Windows vs. Mac – My 10 cents to the age-old debate

Well, how should I start this one? I am not surprised if your thoughts after reading this post’s title go something similar to this, “uh! Not one more of these never ending, 15 year old debate”. Also, there is a high chance you already have your own strong ‘opinions’ about both platforms. I am merely trying to add my own 10 cents to it.

My work – because of its ‘complexity’ – makes it a necessity for me to be well versed with Windows & Linux. Since MAC provides a Linux-similar development setup and Windows similar user environment in one box, my office issued me a Macbook Pro. Being a self-proclaimed gadget geek, I wanted to review it then itself. Later I decided against it thinking its better to wait a bit more and get to know the new toy.

Steve Jobs and his company sure know how to make users feel great. ‘Feel great’ is actually an understatement. The feeling of using a Mac is different. It’s not like using a PC, which is just another tool to check mails or get jobs done. With Mac, the whole ‘computer experience’ is different. Its simply different – in an awesome way. That’s the first and the most important thing I felt after using a Mac. By user experience, I mean whatever the user is directly in contact with - the touchpad or the display or the sound or the cool looks & feel.

I am a person who shuts down my windows pc/laptop after I use it, or else the whole system simply slows down over time. With Macbooks, I just close the lid. It’s just like switching on/off a TV set. I have used many windows laptops and none of them ‘gets ready’ as fast as a Mac – as soon as you open the lid. With Windows, it simply won’t work.

For embedded developers (like me), a Mac is a good choice as it runs a Linux-like kernel. Also, for graphics designers a Mac is the best choice as the display is stunning. There is no comparison.

Being said all that, I still can’t imagine a Mac replacing Windows. Mac allows good Windows integration with Bootcamp (Yes, I use dual boot). I also have a windows VM running in background all the time.

Most of the general-purpose software is available in both platforms. Exceptions are Picasa Photo Viewer or irfan view or gTalk, which I use extensively in Windows. It’s very hard and sometimes impossible to find support for some software especially specialized (industrial) software/hardware in Mac. Another reason I can’t let go of Windows, is gaming. Mac is not an option for a true gamer.

If anyone has a misconception that Macs wont get stuck or there is no Ctrl-Alt-Del in Mac, now is a good time to leave them behind. Macs do get stuck in the middle of nothing, some times even for trivial things like muting. Also they are not significantly faster than Windows, as some may suggest. Its just that Macs always come with expensive and high performance hardware associated with them.

Even though Safari is their flagship browser with a cool look and feel, it's one of the worst browser I have used, till date. It simply won’t work with Gmail or even blogger. It also has compatibility problems. Firefox is not as evolved as in Windows and so most of the times I end up using Chrome in Mac.

The biggest problem of all is that Macs are super pricey. Not only a Mac, but any software or accessory that is associated with a Mac comes with a hefty price tag. A normal Mac is almost as costly as a top class Windows laptop (which makes Mac a rich man's toy, in my opinion).

I can’t conclude in a single statement whether Windows or Mac is better. I would like to put my conclusion in this way. If you are planning to purchase a computer/laptop,
1.    If you are in a budget, don’t even think about going for a Mac, you’ll probably end up bankrupt.
2.    If you have just enough money to buy a Mac, use it to buy a top class Windows machine.
3.    If you have surplus amount of money at your disposal (or your office is providing you the machine), buy a Mac and install Windows in it so that you can exploit the good of both worlds (which is what I am doing currently).

That’s it, I would never choose a 'Mac only world', but having a Mac with Windows is a powerful combination – something I would like having always.

Slow Internet!

One of my friend asked to me once, “What are the two things you don’t like about computers?” I said, “A slow computer and a slow internet connection, they really piss me off”. And the latter seems to be ‘stalking’ me all the times, no matter where I go or what technologically advanced the ISPs are.
Back when it all started, there was only one speed available - 56Kbps - the dial up. At that time, I didn’t have any choice but to wait hours and hours for a page to load, sometimes even to get connected. Even the internet café’s offered dialup or sometimes ISDN, which was not much better.
Then came the cable. The first cable connection I used had a speed of 64Kbps. It wasn’t much better either. But the best part was the fact that it was unlimited. I read somewhere that broadband means both high-speed and seamless connectivity. The cable belonged more to the ‘seamless connectivity’ category (Don’t get confused, there were lot of outages also, but as compared to the speed, there was connectivity most of the times). Still there was one problem – the download limit. I never was a cable subscriber myself, but I really hated (and still do) the idea of putting a download limit on the connection. It’s like giving something you like and telling don’t use it. (This is applicable only to power users I guess)
Fed up by all this, I promised myself that if I am ever going to take an internet connection, I’ll get the one with max speed with no download limit. That day came when I moved to Bangalore. I subscribed the 256Kbps Home ULplus plan from BSNL, which was the max speed unlimited connection offered at that time. (Most of my readers are familiar with the story of getting that one). When they came up with the 512Kbps plan, I immediately switched to it. But it doesn’t matter what speed they offered in their ads, always the speed was intermittent. I had no choice but stay with the same connection as there were no other providers in that area. I felt jealous about my friends who had Airtel connections because of their stability. They gave a constant speed (at least when I used them). Whenever I heard about the stories of connections abroad (from my friends), I wanted to experience it myself. Then again I reminded myself, I am still in India, and lucky to have a decent internet connection.
Then I moved here. And one thing I was very optimistic was that I will be able to browse as much as I want with the broadband link speed not being a bottleneck. I was proved wrong the first day itself since the place I stayed had a wireless (3G based) internet. It was worse than the one I used to have in Bangalore. I couldn’t stand it, the next week itself, I subscribed a new 3Mbps unlimited broadband (ADSL) from Singtel. They said that the first week will be a bit rough as the traffic has to adjust and some crap. But as they said, after one week, I started getting steady high speed internet. I really enjoyed using it. The internet speed never became a bottleneck for any of my normal routines. I thought that the bad days are over.
But that thought didn’t last long. For last one month, I am continuously calling my service provider’s customer care centre about the intermittent connection. I have a 3Mbps connection and sometimes it even takes up to 30+ minutes to download a 1MB file (based on the speed test suggested by the customer care executive). Sometimes I have to wait for long times even to load the google.com. Think about that. It’s not consistently slow also. And guess what, a technician came last week and did something (what he did, he didn’t reveal) and for 3 days the connection was fine. Again I have to start calling the customer care. As things currently stand, there is another technician’s visit planned for the coming weekend.
Its really pissing me off. Is it so hard to provide a consistent broadband connection? I am also familiar with the data networking and related fields and based on what I know, if you have the right equipment and if they are under the correct permitted load, it’s not that difficult to provide a good link. It’s not that they are doing a charity but I am paying the internet bills promptly every month. What would they say if I started paying the bills intermittently? I wonder sometimes, Is it just me or is every broadband consumer faces similar experiences?

