Windows 2 Apples

My introduction to Safari 4.0. Comments on the Acer One NetBook and Using FileZilla to share files between Windows and Apples.

I am normally not predisposed to defining anything as cool. I confess to uttering it twice in the last few months. The first time was when I installed Windows 7 and took a look at the new desktop and wallpaper options. I sat back and found myself simply uttering cool! For many years I ignored wallpaper and desktop image options preferring to use a solid background so that my icons would not be obscured. After shifting to Vista, I started to use wallpaper because the images shipped with Vista were appealing and less cluttered. Those included with Windows 7 have upped the ante considerably. They’re absolutely stunning.

The second time I uttered cool was when I opened Safari.  I had notice that Apple updated Safari but assumed it was the traditional bug fixes and a few enhancements here and there. I was surprised when I opened it and found that I was greeted with an Apple animation announcing Safari 4.0. I knew that Safari 4 had been in beta for some time but had avoided downloading.  I just don’t have the time to test beta applications.  I’ve made the exception with Windows 7 ,but, that’s a rare exception.  I was immediately impressed with the opening animation and sound but my jaw dropped and I unuttered cool several times as I saw my favorites displayed on a three dimensional convex wall.

I’ve tested Safari and it seems to be faster than IE 8 and even faster than the version of Safari 4 now running on my Apple.  For the first time I can enjoy using Safari without that ugly battleship gray frame.  Apple has finally adopted the Aero look of Vista.  Not only does Safari 4 seem to run faster on my Vista tower than on my Mac but it is far it more attractive …  a major shift from my experience in using Safari on Apple vs. Vista. Unfortunately,  Apple has not given the same Aero make over to the Windows release of iTunes and it retains the ugly, antiquated look I have grown so weary of. Hopefully,  the release of Safari 4 indicates Apple has finally decided to improve the performance and look of their applications when run on Windows machines.

In episode 33, I promised a review of the Acer one NetBook.  I purchased the NetBook because I was intrigued by all the press they have been receiving.  I wanted to find out for myself if I could use it as a replacement for a traditional laptop.  When I opened the box, I was impressed by the fit, finish and quality feel. I was also impressed with the short battery life and how easy my finger prints found their way on the shinny blue plastic enclosure. I don’t believe I ever logged more than two hours. I feel fortunate to get 1:45 minutes from a full charge. My NetBook uses the 3 cell battery. I highly recommend you opt for the 6 cell battery which reviewers suggest gives well over two hours of runtime.

The first two truly practical applications I installed were Skype and MixCraft 4.  Skype proved its worth on a trip to California where I found my cell phone useless. I could not reliably access my carrier.  I was able to log in to a Wireless Network and use an inexpensive headset connected directly to the Acer audio input and output jacks to make calls via my Skype Out account.  The audio quality was mediocre, as you would normally expect when connecting to built-in sound cards, but equal to most cell phone connections.

When I later experimented with MixCraft 4 to record podcasts, I used a Telex USB audio adapter and a higher quality headset.  I was impressed with the recording and the responsiveness of MixCraft 4 running on the NetBook.  Without reservation, I can recommend the Acer NetBook as an inexpensive platform for field recordings of music and speech.  The proviso, of course, is that if you plan to do any serious field recordings using battery power that you invest in the six cell battery option.

I often find I’m using the Acer essentially as a video enabled MP3 player and PDF reader.  Frequently, I take it to bed with me to watch video podcasts preferring it over the dinky small screen on my iPod, Zune or Creative Labs players.  Given the low cost high performance and quality I can envision many uses for net books beyond those traditionally assigned to laptops.  Over time I have stopped using my more cumbersome and of course heavier and hotter 15 ½ inch Acer vista laptop in favor of the NetBook.

Given my positive experience with Windows 7, I have been tempted to install the beta release on my NetBook but so far have resisted the Sirens call.  I think I’ll wait until Windows 7 is released to the public and for reviews of NetBooks running the new OS.   Given my expectations and requirements, I don’t envision going back to a traditional laptop any time soon and certainly would never consider purchasing the significantly more expensive Apple laptop.  For the time being, my NetBook has become my portable computing device of choice.

In episode 33, I mentioned using low cost web servers to share files between Windows and Apple machines.  Before going any further, I need to admonish my listeners to review the user agreement they may have with their web hosting service before using it to backup files.  Many hosting services strictly prohibit using their service for offline backup .  There are many dedicated backup services specifically designed to provide offline storage of files and data.  However, most web hosting user agreements will allow the storage of files such as MP3s, videos and photos used in the creation and maintenance of web sites.

Given,  the hit and miss performance of my Apple (thanks to Leopard)  in connecting to our in-house network we have begun bypassing the HP Home Media Server when sharing Website files with our Mac. We’ve experimented with a number of commercial FTP applications including Fetch for the Mac and recently settled on using the excellent free open source FileZilla to upload and manage files on our web hosting server.  Because FileZilla is an open source project, applications with the same look and feel are available for the Windows, Apple and Linux platforms.  I find it more robust and intuitive than commercial standalone applications such as Fetch.

FileZilla is easy to setup and supports drag and drop on both Vista and Mac OS X machines.  Once our podcast MP3s, videos and show notes are uploaded using standard FTP protocol, I can easily access them using the excellent Mac only xml editor, Feeder 1.5,  to create and manage the feeds used in syndicating podcasts.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [9:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (100)