Operating Systems with Client Awareness

I need to explain my background in computers as the context for his piece.  I was privileged to have access to an electronic calculator when I was a kid.  This was 1977 and I was positively influenced by the power of this device.  I soon understood that getting the right answer meant that I needed to consider the rounding errors that were still part of the calculators of that era.  I became a master of the little machine by spending an enormous amount of time with it.  

In 1980 I became the proud owner of a Sharp EL5100 programmable calculator, while I studied computer science at University, learning to program in FORTRAN 77 on a mainframe.   This calculator was followed by a Sharp PC1500, which I could program in BASIC.  Then I bought an Apple //e in 1984 and finally a HP15C (which I still use today).  I used the Apple //e for programming in Apple 6502 machine code, Apple Basic, Apple Pascal and Turbo Pascal running on the Z80 card of the Apple.  For the latter I wrote my own graphics routines that used a tunnel built into the Z80 card to access the Apple routines in ROM.  I had the opportunity to use the first Macintosh and Lisa computers and then I was forced to switch to PC architectures in the early 1990s, where I continued to program in various languages, including C and C++.  I wrote my own PostScript driver for the Apple //e before I retired that machine in 1998!  I think it is fair to say that I have experience in tweaking and forcing hardware and software to do my biding. 

I used a wide variety of application software and wrote a lot of my own as well.  Over the years I realized that one can spend an inordinate amount of time on tweaks and tasks other than your primary goals, like writing that research report, developing that business presentation or writing the book you always wanted to write.  Most of this tweaking and fiddling comes naturally to so-called techies.  It is easy for them to set up the operating system on a new machine, to extend the word processor with scripts and to add all sorts of fancy formatting and programming to a spreadsheet.  But it eats up time.

Many people do not want or could not care for this sort of “power”.  They want to access the power of a computer.  They want to be seen as a client by the vendors of the software and hardware, not as collaborators on the software and testers of the new interfaces.  They want to point at an icon that makes sense to them, get a page up and start typing the letter, etc.  They do not want to learn how to set up a piece of software, or tweak it to work with the printer.  90% of the features are just hurdles to them.  

This is my contribution today: maybe we should start to look at these users as clients of our hardware and software, not as useless or stupid newbies that should just get out of our lives.  If we see them as clients, we will design the operating system and the hardware so that they can feel comfortable, so that they have access to the powerful functions without knowing to open a terminal window and type SU to get administrator rights to modify things.  Yes, allow that for the tweakers, they are clients too.  But many people want to work (write a fancy report, add a picture, add video, etc) without wanting to know about file formats, codecs, etc.  

I am using a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5, a descendent of the Berkley Software Distribution of Unics and the FreeBSD line of code as well as the ground-breaking NEXTSTEP system.  So, at heart it is Unix.  I also run openSUSE 11 in a VMWare fusion box, along with Windows XP Professional and Windows 98 from Microsoft on the Mac.  SUSE is a true Linux child and this version is a very popular distro with only Ubuntu possibly being more popular.  There are similarities between the metaphors of OSX and SUSE, but one thing is clear, OSX is streets ahead in ease of use.  I switched on my Mac out of the box, it ran unassisted through the initial setup functions, found my wireless network, connected, discovered my printers on the Microsoft based network, and was ready to roll before 30 minutes were up.  I then installed several packages.  Put in the CD, click and wait, and then work, no drama.  The only software that took a bit of tweaking was the VMWare Fusion stuff.  I discovered that I was sold an older version and once I downloaded the free update, things went better.  Then I discovered something interesting.

Installing XP under Fusion was simple enough, but took 30 minutes and several tweaks (similar to setting it up on a new PC) before it was functional.  It was not simple at all.  Windows 98 was even worse and needed many tweaks to get to work.  SUSE took me a full day to get going!!  I had to wade through sub-directories and fiddle packages, I had to get down to code and scripts to get the VMWare package installed, resorting to super-user status before I could get it to work, with no real gains.  The openOffice (2.4) with SUSE would not read some of the documents done in the same version under XP, asking for character sets etc to be modified, corrupting the files.  So, SUSE is not for my wife!  It does not understand anything about serving me as a client, it assumes I want to waste my time tweaking things.  It is Unix, and so is OSX, but on my Mac I am treated like a valued client, on SUSE I am treated like I should know it all or suffer.  It is too busy being smart-ass and cool to care about the user that just wants to get on with work. And the software on it is really good (in the sense that it is free and can be coaxed into doing things if you are willing to sit and fiddle).

