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How many Mac users?
Perhaps not the right forum, but I am curious whether the aviation community, helicopters in particular, use the Mac format rather than IBM / Microshaft Windows.
The Oz CASA is reluctant to produce any software or amend their web browsers for any other than Windows format, but perhaps there is a shift in the proportions of users in aviation. If I can show CASA that there is a significant proportion of Mac users in aviation, we might get treated better. And PLEASE, this is not a request for Windows-haters and Mac-haters to vent their spleens. |
I Mac User!
And thru the years I have managed to convince several other pilots to make a very successful switch, they all seem happy to have switched to Mac.
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I use a MAC G4 Titanium Powerbook Laptop and have found it to be the best laptop I have ever used. Being non windows based it doesnt suffer from the numerous viruses out there built around the windows operating system.
For graphics, which I do a lot of work with, you cant beat it. AB |
I had an old grey one but since the "flasher" accusation I threw it away......:D
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I have a HP laptop, but I also have a old G3 imac. Like both, have different uses for them. But next I'll buy a MAC laptop.
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I use a G4 cube - great computer and friendly programs:)
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I use an iBook, excellent machine wish they had more gaming software though. Overall no complaints and will buy MAC again
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I have used Mac's for years and years, but sadly, I finally slipped over to the dark side due to ease of access and costs of software and hardware.
It's a shame that Apple never built the network of products and support as the PC did. I personally think that Mac's are by far a better product. |
I went from an IBM/Windows PC to an iMac last september. I like it a lot. I can set it up in minutes and its easy to take on the road with me. As for programs and such, well I been able to get all the software I want to use so its not a problem. There is plenty of software for Mac's, you just can't buy it at Staples.
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407 Driver
How about going back to a MAC and then installing Virtual PC. This is a great program and allows you to basically run a full PC suite on a MAC. I use it to run my subs database on the same computer as my graphics programs. Makes life much easier and being able to run MAC and PC programs on the same laptop is very cost effective. AB |
Don;t then cooling fans on those macs rotated the wrong way ?.
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I use a PC for writing and an iMac for design.
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All Blacks, I thought about that, but it's the cost also. My new Dell with lots of extras installed was only about $2,000 CAD last year, a similar Mac may be twice that. (granted, I may have received twice the product??)
George, you are correct, Mac software is available, but not with such off-the-shelf ease as a PC. Widgeon, it doesn't matter which way things spin, just learn to react accordingly :D |
I too went over to the dark side because of my job. I took my recent unemployment, and the lightning strike that fried my HP Laptop as a sign, and went back to my old PowerMac 7300 again. With OS9.1 its very stable, runs all the USB toys and with 256MB of RAM can run MS Office 2000 with ease. I had also heard that the latest versions of Virtual PC are pretty sweet, thus opening up the software side a goodly bit. For the CD driven, graphic heavy, maintenance or operational manuals (like Boeings) out there today, Macs are the business.
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Tinyrice
I agree with them as the best for graphics. On my 750mhz G4 Powerbook I am running Quark Express, Photoshop 7 and Adobe Acrobat for all my magazine related work as well as Office 2002 with all the neat toys it has. The on the PC side am running Tracker which is a database program for subscriptions, mailouts etc etc as well as MYOB for all my accounting needs. Not bad for one laptop. Mind you, and this is for 407 Driver, the initial cost for the G4 Powerbook runs around $8K NZD and then I put all the software etc on. Its not cheap but I would never go back to a PC. Besides when running on the internet I can have Internet Explorer, Entourage and Netscape all doing seperate things and it handles it with ease. Not like my PC that would crash after opening the second program :rolleyes: AB |
Since 1986. Saw the light after doing spreadsheets in DOS using backslash commands. If you believe the stories Apple is the largest selling BRAND of computer. Think before you flame that statement.
Currently using a Titanium G4 500 Mhz. Bluetooth wireless to an Ericsson T39m mobile. Can go online in most places in Europe where there is GSM coverage with GPRS. Cost is based on quantity not time - speed is as much as 64 k which is faster than dialup. Running OS 10.2.2 Jaguar. Rock solid. Even have OS X running on an old G3 266 Powerbook and it is entirely acceptable. Clock speed isn't everything. There were rumours running that OS X has been run on the Intel platform. I say don't bother let them suffer. Ever wondered why there is no support industry for the Macintosh? Obviously doesn't need one. CASA - there's a can of worms on it's own. Interestingly their Regulatory CD is Intel, Mac and Unix. Mind you it is an Adobe product. There are some smarter people in Seattle than others. BTW - Unix is like living in a teepee: No windows, No Gates, Apache in house. |
Mac since 1990. Now using iBook & iMac running OS 9.2 - and Airport wireless connecting to my cable modem. High speed internet in the bathroom! Have to use SoftPC to run some of my aviation stuff (Garmin.......clunky company).
