Windows Vista comes out in January, but there are currently three Microsoft applications (that I know of) that boast the Vista look.

These are: Windows Live Messenger, Windows Media Player 11, and of course, Internet Explorer 7.

Immediately, I find it strange that of the three, IE7’s interface is the least Vista-fied. Media Player 11 looks exactly how I expect it to look in Windows Vista. Messenger is a little tougher, because although its appearance falls between those the XP versions of MP11 and IE7, I can’t tell if it will look any different in Vista. I can’t tell if its interface has stayed a bit more traditional because it’s generally a small window or because it’s the XP version.

Why would Microsoft hold back the visual progression of its most ubiquitous application? My first thought was that the age of the average IE user might be a bit higher than the age of the average Media Player user or Messenger User. By leaving the traditional title bar and corner buttons (minimize, maximize/restore, close) the same as those found in most XP applications, Microsoft may be trying to minimize intimidation experienced by older users — users who are already intimidated enough by computers. (As an example, I can imagine my dad clicking on a link that opens in a spawned instance of Media Player 11, then saying, “What the hell is this?”) Younger users — teenagers and twentysomethings — might be more appreciative of the glossy new MP and Messenger windows.

However, this morning I used Google to look for the release date of Office 2007 (Is anyone else excited about Excel 12?) and ran across this article on Ars Technica. Author Peter Pollack speculates as to how Microsoft chose Office 2007’s ship date. One sentence from his article bears repeating here:

Sending Office into the world early also runs the risk that some users may install it, discover it works well enough on XP, and hold off on the operating system upgrade.

Might the same logic apply to Internet Explorer? On my computer, the most commonly used application is my web browser (which is Firefox 2). I’d bet it’s also the web browser on most people’s computers, and the numbers tell us that most people’s web browser is still Internet Explorer. If all those people get the Vista visual upgrade on the application they use more than any other — for free — might they be less inclined to run out and buy a new operating system? It’s food for thought.

As a side note, I’ve barely used any of these three applications since Microsoft most recently updated them. Of the three, I use Media Player the most, but since I got my (second) iPod, I’ve been using iTunes a lot. I’m not in love with iTunes, but I’ve been listening to podcasts more lately and as far as I can tell iTunes is the best end-to-end solution for finding and subscribing to podcasts and syncing (which is easier than dragging) them to my iPod. In order to make sure that my iPod is as up-to-date as possible, I make sure that my iTunes is as up-to-date as possible — by leaving it running all the time.

Earlier this week I placed an order on a website for the Sony Cyber-shot^® DSC-H2 Digital Camera. I initially placed my order with Royal Camera, a business that has an online store through store.yahoo.com. I chose Royal Camera because the price this business offered on the DSC-H2 was roughly one hundred dollars less than what most other online retailers offered.

After placing the order, I received no confirmation email and began to feel nervous. However, the final screen that loaded into my web browser after I entered all of my personal information included a phone number in case I wanted to track my order. I called it the next day and discovered a few things:

• Royal Camera must have no more than two customer service reps, because I waited on hold for a while
• Royal Camera really wants me to buy a memory stick, or batteries, or a case
• The camera I ordered will take 6 to 8 weeks to ship — because
• It’s being shipped from Japan — because
• It’s the international version — oh, and
• The international version does not come with cables, batteries, or a charger — so
• To use the camera, I’m going to need batteries, cables, a memory stick, and what do I mean I don’t want a case?
• Yes, Royal Camera offers the camera with the standard USB cable, batteries, and charger included, but that will be another $180, which means this is no longer a bargain

I cancelled my order with Royal Camera. Before I finalized my order, Royal Camera’s website told me that the camera was in stock and that it would ship in 1-2 days. Remember: Don’t ever buy anything from Royal Camera’s website. They are part of the store.yahoo.com system. Some merchants on store.yahoo.com might be honorable. Royal Camera is not honorable. Avoid it.

Anyway, to get off of Royal Poopy, I’m looking forward to the new camera. It’s six megapixels (yes, I could have had more megapixels for another hundred bucks), has a 12x optical zoom, and will not slip easily into a jeans pocket. But I don’t really want a camera that will fit easily into a pocket. I want a camera that will let me zoom in on Michael Vick or Jeff Francouer or a skittish deer. I believe a 12x zoom will allow me to do that.

Also, this may force me to pull a Lewis and get a Flickr Pro account.

I purchased an iPod almost exactly two years ago. About one month ago, it began failing intermittently. Within a week, it no longer booted up at all.

When I turn my iPod on, the Apple logo appears, and I can hear the hard drive trying to rev up, but then it clicks. Then I can hear the hard drive again trying to rev up. But then it clicks. That happens five or six times until this guy shows up:

It’s very easy to find the help page that corresponds to this icon on Apple.com. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me at all. After a few misfires I got an appointment today at the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store. (I shudder whenever I call it the “Genius Bar.”) I can pay Apple roughly three hundred bucks to repair my iPod. I can pay someone else as little as $125 to repair my iPod. I can sell my iPod to one of several websites that buy dead iPods, for an unpredictable sum. Or, finally, I can give my dead iPod back to Apple in exchange for 10% off my next iPod. How about 50% off?

Seriously — Are these things designed to last two years after normal wear and tear? I paid 400 bucks for two years. That’s 200 dollars per year. I’m tempted to buy a Nano with its lack of moving parts and ultra small size, but a 4GB is $250 and a 30GB iPod video is only another fifty bucks! But $300 just to get back to where I was a month ago?

PS — Maybe this story has a happy ending. Two weeks ago I bought a Nintendo DS Lite for $130 and it came with a game … F iPod. I’ve got something to do on plane rides.

I just installed a new FTP client: FileZilla. I’ve been using LeechFTP for years, but as its site states, there’s been no development on it for years.

(I used FTP Explorer before that — which has suddenly resumed development and started charging — and before that I was using WS FTP, which had a free version way back when.)

I don’t even know how I came across FileZilla. It’s in stable release and under current development/maintenance, so that’s good. It’s hard to tell after just a few minutes of use, but it appears to be faster than Leech.

Sometimes it disappears from my Windows taskbar. It’s possible that this occurs only when I have multiple Firefox windows open. I can retrieve the windows by either minimizing windows until I get to the one I want, or the simpler method of alt-tab. They’re always in alt-tab.

Sometimes I’ll be able to get one window back onto the toolbar but not all of them.

Yeah, this is a legitimate bug, unlike my typical Firefox gripes, which tend to be about omitted or clunky features.