I received so much e-mail from Scot's Newsletter and Computerworld readers about the previous installment in the Mac trial series that there's just no way to read it all. Mac forums and blog sites ripped me to shreds for picayune details, most of which were misunderstood or taken out of context. But more than a thousand people wrote to wish me well with my tests, many of them telling of their own switch to the Mac or offering help and useful insights.

There are a few points I need to set to rights. My initial in finding Mac programs was not detailed enough. My apologies for that. I didn't realize how many people would try to help.

Screenshot program

For one thing, I mentioned I was looking for a solid screenshot utility for the Mac -- and I still haven't found a solution that works for me. But if I had a dollar for everyone who wrote, with the best intentions, to tell me that the Mac has built-in screen-capture functionality (such as Command-Shift-3 to take the whole screen) as well as the Grab utility for the same purpose, I'd be taking a week off.

Thanks for writing, but the truth is that the Apple-supplied means of taking screenshots are woefully inadequate for the needs of a software reviewer. The people who understood that I need a truly high-end screenshot program all recommended Ambrosia Software's Snapz Pro X. Although this utility has some of the higher-end features I need, it doesn't have them all, and the interface is absolutely terrible. (Ambrosia also doesn't get it: Its "demo" trial version renders your screenshots unusable. I uninstalled the product the moment I realized that. It's idiotic because that isn't try-to-buy. If I can't actually use the screenshots it takes for 30 days, I'm not going to try it at all.)