Windows 2 Apples

Lately, I have been spending more time at my new Vista PC than my Mac and have discovered several Apple features I dearly miss as well as Vista applications I would love to shift to my Mac.

First and foremost on my wish list for Vista is a clone of Apple universal spell check. I was surprised how dependent I had become on this feature. I had to repeatedly remind myself that Vista has no such option. There are numerous third party applications that promise to provide spell check to “most common” Windows applications but none have promos convincing enough to make me try them.

I miss the iWorks suite, in particular Keynote, which has jumped ahead of Microsoft’s PowerPoint in ease of use and effects. For a while, I had begun to use Pages instead of word on my Mac but have reverted back. Word simply does a better job of error checking than Pages. But, I frequently ended up loading Word 2004 text into Pages to produce the PDF files. Happily, Word 2007 for Windows offers the ability to save in PDF format and now that most of my podcasts are created on the Vista machine I no longer need to play that game.

The Windows Office 2007 suite is impressive, allowing me to create striking graphics without the need for additional expensive and overly complex programs. I simply insert the desired graphic or photo into Word 2007 and use the extensive assortment of filters and special effects to add shadowing, 3D presentation or enhanced framing. I can use other built-in tools to add 3D text, shapes and pointers. Office 2007 is a significant improvement over the Apple Office 2004 offering.

I still winch as I look at my PC knowing there is no simple or painless way to completely backup my OS, applications and files. Nor can I use VMware to launch a backup copy of Vista if it is corrupted or compromised by a nasty Trojan or Virus. Apple has Windows trumped in backup options. The new Microsoft Home Server sounds as if it will be the best backup option yet for Windows users but at the hefty cost of $600 to $800 for a fully configured hardware solution.

So far, I have not seen nor read of an all in one Windows machine I would invest in and although the new HP 9040 tower is relatively quiet, more flexible and certainly more bang for the buck than an equivalent Mac, I do long for a Windows All In One PC competitive with the iMac. As noted in my last podcast one of the issues I had with using the virtual Vista Business on my Mac was the lack of stereo mix. I have discovered a fix using the external Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster interface. Once installed, it offered me the option of using the traditional Sound Blaster stereo mix feature.

I love the tight integration of Apple applications but at the same time feel the interdependency a bit cumbersome when files have to be passed from one app to another before you have the target file format. The iLife Suite was worth the price of admission to the world of Jobs until the advent of MixCraft 3.

As Mentioned in previous podcasts, MixCraft 3 is an intuitive and powerful audio mix and production program similar to GarageBand. Until my discovery of MixCraft I could never envision shifting back to the PC to create multi-media content. Now I find I prefer it to GarageBand for producing audio podcasts but still retreat to GarageBand when I need to create original music tracks and mixed audio / video MP4 files. The folks at Acoustica are beta testing version 4 and they assure me I will no longer need to scamper back to GarageBand when it is released. I wish them well in making that happen.

I have used both iMovie 06 and 08 to produce several promo DVDs and on-line video tutorials but find Windows Movie Maker is easier to use and adequate for many of my projects. Movie Maker does not compete with the rich effects and transitions found in the Mac suites. To fill this gap, I am creating lead and trailer clips on my Mac and splicing them into my Movie Maker applications. My Mac has become a special effects generator for my PC. There are only two third party Apple applications I miss when working at my PC.

Skitch by Plasq is at the top of my list. Skitch is still in beta and free to those lucky enough to have snared a copy. Skitch has to be the most elegant and intuitive application I have ever used. Skitch allows the capture and enhancement of screen images and photos, as do many other applications but what sets it apart from the crowd is the superb and uniquely attractive user interface … a joy to work with. I have yet to see any Windows application so well engineered or as intuitive … a sterling example of the kind of user-friendly design common to the Apple OS.

The second application I would love to see, especially now with the loss of stereo mix on so many Vista machines, is Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba. I know of no Windows application that allows audio to be captured and recorded when stereo mix cannot be enabled. Perhaps the diversity of “audio card” options makes this more difficult to implement on Vista machines. Hats off to Rogue Amoeba for a program that in Apple parlance “simply works” and works well.

There are many Windows applications I would love to port to the Mac. Where do I start … perhaps WebCamMax, which allows me to capture static as well as moving screen content or almost any other video source including Webcams, movies and photos. The features are almost too numerous to list (always wanted to be able to say that and mean it). I am able to capture, record, snap and or stream photos, audio and video to all popular Chat programs including Yahoo, Windows Instant Messenger, Skype and PalTalk.

I can choose from over 1,800 special effects to add animations, overlays or picture in picture montages. There is little it cannot do and all for $30. WebCamMax has become an essential tool for creating and broadcasting video content and I have found no similar application for the Apple.

Another application for which I have found no Apple replacement is JetAudio from Cowan. JetAudio is simply one of the best audio and video players available. The full version sells for $30 records, mixes and converts audio and well as playing and converting video. There are many options allowing enhanced Audio playback and recording and JetAudio has saved my “bacon” many times allowing me to convert audio and video files other applications choked on. The video player is able to seamlessly integrate with other applications such as WebCamMax … again too many features to list.

I enjoy and use the Windows Media Center and don’t believe there is an equivalent add-on for Apples. Media Center is TiVo on steroids and the new HP has added an FM radio option that puts my external Shark Radio adapter to shame. I am still using Tiger and not sure what Leopard brings to the table that would make “finding” my stuff any easier. Admittedly, the Windows XP Explorer was not much better than Finder, but the new Vista Explore is a significant improvement making it is much easier to organize and locate my files and more importantly files created but other programs. Perhaps Leopard has surpassed Vista in this crucial area, but I’ll delay installation until the Apple version of service pack one is released.

