I'm getting a Macintosh ASAP...

[Athelwulf]

I think it good that you are so in touch with who you are. Alot of people will say derogatory things, but you just remember no one should be ashamed of how they choose to live their life. Your 5% of the population have the same rights as everyone else.

Someone who understands!

Thank you. And I agree. It's so ridiculous that people pretend that one single OS is absolutely better than the rest. It's not true for everyone; Mac is better for me than Windows, but Windows might be better for someone else. Different people, different needs, different preferences.

(And I got your double-entendre.)

 

[baumgarten]

I got a PowerBook G4 in 2003, back when Macs didn't suck. Prior to that, I had a 400 MHz iMac. When I got it, it had Mac OS 9.0.4 on it. I upgraded the iMac to OS X 10.0 as soon as it came out, then 10.1, then 10.2, and then 10.3. At that point, Mac OS X was too large to run on my iMac, so I wiped it and tried every flavor of Linux I could imagine before finally screwing Linux altogether and sticking with OpenBSD.

The PowerBook came with 10.2, so I installed 10.3 on it. For all the slowdown, the only useful feature added was Expose -- since those douches at Apple had to wait five revisions before adding something as simple as virtual desktops. I later found out about a third-party virtual desktop package for 10.2, but it was too late; almost no software runs on anything lower than 10.3 anymore. My PowerBook is three years old, and the operating system it came with is already completely useless.

I refuse to upgrade to 10.4 because it's a bloated piece of shit. I know gobs of Mac users, and each of them needs truckloads of RAM and hard disk space to run Tiger. Frankly, I've had it. My next computer will be a PC. There's nothing wrong with PC hardware anymore, if you look in the right places. As laptops go, I am thoroughly impressed by the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad and the Toshiba Lifebook. Not so much by the MacBook. And every tower or desktop is the same, of course. The iMac doesn't have special hardware, it just has a novel form factor. Whoopee. I sure need that.

Apple is too busy dicking around with its cash cow the iPod to remember that it is a computer company and is supposed to be building fine personal computers. They stopped improving them where it counts: the software. I wouldn't run Windows all the time, and neither would I run Mac OS X anymore. Both operating systems now are too obsessed with themselves to give the discerning user any consideration. XP tries to take over your computer, yes. That is a crime unparalleled. But OS X sucks now for the same reason that Firefox does - its predecessors and contemporaries do more using less resources. So fuck 'em.

A Mac may be for you. As for me, I'm finished with the company.

 

[Roman]

It sounds like you should get the mac.

But baum brings up a good point. He's a virgin.
Err, I mean.
I want to bum him.
With my fist.

No no, that's not what I meant at all!
OS updates suck, as every time a new OS comes out, your hardware's outdated, and the new OS requires twice the resources as the old. Maybe not twice, but the hardware that the new OS was intended for is now twice as fast.

Laws of doubling and all.

 

[Athelwulf]

Well, if it does turn out that Mac is a piece of shit (though I doubt it will be for me compared to Windows), I will still have the Windows I will have installed on the same machine to fall back on.

 

[draqon]

Well, if it does turn out that Mac is a piece of shit (though I doubt it will be for me compared to Windows), I will still have the Windows I will have installed on the same machine to fall back on.

...oh u've been swayed by the media...the recent mac ad's with the short and fat guy...they are controlling your mind. funny how easily you fell into Mac spider web of doom.

 

[Athelwulf]

...oh u've been swayed by the media...the recent mac ad's with the short and fat guy...they are controlling your mind. funny how easily you fell into Mac spider web of doom.

Have you used a recent version of Mac? Or even just test-ran it?

I have.

 

[Enterprise-D]

... and none of you can talk me out of it!

The reasons I'm getting a Mac are:

   1. They are not as vulnerable to viruses and shit as Windows, so I don't have to worry so much about virus programs that slow everything down.
   2. They function better, from what I can determine. For example, a friend of mine says he's had his Mac laptop for five years, and it has not once had a problem that simply restarting didn't fix. This is not true of my Windows.
   3. They have more stuff out of the box that I would want that Windows doesn't.
   4. Miscellaneous little things about how they function which are much nicer and more convenient than on Windows.
   5. The GUI is so much more esthetically pleasing than Windows's ugly, bulky one.
   6. I'm getting a laptop for myself anyway, and it might as well be one that has Mac on it.
   7. Getting a Mac doesn't mean I have to give up Windows and the stuff Windows is actually good for. Apple now makes computers with processors that are compatable with Windows. And they have Boot Camp, which helps install Windows XP SP2 on an Apple computer and make a dual-boot system; it's expected to come standard with the next update to Mac. And I plan on taking advantage of this.

