What is wrong with you Windows guys? Your favourite software developer spends a gazzillion bucks on making a nice, shiny, new way to operate your computers and all I read are moans. Has anyone written an I Love Vista blog.

As a devout Mac fanboy this comes as something of a shock. Probably the best article about Vista so far is by Joe Hutsko, a Mac-using reporter who switched to Vista to see what it is like. Joe delves deeply into the shiny (everyone says Vista is shiny) new interface and runs with it for several weeks before making his decision on which OS to stick with. His even-handed description shows which is better in certain areas and where the biggest weaknesses are. It’s often the little things that make the difference. For example, it appears that Vista has no system-wide spell checker and thesaurus, surely a pretty big omission for a modern, new OS.

Interestingly, page one of Joe’s article has links to related content including one leading to a discussion on a bog-standard message board, asking which is better, Mac or Microsoft. Except the discussion, hosted at msn.com, won’t run on Macs. A deliberate policy along the same lines as excluding Macs from Local Live aerial views, which used to run perfectly well on the beta version.

There’s a recent CNN interview with Bill Gates on YouTube where he lists Vista “innovations”. It goes like this:

Interviewer: “Frankly a lot of what I see here seems to mimic a little bit OSX. Were you going after a specific look there, the Mac look?”

Gates: “No, no, no. Actually we’re ahead a lot. There’s whole areas where we’ve innovated like Media Center and Tablet that no-one else is doing. And Parental Control, that’s the first time that’s been done. Even in this photo area we’d love to have you compare how we’ve made it easier for you to make a DVD, edit high definition movies…”

I must remember to check whether Apple’s iDVD and iMovie, now 4+ years old, can still create and edit high definition movies. And next time I’m in System Preferences I’ll see if the Mac’s Parental Controls have been removed. It all adds weight to this scurrilous movie comparing Vista and Mac OS.

However… I would like a copy of Vista. Not just a namby-pamby cut down version but the full blown thing. Why Microsoft insist on releasing at least three versions is a mystery to me especially as they are all more expensive than Mac OS’s one, or two if you count the server version. Vista’s DRM and copy protection seem draconian as well. Nevertheless, I would like to run Vista on my next computer. This will, almost certainly be another Mac and I’ll almost certainly use a virtualisation solution to run both OS’s side-by-side.

Unless, that is, someone gives me a Windows laptop to play with and I’ll happily blog away about Vista in an unbiased way, no moans and groans like the Windows fanboys all seem to have about it. Maybe ITPro has one gathering dust at the bottom of an old filing cabinet?

There are some things in life that remain completely unexplainable. Take for example Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear, who once installed an English Electric Lightning jet in his front garden and claimed it was a leaf blower when the council busy-bodies came calling. Why does Clarkson get paid to destroy the tyres of high performance motor cars in the name of testing? More to the point, why do so many people watch him doing doughnuts and think it makes good entertainment? The one thing I would like to have seen is Clarkson’s much reported punch-up with Piers Morgan at the 2004 Press Awards, but that’s never likely to appear.
It is equally as mystifying why people get out of bed early in the morning then spend anything up to 2 hours being jostled, stamped-upon and sharing dread diseases at their own financial expense. They pass the next eight hours tapping on a computer keyboard and answering the phone before embarking on another couple of hours commuting home. With a little bit of flexibility they could have stayed in bed an extra hour, taken a leisurely breakfast, maybe a walk round the block, before getting to their laptop and mobile phone to accomplish exactly the same amount of work.
A new piece of research explores exactly this area. Working Outside the Box, Changing work to meet the future is the Equal Opportunity Commission’s interim report into the transformation of how we work and has implications for everyone in the IT business. Apart from flexible work patterns helping to meet childcare and other commitments, the report also stresses the success of working from home.
For employers it shows the benefits of far less sickness, which had been increasing since the 1970s to reach 10 days average per employee, or until recently, 22 for British Airways staff. Absenteeism is greatly reduced, down from the £13 billion it cost the UK in 2005 and staff recruiting and retention is increased by flexible working. This reflects the DTI’s 2003 Work-Life Balance Survey and the results from other studies.
The report also gives examples from many industries, even traditional face-to-face ones that wouldn’t normally be thought capable of changing work practices. Such as Woolley and Co. solicitors who have abandoned their office and all staff work from home. MSN increased productivity by 60% when they introduced home working, compressed weeks/fortnights and other changes in practice. BT, a front runner in flexible working, has an ‘anytime anywhere’ culture that it estimates has saved it over £100 million per year in recruitment costs, increased productivity and reduced accommodation and overheads expenses.
There are disadvantages and as someone who has worked from home since 1990 I know them well. You get forgotten about, your home needs to be able to include a work area and it is very hard to find employers who will allow staff to work from home even with the efficiencies they will gain. With the huge financial savings for employers, few are passed on and those that are, get taxed. This is even after Gordon Brown’s November 2006 speech to the CBI when he stressed the importance of encompassing working from home to reduce damage to the environment from pollution and traffic congestion.
To any employer reading this: there are 2 mega-superb potential staff members here looking for new directions and with their own office ready and waiting.

