MACHYBRID  ADDENDUM to my prior post:

TurboTax 2007 requires OS 10.4, G3 processor and 1024x768 screen area.

Many people have had difficulty opening previous years' TurboTax data files. If you have trouble, try any or all of the following:

1. Use only alpha-numeric characters in the data file name (no special characters).

2. Verify that the file name ends with the ".tax" suffix.

3. Move your data file to the DESKTOP and try opening from there.

Always keep a print out (paper copy) of your full return including any forms or worksheets used for each year's tax return.

Always keep your original installer in case you need it to look at prior years' return data.

Always update TurboTax MANUALLY. Keep in mind that they issue new updates for the product multiple times in the first few months of the new year.

Always BACKUP your data file BEFORE updating TurboTax.

TurboTax update info:

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/kb/update/update/61.html

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/kb/update/update/1651.html

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/kb/update/update/2226.html

Mac OS X updates (10.4 required for 2007)

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/kb/update/update/3649.html

http://ftpfp.quicken.com/pub/turbotax/2007/TT07_update.app.dmg

For now, you can manually navigate Intuit's FTP directories via:

http://ftpfp.quicken.com/pub/turbotax/

Macintouch discussion about TurboTax with some very interesting comments:

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/taxsoftware/topic3024.html

FYI: I do *NOT* recommend this product. I have posted this info to help those who are stuck using it.  
(Version 2007.00.02)

MACHYBRID  doh!

The word "Firefox" in my directions should be "VLC". Sorry about that.  
(Version 0.8.6e)

MACHYBRID  To get rid of the frequent error messages in VLC player, do the following with the application launched:

1. open "Preferences..." (Firefox > Preferences...)

2. check the box next to "Advanced" (lower, left corner of Prefs. window)

3. select "Interface" from the left-hand box/column

4. check the box next to "Be quiet" (under "Verbosity")

5. click "Save"

This will silence the error message pop-ups and allow you to plow through most glitches (unless VLC crashes). This should be a DEFAULT setting in the VLC installer for any OS in my opinion.

If you experience playback issues and have a slower system (and your VLC is not already set to do the following) select "Video" from the left-hand column (Prefs. advanced mode) and try checking any or all of the boxes next to "Drop late frames", "Skip frames" and "Quiet synchro". These can sometimes compensate for times when the CPU cannot keep up or other temporary video lag issues.  
(Version 0.8.6d)

MACHYBRID  Current version: 3.0.3 (or 2.9.9a/b)

http://www.icab.de/dl.php

iCab is about the only modern, updated web browser option for people NOT running Mac OS X. You get tabbed browsing, RSS reader, the ability to selectively enable/disable plugins, customizable context (right-click) menus, filtering control over cookies/scripts/IDNs (International Domain Names--a potential security hole in web browsers), etc. And in the 3.x versions you now can "Auto-Save Session" which will recover your tabs and web locations so you can automatically pickup where you left off the next time you launch iCab. There is also an option to "Save Session As" so you can resume a specific set of tabs/locations by simply double clicking on the savefile.

All the preferences of iCab may seem a tad daunting at first, but Classic users need only "Show Balloons" from the Help menu and you will see pop-up help for the vast majority of features in the Preferences panes. Enable "Auto-Save Session" from the File menu to save all open tabs when quitting. The Filter Manager has many advanced functions and takes a little getting used to. Keep in mind that you can always disable the Filter Manager quickly from the bottom of the View menu.

I have been using and paying (optional) for iCab for years. While iCab may not have a paid development staff, it does have one very dedicated programmer who is worth his weight in gold: Alexander Clauss. He cares about his software and will respond to issues you might encounter (please do not take this as a suggestion to fill his email box, however! :) While iCab is available in different languages, much of the online documentation is in German, so you may need to contact the author if you get stuck. Check the Help menu items and explore the Balloon pop-up help first.

The current version of iCab is 3.03 for Mac OS 8.5 and higher. For people still running Mac OS 7.1-8.1 on an old 68k processor, or Mac OS 7.61-8.1 on PPC systems, you can download 2.9.9a/b. Please note that pre-3.x versions do not have "Auto-Save Session" and do not support JavaScript 1.6, so some web sites may display incorrectly (usually you just need to scroll farther down to see the content). For users running older versions of Mac OS with not so much RAM, iCab uses a small portion of memory (4.5 MB for 2.9.9b on 68k Macs, 7.1 MB for 2.9.9a on PPC Macs). Also, the 2.9.9 versions have their own plug-ins folder inside the iCab application folder. 3.x versions use the System plug-in set.

