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I’ve been playing around with Ubuntu+Beryl for the last couple of weeks and I continue to be impressed.  I haven’t switched over, yet, but I find myself preferring it to OS X or Windows.  Most of my app needs are met in Ubuntu except one: iTunes.

I like iTunes.  It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn good for multimedia organization.  It also integrates with my iPod (and I do like my iPod).  I’ve built up a little eco-system around iTunes/iPod so that I can get my podcasts, listen to audio books, and carry my music everywhere I go.  I use Audiobook Builder to merge podiobooks and audio books into a single (sometimes multiple) chaptered file.  I use MP3Trimmer to clip annoying pre- and post-ambles from downloaded audio (curse you audiobooksforfree.com!).  It all (almost) just works together perfectly.  And it’s all centered around iTunes.  Without it, media is just difficult to use. 

I’ve tried AramoK and Rhythmbox (among others), and none are as easy to use as iTunes (IMO, nothing humble about it). They improve on iTunes in some respects, but overall the lack the same polish.  

I’ve also fallen in love with AAC chapters (enhanced podcasts).  With AudioBook Builder, I can merge a 10 file audio book into a single file, with each file being a chapter in the new file.  I can cycle back and forth as needed.  Similar capability has been added to ID3, but there aren’t any players I know of that support it (maybe I should add it to Rockbox).

Once iTunes is running on Linux (come on wine!) with iPod integration, I’ll have a better machine then my Mac.  Well, maybe if they get Photoshop CS2 running as well.

How would I change in OS X:

1. Get rid of the Dock.  It’s the biggest waste of space on the screen, leaving hugh chuncks of open area on either side.  The Gnome apps panel is a much better solution, stretching the full length of the screen.  Couple that with effective use of the notification panel and/or Growl and you don’t need that swath of wasted space.  At the very least, give the user the option to have the dock be the full width of the screen without having to fill it with icons.
2. Add Beryl/Compwiz like features such as wobbly windows and multiple desktops.  Spaces will be a much needed enhancement, but may just be a baby step.
3. Close applications when I click the red button.  Red means stop.  Stop the application.  Of course, with the elimination of the Dock it becomes a moot point.
4. Maximize the window with I click the green + button.  Implementation is inconsistent.  Some apps go full screen (minus the dock’s wasted space), some almost full screen (Firefox keeps about an inch open on the right side to expose the desktop icons), others actually seem to get smaller (Try Preview with a PDF). 
5. Resize from any side or corner of the window.  Is there a particular reason I can only resize from the lower right corner.  What if the window is on the right hand side of the screen?  Why do I have to move the window and then resize it?
6. Buy Parallels and integrate it into the OS.  With coherence mode, you can run apps as if they were OS X native. It’s a tough political choice, giving developers the option to only develop Windows apps knowing it will run on OS X, but Apple is in the hardware business.  If they can sell more hardware, does it matter where the apps come from?  Integrating Parallels into the OS will only speed it up.  Further, if they provide a Stardocks WindowBlinds theming engine, they can make Windows apps look OS X native.
7. Move away from an App-Centric model to a Document Centered model.  User deal with documents and images, not apps.  No one ever “uses Firefox”, they are “browsing the web”.

Yes, that’s right, you can kill someone in self-defense, but you can’t light up a joint to save your life without being arrested. You just have to love the blind, obsessive stand against marijuana use, even if it means that the drug can save a person’s life.

Basically it comes down to this. No drug should be illegal for medicinal use. Survival trumps laws in all cases. That said, survival does not trump your responsibility to society (i.e. you can’t wanting kill a person for the last bit of food). The use of marijuana for medicinal reasons has no effect on society. Instead of attempting to maintain the illegality of the distribution of pot to patients, the government should be controlling the manufacture of it. That would minimize any societal impact due to underground delivery.

I’m not a big fan of “eye-candy”. I prefer my computer interface to be simple and usable. That said, I occasionally have an “ah ha” moment when it came to user interfaces, most recently when I bought a Mac and came to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of OS X.

After installing Beryl on an Ubuntu box, I had the same feeling. It can be summed up in two words “Wobbly Windows”. Basically as the window moves, it wobbles, like a piece of paper. It’s not subtle by any means and I think that’s what makes it so appealing. The windows were alive and more real. When I switch back to OS X or Windows, the windows are static blocks, un-living blocks of information. Normally this type of eye candy wouldn’t affect me that much, but this wobble made using the computer more enjoyable.

I still don’t like widgets or gadgets or what ever you want to call those single purpose apps that sit on your desktop. They just annoy me .