There are certain perennial debates amongst the technical community, constantly revisited with differing outcomes for each person. Linux vs. Windows, KDE vs. Gnome, Mac vs. PC – they are unwinnable arguments, and although the outcome varies overtime with each successive release or new piece of hardware, they consistently gain our attention. When presented with the opportunity to borrow a Macintosh for a little over a month, I jumped at the chance to resolve one of these debates for myself. The question was: Can the Mac replace my PC?
The specs: Apple didn’t skimp on the unit they sent me: it was PowerMac G4 with dual 1.25 Ghz processors, a 120 GB IDE hard drive, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, a “superdrive,” which can record DVDs, a 64 MB video card, gigabit Ethernet, a 17″ flat panel studio display, and a fresh copy of Jaguar, Mac OS X 10.2. Total value, according to Apple’s website as of today: $4298.00.
The Challenge: Can the Macintosh, with no training, technical books, or prior knowledge, replace my PC running Windows 2000 and Red Hat’s Psyche?
The Background: I am not a standard PC user. I’m a network engineer, proficient in Windows, NetWare, BeOS, and Linux. I have set up complete domains from scratch, I understand networking and the components in a computer. I am a power user, and that makes me different from much of the audience targeted by Apple’s Switch campaign.
Fair warning: This is a fairly long, honest review in an untraditional sense. I didn’t write it in one sitting, it was written over the course of a few weeks and it includes lots of information is a disorganized but linked fashion.
My G4 arrived via FedEx in a beautiful box which pictures the contents in full color. Everything was packed perfectly. Setting up the Mac is easy, there’s a monitor that connects via a standard cable, a keyboard that connects via USB, and a mouse that connects to the keyboard. Booting the PC proved the first challenge – it gave me a classy white screen picturing the Apple logo, but it wouldn’t boot. I decided that this loaner was likely unused and therefore unformatted, so I set about installing Jaguar from disc. When I couldn’t get Jaguar to install, I decided to install OS X and upgrade to Jaguar. That didn’t work either, neither install could find a volume to install to. I decided I had to open the case. Painfully scared of voiding the warranty, I found the culprit – the IDE cable had disconnected from the hard drive, probably during shipping. This was the first point against Apple. Because the challenge was from a power user perspective, it was forgivable, but I still marked it in my head.
On reconnect, I successfully booted into Mac OS x 10.2. I was prompted to set up a user, password, and some preferences and then I was let loose in MacOS-land. The interface is not unlike any standard interface, more like KDE than anything else in that the “kicker” resizes itself to fit the icons. The desktop is clean, a la Windows XP default; everything seems to be ready to go.
The dynamic animation present in the OS at each step is immediately noticeable, the system updates icon began “dancing” to notify me that there were updates available for download. The update function works like Windows Update and Red Hat Network, it simply goes out and installs the updates with your approval.
MacOS runs smoothly. That’s what I noticed first off. There’s very little waiting, very little fussing, very little Ctrl+Alt+Del/End Task for behavior control. But from moment one, I had a some problems with the Mac, most notably – the mouse. The mouse has no buttons – rather, the entire body depresses to function as a single button mouse. The world has accepted the multi-button mouse, either two or three buttons, and scroll wheels are pretty much standard fare. Why Apple insists that single button is acceptable for their elite machines is beyond me, but
it immediately annoyed me.
My PC is an AMD Athlon 1700+ that runs at 1540-something Mhz. I have 512 MB DDR RAM. It’s got a 32 MB GeForce 2 GTS video card. In following, I’d expect the G4, running dual 1.25 Ghz RISC processors and a video card with twice the onboard memory to be noticeably faster. This was not the case though. My immediate feeling was that, loaded with expensive hardware, the Mac performs about as well as my PC. With all the complaining about Microsoft puffing their system requirements to bolster their relationships with hardware vendors anxious to sell more modern hardware, OS X seems to truly use every bit of what it’s given. Let down by the lack of supersonic speed, it certainly didn’t feel slow, but I have to acknowledge that this Mac is more powerful than most, and certainly more than I’d ever buy for myself. Certainly, it’s fair to assume that I might notice a slowdown on a more affordable machine.
