A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective
Anand Lal Shimpi of Anand Tech spent a month with a Dual 2Ghz CPU MAC G5. Ever wondered what is was like on "The Dark Side of the Force"? Well here is your window into the world of MAC:
A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective
Richard
P.S. That should give the PPRuNe Militant MACers something to think about.
A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective
Richard
P.S. That should give the PPRuNe Militant MACers something to think about.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: n/a
Posts: 1,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
interesting article. Gotta agree with most things he says.
I do think Mac is easier for non computer people to pick up and use. Perhaps an article taking 2 computer novices and comparing how they do in a month on a PC and a Mac might be interesting.
Overall I think we Mac types come out of it quite well
I do think Mac is easier for non computer people to pick up and use. Perhaps an article taking 2 computer novices and comparing how they do in a month on a PC and a Mac might be interesting.
Overall I think we Mac types come out of it quite well
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: CYYC
Posts: 410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That should give the PPRuNe Militant MACers something to think about.
goates
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
goates,
But one very old Stereotype did not go away. On the contrary, it was very much reinforced. There is very little value for the money. $3k with a Radeon 9600 in it and slow RAM.
Just imagine what kind of Dream Machine you could build for $3k. (And that did not even include Monitors either.)
Take Care,
Richard
But one very old Stereotype did not go away. On the contrary, it was very much reinforced. There is very little value for the money. $3k with a Radeon 9600 in it and slow RAM.
Just imagine what kind of Dream Machine you could build for $3k. (And that did not even include Monitors either.)
Take Care,
Richard
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: CYYC
Posts: 410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Richard,
It all depends on what your values are.
At home I like to tinker with my computer and play the latest and greatest games, so I built myself a PC with Windows XP Pro. Sometimes it also has Linux on it. It was also in my price range.
Although lately a Mac and an XBox have seemed pretty attractive.
On the other hand, for work I would much rather be using a Mac if possible than Windows. I can't think of a way to accurately describe it on a web forum, but the Mac tends to keep out of the way better. Windows loves to let me know that it is there. Linux is even worse and practically uses a 2x4. Meanwhile the Mac just seems to disappear into the background.
Yes Macs are expensive, but so are Porsches and Bombardier Global Expresses. For the home user who drives a Civic and flies Southwest, a Mac is expensive. On the other hand, graphics pros who depend on the computer for their jobs, the Mac could quite possibly be a better value (look at the $10,000+ Sun workstations some used to use).
When I have the money, I know I will have a Mac sitting next to my Windows box. Choice and competition are good for us all.
goates
It all depends on what your values are.
At home I like to tinker with my computer and play the latest and greatest games, so I built myself a PC with Windows XP Pro. Sometimes it also has Linux on it. It was also in my price range.
Although lately a Mac and an XBox have seemed pretty attractive.
On the other hand, for work I would much rather be using a Mac if possible than Windows. I can't think of a way to accurately describe it on a web forum, but the Mac tends to keep out of the way better. Windows loves to let me know that it is there. Linux is even worse and practically uses a 2x4. Meanwhile the Mac just seems to disappear into the background.
Yes Macs are expensive, but so are Porsches and Bombardier Global Expresses. For the home user who drives a Civic and flies Southwest, a Mac is expensive. On the other hand, graphics pros who depend on the computer for their jobs, the Mac could quite possibly be a better value (look at the $10,000+ Sun workstations some used to use).
When I have the money, I know I will have a Mac sitting next to my Windows box. Choice and competition are good for us all.
goates
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
goates,
But with MAC they stifle the very competition you are talking about.
Then there was:
Take Care,
Richard
When I have the money, I know I will have a Mac sitting next to my Windows box. Choice and competition are good for us all.
The first thing I quickly realized was that justifying Apple's pricing wasn't something to do - just bite the bullet and try the experiment. It's all about supply and demand, Apple has around 2% of the computing market. Compare that to the rest of the pie that x86 makers get to share and you can quickly see why the economies of scale don't play in Apple's favor. If you look at the brief spec list above, however, you'll see that the memory, hard drive and video card are fairly mass produced components, but then you have to take into account that the chassis, processors, motherboard, power supplies and basically every other component in the system are not. Then, keep in mind that the video card has to be specially made for Apple and the memory is also the slowest DDR400 that you can find on the market today, so even the mass produced components aren't all that mass produced. The system is expensive; you can get much more PC for the same price, but the point of this experiment wasn't to discover what we already knew.
