“With all those zingers flying around, it made me start remembering other instances in which Ballmer has taken a company or product to task.” Link
Posts Tagged ‘Software’
Nice Review of Steve Ballmer’s Misguided Dissing of the Competition
In General on Thursday, 16 July 2009 at 18:00Palm’s Mojo SDK is Now Available!
In General on Thursday, 16 July 2009 at 16:18
Good for Palm. According to the official Palm Blog, the WebOS SDK (dubbed Mojo) is now available to “all interested app developers”.
From all the press I’ve read on the Pre the WebOS is very promising, yet the device needs two things:
- Better hardware. The build quality is unimpressive and the keyboard cheap.
- Apps, apps, and more apps. Only about 30 or so available… Read the rest of this entry »
Apple (Rightly) Stops Palm Pre iTunes Syncing
In General on Thursday, 16 July 2009 at 0:01
The latest release of iTunes (8.2.1) puts an end to the Palm Pre’s syncing with iTunes. Some have expressed surprise, but it was an obvious and proper move on Apple’s part.
I wrote about this issue on two separate occasions, and believed it was clear that Apple needed to address the exposure Palm was taking advantage of.
In the first article I pointed out that:
it has everything to do with denying Palm a seat at the table to which they’re not entitled. Let the Pre use the old iTunes API, if possible, as others have, but not appear as an iPod. I don’t see why Apple should stand idly by while a third party walks in and acts as an equal member of the iPod/iTunes system… Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft Office 2010: This is Simplification?
In General on Monday, 13 July 2009 at 17:14
Only Microsoft could offer five freakin’ versions of an office suite and consider it a “simplified” lineup.
And, what’s worse, they now have two versions with “professional” in the name. Really? As if the pro designation isn’t getting old enough as it is, now we have Professional, and Professional Plus.
But it doesn’t stop there, there’s two versions with “home” in the name as well. Home and Student, and Home and Business. Seriously? Could you possibly have any idea what products might come in these versions? Is it even clear how they tie-in to “home”?
Where do they get the marketing morons who name these things, and why isn’t there somebody in the room with a club when the name is suggested?
Is Microsoft Windows 7 Now RTM? [U]
In General on Sunday, 12 July 2009 at 14:26According to one source, the answer is…
Take this with a grain of salt. Even if not true, the RTM date has been rumored to be within a couple of weeks, so it’s probably not far off anyway.
[UPDATE:] From the Windows blog:
We are close, but have not yet signed off on Windows 7. When we RTM you will most certainly hear it here. As we’ve said all along, we will RTM Windows 7 when it’s ready. As previously stated, we expect Windows 7 to RTM in the 2nd half of July.
Best Microsoft Windows EULA Ever
In General on Saturday, 11 July 2009 at 23:46I got this screenshot off the iPhone:
Sadly, this simplified, easy-to-read EULA has been corrected. The web site has since gone back to normal.
Posterous: Blogging the Easy Way
In General on Saturday, 11 July 2009 at 0:01
I finally signed up for a Posterous account, and while I’ve only been playing with it a short time I’m impressed so far.
I can use the mobile WordPress app on my iPhone to post here, but it puts pictures at the end of the post, and you really don’t know what it’ll look like until you see the thing on your blog.
Posterous uses email for posting, which is very nice. You can’t make text links, but you can still have links in your post by pasting a URL in the email; Posterous will make it a link… Read the rest of this entry »
ColorSplash For the iPhone.
In General on Friday, 10 July 2009 at 11:55[UPDATE:] See how my daughter also got on the ColorSplash bandwagon, using an original first-generation iPhone, here.
I’ve been playing a bit with this app on the iPhone, and think it’s simple, easy, fun, and makes the iPhone pictures look better.
While the iPhone’s camera is pretty good as these things go, its pictures can be made more dramatic via this app. I tend to think of its colorization as the equivalent of using bold or italics in text. It draws the user’s eyes to what you want to emphasize: Read the rest of this entry »
TAB – Google Chrome OS: Hope, Hype, or Humbug?
In General on Thursday, 9 July 2009 at 8:28So there’s a new OS that’s based on the web, relies primarily on a web browser, and whose native apps are web apps. Old news, you say? We already know about Palm’s WebOS. No, I don’t mean that one. This one will primarily target netbooks. Still old news, you say, because we know a modified Android is coming to netbooks soon. No, I don’t mean that, either. I’m speaking of a Linux kernel with a modern web browser. Way old news, you say, since Linux distros and Firefox were available on netbooks even before Windows. No, no, I don’t mean that, either…
TAB – A Review of Fluent News
In General on Thursday, 9 July 2009 at 0:05I’ve been playing with Fluent News on the iPhone for a few days, and consider it a fine first effort as a news reading app. However, when it comes to sharing the news stories you’re most interested in, it falls short…
Google Finally Takes Responsibility: It’s About Time
In General on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 at 12:01Today Google removed the liability shield beta tag off of their suite of apps. Google Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Talk are now official, supported apps.
This must have been a tough decision for Google. With the beta shield they pretty much escape serious criticism for outages, etc. since, after all, “it’s beta”. However, many people and businesses (rightly) look on relying on beta software as a problem. Ultimately, in my mind it comes down to this: When are you going to own up and have enough confidence in your solutions to stop hiding behind a beta label?
This is a good day for Google. Not just for its current apps users, but also for the new users they can bring on board now they they’re out of beta (though, no, I won’t be one of those users).
Happy Birthday, App Store!
In General on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 at 0:20
Opened 1 year ago today.
I’d say that, 365 days and 50,000+ apps later, it’s been a pretty big success.
Microsoft Releases Vista SP2. You Remember Vista, Don’t You?
In General on Wednesday, 1 July 2009 at 14:08It used to be a Service Pack release got some press. After all, you’re fixing bugs, tightening security, maybe even adding minor enhancements. But Microsoft’s release of SP2 for Vista has not been touted much out of Redmond.
I almost feel sorry for Microsoft. The “V” word is such poison they can’t use it in their ads, don’t speak much about it in public, and now don’t even say much when they’ve released an SP that will likely continue to make Vista better than its public perception. But perception is everything, and there’s nothing Microsoft can release to fix that… Read the rest of this entry »
Dear AT&T: It’s Time To Produce Results, Not Public Statements
In General on Saturday, 27 June 2009 at 14:18When it comes to talking a good game, AT&T may very well be the King. I’ve lost count of the Press Releases or public statements about how fixes for their iPhone users’ greatest complaints seem just over the horizon.
- MMS? Sure, by the end of summer.
- Tethering? It’s coming as soon as we can get it.
- A better signal? Why, we’ve got this great 3G upgrade rollout that’ll solve everything.
Never mind the first two items are already available on AT&T’s network for other phones…
Windows 7 Pricing Official: Still Too Expensive, But Very Good Deals Exist
In General on Thursday, 25 June 2009 at 12:45Microsoft today made their Windows 7 pricing policies official.
The bad news is they didn’t change much, and are still too expensive in my opinion. There’s a slight reduction on Home Premium pricing (over the similar edition in Vista) but that’s it. I think Microsoft could have (and should have) done better, but time will tell. Most of the Windows 7 licenses will come from new PCs anyway — as opposed to boxed retail sales — so perhaps this doesn’t matter as much.
Despite the bad news, there is much good news: Read the rest of this entry »
iPhone 3GS JavaScript Speed is NOT Faster Than Apple Claimed
In General on Wednesday, 24 June 2009 at 23:09Lots of stories making the rounds that the JavaScript speed of the new iPhone 3GS is even faster than Apple had claimed. Most of the stories originate from this one from Medialets, but it’s simply not true the performance is faster than Apple claimed.
JavaScript speed is very impressive. However, if you compare Medialets’ results with those Apple presented during the WWDC keynote, you’ll see they’re essentially the same. Let’s take a look: Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft Doesn’t Need Yahoo Search, But Wouldn’t Mind Yahoo Talent
In General on Tuesday, 23 June 2009 at 13:44Interesting story from Mary Jo Foley on Microsoft picking up more Yahoo! executive talent. It’s interesting because of this comment:
I’ve seen a few industry watchers refer to these moves as Microsoft “poaching” Yahoo’s talent. But I wonder whether this is a case of Microsoft poaching or Yahoos jumping ship (or maybe a little bit of both)
I think she has a point; it’s almost certainly a little of both.
