Windows 2 Apples

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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