As I mentioned before, the 2GHz G5 processors that were in the system didn't "feel" slow, but they definitely didn't feel like the fastest things out there. The system itself could use a little kick in the pants. I'm hoping that the new 2.5GHz system will alleviate some of that feeling, but at another $3000, it's difficult to justify the upgrade.
Richard
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: CYYC
Posts: 410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
But with MAC they stifle the very competition you are talking about.
It's not like Mr. Gates is any better. He wants everything to run using his products and will do everything he can to lock everyone in.
Look at what has happened with Internet Explorer. Microsoft disbanded the development team a couple of years ago and only fixed security holes when they came up. Nothing new was added or developed until very recently. And that was only to add a pop-up blocker and more control over ActiveX controls. Now that FireFox is gaining ground, they are planning on bringing the team back together.
It's all about what you find easier and what you value. In other words personal preference. If the Mac doesn't do what you want, why does it matter of others do find it a better solution?
goates
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
goates,
I find MAC to be far worse than M$ since there is more options out there for PCs than MACs.
But 2% of the people out there like their MACs so more power to them.
Take Care,
Richard
I find MAC to be far worse than M$ since there is more options out there for PCs than MACs.
But 2% of the people out there like their MACs so more power to them.
Take Care,
Richard
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Chichester, UK
Posts: 1,650
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
On paper, the Mac isn't such a good deal, although it's more accurate to say that the PC offers stunning value for money at the moment - even in expensive Britain £340 all-in will buy you a brand new PC that IMHO is suitable for everything the average user will want to do. The cheapest Mac I can find costs £200 more, has the same disk and memory but is slower (whatever you make of the G4 vs. x86 argument, i'm betting a 2400+ Athlon is going to be faster than a 1GHz G4).
At the high end, the difference looks even bigger. £1200 buys you a 1.6GHz G5, 256Mb DDR RAM, 80Gb Hard Drive and an old 64Mb Geforce FX5200 Graphics card. No monitor, that's extra. The PC you could build for the same money will totally destroy the Mac in every area. As we're talking no-monitor, I'd guess that the £500 PC that I was looking at here the other day (3GHz Athlon with a gig of memory and a 9800 Pro) would still beat a Mac more than twice the price. On paper, it seems a no-brainer for the power user.
However, very few users are real 'power users' any more. Most people just want email, internet, word processing and the ability to plug in a digital camera and mp3 player, so I recommend a basic Mac to probably 80-90% of the friends, family etc. who ask for advice on buying a computer. It's always been the right choice. At the risk of being slightly tongue-in-cheek, anybody who has worked in IT knows that support costs more than hardware, and Apple have got ease of use down perfectly - it's amazing how many non-technical people can sit down with a Mac and do what they want to do, when they're baffled by Windows XP. And if they can do it themselves, I don't have to help
I only ever recommend a PC to the 10-20% who have a real need for more power than a bottom of the range Mac provides, and that's normally just the games players.
As for work, goates wrote
It's interesting how we get used to things, because I have exactly the opposite view. My very non-technical wife has an iMac (see, I follow my own advice 
) and, while i'll occasionally use it for the camera or to surf, I couldn't do work with it (although it helps that i've finally found a Unix console hidden in there!). I use Linux, for exactly the same reasons that goates uses a Mac - I can get it to do what I need instantly, and the rest of the time it's hidden behind the scenes. But then again, I still like emacs, and think that C-x C-s C-x C-c is a sensible way to save my work and exit, so maybe it's just old habits. Emacs is for people who don't know how to :q! 
As an aside, AAPL seems to be trading on a P/E of 70, good old .com boom values. I guess that's the iPod effect, but with the competition catching up fast and lack of anything too exciting at the top end of their core business, I'm not sure where they're going but down
At the high end, the difference looks even bigger. £1200 buys you a 1.6GHz G5, 256Mb DDR RAM, 80Gb Hard Drive and an old 64Mb Geforce FX5200 Graphics card. No monitor, that's extra. The PC you could build for the same money will totally destroy the Mac in every area. As we're talking no-monitor, I'd guess that the £500 PC that I was looking at here the other day (3GHz Athlon with a gig of memory and a 9800 Pro) would still beat a Mac more than twice the price. On paper, it seems a no-brainer for the power user.