One thing is for sure, and I alluded to this in my review of Bing, I don’t think Microsoft needs to mess with caring (or even pretending to care) about Yahoo’s search business so much. Bing is a nice service, and just may pick up Yahoo’s business without even the hint of a buyout.
Heck, Bing even got Google to sit up and take notice.
Opera Unite: Has Opera Reinvented The Web?
In General on Tuesday, 16 June 2009 at 23:08
Opera Labs has introduced the service they were claiming will “re-invent the web”. It’s called Unite, and I’m not so sure this is going to be the great step forward they think it is.
Essentially, Unite puts a web server in the web browser. When you’re running Opera, you not only have a client at your fingertips, but also a server capable of sharing your files with other Opera users (and presumably other browsers).
Right out of the gate, I’m a little confused. Was sharing files with friends/family an issue people were having problems with? Free blogs, Flickr, YouTube, etc. all make it easy to share data with people. And this doesn’t even get into services like Google Docs or Facebook. Who the heck is not sharing because they can’t do it via their own “server”? And don’t the current services handle things like storage and backup for you, tasks you might not want to take on yourself? In others words, has Opera just solved a problem that no one is having? Read the rest of this entry »
The Apple Retail Experience
In General on Tuesday, 16 June 2009 at 11:59Jason Kelly at Seeking Alpha writes a great article about the Apple retail experience that accompanied his switch to the Mac after 20+ years as a PC user.
Just a couple of highlights from the article:
Such a store shows a great deal of confidence in the products, which gives me confidence as a buyer. I’m not being rushed out the door with a flimsy piece of paper saying I have tech support for a year if I need it — just call this number in India, but don’t under any circumstances bother us here — but am instead given all the time and freedom to arrive at about the only conclusion anybody can: I want one.
When my tally was finished, he added up the retail prices and then reduced each of them in front of me to get me a greater than 10% discount. Mind you, this was after I’d agreed to buy, so it was just a smart form of customer service. What a way to leave me even happier. They didn’t entice me with lowball prices. They sold me on quality products, and then offered me savings as a form of thanks for the business. Very classy.
You really should read the whole thing. It’s an excellent example of Apple excelling in something that can’t be just chalked up to great marketing or alleged “fanbois” buying anything with the Apple logo. If nothing else, perhaps it shows how these so-called fanbois are created in the first place.
TAB – Thoughts on Safari 4: Some Bad, Mostly Good
In General on Monday, 15 June 2009 at 12:33I’ve been running the release version of Safari 4 on Mac OS and Windows XP for a few days. There are a lot of good features with Safari 4 — and I have no desire to go back to version 3 — but I do miss the beta sometimes…
Web Browser News: Safari 4 Downloads in Perspective, Opera Boycott
In General on Monday, 15 June 2009 at 9:31There’s some browser news floating around today worth talking about. And none of it has anything to do with Internet Explorer.
Firefox
First up, Mozilla puts Safari 4’s 11M downloads in perspective:
I just read that Apple is reporting 11 million Safari 4 downloads in just three days. That’s pretty amazing.
I’d like to follow up that report with one of my own.
Firefox 3.0.11 was downloaded about 150 million times in the last 24 hours.
While there may be a touch of snark in the comment, the truth is the truth. There’s also no denying its accuracy, nor can it be doubted that it does indeed put Safari 4’s download numbers in an entirely different context. In fact, Mozilla had previously pointed out that 27% of Mac users alone have swapped from the default browser to Firefox:
Having chosen Mac, Safari users, about 27% of them, have opted out of the bundled and default browser and instead chosen Firefox. That’s an even higher conversion to Firefox rate than we’re seeing on Windows.
In short, Safari has a long way to go.
Opera
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the browser world, staunch Internet Explorer fans are requesting a boycott on the Opera browser. From the article:
Opera is simply upset because their browser is dead last in market share, and has already been surpassed by the recently released Google Chrome browser and Apple’s Safari browser for Windows.
True enough. I think Opera is asking for a seat at the table they haven’t earned. As for the boycott itself, given Opera’s share of the browser market I though it was already on.
Apple Announces 11M Safari 4 Downloads: Thurrott and PC World Cry Fake!
In General on Friday, 12 June 2009 at 14:12Apple put out a press release that Safari 4 has been downloaded 11 million times since it was released last Monday.
Naturally, eagle-eyed cub scout reporter Jimmy Ols–, er, Paul Thurrott is there to give us the real story by quoting PC World’s Robert Strohmeyer:
As someone with three Macs at home, I couldn’t help but notice that Apple pushed Safari 4 out as an automatic update to all of its users this week. Yesterday, all three of the Macs in my household received the update, and we don’t even use Safari.
Let’s set aside that — unlike Microsoft’s default settings — Apple’s software gets your permission before installing upgrades. What I find more comical are the following:
- A PC World writer and Paul Thurrott have no idea how to tell Apple’s upgrader “no thanks” for Safari, and make it permanent. I bet they know how to do this for Windows.
- Both these guys are surprised that Apple would count downloads that took place via the upgrader. My question is: Why the heck wouldn’t they?
Perhaps they’re just shocked because Microsoft would certainly never push their browser via software upgrade… er, wait, yes, they do. Well, I’m sure that Microsoft at least carefully filters out any data about IE users by subtracting the number downloaded from their automated updates. Um, no.
And so, in the end we wind up where we began: with the fact that Safari 4 has been downloaded 11 million times since it was released last Monday.
TAB – The Truth About Software Keyboards
In General on Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 11:01Harry McCracken at Technologizer wrote a nice piece about the virtues of hardware keyboards on smartphones.
I think one reason a keyboard argument even exists is because when competing in a given market you have to tag a competitor’s hot product with a “missing feature,” and then provide that feature. (How many manufacturers claimed FM radio and replaceable batteries were glaring omissions from the iPod, only to find adding it to their devices made no difference?)…
Windows SuperSite Waxes Poetic About Windows NT (And So Do I)
In General on Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 9:21
On the Windows SuperSite, Paul Thurrott questions whether Windows 7 is the Next Windows NT. That would be a great complement to Windows 7.
I believe it’s too early to make such statements, but Microsoft had six years to write Windows 7, so who knows?
What Paul absolutely got right is the part about Windows NT. To me, there’s no question Windows NT 3.5 (actually, 3.51) was the most bullet-proof, rock-solid stable OS Microsoft ever developed (not counting server flavors). I remember showing it crashed to a co-worker once because of how rare that was. Read the rest of this entry »
TAB – To Morro: A Microsoft Musical
In General on Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 9:20Microsoft’s free antivirus software, Morro, will soon be in beta testing. A free cure for one of the Windows world’s greatest sicknesses. And you know it’s gotta be good, because who better to close those doors than the company that opened them in the first place?
We should all practice safe computing, so as a Mac user I’m not going to mention the stark virus differences between the opposing platforms. Rather, today I suggest we lift our voice in song to celebrate the occasion with our Windows-loving friends.
Come on, you know the song, so feel free to join in…
Microsoft Bing: There’s a Lot Here to Like
In General on Wednesday, 10 June 2009 at 9:04Microsoft’s new (well, newly labeled, anyway) search engine, Bing, went live last week. I’ve been playing with it a few days and find it to be a very respectable search offering. This thing won’t be toppling Google anytime soon, but there are things about it worth noting that should push Google to begin improving their own offering. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Tell Me There’s No Apple Envy
In General on Tuesday, 9 June 2009 at 14:44After years of touting that Mac OS X “just works”, I guess Microsoft finally decided to hang along for the ride. A reader sent in a page scan from marketing materials in their Microsoft Action Pack subscription, and look what we have here:
After years of touting that Apple’s products are “Designed by Apple in California”, I guess Palm decided to go along for the ride. According to jkOnTheRun, the new Palm Pre packaging has “a clear plastic card with the manual that says “inspired by and designed in California””.
