Gedi

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34554.html

As a windows hater, this is a nice article.
Anyone looking at jumping to Mac or Linux should read this and then smile knowing your are making the right choice

[Edited by Gedi - 12/17/2003 8:38:44 AM]

andrewdelvard

Yeah my partner Rachel has been raving about the esthetic qualities of the mac but my very deep and personal concern is...

Games.

How many and what quality of games are available for the mac?

angrynorth

Finally a balanced reply to that Mr Ulanoff, what a **** he is!

Games? Mac? Not much Thhough Halo is avilable now. Get an Xbox instead

GaryK

andrew,

As a mac newbie (1 week now!) Ive just ordered Warcraft 3 which I love on PC and Desert Seige, theres more top titles than you realise.

Must admit Ive been struggling to alter my mindset. Take last night installed a couple of apps and I wanted to get rid of one. No uninstaller couldnt find one, read the help couldnt find anything, went on the web did a search through the newsgroups.

Simple just drag the application files to the trash! what! its that simple, no files sitting in 101 different directories with DLLs overwriting (perhaps) newer versions. Very impressed so far.

Gary

AllanB

I can honestly say I've been running OSX for over 2 years with not a single problem. No apps crashing , no locking up etc. This is something I can only dream of when I used Windows XP via terminal server. Indeed I've been running Virtual PC on by PowerBook G4 and it made me realise who lame Windows is in comparison, so unstable.

Yes Mac are not great for games but the choice is bigger than you think. The games market is quite small so most big places like MacWarehouse do not promote them at all . Have a look at soeone like MacGold or the Softline website to see whats available. The games that do get ported are generally very good.

I'd still stick with a PS2 or Xbox for games myself.

I'm from a Windows background originally but since learning about Macs have moved over and am yet to see anything like a convincing reason to move back to Windows. Mac suit me fine as I'd rather spend time doing work and get it done quickly with minimal fuss.

OSX is certianly a huge step forward in personal computing and Apple are to be commended in thier efforts. The level of innovation they display in things like OSX, iPod, iTunes, AirPort, iMovie, Firewire the adoption of USB, ADC etc just shows how they are pushing the boundaries forward which benefits us all regardless of the platform.

Oh and when you watch Lord of The Rings remember the CGI was done on a Mac using Shake which is another Apple application which broke the price point for professional CGI at around £3K.

AllanB

angrynorth

Well said Allan

Gary, a good point to remember when using a Mac and you can't figure out what to do, is to just do what makes most sense. If you want to move something just pick it up and move it, if you want something to go away just trash it. 99% of the time your guess will be right as OS X is very intuitive.

GaryK

an,

thanks, will do, Ive had 20 years battling with MSDOS/3.1/95/2K so got some 'un-learning' to do!

while ive got your attention () whats the deal on os x with upgrades? Im running Jaguar and want to upgrade to Panther I guess it just installs over the top? Again in the M$ world this is something I have *never* done because I know there would be too much $hite from the old OS install.

cheers

Gary

angrynorth

When you upgrade you have a couple of options put infront of you.

You can clean install (obviously lose all your data)

You can install keeping your data in an archive file/drive. But this drive is not bootable and the data there is for recovery only, it won't appear in your finder.

Or you can install over the top of Jaguar, this keeps all of your current settings and data, even your dock preferences and is seamless. However I've been told that this one does present the slight chance of a problem. Saying that, its the option I went for and everything was absolutley perfect.

Install takes about 30 mins and most of it you can just leave going without having to sit clicking things

Panther is truly jaw dropping.

[Edited by angrynorth - 12/17/2003 11:13:49 AM]

Daz34

Are those Betamax VCRs of yours still running ok?

angrynorth

Har de har
Are your PC's still running, or are they still busy passing on virus' to friends, family and people you dont even know?

Andrewza

Windows XP crashing? Really? I've never had my home or work XP pcs crash, my work one has been on over a month, windows XP IS stable, x86 hardware is the problem.