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Yes, Garmin is yet another company that ignores us. I tried to get the software for our new G196, but it is only Windows, and of course it only runs through a Com port, which doesn't exist on my iMac.
I am very pleased to see that the most prolific and respected posters on this forum are Mac people. It gives me the incentive to get onto CASA and suggest that they look at this thread and get thaeir @r$es into gear. Thanks Rotorheads - any more out there?:D |
Here on the top table at the Towers myself, Danny and Sick Squid are confirmed Mac men. Only Mik stays on the dark side but then again he thinks in unix and finds that OSX only gets in the way........
Regards Rob |
Mac since 1988, have to use Wintel at work and hate it. The thing I miss most on the Windows programs is not being able to navigate without using the mouse.
Interesting to see how the responses are pretty much all in favor of Macs - is this just a rotorhead thing, or perhaps more to do with aviation in general? I know we're different in many ways from (most) FW folks in ways of thinking, but that's another thread all on its own. |
From a friend who has access to stats for a well-used helicopter industry website:-
29.7% Win 2000 28.4% Win 98 14.3% Win XP 12.0% Win NT 7.9% Win ME 5.7% Win 95 1.2% Mac 0.8% other |
Although an avid Mac user, G4 and i-mac running 10.2.3 and using the new mac safari web browser (very fast), I can understand the reluctance of some company's to make mac friendly web sites. Our site (similar business to CASA) gets around 1% of its hits from mac users. If any mac users are having trouble with sites and you're using Explorer try upgrading to 5.2 it eliminated all of the problems viewing our site on the mac.
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Hi!
For all mac users (aviators mac users) there is a nice and growing up site www.iplane.org Bye Cx292 |
Yep I'm a Maccerooon ! I have a G4 Ibook - Mac's are superior. Once you've used one, you'll never go back to the pathetic XP. This mac is soooo quick, starts up in seconds and Tiger OS is a dream. All designed for busy people. One day, it'll be a Mac world !
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Shawn,
Interesting to see how the responses are pretty much all in favor of Macs - is this just a rotorhead thing, or perhaps more to do with aviation in general? What does this tell? Maybe alongside the question of 'what do you use', should be the questions, "What is your level of computer competency", "What are your uses?". The MAC attracts users who want an 'idiot-proof', 'unbugger-upperable' computer. There is a trade off... Stability vs User Configureablity MAC has one, PC the other. However with competence, it is possible to acheive the same stability and speed as a MAC with a PC...and then you have the best of both worlds! I am comfortable on both platforms, but much prefer the PC as I can tweak it much more redily than a MAC. Thus making my PC run how I want rather than how Microsoft / Intel want. I also have much more access to programming tools using the PC. I have no need for graphics / video work. So for me the PC is fine. I would however, probably reccomend a MAC to my parents...who are not so computer literate! Yes, I was born to BBC Basic and brought up on DOS2.1! cl12pv2s P.S. I am not saying that MAC users are all computer-idiots...! |
Macs here too - Here the Macs NEVER crash...
Don't use Safari, use Firefox 1.5 - No compatibility probs...:) Nige321 PS. The stats quoted above mean absolutely nothing as many of the hits will be from Windblows powered webcrawlers and bots etc...:yuk: |
I have a Powerbook G4.
