Windows 2 Apples

The clones have descended.

It seems the Macintosh community is buzzing over the apparent reintroduction of Mac clones by Psystar a company listing Florida as home for its offices. The well executed Psystar web site promotes a low cost Open PC System supposedly capable of running the Leopard OS as well as XP, Vista and various flavors of Linux. Unlike Microsoft and Windows, Apple specifically prohibits the installation of its operating system on anything other than approved hardware … apparently the Psystar system has no such authorization from Apple Inc. Historically, Apple has maintained its stranglehold over hardware by squashing such efforts; however, Psystar appears to be alive and well and continuing to ship product while Apple remains sheathed in a shroud of uncharacteristic silence.

Authors of blogs and podcasts pundits are more than a bit surprised that Apple is taking so long in responding to this obvious infringement of its user license. Reportedly, one employee at Psystar has gone on record suggesting the Apple user agreement constitutes an illegal monopoly and goes on to say Psystar intends to use this as their argument to install the apple OS on non Apple approved hardware. If challenged on this point, most observers seem to agree Psystar would need a sizable War chest to fend off the legion of attorneys Apple has at its disposal. If I were Psystar management I would find it a bit difficult to get a good night’s sleep give Apple has never been particularly squeamish about unleashing its litigious storm troopers upon perceived adversaries.

I have wondered if Apple isn’t simply using this as an opportunity to gauge the public’s willingness to purchase systems running the Apple operating system independently of Apple hardware. Then again perhaps Apple simply doesn’t feel threatened and intends to watch the company self destruct as it attempts to maintain compatibility with the constant flow of Apple software patches and updates. Of course a Machiavellian hypothesis would include a scenario in which Apple releases updates and patches specifically designed to disable Leopard running on non approved hardware. Apple could simply sit back and watch the company smolder after the firestorm fueled by disgruntled customers and greedy attorneys demanding class action law suits spreads throughout the blogosphere and ezine rumor columns.

Whatever your fantasy, this new twist in Apple options provides us all an opportunity to speculate and try to envision a world in which Apple is primarily a software as opposed to hardware company. Could Apple and more importantly could developers dependent upon Apple’s autocratic control over hardware, support the staggering array of system configurations long taken for granted by Windows users.

I recently listen to a podcast produced by Apple developers who seem to shake in their boots at the thought of trying to support their products in the chaotic environment that embraces Windows developers. I suspect that if Apple were a software provider first and foremost we would be able to purchase systems running the Apple OS and applications on machines ½ to 2/3 of the cost of current Apple systems … but we would be forced to deal the same kinds of support and security issues that have defined Microsoft since day one and which continue to provide the punch lines for the clever and ever so entertaining Apple vs. Microsoft commercials.

A trip to BestBuy and the emergence of Apple clones inspired me to reassess my fondness for my Macintosh. I recently had an opportunity to lay hands on the new aluminum Macintosh computers as well as the Air Notebook and admit it was difficult not to drool as I my eyes feasted upon the delightfully refreshing masterpieces before me. The Apple Air notebook is exquisite in design and even though it is missing an internal CD / DVD drive and Ethernet connection I had to admire the design and its execution. In the past Jobs has been prophetic in his vision and his decisions to shift design focus has often given consumers their first glimpse of the next generation of products. In my memory is burned his mold breaking abolition of floppy disk drives in Macs.

At the time I thought this was heresy but of course his vision of a future sans floppy proved spot on. I find myself wondering if my DVD drive will become an antique long before I had assumed it would. As I look back over the last year all of my new software purchases have been made as downloads over the Internet. All of my music is purchased or stored as MP3s and I can’t remember the last time I purchased a CD. Perhaps the mechanical disk drive is in it death throws.

In my eyes, the Apple operating system lags far behind Apple hardware as the inspiration for any desire I may have for purchasing new Apple products. In fact, the only native software applications I would miss if my Macintosh proofed are Keynote and Pages. Perhaps I am odd man out in this regard and perhaps … just perhaps the Mac clones will give us all an opportunity to assess the contribution of hardware versus software to the continuing success of Steve and company.

Since we opened with this podcast with an introduction to Mac clones we will end our podcast by introducing you to my recent efforts to create full body animations using iClone 2.5 from Reallusion, the same folks responsible for Crazy Talk 5. Both IClone and CrazyTalk are only available for the Windows platform. Reallusion it is one of the few companies to produce innovative three dimensional animation tools only available to Windows users. Most other products such as Poser are available in both Apple and Window incarnations.

Reallusion has done an excellent job of implementing a relatively intuitive and easy-to-use animation product capable of producing startlingly realistic first productions with an impressively short learning curve. Most users are able to create relatively impressive animations within a few hours of experimentation and because of the many various video export options; projects can be saved as high resolution files on DVD or uploaded quickly to YouTube.

Although, I am impressed with the bang for buck I get using iClone, I’m equally disappointed with the lack of features that would make it much more productive and intuitive. One feature than is needed posthaste is an undue option. I could work in my word processor for extended periods of time without missing the undue function but it is almost a necessity when you are creating animations and experimenting with movement, poses and camera angles. The other feature that is missing in both CrazyTalk and iClone is the ability to have more than one speaking character in a scene. This can be accomplished with some tedious trickery and by using video editors with chroma key options, however, exporting multiple recordings and importing them into a video editor for further processing is a convoluted and unnecessarily complex series of hoops to jump through in order to achieve this affect.

