Yeah, of course, this is no revelation – but it does surprise me how many people do think the simulator cannot be run by it’s lonesome. To do this for Xcode 4.3:

1. Go to ~/Applications, and right-click Xcode. Select “Show Package Contents”.

2. Go through to Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications

3. Open “iOS Simulator.app” – in fact, go ahead and drag it to the dock if you so wish.

The simulator will sit there with not much to it – unless you have developed apps and previously run them on the simulator. Either way, you can change between the different devices with the usual application menus, and of course rotate the device.

The ability to Inspect Element would be a VERY welcome bonus to this. Fortunately, a solution does seem to be making headway thanks to iWebInspector - just, at time of writing, it supports Xcode 4.2 (which is no complaint seeing as Xcode 4.3 has only just come out, and has relocated the usual developer resources).

…and for the record,  I prefer it that way.

[I know that there are going to be full-time developers who read this and say "I do that too, it's not just freelancers" and depending on the company they are with, they could very well be right. With most companies though, you start at a specific time, and finish at a specific time. The company isn't going to set you homework, or demand you learn x or y. Again, with MOST developer companies, certainly not all.]

There is a difference between having flexibility and having freedom – you still have to do many hours of work – sometimes more, sometimes less. If you are late on a project, then it is not a manager above you who will deal with the client, it is you. As easy as it sounds to “just do 8 hours straight and it will be done”, you also have to take into account the fact that clients will phone you at unexpected times. Previous clients may contact you to want quick changes – ones which throw you briefly off course on your current project.

Aside from client work, you also have to keep your skills up to date – what are the new frameworks doing? What are other developers working with? This leads to quality time networking with other developers, even if they are essentially your competitors. I am not saying this (or any of these) is a bad stage, but it does add up to serious amounts of time.

Now let’s assume that you, being the dedicated developer, have your own projects too. You have just set aside maybe 10 hours to finish a client project which had an unexpected twist, and now you really want to get some of your own projects done – ones which are on top of the client work, and on top of tinkering around with new frameworks or concepts. You are likely combining this step with the previous step – developing your own projects and trying out some likely experimental ideas or at least concepts you haven’t done yet – the bonus being that the deadline is decided by you.

On top of that is expected client communication – where you set aside time to contact potential clients and discuss their project, iron out any problems, and negotiate. You could spent a good hour or more doing this with one potential client, and STILL not get the project.

If a freelancer fails someone, then it is at their peril, not a battle-hardened boss who has had decades of communication skills. You are not going to get a “guaranteed” salary and a slap on the back of the hand for letting a company down – if you slow down the work, you earn dramatically less. Simple as.

I am not complaining, or trying to paint a dark cloud over things. I am trying to explain that, as a freelancer, you are not going to have the freedom which most non-freelancers seem to assume.

Common Scenarios:

“You could have cleaned the house? – you were home all day!”

“Yes, I was home all day, in my office, working flat out for the last 8 hours, now I am about to go back in there and finish a few things off. Then I might work on my own project for a bit.”

“Coming to the gym? At 2pm? Seeing as you can just work later on instead…”

This is where it gets irritating – the “Seeing as you can just work later on instead” as if I would be rude to turn down the offer of dodging out for an hour. I cannot count on fingers how many times someone has added that to the end of a question, implying that I have no good excuse. Just because you are in a job which involves clocking in at set times, doesn’t mean I have it any better off. If I had a dentist or doctors appointment, or some other urgent request, then yes, but not necessarily recreational reasons which typically take hours, especially if you tack other ideas on to it.

“Can you do {insert almost pointless errand here}? It will only take you half hour…”

“No I can’t. You see, during the day, I tend to charge people for my time. Things like that throw me off course with whatever I am currently working on. Doing anything else when my mind is set on working, is a very frustrating task that will only get done half-assed.”

“I have the day off! Coming to do {something recreational}? Everyone else is in work.”

“Yeah, that ‘everyone else’ also includes me. You having a day off does not make it easy for me to skip a day’s work.”

“Coming on holiday for 2 weeks? You don’t have to ask for time off!!”

“No I don’t. But I also stand to lose a small fortune for that time off. I also need to warn clients that they will not likely be able to contact me during that time, unless we go on holiday somewhere with a reliable internet connection. Even then I bet you will moan the moment I have to stop in the hotel for a half a day. Remember, I don’t get a paid holiday entitlement either.”

