Windows 2 Apples

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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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