Preach!

"Before we go any further, I'm sure there are plenty of readers who have Genius Bar horror stories, or who have experienced less-than-stellar customer service, but going off of my own experiences, I can safely say I've never had a better experience getting a product repaired or replaced than at an Apple Genius Bar. The Genius Bar represents the Apple we all romanticize, the Apple we imagine has our backs whenever we need it. The one that says, 'We're with you every step of the way, even if you stumble sometimes.'" ~ Harry C. Marks

(Go read the entire article. It's well worth it.)

Preach!

Words I could've written myself, from Adrian Kingsley-Hughes at ZDNet:

"These are words I never thought I'd be writing.

After more than two decades of being a dedicated Windows power user, someone who over that time has installed and supported countless systems running versions of Windows spanning from 3.0 to 8.1, I've now all but given up on the platform.

It might sound odd, but writing these words actually makes me sad. I devoted my 10,000 hours to mastering the platform, plus thousands more, and got the point where there wasn't a file, registry entry, or command line trick that I wasn't familiar with.

I knew how to make Windows work.

But now, other than for test systems and virtual machines, I carry out my day-to-day work on a variety of OS X, iOS and Android systems. I barely give my Windows PC systems a second glance. My primary work system is a MacBook Pro, and in the ten months I've had it it's flawlessly done everything I've asked of it, from run Microsoft Word to render 4K video. I've lost count of the number of notebooks I've owned over the years, but this MacBook Pro is, by far, the most reliable system I've owned, and I put part of that down to the fact that it doesn't run Windows.

Sure, I've downloaded and installed Windows 8.1 onto a number of systems for testing, and I've put an awful lot of hours into getting to know this latest release of Windows, but I see nothing in this new version that excites me sufficiently to tempt me back into the Microsoft ecosystem. If anything, the effect has been the exact opposite, confirming my belief that parting ways with Windows was the right thing to do.

So what's bought me to this point in my tech career?

Support fatigue

I've spent almost my entire adult working life involved with PCs, and the more PCs you are around, the more sick and dying PCs you encounter. And I've encountered a lot.

I've also cajoled and coaxed countless ailing systems back to life, but during that time I've come to realize how fragile the Windows operating system is, and how something small and insignificant as a bad driver, incorrect settings, or the stars being in the wrong position can bring a system to its knees, and result in hours of work searching for a solution. That's great if you're being paid by the hour to solve PC problems, but if your dealing with your own systems, and you have better things to be doing with your time, then you want to get them up and running as fast as possible so you can get back to real work.

Troubleshooting is costly, time-consuming, and frustrating, and while I once used to relish the challenge, I now try to avoid it whenever possible.

Of all the desktop operating systems that I've used, the modern Windows operating system is by far the most fragile. It didn't used to be like that. I had Windows NT 3.5/40 systems, and some Windows 2000 machines that were rock solid. Partly this increase in fragility is down to the vast ecosystem of hardware and software it has to support, and partly it is down to the years of legacy that each version drags behind it. But part of the blame also lies at Microsoft's door for not putting enough effort into hardening the system, reducing the effect that fault – in particular software faults – have on the system, and providing better information when things go wrong.

Adding a 🙁 to the Windows 8 BSoD screen isn't enough.

Windows systems keel over, and most of the time the only clue you have as to why is an ambiguous error message, which may or may not be a red herring. This sends you to Google – or Bing – in search of others before you who have suffered a similar problem, and whom you hope may have found a solution, which might be in the form of an updated driver, a registry tweak, command line incantation, or patch.

Sometimes you get lucky. Other times you have to try a number of things before you're successful. And sometimes you end up deciding that it's quicker to nuke the system and start from scratch.

And all the while I'm doing this, precious time is slowing through the hourglass.

The shift to post-PC devices

Another reason why Windows has been relegated to the sidelines at the PC Doc HQ is the proliferation of post-PC devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Now I've been using mobile devices for years, and remember Windows CE and the like running on devices with exotic sounding names such as iPAQ and Jornada (remember those?), but these devices were, without a doubt, companion devices. Basic operations such as installing software or moving data required a PC, and so these devices spent a lot of their lives tethered to a Windows PC.

