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- PoopOnPaul, on 03/14/2008, -12/+587"When I would watch the Mac ads with the nerdy PC guy and the cool Mac dude I always secretly rooted for the PC guy."
Dude, everybody does. I love my Mac, but PC guy is funny and likable, while Mac guy is just smug.- Sammi84, on 03/14/2008, -10/+45It's the point. Apple intended it that way. We're supposed to recognize ourselves in the PC guy and feel sorry and sympathy him and ourselves.
- devindotcom, on 03/14/2008, -23/+5Wow... no, not at all.
- humperdeath, on 03/14/2008, -15/+8I feel sorry for myself alright, I mean not everyone can go out and get the latest shiny new mac-book every 18 months. They are a bit expensive. By the time I saved up to get a macbook pro, they came out with a new version (at least 5 unique versions between 2006 to 2008. Now the air. By Dec. it will be something else. So the old PC that keeps going and going and going, doesn't sound so bad, even if it is a little slow to today's standards. Besides, some people like the exersize of FDISK/ FORMAT/ RELOAD once a year.
- Laughto, on 03/14/2008, -3/+11New "PCs" come out every month, what are you talking about?
- xaxxon, on 03/14/2008, -1/+65 versions in 3 years? ZOMG! We don't live in the stone age. How many models of laptops did dell have in the same period? What? 200? Huh.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -0/+7What, Microsoft doesn't sneak in and upgrade your laptop every month with state of the art parts? You must have missed a checkbox when you installed windows. Balmer & Gates even bring me cookies.
- nealyng, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5"By the time I saved up to get a macbook pro, they came out with a new version (at least 5 unique versions between 2006 to 2008. Now the air. By Dec. it will be something else. So the old PC that keeps going and going and going, doesn't sound so bad"
What's that supposed to mean? It's not like MacBooks self-destruct whenever an updated version is released. Also, it's not like Dell/HP/Toshiba/Other PC manufacturers never introduce new models. - gidd, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3humperdeath: just because a new toy is released, it doesn't mean the old one stops working!
I'm currently typing this on my 4 year old iBook G4. It's gone through two screens, a CCFL backlight bulb, five hard drives, three batteries and two keyboards.
It's been my primary machine all that time, and I use it for a good 12-14 hours a day, and I use it to watch TV, use web, email, and to develop software in Flex, Cocoa and PHP. It's definitely slow and falling apart, but it's been damn good value for money. I've always had the cash to replace it, but haven't felt the need up until now. If it ain't broke, don't replace it.
The MacBook Pro hasn't changed much since it was released two years ago except for progressive spec bumps, so if anything I'm pissed that they *haven't* updated it enough. I finally gave in (with the 17" LED backlight being the tipping point) so a new 17" MBP is due to arrive on Monday.
I'm sure at WWDC there will be a completely redesigned MBP which I'll covet like Gollum, but the MBP I'm getting on Monday is state-of-the-art, so I'll really have no rational reason to complain, and certainly not feel cheated somehow.- Spuy767, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3What in the hell did you do to it to burn through that many parts? A friend of mine has a candy clamshell iBook that still runs fine on 10.3.
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1wow. here we go a mac book sausage-lover-fest.
- UltraMegaFilms, on 03/14/2008, -21/+54...and then just conform, drop a few G's and smell our own farts.
- meridian300, on 03/14/2008, -8/+16But... But, everyone likes their own brew right???
- xyqxyq, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Meh, it's ok.
- Jawsh91, on 03/14/2008, -3/+5But by getting a PC, you wouldn't conform?
- DarkSamus, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6unless you build yours with 1337 parts
- bob501337, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3Smug would fill the air...
Watch out for it combining with Al Gore's acceptance speech, it would create the ultimate smug storm.
(I believe the original comment was from South Park.)- Laughto, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2You mean George Clooney?
- meridian300, on 03/14/2008, -8/+16But... But, everyone likes their own brew right???
- pirloui, on 03/14/2008, -2/+25Same here, I prefer Macs, but don't find the "mac guy" to give any good image to Apple.
- gquaglia, on 03/14/2008, -22/+6That's because the actor that plays him is a douche.
- jemka, on 03/14/2008, -3/+26He's acting.
- gquaglia, on 03/14/2008, -22/+6That's because the actor that plays him is a douche.
- kc0re, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5That's what Steve Jobs said we should be doing. Didn't you watch the D5 interview between him and Bill Gates?
- Altotus, on 03/14/2008, -0/+8John Hodgman is much more likable than the Mac guy. I'm a Linux/UNIX guy mostly (OS X included), but I work in biosciences, so that goes without saying. But I'm a much bigger Hodgman fan than I am of any OS.
- nubnub, on 03/14/2008, -9/+1He is a douche
- Myonosken, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1For some reason, he always reminds me of David Mitchell.
Edit: Wait, Mitchell and Webb did some of these adverts?! Why was I not alerted to this! - blorc, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1I think you guys are reading into it way too much. Of course the PC guy is likable. He's hilarious. He's the humor of the entire commercial. You're not supposed to dislike either, but PC is definitely supposed to be the memorable character of the commercials.
- chyya, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1macs are designed great. id get one just for the design and run my linux on it
- Sammi84, on 03/14/2008, -10/+45It's the point. Apple intended it that way. We're supposed to recognize ourselves in the PC guy and feel sorry and sympathy him and ourselves.
- SkinsFTW, on 03/14/2008, -25/+72I think I know why too: John Hodgman (the actor that plays PC) is a Mac user! At least that's what his bio on IMDB says.
- PoopOnPaul, on 03/14/2008, -3/+59That makes sense...he is a major part of Mac advertising...it'd be weird if he wasn't a Mac user.
Gotta remember to separate the actor from the character!- SkinsFTW, on 03/14/2008, -1/+21John Hodgman is a comic genius. He's one of my favorites on The Daily Show. He's also the only person to ever be a guest on The Daily Show and then become part of the cast.
- krasotkin, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6Come to think of it every time there is a laptop on the Daily Show it's a Mac (just check out their Indecision 2008 Press Center)
- mateo60, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4It looked like it was a Macbook Air commercial. :)
- avihappy, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1Actually, those looked like they were made out of foam. Aasif's "Macbook" looked dented and has creases going through it..
- AmICoolNow, on 03/14/2008, -2/+1IMDB sure is a great website, huh?
- krasotkin, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6Come to think of it every time there is a laptop on the Daily Show it's a Mac (just check out their Indecision 2008 Press Center)
- logicalnoise, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5john has always been a mac user according to him.
- SkinsFTW, on 03/14/2008, -1/+21John Hodgman is a comic genius. He's one of my favorites on The Daily Show. He's also the only person to ever be a guest on The Daily Show and then become part of the cast.
- jemka, on 03/14/2008, -13/+2If I got a free mac, I would be a mac user too. In fact, hey apple, I'll be a mac user and say macs are awesome! FTW!! WOOt 1337 if you give me a macbook pro with all the fixings. Seriously, I have a lot of family and friends that look to me for buying advice. I always say PC, but who knows, with a shiny new mac, I might just say otherwise. Think about it.
- krasotkin, on 03/14/2008, -0/+8that will also make you a whore
- stevealford, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1Do you do things for money or other compensation that you wouldn't do if you were independently wealthy? If you answered yes, then I'm assuming you have a job and you also qualify as a whore by your definition.
- jemka, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2No krasotkin is right, I'm a whore.
- kc0re, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3Sad but true. But they aren't that expensive. Buy one on your next computer refresh.
- solistus, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2I needed a new laptop in December, and priced an entry level Macbook Pro against comparable systems from other companies. The other ones look cheap, until you add all the upgrade costs to get a decent amount of RAM, an SATA hard drive, etc. This part is subjective, but I would add substantial value to Apple products because the hardware is extremely well engineered. Apple's desktop offerings are strong, but there are large gaps and there isn't an Apple desktop for everyone (e.g., no tower-style machine below the insane 8-core performance rig level). Their portable offerings simply dominate the competition. The MacBook is an excellent system for most users, and the MBP is very nice for portable gaming as well as development work. I use mine for both, and have Windows via Boot Camp for gaming as well. Having access to both OSes, I can't imagine doing any serious work on Windows other than testing sites in Windows browsers.
- Lewiji, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4Get a job.
- krasotkin, on 03/14/2008, -0/+8that will also make you a whore
- TrustyChords, on 03/14/2008, -6/+3Figures.... Most waiters and barten---- I mean actors are Mac users....
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2Windows holds a greater than 90% market share. Statistically speaking, 9 out of 10 of them use Windows.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -2/+2Statistically speaking, 90% of statistics on the internet are pulled out of someone's ass.
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid= ...
Windows: 91.51%. Mac OS: 7.46%. Linux: 0.46%. Statistically speaking, you're an idiot. - MonkeyFarts, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Sorry, Digg cut off the URL.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid= ...
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid= ...
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -2/+2Statistically speaking, 90% of statistics on the internet are pulled out of someone's ass.
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2Windows holds a greater than 90% market share. Statistically speaking, 9 out of 10 of them use Windows.
- lebatte, on 03/14/2008, -0/+8It's also because John Hodgman is a ***** comedic genius. Read his book "The Areas of My Expertise."
- marillion, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3The folks as Boing Boing did a video interview with him. He has a very pretty MacBook Pro.
