ITNews

The iLounge posting Apple TV 2.0 vs. Blu-Ray, DVD & HD Cable: The Comparison provides an extensive comparisons using the same material on each technology.

(Credit: iLounge)

Bottom Line

From where we stand, frequent and quality-sensitive video watchers will find Netflix or Blockbuster to be better month-to-month values for HD video rentals than Apple TV or on-demand cable services, while Apple TV provides an option that’s in the upper middle of the pack on quality and the best on convenience, so long as you’re willing to pay the $229-$329 cost of entry. The question is: are you?

To my eye, Apple TV is looking good, especially since it is running HD at 720p.

I have an Apple TV on my lust list. I may wait until it supports 1080p. The Robert X. Cringely’s weekly column I, Cringely posting Blu-ray Blues: With the HD War Over, Why Aren’t We Seeing Blu-ray Drives in Apple Computers? discusses and hypothesizes about Apple and 1080p.

Here are some interesting tidbits from the posting.

Jumping to 1080p is a huge challenge for iTunes. Just look at the comparative sizes of the QuickTime HD trailers for the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Apple’s own web site. The 480p trailer (that’s standard definition and slightly better quality than the 640-by-480 shows most people download through iTunes now) requires 47 megabytes while the 720p file is 78 megabytes and the 1080p version requires 126 megabytes. The trailer runs just under two minutes (1:51). The three prior Indiana Jones films were 115, 118, and 126 minutes, respectively, so let’s take the average and figure this new movie will come in right at two hours in length. Extrapolating from the size of the trailer, then, a good guess about the ultimate file size for the H.264 download versions of this upcoming blockbuster are 3048 megabytes, 5059 megabytes, and 8172 megabytes, respectively.

Apple faces a number of challenges offering files of this size for download, the least of which is economic. Yes, it will probably cost Apple four times as much to offer downloads of a 1080p version of a movie than its 640-by-480 version, but the market is already expecting to pay an HD premium, at least for a while, so money isn’t really a major factor. The real speed bumps are the sheer impact of a true volume HD service on the Internet, itself, and the sad fact that most Macs can’t even play 1080p video. They simply aren’t powerful enough.

As for giving Macs enough grunt to play 1080p video, I explained more than a year ago that Apple has privately committed to putting an H.264 encoder/decoder chip in its entire range of machines. That specific chip began sampling last July so Apple should be able to start shipping the new Macs any time soon, certainly long before Christmas.

Most interesting, Robert.

…John

The Information Week posting Mac Buyer’s Guide: Which Apple Should You Pick? begins by saying

We’ve tested the Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, the iMac, the Mac Mini, and the XServe. There’s not a bad Apple among the bunch, and some are truly superb. We’ll help you choose one that’s right for you.

Maybe that most recent e-mail virus was the last straw. Maybe you’ve been longing for a computer that “just works” and that you actually look forward to using. Maybe Microsoft Vista finally just sent you right around the bend. Perhaps it was that “Mac guy” on the commercials. Or maybe you are the “Mac guy.”

My lust list contains a Mac Pro.

(Credit: Apple)

My Mac G4 is serving me well. My PhotonJohn.com high dynamic range imaging (HDRI), super-resolution (SR), and panorama panels, rendering processes are taxing it.

(Credit: Apple)

My lust list also contains a MacBook Pro for the photography studio, so I can control a tethered New and Improved Canon 450D / Rebel XSi camera. Once the camera is positioned for a shot, all fine tuning and firing is done from the MacBook Pro. The image is then downloaded for close inspection and initial rendering.

(Credit: Apple)

I’m a happy Mac camper. When I need to work on a Windows machine, I Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) to a Windows XP workstation.
I’ll be able to run Windows directly on the two Mac computers on my lust list using VMware Fusion.

…John

The Microsoft Watch posting 10 Ways Microsoft Can Make Windows 7 Lucky lays out a 10 step Vista recovery program for Microsoft. Here are my reactions to the 10 steps.

1. Windows 7 has to be a whole lot better than Windows Vista.

Better doesn’t mean tons more features.

Any process requiring more than two mouse clicks is too complicated. Every Wizard is unnecessary. Windows 7 must wring the complexity out of the user interface. Microsoft can make Windows 7 more compelling by radically—and I mean RADICALLY—changing the UI. The old motif has got to go, and its replacement shouldn’t be one motif but several.

