Thursday, May 31, 2007

Under the Surface...


That's it. Today's "major announcement" does it for me. Microsoft Surface my ass.

Quoted as a new generation of computing products that will "break down traditional barriers between people and technology", Microsoft has effectively borrowed an amazingly intuitive action behind Apple's iPhone user interface and ir trying to flog it as theirs.

Looking at the Surface website, sure you can "shop and play at the lobby", but that's just software Bill! The idea was first shown on a device much smaller than a PC. A device to soon be carried by millions of people around the world. Not a full blown PC with a fancy screen in the lobby of an expensive hotel.

Which brings me to this significant statement: I am truly over Windows PCs.

Over the past few months I have had it up to my eybrows with stupid little glitches on my home and my work laptops:
  • My home laptop will 'almost' shut down - apart from the fact that it takes a good 4 minutes to do whatever it needs to do before it powers off - to the extent that I get up in the morning and it still sitting there thinking how to turn off... What a baby! How much supervision does it need?

  • My work laptop used to auto detect whether it needs a Windows domain to log in to or not. Now, when I'm at home, I need to power it up and log in to Windows before I connect it to my home netwrork (or just the router).

I hate things that cannot be explained, which is why I had enough of Windows. Note: I love computers and what can be achieved with them. I had enough of the clumsy, resource-heavy, non-intuitive operating system called Windows. I will never try Vista, just because it looks cooler than XP. I will not fall for gimmicks any more.

My home computing needs have come a long way compared to 10 years ago. I was a sucker for development tools (programming) and PC games. Now, the needs revolve around digital imaging, storage, internet access and music. A Mac has been able to do all that for years. It's been perfected. The Mac UI concepts have always been industry leaders. The new Intel-based technology base has brought the prices down and took performance to new heights

So the decision has been made and the time has come... Well, almost. An upcoming wedding is a priority. Can't argue with that really!...

I will leave you with a very funny animation clip I came across on BestOfYouTube.com - just watch out for the iHouse!...

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1 comment:

Moshe Reuveni said...

I fully agree: Windows is just bad, and Vista is daylight robbery. It gives you nothing but cooler UI but demands you to spend a lot on hardware (and get less for your investment). All the "innovative" features there are available for free on Windows XP through apps like Picasa and Google Desktop. Older peripherals, like my printer or my webcam, will not work on it because I won't be able to find the right drivers.
So no, I won't migrate until I have to. But that's the point: eventually, I will probably have to in order to be able to run contemporary software. Which is a big shame.
As for alternatives: Apple is better, no doubt about it, but as a company Apple is no better than Microsoft. I don't want to trade one devil for another more expensive devil (and again, I probably won't be able to use all my peripherals and all the software I'm currently using; at least not without a heavy time investment).
I am waiting for Linux to make a move. There are some promising signs with Ubunto, and if a company like Google will get behind it then things are bound to change. Till then, I'm with XP.

Last note: Try CCleaner to make your laptop run quicker. It does wonders. And get rid of Norton if you're use it; you'll gain a 5% performance bonus.

Friday, June 01, 2007 8:38:00 AM

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