- jax1492, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2hodgman is great on the daily show also
- PoopOnPaul, on 03/14/2008, -3/+59That makes sense...he is a major part of Mac advertising...it'd be weird if he wasn't a Mac user.
- digitalpencil, on 03/14/2008, -26/+97It's one of the things i tend to overlook but my first impression of macs was how flawlessly they set themselves up. Pop in the disc, 5 clicks later, you're up & running, surfing the web. No pre-installed bloatware, no ads for service subscriptions (save .mac). It just sits there, asks you your name and trundles along quite happily.
I think that first, out-of-box experience is why so many fall instantly in love.. it's just streamlined.- SkinsFTW, on 03/14/2008, -22/+15That may be but think about the complete let down with a Mac - I didn't get the unbridled joy of installing 350 security patches immediately after starting up my Mac for the first time like I have with each of my Windows installs. Bummer.
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -21/+7Are you saying your system is unpatched for the many sercurity holes in OSX? Ouch.
But truth being told (1) you don't get asked for that many security patches and they're loaded and installed in the background with Windows. (2) Leopard is such a disaster it could well make a hooker blush and needs more patches than a chronic smoker.- davidlow, on 03/14/2008, -0/+10You're getting dugg down because, by 2008, there are now enough people out there who have first hand knowledge of OSX. So you can't just make s--t up anymore.
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -8/+3Who gives a ***** about being dugg down?
- mradules, on 03/14/2008, -0/+7I don't think davidlow's point was to rub in the fact that you got dugg down. He's pointing out the fact that you're full of *****. Apparently you don't dispute that fact.
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -6/+1What the *****? Do you get points on digg or something that can be used to buy things later?
I didn't dispute it because those who know, know. Those who don't, don't. We could all pull out our dicks and compare sizes now (like I own a couple of PCs and a couple of Macs and know the best of both worlds) but what would it prove in the long run? ***** all!
So you know...if you want to cash in your digg points for a toaster (and if you can for that matter), more power to you. - davidlow, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2Dr. dbx, You may be rude AND full of s--t, but you crack me up! Please post more.
- davidlow, on 03/14/2008, -0/+10You're getting dugg down because, by 2008, there are now enough people out there who have first hand knowledge of OSX. So you can't just make s--t up anymore.
- geoken, on 03/14/2008, -14/+10Do you really want to take this route? You know, the one where you complain about 350 updates and I respond by saying 'apple packages those updates in groups of 100 and charges you $120 for them every couple of years'?
Hasn't it been beaten to death yet?- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -9/+18Stop talking about something you know nothing about, if you prefer using windows, then keep it at that. Windows with security updates, AdAware, Spybot S&D, AVG/Avast!, and ZoneAlarm is still less secure than a mac out of the box. So just stop talking.
I have used windows (or DOS) all of my life (going on 25), just recently switched to mac (about 2 or 3 years)... and it is much better not having to worry about most the ***** you worry about with Windows. Windows is a garbage OS, and anyone that says the same about OS X, has apparently not used a Mac for more than 20 minutes since OS9.
If you have any questions, go to a Apple Store.. and just ask for a simple walk through of the iMac. If you have any technical questions, ask a Genius.. most of them are trained rather well (the ones who went through the Training in Cupertino at Apple HQ)
NOTE: for the record.. I use both OS X and Windows on a daily basis- kc0re, on 03/14/2008, -9/+7You are correct on all points sir. I commend you.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -9/+18Stop talking about something you know nothing about, if you prefer using windows, then keep it at that. Windows with security updates, AdAware, Spybot S&D, AVG/Avast!, and ZoneAlarm is still less secure than a mac out of the box. So just stop talking.
- Dumbledorito, on 03/14/2008, -6/+7Haven't actually installed Windows before, have you?
- digitalpencil, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6He's a developer, so i'm thinking.. yes. If you read the article, he outlines this as a point with an HP box he has owned previously saying that it was "essentially useless out of the box".
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4Yeah, he's exaggerating. It's actually closer to 78 updates (at least as of the last time I installed Windows a few months ago), though admittedly only maybe 60 are security-related. And I couldn't install them all at once; I downloaded and installed maybe 30 of them before it asked me to reboot. So I did that, then it did another 25 or so, then I had to reboot again. Then it finished the last of them, and then I had to reboot again. Total time to download and install updates: two hours, though I admittedly have a slower connection. Although, when I installed Leopard yesterday, 10.5.1 on disc, and updated it (core OS update, a couple of security fixes, airport fix, iWork update, totaling something like 400 MB, which is about on par to what I had to do with Windows), I clicked Update, did my other work while it did its thing in the background, and 15 minutes later it asks me to reboot. So I did, and I was DONE. No, really. That was it.
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2dude - he was making a joke -- calm the hell down
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -21/+7Are you saying your system is unpatched for the many sercurity holes in OSX? Ouch.
- chingy1788, on 03/14/2008, -15/+16And thats why i avoid linux
first impression = many many commands- taffyhealscrowd, on 03/14/2008, -6/+4Just download automatix and everything will be fine. I just installed ubuntu a few days ago after getting fed up with windows, and had similar reservations about typing in commands, but automatix made everything simple. Oh, and its true, ubuntu is better than windows; it's not even close.
- PaleGhost, on 03/14/2008, -13/+7
- kc0re, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2You are also correct on all points sir. Well done.
- DemonWasp, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4Really? Strange. I found that all of my hardware works fine with Ubuntu (sometimes better than with XP), and I also find that it boots faster than either Vista or XP did on the same hardware. It was also very nice to find that my built-in LAN card worked out of the box with Ubuntu, even though WinXP needed drivers for it.
- Deathcow, on 03/14/2008, -1/+3All my hardware works with Ubuntu (I've had it for about 7 months) and it runs 100x faster than Vista. They don't even compare. (XP sucks too, for that matter)
- OkydOky, on 03/14/2008, -1/+10"Nor does ubunti do anything that windows can't"
Where is your Windows Package Manager?
Where is your free (legal) windows?
for more techies:
Where is your optimised Windows Kernel?
-- THAT would solve your slow bootups and shutdowns.- chingy1788, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2my free legal windows came from MSDNAA
- kcap122, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1its really funny that they'll give us Vista for free on the msdnaa, but not xp
- sysop073, on 03/16/2008, -0/+1I got Vista Business for free from msdnaa. So I installed it. My mistake.
- roosterjm2k2, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3Pale...really? Because a 30 second reboot (from reboot command to login screen) is much slower than vistas 2 minute shutdowns....let alone the minute of two startup....yeah...
ALL of my hardware works too, out of the box. Because I'm an informed consumer and I don't purchase hardware from greedy, proprietary vendors...
- PaleGhost, on 03/14/2008, -13/+7
- Tyr7BE, on 03/14/2008, -3/+3What commands? I set up a new install a few days ago. I selected my keyboard, selected my time zone, entered my name, hit 'next', and 20 minutes later I was surfing the web on a new install.
- stevealford, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3What happened during the 20 minutes part?
- mradules, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1He had to knock one out.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -1/+3What? all the fun of a *NIX system is knowing all the archaic commands invented in the CS dept of a university by a dirty hippy 40 years ago!
On a side note, can anybody tell me why is grep called grep?- lintmonkey, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4Global Regular Expression Parser
- Super6, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1LinuxMint is the easiest install I've ever done. Ever.
- taffyhealscrowd, on 03/14/2008, -6/+4Just download automatix and everything will be fine. I just installed ubuntu a few days ago after getting fed up with windows, and had similar reservations about typing in commands, but automatix made everything simple. Oh, and its true, ubuntu is better than windows; it's not even close.
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -5/+42In regards to the compaints about bloatware and pre-installed subscription software, this is the fault of PC manufacturers, not Microsoft. I purchased and installed an OEM version of Windows Vista six months ago and it was free from any of that crap. It runs flawlessly.
- PaleGhost, on 03/14/2008, -0/+10
- azbmr, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1Don't forget about vLite for Vista.
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1or TinyXp
- modix, on 03/14/2008, -3/+23I sometimes wonder how much people's low opinion of Windows is based on the fact they've never seen a clean install. Getting a 3rd party to install an intentionally modified operating system is just asking for trouble for the end user.
- davidlow, on 03/14/2008, -3/+3Sir, I am a die-hard Windows basher, but I admit you have a good point there. I used Windows for years and my first act was always to wipe it clean and install it myself, except on some laptops which required a special version or needed a lot of proprietary drivers.
- petard, on 03/14/2008, -3/+2Laptops only need 1 more driver then desktops (the touch pad)
- lintmonkey, on 03/15/2008, -1/+2...depends on your hardware -- whether the drivers are included in Windows or if you have to get them from somewhere else.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -10/+2true, but you still have to deal with the susceptibility of spyware, adware, and viruses... which IS because of Microsoft... It is because of the same, outdated, OS Kernel they have been using since pre-xp... this ensures that older programs work... but allows virus makers the same OS vulnerabilities that they have had for a long time.
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6The issue of spyware, adware, and viruses have more to do with user error than inherent OS vulnerabilities. There is risk involved in installing 3rd party software off of some website. If someone decides to install something without taking due diligence in researching what they are getting into, well, you cannot place the blame on Microsoft for that.
- davidlow, on 03/14/2008, -3/+1That would be true if there were other operating systems that had the same problems. But none of them do.
