InterNetWorkingSolutions Support Site

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Freeware Voice-over-IP (VoIP) application Gizmo Project makes phone calls from your PC similar to the popular Skype. Like when we first mentioned Gizmo Project, it still boasts several excellent features like voice integration with other Gizmo Project users as well as Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger users, support for AIM and MSN chat, and a free call-in number—making it sort of a kitchen sink version of Skype.

The latest version of Gizmo Project supports video chat (though it's not as high quality as Skype), an improved interface, and several worthwhile fixes. If you've tried Skype but you're looking for more functionality and integration with other communication standards, Gizmo Project is worth a go. If you've been using Gizmo Project since we first mentioned it, let us know how it's working for you in the comments. The current beta is Windows only, but will presumably support Mac and Linux soon.
Gizmo Project 4 Beta [Gizmo Project Forums]

Mac users, that file you're trying to copy might actually be a bundle of multiple files—which is why your copying isn't working. The Pain in the Tech weblog schools us on Mac OS X bundles, how to browse inside them and manipulate them, using GarageBand and Pages files as examples, but remember: applications like Firefox.app and Mail.app are bundles as well.
Mac OS X Bundles [Pain in the Tech]

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): There are tons of great instant messaging applications available, but one nagging problem in the IM world is that there's no great, fully cross-platform chat app (unless you count Meebo). Free, open source application Instantbird aims to do for chat what Firefox does for the browser. Based on the same tools used to create Firefox and Thunderbird, Instantbird should ultimately be just as extensible as the former—which means IM customization will be as simple as installing a Firefox extension. Right now Instantbird connects to virtually any IM network and supports a tabbed chat interface. Beyond that, the application is still very barebones, but its upcoming features are very exciting.

Aside from the basics you'd expect from any chat app (like status notifications, contact management, and IM notifications), the ultimate roadmap for Instantbird includes video and voice support. What's most exciting, though, is the possibility that the chat application will be subject to the same community of creative extension developers that make Firefox such a killer browser—so that Instantbird can easily be customized to deliver exactly what you want from it. Instantbird is free, works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's still a very young app, so this one's for the early adopters.
Instantbird [via CyberNet]

Windows/Mac/Linux: Add clip art, advanced PDF functions, and in-editor Wikipedia searching to open source office suite OpenOffice.org with OxygenOffice Professional, a modified installation package and extension. Along with adding roughly 3,400 clip art files and templates, OxygenOffice's extensions also add support for Microsoft's Visual Basic for Applications in the Calc spreadsheet program and conversion tools for the Office Open XML format used in Office 2007. Combined with the Writer's Tools package, this gives OO.org a number of exclusive features.

To install, download the extension, open OO.org, go to Tools -> Extension Manager and click the "Add" button in the My Extensions section, or download a binary to make a fresh OO.org install. OxygenOffice is a free download that runs wherever OpenOffice.org does.OxygenOffice Professional [via Download Squad]

Mac OS X Only: Freeware Mail.app add-on Mail.appetizer lets you read and delete email on the fly without having to open Mail's main window every time a message arrives. What makes Mail.appetizer stand out from other notifiers is the customization—you tell it whether to show headers, icons, quoted reply text and determine its size. Mail.appetizer is freeware, available in a seemingly bug-free beta for OS X 10.4 Tiger and a stable version for 10.3 Panther. Thanks, dcharti!
Mail.appetizer [Bronson Beta]

Windows/Mac: Freeware application Yuuguu provides instant remote screen sharing through a simple IM-like application. Just install Yuuguu on the computers you'd like to share screens, and then register and login to the Yuuguu chat application. If you decide you want to do a little screen sharing—perfect for friends and family tech support or a little project collaboration—just click "Show" and let the screen sharing begin. The user you're chatting with can either observe your screen or take control of the keyboard and mouse. Of course, there's no shortage of screen sharing apps like Yuuguu out there (like CrossLoop, ShowMyPC, LogMeIn, and of course VNC), Yuuguu's simple cross platform support is a bit of a gem.
Yuuguu [via Web Worker Daily]

Apple has just released a video walk-through of OS X 10.5 Leopard. The video doesn't cover anything we haven't mentioned before, but seeing Time Machine, Stacks and other features in action is something else altogether. The video requires QuickTime to view.
Mac OS X Leopard - Guided Tour [via Macworld]

Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Free, cross platform application SvnTimeLapseView downloads every revision of a file from your Subversion repository and scrolls through revisions with a simple slider, highlighting differences in blue. If you're not familiar with the benefits of version control (especially for people who live in text), check out our guide to setting up a home subversion server for a better idea of what it does and whether Subversion might be useful for you. If you decide Subversion is up your alley, Windows users should also check out how to use TortoiseSVN with Subversion. SvnTimeLapseView is free, works on Windows, Mac, and Linux (or any platform that runs Java).
SvnTimeLapseView [Google Code]

You've got a household full of PC's and you've stopped yourself from getting a Mac because you don't want to deal with incompatibility headaches. Eight years ago that would've been understandable, but today Mac OS and Windows can work together in harmony on the same home network, sharing files and printers, mounting one another's drives and using the same equipment, like wireless routers and USB drives. If you're considering a mixed Mac/PC home or office, here's a primer on how the two systems inter-operate (and the few instances when they don't.)

Both OS X and Windows can see each other's shared drives over the local network. To mount a Mac's shared drive on a PC, it's a simple matter of enabling Windows Sharing in System Preferences and browsing to the shared folder the way you would on any other PC. Here's a step by step rundown for accessing a Mac's files on your PC. Update: Reader Jeremy writes in with more information on how to get Windows Vista to see Mac-shared folders. Thanks, Jeremy!

By default, OS X shares only your home folder. To share out another location on your Mac—like, say, an external drive that houses all your media files—use the free SharePoints System Preferences pane to configure advanced sharing.

To go the other way around and see your PC's files on the Mac, use Finder's built-in support for Samba, a network file-sharing protocol. Here are the details on mounting a shared Windows folder on your Mac.

File and Application CompatibilityOnce you're whizzing files back and forth between your Mac and PC, you'll see that practically all the filetypes you need work on both systems. A Photoshop .PSD file created on a Mac will open in Photoshop for Windows without any kind of import or formatting. Word documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDF's, images, zip files, text, rich text, MP3's, AVI's—you can even play Windows Media Files on your Mac.

But while you're unlikely to run into filetype compatibility issues, Mac newbs should know that applications are not compatible across operating systems. That is, if you buy Microsoft Office for Windows, you've got to buy a whole new package/license for Office for Mac. Same goes for Photoshop and other utilities like text editors or FTP clients. Some Mac-only apps can export files that work on PC, but won't run on PC's—like iPhoto, for instance.

File Sync and System Files: Thumbs.db and .DS_Store You can even easily sync files between Mac and PC using a variety of methods, like FTP, rsync or any file copying utility that recognizes the networked drives you set up above. Once you do start copying whole folders, though, you'll start to reveal some of the inner workings of both Windows and OS X in the form of folder view system files. Mac OS X by default creates a file called .DS_store in each of its folders, and in turn Windows has Thumbs.db. On their native OS, these system files are hidden: you won't see them in the Finder or Explorer, unless you have "Show hidden files" enabled. But once you start moving them over to a foreign OS, you will see them. Here's more on how to turn off .DS_Store and Thumbs.db. Alternately, you can exclude them from your file sync job, or scrub them from your system manually after the fact.

Printer and Fax Sharing A printer hooked up to one Mac or one PC on your home network can be printed to from any other system as well. Using Bonjour for Windows (free), your PC can print to your Mac's printer. Here are the details on sharing your Mac's printer with Windows using Bonjour.

To go in the other direction, simply share your Windows printer as usual and use the Mac's printer browser to find it.

Running Windows on your Mactel If you want to use both Windows and Mac OS X but you don't want to have all that extra hardware lying around, you can have your cake and eat it too on a single, Intel-based Mac. Here are your options:

• Dual boot Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp—forces you to partition your hard drive into two sections and choose which OS to start when you turn on your computer, but runs Windows natively (read:fast)
  
• Run Windows inside OS X with not-free virtualization software like Parallels or VMware—lets you move files back and forth between each OS's drives and open any file on either system using a Mac or Windows app. (You can even set a Mac or Windows app to open for a filetype by default from either system.)
  
• Virtualize your Boot Camp partition to get the best of both worlds—make your choice every time whether you want to start Windows natively or within OS X, based on the task at hand

A few things to keep in mind when you set up Windows on your Mac: If you choose Boot Camp, you'll have a choice to format your Windows partition as FAT (which has a 32GB size limit for Boot Camp) or NTFS. NTFS is more secure and has no size limit, but OS X cannot write to NTFS drives, only read them. That means that you cannot save files to your Windows partition while you're booted up into OS X, just like you can't write to your Mac drive in Windows. (If you do opt for FAT, you can write to your Boot Camp Windows partition in OS X.)

If you go the virtualization route, when Windows is running inside OS X, you can easily copy files between your Mac and Windows drives. In fact, Parallels mounts your Windows hard drive and displays it in Finder like any writable external drive (pictured.)