An Idea!

It actually started as a joke during my undergraduate studies. One of my friends told me about it. There is this friend of his who is not that brilliant and once she wanted to copy some files from my friend’s PC to her PC during a computer lab session. She came to his seat, used the mouse to select the file, right clicked the file and selected the option copy. Then she asked him to give his mouse. My friend got surprised and asked why? She said, “Now that I have copied the data to the mouse, I can connect this mouse to my machine and paste it there”. I am not sure whether it’s just a story or whether it actually happened. But since I know her, I consider all the possibility for this situation to happen.

When this ‘urban legend’ was supposedly happened, computers were running Windows 98 on PII/PIII processors, where mice used PS/2 connectors and I wonder whether flash memory and memory sticks were ever heard of the except as a costly gadget of a geek. Now that, around 6-7 years have passed, computers have powerful processors, almost everyone has a USB mouse and it’s difficult to meet a person without some form of storage, whether it’s a flash memory stick, or a portable MP3 player, or IPOD or even a portable HDD.

Now let’s come to the idea. Why can’t we think about what my dear friend had suggested? Attaching a storage device to a small mouse? Many of my friends including me have a laptop and it’ll be with me almost all the time and I keep a mouse also. In my case, I don’t like using the touchpad that extensively. So I take the mouse with me whenever possible. As of now, if I have to copy some data, I have to connect it through the USB device, copy it there. But if I have a storage attached to my mouse, may be I can simply connect my mouse to a USB port, click ‘copy to mouse’ and that’s it. Like my dear lady friend said, I can take the mouse out and connect it to another computer and it has the data.

Since most of the mouse models these days use a USB interface, there may not be much hardware innovation required I think. I am not that expert in the hardware design and all, but I hope this can be done without much trouble. One of my colleagues is carrying a small mouse with winding cable (which will go inside the mouse). In that case it will be very handy also I guess. Since both mouse & memories are relatively cheap these days, cost-wise also this may not be a trouble.

Right after writing till here, I did a Google-ing to find out whether anyone has already did this, and the results amazed me. Lots of them have already been out in the market. Here are some links.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/usb-flash-memory-wireless-mouse-134610.php
http://www.sz-wholesale.com/shenzhen_China_products/Flash-Memory-Mouse_1.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-12mmm8000pr.mspx

I think I am little late with this idea. Anyway I cannot say the idea is really mine. Hats off to my lady friend, who had the foresight to predict such a product, even if it was an ‘accident’. One should not forget that many of the great inventions are the aftermath of ‘miraculous’ accidents.

ps: If this idea had struck me sometime back, I could have patented it (joking).

Sleepless Nights

Your day seems to be so long and time seems to be standing still. You look around, you see blurred images only. You cannot concentrate on anything. You feel like going crazy. This is what happens if you are having little sleep[less] at night continuously for 5-6 days. Even when I am writing this, I am feeling the same sensation what I have just written. It took me around 1hour to write this paragraph.

It all started when I saw ‘her’ picture. I didn’t notice her at first. I thought she was way beyond my league. But soon I started dreaming about her. After she changed to her new ‘slim’ looks, I decided myself that, one day she will be mine. Oh man, she really is sexy, I admire her for that. There were only a few days I didn’t dream about her.

And finally, last week, I made her mine. And ever after, she is with me, no matter what and every moment I spend with her – well what more can I say other than ‘simply great’. Now you know why I am having sleepless nights for the past couple of days. Still I want to be with her than having a good night sleep.

I am talking about the latest addition to my gadget collection, Sony PSP, the slim & lite edition [PSP 2000]. I know it’s a bit late since they have released it. Always, better late than never. This is one of the best gadgets I ever had.

New PSP slim & lite [PSP 2000]

At first I used to think the game play will be boring due to its small size and getting a grip on the analogue stick will be trouble. But for someone with a gamer in their head, it’s just a matter of seconds. Its BIG display [compared to other handheld gadgets], is really really cool, especially when compared to the ipods. You can watch movies, listen to music, see photos, browse in net, and play fantastic games. Just for $169 [PSP only]. You need to buy a memory stick extra. But all within $200. Even if you just needs a gadget which will play music and show videos, this is the best one I think. And browsing in that screen is much better than browsing in a mobile phone. In the new version, they have even provided a TV out feature. You can connect to your TV and well, now you can use your imagination.

Simply visit this page to know how amazing it is…
http://www.us.playstation.com/psp/landing.aspx#/games/
http://www.us.playstation.com/psp_interactive/

I guess more and more sleepless nights are waiting there for me…