One feature I think all Windows users eventually find themselves looking for is an improvement to, or at a minimum find themselves complaining about, is the Windows UI. From 95 through XP things didn't change much, lots of grey and shades of blue. Icons improved and certainly the crispness of the presentation, although XP was a welcome UI relief. The XP UI wore pretty thin quite quickly but then there was always room for some desktop / windows shell altering software that made the daily grind on windows a little easier to bear.

Windows 7 certainly provided the Windows community with some welcome UI upgrades. The Aero interface, in fairness, is way better than anything Windows users have ever experienced. Some of the other Win7 goodies including the <Super> Tab application switcher, clever Docking, Taskbar thumbnails and Aero peek. Frustratingly the Windows 7 UI and the Office 2010 UI are not the same. If you change to the Windows 7 classic theme Office still looks like Office (it's "nice"), but not the same. UI consistency is important. Although Office abides by the Windows rules there is still a sense of "two teams" behind the dev. Many application developers have also taken to skinning their apps to make them a little more interesting than Aero and Office. The Windows Presentation Foundation makes good looking aplication development much easier and more accessible. You can hack Windows a little to take on some awesome themes on the net - ultimately making it look more like a Mac or some derivative of a Linux desktop. I still don't think Windows has done enough.

Apple have also traditionally had a great looking really consistent UI. The well known perfectionist approach by Jobs and co have ensured that the OSX interface has been stellar and consistent since a long time ago. More recently Apple added the App store for OSX. The interface is different. There have been some complaints. I think the influence of iOS on OSX (after iOS was snagged out of OSX in the first place) going forward is going to be more significant than we realise.

Not too long ago Ubuntu announced they were going to drop GNOME in favour of Unity, previously the UI for Ubuntu Netbook Edition. The Unity interface is going to be adapted to run a full desktop. Cue the KDE vs. GNOME vs. Some Other Desktops (Xfce | Fluxbox) vs. Unity debate. 

GNOME has launched their new website for GNOME 3. Its pretty and clever and hopefully by the time its released it will be real fast and smooth. 

GNOME 3 Images:

Then there are these awesome Unity mock-ups from paulop on DevinatArt.

To add fuel to the fire here are some unofficial LibreOffice mock-ups as well.

I think looking at the above images, although unofficial and considering that GNOME 3 is alpha, the UI that these respective parties are bringing to the "desktop" are simply brilliant. Screens get wider and apps have more vertical screen usage with irritating horizontal menus? All of the interfaces above are capitalising heavily on the available width (menu and controls on the left or right), not the height. The LibreOffice changes are so functional. Unity is gorgeous and functional. Less buttons (who cares) with more real estate, real smart efficient use of space. A rare spectacle of form and function.   

I am really looking forward to Unity (final release) and the first official release of LibreOffice. This may just bring the change and kick in the !@#$ that Linux on the desktop needs.

Your comments.

Cheers 2010. Cheers - RSH finally finishes developing rshsolutions.co.za.

After much pain and frustration with technology choice, brand options and content, I have finally settled. I have always wanted a net place to say something, post some downloads, offer some training and market my business. I have tried a few things to say the least, and have settled on what is now rshsolutions.co.za. These choices are not without some thought and a boat load of R&D. No doubt the CMS supporters all have something to say. I think all the CMS's out there are quite special; Joomla, Wordpress, Umbraco, mojoPortal, Drupal, Silverstripe, MWPSK and Concrete5, to name a few, are all absolutely awesome. Some PHP some .NET, it’s all a bit of a blur now with the Microsoft Web App Gallery. If you install Joomla from Microsoft (If you have not seen this happen or researched it, it does sound a little crazy) the platform installer will do all the work for you - install all necessary software (yes PHP), prep your web server (IIS) install the CMS you love perfectly, first time every time.

Although I did subject myself to this uber web installation perfection, I did manually and meticulously research each CMS to the point that some of the solutions (during research) made it to production and actually went out to customers. I never felt settled though. Some time ago (3yrs – time flies) I started developing around a little known blogging web app called BlogEngine.NET. After making a few changes, adding a few widgets and creating a theme (finally getting round to things) rshsolutions.co.za was finally ready.

So Cheers 2010 then.

There is a sentiment that Microsoft's 2010 was somewhat uneventful. I am not entirely in agreement with that sentiment. Microsoft release some key products this year including Office 2010, absolutely on a pedestal when it comes to pc office software, Visual Studio 2010, a simply stellar IDE and SQL Server 2008 R2, stable, fast and  affordable enterprise RDBMS. Windows Phone 7 actually made it to market and the sales are steady – nowhere near iPhone and Android but it’s out there. I will however say that almost everything Microsoft did this year was overshadowed somehow. I will also add that the shadowing kept showing that Microsoft is definitely missing a couple key market segment opportunities. As apple has risen to the top of the technology pile with a complex range of products and services there is this expectation that Microsoft needs to do something. Steve Ballmer has been criticized enormously for the average Keynote and lack of product showing at CES. Why does Microsoft have to react to all of these product offerings by other super tech giants. When Apple release an iPad, the first question is when will MS release something similar and will it be Windows 7 modified or Windows 8 in 3D or ...? An analogous example could be a company that makes excellent Wine also has to release a Brandy else they will lose wine market share and there will be mass panic. I don’t think so.