(As a finisher to most of the above) “Yeah, but you can just work longer another day, or two.”

“Yes, let’s turn a typical 9-12 hour work day into a 16 hour day! I’m sure when my eyes are bleeding and my brain has slowed down from overload, then I will look back and smile that I got to sit in your house for 4 hours staring at an Xbox with my mind stuck on work…”

So, freelancers are scrooges? No…

I do think about spending time with the people above – just, there is a time and a place for it, and certainly not a week day afternoon. Evenings are much easier to spare, and so are weekends – the flexibility during the standard week day doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to avoid working during it. I can take arbitrary breaks, but not for long, and I still make up the time somewhere, as close as possible to the time taken off.

Even though it may be the “same thing” as working on a client’s project – working on my own projects feels a lot different. There is a certain extra freedom to it, because I decide what goes into them. In my mind, personal projects are more recreational, so they may be a nice evening task. Fact is, it has the side-effect of helping my skillset.

Freelancing is its own unique challenge. It can have some serious pain-inducing episodes where things seem to be going terribly unreasonably. You are going to get clients who will take advantage of you, and make any time spent on their project a serious pain. On the flip-side though, you are going to get mostly very pleasant clients where things go smoothly, and both parties look back and smile at how nicely things went. Getting paid to do the job you love, and seeing the client happy with your personal effort is a very rewarding end.

For that matter, I also do not have any gripes with the facility, staff, or the pricing. I enjoy every visit there, and get a lot out of it. They have done particlarly well with that club too, and the wet areas have been re-tiled and cleaned since a few years ago.

The sign-up

We arrive (there are two of us). Someone from memberships comes down with a nice smile, and polite personality. She goes through various points about the contract (very briefly), stating you can cancel anytime if you either:

• move 10 miles from the gym
• have a doctors note to show a serious medical condition
• you lose your job

Of course, those, according to the actual contract, are NOT permitted, and this is where the terrible part comes in.

You’d have thought that at this stage, actually seeing the contract would have been a normal, acceptable request. To that, she replied “I just said the terms” (And she repeats them). Unfortunately being with a friend who has now handed over his credit card, and things start to make me look like the overly fussy type. It’s called being cautious, and with good reason.

She came back with a few tiny forms asking for the credit card details and a few tickboxes, and of course the health and safety declarations. She then takes the cards to do a credit check and “get things enrolled”.

Finally, we are handed an electronic signature device, with a few “are these details correct?” tick boxes, But also, there is a big glaring checkbox stating “Do you agree to the terms and conditions?” So I  asked if I could actually SEE the terms and condtitions, to which she replied “as I said before, the terms are that you can cancel if {the terms I stated above}”. I pointed out that in fairness, that is not legally binding, but then she stated that “we will post you your contract within about 10 days”. I still insisted on having a physical copy of it there and then. Three hours later, it was finally printed out and given to me.

The Contract

The contract does NOT allow any of the cancellation points which she stated. So the friend, who signed a contract which he never saw (and a month later, did NOT recieve in the post) has signed up to a pack of lies, basically. The contract, in fairness, is pretty standard, and just covers rare events (like if the building has a defect and has to be closed, Fitness First cannot be held responsible and will not refund the wasted time).

As for the cancellations – of course, you cannot cancel until the minimum term is up. You’ll find that with most contracts. If you stop using your mobile phone, you cannot just cancel the contract. When I was a member with them a few years ago, cancelling was very straight forward – I just had to provide a signed note of my intention to cancel, and the next month it was done. My reason for that though, was because I was moving to another city, and no one phoned me to try and coax me into staying.

The Conclusion

My only complaint and point to all this though, is that there is no need to be so devious when it comes to the contract. You cannot expect people to “agree to terms and conditions” which have not been pointed out to them in writing. I felt incredibly uncomfortable throughout the entire sign-up process because the memberships staff member acted as if she was trying to hide something whenever I asked to see the contract. Heck, she wanted us to sit in the lounge area whilst she typed things into a computer by the reception desk (we soon joined her at the reception desk), and was gone for up to 15 minutes on occasions. Also, someone telling you the terms in a very brief sentence is NOT legally binding.

The fact my friend is yet to receive the contract is also a bit devious too. I have not received the copy through the post, but luckily demanded it there and then. Considering the electronic signature device saves the signature to the contract (BEFORE you receive it) is very bad. Essentially, his signature has been saved to a contract which he is completely unaware of.

