Paul Thurrott

"Both [the 2GB and the 4GB iPod nano] devices feature the wonderfully simple color menu system that the high-end iPod uses. However, the iPod nano also includes some extras you won't find anywhere else, including a multiple-time-zone clock, a stopwatch (perfect for you music-loving athletes), and a few new games. Apple has also added the ability to synchronize Microsoft Outlook contacts and calendars, making the iPod nano a handy PIM replacement, as well. Battery life is exceptional... Sound quality is superb, thanks to enhanced audio circuitry that first debuted in the iPod shuffle."

"As I said, the iPod nano is almost perfect. Apple cheaps out by not including a carrying case or lanyard for the device; either would prevent you from simply tossing the device in your pocket and subjecting it to abuse from coins, keys, or other paraphernalia. My test unit is already scuffed up pretty severely, despite my attempts to baby it. And I've got real concerns that the skinny iPod nano could be easily killed by inadvertently sitting on it. The device is that thin. These are all quibbles, of course. The iPod nano is that rarest of tech devices: Immensely useful, beautiful, and desirable—all at the same time. We're getting to the point at which most new iPod purchases are probably coming from repeat customers. So, whether you already have an iPod or not, the iPod nano is a great device to consider. It just doesn't get any better than this."

"On Tuesday, September 13, 2005, Microsoft announced to its employees and that it was reorganizing the company into a simpler organization in which executives much further down the chain would have direct decision-making capabilities, allowing the company to move more quickly in this ever-changing market and compete better with companies such as Google and Apple. The reorg was announced publicly a week later, with Microsoft also announcing that group vice president Jim Allchin would retire once Windows Vista ships in late 2006. Succeeding Allchin is Kevin Johnson, who will oversee the new Platform Products & Services division. Jeff Raikes, the head honcho of the unit previous responsible for Microsoft Office, was named president of the Microsoft Business Division. And Xbox's Robbie Bach was named president of Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division, which will combine the Xbox with Microsoft's other hardware products,"

"To explain this change to employees, Microsoft hosted an internal event with CEO Steve Ballmer, chairman Bill Gates, Johnson, Allchin, Raikes, and Bach. Most of the discussion and Q & A that happened that day is largely irrelevant to Nexus readers, but the company did take one impromptu question about competition with Apple Computer that I thought you'd enjoy. Here's a transcript of that portion of the session, and some photos taken from a video of the event,"

"This Christmas, I presented my wife with a new Mac mini... I am, as you might know, one of the more prominent Windows-based writers on the Web. This simple fact makes the notion that I'd buy a Mac for my wife seems like an April Fools joke, I know. But the truth is, I've owned one or more Macs since summer 2005, and I'm a big fan of Mac OS X, albeit one who is perhaps more honest about the system's shortcomings than the typical Mac fanatic. That said, Apple's computer systems are viable for a wide range of users, including graphic artists, photographers, and other creative types. And a truly simple system like the Mac mini is perfect for the mass market, those people who simply need email, Web access, and word processing."

"Apple moved to the Intel platform because of the future. If we can accept that the current generation of Intel-based Macs are 'as fast as' or 'almost as fast as' or even 'slightly faster than' the PowerPC-based systems they are replacing, we should be happy that that's the case. Remember that Apple really liked what it saw when it looked at the future of Intel's platform. They saw not just dual core chips, but multi-core chips. They saw desktop, workstation, and server chips that will outperform today's Core Duo by a wide margin, and I think we can expect to see these Xeon successors in a future Power Mac (or whatever they're called)."

"I have certain misgivings about Vista resembling Mac OS X. With its translucent windows, such comparisons are going to be hard to avoid. But Vista's similarity with OS X goes well beyond window dressing. Certain applications, such as Calendar, Sidebar, and Photo Gallery, appear to be directly, ahem, influenced by similar applications in OS X. Microsoft has a response to that claim, which I'll reveal in part 3 of this review, but suffice to say they're going to get eaten alive for these similarities."

"So what went wrong [with Windows Vista]? What didn't go wrong? When Bill Gates revealed in mid-2003 that he was returning to his roots, so to speak, and spending half of his time on what was then still called Longhorn, we should have seen the warning signs. Sadly, Gates, too, is part of the Bad Microsoft, a vestige of the past who should have had the class to either formally step down from the company or at least play just an honorary role, not step up his involvement and get his hands dirty with the next Windows version. If blame is to be assessed, we must start with Gates. He has guided--or, through lack of leadership--failed to guide the development of Microsoft's most prized asset. He has driven it into the ground."

"Echoing my earlier comments about Windows Vista being a train wreck, Microsoft group vice president Jim Allchin walked into chairman Bill Gates' office in July 2004 and told him that the software project was horribly behind schedule and would never get caught up. 'It's not going to work,' he said, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The problem was that Vista was too complicated, and Microsoft's age-old methods for developing software just weren't going to be good enough,"

"Despite my repeated efforts at getting Microsoft to speak on record about the events of last year, when the company halted development of Windows Vista--then codenamed Longhorn--so it could completely start over, from scratch, the software giant and its PR firm has consistently railroaded me and prevented me from sitting down with people who are knowledgeable about what happened, ... However, I had been briefed informally about these events, referred to internally as 'the reset.'"