Want to upgrade to Windows 7? Want to save 50%? Want to help me out a little? I’ve got you covered. Just follow the Amazon link below and you’ll be whisked over to the Windows 7 pre-order page where you can pick the version you want. Sure I’ll get a little something in the deal too, but you don’t mind that, right?
Since I’m going to spending some time over here using the Eee PC, I figure I might as well make the most of it. that end I’m going to be talking about a few things for the next little bit. Things I’m trying, using and maybe think are a little weird, much like the like placement of the right shift key on this keyboard. But more like:
- Firefox vs. Webkit (safari/chrome) vs. IE
- Windows Live Writer
- Open Office
- Video processing
- Using different kinds of media
Watch this space for more. and don’t mind the odd uncapitalized word here are there. especially if the letters come from the left side of the keyboard.
Something I am suddenly finding myself in need of is another laptop computer. The MacBook has been passed down to teh Lad and still working great, but I’m wanting something very portable, very small and very light. With enough power to write, do some light surfing, watch a video or Hulu and maybe process photos. Easy stuff.
So I have found myself eyeing the latest crop of Netbooks and I have to tell you something. They are pretty small. I mean, like tiny.
I thought I would cruise through BestBuy, just to see what they had so I could check them out. They had the Dell Mini 9 and the HP1000. Both seemed capable enough, but the 8.9″ screen is barely useable for me. And the Dell keyboard is awful. The keys are about the same size as those found on a pocket calculator and they are spaced even closer together. It’s completely unusable for someone with moderate-sized hands that can touch type (much like myself). The HP on the other hand had a very nice keyboard and everything was laid out as it should. But it still only had a 8.9 inch screen.
A little Amazon searching and some review reading later and I think I have settled on the Asus Eee PC 1000HA. 160GB hard drive, 10″ display, 1GB of RAM and the Intel Atom processor, plus a few other features that I think are cool. From what I can tell, the only true downside to this device is the fact that it’s running Windows XP. Not really a problem, but boy wouldn’t it be cool to have one running Leopard.
So more searching (and crowd sourcing) brings me to the OS X Netbook Compatibilty chart that BoingBoing has assembled. And what do you know, the Asus is on the list with almost 100% compatibility.
I poked around some more and it looks like a doable project that should keep me occupied for the better part of a few days. I’m hoping that when I do finally purchase this device and start the transformation that I can actually use it to dual boot OS X and Windows XP.
Is there anyone among us that is using a Netbook now? If so, which one and what do you think of it?
And don’t say buy another Mac. Both of money trees are dead and I didn’t win the lotto this week. Even from the refurb shop, the best deal I can get is either on a Macbook ($899) or an Air ($999). But with the pricing of the Eee PC (with 2GB RAM upgrade) coming in just under $400, it’s much more attractive to me. That and the fact that it kinda works, which means I’ll get to tinker a bit. Fun stuff!
Playing with a few things, changing a few things, updating a few things.
A couple of new apps this week. The first I heard about on Mac Break Weekly called Shape Collage. You can read the write up at dbmini. I know I know, I don’t normally post software reviews there, but most of the readers carry camera and they still out-number you 2:1.
Second app I’m playing with is called DoubleTwist. It’s an app for getting media to your device of any shape (mp3 players, phones, game consoles) and for sharing with your friends. I don’t see a real need for this on the ATP, but if you have anything else that holds media, it might be worth checking out. Full write-up to follow after I play with it some more.
Oh yea, both of these run on Windows and Mac. So go nuts.
After a brief email exchange with Mr. IE6 earlier this morning, I decided to cruise through the server logs here, here and here to see what browsers all y’all have been using to access everything. And, if I’m honest, I was shocked.
There are still more of you that are using out of date browsers than not. And, not just IE. Over at WRR, the bulk of IE users (20% of the 37.8%) are still using IE6. 3.5% of IE users are still using something older than that, but I have a feeling those might be bots that haven’t updated their user-agent string.
For Firefox, it’s 9.1% of the 11.8% that are using version 3 or better. That’s a little bit better. Opera (less than 1%) does not report it’s version, neither does Safari (5.8%), but Netscape (less than 1%) does. Honestly, Netscape 5?
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but there is a reason internet browsers get upgraded, and there is a reason why you should take the few minutes to upgrade yours. There are patches that keep bad guys off of your system. There are stability improvements. Rendering improvements. UI improvements. All of these things are done to make your internet experience better and safer.
If you are stuck in an office with Internet Explorer v6 or older, you are stuck. You can ask your admins for Firefox since an IE upgrade will probably break an application used by your company. If you are a home user running Windows that is not XP or Vista, then you are also stuck with IE6.
Follow the jump for some suggestions. (Read on…)
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