At last! The UK has another major export success. We no longer stand alone in the whinging stakes as Europe and the US have joined us.

Currently, the best us Brits can manage is a gripe about free broadband services. If the moaning tight wads would just put their hands in their pockets, for a few quid a week they could get a guaranteed service instead of an absolutely free one that has been a bit slow to install. Even the paid for service is guaranteed to have some problems so what are they moaning about?

The Europeans have taken it one stage further. Not content with the Scandinavian contingent of Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian consumer groups taking on Apple for keeping iTunes and the iPod locked tight together, the French and Germans have joined in as well. They threaten to sue Apple to unlock its DRM and have given a deadline of September this year. But why should Apple agree to their demands? It’s the DRM that has made the iTunes Store so successful, where publishers can trust their music will not be handed out for free.

No one is forced to buy an iPod or download from the iTunes store, there are plenty of alternatives on the market. In any case, an iPod will play all of the recognised digital music formats and will convert DRM protected tracks to a play on other devices. It takes a bit of fiddling with shareware or exporting to CD before reconverting but it is only bits of digital data that’s being flung around. Use a re-writable CD and it won’t cost anything but time. It would be like suing BP because you can’t use Ultimate Diesel in a petrol engine or Ultimate unleaded in dervs. Both are made from hydrocarbons but are locked out of the others engine type.

The Americans are also working up a fine bout of pouty petulance because Apple want to charge for a final version of Boot Camp that is currently free in beta format. Unless Intel Mac users upgrade to the forthcoming MacOS X 10.5, where Boot Camp will be included, users of MacOS X 10.4 will have to pay for the final version.

This all seems perfectly reasonable, after all, Apple’s operating system upgrades are usually priced well below £100 and offer a lot of improvements and under-the-bonnet upgrades. MacOS X 10.5 is set to bring whole new areas to the OS including virtual desktops and built-in data back up. To charge a nominal fee for those who decide not to buy the latest OS but still want to be able to boot into a competitors’ operating system is not unreasonable. Besides, there are better ways to accomplish dual booting on a Mac. When it comes down to it, it’s good of Apple to even offer the ability to load Windows on Macs.

It’s probably the same whinging Windows wannabees who complain about paying $1.99 for an upgrade to their Airport wireless routers. Don’t upgrade it is the obvious solution. As long as it still works it is exactly what they paid for so what is their problem?

Anyway, that’s what Whinger of Worthing thinks.

The Mini dealer telephoned me last week. They had a Mini Cooper S for me (tick), black with panoramic roof (tick), 32,000 miles (half a tick), 5 years old (no tick) and only five quid under twelve grand. As I said to them, I might lust after a Mini Cooper S and they’ve just ticked a load of boxes. But I’m not stupid enough to pay them 33% more than I can get the same car from nation-wide Cherished Mini dealers who will deliver to my door.

The ability to shop until you drop without bums leaving seats is immensely powerful and can save hundreds of pounds, even tens of thousands if you include buying a home. Information gathered can be used as a bargaining tool, except, it appears, with Mini sales staff. Often window shopping on the Net changes your mind about what it is you actually want. We even got a delivery of ‘loose’ scrumpy, the cider arriving on the back of an articulated truck driven by a ruddy-faced, west-country man with an accent of stilton and straw. One evening recently, a power supply ordered from Maplins arrived first post next morning. That’s quicker than driving 10 miles to their nearest shop to buy it, only to find its not in stock.

Yet there are still some archaic websites that refuse to run on non-Windows computers or only on Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Why on earth are they stuck behind the times? The whole point of the Internet is for it to be totally platform agnostic. With the rise of Internet-capable devices other than computers: telephones, palmtop computers and the like; these sites are set to lose customers in droves. There is so much choice on the Net nowadays that a site running slow or with difficulties, gets dumped. Flash websites especially so, Habitat’s being a good example of how to lose customers through it’s site’s mechanics.

