IE 9 First Impressions

I am still excited about IE 9, even after using it.

On the surface it is a fast and capable browser.  It is strange to double-click on the blue "E" and have web pages perform like they do when starting Firefox or Chrome.  The performance probably suffers on my computer because I have a very old video card and am using XP drivers rather than official Vista drivers, but that only would explain the graphics artifacts I occasionally see.

Perhaps some web pages still push you to "IE" friendly style sheets and javascript based upon any version of Internet Explorer.  To be sure I could get a valid picture of what the browser can do without worry of a cautious developer protecting IE visitors in a sandbox, I hit a few web pages showcasing the latest jQuery examples as linked on the WebAppers Blog ( http://www.webappers.com/ ).

While all the demos I tried worked on Firefox and Chrome (with the exception of the real time capabilities of Smoothie Charts - http://smoothiecharts.org/, where Firefox would not draw the charts real time ), only a few worked on IE 9.  I also tried out a HTML 5 support test web page ( http://www.html5test.com/ ) where IE 9 scored 96/300 and Chrome scored 217/300 and Firefox 139/300 -- also linked on WebAppers.

In all, IE 9 Beta is amazing by Microsoft standards, but basically a bit below average compared to the other modern browsers.  Hopefully the IE 9 gets additional speed and HTML 5 support as time goes on.  Back with IE 4 and 5 Microsoft set the standard for web browsers, and they still do.. as the lowest level browser they are the baseline for what components you can count on all users having access to.  The only remaining trick is to get all the XP users out there to Windows 7 so they can install IE 9 as it is not avalable for anything below Vista.

(Speel chek is stil missing, so becaue I am writing this in IE 9 Beta you are allowed to keep any misspellings you have noticeed)

 

 

 

Halo Reach Madness

So, my son spent a weekend sanding and staining the deck.  The price for his efforts was a pre-order of Halo Reach for my son.  It came home from work with me today and he immediately started playing it.  At about 6pm his friends still didn't have their copies, so he was able to break away for dinner. By 9pm his buddies had their copies and he was saving New Alexandria from the Covenant. 

I was blown away by the graphics, they were superior to anything I have seen on the XBox 360.  While many games have had good graphics, Halo Reach has me wanting to actually play it (if I can get the controller away from my son).

Have you played it yet?  What do you think?

Google Chrome 6 and the Google Web Store

How do web developers get paid?

Back in 2000 a web developer could buy a domain name (PigeonWatchers.com) and go to venture capitalists and claim that all future pigeon watching hobbyists will use the web page and it would be good for them to invest now rather than after it has become a household name.  A IPO and Superbowl commercial later the web developer is laughing in a private jet...  or so the story goes.

This didn't really happen that much because PigeonWatchers.com didn't end up the household name it should have been.  Plus half the site was not functional because the developers got into a big fight over who's Dodge Viper was cooler and were not willing to continue development until a proper race could be held.  This process left a bad taste in the VC investment world and people started dumping tech stocks as the whole thing crashed.

The problem remained.  How do developers get paid?

The next generation of great idea-thinking-developers-seeking-money-and-fame-ers used banner ads to raise funds.  Suddenly it was profitable to have a blog because people gave bloggers money for each banner ad displayed.  This drove the engine of social media, distributed content generation and all the other "modern" technologies used to fund web development.  But people hate ads and like their television counterparts, they are not totally effective.  As the economy slows down, and technology to bypass ads becomes more common the ad revenues might be drying up.

How will developers get paid?

Apps my son, Apps.  With an app you can do almost anything you want and get paid for it directly.  Why should a good idea have to hide behind an awkward way to fund it?  You can develop the next big thing and charge people to use it.  People seem wiling to pay $.99 for an app, would you like $1 for each unique user to your web site?  And users will not mind, after all they hate ads and if you ask people to click on the occasional ad you become a money-grubbing troll.

