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Archive for the 'Related elsewhere' Category

Free and Open Source Programs on the Mac

Published by
Ken
at 3 May, 2008 in Apple Mac, Related elsewhere and Editorial. 0 Comments

Last week I officially bacame an Apple user with the Mac Mini. As a new Mac user, I was excited and immediately set about looking for equivalent Windows softwares for Mac.

Here are a list of sites to start looking for Mac softwares:

Some of my regular applications already has a Mac version so it is easy to switch over to the Mac version of Firefox and OpenOffice. That’s was about all that I need to switch over immediately.

The Mac is a very friendly and easy to use platform that most could start using immediately without much problem. Long time Windows user may need a little time to adapt. Some may miss some application that is available on Windows only.

For me, the switch was easy, I found (and am still exploring) alternative to programs I used on Windows. So far my only real problem is that an internet banking web site that I use that required Internet Explorer with ActiveX plugin.

In an old post, I asked “What do you put on a new PC?“, now I guess the similar question is “What do you put on a new Mac?”

Popularity: 26%

OpenOffice Solutions

Published by
Ken
at 8 November, 2006 in Using Open Source, Related elsewhere and Business & Productivity. 0 Comments

OpenOfficeI had been using OpenOffice for more than a years now for all my office documents.

So far it had been nothing fancy and I had no trouble doing day to day document processing, spreadsheets, drawing, presentation slides etc. Document exchange with Microsoft Office files is also pretty straightforward. There are some glitches in handling duo languages in English and Chinese in the sample document but but not something that cannot be overcome.

My ongoing objective is to extend the use of OpenOffice to other areas and to introduce the Chinese version of this software to my co-workers.

Today, while checking for update, I found OpenOffice.org Solutions on the OpenOffice.org wiki. The wiki itself is a source of excellent information on using OpenOffice.

There is a Chinese wiki as well. From what I can see, much marketing is still needed to get this tool into the hands of the vast Chinese users. Nevertheless a great start!

Have you started using OpenOffice? If not why not?

Popularity: 21%

Build your business with open source

Published by
Ken
at 23 September, 2006 in Using Open Source and Related elsewhere. 2 Comments

This special report at InfoWorld covers many open source enterprise softwares including

  • business intelligence (BI),
  • business process management,
  • content management,
  • CRM,
  • ERP,
  • enterprise service bus,
  • identity,
  • directory,
  • portal,
  • point of sales (POS),
  • RFID and
  • VoIP.

Small or home business owners may not have the need for such entreprise class softwares but it is good to know the open source alternatives available.

Think about it, the day when a fortune 500 company and a SME uses the same open source CRM software. A possibility? Absoultely!

Popularity: 12%

Why Open Source Software / Free Software?

Published by
Ken
at 14 September, 2006 in Related elsewhere and Editorial. 0 Comments

Came across this article:

Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers! by David A. Wheeler.

It is a very lengthy and indepth article with plenty of links and references. I have no time to read it in fully yet.

If you are not technically inclined, you might find it too dense. In a nutshell, the article provided much support as to why businesses should pay attention to Open Source .

I do not see this article as going to convince the typical small business user. It would however a good source of reference for open source evangelist who is sharing the Open Source good news.

Popularity: 13%

Google offers Free Hosted Applications

Published by
Ken
at 29 August, 2006 in Hosted Applications, Chat & E-mail and Related elsewhere. 2 Comments

Red Herring reported that Google is Offering Productivity Apps. I know for a fact that this is not new since I have been using “GMail for your domain” on one of my domain for some time now. The new addition to the suite is Page Creator.

Google Apps for Your Domain is what is known as hosted applications. Hosted application is a new trend that is gaining attention and acceptance in the software arena.

Besides free and opensource softwares that you can download run on your own computers, free hosted applications is also another source of softwares that small business can turn to.

Continue reading ‘Google offers Free Hosted Applications’

Popularity: 20%

Official support of QQ in Gaim

Published by
Ken
at 13 July, 2006 in Chat & E-mail, Related elsewhere and Editorial. 0 Comments

From Accepted Summer of Code Projects at Gaim.

Tim Ringenbach is mentoring Mark Huetsch on this project to bring QQ support to Gaim. QQ is an extremely popular IM network in China, but doesn’t have much of a foothold in the rest of the world.

This is a big plus for Gaim and QQ users.

“Extremely popular” is not even close to describe the usage of QQ in China. To many Chinese, QQ is the Internet. Many user do not know how to use the web browser but is totally at ease with QQ.

Suffice to say if you are in China and without QQ, you are out of the conversation.

There is already a hack using OpenQ to suport QQ in Gaim for a while. However it is often broken when QQ release a new version. QQ as a proprietary platform make every effort to be as incompatible as possible.

Looking forward to this.

Popularity: 14%