As the netbook form factor exploded onto the computing scene last year, Linux gearheads everywhere rejoiced in the notion that they finally had a toe-hold into the mainstream computing world. Hardware manufacturers almost universally offered price-leading netbooks (many <$300) with some flavor of Linux pre-installed. Unsuspecting bargain hunters sucked them up but quickly realized none of the software they wanted (or already owned) would run on their new, tiny laptop and the familiar buttons on the screen didn’t do the same thing as the ones on their other computers. Consequently, Linux-based netbook manufacturers saw a 35% return rate. The open source community got their collective bubbles burst when netbook owners shunned their beloved kernel in favor of the six-year-old Microsoft retread, Windows XP. Redmond happily obliged by offering the home version of their old reliable OS to netbook makers for thirty bucks, effectively jabbing the entire Linux community right in the nose. Sure Linux is free, but $30 is really close to free and certainly worth it (for most users) to avoid learning a new operating system.
Fast forward to this year. Look up the word failure in the dictionary and you see a Windows Vista logo. Incompatible, bloated, overbearing and slow are the words frequently used to describe Microsoft’s current OS offering. Installing Vista on a netbook is like putting a Sumo wrestler into a Smart Car. Even a company as obtuse as Microsoft could see that Vista is a complete non-starter in this sub-compact hardware category. But wait, Redmond has a new + improved OS, Windows 7. Is it like every one of its predecessors? Bigger, flashier and feature rich to the point that nothing but the latest, fastest hardware will run it?
No.
As betas trickled out to developers it quickly became apparent Microsoft did something they’ve never done before. They made Windows 7 trim and fit to the point that it runs as good as XP on very minimal hardware. It only took a few days to see 7 popping up on YouTube running on a Dell Mini 9 or Asus Eee PC. And it wasn’t just running, it was running quite well! Windows 7 beta quickly became a very hot item, seeded to every file sharing site you can imagine. The next announcement from Microsoft surprised even me, a long-time Windows developer and MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) subscriber for over 12 years. They said they were making the Windows 7 RC (release candidate) available to everyone for one year! FOR FREE! Now there’s a free version of Microsoft’s latest operating system and by the way, it runs great on the average netbook. Ouch, Linux faithful. If $30 XP was a jab to your nose, free Windows 7 is a right cross to your chin. Down you go.
The referee is counting and I don’t see any sign of the penguin getting up.
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Commentary, Software Linux
Being a die hard Firefox fan, I never thought I’d ever say this: Safari 4 is the browser for me. Like I mentioned previously, Foxmarks is the “must have” add-in I use to keep my bookmarks and logins synchronized across all my machines. Now that it works with Safari 4, the major roadblock to switching is no more. Additionally, 1Password and Evernote work with the new beta just as well as they did with Safari 3. I had a dozen or so add-ins installed in Firefox and really thought I’d miss them more than I do. Obviously, they weren’t that important. Beyond that, I find Safari works great with almost every site I visit on a regular basis (except Microsoft’s MSDN, naturally). I do have the occasional misfire when trying to upload a photo to Facebook, but so far that’s been about it.
I spend over half my day within a browser environment and that’s when Safari’s speed really starts to shine. Web services like Pixlr, GMail and others are noticeably faster than they are in Firefox and Google Gears seems to have adapted quite nicely. In addition to its’ speed, Safari renders fonts and graphics beautifully. After a month of steady use, I notice a definite loss of sharpness when I go back to Firefox. Safari is just prettier.
As far as I’m concerned, the ball is back in Mozilla’s court. They’re going to have to do something very, very good to unseat Safari as my default browser.
