An In-depth Analysis of iOS 5

Due to my non-disclosure agreement with Apple, I cannot divulge much about the latest iOS version.

So...

Over the Air Updates: GOOD!

OS X Lion System Information Gets Revamped

Clicking "About This Mac" from the Apple menu for the first time in Lion left me pleasantly surprised. The System Information app has undergone a complete transformation in 10.7. The first thing I noticed after clicking "More Info..." was the new Overview window and how much more information it provides. Lion's version adds a picture of your Mac, the model name and release date, the type of graphics adapter (complete with the amount of VRAM) and the Mac's serial number. Also, the build number of your OS X version has been added. These were all available before, just not in the Overview window. Like before, there's a button to launch the System Information app and one to check with the mothership to see if any updates are available, but now there's a "Windows-like" menu at the top left. It navigates to windows for checking your displays and examining your memory configurations along with one that presents a storage overview of all your mounted volumes with iTunes-like, horizontally stacked, multi-colored bars. It breaks down disk usage by the types of files consuming the space. Usage is broken down by audio, movies, photos, apps, backups and "other". It also includes a button for launching Disk Utility. This window is the one that set off my cool alarms. Sure, it's not going to drill down to obscurity like DaisyDisk does, but it will tell you plenty about your disk usage, especially when you just want to see what's soaking up the sectors on a portable hard disk or thumb drive.  Besides, it just looks so damned COOL.

Macbook Air: 3 Reasons Why Its No Longer a Toy

Today's release of the new Macbook Air lineup vaults the machines from "nice to have, but not enough machine to do any real computing" to "the future of laptops".  I'm speaking more specifically about the new top of the line 13" model.  With the processor upgrade to the Core i5 and i7 "Sandy Bridge" line and the addition of the Thunderbolt port, the two biggest knocks on the Air have been quashed.  Additionally, the keyboard is now backlit which, for me, was a total show stopper with the previous model.

It will be fun to see the reviews from the "experts" (guys with enough readers or money to get the new models early) who slammed the previous model for being too slow, too underpowered and with too few expansion options. As I examine the specs for this new mini-mighty 13" model, I can only find one reason not to buy it: there's too few Thunderbolt accessories to date.  As with any new peripheral interface, it will take the third party guys a while to catch up, but in the next couple of months we will have forgotten about today's shortcomings.  So, why do I think the new Air defines the future of laptops?

1. Moving parts and portability don't mix well. With no hard disk or DVD drive the Air is a true "solid state" machine.  The two most fragile components of a laptop are also the slowest. The SSD is so much faster than a spinning disk that even the previous generation Air with its much slower processor felt snappy and responsive and 256 gigs ain't shabby.  DVD drives are going the way of the floppy disk. I can't remember the last time I slid a disk into my MacBook Pro. Yep, more rugged, affordable and much faster...I'll take it.
2. Core i5 & i7 = Plenty of muscle.  Let's face it, a 1.4 GHz Core 2 Duo is a bit whimpy when we're talking about modern laptops.  While they're adequate for the $500 Best Buy specials, we Mac users have come to expect a bit more for $1000+.  While still just dual-core, these new grinders have enough beef to handle all but the most demanding number crunching, like video encoding or 3D modeling.  Virtually everything else is quite doable.
3. Thunderbolt will make all things possible. OK, maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but my mind just reels when I think about all the technology a bi-directional 10 gigabit connection makes possible. I imagine it won't be long before we see gigabit ethernet adapters, firewire hubs, external video cards and much more to go along with the already available super-fast storage devices. The old "lack of peripheral connectivity" argument no longer holds any water at all.

Any one of these improvements alone make a MacBook Air a very desireable machine, but taken together (especially in the 13" model) the Air could become a "MacBook Pro Killer".