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The Mac Interest Group meets on the second Friday of the month at 2.30 pm. All welcome!
For Apple Mac communications, you may use this email address:
mac@seniornetnelson.org.nz
Open Source software has been made available on CD for members' guidance.
Club Open Source Recommended List
The list is of open source software suitable for the Apple Mac versions from 10.4 onwards. Some are labelled with the particular versions of Mac and OS X (Ten) they will run on. In each case, the applications are ready to install, and do not require unpacking.
Once installed, run the application from the Finder/Applications folder where it will be waiting for you and listed by name. Double click on it and you are in business. Installations will be covered in more detail in the course being planned at the moment.
Open Office 3.2.1
for all machines, a recommended word processor. May also need Ghostscript for preview and printing.
Abiword 2.4.5
recommended word processor
GIMP 2.6.8 for Leopard
Photo image editing
GIMP 2.6.8 for Tiger
Photo image editing
GIMP 2.6.8 for Snow Leopard
Photo image editing
Scribus 1.3.7
A desktop publishing application.
Thunderbird 3.1
A recommended mail client
Firefox 3.6.6
A recommended browser
audacity intel 1.2.5
A recommended sound editor
audacity ppc 1.2.6a
A recommended sound editor
More is listed at http://www.opensourcemac.org/
Knowing what version of the Mac you have is necessary if you are to instal software because in some cases, the software is suitable for only a narrow range of Macs.
Courses The Introductory Course (run on both members' own computers and Learning Centre computers) has been run several times successfully. We have four tutors involved thus far and we are on the look out from amongst our graduates for more.
We will expand the programme in the New Year to include word processing. Due to the range of word processors used, the programme will be generic and based on Open Office which is available at no cost.
Questions have been raised regarding broadband, internet accounts, and speed. A Speedtest has been demonstrated See www.consumerspeedtest.org.nz/ Most broadband providers have their own speedtests as in that way, they can measure the speed between you and their service, not the rest of the Internet. The numbers displayed are an indication of how fast the information is coming down the wires to your computers. It is affected by the website it is coming from, and all the wires in between. You are probably sharing part of your wiring with other users, and if it is the time of day that many people are on line, especially after school, you may find it slower than it is at 1030 in the morning. However, if you look at the broadband plan you signed up for, you might compare the speed they promised, and the speed you are getting reported. If you are getting what you paid for, and it is too slow, you know that paying for a higher rate might satisfy that need.
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