ITPro is not without some criticism. This site runs “best” in Firefox, with features simply not appearing in other web browsers. Firefox is a superior browser to others but is still lacking. On MacOS X, Firefox is very much an also-ran in the browser stakes, with no access to the Unix services and other goodies that are part of the operating system. Until recently, my portal into ITPro’s site had been through the blogging page. Then, by accident, I made my way to the front page. Wow! It’s the first time I’d seen it, very professional-looking (well it would be, wouldn’t it?), with clean design and often a picture of the devilishly handsome editor. As long as I use Firefox, that is.

The whole point of looking at the Mini had been to “do something” towards cutting our carbon footprint. As we’ve never travelled by jet aircraft or even journey to work, that’s a whole lump of carbon that can’t be laid at our feet. Purchasing over the Internet must be far more carbon friendly. Surely it’s better for a dozen vans to run round making deliveries than us all travelling from shop to shop, town to town. Even Ikea, the doyen of out of town shopping, are to open to the Internet this year.

But, closing down the office every night shows a myriad of little LEDs glowing in the dark – 36 at a quick count. To shut down each device is just not an option, especially as some have to run 24/7, such as the wireless router and telephones. We still have a long way to go before we leave carbon dolly steps.

The Reality Distortion Field was in full effect as Steve Jobs stole the limelight from CES (Consumer Electronics Show) last week. Once again Jobs was selling something that doesn’t actually exist outside the development labs. At the same time he created more media attention than anything at CES even if his long-term and richer rival Bill Gates was delivering the keynote on his own vision of the digital home. This week, industry pundits speculate about Apple’s intended use of the various brand names and possible law suits in the offing.
One thing is for sure, Apple are good at interface design. As Jobs said, they introduced many of the ways of working we take for granted: GUI, mouse-driven WIMPs, the form factors for laptops and MP3 players, USB, Firewire, gigabit ethernet… the list is admirably long. They usually inject a good deal of industrial design and common sense into their creations too. So it bodes well for their telephone and streaming TV devices. Although Apple aren’t completely failure-free – their Newton PDA device created before its time when CPU and OS weren’t up to the task.
Manufacturers have learned from Apple and make interfaces the world can understand, but for some, their operating systems seem illogical and plain stupid. In the last couple of weeks I’ve coped with programming computers in an elliptical cross trainer and a Honda Civic, the latter while driving. Both were laid out in a sensible manner and a cinch to use. Completely unlike the average EPG (electronic programming guide) on most TV’s and Freeview receivers. After a year. I still can’t program my induction hob but should a cooker hob need programming anyway? The washer/dryer’s fuzzy logic remains a complete mystery to me.
For about 4 years we’ve been streaming TV round our home using El Gato’s EyeTV devices coupled with the free, cross-platform, CyTV and VLC. Live TV and recordings can be streamed to the limit of the wireless network. Even when it’s over 802.11b to an ancient G3/400mHz laptop.
Apple’s TV solution looks a good idea being a neat, small, white and living-room friendly unit. But look at the specifications. Maximum resolution is 640×480 or 1280 by 720 for MPEG-4 Baseline profile. In other words, blocky, blurry, video. EyeTV records at 720 x 404 which looks fantastic at full screen on a high-resolution 23″ LCD display but by the time it is streamed to a 14″ laptop, it loses a lot. Apple’s lower resolution device will just make pixilation worse, especially on the huge TVs that are de rigueur nowadays.
The average size of a TV show recorded high-quality depends on content. For example, Clockwork Orange recorded for 2.36 hours, weighs in at 2.6GB whereas part one of Earthsea recorded for 1.56 hours comes to 3.1GB. Apple’s 40GB drive will soon fill up and seems miserly at best unless it is used parsimoniously. The ability to stream from an external drive attached to the computer is most interesting, plus the Apple TV has a USB2 port that presumably allows the drive to be connected directly to a hard disk.
We have decided that a wait-and-see approach is right for Apple TV. Unlike the new phone which for all its glamour, is of no interest at all. I just need the smallest telephone possible. Just one able to make and take calls, do a bit of texting and play a few games while I’m sitting and waiting outside the changing rooms of ladies clothing departments. The latter, I hasten to add is not for nefarious reasons. After an hour of trawling with my partner through Debenhams, M&S and the like, the first thing I look for as we enter another clothes shop is the location of the chairs.
On the other hand, my kids are desperate to get an Apple phone and do not worry that it isn’t 3G, so making Internet access away from wifi hotspots a dismal experience. They won’t care that hackers are already investigating what chip the phone uses so they can be ready to do their dirty deeds. Or that Microsoft has warned Apple the phone will fail.
As far as my kids are concerned, the Apple phone is the coolest, must-have and they are probably right. Unless Apple screw it up completely, the phone is set to be a sure-fire winner in the same way the iPod is. The only problem now is what to call it since the iPhone name is currently owned by Cisco.
Pulling up a website on Apple’s phone using only 2G EDGE will probably see it called the Apple iPLOD.