Then Apple changed everything, first with the iPhone, and then with the iPad. Here were devices that were standalone, leveraging over-the-air software downloads and updates, and cloud storage.

I found that I could do more and more with less and less. Tasks that once required a full-blown desktop or notebook PC could be carried out faster and more efficiently on a smartphone or tablet. Unless I want to use full-blown applications such as Microsoft's Office or Adobe's Creative Cloud suite, then I can make do with post-PC devices. What's more, I can usually get things done faster since I'm not tied to my desk.

And the great thing about these devices (and I'll throw Android in here with iOS) is that they're there when I need them. I've had an iPhone and an iPad for years, and I can only remember a couple of times when they've let me down.

My experience of Windows on tablets closely resembles that of my ZDNet colleague James Kendrick. Bottom line, they let me down too much to want to bother with them. Why would I trade a reliable iPad or Android tablet for an unreliable Windows 8.1 tablet? Why trade a tablet that just works for one that regularly sends me on quests, roaming the Internet looking for the right elixir to fix the system?

Any hopes I had that x86 versions of Windows would be more stable on tablets have gone. In fact, in my experience, the user experience is worse. Sure, most of the time the problem comes down to a rogue drivers or a configuration thrown out of whack, but a problem is still a problem, and these are problems I don't experience with iOS or Android.

Bill Gates was right, there was a market for tablets. Unfortunately, most of those tablets would be powered by operating systems made by Apple and Google. But then, Apple and Google didn't try to shoehorn a desktop operating system onto tablets.

Windows RT is certainly a better choice for tablets, but that's because what you have is the illusion of Windows, rather than the real thing. If Windows RT had come out at around the same time as the iPad, and the software ecosystem matured at the same pace, then Windows RT would be a real contender, but as it stands right now there's little reason to choose it over iOS or Android.

Unless, that is, you want something that look like Windows. Which I don't.

The increasing irrelevance of the operating system

Once upon a time, the operating system was the platform on which people ran applications, but as more and more local applications have been replaced by services running on remote web servers, increasingly the browser has replaced the operating system as the primary platform.

Twitter, Facebook, Gmail and countless other web-based services look the same whether I'm using Windows, OS X, or even Linux. On smartphones and tablets, I have the choice of accessing most of these services either through a web browser or a dedicated app.

It doesn't matter what operating system is running my browser, so I'm free to choose the platforms that give me the least headache.

Change for the sake of change

One of the biggest problems I have with Windows is the way that it inflicts change on the user for no logical reason.

For me, Windows 8 was the peak of "change for the sake of change," removing the Start Menu and pushing the Desktop into the background. Yes, I understand why Microsoft needed the Start Screen (because the Start Menu would be too cumbersome for tablet users), and yes, I understand that Microsoft wanted to give apps center stage, but for hundreds of millions of users running Windows on a desktop or notebook PCs, these changes did nothing but hurt productivity.

Compare this to OS X or even Linux distros. Here you feel a progression from one version to the next. Yes, sometimes there are changes that are disliked, but overall there's a smooth progression from one version to the next. Jarring changes are best kept to a minimum because they have an adverse effect on productivity, adding unnecessarily to the learning curve.

Microsoft backpedaled on some of these changes with Windows 8.1 (which must have been a pain for users who had gone to the effort of learning how to use Windows 8), but for me the damage was done. It's clear that Microsoft is going in a direction that's incompatible with the one I want my operating system to go in.

No appreciation of power users

Microsoft's decision to end the TechNet program, a service which gave power users, enthusiasts, and those who's job it is to test and support Microsoft products cheap and easy access to products, is a strong indicator that the company no longer values what people like this bring to the platform.

Windows is now the expensive option

Windows is now the only operating system I use where I have to pay to upgrade it.

While I don't begrudge paying a fair price for something I need, paying big upgrade bucks for something I can do without makes no sense. PCs easily outlast the lifespan of the Windows operating system, and the idea of paying almost a hundred bucks per system to keep it updated is hard to stomach when it doesn't bring me any tangible benefits.

