Vista musings......

Image via Wikipedia

Microsoft's Vista OS has had a rocky existence in the computing world.  There is a hate/hate relationship with the media and the industry, and a long suffering "run from the room screaming" relationship from consumers.

I have always tried to discuss Vista in a less passionate way, mainly because I haven't really played with it.  I use a old Powerbook as my main desktop, and have XP and Ubuntu on other computers at home and work.  I don't see myself as an Apple fanboy, it is just that OSX just works, and after trouble shooting Windows boxes all day, it is nice to come home to something that works.

As mentioned, my exposure to Vista had been minimal until last night when I was asked to sort out a couple of problems on a friend's laptop.  The problems ranged from: the laptop not working on the home wireless point - to email not working - to "Vista isn't compatible with my work email so how do I downgrade to XP?"

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The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 details, and Price drop.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="295" caption="Thanks Dell nice pic."][/caption]

We are starting to see the details emerge for the Dell E Netbook, and as you know from previous posts, I'm one interested puppy.  The name given to Dell's offering to the UMPC market is the "Inspiron Mini 9", but was it worth the wait?

Last month I posted on leaked details which weren't too far off the mark.  The changes that we will see are a 1.6GHz Atom processor, the rest looks pretty standard.  I'm still waiting on being able to do a proper order to determine the real price, at this stage it is justpre -order with a AU$599 online price.  Because of the way Dell works, I'm interested as to how much we'll be able to customise the Mini 9, and what the real price will be in the end.

Last week I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with the Asus Eee PC 901 - Windows version (thanks, Tim!), which was quite impressive.  The only flaw I could see was having the 2 small drives.  Tim said that he had to reconfigure the 901 and install XP onto the larger drive.  This was because when he installed MS Office, he was out of space.  Now, the Linux version of the 901 comes with a 20GBSSD, not sure why if it is the 4GB + 16GB combo.  If it is, then I would say that you would be having similar problems with space.

The Dell seems to get around this by just offering up to 16GB SSD.  So I guess this means that it will be just the one drive.  Another difference is that the 901 also has the larger battery pack, 6 cells I think, where the Dell comes with a 4 cell.  Again, I'll be keen to see if the battery is an  upgrade option.

In the all important $ column, I note that the 901 was dropped to AU$649, and so at this time, with the Dell weighing in at AU$599, it seems a good deal.  But I'll be waiting till I can order one before I get too excited.

Jason Remnant


While i was editing this article, Dell updated the website so you can order the Inspiron Mini 9, just to make me look silly. There is not much to say, but the options are limited, limited to the details above really.  There are no options for the SSD, you get the 16GB, or the battery.  Also no Ubuntu version yet, just XP Home.  I still like it, and at the price, the Mini 9 could be aEee PC killer.

Jason Remnant Again.

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UMPC of Choice

Image by Maverick Dal via Flickr

I am a technology whore.  There, I have said it, I want an iPhone, I want new Mac, and I want the new version of Ubuntu.  I probably don't need any of the above (although I could use a new desktop), but of all the new trends in the tech gadget world, the Mini mobile notebook is one that I could use.  Why?  Well, because I live on the net, I get all my news on the net, I communicate over the net, and do a lot of work over the net.  So a device that lets me do that without the overheads of weight, size and cords is my new cool device of choice.

Mobile devices are not new, in the old days a couple of the top manufacturers produced ultra mobile devices but the timing and the price were wrong, especially the price.  Asus may have just been testing the waters with the first Eee PC, but their timing was right, and delivering a geek gadget at a reasonable price gave more people the opportunity to find a use for it.

These ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) hit that sweet spot between the cell phone and the laptop.  Because the cloud is so much more important to me today, I find myself trying to live on my phone, but needing more.  I brought a cool laptop that would replace the need for a desktop, but find that it is either not portable enough or too important to head out with.  This weekend is a perfect example, I'll be heading out to a Fly Fishing Course on the river.  I don't need the computing power of the Laptop, but I wanted to spend some time writing, the old Imate Jasjam could do it, but really.....

So it looks like I need to look at the Eee PC, or maybe a MSI Wind or maybe....  What Asus started with the Eee PC looks to be finished by just about everyone else.  I though I might put down some details on the main contenders and see if anyone has any ideas.

Choices are:

Asus Eee PC 901, 1000

MSI Wind

Medion Akoya E1210

Acer Aspire One

Dell E

Thanks to umpcportal.com for the specs and pricing.

Now as much as I'd love to pick one of these up, there is a slight problem with actually getting one.  I have seen a couple of the MSI Wind's on Ebay and we are starting to see some of the Asus models filter into retail here in Australia, but as with most new toys, the pricing is a little "early adopter".

The Dell E interests me, 'cause I like Dell but there is only a blog post on the US site and nothing on the AU site, so more waiting for me.  The Acer Aspire One was launched at the start of the month so I'll need to do some looking around to find one in the wild.

Jason Remnant

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To Vista or not to Vista, or maybe Ubuntu, is that even a question?

Image by Blyzz via Flickr

A couple of days ago a company owner, who is doing a major office upgrade and during this upgrade is upgrading all his office desktops, asked me which Operating System should he go for?  They currently run Windows XP and he has heard that Microsoft are killing it at the end of the month.  That leaves Vista, and with the press that Vista is getting he is unsure that it is going to be the best choice for his business.

