go ahead, mac my day

my Mac as a media centre

2009-11-09T05:38:00Z

Someone recently asked me how I've got my home media centre set up. I wrote this up in response to them, but then figured that it could be shared more broadly.

I have a Mac Mini (the previous generation) running Snow Leopard (plain Snow Leopard, not Snow Leopard Server). It's hooked up via a DVI-to-HDMI cable to the television (since many TVs won't do 1080p over their VGA ports), and via its audio output to the stereo.

I have a ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer, which is roughly the same as the ReadyNAS Pro (except it shipped without disks and is missing a handful of enterprise features). It's hooked up via gigabit Ethernet to the home network. It runs Firefly, which allows iTunes and SlimServer streaming directly from the NAS. The Mini has the NAS share mounted via NFS, and the iTunes library lives on the NFS share. The ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer can survive a double-disk failure if you set it up that way before you start populating it with data. I've only got it set up to survive a single drive failure. The NAS also acts as a print server.

The Mini shares media to the Xbox 360 using Connect360. Time Machine is enabled on one of the household Macs, which uses the NAS. The NAS and Mini each have their own UPS.

The Mini runs a web server and mail server, and allows external access via SSH and SFTP. I've also got CVS and SVN servers set up, which allows collaboration with remote people on papers, code, and projects.

Most of the iTunes playback is done via the Mini, and all additions to the iTunes library are done on the Mini. I do Hulu playback via the Mini. I used to do Netflix on the Mini, but switched over to doing it on the Xbox. For movies that I have saved on the server, I usually play them back via the Xbox because the Xbox does better with some codecs than the Mini (so it saves fiddling with the Mini to figure out whether to playback via Quicktime, VLC, or something else).

My next steps with the home network are:

set up the Mini as the household iPhoto library — right now, pictures are scattered across multiple machines, and it's time to consolidate
get Time Machine running on the other household Macs (two new MacBooks), to back up to the NAS
update the router to wireless N (the current router bridges gigabit Ethernet to the wireless and the DSL connection)
consider Slimbox or other streaming audio to the bedroom

Using my Mini as a server has the benefit of being able to run a mirrored boot drive. DHCP configuration means that address assignment can tell me if I've got an unwelcome guest camped on my WPA2-secured wifi. If I were just using the NAS, I wouldn't be able to run these servers and see so much about what's happening on my network. Most NASes are barely capable of supporting file checksum, let alone everything else that I've got going on here.

setting up the new Mac

2009-11-07T18:48:00Z

As I mentioned earlier, I bought a new MacBook. My old MacBook was the first-gen black one, and it was getting quite long in the tooth. Spurred on by a good deal at MicroCenter (thanks again to Peter Cohen for alerting to me it!), I got one of the new unibody MacBooks.

Since it's just an off-the-shelf MacBook, there's a couple of immediate upgrades to be done to it. It comes with 2-GB of RAM, which I'm upgrading to 4-GB. This time around, NewEgg seems to have the best price on RAM. I'm also going for a larger hard drive than the 250-GB one included, moving up to a 500-GB 7200rpm drive. It's not quite as fast as a SSD, but SSDs are still a bit more than I want to pay to go into a MacBook.

After installing the hard drive and RAM (the guide at iFixit is quite useful), then it's time to partition the hard drive and reinstall the OS. I always reinstall the OS on a new Mac so that I only get the stuff I need. Why install gigs of printer drivers when I don't even own a printer?

I usually have one system partition and one data partition. I move my user folder to the data partition, and I keep as much stuff on that partition instead of the system partition as I can. That way, should something go belly-up on my system partition, I can (hopefully) still recover my data partition and not lose as much.

After the OS is reinstalled, then it's time to install the apps that I use the most:

Office 2008
iLife '09
Firefox (I prefer Safari, but there are sites that don't play well with it)
EverNote
Tweetie (although I'll give Twitterific a go again, since MacHeist gave me a free license)
Quicken 2007 (I'm really not a big fan of Quicken, but I'm a very deep user of it (my entire financial life is in that data file), and none of the more Mac-friendly apps meet my needs yet)
The Sims 3 (I hope it runs well on the MB!)

Now you know what I'm doing with my weekend! I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the apps that I'll install over the weekend, this is just off the top of my head.

walkthrough of Document Companion for Mac

2009-11-06T18:11:00Z

I noticed that WebWorkerDaily has posted a great walkthrough of Document Connection, which is the standalone app that my team created to help Mac users access SharePoint and Office Live Workspace.

