Archie Bunker: M$ die hard or Apple fanboy?

August 28, 2007 at 11:06 pm · Filed under Hardware

There seems to be an incredible amount of polarity in tech discussions as of late-especially with that darling of tech topics to take a hardline stance with: Microsoft vs. Apple. The polarized completely love one and hate the other like a cold war enemy. This is good vs. evil.

Those voices seem louder than ever as of late. You may have heard them. Sentences usually start or end with something along these lines: “Apple is irrelevant,” “M$ is evil,” “F’ing Apple Fanboyz,” or “Windoze sux.”

Truth be known, both companies make products that are excellent. And, both make products which are lackluster. It largely depends upon the needs of the individual. One more thing—hold on to your chair—neither company is angelic, nor is either in cahoots with the devil.

Of course, we’ll never really know what Archie Bunker’s stance would have been for sure. On the computer my first instinct is to say that he and Edith would have a Celeron PC. But, who knows, maybe, just maybe after playing with Meathead’s iPod he’d head down to the Apple store and at least consider the options.

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Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 Beta 2 - Upgrade to be free

August 27, 2007 at 9:32 pm · Filed under Hardware, Beta, Applications

On my last stop at the official Parallels Desktop for Mac blog I saw a new post regarding another update to Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0. The latest beta build, 5120, is being called Beta 2 (you guessed it, it’s the second one), and like its predecessor, it is a free download to anyone with a valid 3.0 key. The free doesn’t stop there either. Straight from the blog posting:

With all of the new improvements we’re introducing (Coherence with minimize and Expose support, new Shared Folders and more), this is shaping up to be one of the best updates ever. The best part? It’s COMPLETELY FREE to all Parallels Desktop 3.0 users!  

Great news! And, the Beta 2 build brings more new functionality to the table. Some New Features in Parallels Desktop 3.0 Beta 2 - Build 5120:

• Visually, windows minimized to the dock now have the same transitions and behavior as windows minimized with Mac’s OS X
• You can now share folders much more seamlessly between OS X and Windows running under Parallels Desktop. In fact, you can set them up to mirror each other. Your Documents folder on the Mac is your Documents on the PC. It can be enabled for the Desktop, too! Before you ask-no, there are not two copies of the files being mirrored! Both the Mac and PC will be accessing the same file!

If you’re ready to buy the public release of the 3.0 version (or download the free trial version) as opposed to this beta version, visit the Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 page on their web site. For more details on this Beta 2 build, read the entire post on the Official Parallels Desktop Virtualization blog. There is also a link to download the beta in that article.

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Laptop Computer Rentals at DFW

August 13, 2007 at 11:24 pm · Filed under Hardware

If you ever get stuck at the Dallas Fort Worth airport without a computer, you can still get your work done (or play solitaire) by renting a laptop at this cool kiosk. This is the first time I had seen an automated laptop rental kiosk anywhere. The rental procedure is straightforward: You swipe a credit card, give a thumb-print (I’m imagining to discourage you from walking off with two thousand dollars worth of notebook computer), and select the laptop you wish to rent. The computer is released from the shuttle it is secured in, and you’re off.I initially thought the rental might allow you to take the computer and return it elsewhere, but I’m not certain if that is the case. Regardless, the rental rates seemed reasonable at around seven dollars an hour. I wouldn’t think they would get too many people who would need rental of a laptop between normally scheduled flights (which usually have limited layovers), and this may in fact be the case (note that none of the laptops available for rental are checked out in the picture below-you can see the six computers securely in their shuttles).

All of the rentals were for Windows-based laptops—no Apple hardware rentals, even though the computer shown on the kiosk is a Mac.Beyond the laptop computer rental service, the PowerPort also provided travelers with facilities to charge cellphones, notebooks, and virtually anything that takes 120 volts. Connectivity? If memory serves right, there is free Public WiFi in the terminal.

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Windows Vista Support: How to open the box

August 9, 2007 at 9:46 am · Filed under Usability, User Experience

For some unknown reason, Windows Vista is reporting that it cannot authorize my copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, that my Product Key is already in use. I’m not sure what the root of this is. Regardless, here’s a little support site UX humor.

After clicking through a few screens to try to resolve the problem, Vista took me to the “Windows Vista Solution Center.” On this page, there are several links to articles.

Here’s the one that blew me away: Number four of nine under “Installing and upgrading > Before installing or upgrading” : Opening the Windows Vista box.” I think the new Vista and Office boxes are a pain to open and simply not user friendly. Akin to wrestling with arcane CD packaging. Apparently, I wasn’t alone. But, to have a specific article about it? I clicked on it to see what the support site had to say about opening the box. Sure enough, an article on how to open the box.

It’s a three step processed, outlined in the article complete with pictures. The funniest part: At the top of the article, under the heading “Opening the Windows Vista box”, there is a helpful tips section that readys “Applies to all editions of Windows Vista.” It also includes a handy link to “Which edition of Windows Vista am I using?” So lets back up a bit, set the stage, and play the part of some sorry person who can’t open the box (regardless of how good or bad the packaging is).

1. A purchaser of Windows Vista cannot open the Windows Vista box (not good). They go to Microsoft’s support center to get help.
2. The page lets them know that the article which they are about to read applies to all editions of Windows Vista.
3. Directly below that declaration, even though the article applies to all versions of Vista, is a link to determine which edition of Windows Vista they are using.
4. Clicking on that link takes the already confused user to the support article “Find which edition of Windows Vista you are using.”
5. This page declares that the article “Applies to : Ultimate” below the title and again includes the link to find out which version of Windows Vista you are running (which, as we’ve mentioned, is the page we’re already on). Let’s ignore that for now, and find out what version of Windows Vista we’re running.
6. The article instructs: Just “Open Welcome Center by clicking on the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System Maintenance, and then clicking Welcome Center. The edition of Windows Vista you are running is displayed with your computer details near the top of the window.”

That all sounds great, but our theoretical troubled user hasn’t even opened the box yet, never mind install the operating system. At least there is a “Was this helpful?” link at the bottom of the article.

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Free Parallels Desktop 3.0 beta

August 4, 2007 at 8:18 am · Filed under Hardware, Beta, Applications

I’ve been running Parallels on my Mac Book Pro for quite some time now. I’m very satisfied with the product. And, when it was announced a few days ago that anyone with a valid 3.0 license key (including trial keys) could try a beta version with some upgrades, I couldn’t resist. The installation experience (upgrade) was seamless, and I’ll report back on performance and the new features in a few days. A little about the 3.0 beta build:

Parallels Desktop for Mac (beta, build 5060) features:

• Expose for Coherence windows
• True stacking support for applications running in Coherence mode
• An improved version of the Image tool
• An enhanced version of the Explorer application, allowing browsing of virtual machines which are suspended
• iPhone support for Windows XP and Windows Vista

You can read more about the 3.0 beta on the official Parallels Virtualization blog as well as get the link to the features update information page and download.

Even before my testing started, I did have one thought: Please tell me this is a free upgrade for existing customers. After spending the initial $79, then $49 for an upgrade soon after, I’m not intending to spend more money on a Parallels update. I hope the smart folks over at Parallels aren’t expecting us to either.

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