PreviewCast

Nevermind, I’m not going to do this idea. If you want to read what it was, continue reading, but I’ve decided against this.

I, personally, have been thinking a lot about Windows Vista. Honest, I have. I’ve been thinking about how it’s receiving a lot of flak from many people because, well, it doesn’t innovate, and takes a lot of ideas from Apple. But who’s saying that? People who use Macs. I mean, to be fair, they’re 100% correct, Microsoft is quite a copycat, but what about the users who use exclusively Windows? Who have never ventured into the world beyond that Aqua curtain? For them, Windows Vista is packed full of lots of powerful features (with, I assume lots of powerful holes to match, but we’ll find out after January 29th), that they haven’t gotten to experience the wonderfulness of before. So I was thinking that we ought to have some sort of fair and balanced review of Vista of PreviewCast, which is hard because PreviewCast is a low-budget Mac-biased who-cares-what-Mitchell-is-wearing-today tech podcast. But I still think that we ought to give Microsoft a chance, after all, they’ve been working on their ammo for 5+ years.

But, let’s face it, while Mac users may not like OS X’s $129 price tag, that looks meager next to me trying to go about getting a Windows interface setup. I don’t have the money to get myself a Vista Capable computer that runs exclusively Windows, heck, I’m trying to replace my clamshell iBook with a MAC laptop! So getting a new computer is out. So, I guess some virtualization solution is in order. Luckily, Boot Camp is free…oh wait! Boot Camp isn’t Vista capable either. There’s ways you can hack a Vista install through Boot Camp, but I’m not about to screw up a perfectly good computer here. But luckily, the excellent multiple-Macworld-awards-winning Parallels Desktop is compatible with Windows Vista, and even better, the rest of my family won’t have to face the Mac mini booting up to Windows right in front of their scared eyes.

But now hold it. I know I just talked about being fair to Windows and everything, but I’m not about to go out and spend a whole bunch of money just so I can review Windows. Again, I’d be more interested to get myself that shiny new MacBook Pro I’m lusting after. So, instead, I want to put it to you guys, the listeners. If you donate to me the $310 I need for me to go out and purchase Windows Vista Home Premium (the full version, update CDs are no good in virtualization) and Parallels Desktop, then I will go and purchase and install them, and I will do a fully unbiased (or at least 75% unbiased) review of Windows Vista on a future PreviewCast episode.

But who wants to pay money to hear another old review? No one. People only like donating to see people or things suffer. A lot. So, as a bonus offering, if you guys are crazy enough to actually donate all $310 needed for me to get Parallels and Windows Vista, I will force myself to use Windows Vista 100% of the time for two full weeks. You heard me. 336 hours, starting from 12:00:00 AM Pacific time on a Monday morning (TBD) until 12:00:00 AM Pacific time on the Monday morning two weeks earlier. (None of that 11:59:59 PM crap, that’s too confusing.) I will provide regular coverage on my blog about my progress, and of course tell you all about it during the episodes of PreviewCast. Well, now that I think about it, I don’t know how I’ll be able to edit PreviewCast on Vista. Maybe we’ll TalkShoe that episode.
And, if you exceed the $310 limit and donate enough on top, I’ll take my Mac mini in and get it updated to 1 or 2 GB of RAM (since Parallels recommends a gig of RAM anyway), so that Windows will run more like full speed, and I’ll be more unbiased.

So here you are, ladies and gentlemen, a chance to hear an objective review of the new Windows Vista on PreviewCast, and a chance to make me SUFFER from not being able to use a Mac for two weeks! (Yes, my iBook will be off limits unless I have absolute necessity for it at a meeting or something.) Sound appealing? Donate donate donate!

But hold your wallets for a minute. I want to make sure, first, that folks would actually be interested in doing this before I set up the necessary settings in PayPal to establish a Donate link–if everyone out there thinks this is a rediculous, crazy idea (rightly so), then I won’t pursue this. So, if you really want to make me suffer with Vista for two weeks and are willing to open your pocketbook to see me do so, leave a comment in this post. If there is enough interest, I will set up the Donate button. Or, if you think I’m 105% totally crazy, feel free to leave that in the comments too.
–Douglas Bell


Disclaimers:
You are not donating to a special PreviewCast account, you are actually donating to me (Douglas Bell) on my personal PayPal account. Donations will be going to the Vista challenge when $310 is met. If sufficient money is donated above $310, it will go towards a RAM upgrade for my computer. Any donated money which is not able to be spent will be offered in return to the owner (PayPal fees not refunded); if the owner refuses, the money will go to myself personally to help me for that shiny MacBook Pro. As far as I know, you shouldn’t expect to receive any tax deductions from these donations.

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