Kyle LeBoeuf

For the past couple of weeks I have been playing around extensively with Valve’s recently-released Mac version of their Steam software distribution platform for games. I really like it, and I think it has the potential to make a huge impact on both the Mac and gaming markets. Here’s why:

Game developers have long resisted porting their products for Mac, and for good reasons. Until recently, Apple products used special hardware that was different from most PCs and made porting games complicated due to the highly differing hardware configurations between the platforms. This is no longer the case, as Apple’s Mac products are running the same software as their distant PC cousins, making it easier for developers to make the switch.

Another problem plaguing developers has been one of exposure. How do you get the word out to Mac users about games? If you walk into any electronics retailer or any retailer in general that sells games, you can find large, easily distinguishable sections in the store that are dedicated to PC games. Unfortunately, there are very few retailers that carry Mac games (since very few retailers carry Macs in general), and this presents a problem of exposure. Even when there are Mac games available, the selection is usually limited to a few well-known titles.

The Steam platform solves this is a simple way: it allows users to download their titles. Its been a proven platform in the last several years on the PC and as this platform moves to the Mac I think it will be successful there. Apple users are already quite accustomed to getting most of their software via downloads, as a majority of Mac software is distributed in this manner already.

Through the well-known and already established Steam platform, developers now have a window through which can be visible to Mac users. They can promote their products through Steam, get their word out to gamers, and increase their bottom line (and make up for development costs associated with porting).

I just hope that developers take the risk and make the plunge.

Today, Apple let me into the MobileMe Mail beta, so I spent a little bit of time with it and now I have a few impressions.

First, let me say this: the interface is absolutely beautiful. Obviously inspired by the Mail interface on the iPad, the new Mail interface takes advantage of widescreen resolutions and displays everything in a neat, 3 column view. On the far left column is are your usual mail sections like Inbox, Sent, etc. In the center column is your mail, and it looks just like the Mail app on the iPhone and iPad. On the far right is a preview section for the email, again very similar to the (widescreen) email interface on the iPad.

In my experience so far, it’s very clean and its very snappy, loading most of my email with no problems and not really noticing any display issues with the email either.

I did notice some additional perks that make using the interface a little more pleasurable of an experience. For starts, email sent to an alias on your account now shows the account in bright green text next to the sender’s name, so you have an obvious visual indicator of which email was sent to what address. This is great for me, because I often find myself replying to email using the wrong alias/address.

Overall I love the iPhone OS inspired design and features, plus a few perks here and there that round out the package into a solid update and worthy successor for MobileMe Mail.

I wonder if they will roll out some of these changes Mail on the Mac?