• iBank – By IGG Software is one of the main apps I use for my accounting, it will be hard beaten to be replaced!
• OmniFocus – I use this both on my mac and on my iPhone, I think the iPhone version will be the hardest one to replace.
• OmniGraffle – I use this in my PhD thesis for making sexy diagrams, I think I can replace this but the new app may not be as good.
• AdiumX – Instant messenger (Open Source)
• Apple Mail – Mail client
• Transmit – FTP client from Panic
• iTunes – We all know what this one is, biggest part of this is the iPhone syncing and also getting all my music into non DRM versions before swapping
• DevonThink Pro – This will also be a big app to move from. DevonThink is awesome, I use it for storing all my mail ever received.
• 1Password – Used religiously to store all my passwords to websites and credit card details to make my online life easier.
• Dropbox – No need to replace this, there is a free linux version.
• MacTex – Latex client (Open Source)
• Aperture – Photo library and basic photo manipulation (Handles RAW)
• iCal – Calendar app that I sync to Google calendar with…..
• Spanning Sync – Used to sync my address book and calendar to Googles.
• Steam – Online games client that I mainly use for Civilisation
• Chronosync – Used to sync certain folders to my external hard drive for real time backup
• MacTheRipper – Used to make backups of my DVDs
• VLC – Used to watch media files (Open Source)
• MailSteward – Used to backup the contents of my Apple Mail, which is basically every email I have ever recieved
• MacFamilyTree – Used to construct my family tree
• Jungledisk – Backup interface to Amazon S3
• Backblaze – Used to backup my whole machine and external drives
• Superduper - Used to make full bootable backup of my machine
• Skype – Video calls
• Knox – File encryption

This list is not exhaustive, there are many more applications I have purchased and never use. The apps mentioned above are the main ones I use on a daily to weekly basis. Baring in mind that I have paid to upgrade a lot of the mentioned apps it may shock you to know that for the apps above, if you were to go and purchase that list right now it would cost you $1082.74!!! I must have easily spent almost $3000 on software for my desktop alone, add to this the tie in I have with my iPhone and the equivalent apps I have bought to use them on the go and you can see just how much money has been wasted when there are free alternatives out there.

The next part of the series looks at how I have started using open source software and how you can also use it for free right now. Please feel free to comment below.

*All of what you have read today, was written and edited on Ubuntu Linux*

Recently I have become a little pissed off with closed ecosystem’s a.k.a Apple’s way of doing things. It has always been a system I have relished and thought was a great idea. Back in the days of the iBook (A machine I adored) there were no issues with your Apple system, it really did just work! Today, things are very different. There are many different hardware configurations, it is now Intel based and we have all these iOS devices popping up like jack rabbits. If you are one of those people that has had a bug (iPhone 3G and iOS 4 for example) then you know how frustrating it is whilst you wait for Apple to sort it out. You are at the complete mercy of a huge corporation!

There have been multiple things that have really started to get to me, if your a regular reader here, you already know what they are. If not, I will recap. When the move to Intel initially occurred, the build quality of the new machines was s**t. I went through 7, yes 7 Macbook’s. One was even quality controlled by Apple in Ireland, and to be frank that was a POS. Thankfully, those days are a thing of the past, Apple build quality really is back to where it was, if not better. Next, ever since the intel move I have found the operating system to be buggier, slower, and generally more windows like every iteration we get. A user should not be left wishing they had stayed on a previous version of an OS. I wish I was on Tiger still, just like I wish I was still on 3.1.3 on my iPhone 3G. Version 4.1 has improved things, but it is still not usable. Add to that the way Steve commented about user feedback on the Apple TV…. either he is telling lies or he has asked a total bunch of muppets. Everything Mac fans have been asking for with that device for years he has negated. We wanted openess, the ability to play any file type, we wanted a blu-ray or DVD drive and we wanted a TV tuner. That Steve-O is what makes a great TV device for your living room.

Why be at the mercy of a company that cares more about money that it does about you? I mean, and I quote:

“we don’t care about existing users, our target is windows movers” – Apple Recruiter 2006.

*End Rant*

So on the back of this rant, I wondered, given how much time and money I have invested in the Mac and iOS platforms whether I could actually make a complete move to open source and like it. From what I can see, it would offer me greater freedom both in terms of hardware and software choices….. it would also free my wallet. I tend to spend quite a bit on Mac applications….. especially with the latest and greatest versions you seem forced to buy to get the functionality you really wanted from day one. This will be a series of posts about my transition to open source, the replacement of all my main apps and how I did it. It will serve as a demonstration to all about how easy it is to do and how you can all give it a go, right now, without any investment on your part at all.

Please subscribe to the RSS feed if you are interested in seeing this series unfold and PLEASE comment on the threads. I want to know what you think, how many of you are open source now and what you think to closed ecosystems as shown in my rant.

