Fotor Photo Editor v3.1.0 Review!

One of the toughest things to find when you are "Living with Lion" is a modern photo editing program.     Photoshop and Elements have now passed Lion by (minimum of Yosemite to use) and most that do still work are either older or just not very robust.  That is why I was extremely happy when I happened upon Fotor in the Mac App Store.  It is easy to use yet powerful and best of all it is FREE!  The only thing you have to do is put up with a small ad in the bottom right of the screen but I find I don't even see it so it is not that big of a deal and definitely not a deal breaker in anyway.

Now I am not a master photo editor, I am a novice and just do some basic things like red eye removing, cropping, color adjusting etc.  I am able to do all this in Fotor plus I am learning some new skills like focus (which is pretty dang cool).  The user interface seems sparse but does have lots of options and isn't overwhelming for this that are not proficient at Photoshop of Gimp.  You can try many different editing tools without worrying about messing anything up because there is a reset button which allows you do remove any editing you might have done.  You can truly experiment with it's features without worry.

Of the different photo editing software available for Lion I do find I enjoy Fotor the best.  It is easy to use but powerful and did I mention it is FREE?  For the more advanced photo professionals out there I would recommend you choose Gimp over Fotor because if gives you all the tools that Photoshop does but works with Lion.  This piece of software is highly recommended by this reviewer and this website!

Audacity v2.1.2 Review!

I am a novice podcaster, nothing serious, just basically for fun.  I am also a novice producer, again just for fun and just for the podcast.  For this I use Audacity.  This is a easy to use for a novice recording programming but has lots of features you can grow into.  And it has a great price ... FREE!  You can beat that with a stick!

This program is available for OS X, Windows and Linux and I have used both the Windows and OS X versions and they both work identically so if you are reading this review on the Mac edition you can rest assured the Windows version works exactly the same.

Ok lets get down to it!  This program records audio from multiple sources and allows you to do some pretty heavy editing if you want along multiple tracks.  For me this includes recording from my Blue Snowball Ice for all my vocals and then layer many tracks to it including an intro, segment transitions and even a music bed if you like.  If you ever used the old MTV Music Generator on the original Playstation then you will know about the layering and how easy it is.   It is pretty user friendly and doesn't take long for you to learn the different functions of the  software.

When editing you can do so much to each tracking, like cropping, volume levels, moving it around to start before or after other tracks etc.  You also have lots of special effects you can do to help make your production sound better.  I have messed around with slowing the speed down a bit to make my speech more clear, adding some base and adding a music bed to smooth it out.  You can even zoom in to make editing easier if you need to remove a lot of "ums" and "ahs" from your speech if you are having issues with that like I do.

You can do so much more with this software than just podcasts but it does work very nice for that and I definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about sticking their toe into podcasting but down't want to spend a ton of money.  Why?  Again because it is free!  Get it today.

MailTab for Gmail v7.8 Review!

 MailTab for Gmail, like MenuTab for Facebook, is a nicely integrated application designed by Fiplab and is compatible with OS X Lion.  It creates a nice portal into your Gmail account and has all the bells and whistles an email client needs in 2016.  Let's dive into the review.

The first thing you notice is the nice integration into your file menu at the top of your screen.  It has a nice envelope icon that turns red and has a number listed beside it to let you know when you have new mail.  Once you left click on the icon it opens up your Primary Inbox by default.  You receive a mobile type interface where you can read, delete or archive the mail within the window.  Full Gmail labeling is available from within this application.  This isn't just a dumbed down version of Gmail, you have all the tools available to you that you would from the web interface. 

 Just like with MenuTab for Facebook, MailTab offers you the ability to switch between the mobile view and a desktop view.  This is the web interface within a window on your desktop.  I find I use it in the mobile view the majority of the time but if an email needs more screen real estate  to view properly then you do have that option.

The one thing it does lack and I wish it had was access to your Google Calendar.  Yes I know this is the Gmail app but being able to access your Google Calendar from within the app would be a very helpful feature and is sorely missed by this reviewer.  Perhaps a future update will implement this.

Overall this is a very good application and is essential for anyone who is still on Lion (and has a Gmail account of course).  Give it a try and you won't be disappointed!

Bye Bye Chrome, you will be missed!

I use Chrome everyday on my Windows 10 PCs, Android phone and my iPad Mini 2.  Where don't I use Chrome?  On my 2007 Mac Mini of course!  Why?  Google no longer supports Chrome on Lion, that means no new features or security updates.  What is a poor Lion user to do?

Use Firefox of course.  Mozilla is still supporting Lion and Firefox works great on my ancient Mac Mini.  Even though I miss Chrome and the syncing of all my devices with the same bookmarks, passwords etc., I am getting along just fine with Firefox and recommend it to the rest of the pride (see what I did there Lionheads?).

I will do a browser free-for-all soon, discussing and comparing all the Lion compatible browsers that are still being actively supported.

MenuTab for Facebook v6.9 Review!

There is no official Facebook app for Lion and when looking at 3rd party apps it was very difficult to find one for Lion, the majority needed Yosemite or El Capitan.  I did find one and it is actually really good.  Say hello to MenuTab for Facebook.

The standout feature of the app is that it resides in your menu bar at the top of the screen and fully integrates into Lion.  As there are post updates your a notified with a pop up and the same goes for when you get Facebook Messenger ... ehr ... um ... messages.  Clicking on it brings up a nice mobile like view of Facebook that you are use or, if you opt to do an in app purchase, can make it a full screen app by clicking "desktop."  I found I leave it in the mobile mode most of the time because it is very handy and attractive.

If you don't opt for the in app purchases (every feature is $1.99 or you can get all five for $2.99 total, which is what I did) then you will get advertisements and nag messages to go pro.  For me it was worth the $3 to have the full, uncompromised application (I went pro within ten minutes so I am not sure what all nagging there is) as I had advertisements. 

Fiplab, the makers of MenuTab for Facebook, has several other applications that work with Lion and I actually own one other, their Gmail application called MailTab for Gmail which I will be reviewing soon.  It works the same way as MenuTab for Facebook and is just as good of a product.  Hopefully more developers out there will continue to support Lion in all it's greatness!

MenuTab for Facebook proves you can still make a great product for a forgotten operating system!

Hear the Lion roar!

Just because you are stuck with Lion on your aging Mac doesn't mean you can't get a ton of use out of the machine.  In fact, you can actually use a Mac running Lion as your everyday machine if setup properly.  That is what this blog if for; to help others who are still using Lion to use it to their best advantage.  I will be posting stories about my experiences using Lion in 2016 (and beyond) and also reviewing some of the best software that is still compatible. 

Let the adventure begin!