I'm a huge admirer of Google's free e-mail service. Which doesn't mean that it doesn't make me gnash my teeth nearly every time I use it....

Ever since I got my hands on an invite back in 2004, I’ve been a fan…or so I’ve thought. But recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s slowly driving me crazy - and that it may be time for an intervention of some sort....

....In the subject line of the very first e-mail you get in a new Gmail account, Google declares that “Gmail is different.” It’s right. But after years of heavy Gmail use, I still struggle with some of those differences.

The single thing about Gmail that’s most different is its notion of Conversations: Rather than the inbox just listing all incoming mail in the order it arrived, Gmail clusters everything into threads, so that every message in one back-and-forth discussion is grouped together. It’s a wonderful idea, and far more logical than the way the rest of the world does things.

Logical, however, doesn’t always equal good......

In the weak market for consumer spending, there is a bright spot: Apple Inc. The computer and electronic device maker is attracting potential buyers like never before and is getting top marks in customer satisfaction.

A survey of more than 4,400 people between August 4 and August 12 conducted by RBC Capital Markets and ChangeWave Research showed that 34% plan to buy a Mac laptop in the next 90 days, compared with 31% in May. Those planning to buy a Mac desktop rose to 30% from 27%. Meanwhile, 81% of those who recently bought an Apple product in the past 90 days were “very satisfied,” while only 58% Dell Inc. buyers and 55% Hewlett-Packard Co. buyers said the same....

Pity the poor Mac Mini. After being unveiled with plenty of hoopla in January 2005 as “the most affordable Mac ever,” it departed the limelight with surprising swifness. The glossy white micro-Mac has received only minor updates such as CPU upgrades and actually got less affordable when the base model went from $499 to $599. Last year, there were even premature reports of the Mini’s imminent death, and most Mac enthusiasts didn’t seem too griefstricken at the prospect of its demise.

But the Mini livesand even though $599 is no longer anywhere near a dirt-cheap price for a computer, it remains the cheapest Mac. It also comes in a super-small package that’s still fun and distinctive. So it’s the subject of my fourth excessively in-depth Mac-vs.-PC price comparison. My goal, as always, is to gauge whether you pay a “Mac Tax” when you buy a Mini instead of a roughly comparable Windows PC.

Mac OS X has more problems than Vista.

We now have proof from an independent third party, Google.

That's right, if you search the terms "problems with windows" versus "problems with mac os x", Windows wins with only 113 million pages of problems to Mac OS X 126 million. That gives Windows about a 10% advantage over Macs.

Before people start claiming that I am biased or that my search choice was flawed, I want everyone to know that Mac OS X 10.5, (a.k.a. Leopard) is better than Vista. You see. Leopard has only 9,410,000 pages of complaints to 25,400,000 for Vista. Of course Vista has been out longer by several months, but I'd only trim off a few percentage points for that difference.

What's free, looks like Mac OS X, just works and is actually Linux? The answer is gOS, which recently launched a new beta that builds on the distro's initial success and adds new tools like integrated Google Gadgets for Linux.

When it launched onto the scene late last year, gOS (which stands for good OS) made quite a splash for getting Linux into the U.S. retail giant WalMart. Through a partnership with PC manufacturer Everex, gOS brought Linux to your parents' generation via WalMart.

But chances are, if they picked up a gOS equipped machine, Mom and Dad would have no idea they were running Linux. Like the Xandros distro that Asus packages with the EeePC, gOS doesn't trumpet its open source credentials or advertise its infinite customization options. It just works.

Web postings predict a restructuring for Apple, Inc.'s iPod line by the end of next month. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, expects Apple's iPod touch to get "small cosmetic changes" with a "significant redesign" for the iPod nano. Rose predicted Apple's iPod nano will be rounded, skinnier and longer with a "kind of widescreen."

Like Bigfoot in recent weeks, the Apple iPod is the subject of a wave of new reports and at least one photo. According to the postings, Apple's iPod line will undergo a restructuring by the end of next month. But given the credibility of those making the reports, the chances for accuracy behind the iPod reports seem better than Bigfoot's.....

Taking potshots at Apple - especially over security issues - seems to be the flavour of the month. But while such criticisms are sometimes deserved, are they often simply cheap shots?

Apple's laptops have had some interesting encounters at airport security checkpoints. The wafer-thin design of the MacBook Air befuddled one security officer earlier this year in the U.S., who asked to give some "special attention" to the "fine piece of machinery," according to Bob, who blogs for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA). After inspection, the laptop was returned to the owner.

Users don't have to remove their MacBooks from their bags anymore, thanks to new "checkpoint-friendly" laptop bags. It's a hassle to remove laptops and place them in bins, so these bags allow X-ray machines to screen laptops from inside bags. The bags are designed using guidelines provided by the TSA, which wants a clear view of the laptop through the bag......

One of the best personal computer keyboards ever was Apple’s own Extended Keyboard II. It had the perfect combination of speed, comfort, and reliability. It was also expensive to produce, because of the mechanical key switches, and was eventually replaced by the Apple Design Keyboard.

A long time ago, someone said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Despite the incredible market share gains Apple has made with Mac sales around the world, people still denigrate the platform is irrelevant, and doomed to failure.

One thing is certain: When you build a multibillion dollar multinational company, you can bet the sharks will be after you. Indeed, Apple’s SEC filings routinely list a number of lawsuits in which they’re involved. Some they’ve filed, and others have been filed against them for various real or imagined offenses.

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