A new version of Azureus, Azureus 3.0 or Azureus Vuze, has been released! I must say, it's not only a great BitTorrent client, but it looks slick with that new black theme to it. Of course, if you don't like the new look, you can easily switch back to the classic Azureus look.

New Black Interface:


Old Interface Intact:


BTW, if you want the Windows XP theme in the screenshot, just go to the Miscellaneous section and download it (Royale Noir). It's a great theme for those who don't want to upgrade to Vista for whatever reason.

Well, I decided to talk about two free Mac applications that I love simply for being useful and FREE!

Quicksilver:



Words cannot describe how much I love this little application. When you run it, it simply puts an icon in your Menu Bar (similar to the System Tray in Windows) and uses no computer resources. When you press whatever hotkey you assigned, it will bring up a little window that actually let's you type in the application that you want to open. No more searching around your Applications or Program Files folder in order to find that application that wasn't worthy of Desktop/Dock space, you can simply type in what you want to open and have at it! I always loved Macs for their navigational speed, and Quicksilver puts it to the max!

Cyberduck:



Let's see about the current situation, Transmit recently updated their software and my serial number was considered invalid, stupid Transmit. I decided to go search for another FTP application and came across Cyberduck. Cyberduck is an extremely lightweight FTP client that allows you to manage your FTP server (which is used for things such as this blog). I really like this application for its simplicity, especially with the extendable bookmarks tab that pops out at the left of the application and disappears at whim. However, one of the annoyances of this application is that it doesn't put the folders/directories at the top, unlike Transmit. I really appreciate having the folders at the top since that is how I keep my FTP files organized. Oh well, Cyberduck will do nicely as a substitute for Transmit.

Well, I'm officially a switcher now for Mac. Just got a shiny new MacBook. To start off this article, I'm lovin' it! The operating system is so slick and smooth. Unlike Windows, everything just works on a Mac. When I plug in a flash drive, it doesn't take 10 seconds to download the drivers and say that it "found new hardware", it just instantly appears on the Desktop. The dock is very nice (Seen on the bottom of the screen) and removes the dreaded "abyss" of icons prevalent on my Windows PC.

About the MacBook itself, the look of the MacBook is great! The laptop itself is literally 1.08 inchs thin! The AC power is magnetic and the remote is very nifty (It brings up your music, videos, and pictures, and can even be used to activate a security alarm on the MacBook). The keyboard is nice to handle, since the keys are spaced out.

MacBook:


The Box:


The Remote and Magnetic Power Cord:



Another thing I love about the OS is how intuitive it is. Unlike in Windows, Mac actually tells you the hotkeys to perform actions, while Windows you are left trying to figure it out (Never even heard of using Ctrl+ESC or Windows+D until a couple months ago). Expose is very handy for shifting between tons of applications, and F10 is easier to use than Windows+D for clearing to the desktop). It's all of the little things that add up to an awesome OS. Switching from using Windows to using Mac took very little time, although getting used to the option key is annoying.

Expose in Action:



Also, the Dashboard is seriously one of the coolest things ever. I don't know why, but I'm simply intrigued by it. By pressing the F12 key, you bring up your own customizable screen of widgets. You can easily download widgets at Apple's website easily and quickly, not to mention how many widgets there are (Ranging from games to a Wikipedia widget, along with stuff like AirPort radar, calculator, and even your own chia pet!). You can probably imitate this in Windows with third-party software, but here it is nicely integrated into the Mac operating system and has lots of support. Microsoft must think it is a success, because they are copying the Dashboard by putting "Gadgets" into Vista. The Dashboard makes it very easy to look something up on Wikipedia or in Dictionary.com (I love reading Wikipedia articles, it has everything).

Dashboard (Yes, that is a chia pet widget):



I would strongly recommend a Mac to anyone. In conclusion, once you go Mac, you never go back! I'll post more stuff as I get to it.

Thank god I'm not getting a PS3 anytime soon...

Link

Well, Macbook Core 2 Duos are out! Needless to say, I really want a Macbook. Not only does it have the best operating system, but Apple definitely has a prosperous future.

Mac OS X has absolutely no problem versus Vista. Only 21% of people currently with Windows XP will actually get Vista, sad.


Hopefully I can get the $1,299 white model!

Here are the specs (note the L2 Cache):
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4MB shared L2 cache (!)
13.3-inch glossy widescreen
1280 x 800 pixels
1 GB RAM (Plentiful)
80GB Serial ATA, 5400rpm (Good enough, bigger than my current Windows partition LOL)
6x double-layer SuperDrive (Nice! Dual-layer support!)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared (Decent)

Isn't she pretty?