The first step is to put your phone in DFU Mode. Go and connect the iPhone to the Mac/PC. iTunes will be like “OMFG your iPhone is in recovery mode” at which point you click on restore. At this point on mac i clicked “alt” – “restore” and selected a 3.1.3 restore image I have. You will get the error that your iPhone cannot be restored….. DON’T Panic. Go HERE and download iRecovery, pick the one appropriate to you (Windows/Mac). Next open up a terminal window and type:

cd /directory/to/iRecovery then type ./iRecovery -s

Wait for iRecovery to load then run the following commands one at a time (it says its going to bring up a cmd prompt – it never does):
setenv auto-boot true
saveenv
/exit

Then go ahead and do the restore process again – you will now be back at 3.1.3!!!!

For all of you that were on 2.x prior to 2.1 you will know it just plain sucked. It was buggy, laggy and crashy! I’m happy to say 2.1 is none of those and it also introduces some nice little touches:

• Pause app install by clicking on the app icon
• Triple clicking to go to the previous track
• Genius playlist
• Option to wipe data after 10 incorrect passcode attempts
• iTunes now displays ‘Apps’ space usage
• On UK English set iPhones holding ‘.com’ on the keyboard presents you with other domains

The following list summarises the list of issues I have had this year (some maybe missed):

1. First UK iPhone had 12 dead/fully lit pixels, Apple Genius at Manchester Arndale Store refused to replace it!
2. OS X Leopard 10.5.0, beta testing Guinea pig anyone?
3. 10.5.2, potentially has caused the sleep from wake issue. Either way introduced a raft of bugs.
4. iPhone 3G, screen does not sit flush with the body (Couldn’t be bothered to speak to Apple about it as they didn’t care about 12 dead pixels).
5. iPhone 3G software (Up until 2.1) has sucked big time. Frequent crashing, phone needing to be completely restored every time I tried to install an application. Keyboard lag, generally so poor I almost decided to give up and get a Nokia.
6. iMac and Macbook Pro’s not waking from sleep. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Apple Engineering are about to wash their hands of this and the Apple store wouldn’t even get their hands dirty with it. Add to this the single 1 minute visit from Apple following my second letter to Steve and it’s easy to see they would rather ignore the issue than deal with it – Bravo! 

Sleep issues can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here – with hundreds more all over the net and Apple’s discussion forums.

7. MobileMe. This has sucked since day one, I appreciate they have been big enough to acknowledge the issue, which is what we want for the waking issues Steve, but the support I am receiving (or not as the case maybe) is nothing short of appalling.
8. Macbook Pro battery failure. There is another issue I believe Apple has, which of course is “Not a reported issue” and that is Sony laptop batteries from 12-14 month old Macbook Pro’s. I can actually think of over 50 people that I have contact with who’s batteries all around the 12 month mark have all either suddenly lost battery life or would mysteriously cut out at a specific remaining battery percentage. I had the latter and the Apple Genius told me there was nothing wrong with my battery. 3 hrs later when I forced him to let me stay at the Genius bar and prove it, he admitted he was wrong and I finally got a battery. That was after the 5-7 people with battery and wake/sleep issues that were all sent away as ‘not being able to prove the issue’. Some links can be seen here, here, here and here. There are hundreds more on the Apple discussion forums.
9. And finally, Apple so called “Geniuses” who are trained to tell people that problems on the internet and forums are not real problems because angry people on the net are emotional and can’t be trusted. WTF!?

I know they are taught to say it because multiple geniuses have used the exact same phrases. But seriously Apple come on! Angry, upset or nuts… stating that your iMac or Macbook Pro will not wake from sleep or that your MBP battery suddenly cuts out every time at a certain percentage is something called FACT. It either happens or it doesn’t, emotion or anger does not jade these facts.

So far Apple has viewed my site but decided to not help me or contact me, I will continue to try and speak to them but I am not holding out much hope. If you too have suffered from any of these problems please do comment below.

First stop was the Apple online chat facility setup especially for those of us that were affected. The agent was very helpful indeed (Full points Apple). We got to the point where he realised that it needed to be escalated to an engineer and so on the July 20th 2008:

Apple Support Guy: okay, heres the situation: as you know the Senior Specialists have approved the escalation of your case based on the information I provided. Because you were affected by the email outage, and because of the circumstances of the case, they have approved this as an “Urgent Escalation” You will be hearing back from the Specialist who is assigned to your case in the next 24-48 hours with more information. Of course this is after they investigate the issue further
Apple Support Guy: oh it was my pleasure David. I’m just sorry we couldn’t get it fixed

In addition to being happy at how nice and helpful he was, not only did I see light at the end of the tunnel but they had given me 12 months free! All good!! Or was it?