We have posted an experimental iClone 2.5 animation on our Viddler account. To view our first efforts simply login to viddler.com and search for iNetSynch videos. Our next podcasts will provide more extensive coverage of iClone 2.5 as well as our recent experiences with the Apple only SandVox web design application.

Link to Blues On Top iClone video.

Link to Jazz Dancer iClone video.

Produced using Vista Speech to Text, M-Audio USB Audio Interface, MixCraft 4 and JetAudio.

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It does seem that Microsoft is truly the company to hate and that Apple continues to move forward surrounded by an ever growing cluster of admirers and fans. Each day I find a new attack typically aimed at Vista and more broadly at Microsoft itself. Ars Technica is hosting a series of articles written by a disgruntled Windows developer proclaiming that Vista is such a mess that it needs to be tossed … His voice forms a chorus with others recently shouting death to Vista.

The author of this series proclaims that there are no elegant well-designed applications for Windows because it has become so difficult to create well structured and well-behaved code for that platform. However, we have recently reviewed several such applications that are not only elegant, well designed and well behaved but are unmatched on any other platform. CrazyTalk 5 is one such application. It profits not only from the stability of Windows but also from flexible, low cost, high end hardware available to Windows users. The developer’s further profit from the huge market Windows offers. Many niche products are only possible because of the economy of scale Windows brings to the table.

The authors of these often venomous rants conveniently ignore the fact that many Apple users have had difficulty with the current incarnation of OS X. At least one blog estimated that as many as 50% of the Leopard installations have gone poorly resulting in hours of hair pulling so familiar to all of us who have embraced the microcomputer revolution. Imagine the nasty press if Apple’s share was 80% rather than 6 or 7%.

The other Windows application I am particularly fond of is the Vista speech engine, which still remains singular in its capacity to convert a computer into a rich, comprehensive tool allowing those with disabilities to become more productive as well as creative. On the flip side, iListen from MacSpeech, is an example of an exceptionally poorly executed Apple product. In my opinion, not only is the user interface poorly designed but the product virtually unusable. MacSpeech has repeatedly made claims that it could be as useful and as competitive as Windows-based speech to text products, however, even a truncated review of user comments would clearly confirm that iListen is not even close to products long available to Windows users.

Recently, MacSpeech acquired the license to distribute a Mac port of the Windows Nuance speech engine. The product was released as version 1.0 yet it is clearly lacking in the basic refinements that will truly make it a functional product. In fact this script is being dictated using the MacSpeech Dictate and I have already had to shut the application down and restart it because of a well-known bug that causes it to spew out previously deleted text and scramble documents.

I had hoped that access to the Nuance speech engine would allowed MacSpeech to move forward gathering momentum as more and more happy customers climbed aboard. Unfortunately, this seems to have been my fantasy rather than the reality. Recent posts in several Macintosh-based forums and blogs suggest that many customers are having significant problems in installing the software and getting it to work as advertised. MacSpeech is a very small company with limited resources and appears to be overwhelmed with customer complaints and support issues. This is not an uncommon common scenario in the Apple world … One which is often ignored by those so eager to criticize Microsoft and proclaim it an evil empire.

Windows users, on the other hand, have long had access to excellent speech to text and speech recognition technologies either shipped free with the OS or as a low-cost add-on. Dragon NaturallySpeaking available exclusively for the Windows environment is not only a well designed and implemented program it also sets the bar for competing software.

Microsoft critics conveniently forget that iMovie 08 was soundly criticized by many Macintosh fans as being a poorly designed throwback with an unnecessarily obtuse and counterintuitive interface. Windows MovieMaker on the other hand is less grand in features but solid and exceptionally well behaved and well integrated with other Windows applications. To borrow a happy Apple phrase “it just works”.

When I first started using the Macintosh, I remember being perplexed by the one button mouse and was told by my newly acquired Macintosh friends that the first thing they do when with a new Apple computer is to toss the mouse and replace it with a two or three button unit designed initially for the Windows platform. Although even ardent Apple fans characterize the Apple mouse as a useless chunk of plastic and solder destined to be be trashed and add to our waste management headaches, the founding father refuses to listen to the minions and continues to ship Macs with the lame single button mouse.

Recently my friend Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast podcast and blog recounted her 24-hour saga as she reconstituted her husband’s Apple laptop after an Apple security upgrade thoroughly trashed his machine. As I’ve said many times I enjoy my Apple and use it for those jobs at which it excels. Often when completing this podcast or other projects I find myself literally rotating between my XP, Vista and Macintosh machines each offering a feature or application either not implemented or poorly implemented on the other platforms. All three computers become one using the Microsoft-based HP home server. This is my reality … no single OS or hardware mix meets all my needs and my openness to all comers gives me an advantage not enjoyed by some of our myopic competitors.

Me Thinks the pronouncement of Microsoft’s death is premature but if were true what a mess this world would be in scrambling to make do with OS X.