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Apple Minutia, Software, Web Safari 4
When Amazon released the original Kindle in ‘07 I bought one for my wife the first day. She is a voracious reader (as am I) and I really thought she would enjoy it. The only problem is, the books she tends to read aren’t always available in the Kindle store. She’s an executive for a Fortune 500 company and her reading taste gravitates towards management theory and work redesign. Neither genre tends to show up on the NYT best-seller list. She does find time to do some casual reading and really enjoys the instant gratification the Kindle store provides. Our ten-year-old daughter, on the other hand, has no trouble finding titles for the Kindle and [thank God] her appetite for reading is every bit as large as her mother’s and mine. Can you guess where I’m going with this? Three avid readers + one Kindle = conflict.
When Jeff Bezos announced the Kindle 2 last month I immediately began conjuring a $359 justification. I have no huge complaints about our original Kindle. In fact, it has almost become my exclusive book reading format. I just wanted the new Kindle because it is, well, new. With no birthdays approaching and Christmas nearly ten months away, I needed a good story to present to the finance committee (my wife) for approval. I thank God every day for that paradigm because without her to check my techno-lust, things would get out of control in a hurry. That’s a topic for another day.
Enter the Kindle app for the iPhone. When I first heard about it I couldn’t believe it. I guess I’ve grown so accustomed to Apple’s way of doing things that the concept of a free application that effectively eliminates the need for another $359 piece of hardware has become completely foreign to me. I still want a new Kindle, but nothing short of loss or complete failure of our existing model will facilitate that purchase now. Anyway, I went straight to the App Store, downloaded and installed the new Kindle app on my iPhone and Pod Touch. I must admit to being a little skeptical at first.
After all, my 52-year-old eyes need a slightly enlarged font on the Kindle. The much smaller iPhone screen would have to be a much bigger challenge, right? WRONG. The iPhone screen more than makes up for the smaller font with infinitely better contrast. In fact, I think the iPhone reading experience is every bit as good as that of the Kindle. For certain, turning pages with a finger flick feels more natural than the Kindle’s button method and the much-ballyhooed accidental page turn is almost impossible on the phone. Amazon let me quickly download any of my purchased books I wanted and the “Whispersync” took me to the right spot when I opened my current read. One thing missing from the iPhone app is the ability to browse or purchase books directly from the Kindle store. For that you’ll need to use a computer or the Kindle. It’s a minor inconvenience and I can’t help but think that feature will show up in a future release (if Apple & AT&T don’t object). Aside from that, adding or navigating to bookmarks, changing the font size, synchronizing and getting back to the main menu is completely intuitive after simply tapping the screen. In short, after installing the app I had all my books, was reading and felt completely comfortable with it within five minutes. Also, no more squabbling over the only Kindle in the house. The only down side, I’m going to need to get really creative if I ever want a Kindle 2!
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Software, iPhone iPhone app, Kindle
I was listening to the Windows Weekly podcast a couple of days ago and Paul Thurrott’s pick of the week was a web service called Pixlr. According to Paul, Pixlr is a near-replacement for Adobe Photoshop that works through a web browser. At the time I thought, “Yeah right!” Since it sounded too good to be true, I went straight to my Mac as soon as I got home and tried it out. After a minimum sign-in, Pixlr was up and running in Safari (4 beta) and I was completely astonished! I’ve never found it necessary to dole out a grand for Photoshop. My editing needs just aren’t that great. I have, however, spent fifty or sixty bucks a few times on applications like Pixelmator that offer 75% of the functionality for 10% of the cost. I’ve also tried the free Picasa, Flickr and Windows Live editors and came away feeling like I’d gotten just what I’d paid for. Pixlr, on the other hand is quite full-featured and runs like a native app on my Mac. I think Safari has something to do with that. The experience on Internet Explorer on my newest Vista machine was a bit more sluggish (more like what I had expected).
I’m not going to do a full review here. First, I barely know enough about photo editing to get done what I need. Second, Pixlr is free, what does it cost to try for yourself? You don’t even have to install anything, just click here. Leave a comment. Let me know if I’m all wet.