There is risk involved in using Windows, actually, and if someone decides to install it without taking due diligence in researching the alternatives, well, they have only themselves to blame. - MonkeyFarts, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2No, it has to do with *both* user error *and* the OS's inherent vulnerabilities. Sorry, but if I give my grandmother a computer, she shouldn't be able to infect her computer out of ignorance. Really, she doesn't know any better when she opens up that email attachment, or browses to that suspicious website to download that "codec" to play that video. An operating system should be fool proof, and with the state of technology today, there is zero reason that any OS shouldn't be, let alone one that holds a roughly 90% market share. That is *inexcusable*. If my grandmother were using anything built off of Unix, be it Linux (though in reality I would never give her Linux), OS X, BSD, what have you, she would never have been infected at all. Why? Because Unix is inherently secure, just as all kernels ought to be today.
- Deathcow, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3You have to remember that not every computer user is so savvy. Most people don't know what makes software look "suspicious" and therefore are more vulnerable to getting infected. Microsoft should really take the time to update their system and make it more secure for the average user.
- davidlow, on 03/14/2008, -3/+1That would be true if there were other operating systems that had the same problems. But none of them do.
- dirtyfrog, on 03/14/2008, -4/+1I know, I booted up my Vista machine for the first time and had Blaster as soon as I conneted to the network and before I could even get my updates.....
- natenovs, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3dirtyfrog, that is just bull *****.
- dirtyfrog, on 03/16/2008, -0/+1I was being sarcastic.
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3its also because something like 85% of home PCs run windows -- the sample is much much bigger.
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6The issue of spyware, adware, and viruses have more to do with user error than inherent OS vulnerabilities. There is risk involved in installing 3rd party software off of some website. If someone decides to install something without taking due diligence in researching what they are getting into, well, you cannot place the blame on Microsoft for that.
- blorc, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2Yeah, but you have to realize you guys, like most of us here, are not the average computer user. If you tell someone to do what you just said, they'll look at you like you just told them to jump off a bridge. I have to explain how to click-and-drag to customers sometimes, and you think they're going to know how to install an OS from scratch?
The fact is that people buy stuff from manufacturers because it's already (sort of) set up out of the box. Unless you can eliminate the bad habits of manufacturers, then you can't solve the problem, because you're not going to get people to learn to do this stuff for themselves.- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4I am not new to installing OSes. My first was DOS 5, and I have installed pretty much every version of Windows, Minix, and too many Linux distros to bother counting. In recent years, Linux distros have got a hell of a lot simpler. Most hardware works straight out of the box, and a hell of a lot easier than XP (with the exception of WLAN cards).
Now let me explain my experience at installing Vista. I bought a new PC from a local shop. It was a typical office spec PC from Jan 08, 2GB RAM, 250GB HD, AMD X2 6000+. I chucked the 'Vista Business' DVD in the drive and turned on the computer and let it boot, selecting the default options and answering complex questions like my timezone and my username. It recognised practically everything - network, sound, video, printers out of the box. When I plugged in an old lexmark multifunction (circa 2002), it recognised it, downloaded a compatible driver (lexmark didn't release a Vista driver) and it now works. When I plugged in my Sony Ericsson phone, it recognised it and downloaded from Windows Update a driver that works. It recognised my Tomtom and iPod out of the box. I have no doubt that anyone who is comfortable installing Office would have no trouble installing Vista.- s0ny, on 03/15/2008, -4/+1You sir, are a liar!!!
- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4I am not new to installing OSes. My first was DOS 5, and I have installed pretty much every version of Windows, Minix, and too many Linux distros to bother counting. In recent years, Linux distros have got a hell of a lot simpler. Most hardware works straight out of the box, and a hell of a lot easier than XP (with the exception of WLAN cards).
- PaleGhost, on 03/14/2008, -0/+10
- idiotwithastick, on 03/14/2008, -3/+27That's one of the reasons why PCs are cheaper than macs, because software companies pay OEMs to put demoware on the machines. This happens because of competition--PC makers don't have a monopoly in their market (while Apple sells all macs) and therefore have to try to make their products as cheap as possible. I wish more OEMs would sell "clean" systems for slightly more money, but I seriously don't see why anyone would buy them. Personally, I would just reformat on reception of the computer.
- eggsovereasy, on 03/14/2008, -0/+17I bought a windows laptop at Best Buy over a year ago and for a fee they said they would clean it up. If they offer a service to do this its a problem.
- HoratioHellpop, on 03/14/2008, -3/+9No, your problem is that you bought a laptop at Best Buy. Never. Shop. There.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -1/+3Or if you have to, for the LOVE OF GOD do not let geeksquad touch it!
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1or Circuit City -- they suck b@llz -- firedog my ass
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1yeah -- I head the same damn thing --what a joke
- HoratioHellpop, on 03/14/2008, -3/+9No, your problem is that you bought a laptop at Best Buy. Never. Shop. There.
- TypeEE, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3yup, I bought a gateway machine that I can pay $30 to remove all the bloatware which the rep claimed to make the machine 30% faster.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -0/+260% of the time, it works every time.
- eggsovereasy, on 03/14/2008, -0/+17I bought a windows laptop at Best Buy over a year ago and for a fee they said they would clean it up. If they offer a service to do this its a problem.
- monospaced, on 03/14/2008, -7/+27But Apple DOES load it's machines with software...software that's USEFUL.
There's no denying that iLife (part of OS X) is a kickass set of applications.- HolyChimp, on 03/14/2008, -5/+6iLife is incredibly useful, and it does come with all new macs, but it's not part of OS X. If you go out and buy Leopard you won't get the new iLife version.
- MonkeyFarts, on 03/14/2008, -3/+6Not to mention that it's full, licensed software, not trialware. My Mac came with OmniOutliner. Not OmniOutliner Silver Home User Basic Edition, 14 Day Free Trial*!!!! No, it was OmniOutliner. Full version, with a license, and I can use it as long as I want, without any restrictions.
Oh and HolyChimp, we're referring to when you buy a new computer. Like if you buy a new computer from Dell, and it comes loaded with crap. If you buy a new computer from Apple, it comes with iLife, and sometimes some other software (ComicLife, Quicken, OmniOutliner, etc., always full versions, always licensed).- Cerebral, on 03/17/2008, -0/+1Ever thought about the fact that you paid a premium for your HARDWARE/OS that the software didn't come "Free"? You paid for it at some point in time.
- xaxxon, on 03/14/2008, -2/+7iLife is not a part of os x. It's just bundled with systems. If you buy a retail copy of os x it doesn't come with ilife. You have to buy updates to that separately.
- kc0re, on 03/14/2008, -3/+14Which is why Apple controls the hardware and the software, they don't have to deal with those problems. Now everyone is starting to see why this is a good idea.
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3Mmmm yes. Can you imagine if companies controlled the hardware and software how much the price of hardware would shoot up and competitors be locked out in favour of backroom deals?
No thanks... Apple's stance is definitely not pro competition nor is it pro openness. - aspade, on 03/15/2008, -0/+0Why wouldn't Microsoft just buy a hardware company like Asus and do the same thing??
- Cerebral, on 03/17/2008, -0/+1Because everyone would jump on them with a lawsuit... duh.
- doctordbx, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3Mmmm yes. Can you imagine if companies controlled the hardware and software how much the price of hardware would shoot up and competitors be locked out in favour of backroom deals?
- mrsteve007, on 03/14/2008, -12/+16If you buy workstations from Dell, the precision line, you can opt for a clean version of the OS (XP or Vista). That's the only way to go, as there are no bloat/crapware programs included.
As for Macs, we've experienced many problems with users' personal Macs at my office. I keep hearing how great they are, but experience a ton of problems everytime someone attempts to use it at the workplace. They don't play well with domain controlled networks, see networked drives and completely Fubar our networked printer/copiers.
If you attempt to print to our any of our 3 $15k Gestetner printers/plotters, 1 page, the Macs cause them to print blank pages until the paper runs out. That and AutoCAD doesn't run on OSX means Apple products are banned at our workplace.
I laugh everytime I hear, "Mac's just work." Vista works great for us however. Not a problem yet.- homercles337, on 03/14/2008, -5/+6Every pre-built PC i have ever bought had a format and reinstall of the OS as the top priority. While on a postdoc at Penn i had to use macs (10.x). I really dont know where these mac fan bois come from, that thing was buggy, slow, and difficult to use. I say who ever is handling advertising for apple is doing a hell of job at brainwashing so many people. It boggles my mind how this is possible.
- tomatoflight, on 03/14/2008, -3/+2difficult to use? buggy? nah, that's just you being a moron. only thing worse than "fanboi's", are simpleton anti's...
- mradules, on 03/14/2008, -5/+0Apple products are banned at your workplace? Isn't it a bit extreme to ban iPods and iPhones as well?
- homercles337, on 03/14/2008, -5/+6Every pre-built PC i have ever bought had a format and reinstall of the OS as the top priority. While on a postdoc at Penn i had to use macs (10.x). I really dont know where these mac fan bois come from, that thing was buggy, slow, and difficult to use. I say who ever is handling advertising for apple is doing a hell of job at brainwashing so many people. It boggles my mind how this is possible.
- neodorian, on 03/14/2008, -11/+15I'm glad I have never had to deal with all that. Every computer I build is more powerful than an Apple computer of similar price and I only install what I want. This article is pretty short on specifics. Everyone knows that Apple builds a good personal computer and their OS is also nice but not everyone has an extra $500-700 for the equivalent Apple version (desktops at least. Laptops are expensive across the board of vendors).
