New Tech, ie RSS and Windows LIVE

[SkyWarp]

With my new job, I have been experimenting with some "newer" technology of the Internet world. With the re-emergence of the Browser wars (Firefox 1.5, Netscape 8.1, and the soon to be released IE 7) it seems that new or recent technologies are being integrated into the newer versions of the browsers.

Add to that the next release of Windows ("Vista") and the current beta testing of Microsoft's "LIVE" technology software, things are starting to at least get a little more interesting again after the last few years of boring same ol' same ol' technology.

Anyway, I am just curious as to how many of the average every day person (that's all of us) :) is using some of this technology.

For instance, I am now part of the Windows Live Mail (new version of hotmail) BETA and the Windows Live Messenger (new version of MSN Messenger) BETA testing. {{sorry, sent out my 5 invites already, but you should be able to get signed up yourself on their site}}

In addition I have been playing with rss and just starting to get into podcasting. Both of which are actually VERY similar. In fact virutally identical.

So how many of you out there use RSS? That is my biggest question. I don't! LOL, yeah I am the person asking the question and I don't even use it. At least not yet. I have been messing around with it at work recently and implemented it more meaningfully into my own site recently, but I am just wondering if most of you are like me. "What is RSS and who really cares?"

By the way, the new hotmail (or Live Mail) is interesting, but nothing really significant in my opinion, but the new MSN Messenger (or Live Messenger) does have some significant new features along with a new look.

[Purple]

I don't even know what it is! I like my Mozilla and Eudora and I use Trillian for IM. It combines Yahoo, AIM, ICQ and MSN accounts into the same program. It's free, very easy to use and best of all isn't tied to Microsoft or AOL! It's not very good about direct-linking with other AIM users though.

My email account is with my ISP. I have a Gmail, but it's more back-up and to use for registering on message boards and stuff.

[Alaina]

Sorry, SkyWarp, you're speaking a whole 'nother language as far as I'm concerned! And being technologically impaired, I LIKE the 'same 'ol, same 'ol' myself, so I'm not sure I'd want this RSS even if I knew what it was! Heck, I still can't figure out how to check my email on my cell phone!

[Timothy]

RSS I've not used. I use windows as little as possible, I use OS X for every day work. *smiles happily*

Timothy

[rokia]

Yes, Yes, Tim, your OS X is superior to the average bear.

But can you play GAMES on it <G>.

::smiles innocently::

--Rokia

[SkyWarp]

Yes, Yes, Tim, your OS X is superior to the average bear.

But can you play GAMES on it <G>.

::smiles innocently::

--Rokia

It is my honest opinion that if Apple had been a little higher on game producers lists several years ago when games for PC's were first really making it big, we might have a completely different world right now.

But now that MAC is starting to lose even in the art and video departments to PC's, I find it tough for myself to EVER go to a MAC, even though more manufactures are starting to put some of their games onto the MAC.

But until Valve creates a Half Life game for MAC before the PC, you might as forget my change over. :) The biggest problem with Apple is the price. And until Apple lowers prices a whole lot more, I don't think they will ever succeed beyond what they have now, even with the countless attacks and bugs in Microsoft products.

I would guess a "free" OS like various Linux versions might have the best chance to upset Microsoft.

I would like to make this prediction though.............


I believe that in the not so distant future, OS's like Windows and OS X will be FREE and you will simply pay for extras or rental usage fees. For example, Windows will be free to install and you get so many months free, but then you need to pay rental fees (subscriptions like Anti-virus programs) or pay for extras like MSN Messenger and Windows Media Player.

[Timothy]

Yes, Rokia my love, I can play games on it. I do often, in fact, I've got a Mac copy of the Sims 2 (vastly stabler and faster on both ibooks than our PC copy running on a PC which is supposed to be faster, have a better graphics card and better sound...)

Frankly, Windows XP sucks for video and audio editing. Big time. And that's what I do most of, so, buying a PC notebook of this power and reliability was not only going to be more expensive, it was also going to be a waste of time as there's no half-way decent editing package for linux, Premiere for windows is not as stable as for Mac... need I say more? Oh, and Pro Tools and Cubase suck on XP and 2000 as well.

About price, we did an exhaustive comparison in the UK, and we came to the following conclusion:

PCs can be cheaper, but for the same power, reliability and total system integration, you need to pay about 2 to 3 hundred bucks more. Macs ARE cheaper for what they do.

Timothy

[SkyWarp]

PCs can be cheaper, but for the same power, reliability and total system integration, you need to pay about 2 to 3 hundred bucks more. Macs ARE cheaper for what they do.

Timothy
I can't vouch for the UK, but in the United States if you know how to put your own computer together you can easily beat out the price of MAC using PC parts and get something that will last a LOT longer than any company (MAC or PC based) can offer.

From a business standpoint, MAC just won't work anymore. With networking and microsoft monopolies in many business softwares, it just becomes MUCH cheaper to buy bulk PC's than bulk Mac's. I still believe many Mac's have advantages in video, but some of the biggest programs, (such as Avid) are now available on Windows and for a very comparable price.

Edcuational institutions in the United States have made Apple very happy over the years, but with most home computers being in the PC market, schools have found it very tough if not counterproductive to reteach students how to use a whole new operating system. It wastes much needed time.

Are Macs or PC's better. Well, both have advantages in my pinion, but I think Mac simply suffers from the long term affects the lack of sales to home buyers in the United States.

In the long run, both Mac and Windows will be virutally the same anyway! They have been itching that way for years now.

[Purple]

I can't vouch for the UK, but in the United States if you know how to put your own computer together you can easily beat out the price of MAC using PC parts and get something that will last a LOT longer than any company (MAC or PC based) can offer.