The introduction of Google Chrome 6 and the Google Web Store ( http://code.google.com/chrome/webstore/docs/index.html ) will bring the "App Store" mentality to the browser.  One can assume this is a prototype to make a store that can deliver customers who are using phones, chrome browser and the upcoming chromeOS.  If this all works out then we are looking at a Google that has the volume approaching Microsoft and the appeal approaching Apple.  

Before you think to yourself that Google's volume is not close to Microsoft consider this:

- TechCrunch has noticed that Chrome is sneaking up on FireFox as IE flounders ( http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/02/chrome-firefox-techcrunc/ )

- Google's Android Phones are overtaking Blackberry and iPhone ( http://gigaom.com/2010/08/02/android-sales-overtake-iphone-in-the-u-s/ ).

Can Google synergize the browser popularity with the mobile device popularity and end up with a popular Netbook format? If so, don't you think you should check out the Google Web Store development process (just in case)?

Apps are the future, Ads are now.

I am off to read the development docs, keep an eye out for my Google Web Store app...

I would like to buy a Tablet PC

I write this as a broken man.  My laptop after several faithful years has passed on.  It was the victim of my 7 year old's Wii habit and was too close as he was jumping turtles on Super Mario.  First there was a rattle in it (never good to have loose metal inside a laptop), but before I could open it and remove the presumably worthless metal it shorted out something and the whole laptop will not boot at all.

It was a Toshiba A135-S7404.  I had lovingly upgraded the RAM and put a Google Chrome decal on it.  I suppose it was dying anyhow, I bought it years ago as Best Buy was trying to get rid of them (they were too underpowered for Vista without extensive tweaking and the necessary RAM upgrade) and I had already taken a soldering iron to the power supply more than once.  Maybe it is good, maybe I need a new one.

Here is the problem, I have made $6.83 in ads on my various blogs and that is not quite enough for even the best laptop deals to be had.  It would be cool to run out and buy something, but I don't have it in the budget.  So I will sit and research.  But this does not mean you will not see a benefit, I will post my research here!

Here is what I am looking for in a laptop (in short, the impossible):

1. Processing Power: I am a graphics nerd.  I use Photoshop, Flash, Blender and Gimp.  I am also a computer networking/security nerd so running virtual machines in VirtualBox is also important.  I need something with some kick.  Will an Atom-based system be enough?

2. Tablet Power:  I had a Fujitsu Lifebook T3010 for work a long time ago.  It had no CD Drive and maxed out with 1GB of RAM.  It ran Windows XP Tablet PC edition and was a total dog in Photoshop.  MAN I LOVED THAT LAPTOP!  The digitizer was made by Wacom, who are the only people who should be making such things as they rock so hard 8 days a week.  I later got a HP/Compaq tablet which had much more processing power and RAM, but the tablet digitizer was awful and more designed for an executive with large hands to draw organizational charts than for graphic arts.  Using it was like using a large sharpie on a napkin or toilet paper.

Can I even get something which is both powerful and a tablet?  It seems either it is a good tablet with no power or a high powered computer with crappy tablet abilities.

I think the central problem is that the market is not for graphic artists who want to use tablets.  Artists make do with what they have at hand and the executives in marketing run out and buy things, offering important opinions on tablet/laptop desires such as:

- Powerful, multiple 64bit processor cores running at top speed AND

- Huge hard drive (either SSD or SATA with at least several hundred Gigs of storage)

- Large, bright screen 

- Endless battery life (at least 12 hours)

- Light weight

- Solid

The laptop manufacturers are left with to either defy the market or the laws of physics.  The laws of physics are not often broken, so we are left buying laptops and tablets designed for idiots who don't know what they want designed by people who are attempting to please everyone (poorly).

So the laptop reality is:

Either:

- Powerful

- Big storage

- Big Screen

- Short Battery life

- HOT (legs get sweaty)

Or:

- Underpowered

- Small Storage

- Small Screen

- Long battery life

What is the best balance?  What are you willing to trade and compromise to get?