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Apple Minutiae, Software, Technology, Web Pixlr, Web service
I have always admired the speed of Safari but the lure of Firefox’s add-ons kept me from switching to Apple’s browser…until now. When I switched to a Mac some 18 months ago, one of the first things I downloaded was Firefox. I’d been using it on Windows since version 0.9 and on my new Mac it was an island of familiarity in the ocean of new(to me) operating system. Frankly, the then current Safari 2 seemed a little feature-poor by comparison. When I learned about Webkit, I began downloading the nightly build every now and then just to see if its speed could wow me enough to make me switch. While it was very fast, I always found myself missing FEBE and Better G-Mail. FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) enables me to save all my add-ons, bookmarks and preferences automatically and is an absolute necessity when moving between and adding computers as often as I do. The Better G-Mail add-on adds features and visual appeal to the normally bland Google app. I spend so much time with GMail I really need it to look and feel more like a desktop app.
When the Safari 4 beta was released I was immediately attracted to its speed and new features. Also, a couple of recent developments have lessened my dependence on my favorite Firefox add-ons. First, Google has dramatically enhanced GMail’s feature set. With a multitude of new themes and its recent addition of off-line capability there is little need for third-party embellishment. Second, the new Foxmarks web service provides web synchronization of bookmarks and login data between Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer.
I really wanted to give Safari 4 a good shakedown so I immediately set it as the default browser on my Macbook Pro, the machine I use 90% of the time. The first couple of days were a bit uncomfortable just because of the normal learning curve. Different button and tab placement along with some slight rendering differences kept me a little off-balance, but I was determined not to fall back into my comfort zone for comfort alone. After just two or three days using Safari 4 I found I had gotten quite used to it and I still haven’t run into any real show-stoppers. The sites I frequent all work well and the JavaScript-rich ones certainly render much faster. I really thought Apple’s claims of speed were just so much hype, but Firefox now seems almost sluggish on sites like GMail or Google Maps.
Is Safari perfect? Of course not. Are there things I wish Safari did better? Sure. Is this new version good enough to lure me away from Firefox? Time will tell, but it is still the default browser on all my systems after a week and that’s about five days longer than any of its predecessors.
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Apple Minutiae, OS X, Software Safari
Apple just released Safari 4 as a public beta and I predict it will make Safari a force to reckon with in the browser wars. Safari has always been a solid, fast browser in OS X. Last year’s release of the first Windows version was an ipso-facto announcement by Cupertino that they can compete with any browser. Safari 3, while a very good browser, didn’t offer a real differentiator to the two leading market share holders despite Apple’s claims of speed, safety and reliability. It really was a “me too” entrance into the mainstream browser market.
No more. Safari 4 is a true game-changer. With it’s cover flow and “Top Sites” views, this browser will give Windows users a glimpse into the beautiful world of Apple core animation. People who’ve never experienced OS X will get an eye-popping introduction to the most visually pleasing UI on the planet. I downloaded the beta this morning and installed it on my Mac and Vista machines. I opened it on the 24″ monitor of the Vista PC that faces my office door. Within an hour, nearly a half-dozen people (PC users) stuck their head in asking, “What’s that?!” Safari 4 is that stunning.
Of course, it’s too early to tell how robust, stable, etc. this new Safari version is, but if it’s just functionally “good enough” many will use it just because it’s so pretty. Apple’s tag line for their new offering is “…the world’s fastest and most innovative browser.” I’ll leave the speed tests for others, but I will attest to its innovation. Putting the tabs across the top of the browser was genius, especially on smaller screens where real estate (room on the screen) is at a premium. That, coupled with the views I mentioned are reason enough for most people to switch. For me, I’ll wait and see just how much I miss my Firefox add-ins.
Let’s face it, the reason Internet Explorer enjoys a 70+% share of the browser market is because it is the default on the most popular operating system. Firefox has continued to whittle away at IE’s share with its huge assortment of add-ins. I have no doubt this will make Safari a real player in the browser market. The interesting question is, at who’s expense?
Email This Post
Joseph Kelley Apple Minutiae, Software, Technology, Web
Recent Comments