Oh well. If you’re gonna copy, copy from the best.
WWDC 09 Today! New Hardware (we hope)! Oh, and Software Demos. We Can’t Get Enough of Those!
In General on Monday, 8 June 2009 at 8:38Another WWDC is upon us, and amidst all the speculation of possible new iPhones — and even wilder speculation about Mac tablets — there’s something we should not forget: Software demos.
Yes, it’s a developer conference and that’s the place for them, so prepare for some “down” time during the keynote as the latest iPhone apps are demoed on stage for your enjoyment. All you can do is pray the presenters have an actual personality, and applaud politely as you mutter all the while something like “Yeah, that’s great, where’s the #$%^! hardware!”
Microsoft Does Good: Windows 7 Upgrade Program
In General on Friday, 5 June 2009 at 18:50
A lot is being made of the leaked Best Buy memo that outlines Microsoft’s Windows 7 upgrade program. It looks very good, but some of the story doesn’t seem to be getting out, so I’ll add my $.02.
Keep in mind that the Best Buy memo has not been confirmed. I think it’s reasonable, so I’m proceeding from the notion it does in fact outline some of Microsoft’s plans for Windows 7 upgrades.
Read the rest of this entry »
TAB – Windows 7 RC: Reality Check Edition
In General on Thursday, 7 May 2009 at 15:50Yes, I know “RC” designates Windows 7 as a Release Candidate, but a better designation would be Reality Check.
Windows 7 is an improvement over a very bad Vista, OK? Big deal. Let’s not pretend it’s more than that. The signal-to-noise ratio from some quarters is getting ridiculous.
Let’s look at the reality check…
TAB – Initial Thoughts On iPhone OS 3.0
In General on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 at 15:35The blogosphere will be “all OS 3.0, all the time” for a while. I wanted to wait a little bit and see some reaction to the update.
Predictably, Paul Thurrott didn’t approve. He cherry-picked a few things and claimed they should have been there from the start. He conveniently ignored the new APIs and other enhancements, and then just griped about there being no hardware announcements. At a software event. The man gets less relevant about Apple every day.
To me, the biggest surprise came from another GigaOM network site, jkOnTheRun. In an article there, 40 percent of the readers polled were “underwhelmed” with the update. A few even saying that the announcement “pushed” them to the Palm Pre…
TAB – Background Apps: They’re Not Just for Push
In General on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 at 13:10So Apple announced their push facility for iPhone OS 3.0 today. I think that’s great. Unfortunately, it’s only half a solution, and the other half is pretty important, too. At least it is to me. Let me explain…
TAB – Hey Apple, Don’t Be So Quick to Ditch Safari’s Tabs On Top
In General on Monday, 9 March 2009 at 15:02The Safari 4 beta was released a mere two weeks ago, and I sometimes feel as if the battle over title-bar tabs may already be over. The heavy hitters have weighed in, and it’s not looking good…
TAB – Android Open vs. iPhone Closed: Is It Really That Simple?
In General on Monday, 23 February 2009 at 11:05Mark Sigal at GigaOM wrote a nice article that questions if, essentially, “open” is all it’s cracked up to be…
TAB – Of Packages and File Compatibility: iWork ‘08 and iWork ‘09
In General on Friday, 20 February 2009 at 13:02I’ve seen a few articles lately on the file incompatibility between iWork ‘08 and files saved in iWork ‘09.
Macnn and other sites have discussed it. As usual, there are the silly comments regarding Apple not having tested this, it’s worthy of Microsoft, blah, blah, blah. Many comments tended to be more rational, though, pointing out that new versions of software frequently “convert” older files and then are not compatible with the older version. This isn’t really that unusual.
I think Apple could have made this easier if they had explained in the tech note a primaryreason for the incompatibility. It’s the old standard support line: It’s a feature, not a bug…
TAB – Apple Mac OS X Window Management: Way Ahead of Windows 7
In General on Wednesday, 18 February 2009 at 15:47Much is being made lately of Microsoft Windows 7 and it’s new taskbar. I’ve been running the beta myself and consider it a nice improvement over Vista. One of the improvements is in the area of window management. The new taskbar shows previews of all the open windows in an app when you hover the mouse over it, and will switch to that window if you click it.
While the above is nice, I’ve seen a few comparisons of this windows management to that of Apple’s Dock. The problem there is that OS X’s windows management is not handled by the Dock. About the only “window management” you get from the dock is that if you right-click an icon the popup menu will list open windows. Big deal.
If you want to compare Windows 7’s windows management to that of OS X, then you have to compare the new taskbar features to that of Apple’s Expose and Spaces. In this comparison, in my opinion, Windows 7 falls far short…
TAB – Microsoft Finally Found a Group They Can Impress
In General on Tuesday, 17 February 2009 at 13:48Joe Wilcox has an article on Microsoft Watch about Microsoft’s new ads with kids. The series is called The Rookies, and there’s a second spot up.
Joe is less impressed with the second spot than the first, but goes on to explain how these ads have potential, Microsoft needs more of them (I’m sure more are coming), the kid should get an ‘A’ on the project, etc.
That’s all nice, but it misses an awkward thing about this whole series…
TAB – Another Step For MobileMe: File Sharing is Active
In General on Thursday, 12 February 2009 at 23:10One of the things demoed by Phil Schiller when MobileMe was introduced was the ability to easily share files on your iDisk with others. The idea was that you’d select a file on the iDisk, choose to share it, and you’d have a couple of options:
- Password protection
- An expiration date for the link
Then you key in the email address(es) of those you want to share the file with, and they’d get an email with a download link.
It all looked pretty slick, but there was just one little thing wrong: When MobileMe went live, this feature was MIA.
TAB – Windows 7 Editions: Still Too Many
In General on Thursday, 5 February 2009 at 10:52Microsoft has made public their “edition strategy” (my term, not theirs) for Windows 7. While there are still too many editions, at least they make a little more sense, and offer a better overall choice, than what Vista offered.
Paul Thurrott has a write-up on the editions at his Super Site for Windows. He was “critical” of Microsoft for their edition strategy for Vista, and is now a major cheerleader for 7’s set of editions. He believes Microsoft has really simplified things. Lost on Paul is that when a 2,000+ word article is required to outline the various editions, it’s not simple. There are too many versions, but I’ll get to that shortly.
TAB – Apple’s Multi-Touch Patent Revisited
In General on Tuesday, 3 February 2009 at 12:50I wrote about the patent Apple received for this, but I’d like to comment further in light of all the discussion going on about the relative usefulness of this patent.
A lot of the discussion seems to stem from these sources:
- A Gizmodo article using a “professor of patents law” as a source.
- An analyst report that claims Apple going after Palm could cause more harm than good.
I do not dispute these are valid opinions, but so are the opposite…
TAB – Apple’s Multi-Touch Patent: A More Realistic View
In General on Wednesday, 28 January 2009 at 23:09So Apple is finally awarded their multi-touch patent, and the hue and cry from the Apple Bashers is pretty loud. But not only Apple Bashers are worried, Daring Fireball had this to say:
Very broad language – taken at face value, Apple effectively owns the IP rights to multi-touch in the U.S. This sucks.
DF’s major beef is with the patent office awarding the patent in the first place due to its broad language. However, what other type of language does one use for the concept being patented? We’re talking a whole new UI here. The implication seems to be that the patent is short on specifics, yet it’s 358 pages! When you’re patenting a new UI, I’m thinking you’re going to have to brush with broad strokes lest you forget a corner of the canvas that a competitor uses to white out your picture.
TAB – New iTunes Pricing and DRM Removal Questions
In General on Wednesday, 7 January 2009 at 14:38Like many users, I’m pleased that the labels are finally allowing Apple to sell music free of DRM copy protection. Given that the labels have allowed this for many other vendors (Amazon, Wal-Mart, Zune Store, etc.) I think they’ve been flirting with collusion on the iTunes store for a while anyway.
