I have started using a program for my fiction writing projects and I am liking it the more I use it. The program is StoryMill from Mariner and it is a sophisticated writer’s editor and project database to make it easier to handle any writing project. In this screencast I show the basics of StoryMill and show how I use it to handle my writing projects. StoryMill costs $49.95 but I find it worth the rather steep cost. It is available on the Mac platform.

The new QuickTime Player in Snow Leopard has added the ability to make screen recordings that are very high quality. They can be shot either with or without audio, and they have full HD resolution. In this screencast I show the programs and utilities that I use every day in my work. Be sure and watch it in full-screen mode to see all of the detail. Enjoy.

While I’m currently paying $60 a month to Verizon Wireless for EVDO, I’m always looking for backup connectivity. I have a $10 Boingo Wireless account I also pay for and I’ve enabled Internet Tethering for my iPhone 3GS. But I do have a 3G radio in my Palm Pre as well, so I figured to use the MyTether homebrew application as another “just in case” connection. Note that tethering on either of my handsets is against the terms of service, so I’m enabling these as emergency connections only. I don’t sit around and tether my phone for modem use on a regular basis and the one time I had issues, this approach saved the day.

So yesterday, I decided to upgrade from the original MyTether 1.5 version to the donation-ware version 2.0 using my MacBook running Snow Leopard. It’s a $10 donation and the newer version offers more functionality as well as online support. My purchase transaction went through just fine and I was able to grab the installation file immediately. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the new version to install. It requires the Pre be in Developer Mode and needs Palm Novacom installed, which should be part of the SDK. I’m good on both counts.

Unfortunately, the installation script — which requires Rosetta on Snow Leopard, by the way — is failing. I thought that perhaps I was missing a required component, but after posting my woes on the MyTether forums, I see that other Snow Leopard users are experiencing the same. At the moment, there’s no fix, but I have time to wait. This is, after all, just another backup connection and not a primary one. In any case, if you plan to use MyTether 2.0 and don’t already have it installed, it doesn’t seem like you can install it to your Pre using Snow Leopard at the moment. My advice would be to install it with a Windows PC or a Mac running Leopard. If you already have MyTether installed, I can’t see why it wouldn’t properly tether to a Snow Leopard Mac — the issue is one of installation to your Pre, not with running the app.

I told you about my painless installation of Windows 7 on the Mac. This was using Parallels Desktop on the Mac to install Windows 7 in a virtual machine. I get asked how well Windows runs in a virtual machine on the 13-inch MacBook and the easiest way to demonstrate that is with a video. In this video I have created two Spaces in OS X, one running native OS X and the other Windows 7 in a full screen. I am toggling between the two either via Exposé or via the Option– ← key combination. This screen capture was done through the screen recording feature of QuickTime on the MacBook. Enjoy.

I test software so much I must be crazy. There are fewer ways to guarantee hair-pulling situations than those you get from testing software. What can I say, I love to be on the bleeding edge. Too bad it often is literally the “bleeding” edge. When Windows 7 went RTM, I grabbed a copy and started installing it on every piece of hardware at Mobile Tech Manor. I had tested the beta versions of Win7 followed by the RC versions, so when it went gold I was ready to put it on some notebooks without reservations.

I must have installed it around ten times on different devices but today I went for broke and installed it on the MacBook. This was a little crazy as I only recently upgraded the Mac to Snow Leopard, and folks have been reporting software compatibility problems with the SL upgrade. To top it off, I was installing Windows 7 under Parallels Desktop on the Mac, and if any programs should show problems with Snow Leopard it should be Parallels. Windows 7 is now on my MacBook and I have to say it was the easiest and fastest install I’ve done yet.

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Thanks to our neighborhood fantasy football draft last night — or what I like to think of as my annual $75 charity contribution — I got a chance to work with my EVDO modem in Snow Leopard. On Friday I first performed an upgrade and later did a clean install for testing purposes on my MacBook. Everything went well in both cases and I’ve only seen a few minor incompatibilities. Of course, I don’t use many apps, so others are likely experiencing more issues than I am.

In any case, a few minutes before heading to the draft, I realized that I never installed my VZ Access Manager software for the USB727 adapter I use. If I recall correctly, the software wasn’t necessarily required with OS X 10.5, so instead of installing it, I simply plugged in the USB727 to a USB port. Snow Leopard handled the 3G device with ease and added the appropriately configured network connection in my System Preferences. I used the 3G signal all through our draft to research my players online.

My friend Ben Drawbaugh from EngadgetHD has the same 3G adapter as I do, but on Sprint’s network instead. His upgrade of Snow Leopard caused a slight issue with his U727, causing it to cease working with his Mac. The apparent issue is that the unnecessary Sprint software — SmartView — interferes and isn’t really needed. However, the software isn’t easy to uninstall, so Ben offers three commands to make the U727 work natively, just like my USB727. I suspect that if Ben had done a clean install like I did, he wouldn’t have had the SmartView issue since it wouldn’t have been installed.

