Where’s The Official Google Windows Blog?

I almost bought a Macbook this weekend. It would be nice to see how the other
3 percent lives. I’m going to get all ranty on Apple and why I have such an
irrational (to some) hatred of them, but let me start off with what inspired
today’s post — the Official Google Mac
Blog.

Most recently, I just
read on
that blog about how the Mac team at Google went over to the Appleplex. As I
joked in today’s
Daily SearchCast, it’s full of AppleAwedom that I found unusual coming from
Googlers, who themselves are used to people coming to the Googleplex and being
awed.

Then I got to thinking more. Why is there no Official Google Windows Blog?
Google
started its Mac blog last year to help reassure Mac users that Google would
be doing more to support them. That’s fine. But why not a Google Windows Blog?

Sure, I know Microsoft is the arch-enemy. I know that Google CEO Eric Schmidt
is on Apple’s
board of directors. The writing of Google and Apple taking on evil Microsoft is
on the wall. But you know what? I’m a Windows user. I like lots of things about
Windows.

Sure, I dislike that this weekend, Windows refused to boot several times in a
row just because once again,
some update seemed to have screwed things up. Then again, I’m used to doing the
F5/F8 punch into safe mode, where then doing a disk error check or a system
rollback may get me out of trouble. I’ve earned my Windows stripes. I don’t just
use the computer. I get abused in my love-hate relationship with it.

Sure, a million other little things often go wrong with Windows. But I still
like it for many reasons, such as the fact I don’t have to go around whining
that some software isn’t yet written for it. When like 97 percent or whatever
high number of the computers out there run Windows, people do stuff for you.

Sometimes, even Google does stuff for you. It was fantastic when Google
finally released Google Maps for Windows Mobile, as I
wrote about over at
Search Engine Land recently. But Gmail for Windows Mobile? Still waiting.

Then again, you don’t need to wait. If you use Windows Mobile, it’s pretty
easy to POP-enable your Gmail account, then setup POP downloading to your phone.
I can get my mail from Gmail on my phone almost as well as those with the
dedicated Gmail app. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Google Windows Blog explained
that to more people?

Similarly, using Outlook to
download from Gmail is awesome. Google has help files that explain all this,
but how about some evangelizing to Windows users on the Google Windows Blog?

Is there more I could be doing with Google through Windows? The Google Mac
blog spends time talking about apps that also work for Windows, but why don’t
Windows users get the same respect? And will we be reading about Googlers making
a jump over to Microsoft for a visit?

And now to segue to my dislike of Apple. I don’t know where it comes from. I
think it dates back to when I first got a personal computer in the late 80s. It
was a clone IBM XT, and expensive — yet it was still cheaper than a Mac, I
recall. And Macs didn’t run as much software, plus they seemed to require you to
buy only Mac-approved or supported peripherals.

Hey, I know things have changed a lot. I also know that a lot of Apple’s
standardization is what makes Mac more dependable for many people. But some of
this stuff lingers. The higher price also lingers, plus the sense that Apple
really feels like they want to control everything they can, rather than be more
open.

I’m sure I’m overdue for an education. In fact, I chuckle as I write this,
because much of what I think of Apple, others think of Google. But then I know
Google so well, it’s far easier for me to understand many of these concerns are
often overblown or
not given proper perspective. Then again, I just wanted to drag-and-drop a few
files onto my iPod shuffle when snowboarding last weekend. But no, I had to use
iTunes to do it. Same thing with the iPod Nano I just got my wife. No iTunes, no
music — even when my songs are all in MP3 format.

In contrast, when I wanted to listen to music on my
TomTom 910 GPS, I can move
everything I want over just using the native Windows File Explorer. The same was
true with my old Rio Karma MP3 player (oh, how I miss you — why did you die?).
The same is also true with any of
my Windows Mobile
Smartphones. But Apple wants me to use iTunes, which I find to have one of
the world’s suckiest interfaces.

So back to the Macbook. I mentioned getting the iPod Nano. It was at the
Apple store in a mall near Boston, before flying home from vacation. Macbooks
were also there. My current laptop is getting on, and I’d like a dual processor
version. I’ve been waiting until new Vista-proven ones are out. But then again,
the Macbook can also run Windows XP now. There’s some safety to me in that. Why
not get a Macbook? At the very least, I should be playing with Macs and
understanding them more.

I was almost there. Picked one up, felt a bit heavier than I’d like, but I
thought about making the move. But the thing was hot. Damn hot. And I remembered
reading about people complaining about Macbooks overheating. Here was the latest
and greatest, sitting on a table doing nothing, yet it felt too hot. I decided
to pass for now.

I might go back. I’ll probably go back and finally experience the Mac magic
again. Again — I have used Macs. I use to work in a newspaper graphics
department. I’d often be on Macs, where the inability to maximize windows easily
drove me crazy. But it’s not like I didn’t know them. It’s just been awhile.

Still, I have to say the current round of ads with the PC guy and the Mac guy
are totally not working for me, one of the intended audience. They’re even worse
in the UK, where John Hodgman isn’t used as the PC guy. Instead, it’s just two
guys that you hate almost equally. But Mac guy? He’s just insulting to me. Look,
dude — I’ve built my own computers from the case up. I remember programming a
computer using a friggin’ tape recorder. I don’t need you acting like I know
squat about computers or that if you use a Mac, it’s all light and airy and fun.
Stop the entire PC comparison and just focus on the positive — what’s special
about using a Mac other than it’s not a PC?

I might not like Windows all the time. It can definitely frustrate me. But
Windows is also family. It’s kin I’ve lived with now for what, about 20 years?
You know how someone might make jokes about their own family, say a parent, and
it’s all funny — then someone else chimes in and it’s not so funny to them.
That the Mac ads in action. You’re making fun of my mom. I can make fun of her,
but you can’t — and when you do, you just push me to her (or Windows) more.