What I’m happiest about is the higher quality — which I don’t think Apple would have needed permission for – since Apple’s FairPlay DRM was pretty transparent anyway. Of my nearly 8,000 songs, about 200 of them are iTunes, most belonging to my daughter. The DRM has simply never been an issue since they play on every Mac and iPod device we have. I’m not even sure I’ll upgrade them, but a lot of that has to do with price, as we’ll see.
What I’m most curious about are the details and consequences of this deal as it pertains not just to Apple, but also the competion. Here are some questions I have…
TAB – Apple and Microsoft: The Difference in OS Sales Models
In General on Friday, 26 December 2008 at 16:16In a previous article I discussed Apple’s approach to cloning and how far they should go in shutting down that business. This led to the question “why can’t I just buy Mac OS X and install it on any hardware I want?”, which led to a pretty typical answer that the boxed OS X is sold as an upgrade, not a new (or full) license. This answer is sometimes challenged, and brings up the idea of what an “upgrade” is in the Mac world as opposed to Microsoft.
This is not an Apple vs. Microsoft argument. It simply attempts to outline the difference in each one’s approach to OS sales, and why each uses the sales model it does. Rather than claim one is “right”, I believe each is right for the business model it supports.
TAB – Apple Makes Changes to MobileMe
In General on Monday, 15 December 2008 at 21:17Apple’s documentation for changes in the recent 10.5.6 system update includes a line of interest to MobileMe users on the Mac:
Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.
So we now have “push” for those items on the desktop, as we’ve always had on the Web and the iPhone. That’s good news.
However, the MobileMe changes go deeper than that. Apple didn’t just change Contacts, Calendars and Bookmarks to “push” distribution (for Macs only), they changed the sync times for all items in the MobileMe control panel, and also made changes to the MobileMe service itself. Let’s take a look…
TAB – Developer Says He Uses Cover Flow, App is Rejected, Developer Surprised
In General on Saturday, 13 December 2008 at 19:31So a new app for the App Store was rejected for using private APIs. Let’s see if I can get in front of this before all of the “OMG!! Apple wrongly rejects another iPhone app!!” articles begin to appear. Please keep in mind that none of this is meant to disparage the app itself, which appears quite nice.
TAB – MobileMe: What it Syncs, When it Syncs, and Why I’m Staying With It
In General on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 at 18:32Recently MacLife magazine reviewed Apple’s MobileMe service. My problem with the review is that it lists something as a negative that continues to spread misinformation:
Doesn’t “push” your email instantly, rather every 15 minutes.
This is wrong. In this article I’ll touch on what gets synced with MobileMe, when it occurs, and why I’m happy with it.
TAB – Stanza vs. Classics: Maybe I Can Save You $3
In General on Thursday, 13 November 2008 at 11:23I read a lot, and have been very impressed with Stanza for the iPhone as an ebook reader. Like many, however, the idea of Classics was appealing, and upon release I purchased the app.
So how does it compare to Stanza? Would I recommend it? The answers, in my opinion, are that it doesn’t, and I wouldn’t. Not now, anyway.
TAB – HowTo: Create iPhone Ringtones in Garageband
In General on Thursday, 30 October 2008 at 23:59If you own an iPhone and a Mac you can easily create ringtones within Garageband. I love music, but am not a music maker, so I don’t really use Garageband at all. Luckily, you don’t have to know much of anything about the program to easily create ringtones for your iPhone. Trust me. If I can do it, so can you, and I’ll show you how now.
TAB – Microsoft Windows 7 Sooner Rather Than Later.
In General on Monday, 27 October 2008 at 15:55When Bill Gates mentioned in January, rather arbitrarily, that Windows 7 may ship “next year”, a general consensus was that a more reasonable delivery would be 2010. With that in mind, many expected it would then “slip” to 2011, as Microsoft’s deadlines are known to do.
I was, and have been, always of the opinion that Microsoft needed it sooner. I wasn’t alonein this thinking among some of the Microsoft observers at the time, though we felt so for different reasons.
TAB – My Move to the Cloud.
In General on Friday, 24 October 2008 at 10:50There’s been some discussion about the possible “dangers” or problems of Cloud computing. Some of it, though not all, stems from Richard Stallman’s recent comments about the Cloud initiative. The primary concern is that one may lose control of one’s data, or be at the mercy of (or “locked in” to) a single entity.
To be sure, Mr. Stallman and others make valid points in that if you trust your data to the cloud, where is your control? Where are your options in case of failure? If the entity has a catastrophic error, you could be in a world of hurt.
At Last! After Only Four Years There’s A New AIM Mac Client. Er, Why?
In General on Monday, 6 October 2008 at 20:27
So AOL released a beta version of a new IM client for the Mac. Hard as I try, I can’t get too excited about this. Oh, forget about being excited, I’m not even sure I can see the point to this.
Apple, RIM, and Google Mobile App Sales: Three Models, or Just One?
In General on Monday, 6 October 2008 at 11:17An article today mentions that RIM’s new Blackberry will begin the use of a RIM-hosted app market, and attempt to outline the three recent models for selling mobile apps:
iPhone – Apple is controlling what Apps can and can’t come through their store…
Blackberry Storm – RIM is starting up an App Center that they’re handing control of over to the carriers…
Android – Google’s App Store claims to be completely “open” but we’re already hearing that they may not allow applications that tether the phone to a laptop…
The article then goes on to ask:
Which model do you like better, and why? Or better yet – do you like ANY of them?
Is this a trick question?
Revisiting Stanza and the iPhone as an eBook Reader.
In General on Saturday, 4 October 2008 at 14:20
I wrote an in-depth review of Stanza last July. I didn’t know how seriously the iPhone would be taken as an eBook reader, but it sure had me convinced. I still love this app, and it’s been improved since that review.
Apple Drops iPhone NDA For Released Apps.
In General on Wednesday, 1 October 2008 at 10:39So today Apple dropped the iPhone NDA for released applications, saying in part:
…the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software.
Sure, it only applies to released items, but having unreleased apps/features under NDA is not at all unusual.
Bottom line is the primary NDA complaint was that even released apps/features were covered, which prevented the publication or use of books, tutorials, presentations, classes, discussions groups, etc. that could help spread the word. It’s that restriction that’s been lifted. This is very good news, indeed.
MobileMe: Ninety Free Days and Counting.
In General on Monday, 18 August 2008 at 19:01Just got this from the MobileMe team:
The article link in the email points here.
At this rate, I may never need to renew my subscription.
Moving Subscription Calendars to MobileMe.
In General on Thursday, 7 August 2008 at 22:06One annoying issue with MobileMe is that it does not sync subscription calendars to your iPhone or the web app.
Like many people, I subscribe to a holidays calendar and, perhaps not like many people, a moon phases calendar. I wanted these back on my iPhone, and on the new Calendar web app as well.
Doing this is actually easy, it consists of bringing the calendar in as local instead of subscription:
OMG! Apple May Kill iPhone Apps!
In General on Thursday, 7 August 2008 at 21:58It seems you can’t swing a dead cat on the Internet without running into an article about this latest proof of the Pure Evil that is Apple, Inc. (As usual, the headlines end with a question mark, which should be your first clue not to click the link.)
Oh, brother.
Meanwhile, the original discoverer of the URL in question, to his credit, is much more rational about the whole thing (see his 8/7 post):
Updates on the App Store: Pick a Number, Any Number.
In General on Wednesday, 30 July 2008 at 22:02See if you can find what’s wrong in the pictures below. The first is from iTunes on my Mac:
Dear Apple: Please Make the iPhone’s Native Interface Like the Remote App.
In General on Sunday, 27 July 2008 at 22:02Apple’s iPhone Remote application is great. It’s so convenient to control an entire iTunes library — and any AirTunes speakers — from any iPhone or iPod touch.
But instead of telling you how great it is I’d rather take the time to request that Apple add the Remote app’s interface improvements to the iPhone’s native iPod interface. In my opinion, the native iPod interface on the iPhone/iPod touch no longer makes it the best iPod ever. The Remote app’s interface supersedes it. Let’s take a look…
Apple Posts MobileMe Status Page With RSS Feed.