Going the mac route might seem like an even more expensive option, but having owned a number of systems, including the MacBook Pro that that become my go-to system, the additional cost of the hardware (plus the additional AppleCare warranty) is offset by the fact that these systems have given me months, and in some cases years, or hassle-free use. I've not had to mess around with drivers.

I've not had to go digging through the configuration settings. I've not had to surf the web looking for solutions to obscure error messages.

Shift to console gaming

I used to love PC gaming, but then I got my first console.

While the graphics don't match up, and the gamepad is no substitute for the keyboard and mouse, the years of hassle-free gaming that a console offers, free from driver and patch headaches, more than makes up for the deficiencies. Not only that, but when I consider how long I've had my Xbox 360, It's outlasted several gaming PCs, which has saved me a ton of cash.

Pick the game I want, insert the disc, and BOOM! I'm playing the game in seconds. No patches to download and install, no  graphics card drivers to mess with.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that outside of a few edge cases, Windows isn't for me. If it works for you, then that's great. Stick with what works for you. I for one certainly won't sneer or look down on you or go all fanboy.

After all, I remember – with fondness, and more than a hint of sadness – a time when it worked for me.

Personal preferences are, well, personal.

Can I see a time when I might go back to Windows? Maybe, I'm not ruling anything out, but for the time being, I see Windows playing a smaller and smaller part in my day-to-day computing."

 

A Short Review of OS X Mavericks

Because I know those of you who care about this shit have already read dozens of other reviews from people who actually get paid for posting their opinions online.

First off, it works. In my opinion, that's the best compliment any new OS can receive. In my week-long experience with it so far, nothing's broken. Unlike Windows, which pretty much requires any OS upgrade to be a "clean" install if you don't want issues, Mavericks just laid over Mountain Lion and came right back up. Which is exactly what I have come to expect from the folks in Cupertino.

There are hundreds of changes, but on the surface it looks pretty much the same as Mountain Lion. There are few subtle visual and functional tweaks here and there, but if you weren't looking for specific things and just sat down in front of two machines running the different OSes side by side, they'd look almost identical.

I find one of the big advertised features—Tabs in Finder—helpful, because the Finder was one of the things I hated most after switching over from Windows four years ago. Copying and moving files is so much easier now, but still not as easy under Windows. (Did I just say that?) Why there still isn't an option to simply display a tree structure at the left of the Finder window still amazes me. (If you absolutely must have a Windows Explorer-like file manager, check out MacIntosh Explorer. The program is a little long in the tooth, isn't optimized for retina displays, and occasionally has issues (it's no longer in active development), but if you want immediate access to all those files and folders that Apple thinks you don't need to see without having to go to the Terminal to manually un-hide things, it might be what you're looking for). I use it only rarely, but when I need to, it does the job with a minimum of fuss.

I haven't used dual monitors in nearly a year, so I haven't had a chance to check that bullet feature out.

Likewise, I use 1Password as my password keeper, so iCloud keychain is superfluous to me.

I'm happy to see the faux leather and stitching finally gone from Calendar and Contacts. Also gone is the yellow ruled paper from the Notes program and the gray linen background from the log-in screen.

Having Apple Maps in iOS is pretty much irrelevant to me, although I do keep the icon on my dock in case I just need to look up a quick address. As for the 3D flyovers and the satellite imagery, the visuals aren't any better than they are on iOS. "Only as good as the data" is still true here. Since they now have Maps on the desktop and Find my i-Whatever available through iCloud, I'm hoping that at some point they integrate Find My Friends into OS X as well, although at this point I'd be just as happy if they simply ditched the stitched leather interface of the program in iOS and brought it in line with the rest of Apple's iOS apps.

I don't use iBooks, so that was removed from the dock within seconds of the post-upgrade reboot.

The only things that don't work for any more are two third-party screensavers (Fliqlo and Colour Clock) I had installed, and that's because they relied on Flash in order to run. And if I don't absolutely need to have that resource hog installed, I won't install it. Not a huge loss; I've found suitable replacements.

