Surface Go in Apple land

With truly portable computers having gone the way of the dodo in the Apple ecosystem, one must turn to Windows to have a full operating system in a portable package. Apple has come a long way with the iPad line and from my experience they are the best tablets on the market. However, when it comes to getting work done, I’ve just found it to be a little bit more difficult than it should on iPadOS.

There are tons of “note” apps in the world. For the past year, I’ve been using Microsoft OneNote on all my devices. I have my personal and work accounts syncing on all of them and it works wonderfully. Many times though, I just want to write down something simple such as a grocery list, an idea, or just a few lines of text from a website. For those times, I find Apple’s built-in Note app to be just perfect. The problem is that it is not on Windows. For years I was using SimpleNote, but recently there have been problems with IME input and lag as the notes get long, so the Apple Note app has all my data.

In comes the new Edge browser to save the day. Its (and Chrome’s) feature to open webpages as an app has allowed me to continue to use the Note app on my Surface, giving me the ability to create, edit, and sync notes across all my devices.

To create a Notes webapp, just point your Edge (or Chrome) browser to iCloud.

Next sign into iCloud.

Finally, in your browser menu (the three dots), navigate to Apps => Install this site as an app.

And that’s pretty much it. You may have to deal with some two-factor authentication and you also might want to save your login for easy access, but you can have Notes on your Windows computer.

I have not used the Notes app extensively yet, but it does work fairly well. The only issue I have come across is that the app will occasionally log me out, so I’ll have to log back in. Additionally, using this method will allow you to access all of the iCloud services inside the app by just clicking on the upper left logo text. The big drawback to this method is that the webapp will not function without a connection to the internet, so be sure to make sure your notes are synced before going offline.

As I continue to use this method, only time will tell if it is a viable one. Let me know in the comments if you have suggestions for cross-platform note applications.

12″ PowerBook G4: Final Destination?

via sophist1cated on Flickr

With my 12″ PowerBook sitting in my work desk for months and months getting no use, I made the decision to gift it to my retiring father-in-law. It was showing its age, and wasn’t getting the usage it needed, so on to someone who can actually use it.

A clean reinstall of Tiger OS X 10.4, with latest combo update package… whatever version was the last, and armed with the Camino 2.1.2 browser my father-in-law is now browsing the web whenever he wants. I’ve installed Libreoffice, but have not gotten the language pack to install properly… gotta figure that one out.

Anyway, good ol’ 12″ PowerBook is still in-house and getting some use. I’m sure it has a few years left in it.

Project PowerBook (Part 2): OS X Tiger vs. Leopard

via creativebits.org

At release, the 1.5 GHz 12″ PowerBook G4 came pre-installed with OS X 10.4.x Tiger. And for “Project PowerBook” I had originally reinstalled OS X Tiger on my 12″ PowerBook, because it is generally believed to run faster with the 1.5 GHz PowerPC processor than OS X Leopard. However, I made the decision to install Leopard on my 12″ PowerBook for one simple reason: Leopard is the only operating system for the PowerPC that will run a version of Evernote. Between the office PC, my iPhone 4, and other computers, I have found myself more and more dependent on Evernote to keep myself and my ideas organized day-to-day. Since this computer will be used for work, Evernote is one piece of software that I feel I cannot go without.

In regards to a speed difference, after the initial Spotlight indexing for search, the PowerBook does not feel any slower on Leopard than it did with Tiger using TenFourFox or OpenOffice. While Tiger is probably a little faster than Leopard, having access more recent software titles like Evernote makes it worth being on Leopard even if said software is probably not supported anymore.

Project PowerBook (Part 1): Breathing Life Back into the PowerPC G4.

via http://www.newciv.org

The 12″ G4 PowerBook, Apple’s original ultra-portable, gets little love anymore aside from the Low End Mac crowd. I purchased a used last-gen model before my move to Japan several years ago, and try as I might, I have not been able to part with it even after purchasing my early 2009 13″ MacBook Pro. For the past couple years it has sat quietly in a closet waiting, waiting… waiting.