Remote Server Access Both Macs and PCs can act as an FTP or SSH server, which gives you the option to use a huge range of cross-platform FTP and SSH clients like WinSCP, FireFTP or FileZilla to transfer data between them over the internet or on your local network. Here's how to set up a Windows FTP server and a Windows SSH server. On the Mac, it's literally as simple as checking off either "FTP access" or "Remote login" in the System Preferences Sharing panel.

Most commercial remote login services like LogMeIn are Windows-only, but the cross-platform VNC lets you remote control your Mac or PC from either OS. Likewise, the free VPN software and network which lets you stream your iTunes library over the internet and access shared drives, Hamachi, is also available for Mac with HamachiX.

There's no Microsoft Outlook for Mac, but Entourage (included in Office for Mac) can talk to your Microsoft Exchange server. Mac's Mail.app is also not available for PC but supports your standard email fetching and sending protocols, like POP/IMAP and SMTP, so it can download and send mail from Gmail or your ISP just the way Outlook Express can on your PC. Update: Mail.app can also work with Exchange server. Thanks, Byslexic!

iTunes, your iPod, and Other Incompatibilities The one major area of Mac/PC incompatibility is the iPod and iTunes. While iTunes comes in both Windows and Mac flavors, iTunes' internal library files themselves are different for Mac and Windows, so you can't copy your entire library between operating systems and preserve play counts and ratings. Update: this is due to the differences in how Mac OS and Windows address file paths. If you must move your library from Mac to PC, here's how you can massage iTunes' internal XML file to do just that.

You can, of course, share a library on a Mac or PC and listen to it in iTunes on any other machine regardless of OS.

Likewise, you've got to choose between formatting your iPod for Mac or Windows. An iPod formatted for one will not work with the other. Update: Two readers report that a Windows-formatted iPod WILL work on a Mac, but not the other way around.

Along those same lines, an external hard drive formatted "Mac OS Extended" can't be plugged into Windows and just work. However, USB drives formatted "MS-DOS" (for Windows, that is) can be recognized, read and written to by both Windows and Mac OS. So a thumb drive sneaker net will work between Mac and PC.

Making the Switch If you're a new Mac user or you're considering becoming one now that you know Mac OS and Windows can live together in harmony, be sure to check out Adam's comprehensive guide to switching to a Mac.

How do you negotiate Windows and Mac OS in your computing life? Let us know in the comments.

Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, has one foot in each OS on a daily basis. Her weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

Macworld says there are a few things you can do to clean up and prepare your Mac before you take the leap to OS X 10.5 Leopard. Install the latest versions of your current applications (many are rolling out Leopard updates), clean up your hard drive, uninstall unneeded software, run the Apple hardware test and repair your hard drive using Disk Utility. The list of file and folder deletion candidates is especially impressive. First there are the usual culprits like Documents and Applications, but to dig deeper and rid yourself of cruft, look in:

• In /Library, /Library/Application Support, ~/Library, and ~/Library/Application Support, look for folder names matching applications you no longer use, and delete them.
• Your /Library and ~/Library folders may contain other folders that store components of third-party utilities. Look in Application Enhancers, Bundles, Contextual Menu Items, InputManagers, and PreferencePanes for any system enhancements you no longer use, and drag them to the Trash.
• Third-party Dashboard widgets live in ~/Library/Widgets. Any widgets you don't use can go.
• Applications use cache files to increase their speed and efficiency, and rebuild them automatically if necessary, so you can delete them safely:
  • The contents of /Library/Caches and ~/Library/Caches, can sometimes occupy hundreds of megabytes of valuable disk space. Drag these files to the Trash.
  • You can empty Safari's cache by choosing Safari -> Empty Cache (Command-Option-E).
  • Safari stores favicons (those tiny icons that appear next to a site's URL in the address bar) separately from its main cache. To remove them, quit Safari and drag the folder ~/Library/Safari/Icons to the Trash.
• Software that requires some component to be running in the background all the time may install folders in /Library/StartupItems. In most cases, you should leave this folder alone, but if you see anything there from software you're sure you don't use, delete it.

