I know it’s extremely bad form to go two months without posting a blog entry, but in my defense, I’ve been working hard on a bunch of new and interesting things that should please regular readers.
First is Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac, a new $10 ebook that’s available for pre-order today. By “pre-order,” we mean that the ebook has been written, edited, and reviewed for technical accuracy, but it not quite ready for delivery in its final form. By ordering now, you get access to the (nearly) complete text of the ebook in a somewhat ugly format on a Web page, but more importantly, you can leave comments or suggestions about any individual paragraph (or the document as a whole). That way, I can integrate readers’ feedback into the initial PDF file, rather than making them wait for a revision later on. When the PDF is finished (likely in a few weeks), those who pre-ordered will of course get it immediately; there will also be free updates as the software landscape inevitably changes over the coming months. The ebook covers not only Boot Camp but virtualization software such as Parallels Workstation and Q, and will eventually include information on solutions for PowerPC Macs such as Virtual PC and GuestPC. I think it’s the best and most complete text of its kind by far.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: if I’m writing about Windows, I must have gone completely mad. But, as I take pains to point out in the new ebook, even though I can do most of my work on a Mac, I still encounter tasks from time to time that (at the moment) require Windows-only software. For me, that most frequently means checking Web design changes in Windows browsers, but I list a dozen or so other common uses that might drive an otherwise sane Mac fanatic to use Windows occasionally. The great thing about Intel Macs is that there is no longer any compelling reason to buy a PC, regardless of which operating system you want to run. I very much hope this move helps Apple along the road to world domination.
Apart from that, my ongoing work for TidBITS, and several new Macworld articles, I’ve been chipping away as earnestly as possible at the long list of things required to bring Interesting Thing of the Day back to life. My list once had over 60 tasks on it; I’m now down to 6. So I can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I think this massive overhaul will be immensely popular.
As if that weren’t enough, Morgen and I are also developing several new Web sites that are unlike anything we’ve done before. I’m very excited about them, my enthusiasm tempered only by the fact that there are too few hours in the day and days in the week to move everything along as quickly as I’d like.
