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I’d mentioned recently how I’ve been using Crossover to run Internet Explorer for Windows from my MacBook Pro, without having to install Windows. That works rather well, but doesn’t give much flexibility – only a relatively small subset of applications run under Crossover.

Today, I downloaded the MacWorld-announced Parallels Release Candidate, and grabbed a WinXP SP2 install CD. It took about 2 hours to get Windows installed and updated, but once that was done, Parallels is pretty darned cool. Coherence mode is sweet, hiding as much of Windows as possible, and letting the Windows applications’ windows float freely as nearly first-class citizens on my Mac desktop. I installed iTunes and Quicktime to see how they perform – pretty darned well, surprisingly. I then went to install a real testing application – Quake3Arena – only to find that Parallels doesn’t support OpenGL. Yet.

It’s not perfect – I’ve had to let Windows run through a seemingly endless series of updates (now installing update 35 of 65, after 3 reboots). And I still have to see/ignore the offensively ugly and unhelpful Windows UI. The first thing that greeted me when I launched my newly-installed Windows XP was a scary dialog box warning me that I was running unsecurely, and that I should do something about that ASAP. But, I’d just launched it for the first time. Wouldn’t it make more sense to default to a more secure state? Oy.

Alan led me to Parallels. I thought I was being clever by using Crossover. I think I’ll be sticking with a full Windows system, but I’ll try to run it as little as possible. Now, if only they’d hurry up and add OpenGL support so I could, um, do work ‘n stuff…

Anyway, here’s my system, with Mac and Windows apps all singing Kumbaya.

Alan posted about the grief he’s been having with running Windows on his MacBook Pro. He rarely fires up Windows, but when he does, it’s a painful and ugly process. The last recommended updates just hosed his Windows install. Again.

But, there’s a better way. Crossover for Mac – it’s a polished commercial version of the open source Wine tool/library which provides a way to run Windows applications in MacOSX without having to install Windows. Basically, it provides a self-contained environment where applications are tricked into thinking they’re running on Windows, but they’re actually running on a bridge between the Windows API and MacOSX (and X-11 for display). You set up a “container” or a “bottle” to hold an application or two, and Crossover takes care of system-level stuff. You get an application icon that’s right at home in your dock, too.

Here’s what a cross-platform browser test might look like. Safari, Firefox and IE6/Win all on one screen:

Text rendering goes from great to craptastic, from left to right. Also, apparently there are a few *cough*issues*ahem* rendering my blog in IE6/Win. Sorry. Shows how often I’ve used IE over the last year…

For something simple like browser testing, Crossover can’t be beat. It also runs with a bunch of other apps (including HalfLife). I tried to install NASA WorldWind, but didn’t get past the .Net install. I’ll try again after doing a bit of research first.

Holy. Crap. If there is any reason to avoid software designed by this group of people, it’s likely this slide:

Now, I’m really not trying to slag the fine folks at Fisher Price Toys, but man, this presentation (and WinXP, and other MS stuff) simply has to have been born at the toy company, rather than the largest/most mature software company on the planet.

I mean – can they fit any more information into the slide? Perhaps, if they use more colours, or fonts, or sizes of fonts. Compare that to a Stevenote, with the simple yet powerful elegance. This is the difference between the Windows Media Center Edition remote, and the Front Row remote – 800 buttons vs 6.

I’d like to assume that for a Big Keynote Presentation, that a company would pull out all stops and design the best presentation they possibly could. If that assumption holds, then MS can’t do any better than that. That’s scary.

Mike Evangelist at Writer’s Block Live tells it better – and he should know, since he was involved with Apple product marketing and Stevenotes.

Compare with a sample Stevenote slide:

Photo by olebra

Update: Just cracked open my latest National Geographic, and it’s running a full-page ad from MS Canada – the insanely busy super-cool ad. You know the ones, with 6 fonts, 10 font sizes, busy DNA double helices spiraling out of a window embedded in a boy’s chest, with green birds and blue elk and astronauts and butterflies and dinosaurs and flowers and fish and text that is askew at all kinds of funky-cool angles. The ads that look like they are designed by programmers, and are so cluttered and busy that you’re not really sure what the message is? Yeah… At least their advertising is consistent with the keynote presentation announcing Windows Live.

Update: Graham pointed out that I was being an insensitive ass with a reference I’d intended to be a throw-away comment, but hadn’t thought through the ramifications of what I’d said. I was insensitive and clumsy by using the reference (my words, not Graham’s), and I apologize to anyone that may have been offended by it. The reference has been modified, and actually reads better now as well. Think. Before. Clicking. Save. Dumbass.

Grrr.

I’ve been installing WinXP Pro for most of the day now. After switching back to the “classic” UI so my retinas stopped bleeding, I’ve been working through installing firewall, virus protection, SQL Server, IIS, etc…

Holy crap.

They must lock their engineers into a room and tell them to figure out the most annoying, non-intuitive ways of doing things (and presenting info to the user).

This started as a rant on our Mantis bugtracker, but it’s just gotten worse since I wrote this:

Little things, like, say, turning on the web server. I had to poke around for settings, run a network config wizard, and Add Software (which has been running for over an HOUR now – I could have compiled Apache FROM SOURCE in that time!). I’m guessing it’s going to take some mojo to actually get IIS running, after it’s been installed.

On MacOSX, it’s a quick trip to the System Preferences application, click a checkbox, and IT’S DONE. Web server enabled, with public directories for each user, and a big honkin’ Documents directory for the whole server (with CGI-EXECUTABLES and everything).

Wow. No wonder there is such a market for Windows IT folks. Someone could make a career out of installing Windows.

It takes me less than an hour to install MacOSX from scratch. With all services I need enabled and running. Securely.

UPDATE: It’s been “configuring components” for the last half hour. Getting a little nervous that installing a simple web server needs this much configuring. What exactly is getting installed, anyway? It’s just supposed to be a service that spits out text and/or binary files over HTTP on request. yeesh.