Sync Services is maxing my CPU at 100%

[Kerry]

:





JR I'm with you on this one - Ummm! What is being described anyway I
don't think is a problem. I won't happen if you just use the Apple
apps but occurs when you engage Entourage or sync a handheld with
Missing Sync. Its normal and all settles down after a sync.

I'm not sure about this forum honestly. People really don't seem to be
getting answers here that have already been answered. I really think
that anyone should also be using Macfixit and possibly even pay for
the Pro version. I've found great answers to vexxing problems that
Apple tech support, Microsoft Tech support doesn't know. The use of
the Apple forums has proved excellent for strictly Apple problems and
its only after having exhaused one of these two forums will I call
tech support. Microsoft tech support forum (Mactopia) is probably the
worse of anything I have ever used. Use Markspace forums for handheld
sync support, Brighthand forums for handheld support overall etc. This
forum makes good reading but its not overly helpful.

Great answer JR. So Microsoft has messed up again. What's new. I don't
know what has happened to these guys. I told them a while back they
need a better forum system. Mactopia is dreadful. But they don't
listen unlike say Apple or others. You just have to look at how these
other forums work and how effective they are at alerting you to
responses to a question, searches to find info on posted answers to
your question, how many people have looked at your question and how
many people have viewed your question and you can see how dynamic they
are. In fact, just on the last item, if 100 people have viewed the
question and there are 0 replies you can be assured no one has the
answer - time to call tech support.

And your so right about the noise in Google groups for Entourage. I
constantly see the same question being posed multiple times to which
the answer exists if not here in say Markspaces forums, Macfixit or
the Apple forums. I can see people posting a question though as they
might not be able to find the answer but its like answers that get
responded to here fall on deaf ears. At least in a proper forum, you
can see through a thread how progression is being made with resolution
to the problem.

Finally, I keep reading that this is peer support and Microsoft
doesn't monitor this forum, which a supervisor at Microsoft
emphatically implored upon me. My question is, why does Microsoft send
users here on Mactopia or they did. If you go to other software
vendors forums, such as Markspaces, these forums are monitored by
internal staff to look for trends in problem issues and often set
priorities based on the degree to which something is being mentioned.
In fact, in Markspaces forums, the Palm forum as an example is
monitored by the senior Engineer and that's where I've had say the
sync issue replicated by Markspace and they have then taken this to
their counterpart in the MacBU where it then in turn has been
replicated. You will then see that they aren't even getting info back
from Microsoft. Now this is effective. But for Microsoft to turn to
Google to do their work - well since they are competitors it just
strikes me as really odd.

Ah well but I do find Microsoft has gotten odd lately - maybe because
Bill Gates has moved on and Steve Balmer is running the show. I still
remember that presentation where he was jumping all over the stage and
thought well good luck Microsoft.

 

[Kerry]

This is insulting!

Hmmm! It wasn't meant to be insulting. I think you are taking this too
personal. I've worked in IT for 25 years and someone saying this would
not faze me in the least. In fact, you have to have a pretty Thick
skin in IT I've always found. Its just my view but I'd really like
Microsoft to get their act together especially where it comes to the
Mac but it doesn't seem to be happening. I really only spend time in
this forum as an e-mail comes in daily and i read it and so I just
decide to comment on stuff. But, this is not really where I go for
significant answers. I just find the forum makes for interesting
reading and I can see issues/trends but...

Don't take a comment like this personally.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

But for Microsoft to turn to
Google to do their work - well since they are competitors it just
strikes me as really odd.

Both the Mactopia and the Google groups for Office are simple frontends
to the usenet groups that have been around for quite a while.

MS doesn't provide direct support over the internet (you can always call
them... :-> ) but they point people to these resources where they
*might* find help.

Personally, I check these groups through a regular newsreader. This is
by far the ost efficient way I found. People accessing through Google
groups was sort of OK to me, but MacTopia really made the matter much
worse for a few reasons:
- it broke threading, so I have no clue who is answering to what most of
the time.
- people post new topis in the middle of an old thread.
- despite all their efforts to suggest using the built-in search engine,
people still seem not to use it and post the same questions over and
over and over and over again,


Corentin

 

[Kerry]

Both the Mactopia and the Google groups for Office are simple frontends
to the usenet groups that have been around for quite a while.

MS doesn't provide direct support over the internet (you can always call
them... :-> ) but they point people to these resources where they
*might* find help.