Launching System Preferences, I immediately found that configuring the system was a breeze. The Mac jumped right online, and making the desktop look like I wanted was more than intuitive. Setting up MacMail was also a breeze. Since my webmail account is POP3 enabled, I hopped on and pulled down my mail without a hitch. MacMail is actually a nice program – not so much better than the equivalents in other worlds (Outlook Express, Mozilla Mail, Evolution, KMail), but certainly an attractive and matching app.
iChat, which is an AIM tool, is clearly one of the cooler Mac apps. Taking AIM to another level, it mimics conversation bubbles. Sherlock, the so-called “service provider that happens to use your browser,” is Apple’s answer to Ask Jeeves times 10 – ask Sherlock anything, and he can supposedly do it. I won’t get into making DVDs or using iPhoto or many of the other benefits of OS X, because there are scores of applications and features for which one should commend Apple’s product. But this review is not of the awesome superpower applications that come with OS X, it’s about the whole product.
What’s much more impressive than the apps bundled with MacOS is the installation of new software. No Installshield or Red Carpet or Red Hat Network to fool with. Simply download the file, decompress it, drop the directory in your Applications folder (or any folder, really), and BANG!, you’re ready to go. After downloading Fire, an e-mail chat program that can connect to MSN and Yahoo as well as AIM, I found it took me just seconds to get the application to run. In the day and age where disc space is so cheap, I think it’s smart to just have all necessary files in the same directory with the application. Should make programming and installing easy. Do most users care if they have a duplicate library, dll, or config file, at probably 4k, or even 4MB, installed? Probably not. This is the best and simplest application installation possible for a power user. While app installers like IRIS and Click-N-Run are probably the least work, I had complete control with Mac installation – I wasn’t confined to any defaults or preprogrammed file structures. In my book, this method, also used frequently by the BeOS, my favorite. It’s a real plus for OS X that software installation and management is so easy. Deleting most apps is as simple as deleting the folder it’s in.
Finding applications to install for Jaguar is not hard. Apple offers downloads on their own site, there are websites, most notably, macosxapps.com, a FreshMeat-like Mac counterpart. It’s generally pretty easy to find “Stuff-It archives,” which OS X can decompress a la Windows XP’s zip handling capabilities. I was glad to see OS X also handle zip and tag.gz files (it failed to decompress my .rar files.) A simple Google search will show you that many sites offer downloads of Mac apps. The UNIX-based core and inclusion of GCC make it possible to download source code and compile applications locally. Most apps, however, are easily installable via drag and drop to the folder of your choice within your file structure.
Speaking of file structures, the Mac is UNIX-based. Based on a (now dated) incarnation of FreeBSD, your Mac is super-stable. In fact, I experienced exactly ONE error the entire time I was in possession of the Mac. But what’s most clever about OS X is how it hides its UNIX underpinnings from you. In fact, if you didn’t know you were running on UNIX, what you’d see is a list of directories that look like logical divisions – like Applications. Masking the directory structure is a great thing for users. And for power users, like myself, it took virtually no effort to find a way to browse the actual directory hierarchy.
Let’s talk about “power users.” They’re not developers, at least in the traditional sense. I write a lot of PHP, but I’m not compiling anything for the most part, and I don’t need an IDE like Visual Studio or anything – any old “text editor” will suffice. They’re people who want to understand what the OS is doing without getting into the internals. They want to know how to troubleshoot to the detail when something is wrong, but not write their own patches to the OS. They’re people who are very loud about what they want from their computer, but usually can’t do too much to actually make that happen.
OS X has helped me understand a lot about what I actually want from an OS, and I think that I represent a good portion of people – said “power users.” I know that I want a polished UI that makes choices obvious. I know I want the advanced options generally out of sight but not buried. I want an easy way to launch applications and an easy way to kill them if they hang or eat up my memory. Jaguar does most of these things well. But most importantly – and this is the key to everything for me – I want the OS to be instantly responsive.
“Instantly responsive” might sound fine and dandy in description, but it’s much harder to actually deliver. To me, “instantly responsive” means that the OS responds to me without delay, without second guessing me, and without thought. I’ve griped before about the mouse in Linux; a premiere Linux authority tells me that the nature of the X Window system and lack of multi-threading prevent the mouse from feeling responsive. Linux based OS’s tend to feel a step behind. Windows does a greater job with the mouse but demands a lot of RAM to maintain responsiveness. And if an application crashes, even with all the advances of late, it still can swallow up the half gigabyte of RAM it’s been given.