In General on Friday, 25 July 2008 at 22:32See it and subscribe here.
This was a good idea, and they seem to be “coming clean” with some details of the extent of the damage caused so far. For example, in referring to the infamous 1% of users with no email access:
As of today a team was able to restore limited web access to those accounts so the affected members can use their browsers to read mail that has arrived since last Friday (though not before) as well as send and receive new mail. The team has already begun rolling out restoration of full access for all the accounts and expect to finish by the end of next week. We particularly regret to report the loss in the affected accounts of approximately 10% of the messages received between July 16 and July 18.
Not the best of news, but better than Apple’s communicated so far. Another interesting tidbit is this:
We’ve since added server capacity and tuned our software to scale better — i.e. behave more gracefully when traffic spikes. The team has also fixed over 70 bugs…
They’ve already added server capacity? They only launched two weeks ago, yet they had servers sitting around available for adding? Either they got those servers in place very fast — and clearly miscalculated what was needed at launch — or they launched without all the servers online.
I’ve subscribed to the feed and am anxious to see what updates we get in the coming days.
Compared to the 1% above my problems are minor (but quite annoying), and in total they harm the MobileMe experience. Further, it’s hard to be comfortable with this system knowing that some people are getting rocked by it. Until the system truly settles down, there’s no particular reason to think any subscribed account couldn’t be next.
Microsoft Navajo (a.k.a. Vista): If you don’t install it, or configure it, or use peripherals, or care about performance, or aren’t bothered by dubious security warnings, and use it for just a few minutes in a controlled environment, then Vista is great!
In General on Friday, 25 July 2008 at 11:03Oh brother. Aside from the silly “flat earth” ad, Microsoft apparently has some simplistic ads in the pipeline about Vista.
Bottom line is that Microsoft took people who’d heard bad things about Vista, showed them a “new” OS called “Navajo” and they were impressed. Ta Da! Navajo is actually Vista!
The MobileMe Disaster Spreads.
In General on Thursday, 24 July 2008 at 12:45I’ve written about MobileMe’s horrid rollout on two separate occasions (more, if you consider the updates and comments of those posts). I’m happy to see some heavy hitters are now calling Apple on it as well.
Walt Mossberg and David Pogue both blasted Apple on this today. Even the extremely pro-Apple MacDailyNews site had this to say in their “take” on Pogue’s article (emphasis theirs):
Microsoft Vista’s New Ad Campaign: Bad Analogy.
In General on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 at 22:10Not sure what to make of Microsoft’s new ad strategy.
I do know one thing: They should have used a better analogy. This one’s too easy to make fun of. For example, I see it more like this:
WordPress iPhone Blog App.
In General on Monday, 21 July 2008 at 20:54Automattic released a WordPress blogging app for the iPhone today.
See the screenshot below for how it looks when writing.
Hmmm, you don’t see photos when you do a preview, so you have to take the app’s word for it. This throws a wrench into embedding Safari for live previews.
I deliberately quit the app and it saved my post, which was nice.
I don’t know how much I’ll use this, but if nothing else I can start posts here and save them as drafts. In the past if I had a blog idea I’d type them in the iPhone’s notes app and email it to me.
OK, these two paragraphs are being added from the WordPress blog on my iMac. This thing is actually pretty slick. After typing the above paragraph I looked for the draft on the web site and couldn’t find it. Duh! I guess it’s called a local draft for a reason. Anyway, you can bang it out and modify it all you want locally on the iPhone, and then either publish it or promote it to a draft on the web site. Which is what I did.
On the web site it shows in the draft folder, but on the iPhone it shows up in the list of the 30 most recent posts. In fact, in that list it’s impossible to know if it’s published or a draft unless you click the post and check the status (see below):
Sorry to keep switching on you, but the above picture and this paragraph are courtesy of the iPhone again. This is actually pretty sweet, considering I just installed it and haven’t read how to use it yet. Once it’s a draft on the web site the iPhone can still edit it, though there appears to be no way to make the draft local again.
OK, this final paragraph is courtesy of the iMac, and now I’ll publish it via the iPhone.
[UPDATE:] This update is from the iPhone, and as you can see it published just fine.
This app is going to be more useful than I thought. Biggest drawback is it’s not WYSIWYG, but it will be great for drafts and edits and inserting iPhone pictures without having to email them to me first.
[UPDATE #2:] Another update from the iPhone. In playing more with this app it’s clear local drafts are just meant for banging out rough ideas or text. Inserted pictures give no indication of being there, and in preview mode it just displays text that says a picture will be added to the bottom of the post.
Web drafts, however, are great. Though not WYSIWYG, when editing it shows the HTML code so you can verify the picture was placed where you wanted it. Further, preview mode displays the pictures beautifully. Embedding the Safari browser was a good idea after all. This is good stuff.
Stanza: The iPhone Becomes a Great E-book Reader.
In General on Sunday, 20 July 2008 at 22:04I doubt the folks making Amazon’s Kindle are scared, but I’m surprised at how much I’m reading books on the iPhone now that I have the 2.0 software and the Stanza application.
There are lots of books or readers for the iPhone, so why did I finally settle on Stanza? There are four reasons:
MobileMe: It Sucks When You’re That 1%.
In General on Saturday, 19 July 2008 at 16:22
I’ve made no secret of the fact that the MobileMe rollout was a disaster. It isn’t over yet.
Apple’s apologies (one to all users, another to trial subscribers erroneously billed early) were the right thing to do, and I appreciate Apple for doing it. And of course their 30-day subscriber extensions (one each to the two groups above) are also a great gesture.
Push From the iPhone, the Web, and the Mac: Well, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.
In General on Monday, 14 July 2008 at 22:22One thing I learned while determining how to share push calendars and contacts with one MobileMe account was that the iPhone will push, and the MobileMe web apps will push, but the Mac (and PC) does not push.
Bummer.
UPDATE: Dear Apple: You Can Shut MobileMe Down Again.
In General on Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 15:42See the end of this article (and the comments) for a couple of updates.
Soon I’ll write about how I put on the iPhone 2.0 software this morning, and have been running it all day. It went smoothly and works wonderfully.
I’ll write that Exchange sync works great (just email, I’m not using it for contacts or calendars).
I’ll write that the new MobileMe “push” services work great so far. Tried emails, contacts and calendars and it’s working just like it’s designed. That is, comparing the phone to my desktop apps I can see data entered in either place move back and forth.
I’ll write about the App store and how sweet it is, and that the new freebie Remote app is so cool.
But that will all come later, for now I just want to say to Apple that the MobileMe site was up early today, and then shut down (I didn’t try it then). Now it’s back up and, Apple, you should shut it down again. Quickly. Before you become the laughingstock of the industry.
S-L-O-W. Disgustingly and embarrassingly slow. Setting new world records in slowness. So slow that, for all practical purposes, it’s unusable. And that’s the good news, because at least when it’s slow it’s working. I have yet to get contacts to pull up on this thing. I get calendars — sometimes — but then get server crashes. Or Safari will tell me it can’t display the page. It’s a miserable experience
Apple, shut it down and fix it. Google and Microsoft are both laughing their asses off at your first real step into cloud computing. They may have been a little worried yesterday. Not now.
[UPDATE:] Not very long after I wrote this post the MobileMe site was shut down again. Good. Apple has stated that everything about MobileMe is working except the web aps, but the push features that worked for me all day today are no longer functioning, and other people are having issues as well. This is more than just the web apps.
Meanwhile, to keep informed about if MobileMe is up just check here.
[UPDATE #2:] As of noon on 7/11, things are no better with MobileMe than yesterday. Apple’s having a bad day today, what with their app store and activation servers getting barraged with requests. No surprise there, and I do not believe Apple should add hundreds of servers just to get over the peaks this weekend. All the issues related to activity will sort themselves out over time, and do not necessarily point to any bugs on Apple’s (or AT&T’s) part (though I think Apple should have staggered the 2.0 availability, i.e., roll out the iPhone 3G for a week and then make the 2.0 software available for the 2G unit).
