Software isn’t Dead

DoctorMo's Blog » Blog Archive » Software isn’t Dead

he's got a good point there. I like the cathedral metaphor :). And it's interesting that Microsofts "Metro" UI makes programming simpler by making the UI simpler (=more mobile like). Less feature bloated, less to code. But also a lot needs to be reinvented for this "new" UI. From this point of view half of it feels like a step back to the 90s. Thank God they didn't reintroduce the commandline.

The Humble Botanicula Debut

yet another good bundle! ..

Dell XT3 - Windows

As I use the XT3 mostly at work (and for work) I'm in Windows a lot. I have high hopes for Windows 8 on the XT3 as it has a nice Touch-Screen. But for now Windows 7 is what I have to use.

Right after I got it I did a clean install of the Windows 7 (+SP1) version that came with it. After the installation almost nothing works out of the box on this Laptop. Luckily it also comes with a separate drivers disc with dozens of drivers on it. Did I mention that the XT3 doesn't have a DVD drive but comes with discs for all the software? Funny ...

Installation of Windows (+all updates) and Drivers took me about 3-4 hours (constant restarting :/ ). After that, I installed all the software I usually need for work like MS Office, Visual Studio and Expression Studio. All went pretty well and after about 8+ hours I was done with a basic installation. Right now it boots in about 20 seconds to the login screen. This feels pretty fast compared to my old work PC which used like 5 minutes.

As mentioned in my last post about the hardware I did get it to a point where the graphics did start to lag a bit while dragging things around. Sandy Bridge processors aren't known for great graphics. So this laptop isn't good for playing games. But that's not what I use it for anyway. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with it so far, it's a good, fast machine to code on ...

Hardware: Dell Latitude XT3

Recently I got a Dell Latitude XT3 for work. So far it seems well build and I kind of like the simple design. It's light enough to carry around and has a big enough display to code with. Also the Multi-Touch Screen is handy for me as I do a lot of touch development (MS Surface, WinTouch, Mobile as well as hopefully soon Win8/WinRT).

Positive Parts:

• Tablet convertible and Pen/Touch usage.
• Fast SSD is great and likely from all choosable options the most important one.
• Layout of all Ports. As with my old Dell-Netbook the layout is very usage oriented. Ports are where you expect/need them to be. 
• Build in Bluetooth and SD card port are always handy to have.
• I like the Keyboard. It feels good and has all the keys on the right places.
• The hardware feels very robust and it's still light enough to carry around with you.
• Even under stress (got the i5 version) the fans are very silent.
• Hardware seems to work fine in both Windows and Linux.

Negative Parts:

• The lock to hold the display while its closed/in tablet mode seems a bit hit and miss. It doesn't lock well and often I have to try is multiple times to event get it to lock. 
• The Intel GPU is a bit on the "light" side. For a Sandy Bridge CPU this is normal. And for future Intel GPUs this will likely not be a problem anymore. It's still well usable but I get it to the point where I feel that it's not keeping up. Especially of course if you plug-in an external monitor. Ivy Bridge will improve a lot in this area.

I think the Notebook fits well for my work. And it lets me work from home/university/everywhere I got internet access. More on the software side later ...

You want to try switching to Ubuntu?

So you want to try switching to Ubuntu? | Michael Hall's Blog

Don’t get stuck trying to re-create a solution you used in Windows to a problem that doesn’t actually exist on Linux. You have a whole world of new possibilities in front of you now, take advantage of that and question your old habits.

Great, great post! Couldn't find better words for these problems new users have.

In the Linux ecosystems, we do things a little (ok a lot) smarter. Instead of each user scouring the internet for themself, distros do that for you. All you need to do is open the package manager or software store (e.g. Ubuntu Software Center) and tell it what you’re looking for.

Something I see regularly for new users. Advanced users already familiar with Linux will start to use Google again. PPAs are just so nice if you know how to handle them. Also interesting comment there:

Windows 7 wouldn’t install. Not until I disconnected (physically) the second hard drive so as to not confuse it’s little brain. Not only did Ubuntu install, but it set up a bootloader to boot both OS’s with no hassle whatsoever.
Guess which OS didn’t recognize his wireless card?
Guess which OS didn’t recognize his video card, and stuck in a horrible low rez?
Thankfully, I was able to boot to the Ubuntu partition and download drivers for these things Windows could not find automagically.

Have almost the same problem with my netbook and the current Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Also funny addition:

If it wasn’t for mainstream games, there would be no reason for Windows to exist.

So where is my Steam for Linux? damn ... :)

Fallout free on GOG

Fallout - GOG.com

Fallout is a great old game! And you can get it for free on GOG.com! With that you can play it legally on Windows, Mac and Linux! using DOSBox :).. enjoy!

My Mobile Phone Choice

Choosing the right mobile phone is a time consuming task. In the end it all depends on how you plan to use your phone. Here a list of the most important things I care about on my mobile:

• make phone calls and send text messages
• a usable webbrowser
• a good selection of useful Apps
• capable of replacing a mp3 player
• being able to take quick pictures
• a map application (not necessary route planning)
• replace any USB Pendrive (being able to mount it on every device)
• capable of sharing an Internet connection (USB, optionally WiFi)
• use it as a remote for other devices (DLNA and similar things)

Making phone calls and writing text messages is a pretty obvious one. Also a decent webbrowser supporting current standards is an important feature. Useful Apps to add features and customize the phone to ones likening is great. Apps like Shazaam, Grooveshark, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook, aso. are all great to have on your phone. Usually I settle around 40 Apps on my current Android mobile. Especially Dropbox is a very essential App to me as it makes exchanging files between devices very easy.

