[ThePhoenix]

I am looking to see if anyone has come across or has interest in helping with developing a Web Based Mac OS Simulator.

I work for an Internet Service Provider type company in the top level of support. Currently, we do not support Macs officially, but my company is considering doing so. To make things easier on our support staff of about 100 people all using Windows PCs, I was looking to assemble all the associated screen shots and trying to build a reference for our techs. I was wondering if anyone has come across something like this already that is available either via open source or reasonable commercialware.

If I have to build it myself I will most likely be doing this either in Flash or just as straight web page. Any advice would be appreciated. My Flash skills on a scale of 1 to 10 are about a 4. And my Web Skills are about an 8. But I am thinking Flash would be the more flexible method of doing this.

[andretan]

Why not just ask the company to buy a Mac? :-/

[Phil Sherry]

Yeah, come on. The eMac and the Mac mini are well within the budget for pretty much any company, and especially one with 100+ employees.

[xi_hyperon]

um, it's gonna be cheaper to buy a Mac mini than to pay for the man hours needed to develop a web-based "mac simulator". And the bonus is, you have a real Mac. *boink*

[jay3ld]

^^^^^^^^^^ what they said.

get a mac and be proud... i am

[ThePhoenix]

We already have 5 Powerbooks. But what I am looking for is something that I can build instructions into as a tutorial. It is great to use the machines, but it doesn't mean they will know where to look. The goal is to build a troubleshooter where they can see the actual screens and be guided through what to have the customers do.

[Chuckit]

Maybe make a demo movie with Snapz Pro? That seems like the quickest way to do what it sounds like you want to do.

[ThePhoenix]

I have been considering doing something like that. What I was considering was assembling multiple video captures into a Flash and then building a Text instructions over lay and video controls and having it be like a slideshow of video clips with the appropriate instructions. However was hoping to go with something a little more dynamic then a series of video clips, but that is the fall back position if I can't find anything else.

[jay3ld]

yea that would work. but i would search for a better video taking program maybe.

[xi_hyperon]

Originally Posted by ThePhoenix

We already have 5 Powerbooks. But what I am looking for is something that I can build instructions into as a tutorial. It is great to use the machines, but it doesn't mean they will know where to look. The goal is to build a troubleshooter where they can see the actual screens and be guided through what to have the customers do.

Apple recently posted a pretty detailed tutorial on the Mac on their site. You might want to check it out and see if it is what you are looking for.

[registered_user]

There's a "Help" menu in Mac OS X, it's pretty useful. You could direct your users towards it and that ought to solve most problems. If your users can't figure out the interface, I would recommend a book about the OS to leave around the office. If they still can't grasp it, then, no offense, they're not smart enough to operate digital equipment. Seriously know, are you expecting power-users or users? It doesn't take a whole lot to figure out the basics. If you're looking for power-users for troubleshooting and support, then you're going to need a hell of a lot more than a Flash demo.

In regards to the web simulator, if you have to ask how to make such a thing, then surely you must realize it's a gigantic undertaking. Seriously, gigantic. And it's a totally wasted effort because it makes no sense to emulate what already exists. Your troubleshooters can use one of your five powerbooks to see the actual screens, and they can read a $24.99 book to figure out where to look.

[ThePhoenix]

Originally Posted by registered_user

There's a "Help" menu in Mac OS X, it's pretty useful. You could direct your users towards it and that ought to solve most problems. If your users can't figure out the interface, I would recommend a book about the OS to leave around the office. If they still can't grasp it, then, no offense, they're not smart enough to operate digital equipment. Seriously know, are you expecting power-users or users? It doesn't take a whole lot to figure out the basics. If you're looking for power-users for troubleshooting and support, then you're going to need a hell of a lot more than a Flash demo.

In regards to the web simulator, if you have to ask how to make such a thing, then surely you must realize it's a gigantic undertaking. Seriously, gigantic. And it's a totally wasted effort because it makes no sense to emulate what already exists. Your troubleshooters can use one of your five powerbooks to see the actual screens, and they can read a $24.99 book to figure out where to look.

