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What is it that makes most people never even consider a Mac when it comes time for their next computer purchase?

A little background. I have been in the IT field for 17 years. I owe a lot of my career to Microsoft. I remember a time before the GUI and MS Windows. I remember Windows 1.0. I had to work with the less-than-elegant pseudo GUI that was part of MS-DOS 4.x. I felt, at the time, that Windows 3.x really nailed it. Very nice. Windows95, even nicer I thought. I was running WindowsNT before NT was hip. 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.x. Windows2000 is probably the best operating system Microsoft has ever put out, but I have not had a chance to spend much time with Windows2003 yet. I have managed MSMail and Exchange in all of its versions. So, as you can see, I have a whole lot of experience with Microsoft. 4000 users. 350 servers.

So what’s my point? The point of that little trip through the past versions of Microsoft Windows shows you something important. Baggage. Microsoft has to support a ton of legacy code in their programs. Much of that legacy code was never meant to be secure. It was meant to get easier and easier for the end user to use with each version. It is not easy to have it both ways. You usually either have it secure, like OpenBSD unix, or you have it easy to use, like Microsoft Windows.

But all of that changed for me April 1, 2002. I had made fun of the Macintosh computer for most of my career. It always seemed like a toy to me and something that just couldn’t be taken serious. It seemed to have its place in the graphic world, but that was it. At one point in my career i even made it a point to do everything I could to eliminate the Macs from our Graphics department. I purchased the fastest, biggest, baddest PCs that you could buy at the time and also got the Windows versions of all the apps they were running. They reluctantly agreed to try them out side by side with their precious Macs. They hated it. And me. Even though the applications were pretty much the same, I had taken away the “feel” of their computing experience and introduced occasional crashes that they didn’t need to deal with too frequently before the switch. Sometimes it was just a nuisance, sometimes they would lose work. Not pretty. But I convinced them to hang in there and I finally got all but one Mac out of the company. Wipee for me.

If Apple had not released OS X I would still be on the Windows side making fun of all of you Mac users. But they did. And then they released the flat panel iMac, which I thought looked cool but still thought was a toy. I had read that Apple had built OS X on the base code of BSD unix. BSD unix was the base for my favorite secure operating system, OpenBSD. This is what made me decide to take a look at it. So, tax-free computer week came around in my state of Pennsylvania, and it was bonus time at work. A very dangerous combination. In all my years in IT, I have never, ever, had to buy a computer. I was always able to get one from work that I could use at home. This is important for our story since I was about to spend money on a computer for myself for the first time in 16 years.

I am fortunate that I get to work with a lot of smart people. I work with one guy who is undeniably the smartest person that I know when it comes to technology. He was going over to the local Apple reseller to take a look at the new 15″ flat panel iMac and asked if I wanted to go. I had done a little bit of reading about OS X and had seen pictures of the new iMac and figured I would tag along. An hour later I had purchased my first computer. I even had to wait for it. My name went on a list and I had to wait for the store to fill orders with the 1 or 2 it would be getting a week. But I did it anyway. I had to have it. The funny thing is, as sound as I knew it was underneath it all, the thing that got me was the interface. I’m a sucker for a pretty face. Especially when it minimizes an application the way it does. If you are a Windows user you owe it to yourself to check out a Mac just to see the “Genie effect” that happens when you minimize an application. Worth the trip.

So now I have this thing at home and I need to set it up, right. I am prepared to load CDs, and then download additional drivers for my digital camera, printer, and video camera. Not necessary. Everything came up, asked me a few questions and welcomed me to my new interface. Sweet. plugged in my digital camera. iPhoto fires up and I can import all of my pictures. And make a book. Or a web page. Included with OS X. Nice. Plug in the video camera and can edit my movies with iMovie, also included. Edit and then save it to DVD. No problem. With each minute in front of the new iMac I am more and more impressed with what I can do. It really is a thing of beauty.

But what about all of the applications that you can get for Windows that aren’t available on the Mac. Hey, you got me there. I still have a Windows based PC in my house for just those kind of applications, but for most things I use there is a Mac alternative or I have been able to find a different program for the Mac that does everything I need it to. And sometimes more. I use my computers for some pretty ordinary, boring things;

I browse the Internet – check. I check my email – check. I use Quicken for home finances – check. I organize my music – check. I use MS Word – check. I use MS Excel – check. I use MS PowerPoint – check.

Did I mention that; My built-in email program does an incredible job of filtering spam for me? I haven’t crashed in 16 months? I haven’t dealt with Viruses in 16 months? I have never had a worm bring my Mac to its knees? I actually have fun using my Mac? The more I use it the more I want to do?