Mac users have been waiting since 2004 for an update to Microsoft's ubiquitous office suite, and especially eagerly since Apple switched to Intel processors. Now that the 2008 release is quickly approaching, it's time to take a look at what Office 2008 for Mac has in store. The new Office is chock full of interface enhancements following in the footsteps of Office 2007 for Windows, including a new ribbon-like toolbar, lots of snazzy animations, and a much snappier performance. Hit the jump for a look at the visual refresh of the Office for Mac suite.

galleryPost('Office 2008 for Mac', 6, '','list');

As you can see in the screenshots, the Office 2008 for Mac ribbon (I'm not entirely sure if they're calling it a ribbon or not, but it's strikingly similar looking, so I'm making the leap) is very different from the Office 2007 for Windows ribbon. That's because with the Mac's menu bar, you still have access to all of the traditional menus. The new ribbon provides quick access to templates, graphics, and other similar tools. Click the ribbon title once to expand it, click it again to hide it.

Most importantly, Intel Mac users should notice a significant jump in performance from the new universal binary. I haven't been using it long enough to give a good measure, but so far I'm very happy with the results I've seen.

Let's hear what you think of the new look of Office 2008 for Mac in the comments.

Mac OS X only: Freeware customization utility TinkerTool tweaks hidden settings in all corners of your Mac, from modifying Finder and Dock features and effects to adjusting your system fonts. Similar to previously mentioned system tweaker Onyx, TinkerTool focuses more on visual tweaks in contrast to OnyX's maintenance-focused tweaks (making them nice companion tools). My favorite feature: the ability to reorganize the order my startup items run via a simple drag and drop. TinkerTool is freeware, Mac OS X only.
TinkerTool [via Mac 911]

Reader Brett writes in with an interesting observation about his shared iTunes library, which he plays from his laptop and his desktop: Previous to the latest update of iTunes, I could only have one installation of iTunes running at a time—either the desktop would work or the laptop would work. The error message was something like 'iTunes library already in use.' However, with the latest release, I've found that I can have iTunes open on both. A quick test between my MacBook and Powerbook confirmed Brett's findings. You can play music from a single shared library on two machines simultaneously and edit ratings and playlists, which update on each computer—effectively removing the need to sync the iTunes library file manually. But it's not perfect.

Listening to the two libraries at once, for the most part, goes without a hitch. Playcount and ratings do update across libraries (eventually, if not immediately.) If you edit ratings on a song (which means iTunes has to write to its library file) and try to access that same song right away, you'll get an error like this one:

So this isn't without its choppiness or risks. I also had one machine intermittently lose track of where media files were located on the shared drive while accessing the same library. (You get the little exclamation point and iTunes says it can't find the file, and prompts you to browse for it.) In both cases, by just restarting iTunes all was well again.

Brett also says: Prior to the latest update, I could see the iPod on my laptop when it was plugged into my desktop. Now, that no longer happens. My tests also confirmed this, and further testing opening and closing the same library on two machines triggered another interesting error message.

Disclaimer and notes: I only tested this on two Macs, not two PC's, using the Mac's built-in file sharing. As far as I know, the iTunes library file is not compatible between Mac and PC (due to the differences in how each OS addresses file paths), so I doubt that will work at all. Brett says he had this working even when the library was shared remotely with Hamachi.

If you try this yourself, be sure to back up your iTunes library first, because having two machines write to the same file, in theory, can corrupt it. Anyone else give this a try? Let us know how it went in the comments. Thanks, Brett!

Most desktop software and web sites are built to grab your attention in one way or another, and the constant temptations are tough to resist. While modern computing offers amazing and infinite opportunities, there are times when we need to do heads-down, focused work like programming, writing or number-crunching. If the 28 overlapping windows, 38 open tabs and stacks of button-studded toolbars are keeping you from zeroing in on your important work, it's time to arm yourself with some attention protective devices. After the jump, get our top 10 desktop distraction blockers. Hilarious image by Asher Sarlin.

9. Neutralize Noise with ChatterBlocker (Windows/Mac)
"Corporate Accounts Payable, Nina speaking. JUST a moment!" When the noise of your co-workers' conversations or the construction outside your window is driving you batty, set up some white noise to combat it. Previously posted Chatter Blocker (now available for Mac as well) cooks up custom noise neutralization recipes to your liking.

8. Minimize Unused Windows with Swept Away (Windows) Let your computer automatically do the work of cleaning up your desktop for you with Lifehacker's own background window minimizer, Swept Away. After a user-set amount of time, Swept Away quietly minimizes background windows so you can focus on the only one that matters—the one you're working in.

7. Isolate the Active Window with DropCloth (Windows) or Isolator (Mac) Along the lines of Swept Away, window-focusing utilities DropCloth for Windows or Isolator for Mac black out everything on your desktop except for the currently active window. Similarly, the Clutter Cloak for Windows drills down further and can black out everything in a given window except a specified subsection (like a video frame.)