I like to have a Map around. It has proven to be a handy thing at times. I don't care much about what provider it is of. I usually prefer Google Maps as they have a lot of additional data. But it's not as important to me. I just want it to show my current position and the streetnames to find something. In a big city this is a very useful thing.

I want my phone to replace other devices I used to carry around with me. So replacing an MP3 player is an obvious thing. It doesn't necessarily need to be the best player but it should get the job done in some meaningful way. For example I'm constantly confused by the Windows Phone 7 Player. I need at least double the time to get together a playlist of what I want than on Androids default player. The WP7 player is capable of playing what I want but I find it rather confusing to get there.

An other device my phone needs to replace is a quick shooter for pictures. Usually current generation phones are good enough for my taste. I just like to take pictures of funny things or something I want to remember or post on a social network to share with others. For serious Pictures I rather take a better Camera thats likely more expensive than my phone anyway.

Yet another device I want to replace is a Thumbdrive. My phone should be able to be used as one. This has already proven a very good feature multiple times to me. Every phone that isn't able to do this is out already. I usually don't need much space, a GB or two should be enough for this.

As my phone already has Internet access I want it to be able to share that with my other devices. I usually use it over USB on my Netbook. Most of the time this is enough but it's still nice to be able to also share the Internet over Wifi. I don't want to carry around yet another thing so I have Internet on my Netbook. Like right now I'm sitting in a Train on my Netbook and using the Internet of my mobile phone to write this. And I'm listening to music played by my phone as well. It's great what's already possible and I can't wait for what's next.

As more and more devices support DLNA its really handy to have a remote for them right in your pocket. I'm looking closely at the DLNA features on all my new media devices.

So with these features OS choice is very slim. Windows Phone 7 and iOS aren't capable to deliver the features I want without some great effort like Jailbreaking on iOS. Android is the only bigger choice left. WebOS as well as MeeGo would be nice but just don't have the needed traction and with that support. Hardware wise I'm against taking a device with your contract as these aren't as cheap as they seem. And the lockin you get is even worse. Most of the time you pay more in the end. So Carriers get more money from you and have you locked to them. Great for them, bad for you most of the time.

I think in the future Smartphones will also start to replace other devices we have. Like your computer at home. It just needs a dock where the monitor, mouse and keyboard are connected. On-the-go you just need a cheap Netbook shell to place your phone in. As our phones get more powerful this will be enough for most people. Want to watch a movie? Your DLNA phone will stream it and your DLNA capable projector or TV will make a cinema experience out of it. It's gonna be great :)

How Microsoft kills cool projects

How Microsoft kills cool projects « Scott Berkun
Simple thing: You just don't go to a big company if you want to innovate. They usually don't like new things.

Scott Berku is, as usual, an interesting read.

Google bids For Motorola

Google Goes Soup-To-Nuts On Android With Bid For Motorola | TechCrunch

wow! thats big news. That could really turn troubled android around into the right tracks. Also I'm sure they have some advanced dev tools for android that could be added to the SDK now. Very very cool indeed

Google launches Chrome OS

Google launches Chrome OS, says Windows is 'torturing users'

"It's (Windows) torturing everyone in this room. It's a flawed model fundamentally. Chromebooks are a new model that doesn't put the burden of managing the computer on yourself." .. very curious where this whole thing is going to. Sounds not too bad but how does it turn out IRL?

Why we don’t hire .NET programmers

CEO Friday: Why we don’t hire .NET programmers « Expensify Blog

very interesting point of view. "As someone who grew up using and ultimately becoming frustrated with the limitations of Microsoft tools, .." I can highly relate to that fact :). Well but the basic is always the same, choose the right tools for the task. The wrong thing to do is choosing .NET because thats what you already know. There are just many other great tools out there ..

"Microsoft Has Become A Joke"

Drunk On Licensing Fees And Patents, Microsoft Has Become A Joke

A bit hard on MS but still a lot seems to be true. The business model just is outdated nowadays. But I guess it will still take years for MS to understand how wrong they are. With all the failed opportunities they had in the last 10 years or so. And those few success stories that where only possible by pushing hard with lots of cash. I'm not sure if when MS realizes how wrong they are that it's not already too late. Similar to Nokia, they realized that years too late as well.

Is DirectX a problem?

Farewell to DirectX? | bit-tech.net

interesting article ...

Nokia and Microsoft

The Elopocalypse: Nokia chooses Microsoft | Be the signal

Basically what I think about the whole thing is stated in this post.

In my opinion a very bad long term decision for Nokia. I really wonder how much the Ex-MS CEO had influenced this. The thing is it's just bad for Nokia as a company but a really great thing for Microsoft. I think its uncommon for a company to do good things for an other company without getting a good value back. And I really don't see much value coming from MS. Basically Nokia has outsourced its OS development to MS. So Nokia has given up on a major part of the company.

And all the other now incompatible projects they have running. I just don't see where this turns out good for Nokia in 5 to 10 years from now. I see the benefit shortterm as Meego just isn't ready and they are loosing a lot of market share. In my opinion they should have killed off symbian much sooner and direct that cash to meego. They didn't push hard enough for any platform and now they are somewhere in the middle and need to jump ship to something that works already. And I think jumping ship is never a good thing to do. We will see how this turns out ...