As with any new device the iPad has it’s exciting new features and drawbacks.  There are some bugs Apple still has to work out on the iPad, and once they do it will make using the iPad work better for not only Rentec Direct’s online property management software, but websites across the web.

Here are the items which we’ve noticed affect Rentec Direct users.

1. Apple removed scrollbars from their browser for in-browser divisions.   I believe because iPad users use their finger rather than a mouse, Apple unanimously decided for all their users that they are better off without scrollbars within web pages.   A search on Google finds over 1.5million results of the term “ipad scrollbars“.  At the top of the list are many complaints about Apple changing this common-sense browser functionality, and various suggested workarounds.

   Workaround: Within the scrollable frame, place two fingers on the screen and drag.  This will scroll the window within Rentec Direct.  If two fingers does not work, try three fingers.

2. No Flash Support.  Apple and Adobe (the creators of Flash) currently have bad blood, and as a result Apple chose to exclude Flash support from the iPad.  Apple is unlikely to overturn this decision anytime soon despite nearly 80% of the web currently using Flash.  It means very little however for Rentec Direct users.  The only flash component of the site is the file upload status bar.  Generally file uploads are going to come from your desktop machine anyways which does contain full Flash support, so this will affect very few.   File downloads should still work fine within the iPad.

We anticipate Apple will address both of these issues (and other bugs still part of the iPad platform); however, in the meantime we’re publishing these workarounds to assist you in using Rentec Direct with the iPad.  If you have any questions or comments about mobile access to Rentec Direct, please let us know.

For a very long time the best combination of performance and security has come from Firefox.  Firefox is an open source application which has the most community support behind it for a web browser.  Because of the ample community support, and excellent programmers, Firefox leads the way still in performance and security.

Google Chrome just yesterday released version 5 of their new browser.  We’ve been using and testing with Chrome since version 3 and it has come a long way.  Chrome takes the cake in performance, even over Firefox.  Google Chrome 5 can rightfully claim the title as the fastest browser in the world, at least for now.  In our testing, Chrome 5 is noticeably faster all around the web.  It has native Flash support to give you the full web without installing any plugins and works very well with all websites we’ve tested it with, including Rentec’s BackOffice which makes use of many new web technologies.  Of note, with Chrome version 5, they now support plugins including some one of our “must have” favorites: Xmarks.

Other popular browsers include Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and Apple’s Safari browsers.  Neither has the performance and security that Firefox and Chrome have and while Rentec Direct is fully compatible with both, we recommend using one of the above.

If you are looking to speed up your web experience, try out the new Chrome, or if you are currently using IE try them both and see which fits your style best.  You will find your internet experience will improve significantly when you release that old slow browser.

I figure this has to be expensive for the shop.  Envelope, invoice, stamp, plus return stamp and the time it may take to cash the check.  What if there was an automated way?  Enter Rentec Music Rental Software.  We are leveraging the already powerful engine which drives Rentec’s property management software and soon making components available to other rental industries.

This will not only provide a new service to an industry desperately in need, but it will continue to help improve the core Rentec Direct product with new features and improvements that may benefit both industries.  Keep an eye out for new improvements in 2010!

For fellow bloggers out there deciding if they want to upgrade or not.  I wanted to throw in a few highlights that I’m impressed with.

• I can again upload media from Firefox without having to choose browser upload!  This is a major highlight for me, and it may have been fixed in 2.6 releases which I skipped; however, I’m very pleased it’s again simple to upload attachments.
• Fully configurable Dashboard.  This is a major improvement.  Now when administrators login we can configure the dash to show exactly what we want, where we want it.  No more complying with someone else’s idea of “useful layout”.
• Automatic Upgrades.  It can’t be stressed enough what a great idea it was to incorporate automatic upgrades into 2.7.  Granted, upgrades have always been more-or-less pretty simple; however, with upgrades being 1 click in the future, there will be no excuses for anyone to be behind the curve; or like myself, 2 days late in upgrading.

My review in one word is “wow”.  They did a really excellent job with 2.7 and every blogger should indeed take the few minutes to upgrade their installation if they haven’t already.

See full details at the wordpress blog.