MacShrine

This will probably be the biggest news from the Expo Paris. Microsoft has today announced packages and pricing of their upcoming Office 2008 which will be released in January.

Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition, which includes three licenses for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage will cost $150.

A $400 version aimed at professionals who use Apple computers, simply called Office 2008 for Mac, includes the same programs as Home and Student, plus the ability to connect to a Windows Exchange server.

A third version, the $500 Special Media Edition, adds features to the $400 configuration, including Expression Media, a program that helps computer users organize and manipulate digital photos, video and other files.

All three versions work on Intel-based Macs and older PowerPC machines when launched in January next year.

Apple just released some little update to fix some little bug in iTunes and then big update for QuickTime bringing full-screen functionality without having to have a Pro license.

MenuShade simply dims out the menu bar when it’s not in use. It’s sort of like hiding the Dock; it might help you stay focused on the window you have open and stay on task. We have it set to make our menu bar transparent like in Leopard and it really does make a difference. Our desktop looks so much more elegant. Download it and see the difference it’ll make to you!

Urban Myth dictates that Friday 13th is a very unlucky day. This year, MacZOT.com proves it once and for all. Today, for 24 hours beginning at 12:00 am PST, MacZOT will offer 13 Mac applications for a total price of $13.00. The catch, “Most people who hear about this will be unlucky (proof of the myth) because the offer will only be good for a total of thirteen minutes of the entire day,” says founder, Brian Ball. The few who are able to purchase the bundle will likely refute the myth, since getting a bundle of Mac software valued at over $300 is certainly not unlucky.

Not totally sure about this but posting it out of interest nonetheless. Apple could be about to preview Logic 8 tomorrow online so as not to overshadow announcements next month at NAB. The application could potentially be renamed as it’s such a massive overhaul. Having been under development for the past 5 years, it has features such as a brand new drum engine, built-in tuning and timing module (similar to Melodyne), innovative time stretching loops and improved movie scoring tools. Hopefully that all made sense to someone, we’re not very “into” music applications. NAB starts Sunday 15th April and is likely to bring Final Cut Pro 6, updated Mac Pros and Final Cut Pro “extreme”. How exciting…

Update: So it didn’t happen today… but we didn’t really expect it to. There are murmurings of it being out tomorrow though.

Adobe has shifted over half a million downloads of its Photoshop CS3 beta, the company has confirmed today. This news has been confirmed on Adobe’s John Nack’s blog. It confirms the level of pent-up demand among Mac users as they await the final release of a version of Photoshop for Intel Macs. Adobe will formally introduce Creative Suite 3 at an event on 27th March, the event will be webcast globally. The software is expected to ship “in spring”, the company has said.

Think is a new way of working with your Mac when you just need to focus. Think is a cleverly streamlined application to shift your workflow from overwhelming to under-control with just the flick of a mouse. Think allows users to “illuminate” any Mac OS X application they’re using, blocking distractions from other windows and applications, so that they can focus on the task at hand. Since many work projects require multiple applications, Think also allows guest applications to be temporarily brought forward, and when no longer needed, quickly hides them away. Best of all, it’s free!

Adobe Labs have released the beta for the upcoming release of Photoshop CS3. The Mac version is a Universal Binary, and system requirements call for a 1GHz+ G4 or G5 or any Intel-based Mac with 512MB RAM. A Windows version is also available. Adobe says the beta will expire soon after the formal release of Photoshop in Spring 2007. Final pricing is yet to be determined, but should be around $649.

Packed with new features, Photoshop CS3 beta also includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Photoshop customers can use Adobe Device Central to design, preview, and test compelling mobile content, created specifically for smaller screens. This new tool, built into Photoshop, simplifies and accelerates the creation of mobile content with a preview environment and built-in device profiles.

Update: Users are reporting that you must have an exisiting CS2 serial to activate the 30 day demo. If you do not, then the demo time is limited to 2 days. “Academic” Photoshop CS2 serial numbers not working either.

Just found out (maybe everyone knew already?) that Adobe is not dropping Fireworks, but in fact currently developing the new version. Fireworks 9 is currently in private beta and is one of Adobes first Universal apps.

The 10.4.8 Update is recommended for all users and includes general system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies. Some of the changes include:

Connecting to wireless networks using the EAP-FAST protocol, Apple USB modem reliability, using OpenType fonts in Microsoft Word, compatibility with 3rd party USB hubs, scanner performance, RAW camera support, printing documents with Asian language names, performance of the Translation widget, broadband network performance and security updates.

The update weighs in at 140MB and remember that if you have an Intel machine, there’ll be a double startup.

Everybody say “whoo!”, new iLife ‘06 updates have arrived. The fixes fix up compatibility avec the new Aperture 1.5. So if you don’t use Aperture, there is really no point downloading the 100MB+ update. Available via the lovely Software Update utilty as well as online at Apple. For those with iLife ‘05, then just hold out till January for iLife ‘07 and iWork ‘07.