OS X’s biggest problem is that it’s slow. And if you take nothing else away from this review, it should be that. OS X is slow. Even with incredible hardware, as I said, it just about compares to the speed of Windows. Even Linux, installed with all the bloat – Gnome, KDE, etc. – when running on the same hardware, is about as fast. The dual processors made a lot of the complaints I’ve read virtually transparent, such as Window-resizing delays, but nonetheless, the whole environment feels like it’s playing catch up to my will, and to me, this is killer.
Mac computers are gorgeous – no doubt. Since they retain the hardware specs, and therefore, a lock on the hardware on which Jaguar will run, they’ve done a great job at making said hardware sleek, modern, and fancy. They’ve done a lot of work to make the computer look like a futuristic device. Gone are the kernel messages and the terminal like prompts as the computer boots. It’s been replaced by a sharp stark white screen with a classy blue apple in the middle. The Mac knows what to do because there are so few options. Apple has designed the system from the ground up, so there is very little chance that anything unplanned occurs.
That’s all fine and good, but let’s just get to the meat of it, shall we? What makes Mac users so fanatic? What makes them appear to be an exclusive cult? Is it such a life-changing experience that people feel compelled to doodle apples on their notebooks and put decals on their car? Mac users are a community, and for that, you must acknowledge a certain satisfaction being in the Mac crowd. This community is not like the Linux community, which in my experience, is tiered, judgmental, and, I’ll even say i: elitist. The Mac community welcomes “newbies,” not shuns them and makes them feel stupid, unvalued, and generally unloved. I thought for sure that after a month with a Mac – a top of the line model, at that – that I would either be a die-hard Mac fan, saving for a Mac, or at a minimum, won over by OS X. I thought I’d be knee deep in a society of PC users who love and respect their hardware, software, and fellow users, and feel loyalty to a company that has done well by them.
But I’m none of the these. And although some will claim otherwise, it’s not because Windows has spoiled me or defined my expectations.
Apple has gone to great lengths to research user behavior and and user interface. Their much discussed Aqua interface is clearly attractive, although I find its behavior, after weeks of use, more show than action. While it’s very professional and sleek looking, at times, it feels like what it actually, like many Linux applications – a GUI front end to a much more powerful system underneath. With Jaguar, Apple has introduced the Quartz Extreme graphics engine which claims to render graphics at breakneck speeds. Although apparently successful, the OS is general is graphics heavy. While more attractive than Luna, for example, the transparency and animations are definite eye candy, and it’s RAM that, frankly, I could spare for more complex operations. In my opinion, while Jaguar looks like the most modern OS on the market, it also feels effortful at times. Even after weeks of use, the Mac environment felt alien to me. Not that it’s so obscure, just that it feels less natural to use a panel that doesn’t have an expanding “Start-menu-like” drawer. I feel more “at home” in Gnome and KDE.
Some of the tricks OS performs will impress many. For instance, when you use the yellow “minimize” button equivalent, the application will jump down to the application panel and reside in a thumbnail view. While “cool,” it’s annoying after awhile. Soon, these “features” begin to look more like tricks with tradeoff. In fact, when I became aware that the Mac wasn’t winning me over, I became almost jaded. I wanted so much to love my Mac, and it wasn’t impressing me. I had high expectations – maybe too high, and they were simply unmet.
However, there are plenty of features I did like. The best feature I can brag proudly about is that when an application is started, whether you close the app using the X or not, it doesn’t kill it from the memory. You’ll need to use a keystroke combination or actually choose Quit to kill it rather than click the the close button. This is a neat idea. Let me explain. For Mozilla users, or better yet, for anyone who uses Java applications or apps like Openoffice.org or StarOffice, you’ll notice a delay in starting these applications. However, launching a second Mozilla window, for example, barely takes a second. By keeping some of the program loaded, you’ll only experience these “startups” once per session. Of course, you can close them if you want, but it’s nice to launch, say, a Navigator browser window and not have to wait for the next succession of windows.
While Apple, with Jaguar loaded PCs, offer a great system, I hope it’s just a step, because at the price, unless you’re a multi-media author, it’s simply too expensive. Users each have special needs from their computers. I know that I use my computer primarily for web surfing, e-mail, office documents, and web development. I also know that not everyone has the same wants or requirements that I do. Some computers have specialized purposes and excel at those things specifically. Some try to be everything. Apple has offered up the Mac as a solution for everyone, and while gorgeous and smart in some subjects, it didn’t impress me as such. If it were a high school student, it would be good at art and might be voted homecoming queen for it’s looks, but it probably couldn’t serve on the debate team, be captain of the football team, or pass that damned Trigonometry class.
