Posts Tagged ‘ apple

The iPad post

This is not exactly another one of those reviews of the iPad, an unboxing photo gallery or even a real iPad mandatory post . And, this is a very boring text only post. Be advised that it is boring to read a text only post. Go here for a more interesting mandatory post on the iPad, atleast it’s got a photo in there!

This is a post for all those people who really don’t need an iPad, or atleast think so. They always say that a product so good that it can develop a need, is sure to be successful.

I really don’t sit at my desk and use my computer anymore. Instead I take the laptop around or my mobile phone’s always around for me to be online 24×7.

I look at the iPad to replace internet access on my mobile phone at home, and on my netbook at home. There are times when I don’t want to boot up my computer just to search for something on Google.  Of course, I use the hibernate mode to minimize time taken to get to my desktop on my netbook, But its still not fast enough when I want to search on wikipedia for a movie I’m watching, or for a book I’m reading or a game I might be playing. Or I just wanted to check that mail I had been waiting for. A Technology so sufficiently disguised that you don’t realize that you are using it. An iPad would fit the bill perfectly. I just pick it up, search for what I was looking for and put it down. An iPad creates/extends the market for tablet devices. Because, if Apple sells something, they create a market for it. Even if noone needs it in the first place.

Why should I get a iPad instead of a  tablet PC?

An iPad is much more closer to a mobile phone than a computer in many ways. By not supporting multitasking,  the iPad actually lets you be more productive and focused on the task at hand. The App store is a big enough reason by itself for wanting to get the iPad. Any device is only powerful as the application that runs on it and you have a huge library of powerful apps at your disposal with the iPad. It is true that other tablet PCs have OSes which actually support millions of applications. These applications are more suited to your computer, not for a mobile phone.

Does an iPad replace the mobile phone?

Its not really replacing your mobile phone. But it’s just replacing your mobile phone at home as an internet device, a gaming device, an email client, a YouTube viewer and lots more. One, its got a big screen which is meant to let you do all without squinting at the tiny screen, or scrolling around for 10 minutes for every 5 lines that you read. The iPad might not let you make phone calls or type out entire documents or work on long excel sheets at work.

Why should it replace your laptop/PC?

The iPad is meant to be used as an device when you really don’t want to boot up your computer or are just plain too lazy to walk up to get to it. One day, the iPad might actually replace your laptop/PC/netbook. Hook up a keyboard and it is ready to do that even sooner. If it can replace your ebook reader, double up as your youtube viewer, check your emails, access social networking sites and much more, then its almost ready to replace a normal internet user. But you still need your PC/netbook/laptop for heavy duty stuff. You’d still need it to write that last bit of code, or touch up on that photo with the full potential of the desktop Photoshop. You cannot access your command line on it, look at files and folders stored on it and its pretty much stuck with the same OS for life (Yes, it would get updates, but the OS is still the same) And as with all Apple products, No Flash! I don’t see it replacing my laptop soon. But I really need the iPad just so that I could use it as….an iPad. But what do I really use flash for? A few rare websites, and of course Youtube. But iPad has a dedicated player for Youtube, so that irons out the “flashy” problem.

Why did I write this post?

Because everybody’s writing about it. Because if I don’t, I might not be allowed to blog anymore. No tech blog is complete without a post on the iPad. It’s the most important invention after personal computers. And it’s been long since I’ve spent so much time typing out such a lengthy post. A post on the iPad most probably needs a photo of it to break the monotony. But I thought I might as well put up a link to do just that!

This post is not really complete. But I had to put it up because there’s another post which needs to come up real fast. Subscribe to the RSS feed, or just keep visiting until the post comes up.

Dropbox support for Mobile devices

Have been using Dropbox quite sometime and it keeps my files in sync on the web and all across my computers. Read more about Dropbox here

Dropbox adds support for mobile devices as well. If you visit the website from any mobile phone, you are redirected to the mobile version of the site, which lets you download your files to your mobile phone. I tried it out on my Nokia N97 and it even lets you update files onto your dropbox online folder (Just choose the normal version over the Mobile version on the page and upload using the basic uploader).  Signup for Dropbox to sync across all your devices.

Dropbox running on my Nokia N97

The Dropbox already supports the Iphone with its native Iphone app which lets you sync files with your iphone as well.

Windows 7: First look at the next OS from Microsoftw

I almost forgot the last time I blogged about windows 7. The successor to the Vista series..Now, apparently Microsoft didn’t benefit much from Vista, so they decided to copy Macs a bit more and make a more macintosh like OS.