Now I'm a bit of a multi-platform guy, so he also asked if Linux had an offering that could compete, or if OSX was something he should be looking at?  I'm sure this question is not a new one.  Any forward thinking Owner or IT Manager at some stage has looked at solutions other than Windows and flirted with the idea of sawing off the shackles that Microsoft has placed on them, and looked to save some money, up security, and improve stability.

There are a number of questions here, and I'll try to put them in a useful order.

Windows XP

The first thing to do is to tidy up the whole "what is happening to Windows XP?" (the much beloved and quite stable older version of Windows).  XP is up there with 98 SE in my opinion, and at the moment is my favorite Windows desktop of choice.  I will say at this point that I haven't spent much time with Vista.

Microsoft will stop selling boxed and OEM copies of XP to retail at the end of June.  This also means the Companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard can't pre-install XP on new machines after that date.

But there is another option which is normally not talked about much, but with XP it looks like it's going to be popular.  Have you ever heard of Downgrade rights?  Well, Dell has and it is going to allow them to sell XP pre-installed on machines after the deadline.  The idea is that you purchase Vista but request XP Pro, and Dell will install XP Pro and give you a Vista disc, conditions do apply.  Apparently you could also have Windows 2000 if you wanted.

This may sound a little fiddly but it is great if you need a hardware upgrade and still have legacy software which Vista won't support.  Or if you're a company buying volume machines for a upgrade.

Support for XP has been moved to 2014, and with Microsoft's rush to support the growing mobility market, XP will be available to 2010.  So if you are happy with your XP Pro you should be alright for a little while at least.

Windows Vista

Probably not the most popular Windows version at the moment, Vista suffers from performance issues and a range of compatibility probleMicrosoft with older software and hardware.  Even with Service Pack 1 dropping in March and fixing the odd problem, many are still weary of a change to Vista hence the "...pry XP out of my cold, dead hands" coming from many.

As a Sys Admin, at this time, none of my clients have upgraded to Vista because the line is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" not "let's create lots of problems and stop the business making money".  That being said, this is the same with any upgrade of any hardware or software that is a major user interface, remenber when XP dropped?

But what if you are planning a complete desktop-hardware upgrade, as the example in the opening paragraph.  Well, it is all in the planning.  The major issue with Vista is the hardware requirements, so if you are upgrading the hardware, you have that covered.  As for the software problems and problems with unsupported peripherals, as with any upgrade, you would need to investigate them - well, that it what your IT guy is for.

To be honest, if your existing XP network is running well, I would suggest getting the new hardware with XP at this stage.  As you bring the office up to a 06-07 standard with all software and peripherals (e.g. printers, scanners, modems),  you can then start to roll out Vista at no extra cost.

Ubuntu Linux

So, is it time to go the whole hog and ditch Microsoft?  Well, that is a big question, especially if you have a number of people on staff.  As much as the latest version of Ubuntu (8.04) is probably the best I've used in the "ease of setup" and "compatibility" areas, the key point is that I have used Ubuntu before.

There is a learning curve with any platform change, and the majority of users don't enjoy it.  Truth be told, there is little that you could not replace in the office with a Linux OS like Ubuntu.  Wine makes installing and using Windows only software reasonably easy, but there is still a big list of professional programs that will not work.

Switching to Linux for your whole IT solution is possible, and there are many benefits. The main one is the cost.  Having a pretty well free Operating System, then adding OpenOffice (also free), and then adding any other free software you need - it's all low cost.  There are starting to be a few software providers offering Linux versions of the professional programs to purchase, with full support, and there are many Linux-only programs to purchase with full support.

Even though the latest Ubuntu is good enough that I feel a few could switch over to it as their desktop, I can't see there being a mass exodus.  As much as it is very do-able for a company to switch over, especially if you're not using too many currently unsupported programs, it would take a united effort to get the Microsoft fed staff to adjust to the UI differences.

One of the big things that could influence the growth of acceptance to Liunx in the workplace is the emergence of Cloud Computing.  Ubuntu has access to all the necessary software to take advantage of the new Web 2.0 application scene, and even with Microsoft Live Mesh looking like it will be cross platform, Ubuntu is a cheap way to access it.  Ubuntu would be the perfect home and small business platform if it weren't for Apple's OSX.

OSX

Now from the outset I will say that I'm using OSX (10.5 Leopard) as my main desktop, I don't consider myself a fanboy, but when you have something that works....

That being said, OSX has most of the problems facing Ubuntu when getting into the workplace.  Plus the cost, at this time you need to purchase Apple hardware to get OSX, and even though the machines are good looking, a bunch of Dell boxes might go a bit further in the work place.

OSX delivers a great user experience and that alone should be a reason to consider it.  Add in the security angle, while it lasts, and you have a heavily supported, usable, and good looking computer.  Once you add in VMware or Parallels - software that will let you run any Windows program, you almost have the best solution to move away from Windows.  If it wasn't for the premium price, OSX would be my suggestion, but you might need to weigh up the cost of moving from one large dictatorship to another.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, any major change in your IT direction for your company needs to be looked at verrrrryyyyy closely.  Big changes will cost a lot in training, trouble shooting, and frustration in the beginning, well before the benefits of the move can be realised.  So you need to make sure that everyone is on-board.   Whatever you do, don't set up a committee to roll out new changes, or it'll take you a couple years to get it happening - in which case you may be ready for the next up and coming version.

It is nice though, that we are at a time in computing history when there are realistic alternatives to Windows - that actually work and are viable for the workplace.   And with Apples market share increasing, and Linux's foothold in the newish mobility market, we could be seeing some interesting changes shortly.

Jason Remnant