I have remained reletaively quiet over the past month. It has been a month that will have a far reaching impact on my computer use for a good time to come. I think I can now definately be classed as a Mac Switcher.  I am now using OS X 99% of the time. I will outline later a few areas where I must revert to Windows.  In fairness i must say that currently in a lot of cases I am  less productive on OS X when compared to Windows, this is mainly due to adapting to new ways of working.  However, the difference is I just seem to enjoy using OS X more; whether this is because it is better than Windows or that it is new, I cannot say at the moment.  An area that was slowing my conversion to OS X was the fact that I had a high-end notebook that was only 6 months old and could not justify upgrading this.  But, I have made a temporary solution by installing OS X on the notebook.  It did take a bit of work to get all the components working but now it runs like a dream.  Just for people out there that think I may become a Mac Fanboy, that aint gonna happen.  OS X is good and in lot of areas better than Windows but anyone who says it is perfect is deluding themsleves.  It has it’s share of bugs and annoyances.

The following areas are forcing me to run Windows:

1. MS Office – The current verion for Mac is terrible and I need MS Office for work so other solutions just do not cut it for me. Although Pages is OK for the average users for anyone with more demanding needs it is far too lacking in features. This situation should be rectified after Christmas with the release of Office 2008 fior Mac.

2. Disk Copying/Mastering – Although Toast for Mac is OK for normal tasks. Nero and CloneCD under windows are far more powerful at doing specialised burning, eg Specifying layer breaks on DVDs.

3. Disk Printing – My Epson printer is on a Windows network and none of the CD printing software will only seem to work if the printer is local or connected to an Airport Extreme.

Last night I was developing an automation script for a folder action that would add anything that was put in a specified folder to my iTunes Library then it would delete the files.  An error in script caused it to move all my mp3 files to the Trashcan.  Not a problem, I thought, just go to the Trashcan and Restore the files.  Wrong!  The Mac Trashcan does not have a restore option, you have to copy the files back manually.  With a large number of files this is just not viable plus the fact you my not know the location for all the files.  What were Apple thinking by not adding restore option.  If you look at it, it is not a Trashcan, it is just another folder.

The iMac is a lovely piece of kit;  however, with a few low-cost additions it could be almost perfect.  Here is my top 10 list of what I think could improve the iMac.  What do you think?

1.   A HDMI/DVI In Port – The iMac screen, in particarlar the 24″ which is full HD, is begging to be used for other things, be it Movie Playback, Console gaming or watching TV.  For a very low cost Apple could have added a HDMI/DVI input connected direct to the LCD so it could be used for other devices.  This would also allow people with limited space to connect a set-top box or sataliite and use it as a TV.  I know a USB solution is available but this does not provide the quality of a direct input.

2.   External SATA Port – The new iMac is a viable option for high performance tasks such as video editing.  So it would be wonderful to be able to take advantage of fast and relatively low cost external SATA drives.

3.  Better choice of graphics card or upgradable graphics card system – With the fact that the iMac also makes an excellent choice for Windows users.  It makes good sense to give the option of a high end video card to satisfy gamers or for users of graphically intensive apps.  This is currently the main area that Macs lag behind standard PCs.  I appreciate this may not be very low cost but definately wanted by many.

4.   Internal Hard Drive user upgradable – The iMac is very aesphetically pleasing, so it seems a shame to have to spoil the minimilist look by adding lots of external hard drives.  It would be good if there was a door on the back that gave access to the internal hard drive.

5.   Line-out port or switchable speaker-out port – I like to connect my iMac to my main amp when listening to music but on some occasion I don’t want the amp switched on and would like the sound to come out of the iMac speakers.  The problem is when you plug anything into the audio-port it disables the internal speakers.  If the iMac had a seperate line-out or a software option to enable and disable the internal speakers this would solve this problem.

