Microsoft launched Office for MAC 2016 late in 2015 to a muted response. Maybe due to the enormous gap between the outgoing 2011 version and the new (i'd almost say beta) 2016 version. Delays not withstanding, it really is a positive step to see Microsoft embrace the MAC platform with an up-to-date office version which has the framework to be comparable to the very mature PC version. I say framework as there are a plethora of features missing from the current release but since the October of 2015 Microsoft have successfully maintained a agile release schedule bringing new features (and bug fixes) at the start of every month!

The current 2011 version has been looking tired for sometime and the version of Outlook has been bug ridden since it's inception (repeated password prompts anyone?). Microsoft did release an upgraded version of Outlook for Office 365 subscribers a few months ahead of the full suite but all versions, Office 365 subscription and Standalone versions are now available.

All in all, this is excellent news and I'm very keen to see Microsoft maintain this momentum, keep pressing ahead with the monthly releases and bring the MAC version inline with the PC version and make this platform version one to be proud of. 

In short, this is not so much a revolutionary release but more of a 'playing catch up' one but is still a big leap forward from previous versions for the MAC platform and demonstrates commitment (at last) from the all new Microsoft Corporation!

​System Requirements here
Full Product Release Details here
Latest Feature Release Notes here
Install / Uninstall Notes here

As mentioned in an earlier post, this repair program was a great move from Apple which addressed years of pain and complaints by owners of the high end Mac Book Pro laptops. Keeping this trend moving forward Apple have just announced they're extending this program though December 2016. This story just keeps getting better for Apple users!

Go here to see if your machine qualifies.

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Symptoms

An affected MacBook Pro may display one or more of the following symptoms:

Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on
Computer restarts unexpectedly

Products affected

15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models manufactured in 2011
15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina models manufactured from Mid 2012 to Early 2013
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OSX - In Pictures

In this 'point, click, touch, swipe, next' world we  live in, the more visual we've become. To read something, remain focused and interested to the end of the article it seems we simply need more pictures.


Well, for all of those Apple fans who've been part of the 14 year OSX journey, this article will greatly satisfy. Enjoy the pictorial history of the evolution of Apple's OSX operating system from 10.0 back in 2001 to 10.11 today.

Head to [http://www.git-tower.com/blog/history-of-osx/] for the quickest, yet incredibly informative, walk through history which should see you through one of your many daily Tall, Dry Cappuccinos

Apple has launched a repair program to address the 2011 Macbook Pro GPU issues and this is a point in time worth celebrating. Well done Apple.

It is, however bittersweet. It's taken multiple years to focus the lens on this issue and many may say, well what's the point in repairing 2-3 year old hardware, but luckily we know a 2-3 year old MAC is still an excellent and relevant machine so I say it's worth it.

Personally, I'm applaud this as I can now tell people that there is hope to repair their machine rather than the awkward task of telling someone their beloved MBPro cannot be fixed without an expensive trip to Apple.

So what's the deal?  Well, if you have an eligible serial number you can either receive repairs to your machine, at no expense to yourself, or receive a credit for repairs already done.

Visit Apple here for specific details and resurrect those faulty machines, or at least stake your claim for a refund!

On schedule, Apple have announced their annual vision for personal computing. With Apple firmly on an annual release cycle and the big move from 32-bit to 64-bit well behind us, OS upgrades, which were once a major issue, have become nothing more than simple 'app' updates. Or have they? While these upgrades usually succeed with minimal drama, there are always many new and great features under the hood which can (and do) have ramifications for the multi-device households and small businesses who don't have dedicated Technical staff on hand. (Removal of Rosetta, SMB2, VPN for OSX Server to name a few)

With 10.6 being the bullet proof, baseline OS in the new 64-bit world, 10.7 dropped the ball somewhat and introduced a number of annoying bugs, 10.8 recovered to take over the stability crown from 10.6 Snow Leopard.  Mavericks however, in my opinion, dropped the ball again with bugs emerging from new features introduced. The release of 10.9.3 finally addressed most of them to bring much coveted stability back to MAC's but at least one very annoying bug (Sleep Wake Failure) still haunts this version of OSX. 

