Regular readers will remember that about a month ago, we decided to conduct a spam experiment to see what email providers perform best when dealing with junk mail. Bets were made, stances taken and friendships placed on the line, but NOBODY could have predicted the results. Read on, and prepare to be surprised!

Just to remind people, we took some deliberate risks to make sure the email accounts were given a run for their money. I entered the email addresses into a dodgy-looking Internet

What can you learn from our little test? Well, bear in mind that the situation we created is somewhat unnatural, and that when picking an email account, there is more to consider than spam capabilities; security, usability and features are all hugely important. It is also worth asking around for the opinions of actual real-life users – even though Gmail didn’t perform great in the test, it always performs perfectly in my real accounts. That said, the test highlighted some definite winners and losers, and even though I have no intention of changing from Gmail, I certainly know which email providers I won’t be recommending to my friends!

As a starter, Panda Cloud is not compatible with other antivirus tools you may have already installed on your system (in my case, AVG 8.5) but this is in fact a typical feature of Panda software – they can’t even coexist with other Panda apps. Immunet Protect, for its part, doesn’t mind working with other antivirus software, though you should generally avoid having two antivirus apps running at the same time.

Both programs have a ‘Summary’ window that shows system’s current status and other data. But there are some differences: Panda Cloud Antivirus has a nicer interface, with visually appealing icons and large buttons that make it easier to use. Immunet Protect, on the contrary, seems to focus more on numbers and statistics, and its toolbar menu is a bit overcrowded with buttons a links. Just after installation, Immunet performs a first system scan, while Panda doesn’t lift a finger.

So what is Apple planning for the App Store? In this post, Tom and Jon present wildly opposing views of the future of Apple’s App Store.

Tom: Yes, Apple will roll out that App Store on Macs

The success of the App Store in changing the world of software cannot be underrated. Small applications are cool, desirable and popular. The other key mobile platforms have followed suit, launching their own app stores. And all this despite the fact that software distribution on the iPhone is actually a much tighter-controlled system than anything we’ve ever seen.

My prediction is that within four years, software distribution for Mac desktops and notebooks will occur solely through the App Store. The App Store will be relatively closed (programs will need approval from Apple just like now), and while many developers will be annoyed at Apple’s move, they will finally be forced to embrace it as the only method for getting their software installed on your Mac.

Why would Apple do this? The way I see it, they have little choice. It’s a natural next step from their current position and it will maintain their control of the Mac OS platform. Additionally, controlling the distribution of software clearly generates a massive revenue stream for Apple. I see this move as utterly inevitable, and working for a software download site, I’m looking forward to the challenges this will present!

Jon: No, Rolling out the App Store to other platforms is not inevitable

In short, rolling out the App Store to bigger devices would be costly, dangerous for the cool Apple brand, and put profits above good design.

The iPhone App Store is so successful because it’s a small device, and the well designed program makes downloading and buying applications really easy. Doing so in Safari would have been a pain. Without the constraints of a small mobile screen, the App Store is less necessary. Before the App Store, there was no intuitive software distribution for mobile applications. But on Macs (and Windows PCs), this isn’t an issue. Downloading applications is already easy.

Another issue is Apple approving everything. The iPhone is popular and has tons of applications, but that number will be dwarfed by software for the Macs. There must be a point at which the overheads required to run the App Store undermine any desire for a closed system. After all, it’s not like the current system is broken, and it’s hardware where Apple make the vast majority of their money.

They might introduce an App Store, but to make it closed would really hamper people’s use and enjoyment of their Macs. Would they really stop you downloading programs through your browser? High-end users would hate this, and Apple’s cool quotient comes in part from these users.

The last reason is that the App Store is as much a part of the iPhone experience as iTunes is part of the iPod experience. The software is an integral part of the device, and makes it complete. The Mac has OSX, which alongside the beautiful hardware makes the Mac experience loved by its users. A closed App store wouldn’t improve the OSX experience, and all Apple products are designed primarily around great user experience (from which flows their huge profits).

I can’t see the iPhone App Store model as the inevitable future for everything. It’s still relatively new, and has also been coming under sustained criticism which may even prompt Apple to open it up a little.

What do you think?

In the world of iPods and iPhones, there’s nothing more annoying than not being able to copy your music from them onto your hard drive. This is because Apple have locked both devices so that you can only copy music onto them but not vice-versa. This is incredibly frustrating if you want to replace a song you’ve lost or deleted in iTunes, your Mac has crashed and your iPod/iPhone is the only place you’ve saved your music, or if you simply want to transfer some songs between computers.

Fortunately, there are two excellent “unlocking” solutions for Mac in the form of Senuti and iPodRip. Both applications used to be free but now require a modest fee to use them. Both have free trial versions however and I put them both through their paces to see which is best.

Senuti

Firstly, Senuti supports both iPod and iPhones so if you own the latter as well, then it’s a no-brainer which to choose. The interface of Senuti is very clean and as soon as you connect your iPod, your music and playlists appear pretty much instantly. To transfer a song, you can either drag and drop them or select the song and click the clearly labeled “Transfer” button in the top left corner.

That’s about all there is to it. Once a track is transferred, it is denoted with a blue dot which tells you that it has already been transferred to your hard drive. You can also play songs simply by double clicking on them. The demo is limited to 30 days and 1000 song transfers but there’s no nag screen and the full license costs $18.