If you head over to the brilliant TheOnion.com you’ll be able to see a new Apple ad highlighting the PC to Mac switcher rate following the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7. Justin Long and John Hodgman, the Mac and PC characters, stand below a bank of CCTV monitors across the top of the page watching PC users entering a series of Apple Retail Stores. After bemoaning Apple’s success in customer satisfaction surveys and the continued movement of PC users to Mac, Hodgman dashes off to accost the hapless switchers.

While certainly entertaining, the ad continues to promote Apple’s successful retail model with the added bonus that switchers don’t yet appear to be lured by the charms of Windows 7 to remain as PC users. The only drawback we can see, as with previous Get A Mac ads, is that Hodgman is still far too likeable a character while Long’s aloof, bordering on smug persona could begin to grate even the more hardened Mac enthusiast. That said, no amount of advertising is likely to sway a Mac user toward a PC but it may be enough to put off those sitting on the fence.

The ad features on The Onion’s home page and can be seen, while live, here

What with the upgrade to the site and the excitement that ensued, we forgot to let you know about a really great product that has come our way from the good people at Parallels. Most of you will be aware that Parallels produce a cunning piece of software that lets users run Windows on a Mac – but much more cleverly than Boot Camp, where you have to log in and out of each system. With Parallels you can have both Windows and OS X running together and, with the fantastically clever Coherence mode, you needn’t let on that Windows is running at all. You can simply dip into Windows programs as and when you need them.

Taking things one step further, Parallels has now released their all-in-one solution to help users make the switch from PC to Mac. The included software and cable lets users connect their old PC to their new Mac and import the old machine onto the new one. This way, no files are lost and users can begin learning OS X without fear of forgetting anything they had on their old computer. In addition to the software and cable, Parallels are also offering some excellent video tutorials to walk people through the differences in the two systems so they can learn how to do all the basics like set up email and get online.

The Box, which is aptly called Parallels Desktop 4.0 Switch to Mac, costs £74.99 and is the perfect accompaniment to a new Mac for people who are coming straight from Windows. You can find it in Apple Stores and in most Apple Resellers. If you want even more information just head here.

It’s easy to share your Pages documents with others, even if they happen to be using Microsoft Windows or Word.

Regardless of where you stand on the Mac-versus-PC debate, you’re unlikely to put an end to the discussion. We have to face facts: some people will always use Macs and the rest will use PCs. This age-old squabble doesn’t have to get in the way of sharing, however, with more and more cross-platform applications available and increasingly friendly methods of communication on both systems. When it comes to page layout and word processing, however, there have always been some serious issues. Of course, plain text documents read as well on any computer, but when it comes to the smooth designs found in Pages templates or even beautiful formatting in its written documents, things sometimes go awry. In this tutorial we will show you how to not only save a Pages document in a Word-friendly format, but also explain how you can speed up the process by dropping your file into an email ready to impress your PC-using friends with your bi-partisan methods.

Step 1: Prepare Your Project
Start by launching Pages and load the project you wish to share in Word format. Once it is loaded head to the File menu at the top of the screen and select the Save Copy As option.

Step 2: Make A Copy
Rename your document as something memorable and then check the box labelled ‘Save copy as’. Make sure you select Word Document from the drop-down menu to save your file in the location specified.

Step 3: Prepare To Share
Your file will now be stored in the location you chose as a native Pages document and an exact replica will be stored with it in Word format. You are now able to open this document in Word.

Step 4: Speedier Sharing
For an even faster way to share a document compatible with Word you can email it directly. Simply select Send Via Mail from the Share menu and choose Word. This will automatically add a Word format file to a new email.

If anyone cares about the plight of the piece of scrap metal I bought from Microsoft (XBox 360 for those who didn’t read my earlier post). I made it work again. 

How did I do this? Did I fold under the pressure, void the warranty and open the case to fix it? No. I did what any self respecting Apple fan would do when confronted with a piece of hardware from Redmond – I gave the thing an almighty punch. 


I’m not kidding, I hit the thing so hard it made my knuckles red and suddenly the whirring noises stopped and it could read discs again. It’s true, Microsoft hardware hasn’t progressed much further than the typewriter when it comes to crucial updates and quick fixes. As far as an entertainment platform goes, my XBox 360 is the jukebox at Arnold’s and I’m the Fonze (Check out some old Happy Days episodes if you don’t catch my drift).  


Talking of Microsoft incompetence, what’s this I see? A “Critical” update to Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac? Surely not.


Not only was Microsoft the last of the major players to release an Intel-native version of its software for Mac (probably due to the giant delay-fest that was the disappointing Windows Vista) when it finally does deliver the product, it needs to bash out an update to prevent applications from quitting unexpectedly or stopping responding.






Once again, hats off to Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates and the rest, you’ve brought us yet another half-baked, unfinished product. What would we do without you?