Like Michael, I like Bare Bones' replacement for BBEdit Lite, though I also wish it included support for AppleScript. Like Jan, while I like TextWrangler, it doesn't fit into my work habits, since in addition to normal text editing, I need the HTML tools of BBEdit. Still, if you want a hell of a text editor without the need for AppleScriptability or HTML tools, TextWrangler's the ticket. If you still want BBEdit Lite, which to me should have been the name they used for TextWrangler, and just gone to a pay model instead of freeware, Lee notes that you can still snag it from Bare Bones' FTP servers.

Please don't shell out ten smackers for MacMaid when Erik gives you an AppleScript that'll do the same thing for free.

I share Michael's iChat irritation. One of the things I love about Fire is that I can drag a log file onto BBEdit and have it open up in the text editor. iChat logs have to open in iChat, presumably so you can see the pretty word balloons. The solution, obviously, would be the ability to open my iChat chat log in BBEdit and read it in plain text glory, or open it in iChat and get it with the balloons. From a UI perspective, I prefer iChat over Fire, since most everyone I know uses AIM. Two friends stubbornly cling to MSN (Hi, Wil!). I have accounts with ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger, but with the aforementioned MSN exceptions, everyone I know on the other services also uses AIM, so iChat it is.

Michael notes Bill Bumgarner's example on using Mac OS X 10.2.4's new PDF Workflow feature. I tried out Bill's example, since it plays into my own web reading habits, and it's wicked cool. Bill also says:

"But PDF Workflow is even more flexible than that. It isn't limited to just saving PDF. You can also drop scripts, apps, filters, and other mechanisms into the PDF Services folder. That'd be the Workflow part of the whole thing."

Ok, I've finally used NetNewsWire consistently for a couple of weeks, and now I'm hooked. Like Michael admitted, my vision on NNW's potential was limited. Like Rands, I'm reading more weblogs, collectively, than any other type of site. Combined with Safari, NetNewsWire is a powerful tool for weblog reading, as well as accessing any other site with an RSS feed, such as ATPM. The two form a potent combo for accessing nearly any info on the web you might need.

Microsoft is going to acquire Connectix's Virtual PC software. Don't believe for a minute their claim that they're not buying the software to kill it. Why else would they? And they don't even have to outright kill it. Just buy it, sell it to end users, and don't update it. As the Mac OS moves on, just let it die since it would inevitably become less and less compatible with the latest version of the Mac OS. Whenever a company purchases assets from another company, and publicly announce they plan to not kill off a product they are acquiring, it is a sure sign that they will, in fact, kill it. As Michael said, it's a sad, sad day for Mac users. Update (2:55 pm): Apparently, Microsoft acquired the Virtual PC assets from Connectix so it can strengthen its hold in the enterprise server market. Sure, I can buy that. The Virtual Server product is pretty powerful. Yet let me remind you: we're still waiting for a Macintosh version of HALO. You remember HALO, don't you? The kick-butt 3D successor to the Marathon game saga from Bungie, it was going to be a Mac OS-first release, or at the very least, a Mac version was to be released concurrently with a PC version. Then Microsoft stepped in, bought out Bungie, and instead of getting a $49 Mac game, you now have to spring for a $199 Xbox to play it. Virtual Server may live on in Windows code, but don't bet on having a copy of Virtual PC to run on your Mac a couple of years from now. I really hope I'm wrong, but judging from past Microsoft history, I'm afraid I won't be.

Apparently, everyone's favorite OS X-flavored Gecko-based browser will be renamed to Camino. What's sad is that Pinkerton knows it stinks, but apparently nothing else has "made it through legal." Hyatt doesn't really like it, either. I found this stuff thanks to John Gruber, who does like the name. Like he says, it's got style. I like it. Though unlike the automobile image it conjures in Hyatt's mind, I think of a certain planet in a certain Star Wars movie... Update (9:12pm): The more I think about it, the more I see it, the more I like the name Camino. Definitely better than Chimera.

