I love to hate Microsoft.  And have made a point to support alternatives to their standard, knee-jerk products.  But as I blog this article from a Firefox Add-on, I write it in Windows Live Writer on a laptop running Windows 7.   Despite the fact that my son’s home computer runs OpenSUSE with OpenOffice a sizable portion of my workday is spent with MS Access and SQL server.  Me conflicted?  Sure

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Just a quick update on Chrome vs. Firefox and a Blog this plug-in for Windows Live Writer.  After only an hour using Chrome I found myself longing for the features I’ve grown to rely on through Firefox extensions.  And each time I looked for one of those extensions in Chrome they either didn’t exist, or existed in a less-functional version.  So I’m back using Firefox – and I found a nice Blog This Firefox Extension that works perfectly with Live Writer.

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So I got my new laptop running Windows 7.  My first impressions of Windows 7?  Look, talking about, gushing about, or getting strident about an operating system is kind of passé.  Although change is good, and I always find it eye-opening to have a chance to re-learn everyday habits a new way.  One of those habits for me is blogging.  And the Windows Live Writer program is pretty good.

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I am not running Windows 7 yet, but the Pivot software demo looks worth a try if you have it.  As stated by Gary Flake in the TED demo.  for web pages it “makes the sum greater than the parts…See patterns that were otherwise hidden.” The video only lasts 5 minutes, but the demo is impressive.  As the web grows many people are looking for new ways to create visual representations.  For instance the open source, cross-platform, VUE project does an impressive job with more structured data like RSS feeds.  Visualizations can be really effective in revealing patterns and information not seen in traditional text-based representations.  And maybe Microsoft is on the right track.

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As much as I love Apple and freely admit they make great products, I also have concerns with Apple’s closed-system approach. While there are some valid points to Apple’s ‘let us do the driving’ philosophy, I think users are better served when technology platforms are open.  So how cool would a Google tablet be?  After all, if they want to beat Windows at its own game, what better strategy than ripping off an Apple idea?

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Ecofont is a font that promises to reduce the amount of ink used when printing documents.  Less ink = fewer print cartridges = less cost = less stuff in landfills.  And a better planet.  The font is available for free download .  So get a copy and be extra-green by setting your word processing program and other programs to default to this new font — instructions for changing the default fonts in Word and Excel are below.  It is easy being green.

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