Mac|Life - April 2010

out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Tiger for a list of Tiger versions and notice how 10. 4. 9 is followed by 10. 4. 10 and 10. 4. 11, the OS you’re running already.

So go ahead and delete those 10. 4. 2 through 10. 4. 6 updates— you’re beyond them already. Success. And also? If there really were Mac OS upgrades available for your iMac, they would’ve shown up automatically under Software Update in the Apple menu.

Pages’ Printing Prowess We just purchased an iMac with the i Work suite. I used to use Microsoft Word to print individual envelopes of different sizes and also Avery mailing labels. Word let me specify which Avery labels I was using and would automatically print them. Can Pages do this too, or am I going to have to purchase Word for the Mac?

Pages does include templates for printing envelopes; select File > New From Template Chooser, then click Envelopes to find them. For a one-off job, simply type or paste the address over the placeholder. But if you do a lot of these and want to create your own template, replace the envelope template’s placeholders with Address Book fields, found in Insert > Merge Fields. The menus nested there let you add fields for your recipients’ name, company, street address, whatever you need. Choose File > Save As Template to keep this handy for later.

To print one envelope using your template, drag in a contact from your Address Book and watch the merge fields populate themselves. For a group, select Edit > Mail Merge, which lets you select addresses from Address Book or a Numbers document. It can create the envelopes as new documents so you can verify before printing, or just send them right to the printer.

Printing Avery labels isn’t a problem either. Just grab Avery DesignPro for Mac, a free download at Avery.com (look under Templates And Software > Software, or go to bit.ly/7rMHx3 to find it). It’s full service and works great, integrating with Mail, Address Book, iPhoto, and other Apple software. We also found a variety of free i Work templates, including Avery templates for Pages, at iworktemplates . blogspot.com and iworkcommunity.com. (When searching, remember that i Work ’08 templates still work in i Work ’09.)

Pages’ Edit > Mail Merge command is great for printing envelopes.

Ouch
I have a MacBook Pro that I accidently picked up one day with
my thumb on the screen, cracking the LCD. Is there a reliable
company who can fix this, or do you folks know a solution? I heard

that the Apple Store charges $800 to fix the screen. I might as well
go out and buy a new computer if it costs that much.

If you’re brave enough to attempt fixing it yourself, iFixIt.com can offer you parts and detailed, step-by-step guides. New guides for the unibody MacBook Pros were added to the site in January ( ifixit.com/ blog/?p=2197), and they’re comprehensive and easy to follow, although the repair itself is still on the nerve-wracking side.

If you’d rather leave it to the pros, you could search for a local authorized service provider at apple.com/buy/locator/service/ and call around for quotes. Online, we like TechRestore.com ($399 or less depending on model), MyService.com ($395 and up depending on model), and PowerbookMedic.com (instant quotes available). Assuming you like your MacBook Pro and aren’t itching for an excuse to upgrade, repairing the screen is the way to go.

That’s gotta hurt! This busted MacBook Pro screen belongs to Mac|Life reader M. Reynolds, who sent in this question.

The Wonky Patrol Reporting a bug for a third-party iPhone is easy to do via the App Store app on my iPhone, but where do I go when there’s a bug or conflict with the first-party apps from Apple? How do we let Apple know that something is wonky?

By all appearances, Apple does want to hear about issues like these, especially when it comes to iPhone-software wonkiness. The company keeps feedback forms for all its products online (also mentioned on p79).

The form for iPhone is at apple. com/feedback/ iphone.html, and you can complain about hardware or software. It’s not particularly iPhone-friendly if you’re headed there on Mobile Safari (what’s up with that, Apple?), but you can notify Apple of problems with the hardware or software.

In fact, we just submitted a
ticket asking why we can’t take
that silly Stocks app off our
iPhone altogether.

Submitting a bug report from the iPhone—not the most iPhone-friendly page.

Ask is written by Susie Ochs and Scott Rose, a Los Angeles– based FileMaker developer and Mac consultant. Visit him at www.scottworld.com.

GOT A TECH QUESTION OR A HELPFUL TIP TO SHARE? Email ask@maclife.com or write to Mac|Life, 4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080.