Author: jamesclay

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iPad interface

Yesterday Apple announced their new iPad.

To be honest I am quite impressed.

I have always liked the Tablet format, however the big issue with Windows based Tablets was always the standard Windows interface, fine with a mouse, didn’t really work with the Tablet interface; and you certainly couldn’t use your finger very easily.

The iPad touch interface if anything like the iPhone interface will make it a much more usable device than say a Windows XP Tablet.

The key to the iPad’s success will be though it works well, will the other limitations be compensated by the superior user experience?

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Boot Camp Done

Installed new Boot Camp drivers on iMac. Windows 7 now working a treat.

Realty easy to install. However it was huge… 381MB is one big download.

Well my wireless keyboard and mouse now work.

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Windows 7 on a 27” i7 iMac – Update now available.

Released today.

Boot Camp Software Update 3.1 for Windows 32 bit

This update adds support for Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate), addresses issues with the Apple trackpad, turns off the red digital audio port LED on laptop computers when it is not being used, and supports the Apple wireless keyboard and Apple Magic mouse.

This update is highly recommended for all Boot Camp 3.0 users.

Installing now….

Okay… 381MB

Downloading now…

Installing, shall we say day after tomorrow!

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Freeview HD

Was thinking of buying a new HD TV in the near future and after a little searching this evening I was reminded that I should really be getting an HD TV with an intergrated Freeview HD Tuner in it, not just one with Freeview.

We don’t get Freeview HD until April, but I don’t really want to get another box and another remote just to watch what will be a couple of a channels, I’d rather slightly future proof and have it built in.

Next question is LCD or Plasma?

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Comic Book Fonts

I was reminded on New Year’s Day by Andy Ihnatko about Comic Book Fonts’ $20.10 font sale. As a result I got a few that had caught my eye and also recommended by Andy.

This blog post is in fact a graphic (added text below as well) using Comicrazy. I have been using it as a my default wordprocessing font since I got them on January 1st.

I do like Comic Life on the Mac and use that application for creating comics here and there.

I wanted to also use comic fonts for various documents and presentations I was working on. I didn’t want to use Comic Sans as that is horrible.

Of course comic fonts are not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you need good quality fonts, then check these out. They are not cheap, but they are excellent. If you want free fonts, you can find them online, but if you want fonts that catch the eye then have a look at Comic Book Fonts.

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Where’s my keyboard?

So I have installed Windows 7 on my iMac, despite not having the proper Boot Camp drivers. It did eventually install, however lacking the proper drivers is causing me a few issues.

Notably though I can use the wireless keyboard and mouse to log on to Windows, once logged in, the iMac under Windows 7 decides that it can no longer see the keyboard and mouse. So the only solution is to plug in an USB keyboard and mouse. The thing is that the OS can see the keyboard and mouse, it’s just that they don’t function!

The other problem is with the audio drivers.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before Apple release proper Boot Camp drivers for Windows 7.

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Windows 7 on a 27” i7 iMac – Better luck this time! It works!


It didn’t work before, but it is working now!

I have installed Windows 7 on the iMac using Parallels, however I did want to use it on Boot Camp. In the main because I can.

Problem number one was that currently there is no support in Apple’s Boot Camp for Windows 7.

I hoped that it wasn’t going to be an issue. But it was…

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant is very nice piece of software and the ease by which I can create a partition for Windows is so quick and easy and has virtually no impact on my OS X partition (apart from reducing its size).

Then slot in the Windows 7 installation disk and off we go. Remembering the format the Boot Camp partition, the Windows 7 install process starts to do its stuff. However after installing the files the whole process hung on a black screen It didn’t look right.

Quick Google search.

Ahhh

This blog entry states that the problem is with the display drivers.

So once more a fresh install and then into the DOS prompt to delete the “faulty” display driver.

However this did not work for me.

I tried again and still no luck.

Hmmm….

Was going to give up when searching for the original article I read this blog post.

The black screen problem is that for some reason, Windows 7 running on this new ATI 4670 card sends the video to the secondary monitor, leaving the primary display black. If you merely plug another monitor into the Mac, you get display just fine.

Hmmm, I was lucky that I had one of those nice 24” Apple Monitors in my office. Could this work?

Once more I configured the drive using Boot Camp Assistant, once more I put in the Windows 7 install disk, once more I set the whole process going…

Well…

Who would have guessed it! The install process worked, true the 27” iMac was all dark, but there on the secondary screen was the whole Windows 7 install process. Once installed it was very simple to install new graphics drivers and “pop” there on the 27” iMac was the Windows 7 desktop. In with the OS X install disk to install all the Windows drivers.

Job done, no need to delete files or reconfigure drives, just plug in a second monitor.

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Windows 7 on a 27” i7 iMac – No luck!

Well that didn’t work did it….

I have installed Windows 7 on the iMac using Parallels, however I did want to use it on Boot Camp. In the main because I can.

Problem number one was that currently there is no support in Apple’s Boot Camp for Windows 7.

I hoped that it wasn’t going to be an issue.

So off I went.

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant is very nice piece of software and the ease by which I can create a partition for Windows is so quick and easy and has virtually no impact on my OS X partition (apart from reducing its size).

Then slot in the Windows 7 installation disk and off we go.

Remembering the format the Boot Camp partition, the Windows 7 install process starts to do its stuff. However after installing the files the whole process hung on a black screen. Hmm this doesn’t look right.

Reboot and try again…

Hmmm same problem.

Well back into OS X, delete the partition and try again. Nope same problem.

Quick Google search.

Ahhh

This blog entry states that the problem is with the display drivers.

So once more a fresh install and then into the DOS prompt to delete the “faulty” display driver.

However this did not work for me.

I tried again and still no luck.

Hmmm….

Update: I did manage to get it working in the end….