Richard

Member since: Mar 25th, 2006

Richard's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
TUAW.com	5 Comments
Download Squad	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

My weekend with Boot Camp and Windows (TUAW.com)

Aug 22nd 2006 4:18PM "I'm reluctant to install it on my Mac Pro until I get my second 500GB HD. I'm currently waiting for it to go through an RMA cycle since the one I got sent to me was DOA. I understand that BootCamp 1.1 allows for putting the Windows Partition on a drive other than the first one. "

You may wish to hold off longer; there is a known problem with the SATA drivers for Windows for the Mac Pro. For some reason, Windows sees the SATA drives a Programmed I/O mode only rather than DMA, this creates some serious performance problems.

I have XP installed on its own drive and while the setup it easy, performance is irritating at times.

I have read, but have not tried it yet, that you can install a PATA drive in the bay where the second optical drive would be installed and see better performance.

eMusic hits No. 2 in digital music sales, thanks iPod (TUAW.com)

Aug 1st 2006 8:55AM I'd still be on eMusic if they changed their pricing scheme, however. I don't want to pay $X a month for Y downloads, I want to pay $X PER download. I much prefer a pay as you go scheme so I can spend money when I feel like it, not spend money when I don't, and be in control of my bank book.

ActiveWords - The most useful utility I'm no longer using (Download Squad)

Jul 23rd 2006 9:09AM "90 something percent of free software never goes anywhere, is unsupported and mostly crap."

So is 90 percent of commercial software, the difference being you usually don't know until you've already paid for it.

One of the reasons I'm not using Windows for my personal work anymore is that I'm sick and tired of dealing with things like "Windows Genuine Advantage", "product activation", et al. I shouldn't have to call Microsoft on the phone and prostrate myself before them, hoping for their benevolence, just because I put in a SATA RAID controller and have to re-install the OS from scratch. (That really happened to me on my work machine.)

For the same reason, I haven't upgraded Photoshop since version 7.

And I think the blogger's point is relevant to this: I am a paying customer. But Adobe hasn't seen any money from me for Photoshop 8, Creative Suite 1, and Creative Suite 2, any version of Acrobat since version 5.0, any version of GoLive since version 6. Microsoft hasn't seen a dime from me for Office 2003 or 2005. If the Universal version of Office for Mac requires activation, I'll continue using 2004 even if I have to run it under Rosetta because it is good enough.

I like commercial software and I have paid for everything installed on my computer. I prefer Photoshop to GIMP, Office to OpenOffice; but rising costs and deployment headaches like activation schemes have me looking at OSS alternatives where possible.

On a more personal note, I resent being automatically assumed to be a criminal, and that is what these activation schemes feel like to me.

Best Buy selling MacBooks, Pros, iMacs, etc. (TUAW.com)

Jun 1st 2006 11:29AM The big problem with this, that nobody is addressing, is that Best Buy does not sell OS X compatible software.

What will happen when the happy customer of a new Mac goes to the software shelves, buys a bunch of boxes...and none of them install?

Why Boot Camp doesn't mean the end of software for Macs (TUAW.com)

Apr 5th 2006 3:36PM Well, I've been running Macs since 2001, and I still run Windows machines and like it. I have yet to see a Mac that can run World of Warcraft like any PC of equal and sometimes lesser price, and no Mac in the world can run Visual Studio 2005 which is how I make a living.

The ability to dual boot my Intel iMac is a big relief. Less clutter, fewer cables, a cleaner work environment. I just can't fit two computers comfortably in my office.

IBM/Sony Apple's biggest threat? (TUAW.com)

Mar 25th 2006 10:15AM There is a real Apples to Oranges comparison going on in that article. The market for Cell processors and for personal computers are two very different beasts, and may have been one of the reasons Apple unhitched its wagon from the PPC.

Sony's biggest problem is their desire for lock-in; Apple does this to in some instances (iPod + iTMS = FairPlay), and has been fairly open in others (QuickTime). Lock-in is very hard for Sony to pursue in the personal computer market because anybody and their aunt can make a Windows PC, but for every failure in the consumer market (MiniDisc) they have had success in others (BetaCam->BetaCamSP-DigiBeta). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but on the consumer side, PlayStation excepted, their historical performance has not been that good.

Apple's biggest enemy is Apple. There are a lot of stupid things Apple could do to harm their future prospects, and the biggest one is this: ignoring the customers. Many Apple solutions are 80% solutions. Front Row is a classic example: it works (most of the time), but a lot of people are asking where the DVR capability is. Compared to Windows Media Center, it is lacking in some functionality, but the problem is it is the functionality buyers are looking for and there are competitors who will give it to them today.