Profound Disappointment

Posted by Tom S.
Aug 10, 2010 at 09:36 AM

Daly de Gagne wrote:
>As I continue to explore programs here on my new Mac, a very profound kind of

>The word processing options
>seem about the same as in PC world.

Truth.

>Perhaps if I could figure out “services” I could
>understand why some programs seem to have them and others do not.

The easiest way to find simple explanations for things like this is through the Mac help file, which is accessible by choosing “Help” from the menu while in a Finder window.

From the Mac help file:

—
Getting tasks done more quickly using services
Many applications in Mac OS X let you use the features (or ?services?) of one application while you?re working in another application. For example, if you?re viewing a PDF file in Preview, you can select a chunk of text, and then use the Mail service to quickly email that text to a colleague, without having to first copy the text, open the Mail application, create a new email message, and so on. Services give you quick, convenient shortcuts for doing many tasks, including searching the web, making sticky notes, having text in a document read aloud, sending a file to your Bluetooth phone, and much more.

To use an application?s services:

Select an item to work with, such as a file in the Finder or a chunk of text in a document.

Open the application menu (to the right of the Apple menu), choose Services, and then choose the service you want to use.

For example, to email a file on your desktop, select the file, and then choose Finder > Services > Send File.
—

Note well the philosophy which Wes elegantly explained earlier in the thread. The Mac is a lot like Unix - programs are designed to do a few thing well and integrate with other programs that do a few other things well. Services are the main way in which these programs connect to one another. If you are a DEVONThink developer you need a good way to import information from emails. So you write a Service which allows you to send information to DT while in the Mail program. That’s one of several ways in which this can be done.

I would also mention one more thing. You don’t *have* to do it but IMO, as in Windows with IE, your life might be easier if you use the built in tools (Safari, iCal, Mail, Address Book, etc..). People who develop these services write them to work with these programs first. If I remember right, you are a Firefox guy and that’s great. But using Safari just for a while might give you a better idea of what these programs can do with the browser before having to struggle to figure out what does and doesn’t work with third party software.

>The computer
>itself feels solid, and has not crashed once. I like the feel and the look of it.

Apple is a hardware company at heart. That’s what you are paying for.

>EN seems better in the Mac, except so far I haven’t found a universal
>clipping pane which operates as highlight and click - I have to highlight, copy, and
>then click.

The Safari clipper can be accessed by pressing the button with and elephant on it to the left of the address bar. I haven’t used it but I understand Firefox has a similar clipper. These are highlight and click. I can’t remember if there was anything I had to do to set it up. The user manual and the EN website should have more details.

>So I have a couple of days - do I keep the Mac, or do I ask Staples
>for my money back, and get a PC?

If I read your posts right you’ve only had the thing for a couple days. If you are really committed to finding out whether this was the right move for you, I would suggest that you be patient and work at it. These programs have to be mined for information to find out what they can and can’t do, how they integrate with the Mac environment, etc… You still may not be happy but I really think this is the only way to find out.

If that’s not what you want to do, I would suggest you return it now and go back to the PC. I’m a Mac guy but I’ve always been a big fan of programs like UltraRecall.

Cheers,
Tom S.