The difference between Mac and PC has a direct analogy to a BMW and a cheap Japanese import car of course you go out into the street an see more Japanese cars, but why would you think this happens? Go to Amazon.com and see what the hottest selling computers have been this holiday season and you will see that the top 5 computers are Macs! Check out this article on CNET, Are Mac users smarter? By Ian Fried Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings. The study also said Mac users tend to be more Web savvy, with more than half having been online for at least five years. And the Mac faithful are 58 percent more likely than the overall online population to build their own Web page and also slightly more likely to buy goods online, according to the report. "With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both online and offline," the research group said. TS Kelly, director and principal analyst at NetRatings, said that his company decided to publish the study after noticing the differences between the demographics of Mac owners compared with overall PC owners. Kelly said Apple Computer is a client, but he said Apple did not commission the study nor was it made aware of the results prior to the report's publication. Kelly said the greater affluence and education level of those who surf using a Mac is attributable in part to the company's comparatively pricier machines, as well as to their perception as a status symbol and their greater market share among those in the publishing and design industries. "Any time you lower a price point you always see a broadening of the audience that is probable to buy it," Kelly said. "Apple customers may be educated, but our customers are smart enough to have chosen Gateway, which offers the best value," said Brad Williams, a spokesman for the PC maker. Apple has been aggressively targeting PC owners in its latest ad campaign. Although Apple sales typically represent less than 5 percent of the overall U.S. personal computer market, 8.2 percent of Americans who surf the Web at home do so using a Mac, according to the study. Nearly all the rest of those who go online--89.4 percent--do so using a Windows-based PC. Nielsen/NetRatings said that 70.2 percent of Mac users online have a college degree, compared with 54.2 percent of all Web surfers. That, combined with their longer surfing histories and their greater willingness to buy products via the Web, makes Mac consumers a prime catch for marketers, Kelly said. "In many cases that is a market advertisers are looking at when they are promoting new products or upscale products," Kelly said. A representative for PC maker Dell noted that it doesn't seem to be lacking for customers and that half of those customers buy their PCs over the Web--a sign that Windows users are also adept online. The study notes that although there are clear benefits to marketing to Mac owners, it can be tough to target them specifically. Once upon a time, marketers could target personal computer users as a whole to reach a more-educated, higher-income base, however the demographics of those with a personal computer have become more similar to the demographics of the overall population as personal computer penetration has grown. Kelly said advertisers can still reach upscale crowds in other ways, such as targeting those who have a broadband connection. Copyright © 1995-2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. If I had to use a PC I think I would rather skip the whole computer thing! |
I use an iBook G4. Used to use Windows as well, but since a year I don't do it anymore. The time Windows take to keep it running is just a waste. With Mac never have any problem. Virusses 'how do you mean'
Availabilty of software is just great, apart from the fact there's no flightplanning for it. So you invest a little bit more, but have a lot more time to use it. |
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Got myself an early Xmas present - a G5 iMac 20" with 1.5Gb RAM.
Goes like a rocket, runs Virtual PC as fast as a PC does, so I can easily use those Windoze-only programs. Still got the G4 Powerbook, but the G3 iMac gets pensioned off.:( |
Wow, a thread resurrected from 2003, cool!
Lessee - in the '70's I started with an IBM PC (the original 4.77 MHZ 8086), then went to an Atari 800, then back to a PC (this time the "Turbo" 8088-2), then to an AST 286, upgraded to a 386, then an Apple Mac (the original 128K), then a Commodore Amiga with a 68030 processer (now THAT was ahead of its time), then a 486/66 PC, then a Mac SE upgraded with an '030 processer, then a Powerbook. By 1995, I had owned five PCs, three Macs, two Amigas and an Atari (and driven a whole bunch more). The Macs were always much more cohesive with the hardware/GUI/OS meld, but still managed to crash with as much regularity as any PC, and when they did, it was next to impossible to find out why. Upgrades? Fuggeddaboutit - if you could do it, it cost an arm and a leg. I finally got so frustrated by my wife's Powerbook that I bought her a Sony VAIO and spent the time teaching her how to figure out Windows 98. That little VAIO went all over the world without a burp. Right now, I am using the best computer I've owned yet - an HP Pavilion ZD7000 laptop, 17", 3.2GHZ, 1GB, 7200RPM 60GB drive. I'm not sure it has ever crashed. Macs are wonderfully designed, beautifully packaged, and a pleasure to use, but in the end you can do more with a WinTel based machine for less money. If I had mondo cash to spend staying up-to-date with Apple hardware and software, I'd splurge, but dollar-for dollar you'll do much better in the PC world. (And anyone who claims that Virtual PC runs as fast as an actual PC is only running Notepad! :hmm: ) |
I MAC USER TOO..
PowerBook G4, 17 Inch... Theres nothing else.. Never turn back to PC, and hopefully never will.. Try AeroPlanner.com |
Mac! Always have always will...
We use two 17" powerbooks and a G4. Also got a range of vintage macs upstairs!! WGS |
Flingwing207,
Seems like we lost you . . . . . . Macs are wonderfully designed, beautifully packaged, and a pleasure to use in the end you can do more with a WinTel based machine for less money But then again what do I know, when you were using Amiga and Atari computers I was still using my Fisher Price Infant entretainment center! :) |
Another Mac man,
ibook G4, 1 year and hate using my Windows laptop, slow and unstable, like some pilots I know... |
Yep Mac user too and whilst we're on the subject - is there any logbook software that runs on a Mac?
Please? Ta... |
Mac user here, desktop dual 2Ghz- 3gig ram...need more speed :D
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PCs all the way for me I'm afraid. 90% of my PC usage is games, or more specifically flight sims. Plus since I build my own PC kit, Macs just can't come close on price for performance. And (this may be controversial but..) I actually think Windows aint a bad OS these days. (Shame it's taken them 20 years to catch up.)
Si |
There is another logbook program for Mac users, try Climb which can be found at www.2ndSegment.com
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Re: logbook software - :ok:
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