PC Pro magazine, part of the mega Dennis Publishing empire which also includes the excellent ITPro, has reviewed the Apple iMac and gave it a worthy 5 out of 6 stars. Not only is it powerful and looks better than any other all-in-one PC on the market, it is also cheaper. So much for the “Macs are more expensive” argument.

While Dave Stevenson, the reviewer, almost ran out of superlatives as he called the display “superb” and the whole system “excellent”, he held back full praise because he couldn’t upgrade his iMac.

Why on earth would he want to?

It is possible to put in a larger hard disk, more RAM and other slips of silicone chippery but it is far easier to specify them at time of purchase. Or better still, use the super-fast Firewire 800 port for an external drive and more. The iMac will last at least 5 years before becoming obsolete. With the added bonus of looking cool in the office.

PC enthusiasts’ constant need to upgrade their computers just seems so weird and out of place. It’s like buying a new car and then putting in a bigger engine. A year later change the gearbox before bunging in a whole new sub-frame. There are some car nuts who do such things but most sensible drivers change their car instead. Or buy the vehicle they want in the first place.

However, there are also some car nuts who, as Ken Livingstone would say, need their heads examining for choosing to buy SUVs, 4×4s and huge MPVs and expecting that the rest of the motoring world will revolve around them.

According to Auto Express, another Dennis publication, they find parking spaces in towns are too small to accommodate their Borgemobiles and want the rest of us to cough up the cash to make parking slots bigger - so reducing the number of spaces available for the rest of us. These are the same drivers who park on the pavement in case their vehicle gets a scratch down the side because it projects too far across the road to allow other traffic to pass. No matter to them that their two-ton flabmonsters sink into the pavement and crack the slabs. Or even worse, they park next to your car and leave dents in its side because their doors won’t open wide enough without banging into yours.

At least the same can’t be said of the iMac which is only 50mm thick, about the same as the skins of SUV and 4×4 drivers.

This year was particularly good in our household. Offspring number one works in Chicago for Navteq, the remote sensing and digital mapping company often accused of sending vehicles down impassable tracks; his sibling is part of Carphone Warehouse management team often accused of “selling” a dodgy free broadband service. Consequently they are in the “know” about new gadgets.

Our stockings this year included an absolutely brilliant robot that does the housework and an electronic guitar tuner that was “only five bucks”. Best of all, a tiny radio-controlled helicopter (the latter for me naturally) that with hours of practice I can just about get to go where I want it too. Did you know ‘ground effect” works on ceilings as well as floors? It’s something pilots of life-size choppers never come across.

However, the best thing is to see what toys…err…tools my switched on kids travel with. On arrival, both unpack their pockets. Tiny electronic gadgets tumble onto the coffee table like digital flotsam and jetsam. These contain their entire music collections, hours of TV shows and movies, spare telephones, games and their whole digital lifestyles in clam shell devices. Altogether, gigabytes of data held in storage on tiny wafers of RAM. As far as my offspring are concerned, IBM’s announcement of photonic storage by 2015 is 16 years too late.

All this silicone chippery comes with a downside lugged round inside the backpack full of power supplies, connection leads and plugs to fit every electrical outlet socket in the world. Even including the ones run on yak dung in Turkmenistan and those far off places seen on Diplomacy boards. This year, one of my offspring decided to be clever and to charge everything up via his laptop. One slight problem – he forgot his laptop’s charger. A quick Christmas Eve trip to Maplins showed that not all leads are the same, especially for old Dell Latitudes with proprietary sockets. If only he had brought his iBook instead. Never mind, the US doesn’t celebrate Boxing Day so the missing lead was sent from his office, ordered 2pm GMT (8am USA) and delivered 9am a day later by FedEx.

One thing to note is that neither of my kids use Sat-Nav devices. If one works for a group who sell them and the other makes the maps to go on them maybe there is something to be learned from this? Or it could be like father like child because I haven’t got one either.