(Seems my Mac wants this Windows user to feel comfy. Went for coffee and when I came back was confronted with a translucent black screen urging me to hold in the power button to restart. After the re-boot all data was gone and this awaited me: Apple Crash Message)

Recorded and mixed using M-Audio USB interface (universal) and MixCraft 4 (Windows). Dictated using MacSpeech Dictate (Apple) and Pages 08 (Apple). MP3 tag edited using JetAudio (Windows). Coordinated all through the “magic” of the HP Home Server (Windows).

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In this episode of we will look at two applications each designed exclusively for either the Windows or Apple platform. The first application is CrazyTalk 5 which requires Windows Vista or XP and is produced by Reallusion. CrazyTalk 5 makes it exceptionally easy to create 3D talking characters using photos or drawings. Crazy Talk 5 Professional is shipped with a library of human, animal as well as normally inanimate objects that can be automatically lip synched to spoken, recorded or typed text.

A puppeteering option allows facial expressions to be easily manipulated to reflect various emotions. Pre-shipped characters have their eyes and facial features already mapped to ensure optimal synchronization with speech and movement. Facial expressions may be animated using templates or by selecting the facial feature you wish to modify and then moving your cursor in the desired direction. Additional controls allow for much finer tuning of facial expressions using sliders which affect the direction and amount of movement of facial features seen in each frame.

Reallusion has thankfully provided several very simple options for defining facial characteristics on imported photos or drawings. Impressive results can be easily obtained by simply defining the mouth and eye regions. CrazyTalk 5 professional also allows for much more detailed and sophisticated mapping of eyebrows, neck, chin, cheeks, forehead and shoulder. A detailed Manual may be downloaded as a PDF file or you may simply choose to use the collection of excellent how to videos posted on the Reallusion website or is well as YouTube.

Although Reallusion offers two paid versions, a limited free download version allows you to experiment with the software before plunking down your hard earned cash. The entry level Crazy Talk 5 is available for $49.95 and the professional version at $149.95. It is unclear whether the basic version can be upgraded to the pro version. Several emails requesting Reallusion to clarify this went unanswered.

A number of reviewers have been surprised that a product focus so squarely on enabling ones creative side is released for the windows platform rather than Apple.

Given the low cost exceptional performance and advanced features it is no surprise that Reallusion must target the broadest possible audience which still means windows. Apple purist sometimes seen to find very difficult to even get close to admitting that windows may just may offers solutions that match or are better than those offered by Apple. Perhaps when apple has that magical 15% market share we will begin to see a more impressive migration of Windows applications to the Mac platform. Until then the only way to use CrazyTalk 5 is to run it on apple with an installation of either Vista or XP.

RapidWeaver:

The application designed specifically for the apple operating system is RapidWeaver by Realmac Software. RapidWeaver is promoted as the “friendly piece of web design software made exclusively for the Mac”. It is shipped with customizable themes touted as being compatible with current HTML and CSS coding standards. In a previous review by Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast podcast the claim of compatibility passed her tests with flying colors.

The RapidWeaver claim to fame is the ease with which sites can be assembled using modifiable themes. There are of course many such applications available for the Windows platform. The most notable and perhaps most successful of these was FrontPage produced by Microsoft.

Although FrontPage is still used, it is the recipient sharp criticism for its quirky implementation of HTML code and lack of compatibility with current standards. Microsoft has replaced FrontPage with Microsoft Expression which supposedly meets all current standards for web site design. Expression is considerably more sophisticated than either FrontPage or RapidWeaver but comes at steeper learning curve and considerably higher price than that that offered by RapidWeaver.

RapidWeaver is shipped with themes that can be immediately applied to create simple websites. When I first experimented with RapidWeaver, I was put off with the rather dated look of their themes, however, Realmac has recently released several new theme packages that are considerably more attractive and contemporary in both look and feel.

Once a theme has been selected pages of various types may be added. RapidWeaver supports simple text, photo, movie as well as blog and podcast formats in their page layouts. Unlike competing products such as iWeb from Apple and SandVox from Karelia, editing websites with RapidWeaver requires that you alternately open two different views, one in which edits are made and the other a preview of the page as it should appear in browsers. This is quirky in more ways than one.

It is almost impossible to determine how the final page will be viewed until you have clicked the preview option. Additionally, it just feels unnatural and interrupts the creative process. Using pre-canned themes makes it easy to quickly create or prototype a website; however, it also limits the amount of control the developer can exercise over the look and behavior of their finished product.

RapidWeaver includes Inspector panels permitting the tweaking of selected page features such as page titles, header graphics, page width and color schemes. Unfortunately, the utility of this option is dependent upon the theme that you’re using at that particular time. Some themes support more customization than others.

Rapid Weaver would be severely handicapped if it were not for the ability to insert HTML code and the impressive support from third-party vendors providing themes as well as plug-ins. A quick peek at the Realmac website is reassuring and that you can find page after page of resources from independent vendors.

Publishing is very straightforward, requiring only that you provide the FTP information needed to upload your files. FTP profiles for many popular Internet service providers are conveniently cataloged requiring only that you specify your URL and password. Happily, RapidWeaver also displays a progress window indicating the upload status each file.

