This is just a video explanation of using a software KVM solution instead of a hardware solution.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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As I stated in the other blog, I have plans to rebuild my PC with it but, in the meantime, I wanted to get a glimpse; I have no patience. The best way I could do this was to setup a virtual machine in Parallels on my MacBook. At first, I had some issues with the boot up after the installation, then I found out I had to set the vm to Other Windows instead of Windows Vista as I originally thought it would load as a Vista installation since Windows 7 is supposed to be extremely close to the Vista build. Once I changed this, I was able to boot into the operating system with no problem. Once I logged in, however, I did not have network connectivity, which meant the drivers were not installed. After I ran the Parallels Tools install, though, this corrected the problem, but I was still lacking sound. This was easily fixed by running Windows Update and installing the generic AC97 sound driver.

From what I could tell in the brief browsing around of the operating system is that it seems like Vista on a diet; it’s not as bloated and slow. The way I could tell was by just simply opening the programs menu; it didn’t seem as convoluted and overpowering with so many menus and programs preinstalled. Moving around also seemed smoother and faster.

Again, my experience was very brief. I plan to give a more comprehensive experience once I install it on my computer and use it for a while. From what I have seen from actually being in the OS and from other’s experience, I’m optimistic.

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The image above was taken from within Parallels which runs WIndows XP on my Mac. In it you can see what the interface of WLW looks like. All that I simply did, after completing a screenshot, was drag-and-drop the image into WLW and define the actions of the image. That simple. Although, since it is in beta, I did discover a bug during an attempted operation of clicking the Insert Picture button. When I selected the icon to insert that picture, I got an error message and was not allowed to complete the operation. Luckily the drag-and-drop feature worked.

I would have to say that if you are a Windows users and blog, this might be the tool for you. The best thing about it is that it is free compared to the $150 plus price tag that is placed on the Office 2007 product.

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Well, I have found two utilities from Microsoft that will allow you to compose your blog and then submit it to your blog site, I am actually using one now, Office 2007. This version of Office 2007 is actually a 60 day trial version that everyone can download from Microsoft’s site. I would actually encourage you to download and try it out on your test machine (If you have one); it’s a new experience, if you are familiar will previous versions of Office.

The other utility is called Windows Live Writer. It’s still in beta so if you decide to download to try it, you may run into some bugs while using it. My next blog will be tested with that utility.

For now, I want to give you a brief rundown of Office 2007′s blog option. When you open Office, you can select New in which you are then given an option for a New Blank Document or a New Blog Post. There are other options, of course, but to try out this function I selected the latter. Immediately a new blank page opens that looks like a regular Word document and then a separate pop-up window that allows you to enter your blog site information: blogging provider (Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, Typepad, WordPress and others), your site URL, and login credentials. After that it was all pretty simple, like composing a standard Word document. When I was done, I selected Publish and Office 2007 did the rest.

I was impressed.

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Gates speaks up over Apple commercials

I like what is written about four paragraphs down, it’s very true:

“There is little truth to the claims made by the most zealous of Mac users, and the educated Mac user often never attacks Windows, or PCs in general, because it isn’t about a system, it is personal choice, and what works best for them.”

Having used most operating systems – Windows, Linux and Mac – it is truly about personal choice. The most fascinating things that won me over with Mac are the applications that come with it for free, the iLife suite for example (iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto & iDVD), and also the fact that it’s truly not required that I purchase and run a anti-virus program (in Windows, I am constantly annoyed that I have to install anti-virus because I know it’s required and yet I also know that it often bogs down the system performance). There really isn’t anything wrong with Windows, it doesn’t crash on me all the time, like most anti-Windows people state, and hasn’t since Windows 98. And, even if my Windows 2000 or Windows XP gave me a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), it’s not because of the operating system, it’s because of the crappy drivers that were written for Windows by the hardware manufacturer. But, it is true about the security of Windows, it is not as secure as Linux or Mac. Windows has many security flaws and vulnerabilities that are discovered almost everyday, especially in Internet Explorer (use Firefox people, it truly is for your own good), and is extremely prone to virus attacks. But, again, it’s not entirely Window’s fault, the world is out to get Microsoft. Mac, and even sometimes Linux, has security flaws that are discovered in their operating system too. I check for OS X updates almost once a week and find that there are security updates at least twice a month, not as many as Windows but they’re still there. For the most part, viruses are not written for OS X, only Windows, because, as mentioned, the world is out to get Microsoft.

I can tell you now that OS X still has problems and mistakes, it’s not a completely perfect operating system. Just yesterday I was editing a video in iMovie and the damn thing kept crashing on me. I’ve deducted the problem as being a corrupt project and I will have to delete it to start over again, which sucks because it’s a huge project with many edits and movie clips.

But, I will say, it is true what is stated about the differences between Mac and Windows. I still believe Windows is perfect for the business and Mac is perfect for the home user. Take that as you will as a personal and professional opinion. Also, even though Macs are a little more expensive than most manufactured PCs (which is changing fast due to the switch to Intel processors in Macs), I have found so many more applications that are free (most open source) that have been fantastic substitutes for software I would normally have to buy for Windows.

And, one final note, OS X is a faster, smoother operating system than Windows XP. I’m currently running only 512MB of RAM in my MacBook and it still runs and opens common applications rather fast. Whereas I have seen running 512MB in Windows XP is a mistake and most common applications do not open and run as fast. Although, I still plan to bump my MacBook up to 2GB as the extra memory will help me when editing videos in iMovie.

So, to end on what I started saying at the beginning of this post, there is no perfect operating system. In my personal, and professional, opinion, Mac is not better than Windows, and Windows is not better than Mac, and Linux is not better than Mac, and Windows is not better than Linux.

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