Personally, I’d prefer to let the operating system manage the network connection for me instead of using a branded, third-party solution like Access Manager or SmartView. True, you might lose the ability to easily check how much bandwidth you’ve used, but that information should be available directly from the carrier by viewing your account info. Instead of using the software, I’m letting Snow Leopard manage the connection. It’s easy to access through the System Preferences and you can show the WWAN icon right in the menubar for quick access. Now I just need to decide if I’m keeping that 3G account or not. I’ve been on the fence for a while because I’m finding more and more Wi-Fi hotspots. But last night’s draft was a black hole in terms of free wireless connectivity, so I don’t want to jump the gun.

It’s far too early to get into performance, user interface changes or application compatibility, but my Snow Leopard update is complete. Removing legacy code and optimizing existing functions surely has a noticeable impact on hard drive space, as expected. Here’s a before and after of the hard drive on my Mac Book:

Although it looks like I’ve essentially gained 24GB of storage capacity as a result of the upgrade, the actual space used has only decreased by about 7GB after the 42 minute process. See the difference in how Leopard reported free space as opposed to Snow Leopard? The exact same hard drive shows as a different total capacity in the Activity Monitor. Note — I didn’t install the language translations, but that effort isn’t too significant to the extra space — not installing them only saves 271MB of storage.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about the extra capacity whether it’s 7GB or 24GB. I don’t install many applications as I live in a browser, so it’s not like I really need the space. For traditional Mac users however, the extra storage is surely welcome. As far as application compatibility, I better go check out Audacity — I have to mix our weekly podcast for publication later today and that’s an essential application for me.

Did you receive and upgrade to Snow Leopard? Drop a comment with any experiences, issues or compatibility problems.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I use gDial Pro every day on my Palm Pre. That’s the third-party Google Voice app that has actually replaced the standard phone app on my Pre’s menu bar. Another app I use all the time — well, when I order things or get evaluation devices — is PrePackage. As soon as I get an email confirmation with a tracking number, I cut and paste the number into PrePackage.

I did that with Apple’s Snow Leopard and you can see that it’s now on the truck for delivery. My Pre notifies me each time a package moves from place to place or changes status and I don’t even need to have PrePackage actively running. The application leverages the Pre’s notification system and I get little pop-ups for each status update of my package. In fact, we were just talking about Snow Leopard on our podcast this morning and sure enough, PrePackage gave a notification as if we planned it that way. Talk about timing!

As far as Snow Leopard goes, Matt, James and I all pre-ordered the upgrade for $29. Based on the early reviews and videos, it looks like Apple has offered better performance for older hardware. I don’t think it can continue to do that because they’re now generally switched over to Intel processors and 64-bit support, but I’ll take what I can get while I can get it. Oh and Matt’s a little jealous that James and I can track packages with notifications — he sent us a tracking number for his most recent purchase so our Pre handsets can track the packages for him!

You may not be a Windows user switching to the Mac, but you might know someone who is. Maybe you bought a Mac to run Windows programs on it, and you want to bring those programs to the Mac. The new Parallels Switch to Mac Edition is for you, in either case. Parallels is the virtualization program that makes it easy to run Windows on any Intel Mac. You can run Windows programs in a window or full screen, it’s up to you.

The Switch to Mac Edition is designed for those with a working Windows PC who want to duplicate it on the Mac. The software will migrate all files, music, photos and programs on a PC to a Mac, over an included USB cable. It sounds like a simple matter of physically connecting the two computers with the Parallels USB Transfer cable, launching Parallels on both, and hitting a few buttons on the screen. Now that’s an easy switch scenario.

I haven’t pre-ordered my Snow Leopard update from Apple just yet and it looks like I’m almost out of time. Last I heard, the next Mac OS X version was due out in September, but I just received a press release telling me otherwise. According to Cupertino, Snow Leopard is shipping this Friday, August 28.

The upgrade for Leopard users will cost $29 for a single license or $49 for a single household, five-user Family Pack. Tiger users aren’t left out in the cold, either. Folks running Tiger on Intel-based Macs can upgrade using the Mac Box Set for $169. That includes Snow Leopard, iLife 09 and iWork 09, which is a pretty good deal.

Although we’re no longer users of Microsoft Exchange here, people who do use it will appreciate the native Exchange support found in the updated Mail, Address Book and iCal apps. Snow Leopard also offers system applications reworked to take advantage of 64-bit processing — Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat and Safari are all revamped under the hood.

For me, this is a no-brainer upgrade. The software cost is relatively minimal as compared to the hardware and the operating system should allow for my MacBook to run more efficiently. I’m curious — are there any owners of Intel-based Macs not planning to spring for the upgrade?