Other than the rather uncomfortable need to swap back and forth between edit and display mode there are two additional issues that irk me. First, as in many applications shipped these days, there is no built-in help. When you select the help option you are transported to the RealMac website and prompted to download a PDF file of the manual. Secondly, for some unknown reason the program randomly becomes unresponsive when initially loaded. The menu bar appropriately displays options that should be available but most if not all of them have been grayed out … including the option to quit the application. In the Apple environment, this of course requires that I invoke the “force quit” option. After much experimentation I’ve been unable to isolate what triggers this issue with RapidWeaver.

In General RapidWeaver makes the development of impressive websites quick and painless for those unwilling to handcraft their master piece using HTML or CSS coding, RapidWeaver sites conform to accepted Internet conventions and maybe tweaked by adding HTML code and plug-ins. I have my fingers crossed that RealMac will continue to evolve the product and third-party vendors will remain committed to providing plug-ins and themes, keeping it competitive with the ever changing demands of the Internet.

Windows 2 Apples website with experimental animation videos.

Produced using M-Audio, MixCraft 4, Nuance Naturally Speaking and MacSpeech Dictate. Tags edited using JetAudio.

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MacSpeech Dictate, Nuance NaturallySpeaking

In past episodes, I bemoaned the lack of good speech to text recognition software for the Apple. At the time I began writing this blog and podcast the only product available for Intel Macintosh computers was iListen produced and marketed by MacSpeech. I had been accustomed to using Dragon NaturallySpeaking by Nuance and the excellent speech-recognition and translation software bundled with all flavors of Vista. In contrast, I saw iListen as a flawed product, which in my mind, should have been discontinued years ago.

In January 2008, MacSpeech announced a licensing agreement with Nuance to market a port of the Nuance speech engine to Intel Macintosh computers.MacSpeech offered many of its iListen customers what they referred to as a cross grade from iListen to Dictate for $79. The list price for MacSpeech Dictate is $200 US. Given the very sad performance of iListen, I felt that MacSpeech should have made the “Cross Grade” available at no charge. I suspect significant royalty obligations to Nuance, may have made it impossible for MacSpeech to do the right thing and absorb the cost of providing free updates to iListen customers.

MacSpeech Dictate is shipped with two CDs, one to install the actual application and the other to import the appropriate vocabulary tailored to your selected language and country. Installation was typically Mac, in that once the CD had been recognized by my computer, I simply moved the MacSpeech icon to the applications folder. After the application is installed a pop-up requests the insertion of the data disk.

I realized of course that when I tried to insert the data desk that the program disk had not been automatically ejected. I felt a bit of a blush from my embarrassment but realized that my instinctive move to insert the second required disk was born out of habit in working with Windows machines that typically eject disks before requesting the insertion of the additional CDs or DVDs.

After the software and data have been installed I was prompted to create a user profile which requires me to calibrate my USB interfaced headset and read approximately 5 minutes of text. Although the Windows Dragon NaturallySpeaking application can actually be used without any training at all the five minutes of training required by Dictate is innocuous and a huge improvement over the two week training period foisted upon iListen users.

Once installed and “trained”, I immediately noted accuracy had been dramatically improved over that seen in iListen and the equal of what I am accustomed to when using the Windows version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

The Dictate Quick-start flyer repeatedly refers to the “amazing accuracy” you should expect when using the product. Those who have struggled with trying to make iListen work will be blown away. However, those using other products such as Dragon and Vista Speech Recognition will be less impressed but breathe a sigh of relief that Nuance finally ported their speech engine to the Macintosh.

The only documentation shipped with Dictate is a three page flyer detailing installation and listing some common voice commands. A separate pop-up window displaying additional commands is launched when Dictate is activated. Given the complexity and novelty of speech to text software the lack of comprehensive documentation is a glaring omission that I hope is addressed quickly.

There is essentially no usable correction scheme which in my opinion severely limits its usefulness and certainly makes it impractical for many who are physically disabled. It seems to have some of the same quirks I noted in iListen. The Do Select, Do Delete, Insert before, etc., commands become useless if the text is manually edited. Manual edits seem to confuse Dictate and it loses track of dictated text. Several times complete paragraphs were deleted by Dictate when I was seeking to modify one word.

Additionally, correcting text manually seems to cause previously deleted text to randomly reappear when dictation is resumed. Once, after manually modifying text, the application stopped responding. The Dictate application showed that my speech was being monitored but no text was displayed. The only way I was able to resume dictation was by shutting down Dictate and restarting.

Interestingly, Chuck Rogers, the Chief Evangelist at MacSpeech blames the Mac operating system for their difficulties in creating a correction scheme that works at least as well as that available in Windows products. He goes on to suggest that Nuance has had similar problems in developing a workable correction scheme for Windows but have been able to resolve them because of the many additional years to iron out the kinks. Is he suggesting Windows is indeed a more mature OS offering solutions not currently available to Apple users? This would make for an interesting Windows versus Apple commercial if Microsoft were so inclined.

David Pogue, in his last review of Dictate, suggested several bugs would need to be squashed before shipping, however, it appears that more work needs to be done. Although accuracy it is greatly improved a workable correction scheme needs to be implemented before it can truly compete with the Windows version.