I also received the iWork and iLife updates. Unlike a lot of the fanboys, I'm not grousing about the changes they made to the iWork apps—probably because even after four years I have yet to fully embrace them as my main productivity tools. Believe me, I've tried on more than one occasion to do it, but with twenty years experience under my belt, whenever I need to sit down and do real work, I fire up Word and Excel. As much as I have come to despise all things Microsoft, sometimes it's easier to just go with what you know.

So that's my two cents. As I said, I'm sure there are hundreds of improvements behind the scenes, but nothing that has really leapt out at me or intruded upon my consciousness. I guess that's a good thing, no?

 

Free? Are They Insane?

It's funny…Ben and I were discussing this a few weeks ago, wondering out loud if Apple would sell OS X Mavericks at the same—or even a lower—price than they did with OS X Mountain Lion. We even joked that they'd give it away for free.

Even with my severely constrained cash flow at the moment, I had mentally set aside $20 (the price of Mountain Lion) to get the upgrade because, well…priorities!

Imagine my "surprise and delight" this morning then—while watching Apple's Keynote—when they announced the OS upgrade would be absolutely free.

Are they insane? Or have they just caused a few more worry lines to appear on the faces of Microsoft executives?

I can already hear the headlines. "APPLE IS DOOMED! THEY KNOW NO ONE WOULD BUY THE UPGRADE SO THEY'RE GIVING IT AWAY FOR FREE!"

Uh. Yeah. About that…

I'd write more, but the download is almost finished.

Bullshit

Like millions of others, I upgraded to iOS7 last week. I generally like it, but it's taken me only a few days to discover a HUGE fail on the part of Apple and the bloom is definitely off the rose because of it.

The built in photo app now allows you to apply filters to your photos, either when you take them or after the fact. Pretty cool, right?

The problem is that when you transfer them off the phone using Apple's own Image Transfer application on the Mac (or through iPhoto), all the filter information is stripped and you're left with only the original photo.

WTF?

And moving the pictures back onto the phone does not restore that lost data.

So all of the original beautifully filtered photos that I took on our trip to Santa Fe are gone (except for the ones I uploaded to Instagram), and the only way I was able to get them back is to re-import them to the phone, reapply the filters, and then email the filtered photos back to me. Yes folks, email.

I would expect this kind of crap from Microsoft, but not Apple.

And did I mention that when you do this you don't get the full resolution photos, even though they're being selected to be sent as full size? Nope, they're only 62% of the original resolution.

This is bullshit.

And Apple Wins Again

Just amazing.

I tried catching this scene earlier today using my old "prosumer" (not my digital SLR) Sony digital camera. It failed miserably—by not only refusing to stop the moth's wings in flight, but also in failing to capture the deep purple color of the flowers. As I was about to give up and walk off, I returned with my iPhone.

MIND. BLOWN.

I'm Not in the Market for a New Phone…

…but like all good fanboys, I followed along with the live blogs of Apple's iPhone keynote this morning. I'm starting to fear that the era of "surprise and delight" along with the hallmark "one more thing" at the end of these presentations died with Jobs.

Apple's control of their secrets is laughable and everything is leaked so far in advance these days, there are no surprises any more. Two models of iPhone, one with colorful polycarbonate cases? Check. Fingerprint scanner on the 5s? Check. Better, faster, system-on-a-chip? Check. Default wallpaper matches color of phone? Check.

As I watched the product videos on the Apple website afterward, it seemed that not even Jony Ivy, Apple's chief product designer, was swallowing the bullshit.

Don't get me wrong. I still love the stuff Apple puts out and will continue to purchase it as needs arise, but they seem to be mired in their own past success and believing so much of their own hype that they're afraid to truly think outside of the box any longer. This is sad.

Nothing I saw today made me want to run out and spend money. Nothing. I think that's a first for me and Apple.

Movie Review

Meh.

Entertaining, but not gripping. Ashton Kutcher was the worst part of the entire film. I never saw Steve on that screen, I only saw Kutcher—and his attempted miming of Job's iconic walk was just…distracting. The film offered only the most superficial insight into what made Jobs tick, and the fact that huge parts of his life were conspicuously absent from the film didn't help matters either.

