iPhone 2.0 update

Unfortunately with Vandy buying my iPhone in March I don't expect a 3G will be coming my way anytime soon, but I am pleased with the outcome of the 2.0 firmware update for the iPhone (both first-gen and 3G models). The 2.0 update brings me ActiveSync with the Exchange system at work for live updates of email, contacts and calendars including multiple contact groups. The scientific calculator has been handy for subnet calculations. Probably the greatest thing is the AppStore with hundreds (and growing) applications available over-the-air with over 50% of them free of charge. I've been accused of becoming an Apple fanatic -- a label I'm willing to live with -- and in keeping with that I will say the iPhone is one of the greatest devices for the consumer wanting a phone, digital audio player, portable video and a browser capable of full-screen browsing. Sure, there are others out there but how many have such an easy-to-use interface that well, even a two year old can master?

Leopard + Parallels + Vista = Awesome

This week we received our new 24" iMac at work that we will use to test various services across multiple platforms and browsers. It arrived with the Leopard DVD in the box -- which was promptly installed. Leopard is nice. CoverFlow is handy and the new dock is awesome. We installed Parallels 3.0 on the iMac (and the Leopard update for Parallels) and promptly began installing Vista Ultimate into a virtual machine. Once Vista was installed and running we turned on Coherence Mode in Parallels and WOW -- incredibly nice. Peep the screenshot below. You'll see an IE window from Vista, a Finder window from Leopard (showing CoverFlow view of fonts), and the OS X and Start menus along the top. The best of both worlds? I think so.