For me to pay $1400 for the same parts I have in my $700 desktop just so I could get a simpler OS would be like me paying twice as much for automatic so I wouldn't have to deal with the "hassles" of learning stick.
Apple makes a great computer but not everyone needs to shell out for a boutique idiot-proof PC just so they don't have to learn not to open weird files they downloaded off limewire. I run XP and Ubuntu and I haven't had a single virus since probably 1998.- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1I agree. I've used Windows for a long, long time, like since before 95. In the last year I've developed primarily on a top of the line OS X laptop. Its pretty slick, guess what, there are things I like, but several that I don't. I can't compare it to a top of the line PCs, I have are more than 3 or so years old. It runs XP and still runs fairly well. Actually, I really like having the linux base in OSX, but at this point, if I bought a new computer for home, I think Id still go the XP route, or maybe, just maybe take the linux route.
- rebotfc, on 03/15/2008, -1/+3Except OS X is a more powerful operating system than any flavor of windows. Unix certified, OS level scripting, far superior multi user setup.
- 5urr3al5am, on 03/16/2008, -0/+1yeah but the 'Finder' on the Mac is pretty much crap.. who wants to go out and spend another 50-100 bucks on a piece of software that does it right?
- davidrools, on 03/14/2008, -7/+17I think when you pay $1000-$2000+ for a computer, you expect it to be the best thing ever and tend to (subconsciously or not) overlook or understate any flaws you might encounter. Macs are good computers, and probably the best choice for a lot of people, but the value just isn't there for competent users who know how to avoid malware and keep their windows and linux systems running smoothly.
- avalys, on 03/14/2008, -6/+3Half the computer science department here at MIT disagrees with you. There are Macs everywhere.
The Mac is simply better-designed. It takes less effort to maintain, and lets you work more efficiently.
Plus, unless you're into kernel hacking, there is no difference between Linux and Mac OS X. Mac OS X is now officially a Unix operating system, so all your Linux/Unix software will run just fine. Even Gnome/KDE, if you really prefer those. - TypeEE, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5I am very experienced with both mac and windows, for the price diff, I would just use windows as I can find deals on pc but not a mac. A mac would cost 3 times a pc's cost. So far, windows does the job for me. It's not the best, but I am so experienced that XP really doesn't bother me at all.
- avalys, on 03/14/2008, -6/+3Half the computer science department here at MIT disagrees with you. There are Macs everywhere.
- mufasa, on 03/14/2008, -4/+7Yeah, while the Dell i had before this MacBook had like 20 popups / messages from all the trial software that came preinstalled.
- stonklit, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2Surfing the web?
People seriously still say that?- 5urr3al5am, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4no they surf the information super highway
- kcap122, on 03/15/2008, -1/+6Awww how cute. It was that easy?
did they set up your schedule with a nap time and snack time too?
Did they save you the difficult task of finding the power button by making it flash colors?
Have you accepted the fact that you've handed over your computer literacy to a design team whose target market is spoiled college kids?
- SkinsFTW, on 03/14/2008, -22/+15That may be but think about the complete let down with a Mac - I didn't get the unbridled joy of installing 350 security patches immediately after starting up my Mac for the first time like I have with each of my Windows installs. Bummer.
- sononame, on 03/14/2008, -7/+30not much of a review on his mac book as it is several stories on people around him who use apple products
- korea, on 03/14/2008, -6/+6Yeah, you're right.
I'm just going to bury it because, as much as I try, I read through this and absoluetely cannot bring myself to care.- adidos, on 03/14/2008, -3/+4I did the same thing with your comment...
- aberon1, on 03/14/2008, -2/+7Agreed. So to answer: "What happens when a Windows developer gets a Mac?" He finally feels like he fits in. Awwww....
Buried for almost making me convert to Apple.
- korea, on 03/14/2008, -6/+6Yeah, you're right.
- foxhaze, on 03/14/2008, -46/+285Man, do I love my PC games.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -67/+115Man, do I love using Boot Camp to play my PC games and then running back to OS X before those viruses track me down.
- Shawn4168, on 03/14/2008, -29/+81Man, do I love not being stupid and careless with my computer usage, so that I can play games without viruses, and not need to dual boot.
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/14/2008, -1/+26Oh I love downloading screensavers and opening email attachments from Nigerian royalty...
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -2/+8Man, I do love cake.
- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+10You say that now, but once that 12 million dollars gets deposited into my account, we'll see who's laughing then, suckers.
- deanimate, on 03/15/2008, -2/+0i eat horse?
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/14/2008, -1/+26Oh I love downloading screensavers and opening email attachments from Nigerian royalty...
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -4/+64Protip: When you're watching porn online, don't install every media codec that the pop-up windows tell you to. Almost every time someone gets a virus, it's because they did something really ***** stupid.
- modix, on 03/14/2008, -8/+47I haven't seen a virus in 4 years, and I don't run anti-virus software. Don't be stupid. About every virus left requires you to activate it. Don't download executable files from suspicious sources. It's not hard.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -10/+7IF you dont run anti-virus software, how would you know if you had a virus?
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -5/+12If your computer has a virus, it's pretty ***** obvious.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -1/+12I'm sure the users of computers infected with spam zombies are aware of whats going on.
There are plenty of virii out there that dont actually harm the its host, but rather use some of its resources for its own purposes. - MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2You can tell that you have a worm by monitoring which programs are using your network connection.
And by looking over what processes are running on your computer.
I've used FreeAVG Kapersky, Mcafee, and Norton over the past 8 years. I have never had my windows computer infected, and never had a virus be detected. It really comes down to how the user acts with respect to safety and security.
What I have had is my firewall be hit with attacks, probably a lot of false alarms. When I logged into my university network (before Windows SP2 existed) there was a lot of Blaster and MyDoom stuff. So I setup a Linux based router between my network and Internet hot spot. - dudeguy1234, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3@staxofmax no.......some of them just slow you down, or steal info. It wouldn't want you to know if it was stealing info....
- mateo60, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5My sister-in-law was complaining that her computer was running a little slow. I put it on my network and all of the sudden, network activity went crazy. I finally figured out that she was unknowingly running a spam mail server on her PC.
- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1By that argument, perhaps you should run off and buy Virex? After all, "IF you dont run anti-virus software, how would you know if you had a virus?"
I run my XP laptop as a limited user, logging into an admin account (or using runas) where necessary.
I run my Vista PC with UAC turned on.
Both are kept up to date with security patches.
I can know that I don't have any virus. - SpeedSteamBoat, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1"I run my Vista PC with UAC turned on."
I lolled. Enjoy your pop-ups and nonexistent increase in security. - grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Popups are as rare as needing sudo. It only happens when you are installing stuff or stuffing around with systemwide configurations. As for non-existent security, that is just wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control
- blackeagle613, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5someone sent me an email with an attachment hotgirl.jpg.exe is this safe to open?
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5Yep. But you might want to delete the system32 directory to be safe.
- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1> But you might want to delete the system32 directory to be safe.
Nah, just anything with a teddybear icon should be enough.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5Yep. But you might want to delete the system32 directory to be safe.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -10/+7IF you dont run anti-virus software, how would you know if you had a virus?
- NinjaJoey, on 03/14/2008, -3/+7That's where you and I differ. I don't need two operating systems.
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/14/2008, -2/+4That's a pain in the ass and you have to shut off things like bittorrent to reboot into windows.
- dudeguy1234, on 03/14/2008, -5/+1That's what I do too, and lo and behold it works amazingly well.
- jabberwolf, on 03/14/2008, -4/+5WOW A MAC USER showing off his OSes DRM !
I love the games and everything I use on a PC , that I can use on ANY ***** PC I chose to buy! ;-)
Including using vmware to run OSX on my PC, but then I really never use it for anything- it's useless. - stoanhart, on 03/15/2008, -0/+5You love doing that? I hate rebooting from Ubuntu into Windows to play games. I'd much rather they just worked.
- Shawn4168, on 03/14/2008, -29/+81Man, do I love not being stupid and careless with my computer usage, so that I can play games without viruses, and not need to dual boot.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -37/+54you mean windows games? Because my mac can play them as well.
natively.- Wargalas, on 03/14/2008, -10/+60You're right. How is that new game Warcraft III working out for you? :)
- tutivlahos, on 03/14/2008, -14/+16"you mean windows games? Because my mac can play them as well."
Both of them?- PleaseJustDie, on 03/14/2008, -4/+26Macs have lots of great games like Breakout... Super Breakout... oh and that puzzle game with the apple logo, that's a great game... i beat it but its still a great game...
the best part of mac gaming is that I already know what games that come out for the Mac are good cause I already played them years ago on the PC. - SWK595, on 03/14/2008, -5/+0Don't you love copypasta?
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -7/+1@PleaseJustDie
wow... how origional... o.O
roosterteeth anyone? - dudeguy1234, on 03/14/2008, -9/+1Hm... yeah, because Madden, Battlefield games, Starcraft(2 included coming soon :P), warcrafts, quakes, WoW, and many other good franchises aren't coming to Mac....Even if there isn't a native version, get bootcamp and a copy of XP ($120) or Vista (lol noob u got Vista $100) and everything runs great. I know, because I do every day. If I wanted to, I could run Crysis.
- PleaseJustDie, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4@SWK
I actually typed that out based on my own memory.
@absentminded
Congratulations, you caught the reference! However, overall, you Fail. - namelyk, on 03/14/2008, -0/+6@dudeguy1234
buried as inaccurate, NOTHING can run Crysis.
