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compatibility posts

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Troubleshooting

Are your apps ready for Snow Leopard? SnowChecker can tell you

If you aren't sure whether your favorite Mac apps are compatible with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, SnowChecker can help. It scans your hard drive for apps, and then checks their compatibility against the info posted at snowleopard.wikidot.com. Not only does SnowChecker show you whether your apps are incompatible, it also gives you details notes about which features are broken.

To quickly see which apps are going to have issues under 10.6 and might need to be updated - either by you or by the app's developer - sort the list by status. Red Xs are apps whose functionality is completely borked in Snow Leopard, while yellow alerts represent apps where one or more inessential functions don't work. SnowChecker will sometimes even offer a workaround for these, like running the app in 32-bit mode or disabling Google Gears. Snow Leopard has been out for a while, but if you're just installing now, you should run SnowChecker first to figure out what your compatibility options are.

Filed under: OS Updates, Apple

Apple's naughty list: which apps aren't ready for Snow Leopard?

We've all heard - or seen for ourselves - how OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is basically a smaller, faster version of 10.5 Leopard. That doesn't mean much if your favorite apps still haven't been updated to be compatible with the new OS. I've had a good experience so far, with all of the major apps I run working quite well under Snow Leopard, but Apple's keeping a list of some that don't. Your incompatible software should be moved to the aptly-named Incompatible Software folder on your hard drive when you upgrade, but check out the list to be prepared in advance.

Parallels is one notable incompatibility, especially if you're using it to run key Windows apps on your Mac. The infamously troublesome Application Enhancer also doesn't work, which is good to know, considering that it crashed a ton of Macs during the last major OS X update. Some antivirus programs also make the list. Also, be aware that updated printer drivers might not be out for some printers and scanners.

[via Lifehacker]

Filed under: Security, Office, Productivity, Microsoft, OpenOffice.org

Office 2003 SP3 "blocks" old file formats

If you are an Office 2003 user who has recently installed Service Pack 3 who has found it necessary to open up file formats from the pre-Office '97 era, you may have noticed that Office now blocks access to these file formats. According to Microsoft, older Word, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3/Quattro and Corel Draw files are affected, because "...By default, these file formats are blocked because they are less secure. They may pose a risk to you." This isn't pure FUD, as Larry Seltzer points out, file parsing is an easy way for miscreants to attack computers using malformed data files. So rather than patch the holes for these, let's face it, ancient file formats, Microsoft has decided to just disable default access. Yeah, it's lazy - but we kind of don't blame them (even in the corporate or academic environment, when was the last time you access a document created in one of these formats?).

For users who really need to access that old data, Microsoft's Support Site has posted instructions on how to modify the registry so that your program(s) can access the old files. This can be done manually or by running a pre-configured registry script.

Conversely, OpenOffice can be used to open the old file types. In any event, we highly recommend converting your old files to a new format anyway -- it really is more secure (and will help guarantee compatibility with future Office suites by Microsoft or someone else).

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Microsoft releases updated Vista reliability, stability and compatibility pack

Windows UpdateYou know, we're starting to think that by the time Microsoft actually gets around to releasing Windows Vista SP1, all the major updates will already have been made available as update packs and hotfixes.

Microsoft has just released yet another compatibility, reliability, and stability pack for Vista. Here are some of the highlights:
  • Extended battery life on mobile devices
  • Improved stability of computers that use a UPS
  • Improves reliability when opening a startup application menu
  • Improves wireless network service stability
  • Shortens startup time
  • Shortens recovery time after a period of inactivity
  • Fixes a compatibility issue with some third-party anti-virus apps
The latest update comes in two varieties: an x86 download and an x64 download.

[via Bink.nu]

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm, Commercial

StyleTap to let Symbian users run PalmOS apps

StyleTapStyleTap plans to launch a Symbian version of its PalmOS compatibility software. StyleTap currently lets Windows Mobile users run applications designed for PalmOS.

The company estimates there are over 20,000 commercial and freeware applications designed for Palm that can run on Windows Mobile using StyleTap. The new version should open the same library of programs to Symbian users.

Of course, what we'd really like to see is software that will let you run Windows Mobile applications on Symbian or PalmOS devices. A few years ago, StyleTap made a lot of sense. Windows Mobile was something of a newcomer to the mobile space and all the cool development was happening in the Palm space. But that's really not the case anymore, and we're not sure that being able to run 5 year old Palm applications on your new phone is really much of a draw.

StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian will be released early next year. There's no word on the price yet, but StyleTap for Windows Mobile costs $50, so we'd expect the Symbian version to carry a similar price.

[via tech[dot]blog]

Filed under: Windows, Office, Microsoft

Read Office 2007 documents without installing Office 2007

Word Viewer
Microsoft Office 2007 may include a bunch of nifty updates from previous versions of Microsoft's office suite. But it also includes new document formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In other words, it causes a bunch of headaches when an Office 2007 user sends files to Office 2003 or OpenOffice.org users.

There are a bunch of services that will convert the new .xlsx, .docx, and .pptx files to old fashioned .xls, .doc, and .ppt files. But Microsoft has a solution for anyone who just needs to read documents without editing them.

This summer Microsoft release a compatibility update allowing Office 2003 and earlier customers to open the new file formats. It turns out that update also lets you use the free Word Viewer 2003 to read .docx files. Now Microsoft has also released PowerPoint Viewer 2007 with support for .pptx files.

There's no update to Excel Viewer 2003 yet, but we're guessing it's just a matter of time.

[via ActiveWin]

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Adobe, Microsoft

Adobe provides info on Vista compatibility

If you are using any of the Adobe products and have the itch to upgrade to Windows Vista, you might want to check out the How Adobe Products Support Windows Vista document (pdf alert). Adobe applications are listed with their current status concerning Windows Vista support and any workarounds that might be needed until official support is available. Adobe plans to keep this document updated as product support for Vista evolves. OS upgrades are so much fun.

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