Here are the first look pics of the Windows 7 desktop:

Now thats terribly disappointing…They try to recreate a dock bar like appearance which belongs to the Mac, but fail miserably at doing that…It looks like they made the quick launch bigger…what a joke…The start menu has changed too, but I really am not too impressed with that…and btw clicking on these icons gives a content sensitive, application relevant menu…

There are several changes under the hood…but I am a man of the desktop and you can judge a book by its cover..But, considering this is just the first look and there are changes still to come, Microsoft still might be able to make a difference..After all, when the first preview of the longhorn was released, it was nothing like the Vista we know today…

Wish to make your PC look like windows 7, atleast you can get the wallpaper here

Read the full review of the Windows 7 first look here.

Customizing your Desktop: changing your Windows Vista theme

Vista gives you two themes to select from, your Aero theme and your windows classic theme. But how long do you stay without getting bored? Get new themes, and install them, before that, you need to follow this tutorial.

More desktop customization, and my search for the free windows manager takes me to Styles XP. But, it is neither free nor is it available for Windows XP….So, my search continues until I find Code Gazer’s VistaGlazz. Vista Glazz lets me install third party themes, visual styles for Vista (and the best part is, it is free..)

Step 1:

Install VistaGlazz and run the program.

Now select the second icon (the one that looks like a shade card (the tick mark will be not be present until you run the program once. Follow the instructions and you are all ready to rock.

Step 2:

You can find vista themes all over the internet. I prefer deviantART for all my desktop customization needs. To illustrate, let us use the Leopard 1.0a theme by Masterhack.

Download the file by clicking on the links on the left of the page. Unzip the file after you have saved it. Copy all the files to the following folder on your hd:

C:\Windows\Resources\Themes

Click on the Leopard.theme and apply it. Done. Enjoy your new theme.

Installation of theme should make sure that you no longer need to use Objectbar as mentioned in my earlier post which lets you make your desktop look like a Mac.

This is how my screen looks like now.

Top secret Geek stuff (what, the vistaglazz app does)

It replaces three files on your hard drive (inside the windows/system32 folder) This enables you to add new themes other than the default themes which Microsoft has provided you with. These files are available for your version of windows at Within Windows

IMPORTANT:

  • The theme file is a rar format (a compression format similar to zip) . You will need winrar to unrar it (thanks to Sabrina for reminding me that I need to provide a link)
  • This tutorial is only for Windows Vista. For Windows XP, I guess you don’t have an option but to buy Styles XP.
  • Do not try this tutorial if you have Vista Home Basic Version.
  • In case you have already installed Service pack for Windows Vista, download VistaGlazz from here (instead of the link at the beginning of the post)
  • There is a chance that things could go wrong and your computer could explode, implode, crash or become a black hole after trying out my tutorial. So, do it only if you know what you are doing and you are willing to take a risk.
  • The author, website or anyone in this universe is not responsible for your actions after reading this tutorial, in fact, they weren’t even responsible for your actions before you read this.

Make your windows look like an Apple Mac

Its been a long time since I made desktop customization except for the regular change of the wallpaper that I do…So, I decided it was time to spice up my desktop and decided to go for the MacOS look…I already had the best windows look, since I had Vista. So now how do I go about making my desktop looking like MacOS? First a little basics on the Mac world for all those MS Windows lovers out there…

Macs run the OS X which succeed the Mac OS operating system, and you might be interested to know that all of Mac OSX versions have been named after the big cats family like the OSX puma, panther, Jaguar, leopard and so on…The latest in the line of the cats is the snow leopard..and here we have a screenshot which should make things a bit more clear

Now that we know how the interface looks lets work on changing the interface..The first important part of the OSX interface is the “dock” which you will find at the bottom of the screen..
So, we download that one. I found two free alternatives to the “dock” for windows, one is Objectdock from Stardock and the other is Rocketdock from Punklabs. There are other alternatives too, but these are the two I decided to try out…Stardock has been a company synonymous with the best windows skinning programs like Windowblinds, DesktopX etc..and after trying out both of the products, I decided, much to my surprise that Rocketdock worked better for me, it was simple and easier to use..but I would say that making the choice is merely a matter of random selection.

Now we have Rocketdock installed, lets load it. Add icons, right click the dock to add new icons, separators and docklets (like clocks, weather icons etc..)
I write this post primarily for windows users and so I would know how much have come to love the convenience of minimizing to the taskbar. So, right click on the dock -> dock settings -> General tab and enable the “Minimize windows to the dock” checkbox.
The second app we need to download is, Objectbar. This is for the top bar and also to ensure that you continue to have access to your tray icons and to make the transformation complete.

lets get the last bit of the interface quick now, the wallpaper. You can get the original set here.
The dock icons are usually .png icons and you can download them as per your requirement from deviantART.

And this is how my desktop looks now…

The disclaimer part
I love windows and I love the mac as well. I do not have a Mac. All copyrights, trademarks, brandnames are all properties of their corresponding owners. This is not a post for Mac purists. It is for an ordinary windows user who wants to add some spice to his desktop. It wont change your windows to make it look and feel as good as Mac. you should get a Mac if you want the experience…

Update Aug.07, 2009: Get OSX font smoothing for windows as well!