Computer Things That Vex Me

1. Firefox got rid of my favourite Mozilla feature. Mozilla had many flaws that Firefox does not, but it could give me a pop-up window when my favourite sites were updated. Many go months without a change. I miss that feature. Any way to make it happen on Firefox Mac?

2. I use MacLink Plus to convert WordPerfect Mac (OS-9) to MS Word for OS-X. For many documents the printed results are, well, just wrong. It's no secret that MS Word blows chunks, but there's no other alternative. I know it's not the conversion process because MS Word in OS-9 could read WP files and it couldn't print them correctly either. (The bug occurs in documents with columns or mixed justifications on one line).

3. I still can't convert my Claris Resolve documents to any OS-X spreadsheet easily. I can load them one at a time, save them in a very, very old Excel format and then load them into the new Excel and re-save them. The resulting document does preserve my formulae, but the formatting is mostly lost. Claris Resolve rocks. The thing is, AppleWorks spreadsheet is a stripped down version of Resolve (which is actually Informix Wingz* in disguise). So it should be easy, but it isn't.

4. I couldn't print from OS-9 and my driver wouldn't install in OS-9 because you have to boot in OS-9 to install the OS-9 version. Well, I got pissed today and found that if you do a "get info" on the file hidden inside the package, there's a check-box to force the program to boot in OS-9. It intalled and I can print again.

I claim another victory in the "one person at a time campaign" -- my friend Jan is very happy with his new Mac and is dumping his last remaining PC. He has thanked me numerous times and is wondering why he didn't listen to me years ago. Now, he's just converted his parents to the world of the Mac. Make a difference: find some one, and convert them. Save another soul from the dark side.

Lastly, if anyone has solutions to any of the computer issues above that vex me, I'd appreciate them.

-- E


* And Informix Wingz is a version of a very, very old PC program called "Smart" and while we're at it, Excel is derived from an old Apple II program called Microsoft Multiplan. True fact. Little known.