Now, to be fair, I am sure many people will say that the Mac has fewer worms and viruses because of its smaller market share. People state that the Mac only has about 3% of the market. But what market? That may be 3% of the entire installed base of computers, but not the home market. If Microsoft Windows has a bazillion licenses in place, I bet that the majority of them are for businesses. When you pull that share out and focus on consumers, Apple has a larger share than 3%. I have no idea what that is because I don’t know if anyone even keeps those statistics. But I think that OS X is less susceptible to worms and viruses because of the unix history that is running beneath it, not because of market share.

So, can the Mac run AutoCAD or any of the other myriad of specialty applications out there? Maybe, maybe not. But do you use those specialty apps at home? For most people the answer is probably “no.” Which brings me all the way back to my original question: why do you stick with Windows? Why deal with the constant issues that are out there? I know WindowsXP is MUCH better than Microsoft’s other consumer operating systems, but it is still carrying all of that baggage necessary to maintain compatibility with devices you probably don’t own or haven’t owned in a decade. I can multitask better with OS X than any version of MS Windows I have ever touched – which is all of them. I can browse the net, listen to music, check my email, and burn a DVD without breaking a sweat. Try that with your Windows based PC and see which application slows to a crawl first.

My own thoughts on this are that it comes down to education. Apple should do a better job of educating Windows users on the merits of OS X. Their Switch campaign was cute and all, but it never showed the operating system even once. Most Windows users have never even seen it. They are probably just like I was back in early 2002 before I bought my first Mac. Classic is a joke to them. Apple is a niche player. There’s no apps for those computers. Macs are too expensive. Get it in front of them. Show them a screenshot at least! For as creative as Apple is, I don’t think they have done a very good job in this area. Apple, you can do better.

So I now have the 15″ flat panel iMac. Then I added a 5GB iPod. Then a 12″ G4 Powerbook (which is on at least 21 hours a day and is used to manage the environment I described above). Then a 30GB iPod. Then an iSight. On second thought, maybe you should stick with Windows. Apple is like a drug. The more you use it, the more you crave it. The more creative you want to be. It isn’t just a computer anymore. It is a dependable device that is there to help you with anything you need done. But I can’t go back. Everything just works and I don’t want to deal with the hassles of constant driver updates and security patches..Especially when you have to reboot after almost every one of them. I even took my wife’s Windows2000 Dell notebook and put Red Hat Linux 9.x on it. She used it for web browsing and email. I no longer have to worry about her running Windows update, or making sure her AV is up to date nightly. There are still patches in these worlds, but our house is a lot more secure since I pulled Windows from all but 1 computer in the house. Maybe the key is not to replace that old Windows PC when you are ready for a new one, but maybe people could add a Mac to their household and see how it works out. I am willing to bet that the Mac starts to get more and more use until the Windows PC is rarely used. Except for hardcore games. You got me there.

So, why don’t you consider a Mac when it comes to your next computer purchase?

Unbelievable. More variants of the Blaster worm have been released and a new email virus called SoBig.f is running through networks rendering some email systems unusable.

(more…)

But I just finished reading the South Beach Diet and it makes a lot of sense to me.

I bought 3 books to read; The South Beach Diet, Atkins For Life, and The Schwarzbein Principle II. After reading them all, and living the Atkins Diet a while ago, I think the South Beach Diet makes the most sense for me. Refined sugars are evil, pure and simple. I want more carbs than I can consume on the Atkins Diet. I don’t really want to drop back in to ketosis. I’m willing to make it a change for life and if I could modify the Atkins Diet by adding more vegetables in to the mix, I would be pretty satisfied. This is exactly what the South Beach Diet does. So, here I go, starting out at 287. The first 2 weeks are pretty restrictive, but it picks up from there. We’ll see how I do with this one, and I have my doctor’s support to plow forward with high protein, controlled carbs. Oh, as for the Schwarzbein Principle, it just doesn’t speak to me. I really am finding it hard to even read the book. Too clinical for me. I have a nephew that just became a doctor and I may ask him to translate it for me since there might be some really good information in there, but I am apparently not smart enough to get the info out of the pages.

I would like to think that most Windows users have now patched their PCs for the latest and greatest vulnerabilities, but 1.4 million of you must have ignored the warnings.

I’m not sure what all it takes. Microsoft came out with numerous warnings about a flaw in the Windows operating system that affects just about everyone. The FBI warned people. The Department of Homeland Security warned people. I saw it on the news. If you run a more recent version of Windows it probably nagged you to death that new updates were ready to install. But at least 1.4 million of you decided not to listen. What else could anyone do (other than create an operating system with zero security issues, but let’s not go there for this discussion).

There are so many of you out there with broadband connections (DSL/Cable Modem/etc) that it made it incredibly easy for this worm to spread very, very fast. There is a responsibility in owning a Personal Computer that many of you may not be aware of – keep the damn things patched! If not out of fear of losing your own data, then at least out of consideration of the possibility of the rest of us losing data because of your PC. So I’m going to pass on some of the best advice 1.4 million of you have apparently ever received; go download yourself a copy of ZoneAlarm at http://www.zonealarm.com and install it on your PC. It is a free firewall and would have protected you from this and numerous other worms that run wild on the internet every single minute of every single day. Did I mention it was free? You can always upgrade to the Pro version for a few bucks for even greater protection. If you happen to be running WindowsXP there is a firewall built in for you. All you have to do it turn it on. I’ll leave that for you to figure out. I switched to Apple’s OS X and Red Hat’s Linux a while ago and left most of this stuff behind.

