The Windows vs. Mac debate has been going on for many years now, and I find myself in the middle of this debate all the time when attending user groups and networking events that involve developers.  One thing is for certain, developers like what they like, and are reluctant to change unless there is a good reason to do so.  I am on the complete other side of this fence in that I am always looking for the next great tool or toy to make my life working on interfaces all day, easier.

I own a MacBook Pro, a couple of Linux boxes and a pretty robust Vista x64 machine, and I use them all, all the time.  If I was forced to only have one of these machines, I would have to say personally, the MacBook Pro would be it, but that does not mean that the others don’t serve a specific purpose.  The thing I have found over the years is that there are some things Windows just does better, and many things that a Mac does better.  As for Linux, it certainly serves a purpose, and is unparalleled in regards to server technology.  There is a reason that 65% of all web servers out there are Linux based.

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Driving down the road the other day I was listening to the personal finance and consumer advocate Clark Howard.  On the show, the staff was speaking about computer viruses, how they are spread, and all the great free software you can get to eradicate them from your machine.  Normally, I don’t pay this kind of thing too much attention, but in this instance, Clark said something that really disturbed me.  The paraphrased version is…”You are still using the antiquated way of browsing the internet with Internet Explorer?”

I was stunned! I am by no means an advocate for Internet Explorer, and the fact that people still use IE 6 is absolutely amazing to me. That said, Internet Explorer is by no means antiquated, and in fact, the new IE v8 is actually quite nice. I am probably going to be drawn and quartered for putting that in print (screen?), but at the end of the day, all browsers fell to exploits at the Pwn2Own conference with the single exception of Chrome. Safari, IE, and Firefox in that order as far as I can tell, and by now, Microsoft, Apple and Mozilla have patched those vulnerabilities.
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As is normal in my position as a Software Developer, people assume that I must know everything there is to know about computers.  While I consider myself more than your average novice, there are plenty of people out there that are smarter than me in regards to the inner-workings of computer hardware.  I mean, every day I work on, develop for, and manage Linux, OS X, and Windows Machines being a developer of interfaces for all things accessed through the internet.

Today was no different than any other day in that someone called and said “Hey, can you fix my computer?”.

In the past I vowed I would never take another computer into my house that I either did not own, or was using for something specific in my quest for knowledge.  Well, I can’t believe it, but I took another one in, and here is what I have concluded.

It’s not Windows that is the problem, it is the people that use Windows that is the problem!  I am absolutely astounded at all the crap that people will put on their computers. Add to that, all the other crap people will continuously install in order to fix the issue that their computer is having, only to make the issue worse!  Is it that hard to spend ten minutes on the internet reading about reputable tools, and how to use them?  For gods sake, 60% of the time when I do solve an issue on someone’s computer, it is as a result of some post I found on the internet.
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Another blog?  That’s all the world needs.  Yet another one that speaks of the many wonders of the internet, technology, and random things.  I did not start this because the world needed another blog; I started it because I wanted a place to write.  I am not an author, I am a web developer, so this seemed like the most appropriate format.  I come home every day with new information in my head, and while my wife and dogs are a wonderful audience, sometimes I believe that other people could possibly benefit from all that I pick up as I go along.

As the tag line says in my header, I am an User Interface Engineer and Anti-Chaos Engineer.  What does that mean?  Well, it means that I do my best to make things look pretty so your experience on the web is a good one, and for the second part, I look at it like this…When you need to get something done in regards to software development, I get it done with as little chaos as possible.  This would include managing a development team, maintaining budgets, managing source code, and tracking projects and defects.  Not the most glamorous part of my job,  but at the end of the day, I get it done.  I do lots of other things, but I recommend that you look at the “What I Do ” page for more info, and if you want to hire me.
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