I can understand the trouble Fitness First has had in the past with people cancelling the direct debit and ranting online en-masse about how the bailiffs are coming round. But Virgin Active’s process, even though far more expensive, was to show you the contract before anything else, and ask you to sign various individual parts of the contract to show you had read and understood it. THAT is how it should be done. From a freelancer’s experience, having fewer clients who understand the payment process and terms is better than loads of clients who do not understand it. The resulting upset on both sides just isn’t worth it. Just be up front and honest.

The message behind greetings cards is that they are supposed to be a welcome gesture of thought – a demonstration that the sender has thought of your current situation. Instead, they seem to be used as weapons of guilt against each other. Two common examples:

- Person A: “Person B didn’t send my a card this year, how dare he. No way am I giving him a card.”

- Person A: “I sent a card to person B, but he didn’t write one back for my birthday. He can forget it in future.”

The above two scenarios are often bolstered by a rant to someone else in the group of people who know each other, as if there is some blatant point-scoring attempt. Suddenly, because person B didn’t write a card to person A, the entire group has to sit through a rant of how disgusting person B is. Some of them also “join forces” and refuse to send person B a card. Suddenly, cards are not a gesture of good will, but a weapon of bad feeling. One which, pathetically, causes some people to go on and on about it for weeks.

Let’s look at things in perspective. A card is a thick piece of paper, with some seasonal image or humour, with a pre-written message inside. The person buying the card just writes who it is to, and who it is from. They pop it in an envelope and off it goes. The other person recieves the card, takes a 10 second glance and decides that that person is getting a card in return, and pops it on the mantle piece. Both people are essentially trading small change, and often do not even speak to each other. If they do meet for the occasion, then the entire point of the card seems wasted when they can simply wish a happy birthday in person – after all, isn’t the social interaction, and the time taken to visit the person more important than “simply popping a card in the post?”

One of the rants is that “all person B has to do is buy a bloody card and write his name!”. Again, what is so special about that? 

Now for the most disgusting situation. I saw a friend spend ages drawing her own, personally crafted card. She spent HOURS on it. Those of us with sense would realise immediately, that she was giving some serious thought to the person to dedicate so much time into it. The person who received it said “heh, she was too cheap to buy a card”. So, a £1.45 card is somehow worth more than a few hours of someones time? Also consider the fact that she was behind on her assignments – easily, even one hour of her time was an absolute premium. That situation left the most disgusting taste in my mouth.

Now take Christmas. Some people still go through the lengthy task of filling out 50 or so cards to people they know. The usual “to {someone}, from {me}. A few hours used on a cheap 100 pack of cards. Again, where is the special moment in that? Especially when it is backed up with “I still have to write out those damn cards. Suddenly it’s a chore – one people seem to do only to conform with tradition. One which is thankfully on its way out.

I am lucky enough to be in a circle of friends who also wouldn’t, for the life of them, consider buying a card. People who, if they receive one, would leave it laying around somewhere until the event was over, and then throw it away. I don’t care if I get “only” three cards for my birthday, because the only thing I remember about it is the gathering of people who turned up. The cards however, go back to be recycled.

The other day, I actually got rid of a stack of old cards from my 17th birthday. The sarcastic reaction of someone nearby was “oh, you’re sentimental’. This was from someone who I have never ever witnessed, look back through old cards – instead just keeping them there as if there is some air of guilt if they dare to get rid of them. Personally I don’t look back and care who gave me a card.

So, to summarise, don’t waste your time, at least at my expense. You will NOT receive a card from me, because my ONLY memory of them, thanks in part to decades of point scoring between other people, is that they are just a social “one-upmanship” tool. I refuse to have any part in them whatsoever. Of course, your milage may vary, but no thanks. Do something more worthwhile with the potentially £3 you could have spent, and instead, try phoning the person, and not just fob them off with a quick “from me” on thick paper.

What seems to have happened, is that Apple loved iOS and it’s successful interface so much, that they incorporated SOME parts of this in to OS X Lion – what you get, is the familiar OS X desktop, but with the addition of Launchpad, and “full screen” should you so wish to use those features. The key point here is that, those extras are not forced on to you. Microsoft on the other hand, got excited about this, and decided that their Windows Phone interface would be the first user interface you see when using Windows 8, with “Desktop mode” as a slab within the Metro interface. Immediately the familiar availability of a workable, comfortable desktop environment is utterly replaced with one designed for a touch-tablet device.