All of this said, Dictate is light years ahead of iListen and with improved correction options and the extermination of a few bugs, Dictate may finally offer Mac users a speech to text technology competitive with that we have grown accustomed to in the Windows world.

Link to youtube demo of MacSpeech Demo illustrating limited edit commands and extraneous text bug.

Dictated using MacSpeech Dictate, recorded using M-Audio and MixCraft 3 and tags edited with JetAudio.

NOTE:

Chuck Rogers disagrees with my characterization of his comments concerning issues in implementing speech technology on the Apple platform. He disclaims any allusion to Mac OS X as being “less robust or functional than Windows”. Please see his comment to get his insight into the technical issues facing MacSpeech.

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Word 2004, 2007, 2003, Pages, iWork 08, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Vista

As usual, I’m Dictating using the Windows Speech engine on my Vista desktop running Microsoft Word 2007. I much prefer Word 2007 over Word 2004 purchased for my Mac. I would have considered upgrading to Word 2008 except reviews suggest it offers minimal enhancements over what is available to me now and does not incorporate the 2007 ribbon interface and other features that make Office 2007 a must have upgrade to Windows Office 2003.

When working on my Mac, I find myself using the Apple iWork 08 Pages word processor rather than Microsoft office 2004. Although Pages is less sophisticated and less powerful than Microsoft word 2004 it is simply far more intuitive and easier to use … read that as more productive. The only time I find myself wishing I were working in Microsoft Word 2004 rather than Pages is when and I use the built-in Apple dictionary. Microsoft’s still seems to have a noticeably superior spell check, dictionary and thesaurus. Both Pages and Keynote make my original investment in Microsoft office 2004 regrettable.

When I purchased my Mac, I had limited choices offering an acceptable level of compatibility with my preexisting Microsoft office files. I had considered using the free Open Office, however, I have generally found it too limited to use consistently. If the current iWork 08 suite had been available at the time of purchase I could have saved considerable money and time. iWork 08 is one of the few Apple software products I would love to see ported to the Windows platform.

In my last podcast I mentioned my discovery of Microsoft OneNote. This week I have discovered a Live Windows application, Photo Gallery, which is not only free but unmatched in the Apple world. Live Windows Photo Gallery earns the distinction of being the only photo and video organizer program I’ve ever found to be useful. It is what I believe iPhoto should have been.

I’ve never been comfortable using iPhoto; in fact, it is one of the least intuitive applications shipped with OS X. I was amazed at how quickly Windows Live Photo Gallery surveyed, organized and displayed all of the photos and videos on my Vista tower. Photos are organized by date, folder and tag. The default thumbnail sizes conserve desktop space yet are big enough to easily eyeball and visually scan files. Moving the mouse over a thumbnail conveniently pops up a larger image with information on the date taken,resolution and user notations.

Photo gallery includes tools for correcting, cropping, enhancing, tagging, emailing, creating animated movies, burning CDs and DVDs, seamlessly ordering prints as well as seamlessly publishing to a Live Windows or Flickr account. Additionally, text and original artwork may be overlaid on photos using the free Microsoft paint program. I have to admit I felt some swelling of pride in Microsoft for doing such an excellent job. I suspect that this kind of comment about Microsoft is unfortunately all too rare.

Microsoft has begun to play catch up with Apple in integrating both online and offline applications and services. Many new Microsoft applications and services do an excellent job of improving interoperability and reducing duplication. It’s unfortunate that Microsoft has not done a better job of promoting the Live Windows services and products. I suspect that many windows users are unaware that these enhancements are available and free for downloading. Apple has certainly shown greater savvy in promoting its products.

Although, I continue to feel that Apple has overall done a superior job in producing and marketing intuitive and well integrated products I am extremely impressed by Microsoft’s Windows Live offerings and encouraged by the improved performance of Vista and growing list of Vista compatible software and hardware options. I believe that Microsoft earned much of the bad press it garnered with the initial release of Vista; however, the operating system and support for it have evolved to the point I could never go back to using XP as my primary Windows operating system. I only hope it’s not too late for Microsoft to overcome the negatives so many associate with the company and Vista.

Dictated using Vista Speech. Recorded using M-Audio Podcast Factory and Mixcraft 3.1. Tag edited using JetAudio.

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Now that apple has released a second major fix for Leopard, I’m trying to determine whether I want to spend the time and money and making the shift from Tiger. Other than the time machine function, which allows easy and apparently seamless automatic backups, I’m not sure there is much to be gained.

Unlike Microsoft, Apple conveniently allows users to install new upgrades on top of an existing OS. At first glance this seemed to be a very attractive option and possibly another reason to gravitate to Macintosh. However, many Mac users seem to have had difficulties when using this approach to upgrading and have to resort to what Windows users have been doing since day one of its release … wipe the hard drive clean and install the new operating system followed by a reinstall of all of the various applications that you use and then crossing your fingers and hoping your applications are compatible with the upgrade.

The idea of wiping my hard drive clean and installing Leopard sends chills up and down my spine and has inspired at least one nightmare. Perhaps, I’m overreacting because of my previous experiences with similar upgrades to Windows computers. I have acquired quite a collection of small Macintosh applications and I’m not entirely sure that I can find all the original install files and required activation codes.