Soon I will be getting a job, and as soon as I have the money and Leopard comes out, I'm getting a Mac.

In the meantime, I'll decide whether I want to install XP or Vista on it.

1. Virus and hacking vulnerabilities are not hardware dependant except on a firewall. Further, a lack of vulnerability to viruses only applies to MacOS not the hardware. And this only appears so since virus writers recognize the 2% marketshare of MacOS and ignore it by and large. Saying therefore that you'll install XP or Vista on it negates this advantage.

2. 1 friend having 1 Mac with longevity does not immediately give the property to all Macs; for example in my last office I had 2 out of 4 Macs die - one blew up in a power supply failure and one of an unexplained processor failure.

3a. Only applies if you have a Big Brother to fear. *cough cough*torrents*cough*...
3b. Or perhaps you are unaware of the huge freeware/opensource movement.

4. You mean like iTunes and an iPod? Crap. My Creative Zen on WinXP is SOOO much more intuitive.
Zen appears as a drive, I drag and drop onto it, wait for the copy to finish and disconnect.
iTunes and iPod - iPod appears as a drive, ensure my MP3 ID3 tags are correct, open iTunes, open your iPod in iTunes, drag and drop, wait for the copy AND sorting to finish, eject iPod and disconnect.

Just as an example mind you. Bear in mind that i happen to like the iPod.

5. The Mac GUI just appears aesthetically pleasing because you don't see it as often as the Win GUI. Not to mention...um Windows and MacOS are the SAME GUI - Bill Gates and Steve Jobs got it from Xerox...the only thing that's different is colour scheme and the launch bar. Think about it. Or maybe I'll post some screenshots.

But there's no accounting for artistic taste. Can't battle this one.

6. Why should the laptop be Mac?

7. Again, why SPEND money on a Mac system when you're going to dual boot with Windows, find yourself spending more time on Windows hence opening up your system to the SAME virus and hacking vulnerabilities you're trying to avoid by buying a Mac in the first place?

My purpose in answering your Mac desire is not to try to dissuade you. My purpose was showing you that your reasoning is somewhat flawed. As a system admin and would be budding IT consultant it behooves me to play devil's advocate. None of your reasons justify the purchase, with the possible exception of aesthetics. Matter of fact, now that Apple has bowed to the power of Intel, that's basically the only reason to get a Mac. Feel free to get one if you like though...just saying what I'm saying

 

[przyk]

My sister has a Mac. Pretty nice system overall, and I think I might like to get one sometime. The only thing that would bug me about it is the lack of "out of the box" software development tools and compilers, and the fact that '#' doesn't appear anywhere on the keyboard. That's just one particular iBook (G4) though.

 

[RubiksMaster]

Athelwulf:
By the very reasoning you gave, why not just get a regular laptop, and install linux on it? That way you wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg for the hardware, since what you really want from switching to Mac seems to be in the realm of software.

But I know you won't let me talk you out of it. I'm just giving you my professional opinion to make sure you are informed of your options.

 

[Athelwulf]

1. Virus and hacking vulnerabilities are not hardware dependant except on a firewall. Further, a lack of vulnerability to viruses only applies to MacOS not the hardware. And this only appears so since virus writers recognize the 2% marketshare of MacOS and ignore it by and large. Saying therefore that you'll install XP or Vista on it negates this advantage.

I already know this. I was making a distinction between Macintosh and the Apple computer...

3a. Only applies if you have a Big Brother to fear. *cough cough*torrents*cough*...
3b. Or perhaps you are unaware of the huge freeware/opensource movement.

Maybe I'd rather not have to download everything I want?

4. You mean like iTunes and an iPod? Crap. My Creative Zen on WinXP is SOOO much more intuitive.
Zen appears as a drive, I drag and drop onto it, wait for the copy to finish and disconnect.
iTunes and iPod - iPod appears as a drive, ensure my MP3 ID3 tags are correct, open iTunes, open your iPod in iTunes, drag and drop, wait for the copy AND sorting to finish, eject iPod and disconnect.

Just as an example mind you. Bear in mind that i happen to like the iPod.

Thanks, but I was thinking of other things.

5. The Mac GUI just appears aesthetically pleasing because you don't see it as often as the Win GUI.

Not really...

Not to mention...um Windows and MacOS are the SAME GUI - Bill Gates and Steve Jobs got it from Xerox...the only thing that's different is colour scheme and the launch bar. Think about it.

Maybe the general scheme is the same, but I see them as very different from each other.

Or maybe I'll post some screenshots.

I already know quite well what a Mac looks like.

6. Why should the laptop be Mac?

So I have a Mac, basically.

