Volume Number: 23 (2007)
Issue Number: 04
Column Tag: Letter from the Editor

From the Editor

Welcome to the April 2007 issue of MacTech! You're now reading a very special issue -- firsts in several regards. The largest of which is, er, how large it is! We've included a special supplement that details how you can make the transition to Office 2008, when it ships. If you haven't heard, Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac will not support VBA. So, what if you rely on VBA macros in your workflow? Use AppleScript and our Office 2008 Transition Guide! The guide was written by Microsoft MVP and AppleScript expert Paul Berkowitz, and was painstakingly put together by experts in VBA and AppleScript, and reviewers that understand both technologies. You're getting all of this gratis, as part of MacTech. We've gotten great feedback from people who were able to see the guide at Macworld. We hope it helps you as much!

Second, we've been hearing how much you've been enjoying the MacTech Spotlight feature. This month is the first multi-page Spotlight. It features Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch. For those of you that know Jonathan, you can understand why this is a multi-page feature. After reading it back, everything he said was so valid, that I couldn't edit it down. For those of you that don't know Jonathan, start getting acquainted in this month's MacTech Spotlight!

Our cover story this month introduces Lego's Mindstorm kit for the Mac. On one level, Mindstorms is an extension of the Lego toys that you know. On the other, it's an interesting introduction to both robotics and programming. But don't let the 'introductory' label fool you; Once you've been at it, you can perform some pretty advanced functions with the kit and its robots (as our author Rich Warren tends to do -- like use several robots to cooperatively map rooms). While I originally thought that this would be a nice way to introduce a child to programming -- and it is -- with or without that excuse...I want one!

Ben Greisler brings us part 2 of his IP failover article. Now, past the basics, this piece shows you how to actually do something in a failover situation. Returning author Criss Myers introduces you to running Parallels virtualization software from your BootCamp partition. While this is now a supported configuration, it doesn't come without its pitfalls. Criss is an excellent guide through this not-perfectly-documented territory.

Andrew Turner continues his popular series on real-world automation. This month, he shows us how to control your Mac, even when you're not around. Let environmental conditions -- like the temperature, or a person walking past a sensor -- kick off an automation event.

As usual, Mike Harvey brings us more 'Kool Tools', and you'll find another Mac In The Shell column that lets you get a glimpse under the GUI.

Hope you've made your plans for WWDC! If not, get cracking! Until then, enjoy this month's extra special issue.

Edward Marczak