Personally, I check these groups through a regular newsreader. This is
by far the ost efficient way I found. People accessing through Google
groups was sort of OK to me, but MacTopia really made the matter much
worse for a few reasons:
- it broke threading, so I have no clue who is answering to what most of
the time.
- people post new topis in the middle of an old thread.
- despite all their efforts to suggest using the built-in search engine,
people still seem not to use it and post the same questions over and
over and over and over again,


Corentin

--
--- Mac:MS MVP http://www.cortig.net/wordpress/ ---
http://www.mvps.org - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
MVPs are not MS employees - Les MVP ne travaillent pas pour MS
Remove "NoSpam" to e-mail me - Retirez "NoSpam" pour m'crire

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

:-\ it looks like the reply got lost. All I got was a quote from the
previous post :-\

Corentin

 

[Kerry]

Both the Mactopia and the Google groups for Office are simple frontends
to the usenet groups that have been around for quite a while.

MS doesn't provide direct support over the internet (you can always call
them... :-> ) but they point people to these resources where they
*might* find help.

Personally, I check these groups through a regular newsreader. This is
by far the ost efficient way I found.  People accessing through Google
groups was sort of OK to me, but MacTopia really made the matter much
worse for a few reasons:
- it broke threading, so I have no clue who is answering to what most of
the time.
- people post new topis in the middle of an old thread.
- despite all their efforts to suggest using the built-in search engine,
people still seem not to use it and post the same questions over and
over and over and over again,

Corentin

--
            --- Mac:MS MVP  http://www.cortig.net/wordpress/---
       http://www.mvps.org      -    http://mvp.support..microsoft.com
    MVPs are not MS employees    -    Les MVP ne travaillent pas pour MS
 Remove "NoSpam" to e-mail me    -      Retirez "NoSpam" pourm'écrire

Thanks Corentin. That explains a lot. This is in keeping with how I am
finding Microsoft is dealing with Mac support generally. Its pathetic.
Whether talking to their front-end support who are nice and would love
to resolve these vexing issues to their back end (escalated support)
who know nothing more and can almost have a tone of arrogance (e.g. if
it will be fixed - like are you getting out of the Mac market because
if its not fixed you might as well) its discouraging. For some reason,
the MACBU is like a fortress who provides their people with no info.
Their forums, especially with your description of how Mactopia works,
might as well not even exist. We can't easily provide information that
will be re-usable for others who encounter problems that have been
answered to effectively take advantage of this info nor is it easy to
get answers, either through the forums or talking to Microsoft tech
support to get answers to anything other than what works in the system
that we might be approaching incorrectly. Forget trying to find out
how a critical bug (and I use the word bug loosely here as some of the
stuff I am seeing would have trouble getting through alpha to beta
testing let alone then going Gold - e.g. sync serv malfunction,
rebuild malfunction which is beyond any form of reason) can be dealt
with or when Microsoft is going to get this thing fixed.

Anyway, Microsoft is badly damaged now vis-a-vis its reputation with
the Mac community. Its possible for them to rectify this but they are
just so dug in in their ways. I'm just not sure either that they see
the Mac as important to their operations anymore if not a threat. For
us Entourage users though a problem really exists. Since Entourage has
reigned supreme there is a lack of good alternatives (the Mac market
for too long remained too small to have a lot of players doing good
PIM software for the Mac). Back in the 90's there were some absolutely
excellent PIMs. However, as the Mac went into decline in the mid to
latter 90s, these vendors went under. So, our options, at least at the
moment are limited. One of the best would be to go to Outlook 2007
under Windows but I really don't want to run Parallels continuously to
work with Outlook. Its solid and plays nicely with the Blackberry,
Palm and WinMobile (don't know about the iPhone but I somehow doubt
it). But, we shouldn't even have to think of this or even look for an
alternative. Its not the money that we've invested in Office 08 etc
but its the time we've put into working with the application to fit
our work patterns. Even if there were other excellent PIMs it takes
time to transfer these work patterns, if they can even be fully
transferred, to other products. Unfortunately, not only does
Microsoft's dominance affect organizations etc but it is affecting us
individual users and in my case horribly. I was talking to a engineer
at Apple yesterday and I was saying I can't even believe I am saying
the word Windows as if I might have to use it as my prime environment
but my work requires my core apps work. I can't waste time on non-
sense that never gets resolved nor can I work effectively with
software that just doesn't cut it for my needs and in the Windows
environment there are some good options that at least are solid.

Ah well. As long as I can remember, developers have been skeptical of
Microsoft and their intentions and I can see why at a general user
level.