Unless Microsoft are insane, then there will be an option to completely avoid “Metro”, and go straight to “Desktop” mode. Otherwise they have just given every company out there a perfect excuse to consider less restrictive alternatives when it comes to upgrading.

Using the best tool for the job

A touch interface works great on a typical tablet device. The limited inputs and interactivity is replaced by very straight forward navigation and intuitive swipes and touches to get to what you need. The lack of a physical keyboard means that accessing an app is likely easier for someone than bringing up a virtual keyboard and searching for the app name. This is where the impressive and successful points to iOS and Windows Phone’s interface come in, and the reason these devices are so usable is because the OS is designed FOR these devices. If either company were to try and use the desktop paradigms on such a device, it would be usability hell.

So why do these companies seem to think people want to navigate their desktop PC in the same restricted fashion? A single “Full screen” app on a desktop PC is great if you are watching TV or a movie. But what about the umpteen hundred other tasks a desktop is suitable for?

The killer feature of a desktop, compared to a tablet, other than its more immediately available familiar computer-human interface is that it can multi-task just great. It is what most people have spent their hard-earned money on upgrades for – that extra oomph of performance when running multiple, increasingly demanding applications on increasingly demanding Operating Systems. It seems one giant step backwards trying to enthusiastically sell features such as “full screen applications” on a form-factor so large, that you have to wonder who their target audience is. Certainly, it not anyone who uses their computer for more than opening their web browser (which actually, is likely a very large user base).

My arms, they ache.

Yes, desktop monitors are appearing in droves hosting touch-screen functionality. I am willing to bet that if you know anyone with one of these monitors, they spend more than 95% of the time interacting with their PC the good old fashioned way – their monitor still sat there, gleamingly clean from not having to be poked, swiped, and tickled by hours of interaction with the person sitting in front of it. Now, sitting at your desk – imagine your monitor is touch-ready, and that you are navigating a huge version of your smart phone’s interface. You might slide the monitor close to you so it is easier to reach. You might tilt it a bit, or a lot. But no matter what you do, your arms are going to get damn tired quick from navigating the far larger screen, especially if it is moreso vertical.

Also try using your tablet device whilst it is held up vertical. It’s not pleasant, especially resting on a desk. Now, sure, you can pick up the tablet and hold it in a more comfortable way, but not so much with a 22″ monitor connected to a desktop PC under the desk. If you have one of those monitors with a built-in PC, then you have the extra weight.

Now imagine a great example of a “Full-screen app” – a TV. Since when do you rush over to your TV to physically interact with it’s controls, rather than sat on the sofa using a remote? Again, touch screen interface irrelevant.

Conclusion

It is still early days. I am not going to get overly critical of an OS preview so early in the day. The point I am making is about the touch interface, not whether Windows 8 gets a classic desktop mode by default, or as an option. I sure hope it does, but again, it is early days.

As is stands, someone is going to think of a very cool use for a touch screen and Metro. Perhaps a kiosk, or wall-mounted information screen. But for those of us that like to use a desktop to do actual work, then Windows 8 looks to be a usability hell, at least in my opinion.

It does raise the question – forced into a situation where the user has to learn a new desktop paradigm – will they? Or will they just see alternatives such as OS X a better upgrade option.

If you want a pseudo-demo of Metro, but don’t want to actually try Windows 8, or a Windows Phone device, then the closest is Windows Media Centre. That sounds daft, I know. But open that, and navigate around the settings, then find and launch a video from somewhere on your computer using only Windows Media Center. Did you like it? Did it feel like it was made for a desktop interface? No? You won’t like Metro then.

Frequently Thought Questions

Gaming performance.That shiny, rather lean machine can’t compete with a supersized Alienware, can it? Well, probably not, but compared to my Dell XPS M1730 – which has dual 8800M GTX graphics cards running in SLi, and hardware built for gaming, the Macbook Pro certainly does it’s best to keep up, however it can get HOT. VERY hot. The aluminium surface to the top left of the keyboard is enough to scald, and that was after about 6 minutes of trying out Supreme Commander 2, with a second monitor, on high settings. Call of Duty: Blackops however, ran for a good ten minutes without much heat. A few other games have ran without the fans screaming, or the Macbook negating the need for central heating, but I haven’t tried Crysis on it yet.