Thank you for your attempt to help. However the Help menu is not going to be nearly enough. For an end user it is one thing to tell them to use the help menu. For the Tech Support Reps taking thhe call from the end user the help menu isn't going to cut it. The group is 100 Windows power users and about 3 mac power users that is looking to help our company in their efforts to support the mac.

While I will without question that some of the reps are as bright when it comes to the Mac as a Milky Way Midnight candy bar, the majority are trainable and knowledgable techs that haven't had much experience dabbling in the Mac before. And what we do is a challenge enough when it comes to regular support. We are the firing line for all computer, network, software and device issues. We have over 20 tools that we use just for analyzing network traffic and a wide range of different services we must support.

I was not asking how to go about making one in the original question but rather if anyone knew of anything like this that exists already because I understand the size of the task I am attempting to engage.

Again thank you for your efforts.

[xi_hyperon]

Then the best route to take would probably be the following:

- Take advantage of the resources already available online. Perhaps create a "links" page organized by Mac OS X topics (training, troubleshooting, FAQs, etc.), and make the page available on your company server.
- Choose and distribute a few choices from the wealth of good books on the same topics.
- Hands-on training.

You've got access to all the above resources already. Just organize and make them easily available to the people who need to be trained. And be available to answer noobie questions.

Really, it isn't that complicated to learn in-depth, if the reps put a little time and effort into it. If nothing else, have them begin at Apple's Mac OS X resources page.

[genevish]

Originally Posted by ThePhoenix

Thank you for your attempt to help. However the Help menu is not going to be nearly enough. For an end user it is one thing to tell them to use the help menu. For the Tech Support Reps taking thhe call from the end user the help menu isn't going to cut it. The group is 100 Windows power users and about 3 mac power users that is looking to help our company in their efforts to support the mac.

While I will without question that some of the reps are as bright when it comes to the Mac as a Milky Way Midnight candy bar, the majority are trainable and knowledgable techs that haven't had much experience dabbling in the Mac before. And what we do is a challenge enough when it comes to regular support. We are the firing line for all computer, network, software and device issues. We have over 20 tools that we use just for analyzing network traffic and a wide range of different services we must support.

I was not asking how to go about making one in the original question but rather if anyone knew of anything like this that exists already because I understand the size of the task I am attempting to engage.

Again thank you for your efforts.

Sounds like you need to have a basic tutorial of how to navigate various parts of the Mac OS ("Click the Apple menu. Select System Preferences. Click the Network option.") Is this accurate? I'm not aware of any such thing that is pre-existing. Since it seems you'll need to make one, I'd say a simple web site with clickable image maps would take the least effort. Say you have a list of topics. The Rep clicks on the "Change Network settings" topic. It gives them a written script, as well as scren shots showing what the screen will look like for each step.

Good luck.

[ThePhoenix]

Originally Posted by genevish

Sounds like you need to have a basic tutorial of how to navigate various parts of the Mac OS ("Click the Apple menu. Select System Preferences. Click the Network option.") Is this accurate? I'm not aware of any such thing that is pre-existing. Since it seems you'll need to make one, I'd say a simple web site with clickable image maps would take the least effort. Say you have a list of topics. The Rep clicks on the "Change Network settings" topic. It gives them a written script, as well as scren shots showing what the screen will look like for each step.

Good luck.

Thanks, It sounds like this is the type of setup I am having to go with initially. We are the top level of support on the Windows side we do a lot of things such MSConfig modification, flushing DNS stack, rebuilding the PPP Protocols, manually configuring drivers. These types of things aren't commonly documented which is why having the techs just read a book and such doesn't work well. And there is a lot of infomration I am cataloging so that the technicians have a reference point to go back to and wanted the screenshot so they can walk the customer's through it if they are having difficulty finding the options.

I am probably going with a hybrid of video clips at this point as building the rollover effects and accurately recreating the menus would be a bit of a hassle.

Thank you all for your help.

[ApeInTheShell]

You could use the new Flash platform and build your own interface like those found in Dashboard but they have that aqua feel.