6. Isolate Singular Webapps with WebRunner (All)
Resist the temptation of browser tabs and chrome in "distraction-free browser" WebRunner, a stripped down Mozilla browser meant for running web applications as if they are standalone desktop apps. Here's 32 WebRunner-ready webapp shortcuts.

5. Minimize Your Word Processor Microsoft Word's toolbar bloat and dancing paper clip got you putting off writing the Great American Novel forever? Try a stripped-down, "just write" word processor alternative like Writeroom for Mac or Darkroom for Windows.

4. Avoid Bacn, Spam and Other Low-Priority Messages with Strong Email Filters
Anyone who gets more than a dozen email messages a day knows that setting up some simple rules that shuttle Aunt Edna's kitten photo forwards to a low-priority folder is essential. Reduce the insane number of times your email client interrupts you per day with our essential email filters.

3. Proactively Configure Your IM VisibilityThe best way to avoid "hey wot u wearin'" instant messages from strangers while you're on deadline is some tinkering with your IM client's default settings—like letting only your buddies see you come online. Check out our IM survival tips for how to be available via IM and focus on the task at hand.

2. Block Web Sites via the Hosts fileWhen you simply can't let yourself check MetaFilter one more time, you can force your browser to redirect time-wasting sites automatically by editing a special system file called hosts. Here's more on banning time-wasting web sites with hosts and the Invisibility Cloak Greasemonkey user script.

1. Limit Time-Wasting Web Sites with LeechBlock (Firefox) Fine-tune your web site blocks even further with the excellent Firefox extension LeechBlock (which extends and improves upon the Invisibility Cloak). Set up separate block lists and allow yourself to indulge in them at certain times of the day with LeechBlock, too.

How do you focus when the web and your desktop apps are conspiring against you? Let us know in the comments.

New version 2.0 of Mac typing timesaver TextExpander is now available, with snippet groups, per-application settings, .Mac synchronization, and speedier performance.

The next version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be released in 10 days for $129 ($199 for a family pack o' licenses). You already know what's coming in Leopard: Time Machine backup, iChat improvements, a shiny (but not all that useful) Desktop and Dock, the final release of Boot Camp, and a much-improved, iTunes-like Finder. But what's the feature that will get you to fork over your hard-earned cash?

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Any other features making you look twice at the Leopard? Any Tiger fans holding out on the upgrade till the last minute? You know where to sound off.
Mac OS X Leopard [Apple]

Mac OS X only: Shareware application Lights Out is your Mac's default Energy Saver tool on steroids, allowing users to set very specific energy saving settings. From setting the time before your monitor dims to automatic logout or shutdown to hot corners for quick sleeping, this simple application takes control of nearly every energy-related aspect of your Mac. Lights Out is free to try, costs $8.99 for a license. We normally steer clear of shareware apps around here when we can, but in the spirit of living greener, Lights Out looks like a great software. If you know of a free alternative, let's hear it in the comments.
Lights Out [via MacApper]

You already know how to share a PC's printer on your home network, and now it's time to give the Mac users some love. If you've got a printer hooked up to your Mac that you want to share out to Windows PC's, you don't have to get your hands dirty with Samba. Using Apple's Bonjour client for Windows, it's easy to detect and use shared Mac printers. Here's how.

• 1. Turn on printer sharing (Mac)
• 2. Detect shared printers with Bonjour (Windows)
• 3. Install the printer's driver (Windows)
• 4. Send documents to your new printer (Windows)

For more Mac to Windows sharing (this time files), see also:

• How to access a Mac's files on your PC
  
• How to mount a Windows shared folder on your Mac

Mac users: You already know how to customize shortcut arrows on your Windows PC, and you can do the same on aliased folders and files on the Mac (which include a small black arrow on the lower left by default). To remove aliased item arrows entirely, a simple Terminal command plus a killall Finder does the trick. Otherwise you can create a custom icon and copy it deep in the bowels of OS X to overwrite the default. Looks like another nice Finder customization for those of you who use aliases often.
Remove or modify alias arrows [Mac OS X Hints]

Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Organize your tabs by domain or origin, manage their layout, and more with the powerful Tab Kit Firefox extension. As you can see in the video from CyberNet, Tab Kit's most notable features incorporate advanced tab bar positioning (including a widescreen-optimized left or right-aligned tab bar) and tab grouping and collapsing based on either the domain (e.g., all lifehacker.com tabs will be grouped together) or by origin (e.g., all tabs you open from Lifehacker, whether on or off-site, will be grouped together). This extension is currently available in the Mozilla Sandbox, which means you have to log into the site to download it (ahem, *BugMeNot*), and the developer seems unclear as to how well it works with Macs.
Tab Kit [Firefox Add-ons via CyberNet]