However, very few users are real 'power users' any more. Most people just want email, internet, word processing and the ability to plug in a digital camera and mp3 player, so I recommend a basic Mac to probably 80-90% of the friends, family etc. who ask for advice on buying a computer. It's always been the right choice. At the risk of being slightly tongue-in-cheek, anybody who has worked in IT knows that support costs more than hardware, and Apple have got ease of use down perfectly - it's amazing how many non-technical people can sit down with a Mac and do what they want to do, when they're baffled by Windows XP. And if they can do it themselves, I don't have to help
I only ever recommend a PC to the 10-20% who have a real need for more power than a bottom of the range Mac provides, and that's normally just the games players.
As for work, goates wrote
On the other hand, for work I would much rather be using a Mac if possible than Windows. I can't think of a way to accurately describe it on a web forum, but the Mac tends to keep out of the way better. Windows loves to let me know that it is there. Linux is even worse and practically uses a 2x4. Meanwhile the Mac just seems to disappear into the background.
) and, while i'll occasionally use it for the camera or to surf, I couldn't do work with it (although it helps that i've finally found a Unix console hidden in there!). I use Linux, for exactly the same reasons that goates uses a Mac - I can get it to do what I need instantly, and the rest of the time it's hidden behind the scenes. But then again, I still like emacs, and think that C-x C-s C-x C-c is a sensible way to save my work and exit, so maybe it's just old habits. Emacs is for people who don't know how to :q! As an aside, AAPL seems to be trading on a P/E of 70, good old .com boom values. I guess that's the iPod effect, but with the competition catching up fast and lack of anything too exciting at the top end of their core business, I'm not sure where they're going but down
Join Date: Jan 1997
Location: UK
Posts: 7,737
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Richard - each to their own.
We know exactly, I mean exactly how many mac users are on PPRuNe each moment of every day. This forum is (mute) testament to how effective users find them.
Setting aside the powers tuners, speed demon aspect of this forum consider how many times you have ever seen a problem or query on any of the common day to day themes here?
There are a significant proportion of PPRuNers who get something very special from a mac - it works and they aren't troubled by anything on the stickies at the top of this forum - or within the rest of it.
This is very valuable to them and they respectfully ask you to stop publicising a system which remains free of the plagues the rest of you suffer.
Regards
Rob
We know exactly, I mean exactly how many mac users are on PPRuNe each moment of every day. This forum is (mute) testament to how effective users find them.
Setting aside the powers tuners, speed demon aspect of this forum consider how many times you have ever seen a problem or query on any of the common day to day themes here?
There are a significant proportion of PPRuNers who get something very special from a mac - it works and they aren't troubled by anything on the stickies at the top of this forum - or within the rest of it.
This is very valuable to them and they respectfully ask you to stop publicising a system which remains free of the plagues the rest of you suffer.
Regards
Rob
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rob,
I was wondering how long that article would take to flush you out.
I posted it because I had not see you around here in a while.
Take Care,
Richard
P.S. TCS, like I told you before, "Just like shooting fish in a barrel."
I was wondering how long that article would take to flush you out.
I posted it because I had not see you around here in a while.
Take Care,
Richard
P.S. TCS, like I told you before, "Just like shooting fish in a barrel."
Supercalifragilistic
expialidocious
expialidocious
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 588
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Can you really tell if it's a MAC?
>I mean exactly how many mac users are on PPRuNe
Can you tell even if the browser is set to report something other than the actual OS / Processor combination that is installed?
Can you tell even if the browser is set to report something other than the actual OS / Processor combination that is installed?
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 865
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Used to be an avid Mac'er myself, but converted to the 'dark side' of windoze due to costs.
Just interested,
Go on then, how many !
Just interested,
We know exactly, I mean exactly how many mac users are on PPRuNe each moment of every day.
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Memetic,
Most forums collect browser version information (and OS info) from each comp that access the forums. From there you can get all the stats you need.
