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Since the end of spring, ACG has utilized the new Windows 7 Release Candidate as a platform for most of its operations. We had to switch most of our essential functions like version control over to the new operating system, but so far the OS has been promising for design operations.
So, overall, how do we like it? Windows 7 has been a gift from the Microsoft gods and addresses some annoying issues with networking and user experience. Its backwards compatibility is great with most programs, and its 64-bit performance makes us jump for joy.
Our favorite features with Windows 7 include its new taskbar. Every program is represented by an icon, and previewing between Windows takes a simple mouse hover. Window behavior is now “pin-able”: drag two windows to the left and right side of the screen and Windows automatically formats side-by-side viewing.
The issues we experienced on Windows 7 are not completely Microsoft’s fault: the Adobe CS4 suite is massively complex and often yields strange behavior. However, 64-bit Windows is much more CS4-friendly.
Overall, we are happy with the features that Windows brings to ACG. The platform networks well, meeting our technological needs of bridging complex programming with simple design. Our only hope is that Microsoft decides to shift gears and begin improving the internals of the OS, maximizing CPU and GPU power.
Someone was asking me the other day how I got started in this business. I started talking about the tiny little sole proprietorship, Avalanche Marketing, that was started almost two years before ACG, and then how my great friend Gagan Singh joined the company. But I realized there was much more to the story than that tiny little company…
Back in the late ’90s I was running around as a kid watching my Dad run his software business. I’ll admit software coding wasn’t the most admirable thing to watch, but he gave me his copy of Microsoft FrontPage 2000 to fiddle with. Once I showed him my first website, he bought me my first domain (out of all things it was a .tv domain!). After school and skiing all day I’d be up late making websites to my heart’s desire.
The “paradigm shift” came when my grandfather finally published his book he had been researching for 30 years. He was on talk shows, radio interviews, quoted in newspapers…but he always had difficulty connecting to the younger crowd. My grandmother decided that a brand new copy of Dreamweaver and Fireworks 4 for my birthday might be an answer to their lacking web presence.
Not much later, my grandmother passed away and my grandfather was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His deceased wife was not only the love of his life, she was also his most valuable asset. My grandfather got much of his PR from my grandmother, and to compensate he turned to my web expertise. In a month’s time his site was almost complete and www.elgenlong.com was my second site on the net (I had a chance to do a site for my father’s company previously).
Just a year later, I was in Chile and Peru skiing the Andes. The trip was a gift from my grandfather, and we had the opportunity to meet a connection of his – a businessman building a new Peru company. I refused to overlook this opportunity, and immediately offered my design services. My first real client also turned out to be my first international client – sort of. Unfortunately, I learned a hard lesson and I was never fully paid for my services.
It wasn’t until I made the big move from the Lake Tahoe area to Vancouver for university that I finally became legit. My broke ass needed to capitalize my talents, and so Avalanche Marketing began. But that is another story for another day.
