- Joined
- Feb 12, 2007
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- 8
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Hi all
I thought I'd say hello and set out my stall at the same time
I'm a reasonably experienced Windows user, dabbling with Linux distros. I have a few people who rely on me for Windows support, so I have to keep at least one Windows box going for testing etc. Beyond being a graphics/customisation fan, I'm particularly enjoying the general growth of 2 areas of development at the moment. The increasing emergence of hypervisor/virtual technology and on the application side, the growth of technologies supporting browser based applications.
I'm not a fanboy of any particular OS - Linux is great, lots of options and upsides. Microsoft has some great points & securing a Microsoft box isn't the challenge it's made out to be - it's just about caring enough to do the basics. Politics aside, Vista the OS is still evolving and it's place in the Microsoft development program has I think to be seen in the light of a wider context than todays traditional desktop applications. That said, I'm about to release enough capital to make it reasonably painless to invest in some additional hardward. As Mac is a direction that has always had an appeal it makes sense for me to be making a move in this direction now.
I've read a little and Bootcamp comes over as a useful resource, although one of the reasons I like virtualware is that it has moved me beyond the need to dual boot. I like being able to seamlessly move from one OS to another - still it may have a particular value for Vista which I explain below.
Mostly, as much as I want to experience what Mac's have to offer, I'll initially want to continue to invest in the virtual route for other systems, especially Linux & Windows XP. I haven't come across it here yet, so for what it's worth, I'll add that I think users of Vista who haven't thought about it, could be surprised if they checked their rights under the EULA to use the Home versions (Basic/Premium) in virtual environments. While it's technically possible to run these in a virtual environment, a strict interpretation of the new restrictions suggest that they aren't licenced for use in this way (other than MSDN varieties or Business & Ultimate). As some virtual technologies rely on virtual hardware that I would think has a signature that can be recognised at the point of activation - it's possible that at some point if Microsoft want to play hardball, they may be able to affect the ability of a user to activate their Vista OS in a virtual environment. Hopefully it'll never become a real issue and real life goes on - but forewarned etc. If you have interpreted differently, I'm happy to offer a couple of useful reference points.
At the moment, at the sharp end of my other key area of interest, both Microsoft's WPF/XBAP and Adobe's Flash/Flex/Apollo developments are showing great potential. I'm reasonably clear on where Microsoft OS's and Linux are placed for taking relative advantage of these. I'm not equally sure where Apple/Macs sit. The Adobe arena is by nature cross-platform and less hardware intensive, so I get that these should play out great on Mac's. I happen to think at the moment though, that WPF/.xbap is a step ahead of the game for potential at the point of delivery - I always feel with Flex I'm still aware of the framework - whereas the xbap stuff, what there is of it, is more immersive. I know there has been discussion around making WPF and xbap available on the Mac platform, but I'm not clear how this would work and how well the integrated nature of Mac offsets the way in which Windows is, for those that can afford it, able to respond with new architecture and greater capacity graphics cards.
Anyway, I'm not sure if that was preamble or just ramble - but there ya go. A reasonably experienced Windows user, who's keen to experience owning a Mac and understand, how Apple is positioned for the future.
I thought I'd say hello and set out my stall at the same time
I'm a reasonably experienced Windows user, dabbling with Linux distros. I have a few people who rely on me for Windows support, so I have to keep at least one Windows box going for testing etc. Beyond being a graphics/customisation fan, I'm particularly enjoying the general growth of 2 areas of development at the moment. The increasing emergence of hypervisor/virtual technology and on the application side, the growth of technologies supporting browser based applications.
I'm not a fanboy of any particular OS - Linux is great, lots of options and upsides. Microsoft has some great points & securing a Microsoft box isn't the challenge it's made out to be - it's just about caring enough to do the basics. Politics aside, Vista the OS is still evolving and it's place in the Microsoft development program has I think to be seen in the light of a wider context than todays traditional desktop applications. That said, I'm about to release enough capital to make it reasonably painless to invest in some additional hardward. As Mac is a direction that has always had an appeal it makes sense for me to be making a move in this direction now.
I've read a little and Bootcamp comes over as a useful resource, although one of the reasons I like virtualware is that it has moved me beyond the need to dual boot. I like being able to seamlessly move from one OS to another - still it may have a particular value for Vista which I explain below.
Mostly, as much as I want to experience what Mac's have to offer, I'll initially want to continue to invest in the virtual route for other systems, especially Linux & Windows XP. I haven't come across it here yet, so for what it's worth, I'll add that I think users of Vista who haven't thought about it, could be surprised if they checked their rights under the EULA to use the Home versions (Basic/Premium) in virtual environments. While it's technically possible to run these in a virtual environment, a strict interpretation of the new restrictions suggest that they aren't licenced for use in this way (other than MSDN varieties or Business & Ultimate). As some virtual technologies rely on virtual hardware that I would think has a signature that can be recognised at the point of activation - it's possible that at some point if Microsoft want to play hardball, they may be able to affect the ability of a user to activate their Vista OS in a virtual environment. Hopefully it'll never become a real issue and real life goes on - but forewarned etc. If you have interpreted differently, I'm happy to offer a couple of useful reference points.
At the moment, at the sharp end of my other key area of interest, both Microsoft's WPF/XBAP and Adobe's Flash/Flex/Apollo developments are showing great potential. I'm reasonably clear on where Microsoft OS's and Linux are placed for taking relative advantage of these. I'm not equally sure where Apple/Macs sit. The Adobe arena is by nature cross-platform and less hardware intensive, so I get that these should play out great on Mac's. I happen to think at the moment though, that WPF/.xbap is a step ahead of the game for potential at the point of delivery - I always feel with Flex I'm still aware of the framework - whereas the xbap stuff, what there is of it, is more immersive. I know there has been discussion around making WPF and xbap available on the Mac platform, but I'm not clear how this would work and how well the integrated nature of Mac offsets the way in which Windows is, for those that can afford it, able to respond with new architecture and greater capacity graphics cards.
Anyway, I'm not sure if that was preamble or just ramble - but there ya go. A reasonably experienced Windows user, who's keen to experience owning a Mac and understand, how Apple is positioned for the future.
