I’m now the proud owner of a MacBook Pro and a new iPod (since Apple is practically giving them away when you buy a computer if you’re in education – on the downside, I’m just betting that solid-state iPods are on the horizon, but I sure couldn’t beat that price.)

On the software front, I still refuse to move away from Firefox, no matter how many people say they prefer Safari (or Camino). But I am running NetNewsWire and MarsEdit.

No worries about me completely dropping Windows, though. I’m working on installing it on some leftover hard-drive space. :) There is finally a new TopStyle beta in the works, after all, and there’s no way I’m not getting my .02 in on that.

This is the first version of the popular Mac newsreader released under the NewsGator banner and includes synchronization with NewsGator’s services.

I figured since I’ve got to support the program, it would probably be a good idea to use it exclusively for awhile. I’m still a dyed-in-the-wool FeedDemon user (whether or not it pays my bills) but NNW is a really sweet app that does some things that I’m looking forward to seeing in future versions of FeedDemon (especially Smart Lists), at least until I go Mac-only. (Although I don’t see that happening any time soon since the new baby will likely cut into my geek-toy budget pretty heavily. :) )

Using Outlook 2003 as an example, there are parameters for creating new emails, appointments, etc. Outlook MVP Diane Poremsky has a great summary of Outlooks parameters.

The ones I’m using are:

• /c ipm.appointment creates an appointment
• /c ipm.note creates an e-mail message
• /c ipm.note /m {email address/alias} creates a pre-addressed e-mail message

There are also commands for other Outlook objects, but I rarely, if ever use those other ones.

So here’s the actual tip – Create a folder to put your parameterized shortcuts in and configure Launchy to index it. If you add the folder under the Start Menu, Launchy will automatically pick it up on its next reindexing. But you can add customer folders, too:

1. Open Launchy
2. Right-click anywhere on the Launchy window
3. Select Directories
4. Add the new directory
5. Right-click on the Launchy window and choose Rebuild Index – It’s possible that Launchy will automatically reindex as soon as you add the new directory, but it doesn’t hurt anything to force the reindex.

Any suggestions for other apps I should be using this trick with?

Since I’ve been dabbling in Mac-land, I’ve been using the must-have Quicksilver as an app launcher. It does tons of other amazing stuff, but I haven’t gotten far enough into it yet.

QS is keyboard driven. Enter the keyboard shortcut to launch the interface, then type in a few letters to find the app you want, then hit enter. It’s much easier than digging around in the Applications folder in the Finder and it’s even easier to use that Windows’ Start menu.

When I found myself trying to launch QS on Windows to start an app, I knew I had a problem.

Fortunately for me, there are a lot of Mac users out there who are always looking for a QS equivalent on Windows. Though there isn’t one, there are several apps that get mentioned as replacements to at least launch apps. The one I settled on was the SourceForge project, Launchy. From the website:

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!

You can index pretty much any directory, it doesn’t have to be just your Start menu (though that’s all I’m using it for right now).

I definitely give it two thumbs up and think it’s worth any power user’s time to give it a try. It’s a little odd at first, but once you get used to using it, using another computer that doesn’t have it will be very irritating. To me, that’s a pretty good judge of how good a utility is.

macZot (a mac apps deal/blog/thing ) is trying out an interesting marketing tactic. Every blog post that links to their AppZapper offer drops the price $.05.

As a recent half-switcher, this is something I’ve considered getting. Even if I have to pay full price, it looks like it’s well worth it.

In case you don’t know how Mac apps work, to install an app, you drag an app package (which is a single icon) to your drive. That’s it. To uninstall, send the app pack to the trash. But all that does is get rid of the app, leaving behind preference files and the like. AppZapper cleans up the rest.

Even if you miss out on the discount, be sure to check it out. And keep an eye on macZot! if you’re a bargain hunter.