document

When you open a document or click a link in OS X, the system launches a program that can read it. While OS X provides options to change the programs associated with documents, there is no option to clear all application associations for a file type.

The resource that OS X uses to associate file types (e.g., TXT and PDF) or protocols (e.g., HTTP or FTP) with applications that can handle them is the launch services database. When an application is launched for the first time, the system scans its file-handling abilities and stores them in this database … Read more

In the last few major OS X releases, Apple has automated a number of key routines that deal with user data security.

First the company added automatic backups with Time Machine in OS X 10.5 Leopard, followed by a rudimentary malware scanner for downloaded files in Snow Leopard. In Lion, Apple has added a couple of others: Auto Save and Resume, which respectively will save file versions and preserve the window state of applications so they can be restored if a program crashes or is quit with windows open.

Both of these new options can be exceptionally useful in … Read more

Workshare Professional is an enterprise-class solution to the problem of tracking and managing changes to critical documents. Working with Microsoft Word, it can compare, convert, and verify content between documents. It converts PDFs to Word documents, compares PDFs with PDFs or Word docs, identifies confidential information in documents, and creates PDFs from any Office file format without requiring Acrobat or other PDF software. It maintains master copies of e-mailed documents, and its metadata search and removal feature removes entire sets of comments, revisions, and other changes.

During the installation process, Workshare automatically selected the appropriate modules to install and gave … Read more

iCloud and iOS 5 brought with it a slew of new features with them when Apple launched the software duo earlier this month. One of the advertised features was the ability to sync iWork documents (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) using iCloud with the iWork apps on iOS. … Read more

Need to read PDFs on the go? Adobe announced the availability today of Adobe Reader for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Adobe says that the app works just like the desktop version, letting you read and interact with the widest variety of PDF files on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

You'll be able to open PDF files from the mail app, the Web, and any app that supports the "Open In..." option. You'll be able to access ePortfolio (PDF Portfolios), PDF Packages, annotations, and drawing markups. You'll also be able to open and view … Read more

Several free Microsoft apps will be hopping aboard Nokia's Symbian phones by the end of the year.

As described in a blog yesterday, Microsoft and Nokia will deliver the apps in the form of free updates sometime during the fourth quarter. The updates will only be available to owners of phones running Symbian Belle, the latest update to the Symbian OS, or to those who upgrade from Symbian Anna to Belle.

The mobile apps and updates scheduled to roll out this year include:

I'm a longtime fan of PaperPort, which began life as a scanner/software combination and now exists solely as software. I've never found a better solution for organizing and preserving scanned documents, which is why PaperPort is among the few software products I'm actually willing to buy.

But $99.99? Ouch. That's the list price for the latest version. Fortunately, software developer Nuance has partnered with Laplink to offer PaperPort 14 (Windows) for $49.99. (Just to clarify, this is PaperPort Standard, not PaperPort Pro.)

That's for the download version, though you can get a … Read more

Here's the problem with AirPrint: not nearly enough printers support it. Plus, there's that whole consumables thing. Aren't we supposed to be living in a paperless society?

Print to PDF for iOS solves both problems, allowing you to "print" e-mails, Web pages, and documents as PDFs right on your iDevice. It's a clever app, one that works much like PrimoPDF and other utilities for Windows.

In other words, it intercepts just about anything that uses the iOS print command and generates a PDF instead of a piece of paper.

All you do is run … Read more

One thing that we can probably all agree on is the fact that Windows Explorer is not exactly the greatest file management tool around. There are plenty of alternatives, but we can't say that we've ever seen one like Nemo Documents. This innovative program lets you see which files you accessed on particular days by displaying them in a calendar view. It sounds a little unconventional, but the program's usefulness becomes obvious as soon as you open it.

Nemo Documents has a sleek, intuitive interface--a good thing, since there's no Help file. Down the left side … Read more