News and Updates

DssW's latest news and information. Announcements, insights, and guides all appear here first.

How to Log Out Users With AppleScript

Being able to log out a user on Mac OS X with AppleScript is useful. A common reason for needing to log out a user is to ensure a shared Mac is freed up for other users. The simplest way of logging out an active user is shown in the AppleScript snippet below. The script asks the System Events process to begin the log out process.

Being able to log out a user on Mac OS X with AppleScript is useful. A common reason for needing to log out a user is to ensure a shared Mac is freed up for other users. …

Published

Power Manager Remote: Your New Energy Saving iPhone App

Today we launched Power Manager Remote. Remote is a new iOS app that lets you connect and control your Mac’s Power Manager schedule on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Remote is free and available now on Apple’s App Store. …

Published

Power Manager Rebates for BC Hydro Customers

BC Hydro customer? Looking to reduce your energy bill? Thanks to BC Hydro’s PIP Incentive programme, you can now save up to $6 or up to 75% of the licence cost for every Mac running Power Manager. …

Published

An Energy Saving Cookbook for Mac OS X

The DssW Power Manager Cookbook is now available. The Power Manager Cookbook is a new addition to the DssW web site. The Cookbook is the official home to our energy saving recipes and getting started tutorials.

The DssW Power Manager Cookbook is now available. The Power Manager Cookbook is a new addition to the DssW web site. The Cookbook is the official home to our energy saving recipes and getting started tutorials. …

Published

How to Automatically Log Out Your Mac After Inactivity

When a Mac is available publicly, or in a shared environment like a classroom, it can be useful to automatically log out after a period of inactivity. An automatic log out helps ensure the Mac is returned to a good state after a user has left, and helps avoid a Mac being left logged in unnecessarily.

When a Mac is available publicly, or in a shared environment like a classroom, it can be useful to automatically log out after a period of inactivity. An automatic log out helps ensure the Mac is returned to a good state after a user has left, and helps avoid a Mac being left logged in unnecessarily. …

Published

Costs and Benefits of Supporting Older Macs

We support as wide a range of Mac OS X editions as possible. The decision leading to not supporting an older edition is never easy. Finding the best path often comes down to gathering statistics about our customers' needs, and combining that information with a little insight about the feature restrictions any decision will impose.

We support as wide a range of Mac OS X editions as possible. The decision leading to not supporting an older edition is never easy. Finding the best path often comes down to gathering statistics about our customers’ needs, and combining that information with a little insight about the feature restrictions any decision will impose. …

Published

Thanks to New Wave Systems

Shortly before the launch of Power Manager 4, one of our older PowerPC (PPC) based Macs started to fail. The integrated video card had developed a fault rendering the Mac almost impossible to work with. This Mac was part of our test rig and thus needed replacing like for like. Replacing an older Mac with an equivalent is not always easy.

Shortly before the launch of Power Manager 4, one of our older PowerPC (PPC) based Macs started to fail. The integrated video card had developed a fault rendering the Mac almost impossible to work with. This Mac was part of our test rig and thus needed replacing like for like. Replacing an older Mac with an equivalent is not always easy. …

Published

How to Avoid Passwords in Power Manager Scripts

Last time we talked about managing Macs with Power Manager's pmctl command line tool. I am going to explain how pmctl supports Mac OS X's Keychain and how you can avoid needing to enter your name and password each time you connect to a remote Mac.

This recipe is for Power Manager 4; for the latest version, please see Scripting without Passwords. Last time we talked about managing Macs with Power Manager’s pmctl command line tool. I am going to explain how pmctl supports Mac OS X’s Keychain and how you can avoid needing to enter your name and password each time you connect to a remote Mac. …

Published

How to Connect To Power Manager Over the Network

Power Manager can be connected to and managed remotely over a network. The simplest way to manage deployments of Power Manager is with Power Manager Professional. But this is not the only way. Let's walk through how to use the standard command line tools to remotely connect to a Mac running Power Manager.

Power Manager can be connected to and managed remotely over a network. The simplest way to manage deployments of Power Manager is with Power Manager Professional. But this is not the only way. Let’s walk through how to use the standard command line tools to remotely connect to a Mac running Power Manager. …

Published

MacUser Review Praises Power Manager 4

Thanks to Rob Buckley, MacUser UK, for reviewing Power Manager 4. Rob praises Power Manager 4's ability to save our customers' energy. He also highlighted our extensive AppleScript, Automator, and command line support.

Thanks to Rob Buckley, MacUser UK, for reviewing Power Manager 4. Rob praises Power Manager 4’s ability to save our customers’ energy. He also highlighted our extensive AppleScript, Automator, and command line support. …

Published