The world is certainly looking at MS to copy or compete with Apple and Google on an iPhone, iPad, iPod, iTunes, Global Search, Open Source Mobile Technology and Cloud Models. In MS’s defence perhaps they are doing the right thing (for now) and sticking to their knitting with Windows, Office and Exchange. Microsoft .NET and Visual Studio are now truly in a league of their own in terms of usability and RAD with SQL Server the most complimentary nice to have DB backing up all the good development that can be done. Steve Ballmer is on the chopping block for not performing and MS have lost more good people in one year than is reasonable, they did however have record earnings. Windows 7, Office 2010, Server 2008 R2 with Exchange and a couple bits and bobs is a really good platform.

Apple’s epic rise to the top is quite spectacular for us spectators. There is no denying that the Apple portfolio of products just beams quality, performance and perfection. One of the most talked about pieces of hardware, the new MacBook Air and the new iPad tablet (previously non-existent market). Six months ago the world was still not sure about this tablet thing. Now that every manufacturer has one on offer and the top tech companies on the globe are competing for market share, its seems tablets are here to stay in a big way. The iPhone 4 is a darling and deserves every compliment it gets even if the users are a little brand heavy. iTunes is better than ever and has started a little ping club of its own.

Facebook goes over 500 million users and Mark Zuckerberg is time Man of the Year. I think this was a close call with Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, no doubt in the running. The amount of press surrounding these issues and the profound nature of these two Internet phenomena are quite amazing. Facebook is the number one site in the world. If you add search and “Fmail” to the mix it could seriously take over in more ways than would make most comfortable.  

Google are as steady as ever. There are some issues in the Google stable that cause a bit of uneasiness ervy now and then but Google always oblige with a very open and honest response and or resolution. Google Chrome is fast becoming a real favourite. This web browser war is far from over. Chrome has regular updates and is keeping up with every little web change as well responding to competing browser changes. The much anticipated IE9 seems to be doing all the right things and is real fast, a barrage of promises from the Firefox camp will surely unfold one of the best battles on the net to date in 2011. Firefox has officially passed IE in the EU browser count stats. Although Firefox and IE both lost market share, compliments to Chrome, IE lost too much ground thus handing the current number one spot to Firefox. Google’s answer to an OS, a browser and the Cloud all in one mum Chrome OS is also on the verge of being released. The concept is so sound, bandwidth permitting. An OS that boots straight to a browser with apps and tabs in the browser that are capable of doing anything. I know that this is how it will be, I am not sure if the net public are ready for this. I love watching Sundar Pichai and his team deliver this product however, their energy and vision is truly inspiring. The demo hardware Cr-48 (extremely volatile on the periodic table btw) sent out for testing is just awesome. Google sued the US Government for sending out a tender that requested only MS products, and won. Google was sued by Oracle for using certain Java bits here and there. This was a serious downer on the Java and Open Source Community. Oracle has rocked the “pear cart” a few times including Open Office issues, Java Issues and MySQL issues have all threatened to cause further disturbance in Cafe. Google’s Android however has surged forward at a rate (WOW!). Android shows the fastest growing market share (smart phones) by a long way and 2nd on the list in total, showing no signs of slowing. In fact, after CES based on the releases, there are now more phones and tablets on Android which will further increase share. The developers and vendors must love Android, probably because it runs on anything.

Linux on the desktop issue is still not out the shower. The top couple distros on earth are so good and so well appointed and so easy to use, why there is no real market share to talk of is still a bit of a mystery. The Linux community is still very fragmented and each has their own ideas, which is good for technology but bad for growth and market share which ultimately results in funding. Ubuntu release a brilliant OS every 6 months, always current, always pretty, always stable and fast. Why aren’t there more users? Mark Shuttleworth had to eventually respond to the critics, as well as bring some serious change. Let’s see what 2011 holds for Tux.

Cheers for 2011.

CES is such a great way to start the year, buckets of new technology and gadgets, a smart start to the year and setting the tone perhaps? As CES closes we get the results of who did what and have some time to reflect on the messages and keynotes. 2011 certainly looks to be the year of Tablets, Smartphones, 3D stuff, Internet TV and the Cloud. The Motorola Atrix bagged best of show at CES. The rest was all tablets. The players in the tablet arena so far are Apple, Samsung, Motorola and RIM with the Playbook as far as I can see. There is one iOS, two Androids and a QNX. I can’t even begin to predict the capabilities and features to come and the way this will unfold. QNX is awesome and always has been with a long history of pedigree and reliability. iOS has money and market share, and Android is so flexible, fast and portable with Google behind them. Samsung, Sony and LG all showcased some serious 3D technology in the form of TV’s and handheld recorders. A host of tech powerhouses are playing TV on the Internet. Apple TV and Google TV solutions are getting better with richer content all the time. There are a host of other Internet based TV solutions trickling on to the market as well.

I think 2011 is going to be riddled with change. I think we can all feel the balance of power, and the source of great technology is shifting and in ways we never expected. Who thought Google could ever be toppled as the most hit site on the net but rise to be the most competitive mobile OS author. Who thought Microsoft would ever have to worry about market share (in anything) ever again. Who ever thought Nokia and Blackberry would have to worry about the future of its business in mobile.

Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, IBM, Oracle, RIM, HTC, Intel, ARM, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia, Sony and Nvidia have all set some serious benchmarks in hardware, software or Internet standards. I am sure 2011/2012 holds the potential to be 730 days of the most exciting and most competitive days of technology we will experience to date. I am sure there will be world changing breakthroughs. I am sure there will be casualties. I am sure the technology will be incredible. Enjoy the ride.

Look after yourselves and the environment.
Enjoy the technology rollercoaster ride ahead of us.
Good luck for 2011.