Everyone's Switching to Mac's

[Win2Mac]

I think Nate1 was misread on his intent of his post, and at the same time, I believe he wrote it from a position of anger whether misplaced or not. He doesn't see the problem with Windows as he hasn't experienced it. What he has seen is that when you couple good products with sound skill you can get windows to almost make breakfast. On the other hand, when you get your computer built by "Fred's Computers" of Podunkville, and Fred has no conscience about selling these to older people or those that are not computer savvy, this is where the problems begin. I used to build computers from the ground up, using many different PC components and I would do my best to choose only the ones that I knew to be compatible. Very rarely did I have problems, but that is when the OS was much simpler. Heck, I can't even plug in my USB Video Capture device I bought 3 years ago to the vista machine without it crashing the computer. Go to the vendor site, "we're sorry, we are not producing drivers for this product on the Vista line of OS. Please feel free to browse (or waste in my book) our other vista capable/compatible/ready devices that will be obsolete as well when "Windows 7 comes out."

In Nates view, all is well, and that is fine. If it is, it certainly wouldn't justify spending extra money for things that are working. I on the other hand will spend the money as I enjoy trying new things and from what I have already tried, it is a good OS that apple has created.

When someone says that OS X does things the Steve way, or only the way SJ wants you to do it, then that is somewhat of a fair analogy as he wants you to have a good experience. If MS took some of the same tactics, I wouldn't have a $199 paper weight sitting on my desk that I have to dual boot to XP to get working. SJ is thinking about interoperability and by keeping the system closed you get a working system that , well, just works! Someone else said "30 drivers," and if you restate that, you are surely not one that has used a Mac as they have drivers in there for things that I have never even heard of, let alone would use, but apparently someone does use it as they have them.

[briangw]

My bad...Double post :(

[briangw]

Pft... Ignored.

Have you ever used a Mac.... No? Didn't think so. If you've ever used one, you'd understand.

I owned a G3 Powerbook, but I will never go back. Being a gamer, it doesn't make sense for me to convert when the Mac doesn't have 90 percent of what I'm playing now (mostly strategy games).

[GuJu]

i want to switch but im only 16 and I have more uses for Windows because more compatibility with the programs i Use.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

I'm happy that Apple is selling more as I love competition :D

For me, the mac just isn't my type of machine... It lingers between the one button mouse to the insane price markups on the hardware...

Yes I know you can hook up a 2 button mouse and it will work, but I'm thinking about a laptop where I don't have a table for an external mouse on the train ;)

[spenser.d]

Pft... Ignored.

Have you ever used a Mac.... No? Didn't think so. If you've ever used one, you'd understand.

I've used Mac's quite a lot and prefer Windows over it, easily. You know what they say about making assumptions...

-Spenser

[andrew_f]

I'm thinking about a laptop where I don't have a table for an external mouse on the train ;)

In which case (atleast on the MacBook Pro's) you tap the pad with two fingers - feels a bit wierd at first but eventually you do it naturally and it feels comfortable.

On the point of the high prices - let's look at the following spec laptop (if any differences then listed in brackets)

2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

1GB memory

80GB hard drive

Apple: ?699.00Samsung: (Has 20GB more HDD)> ?829.9HP:b> ?1004.36

Although you probably can get a better deal that was a quick search and I think the Apple prices are very good from that.

(Note: I am currently using a MBP but am not a fanboy!)

[Cormier6083]

I've used Mac's quite a lot and prefer Windows over it, easily. You know what they say about making assumptions...

Never mind. His horrible capitalization aggravated me so I came up with something quick witted.

I personally hate Windows. Plus, all of the things I need to do seem to work like a dream on a Mac. Just my input.

Edited October 23, 2007 by Cormier6083

[HeadHunter 5]

I did a little bit of research on Macintosh... and it's not that good. http://www.the4cs.com/~cathy/Apples/variety.html It didn't rate excellent on any one of the criteria.

I tried to do research on Windows, and didn't come up with any coherent information.

Maybe that's because there are a lot of Windows, and not a lot of Apples?

[Cormier6083]

You are not funny.

[Malbojia]

No no I'll agree with HeadHunter 5. Then again what am I saying. I got the os running on a AMD chip. Added a 7600GT to get nice full CI/QE support.

Next step duplicate the hardware and kext files for a perfect match. Mauahaha

[+LogicalApex MVC]

In which case (atleast on the MacBook Pro's) you tap the pad with two fingers - feels a bit wierd at first but eventually you do it naturally and it feels comfortable.

On the point of the high prices - let's look at the following spec laptop (if any differences then listed in brackets)

2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

1GB memory

80GB hard drive

Apple: ?699.00Samsung: (Has 20GB more HDD)> ?829.9HP:b> ?1004.36

Although you probably can get a better deal that was a quick search and I think the Apple prices are very good from that.

(Note: I am currently using a MBP but am not a fanboy!)

I'd rather actually have a button myself since tapping on a touch pad is the first thing I disable. I've never liked it since owning my first laptop in 1998 and I'm still as ****ed off about it in 2007...

