When I saw the //build conference online, I was even more psyched, because all they talked about was how anything that runs on Windows 7 will still run on Windows 8.  They talked about how easy the Metro UI (the new Windows 8 user interface) is to use, and how intuitive it is. Having seen it in action on a touch device, it is very nice.  It does look quite easy to learn and use.  The issue, is that with a keyboard and mouse it is not at all intuitive. It is, in fact, very clunky.  Working for a company that designs software almost strictly for the Windows platform, I can tell you now, that our customers (our users) would be completely and utterly lost int eh Metro UI on their current, non-touch screen, systems.  Systems, that I know for a fact they will not update in the next several years.

The next issue I have with Windows 8, is now that we’ve moved forward several months from //build, it’s coming out that any ARM based devices (a chip that is used primarily in Tablets and Smart Phones because of it’s extremely low power usage compared to the traditional x86 based chips found in most PCs), will not run legacy Windows software.  That means that ARM based tablets running Windows 8 will not run the Windows 7 and older software unless the developers specifically update their software to work on the ARM device.   Granted, many developers will make this move, but there will be many, many, many who will not.

What about software that I already own?  Will I be able to get the ARM version of that software at no cost, or do I have to re-purchase it?

There will be a massive confusion factor for the normal user.  Sure, there are plenty of tech savvy people who will understand the difference, but there are definitely more people who won’t.  They will go to a big box store, ask the sales rep about the new Windows 8, and be immediately shown a touch screen tablet.  They will be told how easy it is to use, and shown some of the basics of navigating around.  Then the customer will ask about their current software.  At this point the sales person will pick up one of the x86 based tablets (currently priced well above the iPads), and show them that Windows 7 software does run on it.  The person, not knowing any better will then start looking at the price tags, find a tablet with a much lower price and choose it.  This would be the ARM based tablet.  The sales person will neglect to tell the person that it’s not the same (and I’m not saying that all sales people will do this, but let’s be honest…it’s going to happen…a lot!), and the person will get home only to find that their Windows 7 software won’t load.

They will spend hours on hold with the maker of their tablet only to be told they need to call Microsoft Support. They will spend more hours trying to figure out why it won’t work, only to be told that they bought a tablet that won’t actually run the software as they were told at the store, when in reality it was all from a miscommunication.

I deal with customers all the time, and I’ve worked in technical support in the past, and I always treated people like I would treat my mom.  Try explaining it one way, and if they don’t get it, go at it in a different way.  I would never want to support my Mom on Windows 8 on her old Windows machine.   I also wouldn’t want to try to explain all of the touch gestures associated with a touch screen display.    The basics are easy enough, but I can see the headaches, heartbreak, and disappointment on the horizon.

The good news!  Those who are much more tech savvy will have an opportunity to pick up some discounted (returned, open-box, refurbished) hardware after about a month with Windows 8!

Now, all you get is about 200 listings of sites trying to charge you for looking up a phone number.  I don’t understand. Google provides free tools because their revenue is based around ads for related goods, sites, services etc.  Now, the only search results I get are for the sites that want to charge me.  They all say “Free Information”, but what you saw in the search blurb before clicking to go to the actual site was the only free information you are going to get from them.

I understand that White Pages has to make money too, but that’s why they charge ad customers some ridiculous amount of money.  If they didn’t deliver a new phone book every third week, they could probably save a ton of money on printing alone.  I have received 7 (seven) phone books since the beginning of the year.  Why anyone would need 7 phone books is so far beyond me that i can’t even begin to imagine it.

I understand that “Free” isn’t always possible.  I read an article earlier in the week about why we should pay more for apps.  The basic premise is that the software developer has a lot of overhead when they develop and app, then have to maintain it, fix bugs, keep it updated for the most current OS it runs on, and so on.   I agree that this is a ton of work, and being in the software development industry I can fully support that this is a ton of work.  That doesn’t mean that I think people are underpaying for apps.

If I get a free app, I have no expectation of fast bug fixes, superb support, nor a response when I email about an issue.  I do expect to see ads, and I do expect to have to touch the close button on those ads.  Devs need to eat too after all.

I don’t mind paying for an app…particularly one that offers something that I can’t get in a free app….as long as it’s something that I need, or at the very least want really badly.

I don’t mind paying a bit more for a really superb app either.  I have purchased apps for my computers, my phones, my tablets, and even for my windows machines.  I’m rarely disappointed with the app, and do expect a higher level of customer support for those apps as well.