As for the Windows Experience Index, it scored a 5.9 without having run Windows Update, with the Hard Drive being the lowest value.

Macbook Pro early 2011 Windows Experience Index

File sharing. Both Windows and OS X can read each other’s files, but not write to them. If you are thinking of sharing, say, your Firefox and Thunderbird accounts between both operating systems, then think again – unless you store the files on an external disk. With that said, I can still share my virtual machines between both operating systems, which I will explain later. No, it is not some archaic process either.

Driver support. Hah. You might think that Apple wouldn’t put much effort into a competitor’s OS being installed on their precious machines would you? Actually they gave it a lot of thought, and every piece of hardware is a quick wizard install after first installing Windows. No running off to find drivers, no searching around for work-arounds and tweaks. Even peripherals such as the remote control, and Magic Mouse are supported. Not only does Apple’s display’s do good justice for Apple’s interface design, but they compliment Windows incredibly with their impressive colour, brightness, contrast, and pixel resolution. Windows 7, in it’s default blue glory, looks amazingly vibrant on the Macbook Pro.

Changing your mind. If Windows goes sour, is there a special process to remove it? Sure! Just delete it from the Bootcamp assistant in OS X. Job done. If you avoid activating Windows before the 30 day grace period, then you have not ‘sacrificed’ a licence key either.

Hard drive space. This isn’t as bad as any other machine I have dual booted. OS X has about 70GB left out of 500GB, whereas Windows gets the remaining 250GB. Even with a pretty strong Steam games catalogue, Windows has a lot of space to spare, and I am having a hard time using up the remaining 70GB given to OS X.

The Installation

Backup your important files. It is always tempting to leave this step out, but nothing is worse than having your files trapped on a system when you really need them. If your files are important to you, then they should be stored in more locations than just your hard drive by now. The following process was very smooth and I cannot see it going wrong, but backing up is a good habit to get in to, and the moment something does go wrong, you will thank yourself over and over that you left your machine running overnight to copy files.

Installing Windows 7 was easy. In OS X, run the Bootcamp assistant. It will ask you to print a manual, and ensure that you have the necessary drivers downloaded from a location it offers to take you to. If you have the installation disc that came with your Mac, then you can skip this step, as the drivers, for Bootcamp, are included on that disc. The final screen will let you resize the partitions to make room for Windows.

Next, the partitions will be saved, and if you are ready to install Windows, go ahead and click to install it. Otherwise come back later with the installation disc!

The Windows installation process is the same as usual, but one thing that might make you think twice, is that the Bootcamp partition, when asked where to install Windows to, will need to be formatted (click “more options”, then format). The only point to watch out for is that you definitely have the Bootcamp partition selected when doing this, and when clicking “Next” to install Windows.

When asked, do not tick “Activate Windows automatically” unless you are happy with your licence getting used before giving Windows a proper test.

Once you have gone through the user account setup, and are now looking at your fresh, clean Windows desktop, it is time to pop the Mac Installation DVD into your drive and run the setup wizard. This will install the necessary drivers for your Mac hardware.

Now run Windows Update. Done!

Switching between OS’es

I vaguely rememver older Mac’s providing the option of which Operating System to boot into when starting up. You do not get that option now. In fact, unless someone poked around your system, they would not know there is another Operating System installed.

The option to switch back to OS X is in the Windows taskbar – click the grey shiny diamond, then click “Restart in OS X”.

The option to switch to Windows from OS X is in System Preferences -> Startup Disk. Click the “Bootcamp” icon, and the subsequent “Restart in Windows” button. Note that whichever system is currently “active” will remain the primary OS until you change it, but if your machine is powered off and you wish to start in the alternate OS, you will have to go through the boot up process for the current OS first, then click to restart into the other OS.

The Development Setup – Think Virtual

I primarily develop in OS X. Whether it’s iOS development, or web development. OpenGL is quite fun to code in OS X too, but for Windows-specific development, obviously Windows is required.

My web development server is a virtual machine running Ubuntu Server Edition, tucked nicely away in Virtualbox, which can be installed on both Windows and OS X. The actual virtual machine files, including snapshots, run flawlessly if you copy them between the OS’es. “Unlimited” subdomains can be setup on the virtual server, and all you need to do is point your host OS’s DNS server to that of the virtual machine’s IP (and run DNSMasq or similar on the virtual server). I am not going to detail the Ubuntu side of things, but creating a new project is just a case of adding another Apache virtual server config to the pool of Apache configs in Ubuntu, and adding the relevant subdomain to /etc/hosts. Accessing the files is done through a samba share looking at /var/www, where all projects are added to.