- PleaseJustDie, on 03/14/2008, -4/+26Macs have lots of great games like Breakout... Super Breakout... oh and that puzzle game with the apple logo, that's a great game... i beat it but its still a great game...
- blocguy, on 03/14/2008, -9/+5About as well as Crysis and CoD4 are mate :).
- Wargalas, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1:)
- BlindDevil, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3I'm sorry to hear about your goatse experience. I suppose you could get used to 800x600.
- tutivlahos, on 03/14/2008, -14/+16"you mean windows games? Because my mac can play them as well."
- monospaced, on 03/14/2008, -14/+8I also play native Windows games on my Mac. NATIVELY. Works perfectly.
- Davers, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4As a "real" PC gamer, I prefer the ability to upgrade my PC one component at a time, to whatever I want, without having to buy a new system every time. I guess if you like buying a completely new PC every time, that's cool too.
- SWK595, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Not to beat a dead horse, but the Mac Pro is certainly upgradeable, and in my opinion, is the best Macintosh you could purchase as a gaming rig.
- Davers, on 03/15/2008, -1/+4As a "real" PC gamer, I prefer the ability to upgrade my PC one component at a time, to whatever I want, without having to buy a new system every time. I guess if you like buying a completely new PC every time, that's cool too.
- Radan, on 03/14/2008, -3/+4Now this is why Microsoft created the Xbox.
- dudeguy1234, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1So it could play Windows games? What?
- Radan, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1Woops. To be honest, I have no idea why I replied to that comment. It was supposed to be a reply to Foxhaze, or Wargalas. Heck, I don't know what I'm doing anymore... Look at all those threads! The comment system is seriously completely messed up.
- HoratioHellpop, on 03/14/2008, -6/+6They can run games natively ... slow as hell.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -2/+4ever play a game on a mac... I play windows games on my macbook pro, and they are not any slower than other laptops...
- HoratioHellpop, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5Please post your framerates for Bioshock, Crysis, and Unreal Tournament III running on your Mac.
- Deathcow, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2No -- don't post UTIII, that game sucks.
- dudeguy1234, on 03/14/2008, -7/+2In fact, most of the time they are faster and crash less.
- jabberwolf, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2Cool-aid - lots of Apple cool-aid !!
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -2/+4ever play a game on a mac... I play windows games on my macbook pro, and they are not any slower than other laptops...
- joe122370, on 03/14/2008, -5/+4yeah games, but what are you going to do once you get out of grade school?
- ConfuseDuck, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2game design?
- deiphobus, on 03/14/2008, -2/+13Have you mac users ever heard of SLI? Crossfire? 60fps? No? Didn't think so.
- SWK595, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Only 60fps? My Mac gets more than that. Time to upgrade that GateWay, buddy.
- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -1/+14Oh yeah? I run Crysis on my Mac at full resolution! And I render 3D Animation for Pixar while I do it! As I download at 67 TB/s! Plus OS X just cured my tuberculosis!
- Davers, on 03/15/2008, -4/+2I believe it. Unfortunately all I can play on my PC is The Sims and Age of Empires.
- darlingt, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I believe it all except for the Crysis bit, and this link shows why. http://bash.org/?835178
- SpeedSteamBoat, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1Dugg for tuberculosis
- Wargalas, on 03/14/2008, -10/+60You're right. How is that new game Warcraft III working out for you? :)
- Jaliyl, on 03/14/2008, -27/+9@clak and bigbadgoat
Man, do I love playing my PC games on a PC I built myself with 2 top of the line videocards.- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -7/+13Man, how does that have any relevancy to what I said?
- kawaiirobo, on 03/15/2008, -2/+1that is probably one of the most duche comments I've read on digg, not because your putting down mac's, but because of your Kevin Fedeline like smugness.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -27/+8@Jallyl
Man, do I love playing my PC games on my Mac Pro using my NVidia Geforce 8800 GT 512 MB video card (PCI Express), with dual link DVI. I also had the option of configuring my Mac Pro with a NVidia Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5 GB of RAM, but I thought that was overkill. The default video card by the way is an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB video card.
Go to the Apple Store and check it out. Just paste this link in your browser and remove the space: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects /AppleStore.woa/91194001/wo/xL3uAbkST31H3HrwTQd16jyZszr/1.?p=0- meridian300, on 03/14/2008, -6/+14You apparently don't know my about computer hardware if you believe that's bleeding edge specs.
- meridian300, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5My = Much*
- lucasmaximus, on 03/14/2008, -5/+14I managed to build up a PC with the same spec for half the price of a Mac Pro. Well done you were ripped off.
- monospaced, on 03/14/2008, -14/+5No you didn't. People have tried doing that and the Mac always comes out cheaper.
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -1/+9Really? That's news to me, because when I built mine I thought it was roughly half the cost of a comparably equipped Mac. Apparently I was wrong, thanks for pointing out the error of my ways!
- monospaced, on 03/14/2008, -14/+5No you didn't. People have tried doing that and the Mac always comes out cheaper.
- meridian300, on 03/14/2008, -6/+14You apparently don't know my about computer hardware if you believe that's bleeding edge specs.
- lilaliend, on 03/14/2008, -13/+24Man, do I love productively using my hours in the day.
- KingGorilla, on 03/14/2008, -1/+11***** that! I'm jerking off and shooting noobs
- Fixthemedia, on 03/14/2008, -0/+13on digg
- grumpyrain, on 03/15/2008, -0/+4Oh the irony, claiming productivity in the middle of a digg comment
- lime148, on 03/15/2008, -3/+2Productively? So that must mean you don't use a Mac.
- staxofmax, on 03/14/2008, -2/+91Man, do I love hot dogs.
- joe122370, on 03/14/2008, -2/+1don't you mean weiners?
- LordByr0n, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5OMG thanks for the reminder dude i forgot i had the bbq going
- BestJaxx, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1That's what she said... she was wierd
- neodorian, on 03/14/2008, -12/+6b.b..b.bbut my Mac plays Windows gamezorz!!
Gimme a break, of course it does. The hardware is the same as any other PC. You just boot into windows or virtualize. You just pay a huge premium for the privilege of legally booting OSX and a pretty case.
So far the only thing Apple has that I want is Final Cut Pro. Everything else I want and use is for Windows. There aren't any other killer apps for OSX that warrants buying a whole new PC when I already have an excellent and relatively inexpensive one.- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -5/+5Actually, my macbook with the specs it had at the time (2.16 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1 Gig of RAM, 160 gb HD) was $500-$700 cheaper than any other major branded (Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, etc) laptop I could find with a screen size of 13 inches or smaller. Performance and portability were my two biggest priorities and my macbook has suited me just fine. In fact, I just upgraded to 4 Gigs of RAM for less than $100.
So, I guess that "huge premium" doesn't necessarily exist, does it?- jollins, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2You forget that the MacBook has an enormous bezel around the screen that makes it about the size of a 14" notebook, so I don't think that's a fair comparison.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1You'd think that, but the macbook actually has a 15:10 widescreen instead of a 15:9, which makes it the same height and only an inch wider than my girlfriend's 12" Toshiba Satellite U200.
- mGARANDEUR1, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3dell m1330- much better deal than a macbook. Sexy looking too.
- bigbadgoat, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I spec'd it out when I got my macbook. For the same specs, it was $2300.
My macbook cost me $1600
- bigbadgoat, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1I spec'd it out when I got my macbook. For the same specs, it was $2300.
- jollins, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2You forget that the MacBook has an enormous bezel around the screen that makes it about the size of a 14" notebook, so I don't think that's a fair comparison.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2I would have to say almost ALL of iLife (never really use iWeb)... oh.. and Photoshop runs faster on my MacBook Pro than my windows desktop at work (which I used until I talked them into getting me a Mac)
This computer wasnt old or anything either.. it was a top of the line HP business class machine - MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/14/2008, -3/+2Hahah Photoshop runs faster on a Mac then an identical PC?
The fact that it takes 2 seconds less to startup is pretty useless in the real world.
Photoshop for Windows vastly outsells the mac variant too.
On the other hand Framerates in 3D apps like games is important. Windows does that best since they're evil and have their directX proprietary to Windows.
Final Cut Pro, and many of the iLife features are great and not really matched in a "single product" for Windows.- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2I am not just saying startup time... runs faster overall..
you would be surprised how much faster you get ***** done when working on PS documents that take up almost 2 GB of memory... I have dealt with PS documents that are almost 500MB big.... and it takes much less time to do something simple like ***** NUDGE something down 2 or 3 px... difference of almost 10 to 15 seconds in some cases for simple things...
There have been times at work where I would go and get a cup of coffee while waiting for a change to take effect..... THAT is where you notice the difference
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2I am not just saying startup time... runs faster overall..
- bigbadgoat, on 03/14/2008, -5/+5Actually, my macbook with the specs it had at the time (2.16 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1 Gig of RAM, 160 gb HD) was $500-$700 cheaper than any other major branded (Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, etc) laptop I could find with a screen size of 13 inches or smaller. Performance and portability were my two biggest priorities and my macbook has suited me just fine. In fact, I just upgraded to 4 Gigs of RAM for less than $100.
- lolmax, on 03/14/2008, -9/+10I understand if some people use their computer for mostly games. I use mine for media purposes (designwork, music composition). I am honestly happy that there aren't really any games available for Mac. I would play them, and in the end I feel much more accomplished sense of satisfaction knowing I have something to show for the hours I spent in front of my computer.