I use DC all the time to connect to SharePoint sites. For example, all of our specifications for the features that will be a part of the next version of Office:Mac are stored in a SharePoint site. This app makes my life much easier, since I have lots of specs that I need to review.

one of the things I like about Microsoft

2009-11-05T17:16:00Z

Microsoft can be a funny place to work, especially as a Mac person. But I do love working here, and I certainly love my little corner of Microsoft.

One of the things that I really like about Microsoft is the ready availability of training. Even for me, as someone who isn't in Redmond, there's lots of training available to me. It runs the gamut from deep technical training to soft skills training to career training.

Today, I'm taking one of those career training sessions. I've worked elsewhere, where such training isn't nearly as available, and where it's not encouraged to take training at will.

Windows Live Sync now supports Snow Leopard

2009-11-04T16:30:00Z

My colleagues over on the Windows Live Sync team announced yesterday that Windows Live Sync now supports Snow Leopard. If you're on Snow Leopard, download the new Sync software. Leopard users don't need to do anything.

laptop adventures

2009-11-03T17:21:00Z

It's been an exciting laptop week here, and it's only Wednesday!

First, the bad news. On Monday morning, I dropped my MacBook Pro on my left foot. The laptop has the teensiest of dents on the corner that I dropped it on. My foot, on the other hand, has two broken bones. The staff at the ER thought that it was hysterical that I managed to break my foot with my computer. My co-workers are having the same laugh at my expense. I can't really blame them.

But then, there's good news. It's been time to upgrade my old laptop (a first-gen black MacBook that I named Bernard, which is a joke that no-one but me seems to get) for awhile, and I'd been thinking about an iMac, but the latest hardware update had me wibbling between the iMac and the new unibody MacBook. A tweet from Peter Cohen sent me over the edge: MicroCenter is offering a $200 rebate on the new MacBooks. So I picked one up yesterday morning. I've got a hard drive and an extra 2-GB of RAM on order, and then it shall vroooom. It's a goal of mine to not drop the new MacBook in such a way that breaks anything, let alone any more of my bones.

100 days until Macworld 2010!

2009-11-03T00:38:00Z

This morning, Paul Kent tweeted that there's only 100 days remaining to Macworld 2010.

I suppose that this is a reminder that I need to get working on my presentation. John Welch somehow talked me into giving a presentation about administering Macs in Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007. I somehow talked Bill Smith, one of our Entourage MVPs, into helping me out. I've got a vague outline in my head for what to talk about, but I should start committing that to paper (well, email) and working on it.

Tell me, dear reader: if you saw a session titled "Administering Macs in Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007", what would you expect to hear? This is a great time to ensure that I'm talking about what you need to hear about.

statement of intent

2009-11-01T18:09:00Z

November is National Novel Writing Month for those who are so inclined. I'm not creative enough for that, so I'll instead participate in National Blog Posting Month, which is to say that I'll post something every day here for a month.

Which is to say that I've been really heads-down at work lately, and I haven't been posting to this blog very often, and I've been missing it, so it's time to stop. Even if stopping involves writing a run-on sentence like that on occasion.

Live Mesh now supports Snow Leopard

2009-10-19T23:21:00Z

My friends over on the Live Mesh team have a great announcement today: Snow Leopard support now available. Yay!

how the Office for Windows team designs for their users

2009-10-13T21:15:00Z

My colleagues over on the Office for Windows team have a new blog: Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering. They're publishing plenty of details about Office 2010 for Windows. Last week, a member of the Office Design Group posted an introduction to the work that their team does, titled designing with customers in mind.

They've got some great content coming about their process, which has a lot in common with the process that my team uses as we're developing our user experience. I'll share links and additional commentary as appropriate.

Office:Mac 2004 support has been extended

2009-10-13T02:29:00Z

In response to requests from our users, we have extended the Mainstream Support for Office 2004. It was originally scheduled to end on 13 October 2009. It will now end on 10 January 2012.

For users who rely on the VBA support that is found in Office 2004, this will allow a seamless transition from Office 2004 to the as-yet-unnamed version of Office:Mac. We haven't yet revealed a lot about the next version of Office:Mac, but we have shared that we are bringing back VBA in that release. The next version of Office:Mac will come out in time for holiday shopping in 2010.

Extending mainstream support means that we will continue to deliver all types of support for Office 2004, which includes security updates and fixing other non-security issues. Update Tuesdays won't just be for Office:Mac 2008!

For more details about this, you can check out the blog post on Mac Mojo from my colleague Mike: Office 2004 Mainstream Support Has Been Extended.

four years!