I also run a firewall. It’s driven by one of the best operating systems on the planet, OpenBSD. And watching the logs it is very clear to me that a bunch of you still need to patch. And quickly.

So, here’s your checklist.

1) Get yourself a personal firewall or turn on the one that you may already have. 2) When Microsoft, the FBI, Homeland Defense, etc. warn about patching your computer – LISTEN TO THEM. 3) At a minimum, when anybody tells you that there is a patch for a little thing called RPC – patch. Even if you ignore all others, if you hear RPC anywhere in the sentence, run screaming to your computer and run Windows Update. You’ll thank me later.

If you don’t feel you are able to do any of the above, or have friends relatives, neighbors, or a decent paperboy that can help you through it, power your computer off, place it back in its original packing, and leave it out for the garbage men. You are apparently not ready for the responsibility of owning a Windows-based Personal Computer.

Or, you can always go by a Mac or Linux based computer and sit back and write comments on your blog about how all the Windows users still don’t seem to get it when it comes to keeping their system patched.

File fragmentation. Do you think it really matters when it comes to system performance?

When files get written to a hard drive, they are usually placed where ever there is a big enough chunk to place the entire file. All of this space in one large chunk is contiguous file space. If there is not enough contiguous file space to write the file, the file will get written in numerous smaller chunks where ever there is enough room for them to go. The file gets broken down in to fragments. When you need to access that file later, the disk has to go grab all of those fragments, put them together in memory, and present them to you as your one large file. Now make a change to that file. Anything at all. When you save it back to the disk it has to write all of those fragments where ever it can find space for them.

Supposedly, modern operating systems like Windows2000 (or newer) and Apple’s OS X are supposed to handle those fragments better than older operating systems. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but I can remember a time when Microsoft stated that fragmentation was not really an issue with the NTFS file system. Today the tune has changed and there is a defragmenting utility included with the operating system. Some people even have disks that are so fragmented that they can’t boot up.

So I started to do a little research and decided that OS X could probably use a little defragging itself. This all started because my beautiful little 12″ Power Book gets incredibly hot to the left of the track pad, right under my left wrist. Directly under the skin of the PB is the hard drive. Under it is the Airport Extreme wireless card. I figured that the heat that I was seeing might just be from all the spinning that the hard drive had to do. I thought that the drive could be working harder than it needed to due to excess file fragmentation. Doing a little research at the Apple forums showed that many people actually recommend defragmenting and most recommended the program Drive10. Not too many recommended Norton Utilities 8 for the Mac due to numerous problems with older versions, but I did find some people that have had no problems at all with the newer version. Forums are a funny thing, most of the people that post there have problems and are in search of help to fix them, so most of the posts tend to come of a little negative. Take that with a grain of salt when you frequent anyone’s forums for help.

So I headed to my local CompUSA store today in search of Drive10. It was nowhere to be found. But, sitting right there in front of me was Norton Utilities 8, so I picked is up instead. Loading it was very easy and I made sure to run the LiveUpdate program to make sure I had any patches that Symantec may have released since publishing the CD. What I was really after was the program Speed Disk. I remembered it from the PC world and always found it to work very well for me. Speed Disk recommended that I run the optimizer from the bootable Norton CD since I was trying to optimize my boot volume. That was easy enough and it then recommended that I run Norton Disk Doctor before running Speed Disk. So I did. NDD found a lot of problems that it marked as major, which made me a little nervous, I am still new to the Mac world and am not completely sure how to recover from disaster yet, as I am in the PC world. So I blindly followed Norton’s on screen advice and allowed it to fix all my problems. And it did. Then I could run Speed Disk, which took well over an hour to complete, but showed that my previously severely fragmented disk now had no fragmentation. Impressive, but I doubt that I would really have none.

Then I booted back in to regular OS X and started up my regular programs. Immediately I noticed a difference. Fewer bounces to start up an application. Faster feel all around. Is it a tremendous difference? Not really, but it is a noticeable difference and was enough of a difference that I feel it was worth the cost of the software. I have now set it to run defragmenting nightly at midnight in the background while I am, hopefully, asleep.

Will any of this work for you? It depends. If you do decide to invest in or run your current defragmentation tool, back up your data first so that you can recover in case of disaster. Oh, I almost forgot, my left wrist is no longer on fire as I write this. Maybe the drive isn’t working as hard as it was before so it might spin a little less, which should translate to running a little cooler. Your mileage may vary, so don’t get upset with me if you try this and have any issues, but for me it was worth the money.