I HATE APPLE

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A file isn't a file, though, Alba. Look at the hassle they're having archiving the BBC Domesday project that was written for BBC Masters and LaserDiscs. Even if they get the files off, it'll be a hell of a job decrypting them. And the really early word processor files from the days of the format wars are really hard to read.

If the "soups" (not that I'm suggesting them for OS X tho) were in XML, they'd be readable virutally forever. Backing up is also something for the computer to worry about. People should never have to worry about that shit. That can just be a search done by the computer itself, late at night: "Transmit [all stuff] changed [today] to [this server]".

Well that's great in theory but what if your hard disk dies or whatever?

Though in time, all yr stuff will be stored online anyway, and probably the only stuff that should be on local file store will be startup and system files.

I don't see that it's in any software engineer or hardware manufacturer's interest to ever develop a universal open standard for information and then retain complete backwards compatibility for it as technology changes, so it's a safe bet we'll never reach that point barring a discovery of an economic model that beats Adam Smith.

I knew someone who experienced the rather nasty filesystem corruption that occurred with Apple-format (HFS+) hard disks on early versions of OS X. When it reached your NetInfo database file - bang, one useless computer.

Do you work for Sun Microsystems? Even they couldn't get that to work, though, so I guess you don't.

Anyway, worst idea ever, gmail's nice but it's not what I would call "mission critical" and definitely the most insecure of all possible solutions to any given problem is to put it "online."

i have two macs and one iDisk. this means i can't use backup.app, because it can't handle the concept of two machines sharing the same backup folder. i therefore have no choice but to do everything by hand. it's time-consuming, but at least i know i'm not overwriting anything important. if something fucks up, it's my fault.

christ: trust my computer to do my backups? no fucking WAY.

You don't need an open standard at all either -- but if it's in your interests to make yr apps work with others, you'll do it. If Apple makes the iLife media browser system-wide, so that you can pop-up a palette in Word and drag one of yr pics into the doc, everyone will be clamouring to integrate it, and also to provide an uplink to it.

Look at how they're all jumping to provide Spotlight searching, even when that means drastically restructuring the app -- Entourage in particular.

xposts: you missed out the "in time" part of the quote, Tombot. It won't happen soon, but as bandwidth only gets faster, I don't see why not. Online not in this case nec. meaning "teh internet" either. Where does my address book live, for instance? It's synced almost invisibly between newton, Mail, phone and Mac.

GF: But you trust Google to back up yr mail?

good point. not really. i keep meaning to download it all one day, just for keeps.

Oh - I guess that answers my question. I'm sure I tried that once too. I think Azureus's interface is fine.

Who had the bright idea of making it download 30 kilobyte plugins using bit torrent? FOR FUCKS SAKE!

xpost,

stet it looks WORSE on OS X

I blame JAVA.

OK, I have no idea what's going on here - I often have 20 or more on the go no problem.

Is Explorer (or Windows) heading in this direction though? I know they've stolen cues from Apple in the past but I can't see them letting old users go f*ck themselves like seems to be the case with OS X.

I think I don't like my computer making me it's bitch via substandard 'browsing'/database uber alles/shitty jack-of-all, master-of-none apps.

Azareus was problematic for me. ThenI was using Bits On Wheels for a bit, but I switched to TorrentStation and liked it so much I actually bought a copy.

Windows is supposed to be heading in that direction soon. The first big steps that way are going to be made in the Vista interface, which may well get backported to XP if noone bothers to buy Vista much.

Originally, this was going to tie in with the full release of WinFS, which should make it easier and more efficient to do that kind of thing. And WinFS is going to be released real soon now. Honest. No, really. Hahahah.

(Microsoft have been promising it for well over ten years - according to Wikipedia, it was originally going to be released with NT4)

Ah, user file control, we barely knew you....

http://www.osx-e.com/screenshots/about_finder.jpg

The search speed on local disks is about the same for the Finder and Explorer; Explorer does pretty readily let you search on keywords in the content and all metadata fields for any file, though, which is pretty impressive.

YMMV as always, I'm just saying.

But then the file browser isn't horribly broken. So you can get by without ever needing to use search 99% of the time!

when i saw this on the vista install we have i laffed and for the first time used the expression "that's so gay" in front of work colleagues.