Something like this:
Guest[1] 64.56.245.109 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:31 Main Page
Guest[2] 213.139.171.100 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; rv:1.7.3)... 09:31 Thread: K8N Neo Platinum - Same audio from all 5.1 speakers
Guest[3] 152.131.9.4 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:32 Forum: AMD64 nVidia Based board
Guest[4] 210.64.17.49 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:54 Thread: New Bios For MSI K8N Neo Platinum [ 1.55]
Guest[5] 200.47.7.197 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; rv:1.7.3)... 09:31 Thread: km4m v shutdown problums
Take Care,
Richard
P.S. Those are not from this forum so do not go looking for the threads.
Most forums collect browser version information (and OS info) from each comp that access the forums. From there you can get all the stats you need.
Something like this:
Guest[1] 64.56.245.109 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:31 Main Page
Guest[2] 213.139.171.100 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; rv:1.7.3)... 09:31 Thread: K8N Neo Platinum - Same audio from all 5.1 speakers
Guest[3] 152.131.9.4 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:32 Forum: AMD64 nVidia Based board
Guest[4] 210.64.17.49 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1;... 09:54 Thread: New Bios For MSI K8N Neo Platinum [ 1.55]
Guest[5] 200.47.7.197 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; rv:1.7.3)... 09:31 Thread: km4m v shutdown problums
Take Care,
Richard
P.S. Those are not from this forum so do not go looking for the threads.
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: CYYC
Posts: 410
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Evo,
You can get emacs for OS X, and many other Unix programs too. Check out the links below.
Emacs for OS X
Fink
When I was talking about getting more work done on a Mac, it was because for what I was doing it was faster. For other things, Windows or Linux may be better. Although with OS X being Unix based, it can usually do pretty much everything Linux/*BSD systems can.
What do think people are going to do? Let others continue to highlight nothing but the flaws in Macs and give those less knowledgeable a very one sided view? I would say the Mac users around here are very mature, compared to some of the more vocal zealots (of all types) elsewhere.
goates
You can get emacs for OS X, and many other Unix programs too. Check out the links below.
Emacs for OS X
Fink
When I was talking about getting more work done on a Mac, it was because for what I was doing it was faster. For other things, Windows or Linux may be better. Although with OS X being Unix based, it can usually do pretty much everything Linux/*BSD systems can.
TCS, like I told you before, "Just like shooting fish in a barrel."
goates
aka Capt PPRuNe
Join Date: May 1995
Location: UK
Posts: 4,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's a bit like the story in Animal Farm after Napoleon has taken over... you start to distort history so that the masses never quite remember what the actual events really were. In this case, I remember the early days of Macintosh when the Gates brigade poo pooed the windows interface. After each and every improvement to the Mac OS there has come one from the Gates stable, and quite and improvement it has been. What the flock tend to do though, is forget how crappy their OS was before the latest release and concentrate on how good the new one is when compared to the Mac.
Water off a ducks back though. Us Mac users know how good the system is and are quite happy with it. It obviously irritates some PC users that the probable ratio of satisfied users to confused/unhappy ones for the Mac far outshines the figures for Bill Gates brainwashed flock.
Don't even get into the argument when it comes to 'power users'. As was pointed out in the article, the worst bit of software for the Mac turned out to be none other than Bill Gates own software. Hmm... didn't seem to register with the reviewer that there were some other suites of software that were infinitesimally better than anything that could ever come out of the M$ stable.
For me the moral of the story was that the Mac OS was a bit better than the Windoze version and everything was quite good except for the M$ products that were available for it. In other words, if its Microsoft then it sucks.
I shall now sit back and wait for the sheep to start bleating the equivalent of "two feet bad, four feet good" which would probably sound something like "Mac bad, PC good".
Water off a ducks back though. Us Mac users know how good the system is and are quite happy with it. It obviously irritates some PC users that the probable ratio of satisfied users to confused/unhappy ones for the Mac far outshines the figures for Bill Gates brainwashed flock.
Don't even get into the argument when it comes to 'power users'. As was pointed out in the article, the worst bit of software for the Mac turned out to be none other than Bill Gates own software. Hmm... didn't seem to register with the reviewer that there were some other suites of software that were infinitesimally better than anything that could ever come out of the M$ stable.