Update: Seems Apple has let iWork updates loose into the Mac world, these again just improve the app relationships with Aperture.

Aperture 1.5 provides more iLife integration, plug-in support for Internet services, and advanced library and editing features. The new features and improvements are summarized here, and include:

Flexible Library Manangement, iLife ‘06 and iWork ‘06 Integration, Export Metadata Automatically, Advanced Color Controls, Edge Sharpen, Speed Metadata Entry with Presets, Improved Loupe, iPod Sync and more…

It is a free update to existing Aperture owners and should be available later this week. Aperture’s website has been updated.

Skype today announced they have released the beta version Skype for Mac 2.0, which gives any Mac user with an Internet connection the ability to make free video calls to anyone else on Skype, regardless of whether they use the Windows or Mac platform. Skype’s new cross platform support allows its extensive international community of more than 113 million users to make free video calls to people across the globe using both Windows and Macintosh computers.

Remember Delicious Library? That awesome “little” big application that sorted your music, books, games and DVDs. Well I never used it before today as I didn’t have an iSight, but now with my MacBook Pro I suddenly remembered about it. Using the built-in iSight, you can scan barcodes from items and Delicious sorts them out easily into virtual shelves. It really is a beautiful application. It costs only $40 and is Universal, get it now! The demo lets you scan 25 items.

Apple today quietly released an update to Bootcamp. The update brings Bootcamp up to v1.1 but still remains beta (a final version will be included in Leopard next Spring). Boot Camp 1.1 contains many updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users.

New features and updates include:

Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers, easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes, ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk, iSight camera support, support for built-in microphones, right-click when pressing Apple key on Apple keyboards and improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock and ScrollLock.

It can be downloaded straight from Apple and weighs in at a hefty 220MB. I personally haven’t tried out Bootcamp since I’m an avid Parallels Desktop user, but I may be willing to give it a go now as they made the iSight work! Let us know how the new update works for you.

Seems Steve forgot to mention like the most important new feature in Leopard, new iChat smileys! We’ll have to wait until Leopard comes out next Spring whilst those lucky developers get to use them… today…

This nearly flew right by us… We would like to wish all our American readers a great 4th July, hope you’re having a great time. For the rest of the world, you can also be in on the action with this rather snazzy 3D (oooh!) fireworks screensaver. The screensaver is 5.4MB and is “Universal” compatible, download it!

This is what everyone has been talking about, the CrossOver Mac application to run Windows applications natively in Mac OS X. You can download it here, but be warned it is of alpha quality your using it at your own risk. It requires an Intel Mac (sorry PPC users) and a good chunk of RAM to run smoothly, it’s very memory intensive. CodeWeavers have announced that the final release is set to ship in late July or August and cost $59.99. For more information, check out the official product page. Enjoy!

Please read only if you live in America or Canada, the other 191 countries on Earth won’t be very pleased. From today until the 31st December 2006 all US-to-US and Canada-to-Canada are free if your using Skype. So erm, how is eBay meant to earn money from Skype now?

Skype has now removed any cost barrier for its American and Canadian customers to keep in touch with friends, family and business associates. Skype anticipates that completely free calling in the US and Canada will expand Skype’s increasing penetration in North America and solidify Skype’s position as the Internet’s voice communication tool of choice. More people will now have the chance to benefit from Skype’s premium services and online calling capabilities.

Seashore is a free and open source graphics program. You can choose from the pencil, brush, eraser, or paint bucket to create your masterpiece. My favorite tool is the “smudge” tool, which gives the effect of running your finger across wet paint. This application is comparable to the Windows Paint program, but with an unbeatable Mac style.

With the GL Image Browser, you can open a folder on your computer and look for all the pictures that are inside, even in subdirectories if you want. It is no iPhoto or Picasa clone, GL Image Browser is not meant as a tool to archive pictures, but as a tool to quickly browse through thousands of pictures to find a special one you are looking for. It is freeware.

“Growl is a notification system for Mac OS X. Notifications are a way for your applications to provide you with new information, without you having to switch from the application you’re already in.” growls (ha!) Growl.info. I can’t believe I just found this app last night, it’s uber handy, especially the mail alerts. So what you waiting for? Growl is universal compatible and is waiting to live with you and your Mac. Happily ever after.

For you environmentalists, a shot of the new Apple lite (still hyper over my DS lite arriving…) software packaging. Safe paper, safe the rainforest, safe our Earth! Apple is one of the top 10 most environmentally friendly companies in the world if you cared to know.

Apple today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a 83MB download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS X or Windows XP. Boot Camp will be a feature in “Leopard,” the next release of Mac OS X.