The virtual server, as far as all other machines on the network are concerned, is just a machine sitting somewhere with it’s own IP. Any machine on the network can look at the projects as long as they set the DNS address to that of the virtual machine. The virtual machine in turn though, must be configured to use the router’s DNS as normal (edit /etc/networking/interfaces). Note that I set up the virtual machine to use a “Bridged” network interface, not the default NAT.

In the rare event that I do web development using the Windows partition, I go into OS X’s partition (already visible in “Computer”), and pull out the virtual server’s image, and run it from Windows’ partition. When the time comes to boot into OS X, then I just copy the file back from the Windows partition, to OS X (from within OS X).

The added bonus is that I can back up the entire development server in one easy copy to a NAS drive at home. If the Macbook ever does give up the ghost, then I can simply run Virtualbox on another machine, and the virtual server is singing again as if nothing happened.

The same concept above goes for the Linux desktop virtual machine (for the obligatory testing on web browsers under a Linux environment), and the Windows XP virtual machine for testing the never ashamed to die IE6.

Obligatory Problem List

Whilst problems are rare, there are a few things to bear in mind.

• The Apple Magic Mouse has a more fiddly scroll. OS X does a good job of smoothing the scrolling of this mouse, Windows does not. Any other mouse is of course perfectly fine.
• The keyboard may lose it’s keyboard layout when you run Windows Update. For example, on a UK keyboard, the speech mark, and @ symbol switch around.

Normally I would be quick to point out that “x copied y”, or at least heavily drew from y’s ideas. You can clearly see that Gameloft – the creators or Starfront, were at least heavily inspired by Starcraft. When I saw the name of the game, and the screenshots, I thought it was a rip-off of Starcraft. But then the game stuck to my mind – is it worth the £5? Are they going to get the controls right for a touch device?

The answer to both of those is a clear YES. When you play it too, it doesn’t feel too much like Starcraft either, despite the glaring similarities. Both have three major races – humans – the all-rounders, a very alien-looking bug-type race – the “build fast, hit fast” approach, and the highly advanced, powerful race – in this case a robotic race.

Campaign? Check!

Starfront comes with a rather varied campaign mode. Missions take you to various scenarios, and require more than just “destroy the enemy base”. You certainly do a bit of base building, and tech-tree climbing, but some missions – particularly mission 8, require some quirky tactics, or ways of progressing. Mission 11 resembles a tower-defence style map, where you build as many turrets as you can to stop waves of enemies getting through a canyon. Mission 10 sees you defending a huge insect as it walks across the map getting tired and stopping for breaks whilst enemies try to attack it. another mission sees you in a central base, holding off waves of enemies with your desperate few units until an evac fleet arrives.

Annoyingly though, what seems to happen with strategy games which in any way involve humans, is that the human side ends up spending half the time battling other human factions. Starcraft was rank with it. Starfront has some of it. Either way it is getting tiring. Hope would have it that, if we become advanced enough to explode the galaxy in such a free-form way, that we would not do it just to set up a rogue faction hell bent on dominating other humans. Either way, for goodness sake, stop telling the same cliche story because it has been done to death, and it’s not going to teach us any more morales on that.

One mission in the game dwarfs the others in terms of difficulty – the apparently dreaded mission 8, which is the final human mission. If you don’t do the ‘easy completion’ tactic, then you will retry again and again, in frustration to the sheer number of problems this mission faces. Either your computer ally won’t actually build anything, or the enemy will change attack strategy, or your computer ally will take over your expansion resources and not actually use them, or the enemy will devastate you will seemingly unlimited cloaked units and conveniently placed air units. As a hint, you can complete this mission with a large pack of ground-firing helicopters, circling the outskirts of the map until you can fly south, from the top centre…

Multiplayer & skirmish

Multiplayer seems to suffer from the problem of players rushing other players, ending the match before anyone can actually get into it. If you are expecting to play against a human player who also wishes to spent at least 15 minutes sending vast armies and tactical knowledge against you, think again. People seem to prefer rushing in with the first unit that happens to walk out their barracks, and giving you grief before you have time to sigh.

