Nerd stuff

I’m really not sure how much longer I can live without one of these:

That is what my mornings totally are like, just without the fabulous apartment (and a few other minor points of difference). I’m also wondering whether I need one at work and maybe even in the kitchen?

For some inexplicable reason that I do not care to explore, it won’t be available till April. April!! My new-gadget lust is going to be unbearable by then. I almost lost my job for being so intolerable during the months before the release of the first iPhone (true story). I have a feeling this is going to be similar.

Last weekend I fell off the wagon and bought a HP DreamScreen. It was lame, so I took it back the next day. No touchscreen, no multi-function apps, too slow. I will just have to wait patiently and find another way to satisfy my obsession with technology.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Windows 7. These are some of the features that – in my mind – set it apart from Snow Leopard (which I also use on a daily basis).

Some of these may have been implemented in Vista, if that is the case however, they’ve been improved in 7 so still warrant being included in this listicle.

1. Windows Media Center: I now have a Dell Zino HD connected to my LCD TV and have switched from XBMC to WMC7. I haven’t had any problems with format/codec issues. Bitttorrent and iTunes content are streamed effortlessly from my iMac (admittedly only 2m away). It works brilliantly with the $15 remote I bought off eBay and so far has been drama-free (even Lucio can use it). I love the music interface – very slick. Way better than AppleTV. I also love that it comes with USB digital TV tuner capabilities – I’m now getting HD TV via a small USB antennae, with full EPG and DVR service. OSX is incredibly lacking in this department.
2. Thick window frames: I’m not sure if that’s actually what they’re called, but the edges on application/document windows have been increased sufficiently to actually alloy you to click and re-size without ‘accidently’ clicking on 10 other things in the background before getting the one you wanted.
3. Sidebar: I’m a long-time sidebar user, but since W7 I’ve ditched the others and am using the built in sidebar/widgets. Simple, well designed, functional. Weather, CPU/memory, Gmail and an actually-readable calendar and clock. Small complaint: I would like them to remain visible all the time, not locked to the desktop.
4. Side-by-side window snap: I’m making the name up again, but when you drag one window all the way left, it resizes to take up the left 50% of the screen, then when you drag another right, it – you guessed it – takes up the right 50%. Brilliant – anything that reduces window switching is a win in my books.
5. Themes: Yes, every OS has them, but the ones shipped with Windows 7 are gorgeous. I love the ‘creatures’ and ’scenes’. Amazing artwork and very out-of-the-box for a company like MS.
6. IIS7: A full-featured web server, on every machine. Secure and easy to administer. Love it. Perfect for beta-testing a certain top-secret online project that a few of you know about already.
7. Task-bar previews: This actually saves me legitimate amounts of time each day. Hover over a running application icon in the task bar, and a preview of all the currently open windows is shown. No lag. Click on the one you want and it comes to the front.
8. ‘Open recent’ integration: Recent Documents was always slow and annoying on previous versions of Windows. Now you can click on application in the start menu and the files you previously had open that app are listed in a pop-out panel. Fast and useful.
9. Search All Programs: Yes, it’s a direct rip of Spotlight on the Mac, but for whatever reason (positioning?) it feels even more useful. I haven’t had to hunt through ‘All Programs’ to find what I want since upgrading. The search is even smart enough to find what you want, even when you don’t know what it’s called. Eg. type “change desktop” and the search results will take to the appropriate control panel.
10. Automatic maintenance schedule: This should have been implemented long ago. Every so often the computer will automatically run various maintenance programs (defrag, registry cleanup, updates, etc), keeping things in check and running smoothly. Very smart.