Catalina – DON’T DO IT – Just Yet

With the hype around the launch of Apple’s latest operating system ‘Catalina’ you might be tempted to do so, but should you?  The short answer is no!

And ‘why not’ is the logical question after that, the reasons are varied.  The following things need to be considered and answered before you consider upgrading to Catalina.

• Will my Mac support Catalina?  Some older Macs may not perform as well as they do now after the upgrade, check your Mac’s compatibility.
• Will all of my third-party software run properly on Catalina?  You need to ensure your software developers have updated their software to be compatible with Catalina and also that your Mac is capable of running these updated versions.
• Will all my Apps run on Catalina.  As with your software, you need to ensure all your apps are compatible.  32-bit apps will not run on Catalina.
• Will your plug-ins, printer drivers, installers etc function as you’d expect (or at all).  Give it time and others will find any bugs and they will be resolved.

If you haven’t answered ‘YES’ to all of these questions DO NOT upgrade to Catalina.  We know it’s tempting to have the latest and greatest but to preserve your working environment we need to wait, investigate whether the upgrade will have any adverse effects or is even necessary.

If you’d like to upgrade to Catalina please consider the above.  If you’d like us to help assess your suitability to upgrade then by all means give us a call on (02) 9550 1110.

Macumen Has Always Been and Will Always Be Macumen

Macumen has been located at 106 Parramatta Rd in Stanmore for nearly 10 years and the Mac support side of our business has only ever been known as Macumen.  You may have noticed that two businesses, iHelp IT and PC Patrol are now operating from the same address.

These two businesses have no ties to Macumen or Appsmith (Macumen’s Custom business software development company) and in no way are involved (directly or indirectly) with Macumen.  When you deal with Macumen you will be dealing with the team that has spent 20 years helping businesses with their Mac environments, building relationships and trust with these clients.

If you have any concerns please feel free to call us on (02) 9550 1110.

Oh, if you need some custom business software developed check our mates out at Appsmith – http://appsmith.com.au

Thanks from the team at Macumen

Macumen’s Christmas Holiday

Macumen will be taking some time out this Christmas to reflect on the year that has passed (kick back and relax) and to look forward to what the year ahead has to offer (kick back and relax some more).  We will be finishing up on Friday, December 21st and be back on Monday, January 7th.

We would like to that this opportunity to thank all of our clients, both new and established (not old) as well as our suppliers for their business and support over the last year.  Obviously, without both there would be no Macumen and we kinda like hanging around at the moment.  So Thank You, have a great break and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Ho, ho, ho……..

Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway

On October 19th Macumen held their 5th annual karting day at Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway.  This has become a much anticipated event with competition for an invitation amongst clients and suppliers almost as fierce as the racing on the day!

After lunch and a get to know each other in Macumen’s offices in Stanmore we headed out to Eastern Creek in the Macumen Team Bus.  And this is where the fun always begins!  Some are competitive from the get go and some watch it evolve in to a force of nature morphing from Sunday drivers into Juan Manuel Fangio.  The excitement on the track always carries over to pit lane after heats where between slurps of Red Bull you will always hear “you so ran me off the track” or “I hit that wall so hard”.

The racing is always fast and furious but never as dangerous as the final race to the esky for a cold beer at the end of a hard days work.  And this is where the tales get told, standing around, having a well earned drink and reliving the days heroics.

Macumen would like to thank all of our clients and suppliers who have been involved with this day in the past.  We’ve already started planning next years event (and are open to bribes from interested clients and suppliers).

‘Expected’ iPhone 5 launch keeping Apple fans awake at night

With rumours, leaked photos and videos of parts and specifications of the new iPhone flooding the net, Apple rumour websites and blogs are going in to overdrive trying to trump the launch with their predictions on what the new iPhone will look like.  Apparently gone are the days that you waited in anticipation for Apple’s Media Event to find out what new hardware, software or operating system was being unveiled!

So, not wanting to get left behind Macumen will jump on the bandwagon too.  Following are the ‘most likely’ changes/upgrades coming to the iPhone.

• Taller, giving a 4″ diagonal screen but will be the same width.
• Thinner, meaning the overall volume will decrease.
• Two tone glass and aluminium back, but overall looking similar to the existing iPhone 4/4s.
• Newly designed headphones to be supplied with the phone, increased performance???  Probably not.
• New, smaller and thinner dock connector.  Buy the adaptor or all new accessories!
• Faster, likely to be upgraded to an A6 processor.  Not really important what that is, it will be faster is all you need to know.

We could go on about all the new internal changes but you will (hopefully) never see them so we won’t bore you.

September the 12th is the date the new iPhone is expected to be launched, probably along with iOS6 but we won’t really know until the media event what Apple is planning.  Not many more sleepless nights to go!!!

Recent trip to the Apple Store…

I recently visited the new Apple Store in Broadway Shopping Centre. I often find when entering an Apple Store I’m swamped by staff members (they usually outnumber the customers) or I don’t know what to do with myself – no counters to be found.

This time I was approached by a staff member after finding my product on a shelf (Apple TV), my salesman asked if I’d heard of the Apple Store app, which I hadn’t. After a quick free download from the App Store we had it up and running.

The main function that I found intriguing was the Easy Scan feature of the App which basically allows you to pay for your item on the spot using your Apple ID and not having to go through a staff member and receive a receipt. Unfortunately the moment was slightly ruined when we were unable to get it going, but the staff member seemed very persistent that it would work which kept me interested. I look forward to trying it out again.

The App also allows you to buy items from the equivalent online Apple store and have them shipped to your home or office, browse their extensive range of products, locate stores and see receipts among other many other things.

It’s these kind of innovative features that keep Apple on top of the game. I’m sure a lot of people wonder how could they do this and trust that people wouldn’t just steal the product? Well, apparently Apple believe any stock that may be stolen will be well less that the money saved by people using this method to purchase goods, interesting. I suppose this is what companies like Coles and Woolworths are trying to achieve with their Self-Serve check out counters also.

Keep on doing your thing Apple.

Sam