For me the moral of the story was that the Mac OS was a bit better than the Windoze version and everything was quite good except for the M$ products that were available for it. In other words, if its Microsoft then it sucks.
I shall now sit back and wait for the sheep to start bleating the equivalent of "two feet bad, four feet good" which would probably sound something like "Mac bad, PC good".
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: n/a
Posts: 1,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just to pick up on the ease of use part, my parents are of that generation where a telephone without a wind up handle on the side is a mystery. 6 months ago I bought them an iMac and they are now able to video conference with their 9 month old grandaughter over iChat using iSight cameras.
I knew that it would be worth the 1200 quid I paid (including 2 cameras) just to get rid of all those panicked phonecalls "our PC's got another virus" but even I am stunned at how much they are able to do with the iMac in such a short period of time. The fact that they live 7 hours away from us and are able to get to see their grandaughter pretty much every day has just been fantastic.
Now Im sure it could all have been done with windows but there is no way it would have been as easy as it was on Apple.
In short , if you haven't a clue about computers and quite frankly dont want to have a clue about computers then these are definately the computers for you.
I knew that it would be worth the 1200 quid I paid (including 2 cameras) just to get rid of all those panicked phonecalls "our PC's got another virus" but even I am stunned at how much they are able to do with the iMac in such a short period of time. The fact that they live 7 hours away from us and are able to get to see their grandaughter pretty much every day has just been fantastic.
Now Im sure it could all have been done with windows but there is no way it would have been as easy as it was on Apple.
In short , if you haven't a clue about computers and quite frankly dont want to have a clue about computers then these are definately the computers for you.
Supercalifragilistic
expialidocious
expialidocious
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Essex, UK
Posts: 588
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Off topic. "can you really tell it's a Mac?"
Richard said:
Yep...but I asked...
For example if i'm using my Linux machine and have set Konquer to declare itself as a Mac running say safari when it issues a get request how would you ever know? - oops given it away now. (It's actually reporting what it really is to PPRune as PPRune works well with standartds based browsers.)
Most forums collect browser version information (and OS info) from each comp that access the forums. From there you can get all the stats you need.
Can you tell even if the browser is set to report something other than the actual OS / Processor combination that is installed?
(It's actually reporting what it really is to PPRune as PPRune works well with standartds based browsers.)
The Oracle
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
Posts: 2,902
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Memetic,
I have not tried to spoof a Browser before, I do not know.
Danny,
You should send Anand an email and offer him better options than the M$ garbage he was trying to evaluate on the MAC. Here is his email:
[email protected]
Take Care,
Richard
I have not tried to spoof a Browser before, I do not know.
Danny,
You should send Anand an email and offer him better options than the M$ garbage he was trying to evaluate on the MAC. Here is his email:
[email protected]
Take Care,
Richard
Dream Coder
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 286
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow, I spotted this article and just had to respond.
Having worked with Microsoft in the early years, and having some experience helping develop some of their core products (again in the early years, so as not to mislead), I have some heartfelt feelings about Mac and PC. (And about Microsoft, which may become evident.)
I’ve written a worldwide bestselling book on the subject of web design (8 years ago), still used as curriculum at several universities, helped develop several web, wireless, financial and software technologies over the past 13 years, and for all intents and purposes, should be a die-hard PC user. I have a lot to say about where this thread is going.
Let me first comment on the article at Anandtech.com:
First of all, after reading the article, its very clear that if the writer isn't making at least 90% of his income from inside Bill Gates cavity, he will be shortly.
This is a very biased and completely inaccurate post. In his first few paragraphs he states how wonderful XP is, and how great it is that it came along. Well, here's where I start to see red.
Hmmm, this could only be true if there isn't a single application running on it. Because as all of us people who use an 'app' stronger than outlook express will tell you, certain software, graphics drivers, audio drivers, codecs, DLL's, tray apps, even huge corporate anti-virus programs will make you have to reboot eventually, sometimes infrequent, sometimes often. Maybe not as often as Windows 95, but then no one should have to wade through life remembering that hell, but we still have to reboot a lot. (even if it is to install something as simple as a screensaver, Microsoft Products almost always require rebooting.)
