Mac Regrets?

By goheels681
in Apple (macOS)

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Grand Master

Southern Patriot

Posted
Posted (edited)
I'm on a PC now, but I may be looking to a Mac in the future.

I was wondering, for those of you going from PC>Mac, do you have any regrets?? I know they have OS X equivalent apps for most everything on Windows, but what about those small, SourceForge-type downloads that aren't for Mac, that do everything you need to do.

Or, a certain piece of hardware that you want that isn't Mac compatible

Is VirtualPC actually fast enough for fairly often use?

Do you still use a PC at all?

Thanks

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Lots of stuff you find on SourceForge can be compiled to work on the Mac, sometimes with no effort at all, sometimes with a little tweaking. Besides that, I find just about everything I need on VersionTracker or the Mac newsgroups.

I keep my one Dell around for one single program, NewsLeecher, which is really one of the best binary newsreaders around (mostly because of it's Super Search). I don't really use it for anything else other than as reference when I'm helping someone troubleshoot their machine :DD

I don't use VirtualPC, although I have tried it. My machines are too slow for it to work well. I have the Dell set up so I can access it from anywhere via Remote Desktop though, which is actually much better for my needs. I don't really play many games, although my wife likes some of the ones she's played on the Mac (CSI and Shrek 2).

Edited by roadwarrior
Collaborator

tapo

Posted
Posted

I'll be brutally honest.

I'd guess the biggest problem with buying my Mac, a Dual 1 GHZ G4, is the lack of upgradability, mostly because it was one of the last Macs to use Apple's ADC video/power/usb connection. This makes a Radeon 9600 around $400. Something I am honestly not willing to pay.

Don't ever, ever, ever buy an Apple Airport Extreme router either, it's horrible. I have a fan dedicated to cooling that thing off and preventing it from overheating.

And don't use VirtualPC. It just isn't worth it, being too expensive and slow. If I were you, I'd just use whatever PC you have lying around. I have a slightly old (2001) Windows/Debian laptop for all my Win32 and Linux applications.

Finally, you're not going to have a problem with sourceforge. Almost everything has a Mac port, as it's pretty easy to port Linux apps over to Mac OS X. Some things, like Gaim, have entire Mac rewrites (Adium X).

With all that said, the Mac isn't perfect, nothing is. But it is a very worthwhile investment and I suggest you get one.

Grand Master

Southern Patriot

Posted
Posted
I'd guess the biggest problem with buying my Mac, a Dual 1 GHZ G4, is the lack of upgradability, mostly because it was one of the last Macs to use Apple's ADC video/power/usb connection. This makes a Radeon 9600 around $400. Something I am honestly not willing to pay.

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You know, you don't have to use that particular type of card just because it is what originally came with your machine. Other Mac cards will work, although you will have to get an adapter for your monitor.

Apprentice

MPD

Posted
Posted
Don't ever, ever, ever buy an Apple Airport Extreme router either, it's horrible. I have a fan dedicated to cooling that thing off and preventing it from overheating.

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Not quite the same product, but I have an airport express and think its the best wireless access point ever. I use all 3 features and have never had to reset it after the initial setup. Most similar products seem to stop working randomly and need to be reset at least once a month.

Grand Master

Elliott

Posted
Posted
I used Gaim for a while, and it could never Direct Connect.  Does iChat/Adium/other AIM clients have problems with Direct Connections?

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iChat does a very good job of Direct Connecting. It's not based off of libgaim.

Grand Master

aleni

Posted
Posted

i regret buying my amd 64bit based pc.

its an amd 64bit 3200, 1gb corsair cl2, x800pro, and 2x120gb serial ata (RAID 0) setup.

the pc is very fast, and i decided to try out mac, so i bought a mac mini, put a gig of memory in it, and im thinking about selling my pc now. eventhough the pc is much more faster, but i dont feel like using it again.

im gonna sell the pc and buy powerbook 15inch soon for my design needs and for the portability.

Collaborator

dailyplanet

Posted
Posted

Regrets? Har har. Here's what I DON'T miss:

Viruses

Defragmenting

Fixing it

Trying to find software that'll do what I want

U-G-L-Y OS interface

Slow downs

Internet Explorer

Netscape

Security Pack 2

Windows Media Player + codecs

Blue screen of Death

Illegal operations

AdAware

Spybot

And the list probably goes on.