Awaken, dear friend, you still have life left in you!

In an attempt to put all of my hardware to use, the faithful 12″ 1.5 GHz PowerPC PowerBook G4 has been reformatted with its original OS X Tiger, and upgraded to version 10.4.11 (via a combo update from Apple).

Slowly but surely, I will attempt to use this oldie but goodie as my work machine. Being that my current employment is in the education field, this 12″ PowerBook  will be used for word processing, desktop publishing, and making ESL listening tests.

On top of OS X Tiger, I currently have installed: TenFourFox, iLife ’08 (to use GarageBand), Open Office, and Scribus. More software is sure to follow, and as is a possible install of OS X Leopard (I’m still debating).

Stay tuned.

Vaio P Challenge: Day 6 – 15

Success!

After a short trip to Osaka, I have pretty much been able to switch completely to the Vaio P. The only things I continue to do on the MacBook Pro are managing my photo collection and editing video clips. Currently, the Vaio P spends most of its time downstairs on the coffee table, and because I’ve been spending more time downstairs to do my work, it has been getting used everyday. I’ll also take it upstairs when I need to browse the interwebs before bed.

The last thing on my list is to hook the Vaio P up to my external monitor for a test drive as a desktop. I don’t know when I’ll muster up the willpower to connect everything up, but it should be sometime next week. Until then, I’ll keep on using the P as my daily machine.

Vaio P Challenge: Day 5

Being the weekend I had more time than usual to “play.” I started my morning with on the P, and continued to use it all day long. RSS and Skype got installed and configured (even got a call in), rounding out the software I use regularly. Let the trend continue into tomorrow!

Vaio P Challenge: Day 4

Before I went  to sleep yesterday, I downloaded Thunderbird to manage my email. For some reason, I like having a dedicated mail client vs. using webmail all the time. Once set up, I had it sync my account, and by morning all my mail was on my Vaio P. I still have not spent my goal of a whole day with the P, and the main reason today was that I wasn’t able to get Skype installed. At the download page, I kept getting a password prompt, and I kinda forgot what it was! The easiest remedy was to boot up the MBP and get Skyping.

In any event, things are moving a long slowly but surely. The next thing to do is get my RSS feeds downloaded. We’ll see to that tomorrow!

Vaio P Challenge: Day 3

After a full day on my MBP printing out PDF forms filled and saved in OS X’s built-in Preview software, I came home and hopped on the Vaio P for some fun. It was just opening up the browser (Chrome) and writing for a future blog post, and checking my twitter timeline, but it felt good to get some use out of my ultra-note. On a positive, I really do love the keyboard. It has a nice feel, and I’m able to hit the right-side shift with little effort.

Tomorrow is another day, wonder how things will turn out.

Image Source nitrolicious.com

Vaio P Challenge: Day 2

Today was utter failure. Outside of checking my e-mail in the morning I was on my MBP for the entire day, and will be tomorrow as well. Maybe it was the wrong week to start the challenge. Oh well, we’ll get it worked out eventually. Heck, I’m posting on my iPhone! Fail!

Vaio P Challenge: Day 1 (Tues)

I’m off to a fairly descent start, but not without some roadblocks.

A busy Tuesday, lead me to use my MBP for the afternoon. It had all the files that I needed, and didn’t have the time to copy everything off. I also wanted to use MS Word, which is only on the MBP. I’m still not used to OpenOffice or what capabilities it has. After coming home from the office, I had the MBP with me, so I just ended up using it to write a blog post to be published tomorrow.

On the positive side, I woke up this morning and the Vaio P was the one I booted up to check my e-mail and twitter. This evening, I installed Picasa and edited the photos I’m using for said blog post, then uploaded them into WordPress, and added the final edits to the post. So far, I think everything will work out fine for a smooth transition to the P.

Tomorrows barrier will Adobe PDFs, anyone know if Adobe Reader is able to save filled in PDF forms like OS X’s Preview? I guess, I’ll have to try it out.

Image Source: yugatech.com