Linux as a Desktop has been a work in progress for years now.  After being flamed for complaining about it’s weaknesses, I decided to give it another chance to be fair.  Most of my complaints have been about not being able to work with multimedia well so I decided to try out the newly released Linux Mint 7.  That distribution is based on Ubuntu and comes with the more questionable media codecs and libraries pre installed.  I have always preferered Fedora because it is more cutting edge, but it requires research an trial and error just to get it to play a DVD.  Once Mint was installed, I popped in a DVD just to test it out and it started right up.  I wasn’t able to play around with any mp3s as I was unable to network with my Windows machine, but I’ll get back to that later.

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Once again Apple has released a new product with good marketing, but the product is underwhelming.  The new iPhone 3G is coming out and looking at the specs, again this next edition iPhone looks like the G1 we already have from T-Mobile since the cupcake update.  But don’t let my words try to convince you, lets compare the groundbreaking features.

Voice Control….A G1 feature
Video….A G1 feature
3 Mega-pixel camera with auto focus….An original G1 feature. (G2 rumored to have a 5 mega-pixel camera)
Compass….Early G1 feature.
Cut, Copy & Paste….G1 feature.
Landscape keyboard….G1 feature, including physical keyboard that makes texting easier.
MMS coming soon…..MMS from the start on the G1
Tethering…Advantage iPhone, but with an AT&T data plan, would you really?  (G1 can be tethered if you know how)

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Lets face it, if you use a beta OS on your main computer you are taking a risk with your computer and your data.  Not only is this so, but whenever you move to the next version of an OS you should do a fresh install.  Of course, in the real world, a lot of us recognize that Windows 7 beta is more like Windows 7 free trial.  The OS is suitable for daily use and any issues can generally be worked around.  The main exception is for web developers who insist on testing for certain versions of operating systems and browsers, those dirty guys (warn and allow it to work if it can, don’t block and complain).  If you’ve decided that its worth the risk to use the beta on your main PC, or all of your PCs for that matter, you probably also don’t mind taking  your chances with upgrade installs.  I hold this view, although Microsoft differs and many so called experts believe you should always back up your data and then do a fresh install.  Unfortunately, since Microsoft doesn’t support upgrading the Beta of Windows 7 to the Release Candidate, and probably from there to the final either, they cripple the install image by making it check the Windows version, then complain about not being able to upgrade pre-release software and forcing you to end the install.

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If you have a typical home network, you probably have a desktop PC and a laptop (maybe even a netbook).  The laptop probably connects wirelessly to your network and you may use it to access files on your desktop from time to time.  A scenario that you may run into is one where you either travel and have files you work on with the laptop that  you need to access from the desktop, or vice versa.  3rd party software, or a tool like Synctoy (from the MS powertoys), allow you to do so, but setup can be cumbersome, and then automating the process requires more work.  Windows XP contained a built in “Offline files utility” which was rough around the edges and required some setup.  Fortunately for Windows Vista/7 users, Offline file sync has been simplified.

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I’m a Fedora fan, and I’m impressed with each new release, but in the end, its just nowhere near ready.  You have to do far too much research and under the hood work to get it to do everything you want it to do, and in the end, not everyone writes drivers for Linux, and the community doesn’t write drivers for everything.  The main problem to me is that the average consumer (non-savvy computer user), can figure out Windows from the start.  Basically with Linux you have to learn how to use the OS before you can use it as your daily desktop OS.  In Windows, you can use it as is, but then you can learn how to customize it to your liking and needs at your own pace, with little effort.

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For years Adobe has set the standard for digital paper documents with it’s PDF (portable document format) standard.  Adobe Reader is a standard install for Windows administrators and in some cases is required to make other software work correctly.  This is fine if you only want to view these documents, but if you want to create them, the Acrobat software needed to do so starts at $299.  This is pretty pricey for the average home user.  Luckily Microsoft flew under the radar and came up with an alternative called XPS (XML Paper Specification).  › Continue reading…

I had always heard that the iPhone didn’t have cut and paste, but because the phone is so sexy, I was going to buy one anyway.  I ended up going with a G1 despite the negative reviews and to my surprise the G1 seems pretty near perfect.  I’ve played with an iPhone (my sister owns one), but I had no idea that so many features were missing from it that have been in my G1 from the start.

Here’s a run down of the new features.  Cut and Paste.  Check.  Using landscape mode in apps other than the browser.  Check.  MMS.  Check.   Search.  Of course Google’s OS has search already, and there’s even a dedicated search button on the keyboard. Spotlight.  Got us there.  Shake to shuffle, got us there.  Note sync, got us there.  No G1 notes without a third party app.  Wi-fi  automatic login.  Seriously.  I don’t even notice the transition to wifi because its so seamless.  Stereo bluetooth support.  Got us there.  Youtube login.  Got us there.  › Continue reading…

Here it is.  The first weakness I’ve found in Windows 7 and surprise, surprise, it’s related to the same problems that occur in every new Windows version.  That’s right, its driver support, and its a problem that unfairly plagues Microsoft.  The problem is that manufacturers don’t do their job and support the new versions of Windows before it comes out and therefore the average consumer gets upset at Windows when their shiny new peripheral doesn’t just work.  This is a point at which Apple succeeds with their iron fist rule of the platform, but Microsoft continually fails by relying on OEMs for support.

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It can be a shock to the system getting used to the new Windows 7 task bar, which is a combination between the traditional Windows task bar, the Mac dock, and the Linux gnome panel.  One way to ease the pain is to ungroup the icons in the task bar. 

By default, Windows 7′s task bar has large icons that are pinned to it ala the traditional Windows Quick Launch toolbar.  It also condenses the traditional task bar buttons that represent running programs into an Icon for each program.  It can take a while to get used to this behavior, however, since at first glance it’s hard to determine what is a running program and what is an application shortcut (although there are ways to tell the difference at a glance).  It’s also difficult to tell how many program windows are open if you don’t know how.

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This tip is especially useful if you don’t have the best eyesight.  By default the Windows Quick Launch bar contains small versions of all your program icons, which helps you have more of them visible,  but if you run a high resolution on a small monitor, it can be difficult to tell which icon is for which program.

There is a way, however to make Vista display large icons, so you can tell what each icon represents and in some cases, even read the tiny text in the icon. › Continue reading…