Winamp is cool because of its customizability, but I find iTunes to be much cooler and easier. After I got my 4G iPod I used iTunes exclusively and was obssessed with making my PC look like a Mac. Then I decided to switch.

I do miss the games but like other people have said, there's plenty of other things to keep you occupied. I personally wouldn't bother with VirtualPC because there aren't enough Windows-specific programs that'll warrant its purchase and use. Close to everything is Mac compatible and those that aren't probably have a good reason not to be.

Grand Master

Steve

Posted
Posted

Don't ever, ever, ever buy an Apple Airport Extreme router either, it's horrible. I have a fan dedicated to cooling that thing off and preventing it from overheating.

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Strange, I have one and never have a problem, maybe you have a faulty one? I've not heard of a router over-heating before... :laugh:

Regrets? I don't have any that I can think of. I do laugh at my mates when they take the **** out of my Mac's - they all use PC's. Windows XP? LOL that's so 20th century.. :pinch: :happy:

Grand Master

NeoXY

Posted
Posted

meh....regrets?...oh please...my only regret is not getting my PB earlier...jezz....now I'm not a heavy gamer but I do game, so I have Halo and Call of Duty for my PB...and everything else...it's just nice and beautiful...if it wasn't for the mobility I get out of the PB, I would have been on a iMac faster than you can say Apple...

regrets?...what regrets?...:D

Apprentice

MPD

Posted
Posted
Strange, I have one and never have a problem, maybe you have a faulty one? I've not heard of a router over-heating before...  :laugh:

Regrets? I don't have any that I can think of. I do laugh at my mates when they take the **** out of my Mac's - they all use PC's. Windows XP? LOL that's so 20th century..  :pinch:  :happy:

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My netgear router overheats when it gets really hot in our house in the summer. The max operating temp is 95 degrees f, but it stops working after about 90.

Grand Master

Steve

Posted
Posted
My netgear router overheats when it gets really hot in our house in the summer. The max operating temp is 95 degrees f, but it stops working after about 90.

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So why does it get so hot, do you leave it in direct sunlight all day or something? 90F is pretty damn hot... Well it is to an englishman. :laugh:

Grand Master

ahfunaki

Posted
Posted

I just use my powerbook as a secondary computer, I'm afraid I don't think I'll ever give up my windows machine as my primary computer.

I think it might be different if I had a desktop mac, but as of now I still use my windows machine 90% of the time. I'm on my mac right now though...

And it's also different because I can either use a 12" powerbook or dual 17" samsung lcds on my pc...

Community Regular

wkkschb

Posted
Posted

miss the windows explorer of managing files, i feel very contraint when using the finder,

miss playing games,

miss the start menu,

miss fixing, playing around with windows,

miss the task bar, - aqua dock is good but i normally run more 10 programs and stuff at the same time so the aqua dock gets to messy, and it is hard to distinguish between running programs and not running programs,

thats all i can think of,

i use two laptops, one is powerbook 15' and other is ibm t42p

w-k

Grand Master

MonkeyClaw Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

nothing but the games, and well one feature i liked in explorer was that windows automatically put the folders first in abc order then the files in abc, to me it was a bit more organized. other than that, i cant believe i didnt switch earlier...

Grand Master

KeR

Posted
Posted
nothing but the games, and well one feature i liked in explorer was that windows automatically put the folders first in abc order then the files in abc, to me it was a bit more organized.  other than that, i cant believe i didnt switch earlier...

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you do know you can do the same with finder?

Proficient

Devoto.

Posted
Posted

I have no regrets in making the switch whatsoever. I'm using s Mac Mini at the moment and since I got it back in January I haven't used my PC at all.

The Mac Mini is more than capable for everything I do on it. I only use it for surfing the web, email and iTunes for use with my iPod Photo. I am upgrading to a recently revised iMac G5 (specs in sig) but it was always my plan to upgrade when I had figured out OS X. Plus, my brother and his girlfriend need a computer for their flat so they are having my Mac Mini which will suit them both down to the ground.

I can honestly say I don't miss anything about Windows. I didn't game on my PC and I don't game on my Mac. I have a PS2 and an Xbox for my gaming needs.

No regrets at all!

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