There is more to Apple than meets the eye...

Recently, Apple announced the availability of a software which will allow users to run Windows XP on the Intel-based iMacs. This has been described by many as a move by Apple towards the mainstream, because the company was acknowledging that it could not beat Microsoft in the OS game and was preparing to throw down the towel.

Well, lets take a careful look at the recent events in OS history... Microsoft released Windows XP in 2001 and since that has been working on the its next version: Windows Vista. In that period Apple has release 3 major updates to its OS X operating system and is expected to ship a forth before Microsoft is able to ship Vista. Most new, user-visible, features of the Windows Vista OS are in one way or another follow ups to original (or at least released first) ideas from Apple's OS X.

Now, along comes Apple, a company that last year saw its computer sales grow more than twice the growth of market leader Dell, and announces that its very cool computers will be able to run Windows, if you install it. The computers will still come from the factory with the OS X installed and you will able to run your copy of Windows XP on it.

Well, now everybody who was ever afraid to buy an Apple computer for fear of being incompatible, need fear no more. At the same time all who have wanted to try out Apple's famous and powerful operating system can do so, while at the same time getting the fanciest, coolest Windows computers in the market: Apple's.

So, now you can buy that incredible looking iMac for your home, knowing that it will run Windows. While you are at it, you might just become curious to see why all those Mac fans always talked about their OS and decide to look around. Seeing all those interesting, powerful an extremely cool tools that come bundled in Apple's computers you might just decide to delay installing your Windows or to dual boot the computer so that you can have the time to finish looking everything over.

Once you've decided that its worth a second look, you will start to compare the OS X with Windows, the current one and the next one. You might notice that all those much commented on features of Windows Vista are available right away in your very own computer, and that you do not need to wait for its release before using them.

In this scenario, I see Apple's Mac sales taking a steep turn upwards as more and more people will decide to try out a cool Apple computer and if nothing else, stick to having the cooled Windows box in the block. As more and more people buy Apple, no matter which operating system the computers are running, the company will have made the point that its products are the best available. The coolest most creative and while not the cheapest, certainly a great product for the prices.

At that point what will come next? After making the point that Apple can sell the hardware without depending on the software, will Apple demonstrate that it can sell the software regardless of the hardware?

WebOS: It's here and now!

For quite some time I've seen discussions about the future of computing and comparisons of Java and .net as the platforms of the future. Who is going to win: Java or .net? Sun or Microsoft? Well, perhaps the best answer is: who cares?
This discussion has suddenly become very academic as an entierly new platform comes into the light: The WebOS. This is not only the platform of the future, it is also the platform for the here and now. As you are reading this, you are using it, for it needs nothing more than the very same browser you are now using.
Much had been said about the browser as a platform. It was an idea strongly promoted by, the now gone, Netscape at the start of the Web revolution, but we never got there. Did we? Yes, we did! We just did not notice it!
If you take your browsers to this chess game, you might start to understand what I mean. This game has a great interface and is played against you by your own computer. Your moves do not get sent off to a server which comes up with a response and sends a move order back to your browser. The analisys of the play and the decision of the move is entierly done in Javascript, in your own machine, by the browser.
If you want to know what is even more impressive than the fact that this application was done in Javascript and runs locally inside your browser? It is the fact that the application was not really written in Javascript, but in pascal. It was written entierly in Pascal and then compiled with the use of the WebOS AppsBuilder tool from Morfik Technology.
Imagine... Just as this chess application is running on your computer, without you needing to install anything which was not already there, hordes of other applications can be delivered in the same manner, with an interface which is already familiar to the users: the web.
Why would you, now, care who will be the winning platform: Java or .net? The answer to is now clear. The winner will be the WebOS!

Anything, anytime, anywhere...

In recent months I've started working on a project with some people on the other side of the world. I do not mean this metaphorically. I am in Rio de Janeiro while these people are in Australia.

I am writing a book about the Morfik WebOS AppsBuilder and in doing so, frequently, I need to interact with people from Morfik Technology. At first, I found it interesting that they wanted to talk to me through Skype, an application I had been using to call friends in the United States for over a year, but was not that accustomed to using during my business dealings. As our contact grew and my phone bills did not, I perceived that things are indeed changing fast. Not only can I frequently talk to people on the other side of the planet, but it costs me (virtually) nothing to do so.

With the broad availability of fiber optic connections and high speed Internet access and voice and video conferencing technology such as Skype, the world is poised on the verge of taking a huge leap into the future. Collaboration, by people all over the globe, is now possible on a scale never before seen or, I dare say, imagined.

I started this interaction working in an advisory role, which then evolved into my decision to write this book. All through this process, which has been going on for over 3 months, communications has been flawless, stunning me, since I expected many more problems related to voice quality.

To top it all, I have received an offer, from one of Brazil's largest cell phone carriers, to have unlimited EDGE Internet access, for less than 35 USD per month, the EDGE card being free of charge. In our tests, this wireless (cell) card was able to sustain continous data rates of up to 20KBps, making it a good fit for using Skype, anywhere.

When you add it all up, cheap Cell Internet access, mobile Internet acess, VoIP, Video Conferencing, inexpensive Fiber Channel lines, it all points towards an extremely connected future. In this future you will be able to do anything, anytime and anywhere.

JavaScript is dead. Long live JavaScript!

During a discussion about how some stuff was accomplished in the Morfik WebOS, I got the most fantastic information I've received in quite a number of years: JavaScript is dead! How is that again?

Isn't Morfik about Ajax and isn't Ajax about JavaScript? Yes, and again yes!

Well, let me clear this up for you. Since day one in working with the Morfik WebOS I had the idea that its underlying JavaScript Synthesis Technology was generating JavaScript code that used a ready-made library of code snippets and controls. Well, it is not! All the that you see in a Morfik WebOS applications is written in a high-level language like Pascal, C#, Basic or Java and then "transformed" into JavaScript by the Morfik WebOS AppsBuilder compiler. Everything, what so ever in the applications is written in one of these languages and the translated into JavaScript + a custom Server.

The impact of this is enormous. For example, you can now write code that would be, previously, too complex to write directly in JavaScript. This new technology, which is brought to us by Morfik, frees us from having to write JavaScript code by hand while, on the other side, ensuring that we create even more complex JavaScript-based applications.

Adding Ajax features into web applications should now be simpler than ever, once you are using The Morfik WebOS AppsBuilder. Also, once using the WebOS, you will not need worry about adding a touch of Ajax to your application, it will be 100% Ajax, right from the start.

Once again, I noticed that the technological superiority enjoyed by Morfik is enormous and whomever uses this tool is going to be light-years ahead of the competition.