OSX

At my day job I work between two main computers and sometimes three. So far, I have found great success running Synergy to enable using a single mouse and keyboard between them.
With my PC set up as a server and my Macs set up as clients, I have basically configured the desktops of my computers to connect in one giant row of desktop space. The effect is so seamless that I often feel frustrated that I can't drag and drop between them.

A couple of items in the popular ordered list format:

1. Go PC to Mac. Seriously. It just works better that way.
2. On the Mac, use Synergy KM. Synergy KM is the version that uses a graphical preferences pane. Just because you can use the Command Line doesn't mean it makes sense.
3. In deference to the first point, configuring the screen locations for the server on Windows is unnecessarily complicated. Don't forget to configure your way back onto a Desktop once you've configured your way off.
4. On the Mac, the server is supposed to find clients via bonjour, but I can only get it to work by manually entering the IP of the server. This is annoying when your network doles out IP addresses dynamically.
5. The only time I've ever seen Bonjour work was when I swapped out a PC with a co-worker who then suddenly found that she kept having to fight with a phantom (Me) for control of her mouse. She had no idea what was going on and I laughed and laughed at her.
6. You'll still find yourself needing a mouse/keyboard on each machine at some points. I find it easiest to just keep the keyboard tucked under the monitor or shelf that the computer sits on.
7. By default, the client and server will dole out "special" keys as if you were using the default keyboard layout for that operating system. You can configure this, but why? I put little stickers on my keyboards to help keep track of what key is what key in what mode.
8. The processing of your mouse movements, however, is somewhat processor intensive-- and having a laggy mouse can really suck. My G5 iMac is more prone to this lag. In fact, I've never noticed it on my Dual-Core MacBook.

A fun fact: I worked for a CAD-CAM software company for a number of years whose flagship software product was called "Synergy." Back then, I lobbied against the name because it was an abstract noun that required too much thinking. I still feel that way, even about this 'OS independent input device sharing' software. Synergy is supposed to evoke the idea that by working together, two independent things are greater than the sum of their parts, right? But that's just stupid in the context of sharing a single keyboard and mouse across multiple computers. That shouldn't require synergy... that's just how shit should work.

A few computer/technology related tid-bits that in years past would have been much longer posts.

1. Look, I really kind of like K-Meleon, the lightweight, native Windows Implementation of the Geko Layout Engine. Think of it as Firefox for Windows without the Firefox part. On the Operating System of the Future (Windows 2000), K-Meleon is the browser of tomorrow.
2. If only there were a similar version of Pidgin. I am now taking applications for the windows native multi-service XAMP client of tomorrow.
3. I am currently experimenting with Windows Live Mesh. Mesh is Windows online folder syncing, basically, except that it also syncs to a "Online Desktop," so you can always get at your synched files, so long as you have access to a browser (even KM. So far, I've got my entire allotment of space allocated and it's still uploading. Nice! I wonder what that means. They say that there is a MacOSX Client coming. It has some kind of RDP or VNC built into it, but it's flaky and doesn't work as nicely LogMeIn, for example.
4. If I could add one feature to the Windows Platform, I would add Universal Spell Checking like they have on the Macs. Hands down, Universal Spell checking is OSX's best feature.
5. I still miss you, Linux. Do something awesome and I'll come back to you. Here's a hint. It's not being sold in a box at Best Buy. Hundreds of crappy software products have been sold in a Box at Best Buy over the years.
6. You should be using Evernote. If you're not, you don't care about keeping notes. I have a Ocono.com Story Ideas notebook that I'm publishing there, but it's not about publishing, it's about having your data synced up to the web and on every computer you use. Except for Linux.

My employer bought me a MacBook, and I really like it. At first I felt weird using a work laptop as my primary machine. I'm over that now. Now I'm just annoyed that it doesn't make financial sense to invest in it. And that I can't in good conscious put one of them sweet, sweet Web 414 stickers on it.
But, I have to say, not that any of you care, but I have to say, I'm most happy with the MacBook. It's a fine, fine little laptop. I'm not sure why you'd buy anything else. Here's a Heathercoresque list of things I think about it.
1. I Love the chicklet keys. They feel good to type on.
2. I miss the reverse delete key. [Function] + [Delete] is just not the same.
3. I know the MagSafe adapter takes it's share of flack, but with a 2-year-old running around the tables, the magnetic adapter has paid off several times.
4. Get more memory. I did, but I didn't get enough. I should have got more.
5. 10.5 is better than 10.4. By 0.1, and a little bit more.
6. The way 10.5 handles WIFI is both satisfying and disturbing. I like it when I get access to a wifi that has the same password as one I already know. I don't like that my computer hands out passwords it knows to any ol' wifi thinger it comes across. Anybody know more about this?
7. I _hate_ the blue screen PC icon. I'm OSbidexterous.
8. I forgot what eight was for.
9. OSX should just come with Quicksilver. Quicksilver is necessary for OSX to actually work. If you disagree, you haven't tried it. If you still disagree, you haven't tried it -right-.
10. The multi-touch trackpad is more useful than you know. Two-finger tap as right click is addictive as hell, but Two-finger scroll beats the hell out of any other mouse gesture. However, the pinch-zoom is lame.

So, I got this Mac. It has a lot of software installed on it, and a lot of software that has been unistalled or removed incorrectly.
How do I clean up my right click "Open With..." Menu on OXS?

You guys know I'm something of an operating system slut. I like to get in and root around on an OS. See what I can see. Break what I can break. Try on the culture and the paradigm and see how it fits.
One thing that happens on OSX that doesn't seem to happen as much in the Windows and Linux worlds is "Shareware."Now, before you start harping on just how wrong I am in this regard, let me ask you this: Most of my favorite aps on Windows are free. Most of my favorite aps on Linux are free. Most of my favorite Aps in OSX are about $25.
So far, I've not found a single one that I would pay for. Fetch is close, but frankly,I can put up with the non-OSX-y kluge of Filezilla for my limited SFTP needs. A lot of the other "Shareware" aps that I've used on OSX would be better served behaving as "donor wear" rather than "trial" software. I'll never, ever, ever, buy WriteRoom, as much as I like it. Never. Sorry Writeroom guys. I just don't need a distraction free text editor more than I need a nice lunch once in a while.
Of course, if the Writeroom guys let me use Writeroom for free, forever, one day I might just happen upon a benevolent, giving mood and end up sending them five bucks. By locking me out at the end of a 30-day trial, that's never going to happen.
Another example: Blogging client Ecto. If Ecto was free, I'd sing it's praises, but as it is today, it's not the app I'm willing to throw $25 toward. (Apologies to Mike. I'll happily state here, for the record, that Ecto's problems are _not_ its icon.)
I suggest that the pervasive nickel-and-diming of the OSX user base is just part of why OSX users have the stigma they have. The thought seems to be: if you can afford to pay extra for "The Apple User Experience" it seems reasonable that you'll pay for "The Writeroom" user experience. You OSXers gots to be more spendthrifty. It'll make everything better for all of us.