However, the MobileMe fiasco does not fit into the above category of issues with the new iPhone, software, and App Store. This is not about server activity because only valid .Mac subscribers and trials would be accessing the servers. And yet Apple’s been at it now for over 40 hours!! There is a problem there. I don’t know what it is, but it’s big, and they can’t seem to find it.
Thurrott Fun With Headlines: Holiday iShill Edition.
In General on Friday, 4 July 2008 at 11:46Paul Thurrot’s occasional Fun With Headlines posts are usually pretty harmless. Sure, he uses them to get in one-sentence jabs at Apple now and then, but despite his claims to the contrary that’s his job, so no big deal.
Today, however, he must be unusually mad at Apple, so let’s see what his 4th of July Edition has to say:
The New .Mac: Apple MobileMe.
In General on Monday, 9 June 2008 at 13:14
OK, I’ve watched the videos, including the downloaded Guided Tour, and have some thoughts on Apple’s new MobileMe service.
I’d heard rumors of a .Mac revamp and wrote a post on it, so my comparison will be within the context of that post and what I stated I’d like to see.
Apple Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update: How Mine Went.
In General on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 at 21:29Apple released the 10.5.3 update Wednesday, and I decided to be an early adoptor…
Multi-Touch Interfaces: Apple iPhone OS vs Microsoft Windows 7
In General on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 at 11:41OK, now that Microsoft has demoed Windows 7’s multi-touch interface (”Forget Vista, look, shiny object!”), let’s look closer at these two products with multi-touch interfaces.
The idea is to look at the facts and determine who can really be said to be in the multi-touch race. For purposes of this post (and any other article that claims to be making any sense), we’ll assume the ultimate goal is to have this technology in the hands of actual users while turning a profit.
With that said, let’s look at the products:
Windows 7 Sometime in 2009…
In General on Friday, 4 April 2008 at 14:42Bill Gates says Windows 7 may be released “sometime in the next year”.
Of course it will! I mean, at the very least, they’ll say it will. I wrote this before. Mind you, whether it’s actually delivered by the end of 2009 is highly debatable.
The fact is Vista stinks, and they have to wash the taste out of everyone’s mouth as soon as possible. Talking about Windows 7 is all they have, and 2009 sounds a whole lot better than 2010.
The Era of Consumer Computing: Of Apple, Microsoft, and the Future.
In General on Wednesday, 2 April 2008 at 22:21Bear with me a bit as I lead into what gives this article its title.
If you check my About page, you’ll see that since August of last year I’ve switched my household entirely to Apple. A 24-inch iMac Extreme, a 2.2 GHz MacBook, a Time Capsule 500GB, an Airport Express, and just last week an iPod touch.
In short, I spent a reasonable chunk of change, but it was time for new computers and I wanted to upgrade to “n” networking, etc. The time was right and I went back to Apple after many years of them, frankly, not making a computer I wanted.
Windows SuperSite on the XP and Vista Conundrum.
In General on Thursday, 27 March 2008 at 14:30The Windows SuperSite, in an article about Windows XP SP3 being “good enough”, discusses the “Windows XP and the Vista conundrum“:
I mean, imagine a case in which customers were allowed to choose between a previous generation Toyota Camry and the all-new, designed-from-the-ground-up 2008 model, and the customers actually chose the old version by a roughly 2-to-1 margin, despite the fact that the price hadn’t changed at all?
A Second Look: Apple Windows Updater, Safari 3.1, and You.
In General on Saturday, 22 March 2008 at 17:22Yesterday I stated my position on Apple’s use of their Windows Software Updater to “update” Safari on systems that don’t run it. Many other bloggers, analysts, etc. posted their positions as well.
There’s been a lot of debate about it, so today I thought I’d take a second look by reviewing some of the recent commentary on this topic…
Apple to Windows Users: Run One, Run All!
In General on Friday, 21 March 2008 at 11:07The mid- to late-90s seemed to be the heyday of software vendors deciding that if you ran one of their products, you’d want a bunch more as well. In my opinion, it was not Microsoft, but Real, that typified this behavior and annoyed me greatly.
Even when all I wanted was their media player, it seemed I was stuck with their little message center and other crap. Turning it all OFF was a pain in the rectum, and in my opinion should never have been necessary. It made me hate Real, and I’ve yet to install any more than the minimum software of theirs needed.
Vista SP1: Just What Microsoft Needed.
In General on Friday, 21 March 2008 at 10:28See this from Information Week:
The affected chipset is Intel’s 945G Express series, which is used in computers from virtually all major system vendors. It’s also found on standalone motherboards sold by Asus. The 945G Express chipset driver versions between numbers 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403 won’t work with Vista SP1, according to Microsoft…
Apple Safari 3.1 on Windows XP.
In General on Tuesday, 18 March 2008 at 12:02I’ve been running the betas of Safari on Windows ever since they came out. Overall I like Safari on Windows though it’s bit sluggish, which I attributed partially to being a beta.
Today Apple released Safari 3.1 on Mac and Windows. My primary interest was on Windows, where I still use Firefox most of the time.
Wal-Mart Bails on gOS PCs in Stores. Well, That Didn’t Last Long.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 10 March 2008 at 20:55What started here, ended here today. It took only two months.
You gotta love this:
According to a Wal-Mart spokesman quoted on AP, “This really wasn’t what our customers were looking for.”
Ya think? Linux is a geek OS. There’s nothing wrong with that, and the price is right, but geeks don’t tend to shop at Wal-Mart. What ever made them think this would play to their customer base in the first place?
Windows SuperSite Blog Tries to Explain Mac Fanatics.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 25 February 2008 at 23:03[UPDATE:] The original headline was “John Dvorak Writing For Windows SuperSite?”. Reader Scott took me to task for using a headline and premise that substitutes John’s work for Paul’s. His comment struck me, and I realized he was right. My critique of Paul’s post is still 100% valid, but the over-the-top headline and two-sentence opening have been struck. Also, my apologies to both John Dvorak and Paul Thurrott for the mis-characterization.
There’s a new article post on Paul’s SuperSite Blog for Windows attempting to explain Mac fanatics. Since it’s the usual Dvorak drivel I won’t link to it.
Problem is, I don’t see John’s name anywhere on it. Yet it fits his M.O. to a tee, so maybe he’s ghostwriting for Paul Thurrott?
Windows SuperSite Loves Vista SP1. Great, They Also Loved Vista.
In Uncategorized on Sunday, 24 February 2008 at 23:28Windows SuperSite’s Paul Thurrott has published an in-depth review of the not-yet-available-to-the-public SP1 for Vista.
What a shock, Paul thinks it’s the Second Coming.
Windows SuperSite is Bitter About Apple Delivering Fixes.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 11 February 2008 at 23:24
Paul Thurrott comments on Apple’s latest patch (10.5.2) for Leopard.
As expected from the Windows “SuperSite”, the spin is about how it’s actually a bad thing to get patches. The implication is that having to wait forever for any significant patch to, say, Vista must prove how good it is.
Microsoft and Yahoo!: My $.02 Worth.
In Uncategorized on Sunday, 3 February 2008 at 23:34
Everybody and their little brother is all over this. Heck, it even managed to knock all the MacBook Air fawning/despising off the charts. Like most major issues, there seem to be opinions lining up on one side or the other, with few voices in the middle.
Apple Releases Release Notes Restrictor 1.1
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 30 January 2008 at 23:40CUPERTINO, California—January 31, 2008—Apple® today released Release Notes Restrictor ® 1.1, a worthy upgrade to its powerful note-restriction software. Release Notes Restrictor 1.1 adds support for even shorter sentences, fewer nouns, more ambiguity, and in some cases does away with verbs completely.
The Microsoft Security Redefinition Campaign Rolls Onward.
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 24 January 2008 at 11:40
Just as they did at the 90, 180, and 270-day mark, Microsoft has cherry-picked and juggled statistics to arrive at the conclusion that Vista is more secure than XP, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and Mac OS X. Oh please.
Saving Windows XP.
In Uncategorized on Sunday, 20 January 2008 at 23:13
There’s an InfoWorld web site all about saving Windows XP from its “fate” of being discontinued come June 30 this year — complete with a countdown clock.
