Dorchester — Apr 8th 2014

The meeting was opened by David with 22 members present.

Martin began proceedings with a discussion on Mavericks and reasons to upgrade to this. All but five present used this. Security is a good reason to upgrade, but there are many others. The features of each version are summarised on Wikipedia. 29% of Windows users are still using Windows XP. Windows is difficult to update. Mac only so if users customise software, or are unnecessarily 'techie'. When updating, backup first, and test backup (clone). Check that vital apps are supported by the new OS, or can be upgraded. If unsure, can do a dry run by initialling the new system on an external drive.

Can still run Appleworks Power PC software using parallels/vm ware with OSX 5/6 server software (£45 on ebay). Euan observed that you can even use Adobe Photoshop etc. in version CS2 which can now be downloaded from Adobe free of charge.

Euan also gave a useful reference for tackling Time Machine is problems - http://pondini.org/TM/troubleshootimg.html

Re hardware (e.g. memory), the newer macs are more difficult to upgrade, hence the advice would be to buy as much memory as possible at the outset.

Martin then spoke also on his new Maths app, Arithmetric on App Store for iPad. This is an app which aims to assist in teaching arithmetic, and covers problems across a range of difficulty, from counting to timed tests. He urged members to buy the app, and then to rate it, which would enhance its visibility in the App Store. There are, apparently many apps in the App Store which are completely invisible, unless specifically searched for.

Q&A session:

David had Problem with pdf file annotation - Open in Preview annotate pdf, save, attach to email, annotation disappears, reappears if double click. Can ‘Export as pdf’ which preserves the annotation. Apple supports a hierarchy of different implementations of pdf - preview at the lowest level, Adobe at the highest.

The png format is gradually taking over from jpeg for photos etc. - less lossy - Euan recommends.

A useful feature in Mavericks is using Finder tabs to assist moving files Create new tab with a selected destination folder and drag files to the tab. Also can merge windows into a single tabbed finder window using a command in the ‘windows’ menu.

Reminder about aliases, which are used to access the same document via a different folder, Cmd-Opt drag of a document actually enables its alias to be moved to a new folder.

Problem discussed re iCal, where location of an event was defined by Lat / Long (degrees). This failed to show up on a small map when the event was double clicked (as it would, were a postcode to be used instead). However, had the Lat / Long or the postcode been entered into Maps, the correct location would have been marked. The problem occurs on the Mac, and on iPads etc.

SR

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