A reinstall of the applications that I commonly use is complicated by the fact that most have been updated at least three times since acquiring my Mac. Frankly, I had not expected so many updates and fixes to applications and the operating system. It has been a Deja vu windows experience.

Conveniently, Apple allows me to simply copy my existing operating system and all associated files to an external firewire hard drive, hopefully, giving me an easy way to reinstall Tiger if the Leopard update causes havoc to my system. Since Tiger is “simply working” and I’ve had no real need for most of the Leopard update features I suspect I will continue to put off the upgrade until I am persuaded that it is worth the potential angst of reinstalling my applications.

As I have noted in the past, a major advantage of the Apple operating system is the convenience with which one can make a complete backup of application files as well as the operating system. The Leopard operating system extends this advantage by offering the Time Machine option. Happily, my investment in the HP windows home server has put an end to my concerns about getting complete and frequent backups of all of my Windows PC Systems.

Additionally, our clients have been very impressed with the newfound ease with which they can now upload their podcasts and other large files. I highly recommend the Windows Home Server software and in particular the HP Some Server Solution to those with multiple Windows computers and or a networked collection of Windows and Apple systems. Although my Mac is limited to file sharing, the server makes it extremely easy to switch between the Apple and Windows machines when editing files.

Recently, I discovered OneNote 2007, a Microsoft office application that is given little press and is certainly not well promoted by Microsoft. Microsoft describes OneNote 2007 as “an electronic version of a paper notebook where you can write down notes, thoughts, ideas, scribbles, reminders, and all kinds of other information.” The more I use OneNote the more dependent upon it I become and the more I wish there were an equivalent application for the Macintosh. OneNote has become indispensable to me as I create and manage projects.

This is yet another instance where I find the rich, almost overwhelming availability of Windows compatible software and applications a compelling reason not to make an absolute switch to the Apple way of doing things. I anticipate sometime in the not too distant future the gulf between hardware and software solutions available for Windows vs. those available for the Mac will become a non issue, but at present I simply can’t envision abandoning Windows and completely embracing the native Mac operating system.

My experience with OneNote 2007 also highlights one of the major advantages of using Apple products. Apple has recognized that modern operating systems are visually based and has won well deserved kudos for its graphical user interface. Microsoft on the other hand has only recently, with the release of Vista, begun to smoothly integrate and make better use of a well designed graphical user interface.

I believe Apple’s focus on creating a user friendly, attractive and intuitive interface inspired them to create a superb online library of video tutorials which make apple applications almost instantaneously usable. Microsoft on the other hand continues to rely primarily on dated and static pictorial tutorials requiring that Windows users seek video instruction from third party vendors such as Individual Software.

Individual Software produces an excellent series of Windows video tutorials under the Professor Teachers logo. Please don’t confuse the Professor Teaches series with Video Professor frequently touted on television. The Individual Software product is far less expensive and requires no investment beyond the purchase price of the particular tutorial you are interested in. I highly recommend Professor Teaches to anyone struggling with the Microsoft operating system or applications.

Recorded using M-Audio Podcast Factory, Mixed with Mixcraft 3.1, Dictated using Vista Speech, Tag edited with JetAudio

Copyright Sam Caldwell

iNetSynch

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I apologize for taking so long in releasing this episode but this tis end of year and we have been plowing through the increasing stack of government mandated paperwork.

The end of 2007 saw Apple shares reach record highs rising just above $200 per share followed by 2008 which ushered in a precipitous fall in share values. Microsoft stock fell, as well, but with a considerably less impressive thud. In spite of its slide down, Apple continues to be the darling of technology growth stocks while Microsoft seems to have matured to the point that its value is relatively stable exhibiting neither stellar gains nor traumatic losses.

One of the reasons Apple seems to have been able to gain market share and stock market glitter is the series of clever and entertaining commercials promoting the Macintosh as the best and coolest solution for disgruntled windows users. Apple continues to focus on the growing market of so called windows switchers. When I began this journey, I saw myself as myself a switcher; however, I now feel that label implies I have abandoned Windows which is far from my reality.

I do use native Macintosh applications but I find the majority of the time I’m simply using VMware Fusion to run Vista Business and Linux on my shiny white iMac. Should I or anyone else be considered a true switcher if they use their Macintosh as a means to run Windows? Apple is making much ado of a recent magazine article suggesting that Apple hardware is a better platform for running vista than competing computers specifically designed to run Windows. It seems that they are trying to attract new users by suggesting that the Apple hardware rather than the Apple operating system is the reason they should switch.

This argument loses much of its appeal when Apple offerings are contrasted with the impressive selection of low cost, high-performance native windows systems. I believe Apple can make a strong case for offerings excellent Windows-compatible hardware; however, this is not what will make true converts of seasoned Windows users. The Macintosh operating system must stand on its own and offer the same or superior quality and quantity of applications and services currently available to Windows users without the hassles and security issues that continue to plague Windows in all is incarnations.

