Echofon
(formally known as Twitterfox)
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Tweetdeck
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Seesmic
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Peoplebrowsr
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Posts Tagged Comparison
PowerPoint vs OpenOffice
Aug 4
Comparing PowerPoint 2007 vs OpenOffice 3.1.0 vs GoOo 3.1-10.
There is one crucial feature I use in PowerPoint that has prevented me from switching to OpenOffice: the Presenter View.
Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint 2007 has further improved the presenter view from previous versions: it can now no longer hogs your primary display and can even be resized. This allows for even easier access to the main program window while a slideshow is running.
Why would you want that you may ask? Realtime edits. You can edit your slideshow while you are showing it. From adding new slides, rearranging slides, and editing slide contents – changes are updated immediately.
Editing the current live slide is also possible – with changes appearing AS YOU TYPE. It is also very easy to annotate slides, with various pen and marking tools.
OpenOffice Impress
OOo Impress does not currently include a presentation manager of any description. Well at least that’s what I can tell from the documentation and options. Worse still, this version of OOo crashes every time I attempt to run a slideshow. So at this point I gave up and decided to look at an alternative build named Go-oo.
There is a Presenter Screen plugin for OOo 3.0, but had no luck getting it to work with current builds of OOo.
Go-oo Impress
Go-oo Impress already includes the Presenter Console plugin so I was finally able to test it. Lets see how it compares to PowerPoint 2007.
| PowerPoint | OpenOffice | |
|---|---|---|
| Presenter Views | Single view with resizable panes: Slide scroller, Notes, and Current slide | Pre-set views: Notes/Slides/Current Slide |
| Presenter Window | Resizable | Locked Fullscreen |
| Live Edit | Yes, changes are immediate | No, program interface completely locked |
| Go-to Slide | Yes | No |
| Annotation | Yes, Pens, Hi-lighters, etc | No |
| Blank screen | Yes, Black/white screen options | No |
Both contain a timer and simple back/forward navigation.
This comparison reflects the features I use regularly in PowerPoint, and as you can see Impress is still rather unimpressive in this regard. I have hope that OpenOffice will continue to improve, but by the time it catches up to where PowerPoint is today the goalposts will have already moved.
PHP/IDE Comparison 2009
May 25
Eclipse
PHP Development Tools all-in-one edition, Version 2.0
Pros:
Show Syntax Errors/Warnings in a Tab
Show “Tasks” in a Tab (matches @TODO texts)
Subversion plugin includes repository browser
Cons:
Slow
No visual editor for HTML
Slow
No wordwrap
Slow
Cannot disable code folding
Slow
Syntax Errors/warnings cannot be customised or disabled for specific files
NetBeans
PHP Edition, Version 6.5
Pros:
Subversion support is built-in
(I love the inline Visual changes: coloured tags for add/change/delete blocks of code)
Show “Tasks” in a Tab (matches @TODO texts)
Cons:
No visual editor for HTML
No wordwrap
Notepad++
Notepad++, Version 5.1.1
Pros:
Really Fast (well this is more a text-editor than a fully featured IDE, so this is to be expected)
Cons:
Opened file tabs difficult to use (use Window Manager plugin instead)
Cannot fine-tune workspace components (eg. cannot have both Function List and Window Manager on the RHS)
Instead of “Projects” have “Sessions” and “Favourites”
Cannot disable Code Folding
Desktop Searching Revisited
Dec 15
A while back I did a comparison of various Desktop Search Applications to find one that fit my (seemingly simple) needs: I wanted to find files, and searching the contents of certain filetypes would probably improve things.
After testing the free offerings I settled on Copernic. Copernic appeared to index all the features I needed, and the interface didn’t suck like Google’s Desktop Search.
However back to the present and Copernic is, afterall, fail.
Copernic Desktop Search
In the bloated and slow corner we have Copernic:
Index Size: 1,212,935 docs; 9,196,707 keywords;
Approx 5GiB (includes cache of some files)
Time to load Copernice at startup: 5-10 minutes;
Average search speed 5-20 secs;
The “always on” preview slows down even more and sometimes randomly crashes the search application.
Locate32
In the other corner we have the nimble and speedy Locate32.
Index size: 1,574,784 docs.
Approx 100MiB.
Average search speed: 0 to 5 secs.
Time to load at startup: 0 to 5 secs (barely noticable).
I found that although Locate32 doesn’t index the contents of popular filetypes (such as MP3, TXT, or other Documents), the advanced searching options (such as RegExp) and indexing of all paths is more than enough to find any file.
Now Copernic (and the other Desktop appliances) can also index local Mail, however given the performance of Copernic I think I need to find another option…
MacBook vs AsusBook
Feb 17
Four years ago Asus produced an “ultralight” notebook computer called the S5N. The most prominent features were the relatively tiny dimensions and a sub-3lb weight (under 1.36kg).
Jump to the present and Apple announces the “worlds thinnest notebook”. Well upon comparing the specs – apart from a few obvious upgrades such as the RAM – the S5N still wins my vote.
| Asus S5200N | Apple MacBook Air | |
|---|---|---|
| Year of Release | 2004 | 2008 |
| Screen Size | 12.1 inch, 1024×768 | 13.3 inch, 1280×800 |
| Dimensions | 275 x 223mm (width x depth) | 325 x 227 (width x depth) |
| Thickness | 17-25mm | 4-19mm |
| Weight | 1.35Kg with battery | 1.36Kg |
| Battery Life | Replaceable, both standard (24 Wh – 2.5hr) and long-life (48 Wh – 5hr) included. | 37 Wh (5hr?), non-replacable |
| Processor | Intel Pentium M (1.4-1.7 GHz) | Intel Core 2 Duo (1.6 GHz) |
| RAM | 256-512 MB DDR 333 | 2 GB DDR2 667 |
| HDD | ATA100 40/60/80 GB, 5400 rpm | ATA 60 GB, 4200 rpm |
| Video | Integrated Intel 855GME, 64MB VRAM shared | Integrated Intel GMA X3100, 144MB VRAM shared |
| Optical | External Slim Combo (USB), included. | Sold Separately |
| Card Reader | MMC, SD, MemoryStick, PCMCIA | Not included |
| Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN | Fax/Modem integrated, 10/100 Mbps ethernet, Intel Pro 802.11b wlan. | wlan 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, USB adapter for wired ethernet sold separately |
| Interface | VGA, Modem, Ethernet, Audio Out, Microphone In, IEEE1394 (Firewire), 3x USB 2.0 | Audio Out, 1x USB 2.0, Mini DisplayPort |
| Supplied Accessories | External DVD-CDRW, RF Mouse, Carrybag |
For pictures and benchmarking see the Tom’s Hardware review.