Windows XP is really not bad after all.  It works most of the time, as long as you do not overload it over time with lots of applications and modifications.  Office 2007 is also very good and quite intuitive in a weird way.  I can do really good work in minutes and I can access the advanced features easily when I need to.  Not bad and I hope Windows 7 is more like XP than Vista.  

Lastly, my son bought a new laptop and it only comes with Windows Vista Home (something – not Basic).  This is a self-indulgent OS, constantly going off to the internet to check things, constantly telling you what to do, throwing stuff into your face without you asking for it, and it does not just connect and play.  Not for my wife either, and by the looks of it, my son (a new breed of super user) hates it.  As he says, the stupid thing is always busy with it-self and has no time available for him to actually get some work done.  Yes, Vista is so busy doing things on your machine that it has very little time left to listen to what you want to do.  I guess we’ll soon sell that laptop and replace it with a Mac. 

If you want to feel like a valued client, get some work done and feel like you have accomplished things, get a Mac.  I can say this after 30 years of working with computing machines.  For now you have no real choice, unless you have lots of time to waste.

New Zealand

This blog is written and submitted from Dunedin in New Zealand in late October. One would expect it to be warmer, but it is just around 15 centigrade and the breeze is quite cold from the west. From the walkway at the hotel I can see the brilliant green hills to the east dotted with mustard yellow vegetation. The air is clear and crisp.
The opportunity to visit this beautiful country arose suddenly and despite huge cost, we decided as a family to just do it and make the break! The flight from Johannesburg on Qantas started late as expected. I am sure that this is not the fault of Qantas, but rather that of the system shared with South African Airways and by the Airports Company of South Africa. Checking in took over three hours and we were only airborne after 21:00, and this with the flight planned to leave at 18:10! In typical South African fashion everything went along at a snail’s pace, with all sorts of extra events invented to slow progress to departure, like several searches of luggage, each successive one being successful in finding something missed by the X-ray machine and previous rummaging. When we finally took off in a typical Gauteng thunder storm, things became more organised, with Qantas assuring us hat we would still be able to connect to Auckland on the same day (or within eight hours). This was important, because the process at the Australian embassy to get a transit visa is now so drawn-out that we could not get that done in time (it could take more than a month, and this to pass through the airport!), and all our flights were planned to ensure that we had a smooth passage. I was told that most South African families on trips to Australia and New Zealand are now viewed with suspicion by the staff at the Australian embassy. I wonder why?
We were put on another flight to Auckland when we arrived in Sydney, with the real Aussies at the airport being friendly and VERY professional. Our introduction to New Zealand after more than 13000km of travel was smooth and professional, with friendly and efficient people working at 02:00 with a smile. The next day we had another great flight to Wellington, where a friend that emigrated to New Zealand about a year ago awaited us as we walked off the plane. It was as if this new Kiwi was just an extension of the psyche of the nation here, friendly and relaxed, light years away from the stressed person we knew in South Africa. A couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc later we finally went to bed at a civilized hour. Wellington is a wonderful place, rich in culture and atmosphere, and we definitely left too soon.
My first glimpse, through clouds, of the Otago area was filled with lots of emotion. The sun brushed the hills with yellow strokes. The brilliant green patchwork was dotted with white flecks where the sheep reflected the sun slicing through the clouds. The airport is modern, but the single runway is just long enough to handle the 737. Dunedin mixes the modern with the old in an effortless way, the pace is relaxed, but there is a purpose for everything.
As I look out at the new clouds rushing in with a cold front I think about the many decisions ahead of us. On an island things are so finely balanced.