Windows 7 or Snow Leopard

If you are reading this site on a computer running Windows XP, Vista, or something unspeakably older, you are probably trying to decide what computer and/or operating system you are going to buy over the coming months.

With the launch of Windows 7 on 10/22, and the already available Snow Leopard, there are actually two competitive operating systems to choose from.

Windows is a solid choice

Let’s get this taken care of immediately. If you are a dyed in the wool Microsoft or Mac person, just stop reading. Your mind was made up a long time ago.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on.

CNET did a review of the two platforms benchmarks which you can read in great detail.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:

Snow Leopard performed a better in the study than Windows 7. It also has better battery life.

However, Windows 7 had better benchmarks for gaming… which is good since damn near any serious PC gamer is running a souped up monster PC anyway.

Your decision should be based on four criteria:

1. What can I afford? If you are broke, don’t get a Mac. They are expensive.
2. What will I use it for? If you are thinking about getting a Mac, make sure that the current software meets all of your needs (This really isn’t a big issue anymore, but it was a few years ago).
3. Do you have any crazy peripheral devices that you need and are platform specific? This isn’t too common anymore, but if you do, compatibility will dictate your choice.
4. Do you game a lot? If yes, you already had your answer.

Personally, I will stick with Apple for now, and run Windows 7 on Parallels, not because I need it, but because I can.

That’s about it.

In a week or so we will be posting a Windows 7 PCs buyer’s guide that will list a variety of PC’s in all price ranges that are worth purchasing.

~ syndicated by TheGeekWhisperer.com

Droid Cometh (UPDATED)

The first real challenger to the iPhone looks like it will be Droid. I haven’t read anything but great stuff coming from the people who have seen the über smart.

It has an iPhone look complete with touch screen, but it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard (WIN)

The device is made by Motorola; powered by Google’s mobile operating system, Android; and it will be sold through Verizon, thus it will be on Verizon’s awesome network.

Droid will run the latest version of Android, which looks incredible (see The Boy Genius’s write-up).

If the hardware reports are true, then Droid will have the same processor core as the iPhone, making it far more powerful than previous Android phones (Engadget).

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is decrying Android’s imminent explosion in the marketplace, while analysts’ are talking about Android’s potential for market domination by 2012.

Verizon is also going all out with their marketing. In the lead up to the announcement of Droid, they have been bashing AT&T’s flimsy network with their cleaver, “There’s a map for that” ads.

Then their Droid announcement ad launched a flurry of attacks on the iPhone’s limitations.

“The Droid poses a different and more significant challenge to the iPhone than any other phone to date. The Palm Pre could have been that challenger, but it lacked the Verizon network, and users were unimpressed with the hardware. According to people who’ve handled the device, the Droid is the most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint. When you combine that with the Verizon network, you’ve got something that is most definitely a challenger to the Jesus phone” (TechCrunch).

If Droid is everything that Motorola, Google, Verizon, and the tech writers are claiming it should be incredibly exciting (The claims are pretty much confirmed). Better still, Droid should be available within a few weeks.

Pay close attention to the oddly placed umlaut under the "r"

It’s clear to me that Droid means business because it has an unnecessary umlaut in its name.

~ syndicated by TheGeekWhisperer.com

Got Snow Leopard? Don’t Use Your ‘Guest’ Account

If you have Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system installed on your Mac, don’t log onto your ‘guest account!

If you use a guest account in Snow Leopard, there is a small chance that your computer could suffer a massive data loss (you lose a lot, if not all, of the data in your regular accounts).

Apple has acknowledged the problem and is working to fix it… but it took them more time than it should have to admit the problem.

(Now back to my Jets game… 17 seconds left and it’s a nail-bitter)

09.09.09 Odds & Ends

There’s too much going on today to just cover one topic…

• Happy birthday to TGW contributer Jason (TheLisnakFactor). He is now the official TGW tech question responder guy, so send him some questions!
• Happy 10th birthday Dreamcast; the defunct Sega gaming console. Oh Dreamcast… your graphics were so good, controller was freaking odd, and your games were unfathomably easy to pirate. Thems were the good ole days.

The wire coming out of the back of the controller was never a good idea.

• Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple announced a lot of iPod related things that didn’t excite me enough to write something original.
• DC Comics is going through some drastic changes… really it’s a corporate enema.

Some Hopeful Communications From Apple

Regular readers here know that I am really angry about some of Apple’s business practices regarding the iPhone App Store.

However, it does look like Apple is paying attention, not to me, but the wider Internet community.

Hopefully, “we’re listening to your feedback,” will turn into action.

Apple Censores an F’ing Dictionary

You didn’t just have a seizure (probably), and you aren’t tripping (probably), you read that headline correctly.

Apple has rejected a dictionary app because it contained the definitions of vulgar words like “fuck” and “shit.”

The story is more complicated than that, and honestly makes Apple’s insane App application process look even worse. For more on that you can find the whole story on Daring Fireball.