I don't know how prices are in the UK so I'm not saying your wrong, but here in the US the spread is a lot worse...

I recently purchased a Dell i1520 and the only thing comparable offered by Apple cost over $2400 and my machine was only $1400. A $1K price spread is quite a lot imho...

I can post my specs if desired, but I'm not trying to go too far with my criticism as most of my complaints are unique to me. Whatever works out best for you is what you should use, for su;) ;)

[spy beef]

Vista for life! :p

I hate the g4 10.4.10 emacs my school uses. They're slow, and there's not a lot of programs for them. My school just bought 32 new PC's for drafting because of the limited software available.

[Matt T]

Jesus, why does this debate still continue?

If you like OS X, use OS X. If you like Windows, use Windows.

Who gives a ****about what other people use/think?

Edited October 24, 2007 by bmaher
swear filter evasion

[whocares78]

A year or so I was the only one with a Mac. With my brother getting one today, and most of my friends having purchased one recently most everyone I know has an Apple Computer now. Its funny how quickly things have changed, and I love the fact that I don't have to remove spy-ware on a monthly basis from peoples PC any-longer.

you may want to find a dictinary and look up the term 'everyone' i think you are justslightly off, i for one have never contemplated it, well thats a lie, i did think for a few seconds, it would be nice to get one just to stick windwos on it, but thenn realised my PC was better speced than any mac :)

not much has chnaged except some of your friends bought apples. there market share is still pretty much the same

[MasterC]

Jesus, why does this debate still continue?

If you like OS X, use OS X. If you like Windows, use Windows.

Who gives a s**t about what other people use/think?

I agree. It's up to you to choose what OS you run. I'm tired of all the Windows and Mac fanboys running around trying to put each other down. People just need to realize that there are both ups and downs of each OS.

[whocares78]

In which case (atleast on the MacBook Pro's) you tap the pad with two fingers - feels a bit wierd at first but eventually you do it naturally and it feels comfortable.

On the point of the high prices - let's look at the following spec laptop (if any differences then listed in brackets)

2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

1GB memory

80GB hard drive

Apple: ?699.00Samsung: (Has 20GB more HDD)> ?829.9HP:b> ?1004.36

Although you probably can get a better deal that was a quick search and I think the Apple prices are very good from that.

(Note: I am currently using a MBP but am not a fanboy!)

the comparisons have been done many times and apple never wins, i can find websites with overpriced laptops too. but then again, if i go somehwer like dell http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/f...p;s=dhs#connect , it seems quite a few laptops beat it hands down in both price and spec than the mac http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/.../family/macbook.

[whocares78]

I've been a professional in the IT business for a little more then a decade now. Back then Macs were these dull boxes with an OS that reminded me of the old atari days (i did miss a buzzing bee if i clicked on something though) but still it had a small bunch of people stating it was the best thing since man invented warm water.

In the beginning of those years the Mac started to stumble and almost fell until Stevie came along and started to tickle everybodies "i-want-gadget-button" with strong marketing campaigns. The Mac became stylish, trying to sell on looks. It performed pretty slow although ads proved otherwise. Then they secretly used the RDF they created to switch to a linux-kind of environment... placed a nice shell on that, pushed big dollars in marketing campaigns stating they reinvented the warm water.

A little later they take standard PC hardware, stuff it in a brushed aluminum, or shiny white plastic cover, put out all the bells and wistles that they again reinvented a new version of warm water.

After all these years the only things i've seen them do is create a user shell, some simple apps (easy to use ofcourse) you can find on snapfiles, and a nice box to hold standard PC hardware made by poor chinese children.

you make some very good points

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I have a question. Would you recommend a Mini to a friend? I'm thinking of getting one, but I need a good monitor.

Depends what you want out of a computer really. Foremost forget about gaming as the GMA950 just is not going to make it happen. Otherwise it does everything else great. I've dual booted a mini with the same spec in the past with Windows Vista and it ran all the Aero effects great.. tasks wise its plenty fast enough, its whisper quiet, and it is very very unobtrusive on your desk. Takes a DVI monitor hook up but comes with a DVI-VGA convertor in case you don't have DVI. I'm powering an LG 20" TFT from it and the only time it stutters is scrolling down pages of full screen windows.. otherwise moving stuff round on the screen, video playback, and OSX 'effects' like genie and coverflow etc all seem to work great. Built in WiFi and Bluetooth is a big bonus too.

Only downer is the poor capacity (and speed) internal drive but I already picked up a 320GB Seagate Freeagent to supplement that. Planning to upgrade to a faster internal drive in the new year.

If you just do web surfing, occasional use of heavy apps, and that sort of stuff it'll do you fine. If you want to do professional grade design work or something like that look else where!