Featureitus seems to be a Microsoft marketing mainstay. Deviating from it will require changing the culture, and we all know how extremely difficult that is.

2. Windows 7 must generate a compelling hardware refresh cycle.

Microsoft’s fundamental development philosophy should be: one operating system to rule them all. If Apple can put Mac OS X derivatives on other hardware, such as iPhone, surely Microsoft can do something similar with Windows 7 (I’m not referring to a separate, embedded product).

Mac OS X is built on an a venerable UNIX architecture that has morphed countless times in the last 39 years to meet the needs of countless products, while still retaining its core designs and philosophies. I think history tells us the design of Microsoft Windows lacks this ability.

3. Windows 7 should go back to basics.

The browser has got to come out of the operating system. Internet Explorer has caused usability and security problems for far too long.

Fat chance. Doing so would be admitting to a major faux pas. Something that seems to be alien to Microsoft culture.

4. Call it Windows 7 Core.

The starting point must be the core, the kernel. Supposedly, Microsoft has made a fresh start with the Windows 7 kernel. From a usability and security perspective, that’s exactly what Microsoft should do. But Windows 7 has to be more by being less: It has to be the kernel, and to developers and other partners almost nothing more. Microsoft should even consider separately branding the Windows 7 kernel.

I think backwards compatibility hacks are the bane of Windows. On one hand Microsoft marketing seems to demand them, even though black hats use them as avenues of exploitation. Taking them out or drastically munging them raises customer hackles, as witnessed by some customer reactions to Vista.

If Microsoft does decide to start fresh, my advice would be to build on something that works, like a UNIX thingy. Don’t even think about doing it yourself, ever again. Operating systems are the most difficult things to program, and take a very long time to get “right.”

5. Windows 7 should be familiar.

Windows Vista was too much like the disastrous Windows Me II.

Learn from Max OS X.

6. One Windows 7 version is enough.

From the Windows 7 Core, OEMs should be able to customize the operating system for specific hardware and usage roles.

Gee, just like a UNIX thingy.

8. Windows 7 must give much, through sync.

Synchronization is the other killer UI, and it’s essential to fulfilling Ozzie’s mesh vision. Windows 7 needs a synchronization engine bound to the IP stack. This sync platform would become the hub for data exchange regardless of format or service. It’s a tough challenge and maybe even beyond Microsoft resources for Windows 7.

O.K. to what ever this mesh vision thing is. Wouldn’t want to stop someone from being “innovative.”

9. Windows Vista Capable means backward compatibility.

I’ve suggested some radical changes to Windows that simply are unworkable because of backward compatibility considerations. It’s time Microsoft put all that virtualization technology to good use. The company should radically rearchitect the operating system, while using virtualization to provide backward compatibility to Windows Vista and XP. Then the company can put all those Windows Vista Capable stickers to good use, on Windows 7 PCs.

Cool idea. Who knows, maybe building on a UNIX thingy and virtualizing sins of the past, may be a way for Microsoft to get back on its horse.

10. Windows 7 security features must increase usability by decreasing complexity.

Microsoft’s approach to security is fundamentally flawed.

I think the black hat underworld would whole heartedly agree.

Bottom Line

The author of the posting, Joe Wilcox, is making some intelligent suggestions. I doubt Microsoft will listen to such things until it is in really deep yogurt and hurting. Until then, marketing weenie greed will continue guiding the good ship Microsoft.

…John

The Mac News posting Managing Sysadmin Tasks on Macs by Remote Control.

Late last month, LANDesk Software rolled out Version 8.8 of its namesake suite of management tools. LANDesk said its software now lets systems administrators remotely control both Macs and PCs from a Macintosh-based console. The upgrade also lets users take more-detailed inventories of their Macintosh systems and the software that resides on them.

There are other management tools for Macs such as the Symantec Altiris Client Management Suite and FileWave from FileWave International Holding.

Terrence Cosgrove, an analyst at Gartner (NYSE: IT) , said via e-mail that among management tools vendors, LANDesk is furthest along in supporting Macs. LANDesk’s software “can do OS deployment, data [and] settings migration, software distribution, inventory and remote control for Mac machines,” Cosgrove wrote.

Most likely more vendors will join in as the Mac slowly makes its way into corporations.

…John