Why I Don’t Have an iPhone

This ladies and gentlemen is why I don’t own an iPhone. As long as Apple is going is going censor things like dictionaries, I won’t be using their phone. I’ve taken a stand and proudly say…

“Fuck you Apple. You are a bunch of ‘C words.’”

And by “C word” I mean censors. That’s truly vulgar.

The Nature of Obscenity

The definition of obscenity is arbitrary at best. There are no words in English, or any other language that are inherently obscene or evil. By that I mean that there is no sound a human can utter that is evil on it’s own. We apply meaning to words on our own. It’s a personal and cultural choice, not something for a computer company can dictate.

You disagree??? You think that the words “fuck,” or perhaps nearly every American’s least favorite word “cunt (that’s right, I went there),” are inherently obscene?

If that were the case, the words would be obscene in any language, in every culture, throughout all of human history. They aren’t and weren’t. We made the words, and we gave them meaning. In 100 years, they probably won’t have the same meaning.

Why So Stupid?

This kind of crap happens so regularly that it would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic. Apple will end up approving this dictionary app, and all will be well… except for the fact that Apple is still stifling innovation over arbitrary rules… and I’m not even talking about the Google Voice scandal.

Apple Grabs 91% of $1000+ Computer Market!?

Three years ago I would have gotten a good laugh out of that headline, but it’s true (This in depth and interesting article details the market shift).

Apple has completely conquered the high-end computer market, while PC makers have been producing weak machines with lower profit margins.

PC manufacturers fell victim to one of the classic blunder, (“The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia” The Princess Bride) got themselves caught up in an unwinnable battle over price.

Back in March, Microsoft began running the “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign. I had a particularly negative response to the whole thing.

Here’s part of what I argued:

The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.

This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already, there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.

I guess I learned something in those brand management and consumer behavior courses I took in grad school.

Couple Apple’s market share victory with Microsoft’s first annual sales decline, and you can imagine that a lot of folks in Redmond are having a pretty crappy week.

High-end computers are where the money is, and Microsoft (and PC makers) can’t possible afford to concede that turf to Apple… That’s like agreeing to split an apple with a friend and agreeing to eat the core; there isn’t much to eat, and the seeds contains trace amount of cyanide. They need to win back consumer confidence (good luck with that), and they need to do it fast (seriously, now is the time to throw money at the problem). If Microsoft doesn’t change their product’s image problem before the economy recovers, there will be a mass exodus from cheap PCs to the high-end Apples.

It’s become abundantly clear that if the average consumer is going spend a lot of money to buy a good computer, they prefer to purchase it from the fruit company.

Apple Gets Nasty with the Palm Pre

The latest version of iTunes (8.2.1) kills the Palm Pre’s ability to sync with iTunes. The Palm Pre is a smart phone aimed to compete with Apple’s iPhone.

That is seriously nasty on Apple’s part. Way to screw over your own users while maliciously attacking the lesser competition.

That’s another black mark on Apple.

Trust Busting AT&T & Apple???

The Justice Department is looking into the relationship between AT&T and Apple for possible violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Among the areas the Justice Department could explore is whether wireless carriers are hurting smaller competitors by locking up popular phones through exclusive agreements with handset makers, according to the people. In recent weeks lawmakers and regulators have raised questions about deals such as AT&T’s exclusive right to provide service for Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone in the U.S (The Business Insider).

I’m curious to see how this plays out. Either way, AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal is set to expire in about a year, and I can’t imagine Apple renewing it; AT&T’s network sucks. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have had a call from an iPhone on AT&T’s network drop.

Microsoft Ads Hit Rock Bottom

At this point, there is no reason to continue railing on Microsoft for it’s ads or buggy software. Quite frankly, I do not believe that they can do anything correctly, with the exception making good mice and keyboards.

• The Xbox 360 (my console of choice) is so freaking buggy that the company has blown millions and millions of dollars on replacing broken systems (mine included).
• Their public image sucks.
• Their software is bloated, buggy, and all too often ignores the user experience.
• Their advertisements are a disaster.

This is the latest and then quickly killed Microsoft ad for Internet Explorer 8.

(It is repulsive… you might not want to watch it)

Look… everyone knows what “private mode” is for. Additionally, it isn’t a unique selling feature because every other current browser offers the exact same thing (Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, & Google Chrome), so why bother making an issue of it?

Microsoft has so much money that if it had a good product that was worth selling, someone would be able to make an ok advertisement for it… but they don’t… except for their mice and keyboards (which they don’t advertise).

And then there is this browser comparison chart that Microsoft pushed out of its rear:

If it isn’t obvious, this is a big lie.

Practice safe computing by using Firefox, Safari, or Chrome.

I Have Returned

I am back from my adventures in Costa Rica. It was an incredible trip, but I will have more on that later.

I’m still catching up with my life which pressed forward in spite of my absence, so this will be a short one.