Macs are all one source of hardware and hence heavily tested for compatibility and always work, unfortunately x86s aren't as much, least for your average home desktop.

I don't hate Macs, OSX is nice, but any prior to it was shocking, our designer has always used Macs and before OSX his machine was terrible. Since getting his new OSX it's been rock solid, but then it is based on FreeBSD, which is an OS I'm a big fan of and really is rock solid. e.g.

FreeBSD saruman.itv-f1.com 4.8
xxxxxx@saruman:~$ uptime
4:21PM up 223 days, 5:19, 1 user, load averages: 0.11, 0.13, 0.14

and only 223 as that's as long as I've had the machines

If you want to play games get a console or run windows, there are Mac games, but they are few and far between.

If someones new to getting a 'PC' and they're new to using them and they don't want to play games I would probably say going with a Mac is a good idea. If they've used x86's a lot there's a certain amount of unlearning to do, depending on their level of knowledge.

All Macs need is a proper 64-bit OS to go with their 64-bit CPU and they'll be sorted, rather than the current kludge.

As for viruses, viruses are for PC because more people use them, simple. What's the point of a virus that can't infect the greater majority of machines out there? If Macs were the most used home platform, I ignore corporates since they should have paid admins who's job it is to secure their machines, then they would suffer the same problems. Most recent viruses rely on user stupidity, rather than OS vulnerability

OSX does have something over windows in regards security, which is Darwin, the open source base OS than OSX is based from, which means more people looking over the code so more potential problems are spotted before they become a real problem.

I really don't get OS haters, I use Windows XP, FreeBSD, Linux and OSX on a regular basis and don't have a problem with any of them.

Innovation?

iPod? Something creative were making years before the iPod.
iTunes? It's a nice idea, but it doesn't actually make any money and isn't exactly a Mac thing, it's an application.
Airport? Or just another thing Apple renamed i.e. wireless lan
iMovie? A basic movie making app, innovation, where?
Firewire? Macs were probably first with it, primarily because they don't fight in such a narrow price band as PCs.
USB? Err, I would hardly call that a Mac innovation, it's used everywhere, it's just something Apple adopted.
ADC? Because so few people develop for Macs

Apple have done well to take lots of good things and put them in their package.

I love Macs, I hate PCs, where's the next bandwagon I can jump on?

Gedi

Many people who say they hate windows are jumping on the band wagon to sound cool. I personally don't hate the OS so much, its actually Micro$oft I hate. I don't like monopolys, I don't like seeing people ripped off, and I don't like sh1te coding.

Redmond has actually admitted in a leaked mail that if anyone was to ever get hold of the Windows source the world would be in deep trouble. The entire thing is riddled with holes that are obscured by the fact that we only have binaries.

As a security professional I pity windows only corporations who have the job of securing their networks. I mean even Micro$oft uses Linux for their web based servers as their own are not secure or stable enough........great advertising....hehe

As for the viri, I quote this paragraph

angrynorth

Did anybody mention anything about XP crashing all the time? Not me?

Anyway, although you do say you love Macs and I have to agree with what you have said about other OS's its important that the following is corrected:

iPod? Something creative were making years before the iPod. True but they were not pretty and were chunky, ugly and awkward to use. unlike the pod

iTunes? It's a nice idea, but it doesn't actually make any money and isn't exactly a Mac thing, it's an application.Apple makes 30c to the dollar on each tune sold. If it isn't exactly a Mac thing and its an application, wouldn't that put it in the same light as OSX?

Airport? Or just another thing Apple renamed i.e. wireless lanApple were the first to bring Wireless networking to home users

iMovie? A basic movie making app, innovation, where?Again, brought to the masses. Put iMovie in front of your Mum and tell her to edit something and she will figure it out, but give her After Effects or such like...

