or you upgrade to Office 2008 (due later this year) this will be a moot point anyway. For more information about Office 2008, see:

http://tinyurl.com/yambnh