7. Again, why SPEND money on a Mac system when you're going to dual boot with Windows, find yourself spending more time on Windows hence opening up your system to the SAME virus and hacking vulnerabilities you're trying to avoid by buying a Mac in the first place?

Again, I know that a Windows is ever vulnerable.

And I highly doubt I'm gonna end up using Windows more often. I would be on a Mac as much as possible if I had one. I'm just getting a Windows OS on there as well because I don't want to give it up entirely. Choices, see?

My purpose in answering your Mac desire is not to try to dissuade you. My purpose was showing you that your reasoning is somewhat flawed. As a system admin and would be budding IT consultant it behooves me to play devil's advocate. None of your reasons justify the purchase, with the possible exception of aesthetics. Matter of fact, now that Apple has bowed to the power of Intel, that's basically the only reason to get a Mac. Feel free to get one if you like though...just saying what I'm saying

That's understandable.

My sister has a Mac. Pretty nice system overall, and I think I might like to get one sometime. The only thing that would bug me about it is the lack of "out of the box" software development tools and compilers, and the fact that '#' doesn't appear anywhere on the keyboard. That's just one particular iBook (G4) though.

That's odd that it wouldn't have # on the keyboard. But I don't think that's common with Mac.

Athelwulf:
By the very reasoning you gave, why not just get a regular laptop, and install linux on it? That way you wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg for the hardware, since what you really want from switching to Mac seems to be in the realm of software.

If I finally get fed up with Windows once and for all, I might turn that computer into a Mac-Linux dual-boot system instead.

I would consider Linux if I had more experience with it. I don't use my Mandriva because it can't use the modem, and it's too hard to find a driver for it.

Right now, I consider getting a Mac worth it, even though there's a lot of money involved. I find my reasons, both stated in this thread and not, to be good enough for me, so yeah...

But I know you won't let me talk you out of it. I'm just giving you my professional opinion to make sure you are informed of your options.

I appreciate it.

 

[Xerxes]

You can do all that shit and more with Linux on a self built PC, guaranteed at half the cost of any Mac... And to be quite honest, I am far more productive in the GNU/FLOSS type environments.

The main difference is that Linux is an amalgamation of software that programmers are proud to have written. They write it with quality in mind, and answer to the community. The process is very similar to natural selection whereby the fittest code lives on. In the Apple world, the programmers have less creative control, and as a result, take less pride in the code. And in the Microsoft world, well...err... .

Granted, the Macbooks are nice The rest of their computers are a ripoff. But hey, they're shiny!

 

[John99]

A Mac Pro makes a self built PC look like a badly built toaster, i mean internally. They should be on of the 7 new wonders.

 

[Xerxes]

For some, performance far outweighs what the machine looks like...

 

[baumgarten]

For some, performance far outweighs what the machine looks like...

Yes, and these people usually go for something like this:

 

[tablariddim]

I'm getting a Sony SZ series notebook for the simple reason that it is a serious machine and only weighs 3.7lbs. Why do I need it so light? Because I can relax with it on my lap, in my armchair, in the same room as my wife while she watches her soaps and it may just save my marriage.

 

[alain]

Athelwulf, I hear you on getting a Mac, but they are sort of expensive. Does anyone know if its possible to use a mac OS on a non mac computer?

 

[phonetic]

Why the fuck is everyone running their computers forever? I turn mine off every night like normal people. :bugeye:

perhaps it is normal people who run their computers forever...which normally leads normal computers to crash.

I leave mine on for weeks at a time. Only turn it off if I'm going somewhere overnight (unless torrents are running!).

Apparently, leaving the comp on 24/7 is fine with decent cooling and actually better for the pc than turning it on and off a lot. That's when damage occurs.

I'm glad I don't pay the electricity bill though

 

[Athelwulf]

Athelwulf, I hear you on getting a Mac, but they are sort of expensive. Does anyone know if its possible to use a mac OS on a non mac computer?

I contemplated this, but as far as I know, it is not possible. Apple is still hoard-ish with what they produce. I think a machine must have a special chip that tells the Mac OS it's installed on an Apple-made computer and that lets it run on that machine.

I'm sure either the chip or the OS could be hacked somehow, but I don't have the time or knowledge needed to do this.

However!, you can now install an OS that can run on a PC on an Apple-made machine, such as Windows and the Linux distros.

 

[John99]

For some, performance far outweighs what the machine looks like...

i meant the way it is built and the components used, what it looks like internally.

where a system like MacPro is more advanced than even the highest end Xeon system takes a few minutes to see, ifd you know what to look for.

 

[Xerxes]

For the price of a MacPro, I could build you a fearsome rig.

Unless you use OSX, you're pay a premium for nothing.