*&%$*^##^!!! Stupid Apple software!
Well I am having my first problem with a Mac since I bought them for the family. My son and wife are working on a school paper using Apple works and the stupid piece of crap software keeps shutting down. All I hear from them is "Windows never did this!" What the hell is wrong? I just switched my wife to a 900MHz G3 iBook. She is threatening to go back to her Dell.
Comments
Buy it, it is the way to go for typing papers unless you have quark or indesign...because you CAN use them but they are layout programs. I used to use Quark on OS 9 because it was tons better then word.
Originally posted by GreggWSmith
All I hear from them is "Windows never did this!"
Yeah. It's because it's an apple.
I guess that's why all of my applications do it all the time. Oh wait. No they don't.
What the hell is wrong?
We would need more info. Repairing permissions is a good place to start.
gregg, there are too many variables that you haven't mentioned yet fo anyone here to offer any help. for instance:
is the mac still using exactly the same software as came with it out of the box?
have you applied all os updates?
have you installed other pieces of software? shareware? freeware?
how much ram do you have installed?
have you or anyone in your family added their own fonts?
has appleworks always done this, or only recently?
did you internet service provider place any additional software on your disk? do you have classic running?
do you have the latest driver software for all of your devices?
do you have any peripherals attached?
do they require drivers and/or software to run?
are you running the latest versions? check versiontracker.com or the vendor's user forums online to see if anyone else has had a similar problem.
what exactly are you doing in appleworks when it quits? if you tell me your kid is trying to copy/paste a 200 mb quicktime file into his/her school project, then i got a good guess as to where the problem lies.
also, as someone else said, run drive setup and repair permissions on the main drive.
also, now might be a good time to back up your email and back up all documents that have been created that you want to save. then take the software restore and install cd that came with your computer, and do an "archive and install" (under the "options..." button during the install). then when you are setting up the computer again, get online and apply all updates as necessary in one fell swoop. then make sure you make a spare "clean" user... call it "troubleshooting" or something (and for god's sake, make it password protected so that others in your family don't go mucking around in it behind your back for fun or curiosity -- loved and trusted family members can still do some achingly stupid things). now, with this clean user profile available, if this (or any other odd behavior) ever happens again, you can switch to a clean, unadulterated user profile and see if the problems come back. if it goes away, it may be troublesome pref's and a clean user profile will set everything right.
y'see, you've got a lot of other work and questions to answer before you (and everyone else in your family) can throw up your arms in the air and go back to a pc. at least you never have to worry about fake microsoft patches or outlook email worms getting on your system.
but just because the mac is good doesn't mean it takes care of itself.
Try:
InDesign
Word for Mac
Illustrator
Just don't use it unless your doing an outline, as this is only advantage I've found in the program (it has incredible built-in outlining features that are much more straightforward than Word's).
Getting an eMac with a G4 or something else like that (perhaps a used G4 tower, etc.) will improve her impression, too.
If you're writing simple documents, TextEdit should save time. It's rock solid. Personally, I'm fond of Nisus Writer Express, which is a very nice, simple word processor that's offered free for a 30-day trial.
Originally posted by GreggWSmith
Well I am having my first problem with a Mac since I bought them for the family. My son and wife are working on a school paper using Apple works and the stupid piece of crap software keeps shutting down. All I hear from them is "Windows never did this!" What the hell is wrong? I just switched my wife to a 900MHz G3 iBook. She is threatening to go back to her Dell.
Get RagTime Solo for free!
http://www.ragtime-online.com/
sheesh, people. you either have a lot of money, someone else footing the bill, or zero patience (or all of the above). at least since you have one student in the family (your child), you are eligible for the academic ms office, but seriously, if you have corrupt fonts, it'll "unexpectedly quit" just as fast as appleworks will. you have to suck it up, put a little bit of time into it, try what i mentioned above, and tell your wife i said to calm down (yeah, like that'll work... sound slike she was just waiting for an excuse to give up). who knows? you might also learn something along the way.
p.s. why isn't this in genius bar?
I hate to say it but my Dell and IBM seem to crash less often than my Powerbook, G5, and iBook.
Originally posted by GreggWSmith
Sorry but the wife has a point. For the thousands of dollars we have spent on Apple's recently they should perform better then they have been. For example, why the hell won't our Lexmark X63 printer work?
I hate to say it but my Dell and IBM seem to crash less often than my Powerbook, G5, and iBook.
Appleworks: Quit the program, trash the preferences in ~/library/preferences and then reboot.
Lexmark X63: Seems to be unsupported by Lexmark. Unless there's a 3rd party solution, you'll either have to print in classic (you are running OS X?) or fork out $50 for a cheapo printer at Staples or something.
Crashing System: You're going to need to boot up from the install disk and run the repair disk permissions utility. In addition, Alsoft's DiskWarrior ($80) is invaluable. Highly worth the money.
Appleworks should run more stably, though. At any rate, you may want to consider purchasing the student edition of Office. I believe it's about $150. Well worth the investment.
Cheers
Scott
Originally posted by midwinter
At any rate, you may want to consider purchasing the student edition of Office. I believe it's about $150.
Currently $124.99 (free shipping) at Amazon.
Originally posted by midwinter
Lexmark X63: Seems to be unsupported by Lexmark. Unless there's a 3rd party solution, you'll either have to print in classic (you are running OS X?) or fork out $50 for a cheapo printer at Staples or something.
Wow. I take it back. That printer's not supported on the Mac AT ALL.
Jeez.
Originally posted by GreggWSmith
I hate to say it but my Dell and IBM seem to crash less often than my Powerbook, G5, and iBook.
Hang on, you just recently switched to mac, yet you have a powerbook, g5 AND an ibook? since the g5 only started shipping to mere mortals a few weeks ago, you either had those other models for a while (and had some semblance of a clue what you were getting into), OR you just radioed apple to back the truck up to your doorstep, and you forked over a ton of money all at once. or you are lying (sp?) your ass off.
you're like one of those people who buy box set cd's. "wow, i don't own any aerosmith. now i want to own ALL aerosmith!" does your family have any sense of restraint or degree? and you spent how much money on all this new hardware, yet didn't even check to see if your printer was compatible? a newbie user, i would excuse on such an issue, but this is beginning to sound like your family has "more money than sense." you certainly have a budget that can afford to buy a new printer and a copy of the educational office for os x.
and you are now just having problems with one application??? and you are having lots of problems on all of these machines, huh?
anyone smell a rat here? 'cause i sure do.
Originally posted by GreggWSmith
Sorry but the wife has a point. For the thousands of dollars we have spent on Apple's recently they should perform better then they have been. For example, why the hell won't our Lexmark X63 printer work?
I hate to say it but my Dell and IBM seem to crash less often than my Powerbook, G5, and iBook.
Let me know befor you switch back, I will make you an off for all of that old junk.
hahahah... I smell a troll here... read rok's post 2 posts up...