I get this empty feeling after I blow 5 straight hours playing a video game. - orlyfactor, on 03/14/2008, -0/+13I like turtles.
- Wakuko, on 03/14/2008, -10/+1Man, that's the only lame excuse winblows fanboys have when attacking linux or mac osx
M$ sucks so much it is only good for playing tetris.- deiphobus, on 03/14/2008, -0/+3You're not making any sense. Then why the hell do you acknowledge windows is REALLY good in games when you say it's only good for playing tetris?
- ConfuseDuck, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2YOU FAIL
- kawaiirobo, on 03/15/2008, -0/+2you sir, are an idiot
- petard, on 03/14/2008, -3/+5Man, I bet you also love how ***** they look because you get a crap graphics card and no slot to put a good one in!
- el_jefe, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1Man, I guess its good you never actually spent anytime on a Mac so you can get away with statements like that.
- xkorbin, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Team Fortress 2 runs on Crossover. What other games are there?!?!!
- Super6, on 03/15/2008, -3/+1Man, do I love women.
- Metalcastr, on 03/15/2008, -0/+3Computer is the best console.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -67/+115Man, do I love using Boot Camp to play my PC games and then running back to OS X before those viruses track me down.
- Uberperson, on 03/14/2008, -56/+29*Tries to right click* .......What The Hell!?!?!
- mmurph, on 03/14/2008, -8/+63You realize apple has been shipping multi-button mice for a number of years now, right?
- mGARANDEUR1, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2Well it's about ***** time!!!! Their laptops still do not have two mouse buttons.
- Me1000, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6which is a good thing, all you have to do it put 2 fingers on the trackpad and it will register as a secondary click!
I hope apple never splits the button into two because the multitouch trackpad is much more efficient!- mrdoogee, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1Center button clicking would still be nice without an extra keystroke.
- Me1000, on 03/14/2008, -1/+6which is a good thing, all you have to do it put 2 fingers on the trackpad and it will register as a secondary click!
- BestJaxx, on 03/15/2008, -1/+1Really? The Mac OSX that I use just has one button. I have to find myself one of these.
- mGARANDEUR1, on 03/14/2008, -5/+2Well it's about ***** time!!!! Their laptops still do not have two mouse buttons.
- Enron, on 03/14/2008, -2/+32Are you surprised that it worked?
- nova912, on 03/14/2008, -2/+22This has worked since os 8.6, in 1999.
- Uberperson, on 03/14/2008, -2/+9Fanboi Zerg!
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -7/+16Another ***** that's obviously never used a Mac. I've been right clicking for five years, from the first day I got my Mac. Back then it was buy a Logitech mouse or Microsoft mouse and right click exactly like you do in Windows. Or if you wanted to use Apple's default mouse, just hold down Control and click. Today, we have the Mighty Mouse, which has a five buttons. Right click works exactly like it's supposed to.
- Uberperson, on 03/14/2008, -13/+5So...what you are saying is that apple basically stole the idea for right clicking?
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -7/+3What part of "I've been right clicking for five years" don't you understand?
- Uberperson, on 03/14/2008, -10/+1"right click" + "Mac" = ???????
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -7/+3What part of "I've been right clicking for five years" don't you understand?
- Tippis, on 03/14/2008, -5/+11No, right-clicking with the MM does not work exactly like it's supposed to, since you can't right click if you're just resting your hand on the left side of the mouse.
You can emulate a right-click, yes, but that is far from the same thing.- pvking233, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2wow i just realized that, i always wondered why that never worked
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -8/+3Well, Boo Hoo, you don't like the Mighty Mouse. No one is stopping you from buying a third party mouse. The point is, right click works in OS X. There is no special voodoo involved.
- jakem1, on 03/14/2008, -4/+2Did you bother reading what Tippis said? Right-clicking involves pressing the right mouse button by itself. The mighty mouse version is rubbish.
- MacParrot, on 03/14/2008, -0/+4I would have to agree with that. I've always found Apple's mice to be sub-par. Even going back to my original one (a Mac Plus) some twenty years ago. I bought an optical mouse for it and never looked back. Some ten years ago or so I switched to trackballs. Whenever I buy a new desktop, I always take the time to sneer at whatever mouse Apple included and then chuck it into a drawer never to see the light of day again.
- Tippis, on 03/14/2008, -0/+2That said, I must say that I *really* like the way they've snuck in right-clicks on the MacBook trackpads... :O
- nexus420, on 03/14/2008, -9/+7Well *this* '*****' has used a Mac. Many, in fact, over the last couple years. (Use Linux at home) EVERY mac I used, and it was a wide variety of new and old, had a ONE button mouse. Ctrl-Click is ***** annoying. Nothing annoyed me more than that god damned mouse. This is at college computer labs, major corporate offices with brand new G macs, and individual home users.....one button mouse on all of them. So maybe it is available to have a two button mouse, but there are still a ton of one buttons out there and they annoy the ***** out of me.
- spider418, on 03/14/2008, -2/+6Admit it you've secretly enjoyed it. ...since it didn't annoy you enough to spend $30-$40 on a nice Logitech VX Revolution 2 button USB mouse.
I am a long time windows user, had plenty of windows laptops and used a an external mouse with each one. ...until I got my Macbook Pro. I can right-click with a two finger tap, scroll, zoom, rotate you name it... My favorite VX Revolution mouse is now at home gathering dust.
- spider418, on 03/14/2008, -2/+6Admit it you've secretly enjoyed it. ...since it didn't annoy you enough to spend $30-$40 on a nice Logitech VX Revolution 2 button USB mouse.
- jmreid, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3You've been able to right click FOREVER. They just didn't ship two button mice. You could always control-click. I just bought a new mouse and away I went. I think OS 8 had it, and it was released in 1997! GET OVER IT ALREADY.
How about this... I can do more with two fingers on my MacBook trackpad that you can with a mouse hooked up to your PC laptop.- jakem1, on 03/14/2008, -4/+2Not my mouse. The Logitech MX Revolution laughs at your silly gestures and then feels sorry for you and your trackpad..
- Radan, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4What part of "you can use whatever mouse you want with the Mac" don't you understand? Just freaking check the product details: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2npkaa (logitech.com).
Notice the little blue smiling Finder icon in the lower right? Yupp, that means it compatible with the Mac.
Also, just for the record; personally I think that graphical touchpad gesturing (ie horizontal multi touch displays, Nintendo DS style) will replace the mouse in the future.
- Radan, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4What part of "you can use whatever mouse you want with the Mac" don't you understand? Just freaking check the product details: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2npkaa (logitech.com).
- jakem1, on 03/14/2008, -4/+2Not my mouse. The Logitech MX Revolution laughs at your silly gestures and then feels sorry for you and your trackpad..
- Uberperson, on 03/14/2008, -13/+5So...what you are saying is that apple basically stole the idea for right clicking?
- monospaced, on 03/14/2008, -4/+13Either your mouse is broken, or you are just a *****' liar saying you have a Mac.
- dawheelo, on 03/14/2008, -5/+12douchebag says what?
- ProfessorFoo, on 03/14/2008, -1/+2What? Oh noooo!
- mmurph, on 03/14/2008, -8/+63You realize apple has been shipping multi-button mice for a number of years now, right?
- RealmDown, on 03/14/2008, -30/+6What's the issue? I understand that MAC's can emulate Windows pretty well now.
- nova912, on 03/14/2008, -2/+23no, not emulate, run natively.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -4/+7Boot camp is not an emulator. The only emulation is when Boot Camp kick starts Windows using a BIOS emulator (Macs use the more modern EFI), but once you're booted into Windows, it runs natively.
- ElAssoWipo, on 03/14/2008, -17/+9You're right, Macs are much better now that they are PCs.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -4/+2Macs have been PCs forever.... the I am pretty sure the Apple ][ was a personal computer........
But, they are still better than Windows Machines.... ;)- ElAssoWipo, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5Then why are they now making them to run windows?
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -2/+2because some things (begrudgingly) require windows... like (as I have said) VisualStudio.net 2005, games... and most importantly for me... IE for browser testing
- ElAssoWipo, on 03/14/2008, -1/+5Then why are they now making them to run windows?
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -4/+2Macs have been PCs forever.... the I am pretty sure the Apple ][ was a personal computer........
- kretik, on 03/14/2008, -3/+2Dugg =)
- ani625, on 03/14/2008, -20/+7Just wondering. What happens when a Mac dev... Wait.. Thats it!
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -45/+23Well, this article starts out right, in that it's clear this guy isn't just buying a Mac to be cool, which is the stereotype that most PC people try to throw on Mac people. Like his daughter, I had to buy a Mac for school. Specifically so I could learn Final Cut Pro. But unlike this guy who wrote the article, I can give you several specific reasons why the Mac is better. It's not "just a feeling."
1) Stability: OS X is better because it's stable. It never crashes.
2) Expose: I love Expose. I have Expose set up with hot corners, so when I need to see all my open Windows, I simply hit a hot corner without even thinking. It's much easier to manage all my programs that way.
3) Final Cut Pro: Already stated above, but Final Cut Pro is the future of video editing. It's intuitive and easy to use and better yet, it's commercial grade editing software.