Skirmish however, is ridiculously easy. The AI more or less sits there waiting to get annihilated. On anything other than the toughest difficulty, they will send a worker or two towards your base. On the hardest mode, you get a few basic attack units, and a cluster of them sitting in their own base. If there is one area that drastically needs improvement, it is the skirmish AI. Surely someone at Gameloft is adventurous enough to sit and tinker with the AI enough so that it can do more than represent a very rushed feature of the game? Here’s hoping.

Conclusion

In all, it is nice to play a game on the iPad that is more than just the same level again and again (Zombie gunship), or a puzzle game with little story that gets boring quickly (Angry birds, Cut the Rope, loads of others…). The iPad doesn’t seem to enjoy much in the way of in-depth games, or ones that attempt to be more, but suffer some serious gameplay mechanic bugs (Red Alert).

Gameloft, although they are obviously HUGELY inspired by the more serious games out there, at least they are taking the iPad serious enough to give their versions of big-hit games a serious try. People are moaning that they are curiously similar to certain games in a very obvious way, but at least it means the iPad is getting some approach to decent games which the bigger game studios don’t seem interested in exploring. I am watching Gameloft from now on, because their energy for games development is impressive, and the titles they are releasing are very adventurous in a space where others seem reluctant to fully explore.

As for Starfront? I cannot say I have returned to an iPad game after a few days playing, other than Fieldrunners. At long last, a game I can really get in to.

It does give me a horrible sense of guilt for having so many computers, most of which are sat there with no purpose any more. When I think how much money went into those, it’s never a good feeling. I guess I can redeem that by donating all the machines to people in the family, though it seems the desire for desktop machines is waring thin.

So, why a Macbook Pro? Here comes my obligatory list-style summary:

• It can run anything. Yes, anything. If I want to play games (which is rare these days), then I will install Windows 7 and dual boot. This point alone makes the previous gaming laptop redundant. If I need to test something in IE6, then I put Windows XP into a virtual machine, likewise with any Linux distributions.
• My workstation is anywhere I need it to be. It is a light machine for carrying around – MUCH lighter, and much more slim than the gaming laptop. Digging it out in Starbucks, or a library is a breeze, likewise with getting it there.
• Previously I would carry a monitor, a keyboard, and the Mac Mini between the house in London, and the house in Cardiff (I don’t own those houses). Obviously, the portability of a notebook makes that effortless.
• It runs Ubuntu server edition in a virtual machine, which any machine on the network can access as if it were it’s own standalone machine. No fussing around with MAMP, WAMP, and whatnot (I shut down the virtual machine when connecting to public networks however, but so far any development work done whilst using a public wifi has been iOS development).
• I don’t have to switch between machines anymore, especially when I can switch between operating systems on the same machine. It does still sound like ‘effort’, but the amount of physical space on my desk, and under it, is drastically reduced, let alone not having 8 different plugs routing through extension cables.
• If I need to demo something to a client at a meeting, then there is never a case where “ah, I can’t view that file with x or y” – as with before, if I need a certain OS, it will be somewhere on the Macbook Pro.
• I still have dual monitors when at home. The legacy of the desktop machine is that there are two monitors which would typically be redundant. One is hooked to the Mac Mini, which is in turn a TV set top box, the other is the companion monitor to the Macbook.
• I don’t use it yet, but because of iTunes’ impressive sharing abilities, if I want to watch a recorded TV program in a different room to the Mac Mini, I only need to sit in front of the Macbook, and stream the recording over.

OS X Lion is an impressive deal – a “full” operating system update for £20, on all Apple computers you own, is a welcome approach considering the expensive upgrade offerings by Microsoft, and even Apple in the past. The process was simple, did not involve physical media, and thankfully did not require the use of a recent backup. In all, it was cheap, painless, and about time someone turned such an upgrade into something even average users can do without phoning their “IT friend” for help.

I am not going to sit here reviewing it in depth though – you can find endless blogs of reviews, some in a lot more depth and quality of writing than I can hope to do. Instead I am going to list the current teething problems, at least on my machine.

Importantly though, these are early days. Every OS upgrade gets their fair share of problems, however big or small. No one is perfect, especially when deadlines are in place, so take these with a pinch of salt. This list might be of interest to anyone who is thinking of upgrading, and even then, these issues might be related to a certain device, or model of the device. I will also edit this list and add more teething bugs/gripes as time goes on (and cross out any which have been solved).