The one thing I hate…and I mean HATE…is when someone charges me for an app that promises all kinds of functionality, and initially delivers it, then just flat stops supporting it.  They no longer try to improve it, no longer fix bugs, no longer maintain it, and just stop outright responding to emails, much less does their ‘Contact Us’ info actually lead anywhere.

I think the term Free is thrown around a bit too freely and we just don’t really get it anymore.

Free means that there is no cost at any point to the consumer.  Very simple concept…right?  Apparently not, since it has been twisted over and over until it is almost unrecognizable by most people.

I knew a woman who insisted that her cell phone deal was great because she got 500 Free minutes.  I tried, in vane, to explain that it isn’t free if she had to buy the cell phone and pay for a service plan for the next two years.    She responded that the phone and the plan were separate…and that they were just giving her the minutes…

I never did get her to understand that it wasn’t free.   It’s like the free tank of gas when you spend over $200.00 at the adjoining grocery store.  Well….it’s not FREE when I have to buy $200.00 in groceries to get it.   Maybe you needed groceries anyway, and even better if you also needed gas…but that’s coincidence…not free.

My point…

I expect some compromise when it comes to free anything…it just disappoints when even with those expectations fewer and fewer things are out there for free.

With the simplest press of a key (somewhat configurable on which key), you will have a great tool right at your fingertips (literally).

I have my system setup so that when I press and release the caps lock key (set Enso to Sticky in the settings for press and release instead of the default press and hold), it pops up a simple overlay in the upper left corner of my screen.  At that point, I just start typing the command and the argument, and voila my application opens, or my focused window is switched to the application I need.  This is extremely helpful to me since I usually have 10 – 15 windows open at a time for my work.

I’m posting a quick video showing what it is, but I don’t show nearly anything close to what all you can do with it.

So go check it out, and I hope you find it useful.  It’s free of course…so the only thing it costs is your time to get it and try it.

Isolator - Freeware for your Mac

I looked for a long time for a Windows equivalent, and finally found it in SmallWindows.  It’s a free application that will work with Windows 98 or later.  I’ve used it with no issues on Windows XP and Windows 7.  It’s a great app.  Check out the Video, and then go get it and give it a try.

SmallWindows at Sourceforge

Burn for OS X

Check out the Video below to see a little about how it works.

Fences – by Stardock

1. Whether you are setting up your Mac, PC, or Linux system to make contact from home, work, or anywhere else, the first, and most important piece of software to have is TeamViewer.

Teamviewer is a wonderful cross-platform (works on Windows, Mac, and Linux) piece of software that is easy to setup and free to use for personal use.  Once you install it on each of your systems, you can create and account with Teamviewer, and link each system to that account.  You can then remote control your systems from anywhere with an internet connection.  They even have apps for iPhone, iPad, and more mobile devices that will let you control your screen from those devices as well.

Not only can you remote control your systems with Teamviewer, but you can do file transfers between systems, perform presentations by remotely sharing your screen, chat, and video chat too.

2.  Hamachi – Hamachi, from LogMeIn is a free, no hassle VPN.  You create your VPN on the LogMeIn site.  You then add computers to the VPN through the site…each time you add one, it downloads the software to that machine, and you can add it to your Virtual Private Network.

This gives you easy access for moving files, remote ssh access, FTP and more over a Private, secure network protocol from anywhere with an internet connection.  It’s great for security, and requires no port forwarding in most cases.

3.  SSH via Terminal – I’m a huge fan of using SSH (Secure Shell) for getting into my Macs and Linux systems at home when I’m away, or even just in the next room.  The Terminal is a powerful tool, and knowing how to use it can often be much faster than opening a bunch of GUI windows.

To turn on SSH for your Mac go to System Preferences, then to Sharing, and make sure that you have a check mark next to Remote Login.

4.  DynDNS – is a wonderful tool for those who do not have a static IP assigned by their ISP.  Go to the DynDNS site and sign-up for a free account.  Navigate through to choose your free Dynamic DNS name (joe.dyndns-at-home.org) or something like that…then get the application for DynDNS and run it.  Once you log into the app with the details you created, DynDNS will keep your non-static IP available through your new Static DynDNS name.  So instead of trying to SSH to a moving target, you now can do

ssh joe@joe.dyndns-at-home.org everytime.  You can use this for FTP, web servers from your mac and more.

5.  Now, all of these tools are great and will help make it easy to get to your computers from away, except for one thing…if you restart and forget to restart the apps…then it’s a no go.  So you need to setup these apps in your startup items list.