[RAID 0]

If I made more money.. I'd buy a mac just to quad boot OS X, VISTA, XP and Ubuntu. I love OS X. I just don't like the hardware lock-in that comes when you buy a Mac. That said, if OS X was released for a PC... I'd buy it in a heartbeat.... and quad boot a PC! :-)

Maybe next year I'll break down and buy one, who knows? I do think the whole OS war is ghey... just like Ford vs. Chevy, Repubs vs. Dems... etc. I could care less what car you drive.. why do people care so much about what computer you use? I envision (in the distant future) a OS that works with EVRYTHING, from your car, to you house.... down to your mobile communications device. It's just a matter of time before everything is "Universal".

[whocares78]

If I made more money.. I'd buy a mac just to quad boot OS X, VISTA, XP and Ubuntu. I love OS X. I just don't like the hardware lock-in that comes when you buy a Mac. That said, if OS X was released for a PC... I'd buy it in a heartbeat.... and quad boot a PC! :-)

Maybe next year I'll break down and buy one, who knows? I do think the whole OS war is ghey... just like Ford vs. Chevy, Repubs vs. Dems... etc. I could care less what car you drive.. why do people care so much about what computer you use? I envision (in the distant future) a OS that works with EVRYTHING, from your car, to you house.... down to your mobile communications device. It's just a matter of time before everything is "Universal".

you can run OSX on virtual machine :), using vmware, havent actually done it yet but i am planning to at some point.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Don't be in a hurry. It isn't exactly the fastest thing!

[kazuyette]

With Bootcamp and a copy of Vista or XP maybe?

I forgot bootcamp , thanks for reminding me mate. But it's a no brainer for me i'm staying with mai PC (at least i can do whatever the heck I want with it).

[Sjokkel]

interesting point youre making.

unfortunately you dont seem to be that informed, although you worked in the it business as a professional for more than a decade now.

its not about the looks alone.

its about the, in the eyes of many people, also professionals, best OS out there plus the perfect interaction of fitting hardware in a very good designed case, while the last point is a matter of taste of course.

did you ever really try out mac os, while i must say mac osx, mac os9 cant be compared really? i guess you did.

what did you experience? a slowish, bloated, uneconomic operating system?

i would like to know which version you tried.

or you didnt try any. if thats the case you should stay out of this topic.

but then again that was just your 2 cents and thats of course absolutely okay and i appreciate that. =)

The thing is that i don't need to be informed, i try to find out my own things and try to judge them as realistic as possible. I worked on Mac OS 9 and OSX and i have to agree with you that OSX was a huge step forward, but if you look underneath it's shell it is just another UNIX based OS but this time with a closed and efficient user shell to get even the most inexperienced users to be able to work with it. Apple made a nice distro for the not so technical people and i have to give them credit for working out a nice shell.

The simplicity is the strong point of Apple, but also it's weak point. It's a good, maybe great system to use in a simple home environment, in a photography store or on an artists desk, and i'm not stating these are not professionals since i had my part as a professional photographer aswell...

I guess this is where i missed the point of discussion. You guys are talking about simple standalone consumer systems. For me a workstation is just a little part of a much bigger environment and in that department Mac doesn't have any efficient or simple solution. Sure it can ponyback on the functionality of other systems and plug in to a network, but it won't be a manageable situation.

This is where the big difference is between an OSX or a windows Xp-Vista OS. OSX is a nice standalone OS whereas XP-Vista are OS's made to blend in to a much bigger working environment and in that department it's Microsoft that holds the functionality/simplicity/efficiency crown.

But like you said, it's just my 2 cents and I only tried to keep my 2 feet on the ground and give a realistic transparent opinion.

On the other hand i just put my toe in the pool of neverending discussion, Xbox/playstation, Ipod/whateverpod, Vista/OSX ... i'm going to pull it out before i get cold feet.

[instant.human]

now is see your point and i must agree to some points you made.

to use windows right you need to be experienced. you can definately get around virusses and malware and adware and whasoever if you use windows the right way. and thats what the majority cannot do. they just use it. no firewall, no paying attention, setting up an administraitor account without actually knowing what it is and all these things.

sometimes it can be hard to manage windows but then again very easy if you know where everythings stored. and because you can access everything without a big hassle, its good for powerusers that really get into the system.

then again you can do that with macs too. just open terminal and use commandline.

but thats something only the very experienced can do.

mac is easy to use, imho thats one if the advantages it has. you dont have to worry. mostly because there is hardly any virus because of the market share, that was pointed out many times.

things are where you expect them to be as an unexperienced user and as a user that somehow knows what to do its even better.

tbh since im back on mac i tried to find some things that i didnt find because i was used to the windows-way of working and lets face it, they are different as hell.

the unix kernel does a great job when it comes to multitasking and memory-management and that may be one thing that photographers, movie editors or whatever appreciate, while noone says you cant do the same tasks on windows too.

the problem is, with this discussion were running in circles. everytime its being started again. over and over and noone will be converted or say "okay, you are right, i was wrong" because noone is right.

its a decision of taste, of feeling and maybe of whatever i dont know.

---

i just figured its like with a car.

you are up to buy a car and want to show it to your friend but you just cant seem to see it drive by. its just not there.

as soon as you sit in your brand new automobile theres the same one coming from every corner.

;)