Side-note: The words Stable, Reliable, Secure can NEVER EVER BE USED WITH A MICROSOFT PRODUCT!!!
Why do I have this view? Because as has been written times before from people much closer to the pearly white gates of redmond than me, Microsoft could patch and fix all of their bugs, security holes, and kernel issues in a 24-48 hour period.
Why would a company choose not to do this, if it was possible? Because of the one thing that motivates Microsoft and nothing else. Money.
You wouldn't need to purchase a new OS, download a new driver, use Automatic Updates for your software, buy a license to get the newest virus signatures, etc if they did fix those problems.
Bill Gates has never been a guy to invent something that you could use and walk away with. Every product he creates must become the technological equivalent of crack. If you buy a Microsoft product, you will become dependant on that company from that point forward.
Gates wants the whole world to have to pay a monthly fee to Microsoft. In fact, this has been and remains one of his earliest visions, and the way things are going, it won’t be too long until we all pay a weekly fee for the privilege of using his software. (he has stated several times that an OS should be an essential service like Gas, or Water, this is his vision.)
Microsoft has interests in every available field of security, from software and hardware firewalls, to anti-virus. And is one of the worlds largest spammers, thanks to that disclaimer you sign and agree to in Hotmail (a microsoft owned company, and the worlds largest database of email addresses) you can and will be spammed. (not just your hotmail address, but also your email address used to sign on to hotmail) As they announced, they have had several Hotmail database break-ins that surprisingly coincided with companies tracing their spam back to employees hotmail accounts. (how strange)
What many new users of computers don't realize, is that before microsoft, you only upgraded if you wanted NEW features, not because you wanted your APP/OS/Hardware to WORK.
What the article on Anandtech fails to explain to the reader, is that his use of the machine is innocuous. He wants to do what he does on the PC on a MAC. It’s not a gaming machine, it won’t emulate all the same software properly, and it doesn’t have the identical apps. It’s an unfair comparison. It’s like comparing a Porsche to a lawnmower, and expecting the Porsche to trim around the hedges. (although I’m sure it can do this, it won’t be pretty)
I could go into detail on why this article is so biased, and probably will later, but for now, its clear from even a cursory look, the article is tainted. (kind of like mine)
On to the discussion of Macs.
Mac users, and this comes from working with, watching and witnessing the quiet rebellion to Mac, of and by Mac and PC users, are extremely happy with their operating system, their hardware, software and lives, and are extremely proud to be Mac users, and will probably die Mac users. Which needs to be noted! As this cannot be said about almost all PC users. PC users don’t have this kind of loyalty, happiness, or lifestyle. PC users are always grumbling about something about their OS, drivers, software, etc.
(unless they lie and sing the praises of Microsoft because that’s the side their
bread is buttered on.)
Why use a Mac?
I do want to make it clear, that if you want to emulate PC apps, get into gaming, or want to do heavy (and I mean heavy) 3D graphic design with a Mac, your probably not thinking very clearly, at least for right now.
Mac's are not for gamers. Period. While there are some great games that work for Mac's, its a far too expensive machine to play games on. (and besides all the driver hell you might go through, like the Anandtech article talked about, just might happen.)
For people that game, buy an Xbox (I prefer the PS2, you usually don't have to pay for the live service, like you do with Xbox live. A useless reason to extort money from gamers) or a PC.
Mac's are perfect for anyone wanting to do real work. Web design, eCommerce development, wireless development, graphic design, animation, audio and production audio engineering, etc.
For people that do heavy 3D graphics design, buy an SGI if you don't already have one. (if your using your PC for lightwave and Alias, chances are its a pirated copy, and your only having fun with it. Or your trying to learn it. In any case, keep quiet.)
For people that Code heavily, it all depends on what OS you code for. For the most stable environment, develop for Unix (Linux), or Java.
For people wanting to browse, get email, chat online, do the occasional word processing, do a spreadsheet, do your taxes:
YOU CAN: Get a PC.