6.   iChat to support audio/video chat with Live Messenger – This is not really an iMac upgrade, more a software one.  iChat is a wonderful app, it is currently just a shame that so many people are not on it.  It would be excellent to be able to video chat with these other users.  Adium are working on adding Video chat natively, hopefully this will come soon.

7.   Aluminium Mouse – This is not really needed but would definately finish the look of the iMac package.  aluminium iMac, aluminium keyboard and aluminium mouse.  Sweet!!

 8.   Card Reader – It would cost very little to add a couple of card reader slots at the back of the iMac to support the most common formats.  Possible even better would be to add a few slots to the side of the keyboard.  This would also have the advantage that it could be a retrofit.

9.   Power/Standby LED – It would be very useful to know the power state of the iMac.  Also what maybe nice would be to have the Apple Logo pulse a dim blue when on standby.

10.  Better support for printers connected to a Windows network – Once again this is an OS feature.  But it is definately frustrating for Windows switchers not to be able to use the full features of printers connected to a Windows network.  The only real solution is to buy an Airport Extreme and connect the printer to that.

It actually goes to show the quality and functionality of the iMac design, that when I got to number 7 of this list I was actually grasping at straws for what I wanted.

Well it has been almost a week since I purchased my iMac and although it pains me to say it, I’m loving it. There are so many things to cover I thought I would just do a Good and Bad List. Please bear in mind some of the bads will be because I am used to another way of working, so don’t berate me for them.

Good:

1. Using the iMac just sort of makes me feel good, can’t explain it maybe some of it is down to the newness, only time will tell.

2. Networking is so easy even when connecting to non Mac clients. I have a server runner Windows Server 2003 and the Mac plays with it perfectly. In fact I can still remote into it because MS do a Remote Desktop client for the Mac.

3. I still need Windows for some apps and I am amazed at how quick and seamlessly VMware Fusion runs Windows. It runs so well I am not even going to bother with Bootcamp. I have setup VMware to run in a Space of it own so I can jump from a full OS X environment to a full Windows environment in less than a second. When you consider that currently I only have 1gb RAM, that is astounding. (Extra 2gb on order. Apple’s price for a 2gb upgrade is £359. I paid £41.36 from crucial. Now that is obscene).

4. iChat is awesome, but the big problem is most of my friends are on MSN Messenger. It is a real shame that there isn’t a good Mac Client that allows video to MSN. I am using Adium but currently no Video.

5. Stability – The OS feels very stable, but don’t listen to anyone who says it doesn’t crash, it does. However, if you do normal day to day stuff it is very stable. Apps on occasion can lock up and need to be forced to close.

Bad (some of this list are just minor annoyances)

1. I still don’t like the fact that the menu bar for apps is at the top of the screen. If you are using an app at the bottom of a big monitor it is a long way to go to get to the menu at the top of the screen. I know it means the app interface can be cleaner and that you are only ever showing a menu for the app you are working with but coming from a windows background this does seem strange.

2. The close button on an app not actually closing the app. This just drives me nuts. The problem is when you look at the dock and see an icon with a dot under it you cannot tell if it is truly running or if it has been closed but just not forced to quit. If keeping an app in memory doesn’t hurt performance, then fine keep it in memory, but I would find it useful if the indication under the icon was different.

3. Mac does not play nice with printers on a windows network. You cannot access the full features of the printer unless it is connected directly to the mac or via the Airport Extreme. This may end up been very annoying so far I have not needed to print much so have just used Windows in VMware.

4. Not sure I always like the SDI way of working. eg. when I used to run Photoshop in windows it would contain all its docks and document windows withing one main plain grey window. On the mac it just loads the docks right on the Desktop so you can see all other apps in the background, you can hide these but I find it a but distracting seeing the desktop wallpaper all the time.

5. Resize from all sides. I would still prefer it if I could resize windows from every edge rather than just the bottom right.

