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By Matthieu, 2012-03-04 16:20

We’re living the end of an era. I’m sad to say that as tech journalists have been proclaiming for a little while now, it seems “the desktop is dead” or at least on its last legs. (I would have liked to provide some data to support that but unfortunately big G has killed off their search timeline feature as of a few months ago.)

The original Macintosh Desktop

Now, when I say desktop, I don’t mean the desktop PC. I mean the traditional personal computer desktop metaphor introduced on the original Macintosh in 1984 (- yes, I know Xerox was first). Since then, most personal computers have used some variation of a desktop as their primary UI. Windows, icons, folders, documents, trash/recycle bins have become familiar and nearly universal. The desktop metaphor also includes some important elements that were not really part of a traditional physical desktop, such as menu, status and task bars.

Why do I concur that the desktop is dying? Well, there are a few reasons.

Mobile device sales

Smartphones and tablet sales surpassed PC sales this past year. In Q4 of 2011, vendors shipped just over 100 million smartphones, while PC sales were numbered at 92.1 million. It’s not a huge relative difference, but the trend shows no sign of stopping for now since many consumers are still using feature phones but already own a PC. Tablets are also poised to take a bite out of PC sales, especially with ever-faster processors and slimmer packages. New releases of tablet OS in 2011 should also contribute, with Apple iOS 5 no longer requiring activation using iTunes on a traditional PC and Android 4 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”) replacing the rather underwhelming Android 3 “Honeycomb”.

Web apps

Web Apps running in Firefox

There’s no denying that the Web has come a long way from its beginnings on Tim Berners-Lee‘s NeXT cube at CERN. Web sites have evolved from being essentially online news or encyclopedia articles to being hubs for dynamic multimedia content and information sharing. Take a look at your taskbar/dock/other app switcher (if you’re viewing this from a desktop!). There’s a very good chance a Web browser is running. Even if there isn’t one running, chances are you have already used the Web more than once today. More and more of our daily computing activities are performed using a Web-based tool. Sharing. Word processing. Blogging. Watching videos. Listening to music. Instant messaging. Photo editing. E-mail. CLI shell access. Hell, why not any GTK application. True, there are some things that can only be done using a desktop application. Like OS virtualization. Oh, wait – never mind.  There are probably quite a few computer users who never open a desktop app at all. Even as a network admin, most of my work is done using Web-based administration tools.

Single-purpose, full-screen apps

The new Metro UI in Windows 8

With the new breed of smartphones and tablets that started with the iPhone, single-purpose, full-screen apps have become mainstream. Game consoles and PCs had full-screen apps before, but now, more than ever, “there’s an app for that”. With limited screen real estate, these apps are supposed to be fast, intuitive and immersive. Desktop PCs have hopped on the bandwagon too. During the netbook era, “mainstream” Linux distro Ubuntu launched “Ubuntu Netbook Remix“, a special version of their OS optimized for small (typically 1024×640) netbook screens featuring large buttons, automatically maximized apps and minimal user distractions. Ubuntu’s new interface, Unity, is based on UNR. Following the immense popularity of their iOS mobile devices, and the successful launch of the iPad, Apple released Mac OS X Lion with support for full-screen apps and many other features and UI elements pulled from iOS. Over in Redmond, Microsoft is bringing their “Metro” interface from Windows Phone 7 and XBOX 360 to the Windows desktop.

The future

It could be argued that some of these new interfaces are an evolution of the desktop metaphor. I would agree, however, the traditional desktop seems to have its days numbered. The future seems to be a future of full-screen apps, custom web/HTML-driven interfaces and maybe widgets. Windows 8 still has what they call a traditional desktop, however the Start button has been unceremoniously killed off. The next version of Apple’s OS is not Mac OS X Mountain Lion, but simply OS X Mountain Lion, a clear sign that the Macintosh and its once-revolutionary desktop is now a part of the past.

For my part, I feel saddened and almost homeless with the prospect that my beloved desktop belongs to the confines of history. True, I could just continue using Gnome 2, or Mac OS X 10.6, or Windows 7, but that means missing out on the latest and greatest. I don’t like where this is going. Change is not always good. I must be getting old.

On a more optimistic note, I know that there are teams of brilliant designers, engineers and programmers also living through this change. And I know I’m not the only person to feel less than satisfied with current desktop environments. Nothing to do but wait to see what the future brings! (Or become a programming pro and write a new Linux DE from scratch/help out with MATE or Cinnamon.)

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By Matthieu, 2010-06-01 21:47

A clean Adium profile wiill by default use your Mac’s user icon as the “display picture” for your IM accounts. Changing your DP once breaks this association.

To fix : Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Adium 2.0/Users/Default/Account Status.plist and delete the “User Icon” Data value.

That’s it!

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By Matthieu, 2009-11-15 09:28

Back in September, I purchased my first Mac. It was a MacBook Pro “Core 2 Duo” 2.4 15″ (Unibody). It was a beautiful machine, aluminium and glass and all, and the most powerful laptop I’d ever owned. However, right out of the box, it was defective. When using the GeForce 9400M video card, the screen would intermittently flicker off and on. This became very annoying when watching videos or doing Photoshop work. There were no problems when using the 9600M GT. After searching the ‘net and finding many other people with the same problem, I decided to take the mac in to the Apple store for repair. The “Mac Genius” didn’t even want to look at the laptop, he told me it’s a known issue, gave me a case number and told me to contact Apple by phone to arrange a return. So that’s what I did.

In mid-October, I received MacBook Pro #2. Exact same model. This one worked perfectly. Until one day, I found a fly INSIDE the computer. I called up Apple support again, and they told me to take it to an “Authorized Service Provider”. So I made yet another trip to the Yorkdale Apple Store. They looked at the machine and took it in for repair, telling me it would be ready by tomorrow. In the end, the simple LCD replacement turned into much more and ended up taking a week. Turns out that somehow my “logic board” (Apple jargon for motherboard) had a short, and destroyed every new LCD they tried to install. So they called me to tell me they’d decided to replace it with a brand new one, and migrated all my personal data over.

I went in to the Apple store to pick up MacBook #3. They had migrated all my data over and it worked great, however it was a “Core 2 Duo” 2.53 15″ (SD). Faster CPU, better screen, but this one only has the integrated GeForce 9400M, and not the 9600M GT. So I told the “Genius” and he went to get the manager, who immediately upgraded me to the C2D 2.66 MacBook Pro 🙂

Needless to say, despite all the wasted time, I’m quite happy with Apple’s service. A free upgrade is always a good way to please a customer. Way to go Apple.

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By Matthieu, 2009-10-14 21:55

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=182227&hl=

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=182884