But be prepared as you should do the following if you buy or own a PC - Buy a router with a built-in firewall, buy a software firewall, download all of Microsofts latest patches (in safe mode with netoworking), and download every other developers patches to keep up with microsoft, make sure you constantly update all of your printer drivers/graphics driovers/audio drivers/mother board drivers/mouse drivers/keyboard drivers/monitor drivers/misc hardware drivers, and whatever else I've missed because you will surely come across a Microsoft patch that affects one or many of these things in a bad way, and download every newest virus signature along with your virus softwares engine updates since viruses come up every day (after all it’s a billion$+ industry), also don't forget to manage your start menu, and your startup processes so you don’t overload your memory and/or your system (you don’t want your system to become sluggish), and if you can, optimize your interface for your video card and memory (be careful as you may have to tweak things on a regular basis if you go from game to game), and of course reboot when you have any problems (although XP will do that for you.)
OR: Buy a Mac.
you can spend a little more and buy a MAC, and do very LITTLE, if any of the above. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar! Run away from them.
Remember, I'm a PC user, who has developed a ton of applications, from web server technologies, to financial software, wireless applications, and more. Unfortunately I have to work in the Microsoft environment. And I hate every stinking second of it.
I look forward to the day I can develop all that I want on a Mac. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm looking forward to that day. But if you don't need to be in the Microsoft arena, then get the hell out.
The difference between Mac and PC can be broken down to three things.
1. Price (PC is lower)
2. Apps (PC has more)
3. Pain and suffering. (PC is all about the pain)
The Pain you experience with a PC will far outweigh the savings you get over a Mac.
My advice, if you can find the Apps you want on a Mac, you can afford it and your not a gamer, then go for and stick with the Mac. You will never be sorry.
If you work on the PC like me, and because of the Apps, you don’t have a choice. Then please drop me a PM, and we can console each other.
Ridley
Having worked with Microsoft in the early years, and having some experience helping develop some of their core products (again in the early years, so as not to mislead), I have some heartfelt feelings about Mac and PC. (And about Microsoft, which may become evident.)
I’ve written a worldwide bestselling book on the subject of web design (8 years ago), still used as curriculum at several universities, helped develop several web, wireless, financial and software technologies over the past 13 years, and for all intents and purposes, should be a die-hard PC user. I have a lot to say about where this thread is going.
Let me first comment on the article at Anandtech.com:
First of all, after reading the article, its very clear that if the writer isn't making at least 90% of his income from inside Bill Gates cavity, he will be shortly.
This is a very biased and completely inaccurate post. In his first few paragraphs he states how wonderful XP is, and how great it is that it came along. Well, here's where I start to see red.
I found that Windows XP was just as stable as any other OS that I'd ever encountered. My personal machine would go months between reboots without a single problem.
Side-note: The words Stable, Reliable, Secure can NEVER EVER BE USED WITH A MICROSOFT PRODUCT!!!
Why do I have this view? Because as has been written times before from people much closer to the pearly white gates of redmond than me, Microsoft could patch and fix all of their bugs, security holes, and kernel issues in a 24-48 hour period.
Why would a company choose not to do this, if it was possible? Because of the one thing that motivates Microsoft and nothing else. Money.
You wouldn't need to purchase a new OS, download a new driver, use Automatic Updates for your software, buy a license to get the newest virus signatures, etc if they did fix those problems.
Bill Gates has never been a guy to invent something that you could use and walk away with. Every product he creates must become the technological equivalent of crack. If you buy a Microsoft product, you will become dependant on that company from that point forward.
Gates wants the whole world to have to pay a monthly fee to Microsoft. In fact, this has been and remains one of his earliest visions, and the way things are going, it won’t be too long until we all pay a weekly fee for the privilege of using his software. (he has stated several times that an OS should be an essential service like Gas, or Water, this is his vision.)
Microsoft has interests in every available field of security, from software and hardware firewalls, to anti-virus. And is one of the worlds largest spammers, thanks to that disclaimer you sign and agree to in Hotmail (a microsoft owned company, and the worlds largest database of email addresses) you can and will be spammed. (not just your hotmail address, but also your email address used to sign on to hotmail) As they announced, they have had several Hotmail database break-ins that surprisingly coincided with companies tracing their spam back to employees hotmail accounts. (how strange)
What many new users of computers don't realize, is that before microsoft, you only upgraded if you wanted NEW features, not because you wanted your APP/OS/Hardware to WORK.