Yup! For about $400 my dad can build a gaming machine to rival AlienWare's top model! Every desktop in our house (current number 6) is homemade and a heck of lot cheaper than anything on the market, regardless of what you want to do with the machine. He even built 2 servers and is working on a Linux box. All from scratch. He has bought one ready-made desktop, but it only stayed that way about a year and then got completely rebuilt and belongs to Elizabeth now.

[Timothy]

Umm... as an occasional freelance computer consultant for folks in the church, if I add in what I would charge to build a machine from scratch to the budget, then it comes to the same as a pre-built machine, plus I get a 2 year warranty on the pre-build, so if I was buying a PC I'd buy pre-built and count the extra 2-3 hours as 2-300 bucks. Time is money is my principle and my father's office principle.

Not big Avid fans here, we prefer Adobe products (dramatically stabler and faster on apples) and Final Cut Pro (Only ony apple) for our video work, Pro Tools and Cubase for Audio work, (again dramatically stabler and faster.) In our office we're spending rounghly 200-300 dollars worth of time per month on coaxing top-of-the-line (I mean top-of-the-line custom-built machines here, all top-quality parts) windows machines to do what we want them to. My father now does all image editing and most of his audio editing on his ibook and would dearly love to get three quad G5s for all three edit suites (Video, off-line and on-line audio)

Sorry to be so blunt, but in the world of professional media, PCs can't cut it. In the past 6 months, four major european news stations have gone 100% apple, the BBC is preparing to go 60% apple within the next two years, with increments over time. I say Windows can't cut it as a professional operating system because of so many security vulnerabilities, and think this will be proven out in the next 10 years. Either Microsoft will get it's act together and rewrite a win32 layer on top of a unix variant similar to what Apple did with OS X, or it will be rewritten out of the business world.

In the long run, both Mac and Windows will be virutally the same anyway! They have been itching that way for years now.

When you get a truly stable, virus-free, adware-free, dummy-proof version of windows, let me know, because I would LOVE to run it on my mother's machine which we've yet to replace and needs virus, adware removal and system updates every two days. I recommend Linux as default but that still requires me giving input on how to set up and update their machines.

Timothy (Sorry Rokia, I think I'm arguing here, is that against the rules? :))

[Purple]

None of us who have posted so far do any audio editing. My dad is a gamer, runs networks and does his medical continuing education on the computer, that particular program isn't available for Macs, too much trouble to write it that way and justify the expense. Apple/Mac is not compatible with what he likes to do, and it's not the best choice for what I like to do.

*shrugs* All comes down to what you want to do with the machine. For some things, yes, Apple and Macs are better. For other things Windows based platforms are better. My laptop is mostly word processing, Internet stuff, research, tracking my various personal inventories. A Mac is overkill for that, IMO. And I have seen the newest IBook, my cousin has one. It wasn't to my liking anyway so I'm glad I passed on it. And it wouldn't have run on our home network anyway.

In the past 6 months, four major european news stations have gone 100% apple, the BBC is preparing to go 60% apple within the next two years, with increments over time.

That's not the case over here. Mac is incompatible with probably 90% of businesses, and this includes news stations and people who do audio/video editing. One of my uncle's does that, and very well I might add, all with Windows based machines. Until Mac makes their stuff more compatible with Microsoft and more average-user friendly, they'll never make any real headway on this side of the pond.

[SkyWarp]

My degree is in audio/video and I have worked for one A/V company as well as done some A/V work for an educational company. All the places I have worked were using AVID, and all but the oldest were using PC's. The one using MAC is no longer in business (but that had NOTHING to do with the computers system they used, more stupid leadership).

AVID has been the choice for most tv stations around the United States, BUT I will admit, I think that is about to change. Avid is pricing themselves out of the industry and educational institutions and video companies and even tv stations are starting to find alternatives. I know that my old college is using Adobe now and that is a great choice from what I have learned about the software so far. Adobe is growing in leaps and bounds it seems recently. (off topic, I hope Adobe doesn't ruin my Dreamweaver program though by integrating GoLive with it, Adobe is great in many things, but NOT their GoLive program)

The company I currently work for has just about finished their transition from Mac to PC for their graphic design department. With Adobe running the show, getting a powerful PC from Dell as compared to a similar computer to run Adobe Suite on the Mac just doesn't cut it around here. I wonder if maybe Unted States prices are different for Mac and PC's as they are in Europe.

I have an old classmate from High School who is very pro mac. He works for a large religious university's book store and is always trying to sell me on the MAC. I always kid him about the evil tinyone button mouse that comes standard with the apple computers. He always tells me that you can get multi-button mice if you want them. I always reply that something that simple and wonderful should just come standard. Then we go our seperate ways till we meet again and bring the whole topic up again! LOL

In the process though we usually both learn something about the latest technology that the other one loves.

[Timothy]

Avid we find monstrously hard to use. We prefer ProTools/Final Cut Pro, although we use Premiere on our main edit machine at present.

European news stations are changing from AVID systems to apple systems due to 100% integration plus they can do a heck of a lot more than just avid on the machines.

Timothy

[SkyWarp]

On the Windows version of Avid, you can use the computer for anything else you want too. At least the ones I have used can be.

Hey, anyone tried IE 7.0 BETA for Windows XP yet? Some major changes in both functionality and user interface. Some good, some not so sure of yet.

[Timothy]

Is it fully PHP, PNG, and CSS compliant? If not, I'm not interested in it.

Timothy

[SkyWarp]

I don't know that yet. So far, in my use of it, it appears to be a Microsoft version of Firefox. A couple bugs in the program I have noticed (it is beta afterall), but nothing major.