Ric is reporting that Microtech International has finally gotten off their duffs and have posted for download drivers for the USB CameraMate and Zio! Compact Flash readers for OS X 10.2. I own both of these products, which work great, but unfortunately, require a driver to do so. Thankfully, I also have a PC Card CF adapter that I've been using with my PowerBook G4/500 to get digital photos from my Nikon (it doesn't have USB). Besides, the whole drivers for hardware thing should be left to the Windoze drones. If I were to lose PC Card-ability in the future, say with a 12-inch PowerBook G4, I would have to seriously consider an alternative CF reader, like the Dazzle* 6-in-1 USB reader our artists use. Unlike the Microtech products, it is true plug-and-pray, working flawlessly on every OS X-running Mac (4 different models) I've tried it on.

I just noticed, after adding a new link in the right-side column, that the latest public beta of Safari now supports the title tag. Make sure you have the Status Bar at the bottom of the browser window; View menu, then click on Status Bar to get a check mark beside it. Or you use the keyboard shortcut Cmd-Backslash. Now when you hover on a link that contains a title tag, you'll see the title text in the Status Bar.

Lee is reporting that Jon Gales has found that the Mac OS X 10.2.4 update disables PHP; Jon provides the Terminal-based restart sequence.

If you're a .Mac subscriber, MacMinute is reporting that Apple is offering Aladdin's DropStuff as a free download. As of 9:00 am CST, I'm getting 504 Gateway Timeout errors when trying to connect to .Mac.

Apple has made rev 10.2.4 available via the Software Update panel. "The 10.2.4 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, services and technologies: Address Book, Classic compatibility, Finder, FireWire, Graphics, OpenGL, and Sherlock. It includes AFP and Windows file service improvements, as well as audio, disc recording, graphics, and printing improvements."

Apple has released a Safari beta update, taking the turbo browser to beta v60 (0.8.2).

I'm always a little leery of third-party applications which modify or "enhance" another application. I like to live on the bleeding edge, but I also like my system stability. So I'm just getting around to trying Gordon Byrnes's freeware Safari Enhancer, and my recommendation, if you're a Safari user, is to download it immediately. What finally prompted me to give it a whirl was its bookmarking importation abilities, especially from Camino Chimera, my previous browser of choice. Others may have reported problems, but Safari Enhancer pulled off the importing of my Camino Chimera bookmarks perfectly, which is something Safari itself never did right with IE. Now I get to spend some time re-organizing my newly imported bookmarks in my new favorite browser. Hats off to Gordon!

Good news for those of us stuck in Exchange server-using corporate environments: Microsoft's Mac BU has officially announced that Entourage will be updated as the official Exchange client for Mac OS X. (via MacMinute.com)

Michael has released SpamSieve 1.3, which is more resilient than ever to spammers' tricks for obfuscating words. In addition, you can now use e-mail addresses in the system Address Book as a whitelist, so that messages sent from those addresses will never be marked as spam. Michael continues to optimize the app, greatly reducing the overall memory usage as well as launch and quit times. A complete list of changes can be found at the above link. SpamSieve requires Mac OS X 10.1 or later, and supports Emailer, Entourage, Eudora 5.2, PowerMail, and my personal favorite, Mailsmith. It's only $20, it's shareware so you can try before you buy, and it nips my spam problem in the bud. Give it a whirl, and support a shareware developer.

You know, this explains so much about the persona of "Steven the Dell dude."

Bill Fox fans the flames of my gear lust with his review of the PowerLogix 1.2 GHz single processor upgrade for the G4 Cube.

Apple announced today updated Xserves, as well as the new Xserve RAID. The new servers feature up to dual 1.33 GHz processors, up to 720 GB of storage, FireWire 800, dual Gigabit Ethernet, optional 2 GB Fibre Channel, and unlimited client licenses for Mac OS X Server. The new Xserve RAID is a 3U rack-optimized enclosure that offers up to 2.52 TB--that's terabytes--of storage, dual 2 GB Fibre Channel ports, full redundancy for continuous uptime, and powerful remote monitoring. The Xserve base price drops to $2,799, and the Xserve RAID pricing starts at $5,999. Apple is certainly looking to kick some butt in the enterprise market!