I know this has been a long, convoluted, stream-of-consciousness review. I know it’s covered many aspects in detail and virtually ignored others, lingering on some points longer than it should. But over the course of my Month with a Mac, I found myself simply drawn back to my PC. For the same money, I can build myself one hell of a PC, be just as productive, run twice as much software, have tons of OS choice, and not be slave to the will of any one company.
In summary, if that’s possible, the Mac is clearly loved by many. It presents the cleanest, sleekest, most modern interface I’ve seen to date. It provides UNIX-proven stability, ultra-modern flexibility, intuition, and friendly animation unlike any other computer system available. However, doing the job best has to be proportionate to the value, and Mac’s hefty price tag along with some of the (admittedly trivial) pet peevish annoyances along with an untraditional layout left me PC hungry. While the Mac and Jaguar are compelling, for my buck, I’m content with the PC alternatives. Can the Mac replace my PC? Nope. But check my desktop in 2005, we’ll see who wins this challenge yet.
Wow 200 posts.
This story was SUPPOSED to be written from a typical PC users perspective. All PC users are used to a 2-3 button mouse, hell I have 5 buttons on mine, and I use every one hundreds of times a day. If I switch to a mac, I get a 1 button mouse, yes, I can upgrade and buy a new one; but I just spent $3000-$4000 for a computer, why should I be upgrading something when its right out of the box?
He did mention how “pretty” the hardware was, and that access was second to none. Personally, I own a $4000 PC (WAS 1.5 years ago). I didn’t go MAC because I wouldn’t get as good release dates as the PC would. Furthermore, upgrading wise, my athlon motherboard supports processors from all the way back to thunderbird days to thoroughbred. Can’t say that about any other system.
You are attacking him as if he writes this professionally, its his opinion, THAT’S ALL IT IS!!! He gives reasons for everything, you may just not like his reasoning, and that’s fine; but its an opinion people. He even gives you mac zealots a complement by calling you a “nice community”, but what you exhibit here makes me want the mac so much less.
He says the operating system is great, he has no complaints; but when his 1-2 year old hardware feels better to him than a brand new mac, somethings wrong.
I personally found the article informative, he was very descriptive in how the OS looked, how it performed, and everything else. I know about UI responsiveness because I’ve seen windows 95 on a non-586. And I’ve played around on linux, where at times UI response is annoying, especially if you’re in a hurry. Please respect these hard working volunteers and don’t trash them. Don’t attack their ideas. And for Christ sakes don’t argue with his opinions that’s stupid.
i love them both, and i reckon teh tibook is soo much nicer to look at…
but the software for it, is just, well, lacking…
also, i can still burn cd’s on either machine, no problem whilst doing anything else at the proper speeds, even though the i8200 has the CDROM (cdrw+dvd)UNIT (AKA Combo drive) on the same channel as the HDD,
also it is ata100, i believe the tibook is ata66.. as stated on apple website, fast ata66… oh boy..
still glad i bought it, some days i want a fun machine to use.
cheers
Mark
No, we wouldn’t, because every Mac story on OSNews generates trolling and flames. I’m not going to argue that they’re “designed to”; I think it’s known that they’re going to, but that’s not a reason not to post them.
I’ve suggested there’s a bias here in the past and I’ve gotten a fair amount of debate for it, some of it deserved; I’ve liked the revived OSNews and certainly give Eugenia 100% of the credit. Nonetheless, I think it’s accurate to say that all news organizations–including volunteer news sites–develop points of views, and that part of OSNews’ point of view is that Apple overpromises and underdelivers. Generally, their Macintosh stories keep reflecting that. And, while Eugenia may get wrathful when I suggest that her feelings about the Mac color the editorial policy here: the reality is that she’s pretty much defined the editorial policy here, and despite past protests (I think directly addressed to me months ago, in one case!) about her actually liking the Mac, you can’t get much more precise than her statement “I don’t like it” above.
As for trying to argue a distinction between “94% of the computing world can’t be wrong” and “you have to be compatible with that 94% of the computing world to win them over”: I’m sorry, but accepting the second requires accepting the first–and it essentially requires accepting Windows as the One True Operating System, relegating all others to, at best, curiosities. There’s a case to be made for that viewpoint, sure… but a site whose focus is alternative operating systems isn’t, honestly, where I’d expect that case to be made.