4) No viruses, spyware: This guy in the article repeats the nonsense about Macs being more secure because Apple doesn't have any marketshare, but that's just baloney. Out of the thousands of hackers that hate Apple, you're telling me not one of them can produce a virus after seven years of OS X being on the market. And don't give me that financial motive. Lots of hackers break into systems just to say that they've done it. Bragging rights, that's what it's called. There's nothing special about hacking XP, but Unix, that's another story.
5) iTunes: just works on my Mac. Music, Podcasts, Movies, Television.
6) EyeTV: not to be confused with AppleTV, EyeTV is a DVR that comes with the TV tuner you can buy from Elgato, Inc, which plugs right into any available USB port. You can record digital television programs (or analog) and convert them into MP4s using the H.264 codec or you can quick convert using the iPod and AppleTV presets.
7) iChat: just addicting. I use this to video conference with my sister and nine year old niece, who has an iMac. With the screen sharing ability, I can connect to their computer and demonstrate anything they need help doing.
8) Third Party Apps: People say there aren't any apps for the Mac, but that isn't true. Some of them are even free. My favorites: Adobe Creative Suite, Cyberduck, Path Finder, Handbrake, Adium, Google Earth, QuickSilver, VLC, etc.
9) Time Machine: Those days and constantly worrying about the state of my hard drive and backing up manually to external drives are over. Unlike most users, I backed up my stuff often, but Time Machine just frees me up to do other things now.
10) Boot Camp: Yeah, yeah, you PC people have games, but we have games for OS X and games for Windows, thanks to Boot Camp. We also have Linux. We can, like, install anything we want to dude and it all runs natively. The greatest thing is, I don't use Internet Explorer when I'm in Windows mode, so I don't get exposed to all those cool viruses out there.- digitalpencil, on 03/14/2008, -5/+45While i'll agree with your sentiment, it's a fallacy to suggest that OS/X doesn't crash. It does, perhaps less than its Windows counterpart but it crashes all the same, all OS's do. Ever heard of a kernel panic?
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -16/+4I've had a Mac for five years and it has never crashed. I'm sure it has happened to some people, but never to me. I've had apps crash, but that's all. Safari crashes on Digg sometimes. Quicktime crashes when I run raw Mpeg files, but other than that, I haven't seen it. When you're a Windows user (as I was for 10 years), you come to accept that operating systems crash, but OS X just hasn't done it to me... yet.
- digitalpencil, on 03/14/2008, -2/+9Yeh, i've only seen KP twice, both times it was routed to Azureus' failiure to manage memory correctly. But I stand by what I said, they do crash.
- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5I once accidentally opened EVERY program on my MacBook... including all of CS3... my computer got slow as hell for a few minutes.. but it successfully opened every program.. and then closed them when I told it to quit...
Note to new users: when dragging all your apps into XSlimmer... try not to accidentally double click.......... lol
The only kernel panics I have seen were hardware related (unseated ram, bad video card, etc.)
- lucasmaximus, on 03/14/2008, -0/+9I've been using XP, Linux and Solaris for sometime. Guess which one never crashes....
It is XP and Solaris, I never have had a bluescreen except when VLC managed to chew up all my ram when playing HD content.
Linux crashes when coming out of hibernate or sleep.
XP is pretty solid if you have decent hardware and drivers. - joe122370, on 03/14/2008, -1/+1uh, no. The OS has never crashed on me, only crappy 3rd party apps
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -16/+4I've had a Mac for five years and it has never crashed. I'm sure it has happened to some people, but never to me. I've had apps crash, but that's all. Safari crashes on Digg sometimes. Quicktime crashes when I run raw Mpeg files, but other than that, I haven't seen it. When you're a Windows user (as I was for 10 years), you come to accept that operating systems crash, but OS X just hasn't done it to me... yet.
- chingy1788, on 03/14/2008, -5/+12Quicktime on windows just dies every now and then
I use Quicktime alternative- dukeeeey, on 03/14/2008, -3/+7yeah quicktime is pretty much pure *****
especially the h264 support. Apple rave on about how they are supporting h264 and how fantastic it is. Then they only partially support h264 so when you use any other features any other standard encodesr support, it just gobbles up huge amounts of ram before crashing. Way to go.- absentmindedjwc, on 03/14/2008, -0/+5correction... quicktime on windows is pure *****... but it is ***** awesome on OS X... with Flip4Mac and a Quicktime Codec pack.... allowing it to play almost anything (more than VLC, if you get the right pack...)
- joe122370, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1because you're using it on an inferior OS, thus why it crashes on Windows
- chingy1788, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1no
Its a marketing ploy by Apple to force you to use their highly expensive equipment
Purposely put bugs in the WIndows code and keep the good code to themselves
Then have the Apple fanboys tell everyone how good it is on a Mac
- chingy1788, on 03/14/2008, -0/+1no
- dukeeeey, on 03/14/2008, -3/+7yeah quicktime is pretty much pure *****
- Shogi, on 03/14/2008, -25/+311) Flat out false, I've seen it happen and had it happen to me.
2) Personal preference, several third-party windows programs can set up the same easily.
3) Adobe Premiere. Does everything Final Cut does. Layout is the same too.
4) No viruses? False. There are, just not that many of them. Most people who write viruses are probably hardcore PC fans that run Linux or Windows and wouldn't touch a Mac long enough to write anything for it.
5) Also on PC.
6) There are similar components available for PC.
7) MSN does video conferencing too.
8) Most of the ones you named are also available for PC, plus there are thousands more for PC.
9) File recovery tools may not come built into windows, but they are easy to use once you set them up. I will grant you that Time Machine is nice.
10) Anyone still using IE is either a moron or a sheep. I can install Linux if I want, but I have no need to install OSX because between Linux and Windows, OSX has nothing I need or want.
___________________________________________
Reasons why PC is better:
1.) Games, 'nuff said. Sure you can Boot Camp into windows, but no way in hell are you gonna get the same performance.
2.) Better user interface. Now this is very opinion based, but I find the mac interface annoying, having to control click got old fast. Having all programs float on the desktop gets messy and disorienting. The standard Mac mice are horrid, and the Mighty mouse isnt much better.
3.) Customization. Both hardware and software. I can put just about anything I want into my rig, build it the way I want, and I can customize the windows interface to no end.
4.) Cost. Macs cost way too much money for the parts. And repair/upgrade costs are absurd. For the Price of a new Macbook, I could buy a WIndows laptop with better features. For the top of the like Mac Pro, I could build a PC that outperforms it, AND accessorize it.
5) Style. All macs look just about the same, aside from maybe color. That gets old fast.
6) Uses. PCs have far more uses than a Mac. For instance Macs boast their performance with graphics applications. That's nice, but what about Programming? Database building? Servers?
7) Industry standard. When you get a nice job at some company, chances are you'll be using a PC. In fact I can almost guarantee it unless you're working in some graphic design industry.
8) Third party programs. Tons of em for PC, for just about anything you could possibly want, and some you probably don't. I've got the Mac dock bar, a sidebar, multiple desktops, widgets, shell replacement, visual theme program, and a host of other useful things.- modsuperstar, on 03/14/2008, -7/+11That mouse argument is so old. Macs can utilize pretty much any usb mouse on the market. I haven't used a 1 button Apple mouse since 1999.
- logandurand, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1The fact that they ship such a terrible mouse with their computers says a lot about their design philosophy, not to mention how they see their customers.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -24/+191) You say Macs crash (even though you obviously don't have on) and yet in five years, my Mac has never crashed. So we'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm not saying crashes can't happen, but it's extremely rare.
2) You say the UI on your PC can do what Macs do by downloading third party apps, but Macs have a better UI by default. I don't have to download third party tweaking software.
3) You say Adobe Premiere is just as good as Final Cut Pro and that's complete baloney. Adobe Premiere sucks. I should have been more clear about why I love Final Cut Pro. I work in the film industry and in the film industry, we use 2 different products for movie editing: Avid and Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is gaining wide acceptance in the film industry.
4) You say there are viruses on the Mac and cling to the security through obscurity myth. Listen, there are no viruses for the Mac. I don't know where you get your information, but a virus has to copy itself and infect a computer without the permission or knowledge of the user and spread through other computers over a network or through the internet to truly qualify as a virus. No such thing exists in OS X. There are several reasons for this:
A] Mac OS X users don't run with administrator privileges. Until Windows Vista, almost every Windows user had all privileges to install and modify their OS at all times. Mac OS X, on the other hand, always has users run without such privileges. That means you have to type a password to install or change any critical system software. That minimizes the damage that Web or email-based malware can do. And unlike Windows, there is no compatibility requirement for ActiveX binary code insertion into the user or kernel environment via the Web in Mac OS X.
B] Mac OS X has less spaghetti code. Ask any security guru and he or she will tell you: a simpler software model is easier to secure than a complex one. Any Unix has only about 200 entry points into the secure kernel environment. And while there are many libraries in the Mac OS X system, most of those don't have enough privileges to do anything really bad.
C] Mac OS X mail doesn't automatically run attachments.One of the poorest security decisions that Microsoft made was that back in 2000 or so, it configured its Outlook and Outlook Express mail systems to automatically execute script code on incoming HTML email without any user action required. This was one of the big vectors for virus proliferation earlier this decade. Microsoft has since patched that problem, but it remains a headache for the entire Microsoft ecosystem because unpatched systems still exist. Meanwhile, Apple mail systems have never run attachments or HTML code automatically, so this very common vector for virus transmission just doesn't exist in the Apple world.