Lots of other articles and links on the site; they even have a petition to sign:
Why iPod Touch Users Have to Pay For Their New Apps.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 at 14:47
In today’s Macworld keynote Steve Jobs announced that the iPod Touch will now be getting five applications from the iPhone that it previously did not have:
New iPhone Update Installed: It’s Sweet.
In General on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 at 12:13
OK, fresh from all the keynote blog reading, I plugged in my iPhone and the 1.1.3 upgrade was available. Install went without a hitch and I’ve been playing with it a bit. Overall this is a nice upgrade, and there’s a guided tour video for it. I really like Apple’s guided tour videos and think they’re a nice touch.
Screw Apple iPhone, Just Wait Until Windows Mobile 7.0!!
In General on Monday, 7 January 2008 at 1:16
Microsoft must really think seven is their lucky number. After bragging about how Windows 7.0 was going to blow away Apple just a few weeks ago, now Microsoft is “leaking” about how terrific, incredible, stupendous, colossal, magnificent, and really, really good Windows Mobile 7.0 will be. This would be laughable except some people might believe it.
100 Million Vistas Sold: Some May Be In Actual Use.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 7 January 2008 at 0:01
Joe Wilcox of Microsoft Watch was at least decent enough to correct Bill Gates’ statement during his keynote Sunday night at CES about 100 million people actually using Vista:
“We have 100 million people using Vista now,” Gates told the capacity crowd in Las Vegas this evening. Maybe the user number was wishful thinking on the part of Gates. Microsoft’s press release refers to the more believable number of 100 million licenses sold.
What Went Wrong With Vista? Two Apple-Bashers Take a Look.
In Uncategorized on Friday, 14 December 2007 at 12:06
Joe Wilcox of Microsoft Watch took time off from his recent Apple-bashing to reflect on Vista. Joe previously stated that Vista is fine now; the problems you read about were early issues that have been fixed. But he provides no details for this assertion, and given the continued flow of negative Vista press it seems no one else received the “fixes” Joe imagined. Still, Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, and others jumped on the bandwagon to declare Leopard the new Vista, though few actually believed the story.
Screw Apple Multi-Touch, Just Wait Until Windows 7.0!!
In General on Thursday, 13 December 2007 at 0:31
On his blog, a software test engineer in Redmond had this ridiculous thing to say:
“I will say that if you are impressed by the “touch features” in the iPhone, you’ll be blown away by what’s coming in Windows 7.”
First, what’s with the phrase “touch features”? Did he think referring to it generically in quotes would minimize the iPhone’s interface? Come on, guy, say it with me: Multi-Touch. This is a bona-fide user interface with over 200 patents running on a successful, shipping hardware platform. It’s really silly (if not ignorant) to try blowing it off with the use of a quoted phrase.
Do People Really Still Buy Software This Way?
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 12 December 2007 at 12:02
I was at my local Office Max a while back. (Funny, I used to live in places like this, Fry’s, Micro Center, etc. 5-10 years ago, but I rarely go now.) Anyway, I saw the “software aisle” and snapped a couple pictures.
XP and Vista: Is This A Trick Question?
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 12 December 2007 at 11:52
From Windows IT Pro: “Will XP SP3 Slow Your Migration to Vista?”
Um, no. Only Vista will slow down my migration to Vista.
Yes, I know Joe Wilcox and a few others are waging a campaign that says all Vista problems were from months ago, and since then they’ve all been fixed. But that’s not true, as more new articles attest:
I’m not sure exactly when Vista’s issues were supposed to have been fixed (Joe & Co. never say), but from all the recent press it’s no better than it was when released to the public 10 months ago.
Tech Headlines From The Last Week.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 5 December 2007 at 13:18Apple iPod vs. Amazon Kindle: An Examination of Lock-In.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 21 November 2007 at 13:12
I have to admit I was intrigued by the idea of the Kindle, and awaited details anxiously. Now that the details are well known, it’s hard for me to look on the device with any enthusiasm.
The Trials and Tribulations of iWeb and .Mac Hosting.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 19 November 2007 at 22:22
[UPDATE:] For all the reasons articulated below, I ultimately left iWeb/.Mac hosting and moved my blog to its new home here at WordPress.
Nearly three months ago I switched from using Blogger to iWeb and .Mac for my blog. Overall I’m happy with my experiences, but there are some gripes I’d like to point out here.
No, Apple Should Not License Mac OS X For PCs.
In General on Friday, 16 November 2007 at 22:01
In a ZDNet article, David Berlind ponders whether Apple is getting dragged into licensing Mac OS X. After describing the hacking of OS X to install on various PC platforms and the popularity of it even in the face of Apple’s official position (he also includes the hacking of the iPhone), Berlind wonders:
“Back to OS X, perhaps its time for Apple to reconsider its Apple-hardware-only policy and once again look into licensing OS X. Clearly, now that the switch to the Intel platform is well behind us, and given the the success that hackers are having at “porting” the OS, there are no technical barriers.”
Nonsense.
Report: Few Businesses To Have Vista Deployed A Year From Now.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 14 November 2007 at 21:55Isn’t it amazing how a Microsoft devotee on ZDNet can tout an industry report with one headline, whereas a person who doesn’t feed off the Microsoft teat can read the report’s summary and provide another, more revealing, headline?
Tech Headlines From The Last Week.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 12 November 2007 at 12:40
As I continue to fight off some sort of cold, or flu, or death, or whatever it is, it’s time for another review of recent headlines.
Mac OS X Leopard Changing Microsoft Bloggers Into Trolls.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 7 November 2007 at 21:30It’s amazing the amount of fecal matter the usual suspects are shoveling onto the Leopard FUD pile. They’re suffering from memory loss as well.
Microsoft Watcher, Win SuperSite Say Leopard Isn’t Better Than Vista.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 31 October 2007 at 20:29Joe Wilcox at Microsoft Watch wrote a screed about why Leopard isn’t better than Vista. I subscribe to the Watch feed, so I was a bit surprised and disappointed in how weakly the article was argued. I left a comment on the site, reproduced here:
Vista Sux, or Vista Rules? You Decide.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 31 October 2007 at 0:35
I guess with the little BSOD joke that has some people up in arms, there are now people looking for hidden Microsoft slams throughout Leopard. This picture is now making the rounds:
A Quick Comparison: Early Vista And Mac OS X Leopard Looks.
In Uncategorized on Friday, 19 October 2007 at 21:04
InfoWorld published an article on Mac OS X Leopard, calling it “a beautiful upgrade.” What I really like about their take on Leopard is that it doesn’t just spend a few paragraphs re-hashing the “obvious” features, but rather dwells more on the overall operating system and its beauty-is-more-than-skin-deep quality:
What A Shock: Windows IT Pro Is Unimpressed With Leopard.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 16 October 2007 at 20:54
Paul Thurrott weighed in with his thoughts about Leopard on his clearly unbiased (cough) Windows IT Pro site. As usual, Microso–, er, Paul, figures there’s no sense beating around the bush so it starts with blatant lying right off the bat:
So Many Tech Headlines, So Little Time.
In Uncategorized on Saturday, 6 October 2007 at 12:19When Are The Microsoft Apologists Gonna Learn?
In Uncategorized on Friday, 28 September 2007 at 18:39
The state of denial among the Microsoft faithful regarding Vista is almost enough to make me pity them.
Everyone’s favorite resident Microsoft “expert”, Mary Jo Foley, and her unlinking eye on Microsoft, poses a beauty of a question: Is Windows XP too good for Microsoft’s own good?
The New And Improved iMovie 08 (Software Update 7.1).
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 27 September 2007 at 18:28
Apple released a slew of updates for the iLife apps yesterday. While iDVD, iPhoto, and GarageBand got mostly bug fixes and maybe new themes, iMovie got substantial and welcome improvements.
Adobe Ignores Mac: Releases Photoshop Elements 6.0 For Windows.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 25 September 2007 at 18:14
In a previous post about Adobe and Apple, I mentioned that for all the money Adobe makes off the Mac they spend a lot of time ignoring it. Some examples I gave were:
Gruber And Shipley: One SDK Over The Line.
