[Outie]

Hello Macnn,

I have just made the transition to the light side with a purchase of a new iMac. I am needing a few tools to do my job though as a web designer.

I see dreamweaver is out for the mac but its ungodly expensive. I typically use prebuilt templates I designed so I will not need something like dreamweaver. Is there any other web authoring tool yall can suggest out there?

Also I see mac office 2008 is coming.. should I get 2004 or wait for the 08 version?

Thanks.

[macintologist]

Rapidweaver is amazing and very affordable.

We are Realmac Software | RapidWeaver | Overview

[mpancha]

If you like Dreamweaver, you should try Coda from Panic. It is $79 compared to whatever Dreamweaver costs, has all the same features, and a few other nice gems.

Check the information on Panic's website, the trial works for I believe 30 days, give it a shot.

As for Office, I would wait for the 2008 version if I were you. There's no point getting 2004 when you know you'd probably upgrade to 2008 when it gets released.

In the meantime, there's an OS X version of Open Office, Neo Office that should tide you over until 2008 is available.

You might also want to look through the website My First Mac - Help Buying and Getting Started with Your New Mac, they have a lot of good information for users new to Mac.

[Outie]

Thanks guys for the help I will give them a try!

So far loving the iMac, its just trying to figure out what all I did on my windows box and how to do it on the iMac. I am liking the mail client so far but only have one account on it so once I add multiple accounts that will be the real test.

any ideas on OS X 10.5's ability for RDP?

[mpancha]

Outie >> feel free to ask your questions. I got my first mac back in 2001 (I had an account that for some reason got locked on MacNN, so I have a misleading join date of 2005 on my current account) and went through the learning curve. Granted, I never switched completely, but my daily work horse is a mac b/c its lighter than the PC laptop I had at the time, and now I just don't want to move my data to another computer.

With Mail, I have mine setup with 6 accounts that I use several times a day, don't worry, it will handle them perfectly fine. I love how Mail handles signatures especially, you can tie them to specific accounts or have them globally available to all.

RDP >> do you mean some kind of Remote Desktop connection, or does RDP mean something else? (Ive been trying to figure out a VM Ware solution all day and its got my brain fried).

[Outie]

Mpancha,

Yes sir, I mean remote desktop protocol (sorry windows world on the brain). Does mac have something similar built into it so I can connect to it via my computer here at work (windows machine)?

Thanks

[brettcamp]

For web authoring, have you tried the free iWeb that came with your Mac? If not, there's Sandvox, Nvu and Kompozer, the latter two free.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by mpancha 

If you like Dreamweaver, you should try Coda from Panic. It is $79 compared to whatever Dreamweaver costs, has all the same features, and a few other nice gems.

Er…Coda's a fine program, but since when did it do WYSIWYG editing?

Originally Posted by Outie 

Yes sir, I mean remote desktop protocol (sorry windows world on the brain). Does mac have something similar built into it so I can connect to it via my computer here at work (windows machine)?

I think what you're looking for is called "screen sharing" in 10.5. You can search for it in the Finder's Help menu. There's also Apple Remote Desktop if you want a higher-end solution.

[analogika]

^ Screen sharing, yep.

Know that the Mac "Screen Sharing" is just an easily set-up (as in: a single check box in the System Preferences' Sharing pane) VNC front-end.

The protocol is completely standard, so if you get a VNC client for Windows and dyndns set up for home, it will work.

[mpancha]

for RDP, you have a few solutions.

Screen sharing works in 10.5 (there's also remote *** something*** in 10.4) which is accessible via the Sharing preference in System Preferences. You can access your Mac via VNC (free remote client).

Another method I've started to use widely on my personal computers, family computers, and a few work machines is a service called logmein (www.logmein.com). This service works just like backtomymac (minus spotlight integration) but is accessible via any web browser on any platform. Basically you won't have to download a special software, remember any IPs, just your login to logmein.com. Its similar to gotomypc, but the free logmein version will allow you to do everything you need to remotely control any system on PC or Mac platform.

[mpancha]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Er…Coda's a fine program, but since when did it do WYSIWYG editing?.

Good point, I figured since he's a web developer, then Coda would work fine for him But you're right, a bit misleading with my original comment on Coda doing everything Dreamweaver could do.