While it was interesting to see the fictionalization of the early years of Apple, including Steve's dismissal and eventual triumphant return to the company, I'd be much more interested in seeing what transpired after Jobs' return…those years leading up the the product launches that totally reinvigorated the company.

Sadly, the only glimpse of that is at the very start of the film where a much older Jobs is seen introducing the first iPod.

I caught the flick at a $5 matinee, so I didn't feel cheated, but I was expecting…more.

The Happiest Place on Earth

And I mean that with more than a touch of snark. Both Ben and I have made several trips to various Apple Stores over the years, and I've noticed that things have changed with the passing of Mr. Jobs.

When I bought my first Mac back in 2009, I had to search out a blue-shirt to assist. Back then you weren't harangued the instant you walked in the store, and were basically allowed to wander unmolested while looking over the merchandise. Now it seems the moment you walk in the store someone's on your back, especially if you stop to look at anything.

It seems Apple stores have always been crowded, but with the company's increased market share the situation has just gotten out of hand. While the Park Meadows store—the one we frequent the most—isn't that bad, the one at Cherry Creek is always a madhouse. The upside is there always seems to be a lot of nice eye candy around, both in and out of blue shirts.

To Apple's credit, the service we've both gotten at all the stores we've used over the years has been exemplary, and with the new leadership at Apple  that really hasn't changed much. But the key is having all your ducks in a row before going in, something as a tech professional I can certainly appreciate. Make an appointment. Know beforehand that if your device is out of warranty and if you didn't purchase Apple Care beforehand, know that you're going be charged for repairs or battery replacements. A good trick is that if you're hoping to just get an in-warranty iOS device swapped out with new, make an appointment close to the time the store closes. The guys are worn out by that time, want to get the hell out of there, and are much more likely to "just swap it" rather than go through a whole lot of troubleshooting. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.

Another trick I learned is that when you want to purchase the latest-and-greatest but for some reason the store is always sold out, put an order in online after 10 pm for store pickup the next day. Again, I understand it doesn't always work, but it got me an iPhone 5 just a few weeks after its release when I couldn't get one by just walking into the store.

Admittedly, the guys and girls in blue lost some of their super-hero status in my eyes when I started reading tweets from the Apple Anonymous community, but ironically my level of respect for them went up immeasurably. They aren't angels by any stretch of the imagination and some of them have attitudes worse than mine when it comes to dealing with customers, but the fact that they can still manage to provide that exemplary level of customer service when faced with the abject stupidity of the general public on a daily basis speaks reams—and tells me I could never do their job.

 

Mavericks?!?

Work thankfully wasn't terribly busy today, so I—along with probably every other Apple-lovin' geek on the planet who was able to—watched the live feed of Apple's WWDC keynote today. And like everyone else who saw it, I have a few opinions that—since this is my blog and I'll write what I damn well please—you can take or leave as you want.

OS X 10.9

Mavericks? Really? I lived in northern California—on the coast, no less—for sixteen years and never even heard of Mavericks. Apple, you couldn't have come up with just one more cat name before moving on to OS XI? In my opinion, that was just plain stupid, considering 10.9 doesn't appear so radically different from 10.8 that it would justify a whole new naming convention. I think you jumped the gun here, guys.

I was secretly hoping that when Craig Federighi took the stage he'd look at the crowd and say, "I know a lot of you will be disappointed, but there will be no OS X 10.9." After the huge  sigh of disappointment from the audience died down, he'd smile,  point his clicker at the screen and say, "Say hello to OS XI!" And then unveil the most amazingly redesigned OS since X itself appeared—and only then with a new naming convention in place. That would've been the Apple I've come to know and love.

Sadly that didn't happen. I guess we'll will have to wait until next year.

Needless to say, I was underwhelmed by 10.9. Yeah, there are a couple new features (including much-improved power management) that I'll undoubtedly find useful, but on the whole the presentation was a major snooze-fest.

Will I upgrade? Duh!—if only for the better power management.