D] Apple can actively manage and verify its hardware Apple doesn't need to sacrifice security for compatibility with a million different hardware configurations. In fact, as we've seen in its latest Leopard launch, Apple actively prunes the number of hardware configurations it supports. And Apple has demonstrated with its iPhone that it is no stranger to locking down its hardware/software products to guarantee a good user experience. As a result, Apple doesn't have to provide insecure compatibility interfaces for old hardware or software systems -- and therefore can minimize its threat exposure.
5) Yes, you can get iTunes for Windows, but iTunes runs better in OS X, that's why I listed it. I constantly hear complaints from people running the Windows version. They all say it sucks up too much RAM, but I kinda think Apple did that on purpose.
6) Okay, fair enough, you can get TV Tuners for PCs. I don't know if they work as great as EyeTV, but I'll take your word for it.
7) The video conferencing in MSN sucks compared to iChat. You just won't know how much easier it is until you use it.
8) You say PCs have more programs and they obviously do, but the quality isn't the same. There are thousands of shareware type programs that absolutely suck. Futhermore, here's a quick list of Mac programs you can't get for your PC.
Final Cut Pro, Shake, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color, DVD Studio Pro, Cinema Tools, Compressor, Logic Pro, Main Stage, Studio Instruments, Studio Effects, Aperture, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, NeoOffice, iPhoto, iChat, iWeb, iCal, iMovie, iDVD, iSync, EyeTV, Toast, HighDesign, Pixelmator, WireTap Pro, QuickSilver, Stickies, Preview, Photo Booth, Font Book, Apple Mail, TextEdit, Front Row, Automator, Expose, Spaces, Dashboard, Time Machine, PathFinder, Yojimbo, BBEdit, MailSmith, iShowU, Stomp, RapidWeaver, ChocoFlop, OmniGraffle, OmniFocus, OmniPlan, Freeway, Teleport, Pulpmotion, CandyBar, Coda, Unison, Transmit3, Twitterriffic, Cyberduck, ForkLift, Swift Publisher, Adium, MemoryMiner, XSlimmer, Yep, Colloquy, ShutterBug, Ulysses, Xcode.
In Addition to the Mac only apps, we have PC apps like Quark Xpress, Avid, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere, DreamWeaver, Flash, Acrobat, Corel Painter, GIMP, OpenOffice, Word for Mac, Excel for Mac, Powerpoint for Mac, Entourage, Lotus Notes, Eudora, Pro Tools, Cubase, Maya, Blender, ArchiCAD, PowerCADD, Cinema4D, Lightwave, LightRoom, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Audacity, Reason, SketchUp, VectorWorks, ZBrush, XMind, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Camino, FileMaker Pro, iTunes, Quicktime, VLC, DivX, Perian, Handbrake, Google Earth, LimeWire, Azureus, Skype... the list goes on and on.
9) I'm glad you agree with me on Time Machine.
10) Yeah, okay, you say you don't use Internet Explorer, but can you uninstall it from Windows? No, Microsoft makes that impossible. It's integrated into the framework so that you can't uninstall it. That's exactly why Microsoft got sued. In OS X, on the other hand, I can easily delete Safari and use alternatives like FireFox and Camino.
Let me address some of your other points.
1) I don't understand why you say I wouldn't get the same performance running Windows on my Mac. Please explain. Windows runs natively on a Mac. The only thing Boot Camp emulates is the BIOS, because Macs use the more modern EFI, but once Boot Camp has finished kick starting your Windows partition it runs the software natively. PC Mag actually came out and said that Vista runs better on Macs.
2) You say you hate control clicking! When was the last time you used a Mac. 1998? You don't have to control click in OS X and you can use any HID compliant mouse with your Mac. When I originally bought my Mac, I used my five button Microsoft Optical mouse and it worked perfectly. The Might Mouse is great by the way. I love that little stroll ball. Absolutely fantastic.
3) You say I can't customize my Mac, but I can customize the hardware my Mac. There numerous options for hard drives, video cards, processors, when you buy a Mac Pro on Apple's web site. You can also upgrade all your hardware using third party hardware manufacturers. I know there's a big myth about this, but it isn't true. The only thing I probably couldn't change is the Logic Board. And by the way, I know all about building computer. Before jumping to Mac, I used to build all my PCs off of PriceWatch.com. This was before NewEgg became all the rage, but I bought my last Mac hard drive from NewEgg. Great site.
4) You say Macs cost more, but that isn't true. I did a comparison a week ago between MacBooks and Mac Pros. This is what I came up with:
First of all, let me say that I priced laptops that had almost exactly the same specs as the MacBook. The Dell laptops with 13.3 inch screen had no option for 2 Gigabytes of RAM, so I defaulted all the models in the comparison to 4 GB. I also couldn't find an HP laptop with a 13.3 screen, but I think the comparison still proves my point. I also defaulted the Dell and HP models to Vista Ultimate because as you probably know, OS X comes with ALL the features in one version. There is no Home or Professional edition of OS X. This is what I came up with:
Dell XPS M1330
13.3 inch display
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Vista Ultimate
4 GB RAM
200 GB hard drive 7200 RPM (No 250 option for Dell)
CD/DVD Burner
128 MB nVidia GeForce 8400M GS
Price: $1,824.00
MacBook
13.3 inch display
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
OS X Leopard
4 GB RAM
250 GB hard drive 5400 RPM
Double-Layer SuperDrive
144 MB Intel GMA X3100
Price: $1,799.00
HP Pavilion dv2700t
14.1 inch display
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2
Vista Ultimate
4 GB RAM
250 GB hard drive 5400 RPM
DVD/RW Double Layer
128 MB Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS
Price: $1,884.99
In the Mac Pro comparison, I also sought out machines made by Dell and HP that had similar specs. Because it was so difficult to find a Dell with specs above Quad level, I defaulted all the processors to around 2.8 GHz Quad processors, which is the lowest processor that Apple offers for their Mac Pros. This is what I came up with:
Dell XPS 720
2.93 GHz Intel Quad Core
Vista Ultimate
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
CD/DVD Double Layer Drive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $3,529.00
Mac Pro
2.8 GHz Intel Quad Core
OS X
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
Double-Layer SuperDrive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $2,599.00
(Note: Apple's default model is a 2.8 GHz 8-CORE model, but there is an option for a 2.8 GHz QUAD model for $500 less if you go to the configuration page on Apple's web site.)
HP Blackbird
2.93 GHz Intel Quad Core
Vista Ultimate
2 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive 7200 RPM
Super Multi-drive
nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
Price: $3,540.00
I would address your other points, but I've already taken up too much space. And before I hear any criticism, I am well aware that you can build desktops for much lower than the ones shown here, but the majority of people DO NOT build their own computers. My purpose is to show that products with similar specs from competing PC manufacturers don't offer desktops that are priced significantly lower than Macs. Macs just seem more expensive because outside of the Mac Mini, Apple does not cater to the low end market. If you want to use the car analogy, Dell and HP are like GM, which makes both low end Buicks and high end Corvettes. Apple is more like BMW, which makes only high end sedans and roadsters. In other words, there are no Mini Towers in Apple's lineup, but if there WERE, they would likely be priced just as reasonably as their PC rivals.
Furthermore, in my opinion, Macs trump the PCs in this line-up because you have the added ability to run both Windows and Linux natively, which gives you access to ALL software and games on the market. So if anyone wants to understand WHY people may prefer Macs over PCs, you might want to consider this.- gquaglia, on 03/14/2008, -5/+10Who has time to read your ridiculously long post.
- brufleth, on 03/14/2008, -4/+3I like when you compare pre-built computer systems to macs (that are different of course). That was classy. You could have toned it down a bit and maybe you wouldn't look like you were grasping at straws.
- jakem1, on 03/14/2008, -4/+6You say you work in the movie industry but you must be ***** slack to have time to write all that crap. Let me know which movies you've been involved with so I know to avoid them.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -4/+5@jakem1
Not to brag, but I made 50,000 on my last project, so I can afford to take a few months off. I'm here in LA, so I like to surf. It'll be warm enough so that I don't have to wear a wet suit pretty soon.
And also, I like to write stuff like this. It kind of kills that Mac users are idiots myth. - dirtyfrog, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4I stopped reading at your definition of virus. I am assuming your definition is because your into video editing and didn't go to school for computer science/engineering where you would have covered the diferences between a virus, worm, zombie, trojan horse, etc. Actually even if you were some what of a technical computer user I would expect you to know that there are different types of malware.
- clak, on 03/14/2008, -2/+3@dirtyfrog.
You just proved my point. Viruses aren't the same thing as Malware. The only thing that has hit Macs in the last seven years is the Ultracodec malware, which requires Mac users to actually install it for it to work. And even though I've heard of this Malware, I don't know anyone who has actually been a victim of it. No traditional viruses have hit Macs running OS X because of some of the security features outlilned above. - MisterEX, on 03/14/2008, -1/+4I'll admit I don't have time to read everything you wrote, but I will clarify that there have been 2 Mac virus unleashed on the world.
- modsuperstar, on 03/14/2008, -7/+11That mouse argument is so old. Macs can utilize pretty much any usb mouse on the market. I haven't used a 1 button Apple mouse since 1999.
- digitalpencil, on 03/14/2008, -5/+45While i'll agree with your sentiment, it's a fallacy to suggest that OS/X doesn't crash. It does, perhaps less than its Windows counterpart but it crashes all the same, all OS's do. Ever heard of a kernel panic?