http://bradcolbow.com/archive/view/the_brads_oil_spill/

Great presentation too.

I’ve been using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RS (modified to look almost identical to Windows 7) during the day for a few months now and I’ve been loving it. At home though I’ve been using Vista on my main computer, where I do most of my design work and I’ve been hating it.

It’s not that Vista was out right horrible. It was just kinda horrible. And any bit of horrible in a software product really is too much of it.  Seems obvious but it’s actually hard to get rid of horrible at times. It shouldn’t be, but whenever you have lots of people working on something you have lots of ideas. Things get fractured communication and development wise, let alone “vision”. It’s sad but true. Not inevitable mind you.

But I digress.

I like Windows 7. In fact I have to say I like it enough that I no longer really care about Mac OSX. Mac OSX is nice, it has a few quirks that I don’t care for (where’s the maximize window button!), but with how incomplete Vista was feeling and how old XP was feeling I was seriously looking to give it a shot.

Then Windows 7 came along, and for the first time since the beta of XP I actually cared about Windows. With 7 I’ve had many “iPhone Moments”. These are moments I’ve termed from my initial few months with my iPhone, when I’d think of something and try it and it just worked. Windows 7 has provided many of these. Something Vista never did.

It really comes down to “iPhone Moments” for me and many other users. To get what you expect but to deliver it in a new manner. When I started thinking about this and my waning interest in Mac OSX I started to realize half of the appeal of Apple was the entire package, not just the OS. This is what Apple really gets, and what Microsoft only seems to get with the XBox and its development tools. The package deal is what really matters, the entire user experience.

So in the end what I really want right now is Macbook Pro hardware with Windows 7. An OS that supports all the apps I use and love and has those great moments delivering me what I expect in a new manner.

Slightly late to the party in doing this post, but never-the-less, here it is. In many ways I started this blog to increase my professional endeavors as well as to share things I find interesting about the Art of Software. Given the former reason here are my goals I plan to complete on this front this year (along with a couple of personal goals as well). In no particular order:

Finish my Thesis: I’m a thesis away from finishing my Masters Degree in Computer Science and Business Administration. My thesis focuses on entrepreneurism involving cloud storage. I’d really like to launch the product I’m creating along with finishing my thesis, so this could be a double whammy.

Blog Twice a Week: I’d like this blog to be consistent. Life does happen, as it did this previous year, but I’d like to set a goal of at least posting twice a week.

More Social Networking: These are pretty low goals really, I’d like to get my LinkedIn connections up to 50 and Twitter followers up to 50. Both should be easily attainable.

Certify in SQL Server 2008: I wrote previously about how I’m working on my first certification and this is the year I plan on getting it.

This next one is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and looking at the first and fourth goals I’ve set above I’m really putting myself in over my head I think, but still, if you don’t just try to do it, it’ll never get done:

Write a Book: I’ve always wanted to write a book. And lately I’ve wanted to write a technical book. I’m not going for an 800+ page tome. But setting my goal on 200 or so pages and will either publish it as a free or paid for eBook. I feel that’s a good place to cut my teeth on writing a book. I’ve done technical writing as a profession so I know what’s involved, but I’ve never been published and I’ll have to be my own editor. Hopefully, I can find a few people to review it for me before I release it. Likely subjects are something on SQL Server 2008, though on what I’m not sure, or what I’m a bit more interested in at the moment is writing a book on Mono’s implementation of MVC.

To finish things off here are a couple of personal goals to add to the list.

To spend more time with my family: Losing my Dad this year really brought that into focus. I’ve already been pretty good at this, but I don’t want to let time slip by, so set it as a goal.

Trim 20% off my time for Bloomsday, a local short race in Spokane, WA my family does each year. Last year was our first year where we were not at the back of the pack pushing our kids in joggers. So I think this year I’ll actually train a bit and push my time down. That’s only 12 minute miles, so I think I can do that.

Well there’s my year, I think my theme this year is to “Finish and Improve”

I apologize for the lack of posts. I am still quite enthused about doing this blog. But on the 25th of October I lost my Dad. As Dad’s go he was about the best Dad a guy could ask for. He was kind, happy, and an all around good guy. It’s hard to sum up what a father is to you, especially when they were great. I could go on, but will simply say I miss him and always will, but will see him in heaven some day.

As for the blog, I have a lot of ideas cooking. What makes a good database code review, thoughts on computing ubiquity, my love of Expression Blend 3 and more. But my heart hasn’t been in putting my thoughts to the blog. Give me a week and I’ll be back posting.