I let the days roll by until the 3rd August 2008 when I had decided Apple were starting to poke fun at me:

Apple Support Women: Hi David, how can I help today?
David Moore: i was here 4 days ago, my mobile me account is pretty much useless at the moment. It was approved for escalation to your engineers, i was told i would hear from them within 24-48 hrs
David Moore: i’ve heard nothing
Apple Support Women: OK, I do know we’ve been receiving a larger than normal volume of escalations which is resulting in the delayed response. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to answer your request in that time frame. I do know that the specialists are working quickly to answer them in the order they are received and will be answering you as soon as they can.
David Moore: i don’t mind it not being fixed, however, i would have at least expected an email from them acknowledging that the issue has been pasted forward to them etc
David Moore: that was all i was expecting from them within the quoted 48hrs, in stead its been twice as long, my issues have got worse and i haven’t even had an email of acknowledgement
Apple Support Women: Sure, I can understand that. I’m sorry that we are unable to do that as that would also increase the amount of time it would take to answer the requests.
Apple Support Women: I can see that your escalation has been created though.
David Moore: ok, well i guess there is nothing i can do but wait
David Moore: thanks for your help
Apple Support Women: I’m sorry David, but thank you for your continued patience. I do wish you a speedy resolution to this. Have a great week!

So what….. had the first agent lied to me? I don’t trust Apple with my email (I use Gmail mainly) so I wasn’t loosing too much by waiting – though the synching between my iMac, Macbook Pro and iPhone being so buggered was really annoying….. I’m patient I’ll wait…..

So I let thew best part of a month pass with no replies or anything from Apple, now I am really starting to get annoyed so on the 25th August 2008 I return to the online chat for a 3rd time:

Apple Support Guy: Hi David. What can I do for you?
David Moore: i had an issue i reported last month that was escalated to your engineers
David Moore: i was told i would hear back from them within 24-48hrs
David Moore: i haven’t
David Moore: and my account is still not usable
Apple Support Guy: Let me see if I can get you a case number, just a moment.

[Idle chatter etc]……..

Apple Support Guy: I understand your inconveniences, I have spoken with escalation and was trying to give you steps if you haven’t already tried this (It’s not the run of the mill Reset Sync Data measure). I have received word that they have sent an email to your alternative email account at “**@gmail.com” but have not received a response. I have spoken to *Apple Support Specialist* who will be handling your inquiry. You should receive a response from him sometime in the morning through email support.

At last only one month after I was meant to I might actually speak to someone who can help! But I will say at this point, what utter crap that I didn’t respond. They either didn’t email me or hand typed the address in wrong as I check that email account every 5 mins, and there was no spam.

No email from the support specialist from the close of business Cupertino time, back to chat again on the 26th August whre I was told it may take him another day to reply to me! At the end of that business day I eventually received an email from the Apple Support Specialist.

Hello David,

My name is *Apple Support Specialist*, I am a MobileMe Support Specialist. Your case was forwarded to me for resolution.

I understand you have been in contact with a specialist, but have not received contacts recently. I’m sorry you have not received the emails which have been sent previously.

I have reviewed your case history and see you are having difficulty syncing with your MobileMe account. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

To be able to investigate this issue, I would like you to send me a copy of the affected data. Before I explain how to do that, let me assure you that Apple takes your privacy seriously. The files you send to us will be used only for the purposes of troubleshooting your issue, and all of your data will be carefully protected….. [Instructions on how to complete etc]…..

So I followed the instructions and sent him the info he wanted, all minutes after he had emailed me. An automated response came through saying they would respond within 72hrs. This is good as I have given a guy I don’t know full access to my account (They made me change my online password for them to gain access). Five days pass!

Here is the response to an email I sent after the 72hrs had passed telling them I was revoking their password and resetting my own. On the 31st August the following arrived:

Hello David,

I apologize for the delay in response. For some reason your reply was separated from the primary request and just arrived with me. I have modified the case so this should not happen again in the future.

Please ensure any reply you send to me has this follow-up ID (without quotes) in the title: “; Follow-up: 52XXXXXX”.

I will be testing your data and searching for the cause of the issues. I may not be able to follow up with you again until tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know I received the data.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

I reset the password back to the Apple one, emailed him back to acknowledge him and to let him know he could once again access my account. The survey arrived, nothing else. To this day, half a month on, despite two more emails to my “support specialist” I have heard nothing back from him!

And as of typing I have tired logging in to MobileMe to be told it’s broken and I should try again later.

Are any of you having any problems with MobileMe or Apple Support? Please comment below and let me know.

That’s a fat lot of good when the problem only occurs after the machine has slept after a large number of hours and there is no sleep/wake log showing in the logs. Apple engineering gave me the following steps to try:

1.  On iMac, type the following command on a terminal window    
   sudo nvram boot-args="debug=0x14e io=0x880"
2. On the logging Mac, connect to the iMac using firewire cable. Then type "/usr/bin/fwkpfv" on terminal.
3. Reboot the iMac, and do a sleep/wake to trigger the problem.
4.  Please send us the entire output from fwkpfv command.

So, yet another reset required. This time I will not be installing any applications until at least version 2.02 of the software which we hope is due in September.

It appears I am not the only one having to carry out multiple resets! R-Fly from Razorian Fly has commented:

it’s not just you – I’m counting – 15 restores since July 12th.

Let’s hope Apple does address this issue in the next update.