Windows XP on Intel Macs: eBook Software

[rmeister0]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this, but in case anyone is curious:

I am using a 17" Intel iMac with 1.5 GB RAM; except for the memory upgrade, it is a standard stock unit. I won't go into all the details about using BootCamp and installing XP except to say it was the smoothest process I can imagine. One big word of caution: I made a bootable clone of my Mac drive to an external firewire drive using Shirt Pocket's "SuperDuper!", and tested that the clone was bootable and worked. I strongly recommend anyone installing BootCamp do this unless the have no programs or data they don't want to lose. Of course, since I did that I didn't neet it.

Microsoft Reader:

Tonight, I downloaded the current version of Microsoft Reader from the MS website, and it installed without a hitch. I downloaded an unencrypted .LIT file from Fictionwise to test, and it displayed correctly.

Next, I attempted to activate Reader. Guess what? I ran out of activations! So I created a new Passport to a new e-mail address; I was then able to successfully activate. I then purchased a new encrypted .LIT title from Fictionwise; it downloaded correctly and displayed as expected.

Next I would theoretically install a program that the DMCA doesn't allow us to talk about, and if I were to test it I could tell you that it to works correctly.

I have not installed ActiveSync, or attempted to transfer .LIT books to a PocketPC device as I no longer own one.

Palm eReader:

I installed a copy of the non-pro edition of Palm eReader, and downloaded a non-encrypted PDB file from Fictionwise. It worked as expected. I then installed Palm eBook Studio and it too worked, sort of. I kept having problems with the program crashing when importing html files, but I have also had that problem on more typical Windows boxes. But I was able to build and display an ebook.

I have not attempted to transfer my PDB file to a Palm yet, as my Z22 is setup to sync with my OS X installation using MarkSpace's The Missing Sync (if you use a Palm and OS X, get it - it is now available as a Universal Application). Since it is working so well I don't want to mess with it, but as I am considering upgrading (in light of the recent GowerPoint announcement), I may have further details later on.

eBookWise eb-1150:

The eBook Publisher program that you can download from ETI's web site works just fine on Windows; it can get flaky at times, but nothing I didn't see on a standard-fare Windows machine. I built an IMP file from an HTML/CSS file combination, and it imported on my eb-1150 device and displayed correctly. I do not use a usb connection between my device and my machine, but use a usb smart card reader. It worked correctly, but be warned: the usb ports on the Mac keyboard are not powered, so you must use the ports on the back of the iMac.

I briefly tested the GEB Librarian and it appears to work, though again I have not tested its USB connectivity.

A final note: Most of the stability problems I have experienced or heard about are usually USB related, which is why you don't see any usb activity in my tests above. External USB devices, particularly hard drives, seem to be problematic at this stage. Test before trusting any critical or irreplacable data.

Last final note: I have downloaded and installed Media Four's MacDrive utility, which allows Windows XP mount OS X drive partitions (in geeky terms, HFS and HFS+ Partitions can be mounted under Windows Xp in either a read-only or read/write manner). I use it for reading my iTunes library on Windows XP and it works great.