Given the number of showstopper bugs and issues such as the “Leopard Blue Screen of Death”, I have to wonder what the response to Leopard would have been if the Apple installed base equaled that of Windows.

Copyright 2007 Sam Caldwell

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The last five days, I’ve been evaluating an HP pavilion desktop computer paired with a 24 inch HP monitor as a possible replacement for my aging XP Sony VAIO. I realize this is not the All in One experience I had hoped for, however, after spending time with the new Sony and HP all in one computers, I decided to take the plunge and spend the time testing a component based system.

One of the major features I need on my primary windows machine is the ability to select stereo mix, wave out or what U hear as the recording device. I noticed with the release of Vista, many computers were being shipped with this option disabled. Much speculation as to why this option has been deleted can be found when you peruse rumor blogs. The consensus appears to be that a number of the audio chip manufacturers have been unable to develop stereo mix drivers that work reliably with Vista.

Both the Sony and HP all in one computers are shipped with no provision for enabling stereo mix. Reviews of the new Gateway One have varied lukewarm to enthusiastic. I have not seen Stereo Mix available on any Gateway Vista PC. Friends who have purchased Gateway computers have been instructed to simply buy a patch cord to route the audio out of the speaker into the line-in or microphone input. There’s no reason to believe the new Gateway One will be shipped with this option enabled.

Fortunately, almost all windows computers shipped with the Realtek Chipset allow the user to activate the stereo mix option. Unfortunately, even the RealTek stereo mix device switch is often hidden by default and requires that you right click on the record or playback panel to show and enable disabled devices. Once a source for playback or record is enabled you may set the selected “device” as the default and modify properties associated with that option. The HP tower ships with RealTek and stereo mix works beautifully.

Apple computers are shipped without this option, as well; however, there are several very elegant and inexpensive fixes for this problem in OS X. I opted to use a program called Hijack Pro which allows me to capture the audio from specified applications as well as system audio. Unfortunately, there are no satisfactory software fixes available for Windows PCs. The primary reason the virtual Vista Business operating system on my Mac cannot replace my aging Sony is the inability to enable stereo mix.

Immediately after activating Windows Vista, I initialized speech recognition and was surprised to find that even though the new desktop is a quad core Intel with 3 GB of ram running Windows Home Vista Premium, I saw no significant difference between accuracy on the HP tower and my virtual installation of Vista Business on the Macintosh. I also noticed a few issues in using Vista speech to text that could be problematic for disabled.

In an effort to make vista more secure, Vista frequently prompts the user to allow the installation of new applications as well as some updates. Unfortunately, when this prompt is displayed the speech engine is disabled and individuals unable to access the keyboard or mouse could not respond to these prompts. This so called User Access Control prompt can be disabled but not a wise thing to do. I believe there are less drastic modifications that would bypass this problem and will try a few recommended modifications to my virtual Vista machine UAC settings and report back.

I also noticed that the dictation mode in the vista speech to text engine does not work when using Microsoft Works applications nor is it available when using the open source word processing programs. It does work extremely well when used with Microsoft office 2007, however, this adds additional expense that could be avoided if Microsoft enabled dictation within the Works suite. WordPad would be a much better choice as a low end editor if Vista supported universal spell check found on Macs.

If you need to export your document using a file format not supported by WordPad, it is possible to cut and paste your dictated text to the Microsoft Works word processor. This seems an unnecessary work around and I hope Microsoft addresses this issue in future releases. I would also encourage Microsoft to follow Apple’s lead and make spell check active in all applications.

So far I’m pleased with the performance of my new HP tower, finding it particularly attractive when contrasted with the cost of an Apple system with similar specifications. The HP W2408 monitor is shipped with a stand that allows you to easily position the monitor, wall mount or rotate it so that you can view your text in landscape as well as portrait mode. This is a very welcome feature given I have found the inability to adjust the height of my iMac to be a major issue. The fixed height of my iMac forces me to look straight into the monitor rather than down at it as recommended by most optometrists and ophthalmologists.

The monitor has a shiny reflective screen much like the new iMacs and my 19 inch Sony SDM high resolution monitor. I did notice some glare on the screen but, because of the swivel base mounting, I was able to adjust the screen height to reduce glare and optimize viewing angle. The additional screen real estate has come in handy when running programs such as the Mixcraft3 from Acoustica but is over kill in most other applications.

As I rotate in my chair from left to right, I can compare the output of my iMac, HP widescreen and my Sony high resolution 19 inch monitors. I continue to find the Sony monitor the best I’ve ever used. The mat display on my 20 inch iMac is beautiful but the inability to adjust the height of the monitor requires I wear a special pair of glasses designed for working at a computer. When viewing the Sony or HP monitor I can adjust monitor height and use my preferred graduated lens glasses. This is a huge plus given I’m prone to leave my office area wearing the wrong glasses.

With the exception of the Windows to Apple’s theme music, this podcast is an Apple free production. The text was dictated using the Vista speech to text technology, the audio was recorded using Mixcraft3 and M-Audio interface and microphone. GarageBand continues to set the bar for easy to use multitrack recording software. Mixcraft3 is more than adequate for creating quality podcasts and is better suited for editing voice sound tracks than GarageBand. Although shipped with fewer loops and instrument samples, Mixcraft3 is an excellent tool for producing podcasts on Windows PCs.

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

Note: HP Pavilion m9040 PC with 3 gigs Ram, Quad Core, 640 gigs HD, TV tuner, remote control, Microsoft Center Updates to TV programming, 24 inch monitor and all in one scanner / printer was purchased for $1,640.00

A 24 inch iMac with 2 gigs of Ram, 500 gig HD and Core 2 Lists for $2,999.00

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