Here’s a video from Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy titled, “Things You Never Hear.” Pay close attention to “Things You Never Hear #3,” and keep in mind that I actually wrote yesterday’s post about two weeks ago.

In other geek news, a fan created this fake trailer for a Green Lantern movie staring Firefly and Dr. Horrible’s Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. The trailer is cheesy yet cool.

I’m rooting for a Green Lantern movie staring Fillion… dare I say, Joss Whedon could direct it.

Why Bother Attacking the iPod?

Microsoft is attacking Apple with another wasted commercial:

As of June 2008 (a year ago), Apple had sold about 163 million iPods:

As of May 2008, Microsoft had sold 2 million Zune Mp3 players.

Zune has been a lost cause since launch. Trying to outflank Apple by labeling Zune as the cheaper alternative will only damage Microsoft’s brand and reputation (as I pointed out before).

I do want to see Microsoft put up an intelligent fight (although I am not sure why I care).

Please Microsoft, pick better battles.

“Get a Mac” Ad is Bad

I’ve been pretty tough on Microsoft over their Laptop Hunters ad:

http://geekwhisperin.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/microsofts-lauren-ad-is-shortsighted/http://geekwhisperin.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/its-the-user-experience-stupid/

Apple’s latest ad is smart because it plays into the zeitgeist that Apple has essentially created about home computing, but it is incredibly stupid because it isn’t true.

She wants a computer that “that works without crashing, or viruses, or a ton of headaches.”

She can find that computer next to the “new drug” that Huey Lewis was looking for. They are both on the shelf labeled “Things that don’t exist.”

An Apple can crash. An Apple can get a virus. An Apple can cause you a boatload of headaches.

http://geekwhisperin.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/macbook-air-hinge-defect-revisited/

Apple has earned a right to be a little smug, but this latest ad greatly overshot reality.

It’s the User Experience Stupid!

The PC vs. Mac ad war continues to rage.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the first of what has become a series of PC “Laptop Hunters” ads. I’m continuing to stand being my original analysis of the “Lauren” ad. The two subsequent PC Hunters ads weren’t quite the train wreck that Lauren was, but I still found the people in the ads obnoxious and ill-informed; shouting off random computer parts and claiming to be tech savvy doesn’t appeal to me at all.

The biggest problem with these ads is that they completely ignore the user experience. Microsoft doesn’t sell Blu-ray drives, monitors, or graphics cards. They sell software. They sell a user experience, and that experience is lacking but it isn’t unsellable. These ads were pretty damn good:

These two ads are simple and elegant. They address the user experience in a clear and friendly manner. Plus, how can you get have a problem with those little girls? They seem far more intelligent than the tools that appear in the PC Hunters ads. The four year-old came across as more authoritative and likable than Lauren, Giampalolo, Lisa, or Jackson.

In response, Apple is using the same old formula to continue point out the flawed Windows user experience, and why not? These ads have been working wonders. Here are two of the new ones:

Another problem that Microsoft has is that Apple has had an active and preachy community for decades. There wasn’t a completely devoted community of PC users in the same way that there was a Mac community. Tight knit communities form around minority views. Additionally, many of the devoted PC users of the past (like myself) jumped ship to Apple over the past few years.

If Microsoft want’s to plug the holes, the answer isn’t poking holes at Apple; Microsoft doesn’t have the credibility to pull it off. They need to prop up their product and make it as cute, pretty, and above all, as likable as possible. They need to highlight the virtues of their own user experience, even if there aren’t many of them.

It's the user experience stupid!

Microsoft’s “Lauren” Ad is Shortsighted

This past week the new Microsoft ad, “Lauren Get’s an HP Pavilion” has consistently come up in conversation.

Is the ad telling the truth?

Yes! It absolutely is true. PCs are much cheaper than comparable Macs under almost all circumstances.

The question of truth unfortunately isn’t the important part of the ad. Sadly for Microsoft it is an excruciatingly shortsighted and ill-conceived TV spot. Let’s parse out this ad’s message:

• Apple is the stick with which the industry measures against.
• Apples are expensive.
• You can’t afford an Apple.
• PCs can be powerful.
• PCs are cheap.
• You can afford a PC.

By kicking off the ad with Lauren trying to buy an Apple it states very clearly that a Mac was her first choice. She went to get a PC when she couldn’t afford her first choice.

Flash forward to the Best Buy-ish store.

Lauren shouts out some easily digestible specs that she wants, and the PCs can meet he expectations for well under her budget of $1000… in fact, she bought if for $699.99 – This section of the ad has two BIG problems.

First, Microsoft sells software and a user-experience, not necessarily a good one, but a user-experience nonetheless. They don’t sell hardware. In spite whatever Microsoft believes, the biggest draw of an Apple is the user-experience, not the pretty hardware (there are some very pretty PCs out there). As Lauren points out, they have comparable hardware. The ad never deals with Windows Vista’s inferior user-experience. At least the Mojave Experiment ads did that!

The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.

This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.

Bad move Microsoft.