6. I still miss the windows taskbar.

I will discuss more in time. Although I listed almost equal good and bad points that does not tell the story. Currently I really do prefer the Mac. I have been talking very passionately about my iMac at work but I hope to maintain perspective and will criticise both Mac and Windows if it is deserved.

I didn’t plan to buy the iMac for a few weeks, if at all, but today was shopping Sunday here in Maastricht and whilst in town I popped into the Apple Reseller. Anyway after a short chat to confirm that they would supply it to me TAX free, because I work for the military overseas, I purchased a 24″ iMac with wireless keyboard and mouse for €1500 (£1000), which all things considering is not too bad a deal. Now the only issue I have is that I have to wait for the UK wireless keyboard because Maastricht, for obvious reasons, only carry the Dutch keyboard. I will boot the machine tomorrow when I borrow a keyboard from a friend.

So here goes, I am now a Mac User, and for better or for worst my journey begins here.

An article written by Steven Leigh (8 Reasons Windows Users Don’t Switch) generally sums up a lot of my feelings.  For me he hits the nail on the head with his points 5, 6 and 8; which are titles Lies, Windows Bashing and Mac Users.  This is really sad because I really would love to buy the iMac, I love the hardware and so does my wife.  But the more forums I read the more I am turned off of the idea.

Here is one of my fears.  When i first buy the iMac I will initially have to run both windows and OS X because I still need some Windows applications.  Now because OS X will be new to me I will probably want to ask in forums for assistance, some of these questions will most like involve Windows/OS X interoperability and this is where the problem lies.  On a lot of forums as soon as you mention the word windows the poster gets a barrage of sarcastic comments.  This is just not useful.

In my previous post I praised Apple for re-enabling the TV-Out feature on the iPod.  However, this praise may be a tad premature.  It now seems to becoming to light that while they have enabled the option in the menu the video doesn’t actually play on  old docks.  I am awaiting delivery of my new iPod Classic and I will confirm if this is the case with my dock.  More info can be found on the Apple discussion forum here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1166139&tstart=0

Well done Apple!!!   In Apple’s latest update for iPods, 1.0.2,  they have re-enabled the TV-Out feature.  I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that they had disabled this feature unless you purchased a new official dock from Apple, rendering all old docks obsolete.  Well it seems like Apple has listened and in this latest update the TV-Out works with all old docks and cables that use the dock connector.  I am like many others very pleased about this I think this bodes well for purchaser power.  It shows that voicing your disappointment on the Internet can sometimes make a difference.

The iPod 1.0.2 firmware addresses a few other issues listed below:

Improved CoverFlow.
Compilation Artists no longer appear in the Artist field.
Compilation Albums appear at the end of CoverFlow.
Menus more responsive.
Screen turns off when inactive during charging.
Syncing improved.
Small UI Tweaks.
Improved Podcast Artwork.

I think Apple is in a good place at the moment and has a good chance of taking more and more market share from it’s rivals.  However, it is important that it does not, in it’s success, become the same type of evil corporation that the switchers wanted to get away from.

Well it is now October, the month Apple said it would release Leopard.  It will be interesting to see if this release date is achieved.  I have been reading the forums on www.AppleInsider.com and a number of users are listing quite a few issues and doubt it will be ready on time.  I wish Apple would not keep everyone one in the dark.  I am waiting to make my purchase if I know Leopard will be delayed I would probably just go out and buy now.  But I would be a bit miffed if I bought now and had to pay for the upgrade a few weeks later.  I must confess I think the killer feature in Leopard will be Time Machine, a friend of mine who switched a few weeks ago and bought an iMac is very impressed with Time Machine.

In my previous post I made some comments about a few things I didn’t like about OSX.  These comments offended a few Apple Users, this was never my intention.  Afterall I intend to get a Mac so obviously I see the positives about Apple aswell.   I started this blog so that I could detail all the aspects of my transition to the Mac, good and bad.  So to anyone I offended I apologise, life is too short to have bad feelings between people.