What the article on Anandtech fails to explain to the reader, is that his use of the machine is innocuous. He wants to do what he does on the PC on a MAC. It’s not a gaming machine, it won’t emulate all the same software properly, and it doesn’t have the identical apps. It’s an unfair comparison. It’s like comparing a Porsche to a lawnmower, and expecting the Porsche to trim around the hedges. (although I’m sure it can do this, it won’t be pretty)
I could go into detail on why this article is so biased, and probably will later, but for now, its clear from even a cursory look, the article is tainted. (kind of like mine)
On to the discussion of Macs.
Mac users, and this comes from working with, watching and witnessing the quiet rebellion to Mac, of and by Mac and PC users, are extremely happy with their operating system, their hardware, software and lives, and are extremely proud to be Mac users, and will probably die Mac users. Which needs to be noted! As this cannot be said about almost all PC users. PC users don’t have this kind of loyalty, happiness, or lifestyle. PC users are always grumbling about something about their OS, drivers, software, etc.
(unless they lie and sing the praises of Microsoft because that’s the side their
bread is buttered on.)
Why use a Mac?
I do want to make it clear, that if you want to emulate PC apps, get into gaming, or want to do heavy (and I mean heavy) 3D graphic design with a Mac, your probably not thinking very clearly, at least for right now.
Mac's are not for gamers. Period. While there are some great games that work for Mac's, its a far too expensive machine to play games on. (and besides all the driver hell you might go through, like the Anandtech article talked about, just might happen.)
For people that game, buy an Xbox (I prefer the PS2, you usually don't have to pay for the live service, like you do with Xbox live. A useless reason to extort money from gamers) or a PC.
Mac's are perfect for anyone wanting to do real work. Web design, eCommerce development, wireless development, graphic design, animation, audio and production audio engineering, etc.
For people that do heavy 3D graphics design, buy an SGI if you don't already have one. (if your using your PC for lightwave and Alias, chances are its a pirated copy, and your only having fun with it. Or your trying to learn it. In any case, keep quiet.)
For people that Code heavily, it all depends on what OS you code for. For the most stable environment, develop for Unix (Linux), or Java.
For people wanting to browse, get email, chat online, do the occasional word processing, do a spreadsheet, do your taxes:
YOU CAN: Get a PC.
But be prepared as you should do the following if you buy or own a PC - Buy a router with a built-in firewall, buy a software firewall, download all of Microsofts latest patches (in safe mode with netoworking), and download every other developers patches to keep up with microsoft, make sure you constantly update all of your printer drivers/graphics driovers/audio drivers/mother board drivers/mouse drivers/keyboard drivers/monitor drivers/misc hardware drivers, and whatever else I've missed because you will surely come across a Microsoft patch that affects one or many of these things in a bad way, and download every newest virus signature along with your virus softwares engine updates since viruses come up every day (after all it’s a billion$+ industry), also don't forget to manage your start menu, and your startup processes so you don’t overload your memory and/or your system (you don’t want your system to become sluggish), and if you can, optimize your interface for your video card and memory (be careful as you may have to tweak things on a regular basis if you go from game to game), and of course reboot when you have any problems (although XP will do that for you.)
OR: Buy a Mac.
you can spend a little more and buy a MAC, and do very LITTLE, if any of the above. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar! Run away from them.
Remember, I'm a PC user, who has developed a ton of applications, from web server technologies, to financial software, wireless applications, and more. Unfortunately I have to work in the Microsoft environment. And I hate every stinking second of it.
I look forward to the day I can develop all that I want on a Mac. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm looking forward to that day. But if you don't need to be in the Microsoft arena, then get the hell out.
The difference between Mac and PC can be broken down to three things.
1. Price (PC is lower)
2. Apps (PC has more)
3. Pain and suffering. (PC is all about the pain)
The Pain you experience with a PC will far outweigh the savings you get over a Mac.
My advice, if you can find the Apps you want on a Mac, you can afford it and your not a gamer, then go for and stick with the Mac. You will never be sorry.
If you work on the PC like me, and because of the Apps, you don’t have a choice. Then please drop me a PM, and we can console each other.
Ridley