It is still a good idea to keep your old copies of Internet Explorer 5.17 and Netscape 7.02 for the occasional sites that are coded specifically for these browsers.

If you give iCab a try and it works well for you, please send a donation to the author. This will help encourage future revisions for Classic users who still want to access the Internet.  
(Version 2.9.8)

MACHYBRID  Current version: 3.0.3 (or 2.9.9a/b)

http://www.icab.de/dl.php

iCab is about the only modern, updated web browser option for people NOT running Mac OS X. You get tabbed browsing, RSS reader, the ability to selectively enable/disable plugins, customizable context (right-click) menus, filtering control over cookies/scripts/IDNs (International Domain Names--a potential security hole in web browsers), etc. And in the 3.x versions you now can "Auto-Save Session" which will recover your tabs and web locations so you can automatically pickup where you left off the next time you launch iCab. There is also an option to "Save Session As" so you can resume a specific set of tabs/locations by simply double clicking on the savefile.

All the preferences of iCab may seem a tad daunting at first, but Classic users need only "Show Balloons" from the Help menu and you will see pop-up help for the vast majority of features in the Preferences panes. Enable "Auto-Save Session" from the File menu to save all open tabs when quitting. The Filter Manager has many advanced functions and takes a little getting used to. Keep in mind that you can always disable the Filter Manager quickly from the bottom of the View menu.

I have been using and paying (optional) for iCab for years. While iCab may not have a paid development staff, it does have one very dedicated programmer who is worth his weight in gold: Alexander Clauss. He cares about his software and will respond to issues you might encounter (please do not take this as a suggestion to fill his email box, however! :) While iCab is available in different languages, much of the online documentation is in German, so you may need to contact the author if you get stuck. Check the Help menu items and explore the Balloon pop-up help first.

The current version of iCab is 3.03 for Mac OS 8.5 and higher. For people still running Mac OS 7.1-8.1 on an old 68k processor, or Mac OS 7.61-8.1 on PPC systems, you can download 2.9.9a/b. Please note that pre-3.x versions do not have "Auto-Save Session" and do not support JavaScript 1.6, so some web sites may display incorrectly (usually you just need to scroll farther down to see the content). For users running older versions of Mac OS with not so much RAM, iCab uses a small portion of memory (4.5 MB for 2.9.9b on 68k Macs, 7.1 MB for 2.9.9a on PPC Macs). Also, the 2.9.9 versions have their own plug-ins folder inside the iCab application folder. 3.x versions use the System plug-in set.

It is still a good idea to keep your old copies of Internet Explorer 5.17 and Netscape 7.02 for the occasional sites that are coded specifically for these browsers.

If you give iCab a try and it works well for you, please send a donation to the author. This will help encourage future revisions for Classic users who still want to access the Internet.  
(Version 3.0b352)

MACHYBRID  ADVICE for TurboTax:

Seeing as how there are no listings for newer versions, I will post here. I write this as TurboTax2005 is out.

A client who uses TurboTax tried to open their "04" tax file and TurboTax05 simply stated it could not open the file "due to an unknown error". Luckily I made them keep the previous year's CD. After installing TurboTax04 the "04" file opened fine in that version. However, the client could not import the past year's data and had to manually enter the information.

Yes, we have run all updates. Yes, we have tried clean installs, etc.

For those who insist on using TurboTax, please at least heed this advice:

1) DOWNLOAD THE UPDATES MANUALLY from Intuit's site. Their auto-updater is terrible, and in some cases, needlessly intrusive. (Go to "turbotax.com", click SUPPORT tab near top-right, click "Get the Latest Information" next to Update TurboTax Desktop, click a link that read something like "Manually download and install the update"). Intuit likes to change their web site and frequently moves the location of the Manual Download links. It is there, you may have to call support to get them to direct you.

2) PRINT COPIES FOR YOURSELF of all important forms each year. Also keep past version CDs of TurboTax in case the current version refuses to open past year's files.

Another comment on the Manual Update, you can really see Intuit's disdain for the MacOS platform as they require you download multiple files (5 or more) whereas the Windows folks have one file.

The one POSITIVE comment I will make about TurboTax2005, is that they finally made the package a Mac/PC combo. It was so incredibly confusing and wasteful to have separate boxes and order numbers for each platform for such a small, single-use product.  
(Version 2003)