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With the Office Open XML Converter, you can convert Office Open XML files to a format that is compatible with Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac. You can choose to convert and open one file, or convert a large number of files.

This version of the Office Open XML Converter can convert the following Office Open XML file formats:

• Word Document (*.docx)
• Word Macro-Enabled Document (*.docm)
• These files are converted to Rich Text Format (RTF), which can be opened in Microsoft Word 2004 and Microsoft Word X.

The converter is a Beta release, and might be unable to convert all the data in Office Open XML files. After you convert a file, you should review the file carefully to make sure that it contains all of the information that you expect.
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 I installed the new Safari 3.0 Beta on my iMac and at first I could not see any difference at all - so I started looking for the changes and here is the list so far:

• New and much improved “find on this page” Apple+F
• Warning when you try to close a window with more than one tab
• Click the fav-icon to select the entire URL in the browser
• Merge all windows into one browser session (from Window > Merge All Windows)
• Drag tabs to other windows or a stand-alone window - just grab the tab and pull it out of the tab bar.
• Reopen Last Closed Window (from History)
• Reopen All Windows from Last Session (from History)
• Text field resize (any submit form - useful for making comments)
• Drag tabs allowing you to re-order your tabs

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Although a lot of you probably already know this as savvy Mac users - I just came across the following feature that really makes a difference for me as I recently started using Spotlight as an app launcher.

I used to use Quicksilver and Launchbar in the past but decided to drop both as I rarely used them for anything but launching apps so I found it was an unnecessary extra app to have running. Besides, rumors has it that Spotlight in Leopard will be even more powerful also as a launcher so I might as well get used to it now.

Here is the tip

 + Spacebar to launch Spotlight - once you enter your search query (the name of an application or a file name/folder for example) and you see the file you are looking for as the “Top Hit”, simply hit  and ↩ to launch the application or open the file in the “Top Hit” position.

After less than 6 months of being a Mac user I was getting close to running out of space on my iMac 24″ with only 250GB drive and as I use my Mac more and more for pretty much everything it was just a matter of time before I would be in trouble.

Running out of space not only slows down your system over time but it also forces you to delete things you would otherwise hang onto if you had the extra space like old podcasts etc. (I am not suggesting that you don’t clean up your folders from time to time though).

So - I went out and got a My Book Pro Edition II 1TB. There are actually 2 physical drives inside the enclosure so I decided to mirror the two using the RAID application that was included - effectively giving me 465GB of space for all my media (for now at least)

I should not have to back that up as it is mirrored using RAID 1. (I will, however, make a monthly backup to my old Windows machine over the network once a month - just in case..)

After having plugged the My Book Pro Edition II into my Firewire 800 port on my iMac I daisy-chained my “old” My Book 500GB drive also using a Firewire 800 cable so I can access both drives with just one Firewire 800 connected to my iMac.

I then made a new Folder at the root level of the new mirrored drive which will serve as my new media location.

I started up iTunes and went to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > General and changed the “iTunes Music folder location” to point to the new folder on the external My Book Pro Edition II drive. Then I went Advanced > Consolidate Library and the after accepting the warning that this can’t be undone my entire 135GB iTunes library was copied across to the new location.

Once everything was done - I checked a few files in iTunes (right-click > Get Info) to ensure the files where now at the new location - took a deep breath and dragged my local iTunes Music folder to the trash. You only want to delete the “iTunes Music” folder - not the other files or folders in the ~/Users/…/Music - in case your external drive is not connected then it will fall back on this directory.

So far everything is working quite well - obviously iTunes is not quite as responsive as it was when it was on my local drive - but it is not far off and certainly not a problem. The fan on the My Book Pro Edition II 1TB can be VERY noisy though (almost like a hairdryer) - but a firmware update fixes that.

Apple also have some details about moving iTunes that you might want to have a look at.

Just thought I’d share a few really neat tricks/shortcuts that might make your browser experience even better with Safari.

Search in new Tab

Enter your search query in the Google search field in Safari and then hold  and hit ↩ - then your search results will load in a new Tab.

Next/previous Tab

To easily move between your open Tabs - you can of course just use your mouse - but using the keyboard is a lot faster and once you get used to it I am sure you will never look back.

⇧ + ] (Next Tab)
⇧ + [ (Previous Tab)

New Tab

To open a link in a new tab - hold  and then click the link. To quickly open a new Tab - try  + t

Hope you enjoy it!

I came across a neat little feature in iTunes today as I was syncronizing my iPod. If you click the iPod icon on the left hand side in iTunes - you will get a status page for your iPod and at the end of the page you see a visual breakdown of how the the space on your iPod is used (audio/video/etc)

If you click the graphics - you get some interesting data such as number of songs/videos and total time by media type as you can see above.

According to Brian Peat from KeynoteUser.com the next version of Keynote was probably used by Steve Jobs at the recent Keynote Address which you can download in full from iTunes.

So maybe this was indeed the preview of iWorks we were all expecting and we just missed it due to the excitement of iPhone and tv ?

ADC Online Members can now log in to ADC on iTunes and view the Mac OS X State of the Union video and slides from Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2006. Watch as Mac OS X development highlights are reviewed and insights are offered into the trends and technologies that will enhance the world’s most advanced operating system, and your applications.

With access to ADC on iTunes, you can now watch the latest on Mac OS X whether you’re at your desk or on the go

You need to be an ADC member to access the video content on iTunes, which is free (the file-size is about 500MB for the State of the Union video). However, some of the more interesting details about the new Mac OS X requires that you are subscribed to “Leopard Early Start Kit” which does require a membership fee.

If you missed the show - the panoramic images over at panoramas.dk will get you pretty close to the real thing and you get a really good sense of what it was like.

Panoramas.dk is created by Hans Nyberg a commercial photographer in Denmark

The intention with this site is to make immersive panoramic images also called VR Photography more known among the general public.

Interactive panoramas is a young media and as such it has for many years been known among enthusiastic photographers and multimedia creators. An interactive VR panorama can not be seen in a book or on a printed image. If you print the panorama it gets a completely different expression.

The below tips will help you keep you and not least your Mac safe on the Internet and offline.

The tips mentioned on this page is not intended to be a complete list of all safety tips but more of a basic list of easy things you can do real quick to make your Mac a whole lot safer.

Online protection

• Disable “Open ‘Safe’ files after downloading” in the Safari preferences
• Only open disk images from sources you trust
• Disable file sharing when you are on untrusted or public networks
• Enable your firewall
• Don’t leave file shares open to the internet at large

General protection

• Set a master password - one that you can remember
• Tick the “Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screensaver” - and then lock your Mac by triggering the screensaver when you leave your machine (even for a minute)
• Tick “Disable automatic login” - and make sure you set a good password for your Mac
• Tick “Require password to unlock each secure system preference”
• Tick “Log out after X minutes of inactivity” - personally I am not using it - but it is a good security

The above can all be set from  > System Preferences > Security

Common sense

• Use common sense when surfing the web or reading e-mails - if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is
• Never follow links that asks for your details such as e-mail address or name in return for something
• Don’t click on links in e-mails from your bank or other official institutions - instead use your own bookmarks (and sync them to your other machines with .Mac for example) or type the URL manually - simply to ensure you are visiting the site you intend to and not a fake site trying to capture your login details (also known as Phishing)

If you have any other useful safety tips you would like me to add - please send me your comments.