In General on Friday, 21 September 2007 at 17:00
The old song reference (and showing my age) aside, John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote a comment today about Wil Shipley’s recent post about Apple.
A Workflow Process Review for iPhoto 08. Part II: Photo Comparisons.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 19 September 2007 at 22:28
In the previous installment we went through a new Event of photos to delete the bad ones, rate the better ones, hide the questionable ones, and leave the rest alone. Then we assigned keywords to them.Now we’ll move to the more “fun” stuff. That is, we’re going to compare the rated photos and pick out the cream of the crop for further enhancing.
Adobe Spin Regarding The iPhone’s Lack of Flash.
In General on Tuesday, 18 September 2007 at 14:34
Adobe had a great quarter. Good for them. Their new CS3 products were very well-received and doing well.
However, the amazing iPhone doesn’t use Flash, so is that any concern? Not if you spin like this:
A Workflow Process Review for iPhoto 08. Part I: Review and Keyword.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 17 September 2007 at 22:16
Those of you who read my review of the latest iPhoto know that I’m very pleased with this product. In my opinion It’s not only the best of the “free” photo organizers/editors on the Mac or PC — especially given its integration with other Apple applications — but it’s also a great program in its own right. While most of the attention to the update was given to Events, in my opinion the better enhancements were in keywords, and borrowing from Aperture for its revised editing tools.
Apple Music Apps: A New Logic Studio and Express On The Same Day!
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 13 September 2007 at 14:00
Today Apple released the latest version of Logic in the form of Logic Studio. This is a huge update from Logic 7, and they’ve followed the “studio” concept of Final Cut Pro and bundled even more apps with it. They also cut the price in half, to $499.
Sad But True: The US DOJ Thinks It Did Good Against Microsoft.
In Uncategorized on Friday, 31 August 2007 at 16:55
See this article. According to the US Department of Justice:
“”competition and consumers have benefited from the final judgments entered because of the Department’s antitrust enforcement efforts against Microsoft.””
How clueless can these people be? Read on to see:
A Detailed iMovie 08 Review, Part II: Wax on, wax off, or how to polish your movie.
In General on Sunday, 26 August 2007 at 23:10
In the first installment of this review I imported video and discussed skimming, selecting clips, trimming clips to the desired length, and changing their order. I then reviewed my work. Now it’s time to polish the movie. The following four items are the most common elements used to polish a movie. They’re available at the far right of the toolbar. The leftmost image in the top picture above shows this section with the audio button (Music and Sound Effects) selected.
A Detailed iMovie 08 Review, Part I: Timeline? We don’t need no steenkin’ timeline!
In General on Saturday, 25 August 2007 at 11:03
This review is lengthy, so I’m publishing it in two parts. In this first installment I’ll go through the initial description, video import, selection and trimming of the clips for a movie, then review the work so far. In the last installment I’ll polish the work with transitions, titles, sound effects, photos, and other tools, then provide my conclusions.
PC to Mac Migration, Part 3: iPhoto 08 Review.
In General on Tuesday, 21 August 2007 at 23:18
Unlike my media files, for photos imported from the PC the only metadata I was interested in were keywords. Since they’re in the file I didn’t have to worry about missing any data when imported.
My first post from the new iMac.
In General on Friday, 17 August 2007 at 0:41
To be honest, I’ve been so busy with the new iMac (it arrived a day early) that I have nothing to post.
I’m primarily posting to ensure I will have no problems using Firefox Mac with Blogger (Safari doesn’t work with Blogger at all, on the Mac or PC).
Mac Daily News asks if Apple should buy Adobe. That would be no.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 14 August 2007 at 23:06
In their commentary about a story that postulates Adobe writing office apps, Mac Daily News suggests Apple should buy Adobe. The idea is that they would kill Photoshop on Windows and shake up the industry.
I vote no.
Personally, I think killing Photoshop on windows would deluge Apple with lawsuits, but that’s not my point. My point is that Apple should buy companies that fit into their overall goals, business pursuits, and corporate culture. Is that Adobe? Seems to me Apple and Adobe haven’t exactly been best buddies lately.
Apple Mac Software: Spend much less (but get much more) than on a PC.
In General on Friday, 10 August 2007 at 23:15
I wrote earlier about the lower price of the new iMac, but didn’t discuss how I’m able to spend less money on software, and yet get more, as opposed to a PC.
To explain this I’ll recount the primary software on my current Windows PC and the new Mac.
Microsoft dumping their OS in China, but to what purpose?
In Uncategorized on Monday, 6 August 2007 at 23:04
To set the stage for this article, consider the following:
- Vista, all things considered, isn’t doing as well as Microsoft had hoped.
- Microsoft can’t sell Vista in the world’s most populous country.
- Microsoft fears more users in China will go with Linux, so they started giving away XP for $3.
- At this point, it seemed clear Microsoft was nervous (desperate?) regarding Vista.
- Microsoft has now cut the price of Vista flavors in China by more than half!
From the above it doesn’t take a genius to see that Microsoft is trying hard to get a Microsoft OS, any Microsoft OS, on PCs in China. My question is simply this: Why?
I’m back. A quick look at some events this past week.
In General on Saturday, 4 August 2007 at 8:27
Well, I’m back from the “out of town” portion of my vacation. I still have a few days off and some projects planned at home, but I’ll get to blogging as well. For my first post since coming back I’ll highlight some of the stuff that went on while I was gone. This is stuff I may have written complete posts about had I been here.
Yahoo’s iPhone "push" email, doesn’t.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 at 19:18
I’ll be posting about the iPhone’s necessary improvements later, but there’s one item that doesn’t belong in that article because it’s not Apple’s fault.
A big selling point of the iPhone to me was the push email from Yahoo. Unfortunately, for my account it’s not working as designed, and apparently I’m not alone. I have timed the push at over 30 minutes before manually getting the email, and it’s rarely less then 15.
Google completes the hat trick.
In Uncategorized on Tuesday, 19 June 2007 at 21:53
OK, for those not familiar with hockey, a hat trick is three goals in one game by one individual. (I’ve learned it’s also a term in Cricket for when a bowler dismisses three batsmen in consecutive balls. This likely pre-dates the hockey usage.)
Well, with the acquisition of Zenter Google finishes a trilogy that will help them take on Microsoft’s Office in Web 2.0 fashion.
Mozilla can’t sell Firefox; cries about a "world of tight control from a few companies."
In Uncategorized on Saturday, 16 June 2007 at 11:51
This is regarding John Lilly’s (COO of Mozilla) recent blog entry about something Steve Jobs said at Apple’s WWDC07. During the WWDC keynote, Jobs showed a slide that suggested Apple’s Safari would replace all web browsers expect Microsoft’s.
Part II of my review of Apple’s Safari browser on Windows XP.
In Uncategorized on Thursday, 14 June 2007 at 19:52
In my first review I listed the good and bad of my experiences running the Safari beta on Windows XP. Following are some updated or new comments and findings.
ZDNet to readers: Leopard’s not like Vista; you just can’t read.
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 at 19:45
In a previous post I wrote about a horrendous article on ZDNet saying they believed Apple’s Leopard operating system looks like Vista. The article was filled with such misinformation and outright ridiculous statements that most who commented or blogged on the topic called the author on it, as you might expect.
An initial review of Apple’s Safari browser on Windows XP
In Uncategorized on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 at 12:03
[UPDATE:] I have posted part II of this review, with further good points, bad points, and Firefox comparisons.
I’ve been using Safari since the public beta became available on Monday. In that time I’ve had enough experiences to comment on.
Safari on Windows is a great move, and apparently underrated.
In Uncategorized on Monday, 11 June 2007 at 14:09
With today’s announcement of Safari running on Windows XP and Vista, a collective yawn went up over the Mac community. Analysts, too, were not impressed. Nor were investors.
I don’t understand why the only thing people seem to recognize as “big” are new hardware announcements. The fact is Safari on Windows is a very big deal.
Contents of this blog licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike 3.0 License.