So, using history as a guide, Yosemite 10.10 should be the (S) version which takes back the stability crown in the same vain as the S iOS devices do from their single digit predecessors.

Many long awaited features arrive in this version which move further towards a complete suite of 'cloud' integrated products. iPhoto in the cloud is something I've been asked about so many times I've lost count, along with the family AppleID feature. These two alone will ease the pent up demand for a lights-out cloud solution for anyone fully subscribed to the Apple ecosystem. If setup correctly everything becomes as reliable as a landline dial tone.

It seems all the core apps will get some degree of a makeover, including Mail and Safari along with more subtle enhancements such as font clarity and iOS 7 iconography and it's clean, flat lines.  (...and let's hope skeumorphism is finally dead in 10.10!)

A few more subtle enhancements which will slowly but surely change the way we use all of our personal commuting devices;
 - Dynamic Spotlight Searching
 - Enhanced Notification Center
 - iCloud Drive (Is this really a Dropbox contender?)
 - Functional Handoff

For now, I'll leave you with the machines which are expected to be able to support 10.10. 

 - iMac: mid-2007 or newer
 - MacBook Pro: mid-2007 or newer
 - MacBook Air: late 2008 or newer
 - Mac mini: early 2009 or newer
 - Mac Pro: early 2008 or newer
 - MacBook: late 2008 aluminum, early 2009 or newer
 - Xserve: early 2009

Still supporting early 2009 Mac Mini's for a 2014 OS is an admirable feat of engineering! 

With the Beta program becoming more accessible, watch out for more in-depth analysis in the coming months across the usual technical sites.

Google have made many interesting product decisions and direction changes over the years and now that we've all come to depend on their raft of free services they're making, in my opinion, potential impactful and disruptive changes.

Google+ has been trying to break ground into the Social space for sometime yet seems to never quite get a foothold and this new change is yet another attempt to extend it's reach. In short, anyone with a Google+ account can email your gmail account even if they don't actually know your email address. Hmmm, this sounds a little spammy to me increasing the chance of of even further unwanted email that we ultimately have to manage in some way or another.

If you're concerned about your time spent on useless things such as managing an ever growing inbox of junk, here's how to turn this off. http://tinyurl.com/ltey3ks

More good reading on the subject can be found here: 

http://tinyurl.com/mpfuj6v

and here:

http://tinyurl.com/obeqld7

Probably the most significant iOS release since iOS 1.0,  primarily because it seems the world is flat after all! No more skeuomorphism which, in my humble opinion, is a huge move in the right direction.

Anyway, I'll leave the specific feature details to the interweb, but the point I want to make here is please please think once, think twice before diving into iOS 7.0. Tempting as it is, very very tempting, at least upgrade your non-primary device first, perhaps that old iPad in the corner of the room. Try it out, kick the tires and test your critical apps, then test some more. Hey, even try making a call,  send a text or write an email and if you're happy, and only then, take the plunge and upgrade you main device. (Assuming of course you've backed it up ahead of time!)

Good luck and welcome to the world of flat simplicity! Where have you been all my life.. well, since June 2007!

Great articles from OSXDaily, iMore and iDownloadBlog which sum up the risks for early upgraders! 

http://osxdaily.com/2013/09/16/wait-before-updating-these-to-ios-7/

http://www.imore.com/heres-why-you-shouldnt-upgrade-ios-7-yet

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/09/17/how-to-get-ready-for-ios-7/

A great chart detailing which technology company really has your back.

Full Details:
https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2013

It's incredible to believe that on April 30th 1993, World Wide Web technology became  freely available. There are now in excess of 650 million websites today!

The first ever website: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

Full Details: http://info.cern.ch

Today is world backup day and there is never a better time to backup your data wherever it may be. I've helped many people with this over the years, from setting it up to recovering data. Let's help keep the recovering data to a minimum this year.

http://www.tuaw.com/2013/03/31/world-backup-day-2013-dont-be-an-april-fool/