Mac Pro

"Can't innovate any more, my ass!" ~ Phil Schiller

Amazing. Beautiful. I couldn't decide if it was plucked from the core of a crashed UFO or if it's a Cray Mini-Me. Once again, Apple does what Apple does best and it sort of made up for Maverick. I applaud their vision. But with the overall downturn in desktop PC sales, is anyone paying attention? Will the new Pro be a smashing success? Only time will tell—as evidenced by how quickly the cheap self-destructing knock-offs appear on the market running Windoze 8.

iOS7

I love my iPhone. I love my iPad. But like many have said lately, let's face it—the OS that runs those amazing devices is looking a little long in the tooth. While iOS7's fresh coat of paint—while undeniably beautiful—is less than the wholesale reimaging I was expecting, but the new feature set is everything I'd hoped for. I'll be upgrading my devices the moment it's available.

Every time…

…I have to unbox some cheap-ass piece of black plastic Dell crap at work, I come to appreciate Apple and its aesthetic, quality, engineering, and packaging all the more.

 

Finally!

It took me four months from the time I originally decided to buy one, but I finally got an iPad. I had planned on getting it before Christmas with my year-end bonus, but we all know what happened to that money.

I'm actually quite surprised by how much I like it.

It will never replace my MacBook, but for reading, Tweeting, and general internet browsing, it really can't be beat. Magical? Sorry, Apple. I wouldn't go that far, (just goes to show how innured we've all become to the technology that would've seemed like magic when I was growing up), but I will say it's pretty damn amazing when you stop to think about it.

Oops, I Did It Again

Say hello to my new little friend.

Why did I replace my MacBook Air with a MacBook Pro Retina after only about a year and a half of ownership? Most importantly, it was because I got tired of feeling like I had to treat the Air with kid gloves every time I picked it up, and worrying that the slightest little thing would crack the display panel (yeah, it really is that thin). Secondly, having come from a regular MacBook Pro, I was never completely happy with the quality of that ultra-thin display. In comparison to the Pro, the colors were washed out no matter how much I messed with the color profiles.

There was also issue of case noise. Almost from the very beginning, the Air suffered the most horrible squeaking from the bottom case whenever it was picked up. Some creative engineering on my part minimized it, but even then it still required periodic attention and was by no means a permanent fix.

When the display started developing small "oil slicks" under the glass a few weeks ago I knew I it was time to at least start considering a replacement for those other reasons, even if Apple Care would cover the replacement of the display because of the Newtonian Rings.

When I started looking at replacements, I wasn't immediately sold on the retina display models per se; I just wanted something more robust than the Air. There was also the issue of image retention, or "ghosting" that plagued the first generation of Retina machines that came out. Additionally, at first blush my aging eyes really didn't see that much of a difference in the display to justify the price difference, but when I priced out a regular MacBook Pro with a SSD (having had one in the Air it was now an absolute requirement for all future machines) it was actually cheaper to get the equivalent Retina model. (Apple ain't stupid, people. They want to move these Retinas.)

Of course now that I have it, I love it.  I also appear to be among the lucky ones who have a flawless display. (Or maybe it's because I have one of more recent models and the issue has been corrected.)

Seems About Right

There's a lot of speculation going on about what Apple's going to call their next version of OS X since they're running out of big cats…

Teh St00pid, It BURNS

To be filed under Religion Spoils Everything

From TUAW:

And now for your daily dose of overreaction.

Extreme Orthodox Christians in Russia have upped their complaints about Apple's iconic logo, according to CNet. This specific group of Orthodox Christians say that Apple's logo represents a "blasphemous" attack on the church since it can be seen as a representation of the Christian mythology of Satan tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden.

As CNet points out, the uproar correlates to other religious/political issues happening in Russia right now — namely the jailing of punk band Pussy Riot for its protest against the Russian Orthodox Church and its (and other secularist's) assertions that the Church has the goal of creating a clerical police state.

This isn't the first time Apple's logo has been associated with Satan, and there's plenty of other crazy examples out there (jump to the 2:40 mark in this video) but this is something that Apple should conceivably be worried about. Anti-blasphemy laws are currently being proposed in Russia which, should they pass, could theoretically bar Apple from selling products with its logo on them in the country.