Indianapolis

So I've been in Indianapolis (this site used to be the RCA headquarters) all week for a work conference. We had Dell, Intel and Microsoft come over to talk about their latest products and all of them looked at my MacBook Pro a little bit funny although Intel did give the nod of approval. I haven't had a chance to see much of the city until tonight where we went to the Slippery Noodle Inn to hear some Blues and we drove by the magnificent Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. Very impressive.

I never really did get used to the east coast time as I couldn't stay awake long enough to see the end of the season opener Lakers game. I honestly don't know how Dave can stay up to watch the west coast games.

I'm going home tomorrow morning and I'm looking forward to see my family again. Traveling just isn't the same without them.

Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

I'm sure everybody knows already that Windows 7 was officially released to the general public yesterday, although enterprise customers have had it for a few months already. I've been using it since the RC days and have to admit its been a solid release, truly much better than the often maligned Vista product.

What's sad is that Microsoft seems to be giving the shaft to Vista Ultimate users. Apparently upgrading from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate will result in all those Ultimate Extras being quietly removed. Wasn't it bad enough Microsoft didn't exactly roll out the red carpet with new features after pushing UE as one of the main reasons for spending $400 dollars on an operating system?

I installed Windows 7 Enterprise Edition on my MacBook Pro using the Boot Camp version that comes with Snow Leopard and I don't seem to have any issues, other than the battery life seems to drain faster and I have no official support from Apple yet. Still though, part of me still feels a little wrong about installing any version of Windows on a Mac but there are a few apps I need to support that are Windows only.

Anyways if you didn't get your free copy of 7 by attending a Microsoft seminar or by applying for the Party Pack, the least expensive way to get a copy is by buying the OEM version.

Roz Ho is back!

I noticed that Roz Ho was back in the news after reading about the Microsoft/Danger Sidekick fiasco. Previously the GM of Microsoft's Macintosh Business unit, she is currently the Corporate VP of Premium Mobile Experiences- the team with the monumental task of competing with the iPhone in the smartphone market. Daniel Dilger of Roughly Drafted reports that none other than Roz is responsible for the data loss that occurred with Sidekick users.

There's a good 2008 interview with her on Microsoft's Channel 9 site. You can view the iPhone/touch MP4 version here without having to install and view the Silverlight version. I haven't watched the entire video yet but she seems like a real sweet, bright woman. A sweet, bright woman who just made a boneheaded mistake (if true). But haven't we all made mistakes at some point in our careers? ;)

Batteries

Put this down as one of my "boringest" (OK I know that's not a real word, but Apple can say "funnest") blogs, but was something I never paid attention to until I got my MacBook Pro.

They have a great article on how to squeeze the most battery life out of your portable devices, something that's very important especially on laptop that doesn't have a removable battery.

Essentially you have to calibrate it (preferably the first time you use it) and depending on how often you use it, keep it calibrated periodically thereafter. They have an informative batteries website that explains everything you would want to know about the lithium-ion batteries Apple uses and even provides an iCal reminder of when you need to calibrate your iPod/iPhone/MacBook devices that you can download.

House Party

After listening to another recent MacBreak Weekly episode, Leo and the gang talk about hosting a Microsoft House Party for Windows 7. If you haven't already seen the party video, it's a must have look at would could be the most cheesy presentation to come out of Redmond thus far.

Personally I love it since it plays right into my love for all things informercial. In fact this Canadian website agrees and lists many of the classic informational commercials from the past, complete with a "Informercial Hell" clip show that showcases all the exaggerated problems that Rob likes.