Well, it's been a while since I've won an award...

Here's something nice. My partitioning software, Partition Logic (based on my operating system, Visopsys) has been chosen as one of PC World magazine's "The 100 Best Products of 2008":

"Each year, PC World chooses the 100 top technology products available to consumers. Some of the products are brand new, some have been on the market for years. What they have in common is attractive and efficient design, outstanding features and performance, solid usability and smart innovation".

OK, so mine is only number 96, but it's still an honour:

Our July issue will feature an extremely popular cover story, The 100 Best Products of 2008. (formerly the World Class Awards) PC World editors selected Partition Logic as one of the best products of 2008 ! This special issue sells very well on newsstand, (the issue gets a lot of media play), and it's well read by our readers (this year, editors will include reader's favorite hardware, software and services in a sidebar of the feature). Congratulations again on this important industry award!

I'll have to remember to buy a copy of that. :))

Vista's a stinka

I own two (legit!) copies of Windows Vista. One I bought shortly after the launch, because I needed to ensure that people could use my partitioning program, Partition Logic, without destroying their computers [a-ok]. I installed that one 'within' my Linux machine using the VmWare emulator. Being generally unimpressed, I eventually deleted it.

Then another copy of Vista arrived through the post, as promised, a free 'upgrade' for my new laptop. I stashed that in a drawer somewhere, and haven't given the sparkly new Windows product much thought since then.

Until last night, that is, when I had to try and use the Vista that's installed on Kim's work laptop. She has complained bitterly about it, and asked the IT guy at work to install XP. In the meantime, someone had turned off DHCP in her Vista network settings, and I wanted to re-enable it so she could connect to our home network.

I'm a computer geek, and I seriously got lost trying to find that one magical dialog box with a 'use DHCP' checkbox. I went through layer upon layer, cycling back around to where I started at least a couple of times. Some dialogs showed the setting I was interested in, but wouldn't let me change anything. I had to click through at least a dozen security warnings. Eventually, I stumbled my way through the maze and made the change, but I couldn't tell you how I found it. If I had to do it again tonight, I'd probably end up chasing my tail once again.

That's just shoddy. Listen, XP is fine, right? I mean, if you have to use Windows... Microsoft has promised another new operating system in a few years, so why not wait and see whether it's an actual improvement? In the meantime, if you wanted to try something new, you could always try Linux, or get a Mac.

Visopsys and Partition Logic 0.67

On Tuesday I released version 0.67 of my operating system, Visopsys. Wednesday came the corresponding release of the relatively popular little tool Partition Logic which is based on Visopsys. What, you thought I sat around writing blog posts all day? :-)

Most people don't have much use for a hobby operating system (hey, I don't even use it for daily tasks yet). But Partition Logic is, I've found, a way to make Visopsys useful to regular people. Well, okay, slightly above-average computer users, that is, who like to do a little of their own system administration. Partition Logic is a tool for reconfiguring the layout of your computer's hard disk so that you can have separate data volumes, for example, or install multiple operating systems on one machine.

There's a little blurb about the Visopsys release here on OSNews.

Yet more good news from Google

For years we've heard about Google's "dark fibre" purchases -- unused fibre optic cable, but now we're finding out they've got plans for our dark porcelain as well:

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the launch of Google TiSP (BETA)™, a free in-home wireless broadband service that delivers online connectivity via users' plumbing systems. The Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) project is a self-installed, ad-supported online service that will be offered entirely free to any consumer with a WiFi-capable PC and a toilet connected to a local municipal sewage system.

It even comes with a self-installation kit (pictured above).

"I couldn't be more excited about, and am only slightly grossed out by, this remarkable new product," said Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. "I firmly believe TiSP will be a breakthrough product, particularly for those users who, like Larry himself, do much of their best thinking in the bathroom."

Can't wait to start pushing out blog posts from the bathroom.

Gmail paper

Another good idea from the boys in Mountain View: Google introduces "Gmail Paper", a service where you can choose to print all your email and have it delivered, for free. How about attachments?

All part of the deal. Photo attachments are printed on high-quality, glossy photo paper, and secured to your Gmail Paper with a paper clip. MP3 and WAV files will not be printed. We recommend maintaining copies of your non-paper Gmail in these cases.

But what about the environment?

Not a problem. Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier.

Partition Logic 0.64 released

And following from my Visopsys (operating system) release yesterday, today I've released the corresponding version of Partition Logic, which is a hard disk partitioning and data management tool that runs on Visopsys. It's by far the more popular of the two, since it does something specific and useful that people need. Plus, it's got a much cooler name. Click here to download it and give it a try.

Visopsys 0.64 released

Today I released version 0.64 of my operating system, Visopsys. There's a little news item up on OSNews.com as well. Click here to download it and try it out.

Visopsys 0.63 release

Version 0.63 of my PC operating system, Visopsys, was released the other day. It's a maintenance release with bugfixes and loads of small tweaks throughout the system, but also a few new little features, including the ability to format and resize Linux swap partitions, more reliable OS loading, better CPU detection, and a simple text editor. Detailed change log and downloads.