Me, on Techradar: OMG! 132 versions of Windows 7!

We’re the first to mock Microsoft when the firm deserves it, but the Windows 7 line-up simply isn’t as complicated as some reports would have you believe. For the majority of us there will be two choices, just as there were with Windows XP. Home user? Windows 7 Home Premium. Home worker or small business? Windows 7 Professional.

Also on the site: Become an App Store millionaire: how three iPhone developers made it big.

“Look at it this way: most people show up to work, or school, or whatever, and they are eager to show their friends what cool new things they’ve got on their iPhone. Of the 50 apps they may have on their iPhone, they may only get a chance to show five of them to their friends. If your app is one of those five, and it can prove its worth in ten to fifteen seconds, then you’ve got yourself a successful app.” [Steve Demeter, developer of Trism]

This one was slightly delayed because I’ve spent most of the last few days in bed feeling sorry for myself. Better late than never, though.

It came from nowhere and spread like a virus. Suddenly everybody we knew was on it – telling us what they’d been up to, uploading photos, sending flirtatious messages and logging on as if the site were crack and they were addicts.

In no time at all it had millions of users of all ages, and it was regularly name-checked in scandalous newspaper articles. People were using it to arrange affairs, or to waste time at work, or to post things they’d later regret.

And then we all dumped Friends Reunited for Facebook.

A whole bunch of things are going up today. First, If Macs are so great, why isn’t everybody switching?

Design, reliability, security… we all know why Apple addicts love their Macs.

But despite fawning press coverage and the bad publicity surrounding Vista, Macs are still very much in the minority.

So, why are PC owners sticking with Windows? Do Macs cost too much, or are PC owners masochists?

Also, Think before you link:

More often than not, we – that is, bloggers, forum users, Twitterers and the like – will link to an interesting or scary news story when it’s first published. How many of us go back to check whether the story stands up, and rewrite our blog posts if the story turns out to be wrong?

And later on, some stuff about Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report. I’ll update this post with a link when that one’s up. And by “when that one’s up” I mean “when I’ve written it.”

Update: here’s the Digital Britain piece: The Good, The Bad and the WTF?

Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report isn’t an easy read, not least because some of it appears to have been written by aliens.Cut through the bureaucratese, though, and there are some interesting plans up the Government’s sleeve. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, and some are just weird.

It’s that time of the week again:

In the beginning, there was the Asus Eee PC. And the masses looked at it, and they found that it was good. Verily, they said, this Linux thingy isn’t half bad.

And there was much rejoicing in the land of the penguin, for Linux had the market all to itself. A pox on all your houses, Microsoft, cried the penguin lovers. We have found a category in which you cannot compete! Your Vista is too bloated! Your XP is too dead!

Aha! Said Microsoft. We will resurrect Windows XP and give Vista a child, which will not be rubbish, and which will be pretty nifty on a netbook! Screw you, hippies!

PC Plus has revamped its website, and while content’s pretty thin at the moment – it’s a start-from-scratch job rather than a makeover – it’s looking good. A few long articles are already up, including one I did a few months back comparing the technology, business models and opportunities for iPhones and Google’s Android.

If you’re interested in the background to the new site, the gorgeous, pouting Richard Cobbett talks about it on his blog.

Also online: some Windows 7 features Apple could steal and improve upon.

Another of my .net columns has made its way to them thar internets:

There were four interesting news stories this week. The Home Office decided that it fancied a giant central database of everybody’s internet activity, something that would be perfect for data mining in search of thought crimes. A student was detained for six days under antiterrorist legislation for downloading documents from the US Department of Justice website. A well-intentioned but badly drafted new law could put manga fans in prison as suspected kiddie-fiddlers. And Boris Johnson banned booze on the London Underground. Only one of these caused UK internet users to take to the streets in mass protest. Can you guess which one?

Me, on Techradar: Twitter’s about to be invaded by the masses. We have a cunning plan.

Techradar again: Steve Jobs is sick. Leave him alone.

Imagine you’d had a close encounter with cancer a few years back. You turn up to work with a bit of a cold, and your boss gives you a worried look. “Is the cancer back?” Er, no. I’ve got a bit of a cold. You go for a coffee. “Oh god, is the cancer back?” asks the bloke from sales. No, you say. I’ve got a cold. Back at your desk, somebody accidentally CCs you on an email. It turns out that everybody in the company has become a doctor, they’ve all diagnosed you with cancer, and they’ve emailed your family to break the news.

…that’s exactly what elements of the press pack and blogging crowd have been doing to Steve Jobs since June.

The inimitable Ian Betteridge argues the exact opposite.

Steve Jobs is also a senior executive of a publicly-traded company, and with that role comes certain responsibilities. Steve has responsibilities to his shareholders – and, importantly, so do Apple’s board of directors.

The illness of a senior executive is a classic area where boards need to be strong, and work for the shareholders. It’s a tough time for everyone, but the role of the board, as I’ll explain, means they have to look at things in a way which is impersonal – and which some might find insensitive.

So who’s right? There’s only one way to find out…

I’ve been looking for an excuse to embed a Harry Hill video for ages.