2009-10-05T20:42:00Z

I have now been with MacBU, and Microsoft, for four years. I never intended to work for Microsoft. I got pinged from a recruiter who found my profile on the MacRumors forums, and I chatted with him because I think you should at least peek through the door when opportunity knocks. I approached the interview with more than a healthy dose of cynicism, and was completely won over by the end of the day. They offered me a job that evening, and I accepted the next morning.

In my four years with MacBU, I've had a hand in shipping a couple of Office 2004 service packs, Remote Desktop Connection v2, and Office 2008 and a couple of its service packs. I've conducted research on every application that we make. For the next version of Office, which you'll get in your hot little hands in time for the holiday season next year, one of my main focuses is Outlook:Mac. I've attended four Macworld Expos and talked at MWSF 2009 (and I'm talking at MWSF 2010 too: MacIT 821: Adminstrating Macs in Exchange 2007 and 2003), and three WWDCs, and I got to attend the keynote for each of those events.

I've also been blogging here pretty much since I started -- this blog's birthdate is 11 October 2005. This post is #514, which means that I've averaged 128.5 posts per year. In my first post, I said that my intent was "mostly to maintain notes on what I read that's relevant to my job". That quickly evolved into something more active, and more interactive: to lift the curtain and show you a bit of what goes on behind-the-scenes in making applications that millions of people use every day. My little corner of Microsoft, and my little corner of Mac development, is a fun one to work in, and I think that we've got some great stuff that can and should be shared.

A Microsoft tradition is to bring in one pound of candy for every year that you've been with the company. I've got a picture on my hard drive of one of our marketing guys holding a jar of 18 pounds of M&Ms. I did my own riff on it, and spent a fair portion of yesterday afternoon baking up four kinds of cookie: chocolate chip, chocolate and peanut butter, spicy oatmeal, and banana. So the Outlook, PowerPoint, and Core SVC teams today should get a lot done today with all of that sugar coursing through their bloodstream!

So what do the next four years have in store? Only time will tell. :)

women needed for Outlook:Mac study

2009-10-01T03:53:00Z

As I work on my next Outlook:Mac study, I've noticed a trend: all of the people who have agreed to come in for it are men. I could use some fellow women to come in and participate in a usability study as well.

To recap: Outlook is coming to the Mac, and my team is conducting a usability study the week of October 12 in the San Francisco Bay Area (Mountain View, to be specific). I need some ladies who meet the following criteria:

use a Mac for work purposes
connect to an Exchange account
use mail for work purposes several times per week
use the calendar for work purposes several times per week

If you meet these criteria, are in the Bay Area, and are available the week of October 12, please contact me with your name, email address, and phone number. I'll pass your information along to my recruiting assistant, who will call or email you to ask you a few additional questions and hopefully get you scheduled to come in. If you do participate in my study, don't forget that you'll have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so the only thing that you'll be able to tell other people is that yes, you have seen an early version of Outlook:Mac.

the case for Entourage:Mac on Snow Leopard

2009-09-24T22:32:00Z

I've been completely heads-down on working on Outlook:Mac recently, but this article from John C. Welch writing for Macworld caught my eye: the case for Entourage on Snow Leopard.

There's lots of detail in there, but the conclusion is what warms my heart:

Entourage is the clear winner

Booyah, baby! And just wait until Outlook:Mac hits the shelves with its all-Cocoa interface, faster database that's Time Machine friendly, and IRM support. There's also [redacted], [redacted], and (my personal favourite) [redacted] support too. You ain't seen nothin' yet. :D

want to see Outlook:Mac?

2009-09-22T01:18:00Z

As we announced a few weeks ago, Outlook is coming to the Mac. I've had a few requests to post more details about this. I'm not quite ready to do that now, but I can offer up one way for you to see what Outlook:Mac might look like.

My team is conducting usability studies of Outlook:Mac. My next study will take place in Mountain View, California, during the week of October 12. For this study, I need users who meet the following criteria:

use a Mac for work purposes
connect to an Exchange account
use mail for work purposes several times per week
use the calendar for work purposes several times per week

If you don't meet these criteria, aren't in the Bay Area, or won't be available that week, don't worry about being left out. My team will have other upcoming opportunities for you to participate in Outlook:Mac usability studies. The majority of these will be either in the Bay Area or Puget Sound, and you can sign up to participate in usability studies to get into our database of potential participants. When you fill out that form, tell us what mail application you're currently using, and make sure you tell us if you use Exchange too!