One of the areas in which windows excels is the availability of accessibility options such as speech recognition and control. As you know from previous podcasts I have found iListen, by MacSpeech, to be essentially useless. Fortunately, MacSpeech has been able to secure a license to distribute the Macintosh port of Naturally Speaking by Nuance (a.k.a. MacSpeech Dictate) and hopefully Macintosh users will finally have a viable speech to text and control option. With the proviso, several weeks rather than several hours are required to train the iListen as opposed to Naturally Speaking, MacSpeech shamelessly promoted iListen as equal to the Nuance product up until the announcement of Dictate where they also discontinued distribution of iListen. It is unfortunate that iListen was not pulled from the shelves much earlier and that many loyal MacSpeech customers wasted money and, more importantly, time trying to make iListen work.

The port of the Nuance speech engine to Mac is encouraging … an important step in making the Mac OS more competitive with Windows and certainly pushing it far ahead of Linux distributions. The challenge still remains for the porting of many business applications as well as internet based services such as cross platform audio / video messaging services in order to shift the Mac to an uncompromised stand alone replacement for Windows machines. Add Apple’s continued commitment to offering excellent on line video tutorials aimed squarely at existing Windows users and more competitively priced system and you have the ingredients for a steady growth in market share.

In episode 20, I recommended using the PnP option in routers to allow the HP Windows Home server to be accessed via the Internet. Recent postings by reliable security gurus claim there are active exploits that use a combination of Flash and PnP security holes to essentially take control of your router and DNS sever addresses if visiting a compromised web site. Unfortunately, these kinds of exploits are becoming more and more common and are OS independent. In light of these warnings we have turned off our router PnP option and manually forward the ports when exposing our server to the Internet.

Dictated using Vista Speech to Text, Recorded using MixCraft 3, Tag Edited Using JetAudio

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Audio player at end of text.

A few random thoughts as the year comes to an end.

When I began my conversion to the Mac I was impressed with the fit and finish of both hardware and software. My first encounter with Apple support was positive, others since have proved Apple’s outsourced support can be and often is as bad as any I have encountered. I have had the chance to experience excellent support from the Microsoft Apple software division and to waste many hours following the “advice” of Apple tech support. My conclusion: superior Apple support is a myth and that you take ya chances with Apple as you do with any other company using overseas customer support. There seems to be universal clause in support training manuals that admonishes the tech to simply hang up if they are unable to resolve an issue in their allotted time.

I have finally learned to look in the upper right corner of my Apple screen rather than the lower left when I want to shut it down or switch users. I have not, however, become comfortable with having to always make sure my application is front and center in order to access its menu bar. I still find myself looking for a preference setting or pop down menu only to realize the menu bar is attached to another application. The lack of individual menu bars on Apple applications is one of the most frustrating adjustments for Windows switchers.

Early in the game I realize that many Mac users seem to be actually annoyed by the Dashboard and this for some time puzzled me until I realized that because the Mac ships with a one button mouse most old school Mac users had become accustomed to using keyboard commands to control applications. Windows users have had the relative luxury of a two or three button mouse accompanied by extended right mouse button application menus and, I suspect, less frequently use keystroke commands to interact with applications. I found the dashboard familiar and an efficient way to launch applications.

Many Mac users seem so frustrated by the dashboard and limitations of the Apple mouse they are driven to use relatively complicated keyboard extension applications such as Quicksilver to manage applications. I once attempted to use Quicksilver but could not see any advantage in spending so much time learning and setting it up. Quicksilver is one of those applications that seem to fly in the face of Apple advertising copy representing the Mac as intuitive and ready to use straight out of the box.

I have had the chance to meet many bright and creative folks supporting Apple in their blogs and netcasts. Most have been very helpful as I adjusted to the world according to Jobs. I’ve also met Apple fans who refuse to acknowledge Apple can do any wrong and will cut off their access to better solutions to problems rather than admit Microsoft may have done something right. I’ve begun to find this self limiting attitude tiresome and admit it has made me appreciate my willingness to experiment and try to keep my biases in check when looking for the best fit for my needs.

The most distressing example of this attitude is seen in those with special needs such as hands free control of their computer and accurate speech to text software but shun the far better solutions offered by Windows applications because “They just hate Microsoft”. A case in point is the lack of good speech to text software for Mac users. iListen remains the only native Intel Mac speech to text option for those with special needs and it is clear MacSpeech does not have the resources to compete with Nuance or Microsoft. This is such a niche market that I suspect Apple users will not see competition in this area for many moons.

I have not yet made the transition to Leopard because Tiger works well for me and I have read too many scary upgrade stories reminiscent of my transition from XP to Vista. Again, I wonder aloud what would the reaction to Leopard have been if OS X were the dominate operating system. There is no compelling reason yet to make the switch and I suspect it will take a few encounters of “Leopard required” notices to shift me to Leopard. As my Apple fan friends often say “it just works” and I will keep the Tiger in my tank a bit longer.

I am happy with my Mac. I continue to feel more secure using it to access the net than my Vista PCs, but, I’m frequently frustrated when I discover hardware, software and services I find so useful to me in work and play either not available for Apple or less functional in the Mac incarnation. This is still a world dominated by Microsoft and the rich variety of Windows centric services and solutions is enough of a draw to keep me in front of a Windows machine for the foreseeable future. Apple enthusiasts are betting on steady gains in market share to open the flood gates to developers and manufactures. I suspect as long as Apple uses its control over hardware to lock down its software many will have to make due for much longer than they anticipate.