Go to System Preferences, Users and Groups, then unlock the padlock with your admin password, and then click on ‘Login Items’ tab.  Now click the ‘+’ sign below the Login Items window, and find the DynDNS application in the Applications Folder.  Add it.

Do the same with TeamViewer and Hamachi, and you’ll be set.

For those with parents who need the occasional assistance, these tools are excellent.  Remember though, they are only for personal use.  If you are using them for business, make sure to pay for it.

One thing I always tell any of my computer repair customers is that they should purchase a decent sized external hard drive for making backups of their important data.  Time Machine is built right into any new Mac, but may not be available if you are working on an older Apple OS X system, so lets cover a few options for backing up your important data.

Carbon Copy Cloner is a free piece of software that can make partial or full backups of your entire mac drive. It can be set to do incrementalbackups as well, so that as you update and change your important information, documents, contacts, photos, videos, music, and everything else, your backup is kept up to date as well.

Dropbox is a free, cross-platform (that means it works on Windows and Linux, iPhone, Android, and more), cloud based backup and storage solution. TheDropbox app creates a folder on each computer, phone, tablet that you install it on, and anything you save in the folder is automatically synced to all of the other devices that you have Dropbox on and signed into your account.  You get 2 GB free storage and can upgrade to more storage for some low monthly fees.

Burn for OS X is a nice piece of freeware for burning CDs and DVDs.  While the media isn’t made forstoring as much data as a full externalhard drive, if you need some portable media then Burn is the way to go.  It uses a simple drag-n-drop interface, and you can quickly burn the data for accessing later.  You can burn data, music, video, and more.

Now lets cover  Video Playback software.  Let’s face it, in todays world of video capability, we all have tons of video that we like to watch through our computers.  A great video player is a must with a new system, or one that we’ve had a while an just didn’t realize what was available.

VLC is an amazing, cross-platform, video player.  It can play almost any video and audio that you throw at it right “out of the box”, and the controls are as intuitive as you can get.  Beyond just playing video, you can adjust video speed to re-sync video / audio lag, and you can even use it to stream video over your network, or transcode video to other formats.  VLC is a definite must-have app for any Mac, Windows, or Linux system.

Next up, we have some great tools that were made specifically for video conversion.  With these tools you’ll never be caught on the go again with a video that you can’t watch.

MPEGStreamclip is an amazing piece of software that can convert almost any video file, to almost any other file format you need.  It has powerful controls, an intuitive and simple interface, and it provides a ton of custom conversion control for the power-user too. The best part is that MPEGStreamclip is available for Windows and Mac.

VideoMonkey, a free software based on a discontinued amazing video conversion tool called VisualHub, is growing into a great piece of conversion software itself.  It has custom control, but also has some great presets for the most popular portable systems out there, iPhone, iPod touch, PSP, and more.

Everyone who has a computer has the need for Office software at one point or another, but honestly, if it’s not a necessity, then why pay hundreds of dollars for the Microsoft Office suite?  You shouldn’t…there is a great free alternative, and it’s got that familiar Office interface.

Open Office is an amazing office suite.  It has a great word processor, spreadsheet program, database program, art program, and even software to make power point style presentations.  The best part, beyond it being absolutely free and cross-platform, is that anything you make in it can be saved as a Microsoft compatible document, spreadsheet, database, or presentation.

The last thing you should definitely get as soon as you get your mac are some System Preference apps, or PrefPane apps.  These little apps are software that use very little overhead of your systems resources, but can provide some great information to you while completely out of your way.

Perian is a codec pack that will enhance your media enjoyment immediately on your new mac.  Codecs are the small bits of encoding and decoding information used to playback different versions of video and audio, such as mp3, mp4, avi, divx, mkv, ogg, and more.  These may not all play natively on your mac, but with the quickest download and install of Perian…you’ll be ready to rock in no time at all.

MenuMeters is a great little PrefPane app.  It allows you to put some simple meters in your top menu bar to keep an eye on CPU usage, Memory Usage, Network Transmit and Receive Speeds, Hard Drive usage and more.
Growl, while no longer free unless you compile it yourself, is a PrefPane app that is definitely worth running.  It is a notification system for tons of the software that you use on your Mac.  It will notify you of updates to events such as the completion of a torrent download,  successfully completed backups with Carbon Copy Cloner and Dropbox, Logins of friends on Skype, and completed video conversions on VideoMonkey.  There are tons of apps that utilize Growl, and the numbers just keep growing.

I’ve listed 10 great pieces of software here, and all of them are free except Growl, and I promise that it’s worth the $1.99 price tag.    If you have some favorite must have software for your mac, leave a note in the comments.