Also of note is that this isn’t a case where I may have different brands of hardware that are perhaps less supported than others, which is an excuse Microsoft, and Linux can usually get away with – Apple pick their hardware, and develop the OS for that hardware only. I haven’t modified the hardware of this Macbook at all.

The device is, an early 2011 Macbook pro 17″. Also these are problems that seem to happen on Lion, and not on Snow Leopard.

Bugs

• Using an external monitor, the Macbook often confuses which is the primary monitor on wake up. It sorts itself out very quickly, but any windows end up resized to that of the smaller resolution external monitor.
• Performance on the external monitor seems to slow down after hours of use – solved by sleeping and waking the Macbook. Oddly the same applications when moved to the Macbook’s monitor seem to run fine in this case.
• Finder also seems to slow down after use, when using a samba share for hours. This is causing Komodo Edit to have to wait even up to a minute before I can even more a cursor around the text file. Again, seems to be solved by sleeping/waking the Macbook.
• Apple Magic Mouse sometimes ‘sticks’ – the cursor moves smoothly, but it seems to (rarely) forget that I released click, or am not touching the surface of the mouse. Yes, I have been VERY careful. It isn’t so much an unintended scroll, but I have had applications shrink to a tiny square just by moving the mouse upwards.

• Design – minimise, maximise, and close appear smaller, yet seemingly for no real purpose other than to be smaller. It has not freed up room for any other functionality.
• Design – grey? For a company that releases displays capable of incredible colour ranges, Lion seems to have been dulled down. I do miss the older themes.
• Usability gripe – double-finger swiping left does not cause the browser to go back a page, but instead goes to the virtual desktop to the left, or the dashboard if on the first virtual desktop. In fairness, this is likely a setting somewhere, or hopefully will be, meaning this gripe is just laziness on my part. personally I am undecided whether I prefer the virtual desktop switching in this way, or whether I would rather keep the browser back and forth swipe.

Instead I will be a freelancer or at least to most of the description of a freelancer – I won’t be chasing up clients or hoping to find more – that is dealt with my someone else – I guess you could call the position an “independent developer”, much like an independent financial adviser working in a firm would have other staff who handle some of the more, “officey” tasks letting him/her get on with the task at hand. One thing that sold me was that, the company’s weekly meeting was down the pub on a friday – what a way to end the week!

The new company boss was also the Technical Manager of the previous company, and from the first day, we got on very well. Having someone extremely technical managing the staff is a plus – at least he knows what can and can’t be done, and knows the best ways of doing things also. When the manager isn’t technical, you will find yourself endlessly repeating things which are obvious to you, protesting against what is blatantly wrong, and being received with rude stares of ignorance, usually to have to do the wrong thing anyway.

This hopefully means the end of the 9-5 routine for me, which I have always believed to be counter-productive. If you have a bad morning, and come in lethargic, then the company will be paying for poor effort from you. If you then wake up during the day, then you would be going home when you could have a few more hours “in the zone”, getting on with work at a good pace. My best time seems to shift every so often too – sometimes I work like a machine at night, sometimes it is during early mornings, but when your routine is the typical bankers office routine, then you can’t maximise on that. There is a reason the biggest developer companies allow their developers to be flexible you know…

Things haven’t ended on a negative note though – just, in an industry so fast paced, it is very bad when you don’t get the time to learn new things. Nothing makes life drag on than a project that never seems to end either, so I am going back to my old roots – the reason I became senior developer after a week of working in the first company, is because I spent so much time doing web development at a much, MUCH faster pace than college or university. Imagine how much further ahead I could be if I carry on with that pace for just another couple of years at least.

In a nutshell, this move allows me to:

1. Grow my own skills again, which is what got me ahead of the league in the first place
2. Work in my own time patterns – no more waking up against the natural cycle just to waste a morning over-lethargic, or going home bang on 5:30 when I could easily do a few more hours whilst in the zone
3. Not bother with any ‘office politics’ or ignorance – the current company was pretty good in this area though, and no one really put others down simply for existing
4. Make my own money – at least indirectly – freelancing pays the bills allowing me to build my own projects, it makes my friend money, and he, and others prevent me from having to fuss around with hoping someone will pay
5. Live a cheaper lifestyle, old friends, more freedoms, more income, and new friends in a city where lifestyle is a bit more relaxed