Firewire? Macs were probably first with it, primarily because they don't fight in such a narrow price band as PCs. Cost is no excuse for not keeping up in this market

USB? Err, I would hardly call that a Mac innovation, it's used everywhere, it's just something Apple adopted. been knocking around on Macs for at least 5 years, find a 3 year old PC that came with USB as standard

I'm not having a dig here, merely pointing out why Apple has been put in the innovation bracket thanks to those products. Innovation isn't always about the idea itself, it could be the way that idea is put together and how usable that would be. I suppose you they also get their innovation tag from things like the Cube and the iMacs more than anything though.

angrynorth

I was looking for that quote Gedi Beat me to it

Markus

Games - well, to be honest, if you want games, don't get a mac, simple as that.

And before "mac zealots" have a go... well, I am a mac zealot, been using them for 12 years and love them. I'm not one of those people who looks down their nose at PC's, hell, I had a PC at home, plus I build and maintain servers as part of my job.

The fact is that the mac is a great bit of kit, but due to Apple being the sole manufacturer of the hardware, it does limit things, so you can't exactly build a kick *** mac, as you would a pc, plus you can't really run windows on them, well, ok, VPC, but it won't really cut it for games.

Gedi

But thats the entire point, why would you want to out windows on it?

Its difficult to argue all the reasons to non computer scientists. Just trust us, Windows is an operating system which built very badly and in order for it to ever be secure and stable, the entire thing needs to be built again from scratch.

I'm not saying its crap......its great for what it is meant for. Its userfriendly, straightforward generally self maintaining, everything unix like systems are not......however, macs have all these qualities with the added bonus of secure and stable coding.

I'm not biased as i'm primeraly a unix hacker and very rarely have much dealings with macs, but I do know the facts.

As for games...........get a playstation

AllanB

Good post so far.

ADC what agreat idea, 1 cable for everything to your monitor Power, digital signal, USB. Why have 3 cables ?

Basically Apple bring new technology to the masses or certianly make it popular.

The iPod and iTune make Apple a stack of cash. Industry anylisyts reckons the iTunes music store will be the biggest online music store very shortly. Aple are also looking to aquire music companies at presnet and I beleive they have just concluded a deal with a very large music company. They make money from this alright.

When was the last time someone came up to a PC user and said their new laptop was cool ? What was the last new thing to come to a PC that Apple did not already have that was actually good ?

Macs give you innovation, easy of use, leading edge idustrial design but yes you do pay for it but then you normally do for quality, style and reliability.

I must admit to dislik,ng Windows, it used ot be hatred but it has improved. I Maybe I've just been unlucky in my 15 years in IT and worked on all the bad versions of Windows.


AllanB

GaryK

I think the thing is most people would say Win32 platforms are stable because of what they use them for. If all your ever going to do is surf the net, read emails and do some word processing then you its not surprising your going to say the platform is stable.

If you want a solid platform for software development then thats entirely different, Win 9x forget it, NT4 got better and was touted as crash proof not so, again Win2k great platform but it has blue screened on me a couple of times, WinXP managed to bring it to its knees with a multi-threaded app but not crash it. The inherent weakness in the OS is the link between the shell and third party apps which can alter these files (comctl32.dll is one that springs to mind) and I dont see it changing, theres too much legacy code carried forward each time. As for OS X well havent done anything on it yet so cant comment!

Gary

Gedi

Excellent post.

I agree, people who have never crashed 2K or XP only use them as general toys for surfing, playing games etc....

....however, if thats all they are gonna use a computer for, then who are we to grumble.

Servers, develpoment machines, backbones etc that need to remain up for moths / years need something superior.

Windows is just too unstable and insecure for most of my stuff. Its my job, career and hobby......**** it, my life pretty much revolves around them, but for all the regular people out there who realise that there is more to life than computers are just fine sticking with windows........

.......until M$ collapses and they are forced to take a better route....muawahahahaha

angrynorth