My Mac is simply a very pretty, well designed computer. It excels in some areas and fails miserably in others. It’s a tool not a shrine and I will continue to rotate between Windows and Apples as needs demand.

Thank you for downloading and listening. Remember change is forever with us and tomorrow a new adventure.

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In this episode a few comments on my continued attempt to merge the worlds of Microsoft and Apple and my struggles with the HP MediaSmart Server.

After a few more weeks of working with both my new HP Pavilion PC and still young Intel iMac the novelty and newness of both systems has worn off and I simply view them as computers. Each operating system and hardware configuration brings something unique to the table. On the flip side, each system comes with unwanted baggage ranging from minor annoyances to extreme frustration.

Because of the relatively quick startup of my Vista Business virtual computer running under VMWare, I had assumed the long delays I’m accustomed to in starting Windows systems could be traced primarily to the many layers of antivirus and security software. By the time the HP Pavilion has booted to the desktop I have had a chance to read and respond to several emails on my Macintosh.

The HP pavilion takes noticeably longer to display the desktop then do either the Sony XP or my Vista Acer laptop. I’ve estimated it takes at least four times as long to display the Vista desktop on my HP than my iMac.The Macintosh is as close to an instant on computer as I have ever laid hands on.

Even in face of the long boot times, I still find the Windows operating system and more importantly the selection of an external hardware options and applications provide more flexibility than can be had using Macintosh computers.

As indicated in a previous podcast, Apple has made backup easy and almost foolproof. Windows on the other hand typically requires an investment in a third party application or service that may or may not adequately backup your system, applications and data. I purchased the HP EX 475 MediaSmart sever, in an effort to solve this problem for my collection of XP and Vista computers as well as create a means to manage shared files on our intranet.

The HP MediaSmart sever uses the recently released Microsoft home server software specifically designed to not only backup and share files with computers connected to your home network but to also allow internet based remote access to stored files and control of selected computers.

With one exception, setting up the MediaSmart Server to backup my existing windows computers and serve files to computers on my internal network was straightforward. The snag occured when I began assigning passwords for connected computers, I was prompted to use strong passwords which should include alphabetic as well as numeric characters. My first attempt used a complex string of lowercase letters and numbers but I was unable to move forward in the install process. I felt that my password was meeting the specified criteria, but after spending several minutes trying to move forward I was greeted with a message indicating the server software had failed to install properly. I called HP support.

After approximately 10 minutes of trouble shooting the HP tech mused it could be a corrupted server software installation and instructed me to reinstall the server operating system. This went smoothly but failed to get me past the road block assigning passwords.

Another call to HP support resulted in the observation that I could not move forward in the install because my password did not include both upper case and lowercase letters. It would have been nice if Microsof had flagged this with an in your face popup so common now in Vista. Once I had created a password with upper case, lower case and numeric characters, I was able to complete the installation. My next hurdle was activating the web server and this proved to be a two day ordeal.

I have to admit I was impressed with the knowledge and patience of the BellSouth technical support team but also discouraged by the conflicting advice how to configure my router and modem so that the HP home server could be used to host my portal website. For many months I had been able to use all of my computers with my Linksys router configured incorrectly according to BellSouth tech support. They all seemed rather confused when told the system had works so well for so long. One assured me it was impossible to have made a connection at all. In my defense, our modem and router had been configured by the BellSouth installer.

After several calls to my ISP provider and HP, each time receiving a different explanation how to configure my Linksys router with my BellSouth modem, I finally discovered the key was to set the DSL modem to bridge mode and the default connection for my Linksys to PPPoE rather than the default Linksys Auto Config DHCP setting. After the modem was set to bridge mode and the router to PPPoE, I was able to activate the local WEB portal and invite clients to log on and use the server as an internet connected external hard drive.

For the most part the HP MediaSmart home server was relatively easy to configure for use as unattended backup of all our XP and Vista PCs as well as a Ethernet connected storage device. However, I suspect HP needs to brace for an unusually heavy barrage of customer support calls if the Home Server market takes root.

I now have my HP Pavilion Vista PC and Sony XP fully backed up and our clients and consultants can access the server to upload and download files needed to complete projects. All computers in our office, including the Mac or able to access the server using the wired and wireless intranet at as well as log on and access shared folders via the MediaSmart web portal.

The ability to allow others to access your personal server, share files and exchange data using a simple high speed Internet connection and browser has to be experienced to be appreciated. Now my Mac and Windows machines are able to communicate almost as if siblings rather than rivals.

Lessons learned:

Get a second opinion before reinstalling any operating system.

Assign Strong passwords to each account making sure they are at least 7 characters long and include both upper and lower case alphanumeric characters. Example: Gooday2008Yes

If using DSL, your modem should normally be set to bridge mode and your router ro PPPoE.

Plug and play, or as some prefer to call it plug and pray, is expected and I suspect a marginally safer option than manually forwarding router ports. Once the web service is turned off in the home server the open router ports are closed. I highly recommend when the web service is initially activated and deactivated you use the free on line application Shields Up found at grc.com to test for open ports.

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