Testing Microsoft Live Writer
I am having a play with Microsoft’s new LiveWriter. Looks interesting. If you have Internet Explorer 7 installed, might be worth a dabble. Nice interface but I can’t see any compelling reason to move off Zoundry or Ecto at this stage.
The First Mover PR Advantage…
Apple is enjoying a little first mover PR advantage with its pricing comparisons to Dell. First mover advantage is something that has been both promoted and discounted, but in the PR wars it’s worth lots – especially when your foe doesn’t move quickly (real-time) to counter the noise.
What I think people are missing here is that Dell’s model is geared to moving prices in a competitive way. I’m not sure Apple’s is as aggressively geared. They’re a smart bunch down in Austin – watch what happens next with Dell Pricing… If there is one things I have learned – competing with Dell on price is a fools errand.
I’ve been watching Apple’s announcements of the past week with keen interest (esp as I just installed a mini mac at home with Sonos). As someone who lives on both the Mac and Windows I care less and less about the operating system. Apple’s is lovely and reliable – I would argue better. Windows is annoying and ugly – but fast and supports a plethora of software that I have no choice but to need (Internet Explorer) and some that I prefer (Outlook, Office, Powerpoint). Pogue does a better job than me on all of this.
So long as Microsoft and Dell have that advantage I’ll keep buying their products – first mover advantage or no first mover advantage. So long as Apple has its advantage, I’ll keep buying theirs. And so long as my employer keeps buying at least one of these systems, I’m stuck with that as well.
Which leads me – very circuitously – to my main point. The future won’t be about who is better but rather who can tie it all together – and from that standpoint Apple is off to a good start… I’m going to want the best of both worlds on one system.
And oh, those Dell guys, they’ll be in the middle of this as well, you wait and see.
Things Delicious
Here is a big list of things to enhance your delicious experience which points to another great resource.
Blogging & RSS on Windows
I’m into Week One of using my new Sony. I’ve got Zoundry running for blog posting and am using Outlook and IE.7 for my feeds. Couple of things I’ve discovered.
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No issue importing my OPML file from NetNewsWire (running on my Mac) into IE – and it automatically synced with Outlook. The folders didn’t carry over, so I have a massive list of feeds now.
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Not sure how Microsoft will do it, but they need to get delicious fully integrated into IE7. I really miss it and it is the one thing that keeps me coming back to Firefox.
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I like Zoundry as much as Ecto. Good engine for posting to blogs.
RSS Readers…
Just got my new Sony notebook. Love the form factor. Keyboard is a little weird to get used to – a tad squishy after the PowerBook. For some reason they shipped me a high-capacity battery – weird.
Anyway – was looking for a list of RSS readers. This one seemed pretty comprehensive. I’ll test a few and let you know. One thing I do suggest looking at is Internet Explorer 7. Has some good capabilities for capturing feeds, storing them in folders and regular updates. The interface is pleasant and it offers tabbed browsing.