If you’re coming from a Windows perspective, the lack of mouse buttons is a no-point. PCs have shipped with two-button, even three-button mice since before there was an even remotely useful GUI for those machines.
The first Windows version which gained any adaption worth mentioning, version 3, and which BTW continued to dominate the PC market until late 1995, only used one button. The only use for the second mouse button I could find in Windows was selecting the background colour in M$ Paintbrush. That’s a very good use for a second mouse button, but it doesn’t really prove the usefulness of having two mouse buttons in the system in question.
Windows 95, which BTW is about the same system as the ones currently in retail, started to employ the second mouse button in some context menus. Apple solved the context menu problem by letting the user press the button a bit longer. Not an optimal solution, but the right button remains rather limited in its usability in Windows, some new uses due to UI redesign notwithstanding.
Apple have after all invested more in UI research than anyone else, and during Lisa/Mac design, everything between one and three buttons were debated, finally settling on the single one so as to alleviate user confusion. And it works fine for 90% of computer users. The rest might consider using another platform, but Apple has been the way for non-technical users since 1985. A pity those users don’t realise that. =)
As for X, there is, just like with everything else in X, no coherency about anything in particular, so of course you must have three buttons.
it’s clear from the article, and especially from the posts that follow, that readers and reviewer alike didn’t care to judge the Macs on criteria that they would apply to any other system. Were it a Dell and the damn cable came off, it would have been a bit of tinkering and a comment on how astute the new power-owner is and how lame the shipper was. And the mouse issue – the mouse is a clear indicator on the fairness of the review. If the reviewer blows this, then he’s obviously not going to give the Mac a chance. It’s an old joke by now – and if you’re such a power-user, please…unplug the damn thing and plug in a Logitech as I have (on both my Dell and Mac).
These Pseudo-reviews aren’t really good, in any sense of the word. They just demonstrate how brain-washed people are on both sides of the OS fence. The reviewer clearly had an axe to grind, and the masses have their own. Mac users are generally incensed and PC users are arrogant – can YOU talk to these people?
This wasn’t a fair review. And the responses are generally trash, each trying to keep their meager edge. Why bother?
as far as costs go…
when it comes to computing, alot is based on the QUALITY of the hardware, not the speed,
thats how intel made it big, offering microprocessors very cheap,
thats where microsoft made it, offering OS’s very cheaply
now days we say its expensive but it is NOT it is dead cheap to buy macosx or XP whichever, i mean if it wasnt for either of these companies we would not be at the rock bottom prices of today,
i never saw a problem with mac charging the prices they did a few years ago, all there hardware was custom, and worked quite well, on the x86 side of things, there was alot of cheap poor quality stuff around (and still is) as it is not strictly controlled under a Quality testing of the OS making company, hence windows is sometimes unstable,
however i do have a problem these days with mac pricing, till recently they offered most machines with SDRAM, and ATA66 drives, poor quality (as per price) sound, and now, very poor quality screens.
spend the same ammount in the x86 world, and you get very good soundcards, audigy anyone? very good drives ata133?
very good video cards GF4 ti4600? better than the ti4200 etc, which is given with most top line macs by far eh,
i think there flatscreens on the tibook are pathetic, i spent a few hundred more and got the 1600×1200 uxga ultrasharp monitor on my dell i8200 laptop and it is SOOO much better,
apple made there fans by providing consistant fast good quality computers with a very well integrated OS,
nowadays i cant see the value in the hardware side,
they used to have scsi as standard, then they went to IDE, as it is cheaper, and just as fast… (nowadays)
i am glad to see the tibook 1ghz, as it has decent specs, even a ati 9000 video card, (i commend apple on that choice) its the only mobile video card that knocks my GF4 go 64mb off its pirch, (ati9000 also available from dell now)
but anyways,
i think people understand where i went with this,
macosx is a fun OS,
but the underside i think deck out a pc with the DECENT hardware, (as in spent the same amount on a PC as on a mac)
and mac zealots have nothing over a pc, except there preference over the OS, which is better is your choice, choose it well, because your stuck with it on that architecture, (dont give me lame excuses, emulators to do not recreate the experience, so dont even start)
best regards
Mark Ritchie
PS i know i didnt go anywhere with this, but something to think about
It takes effort to remove those borg implants that redmond has pushed into you. Stick with it, you’ll “get it” before too long.
Usually about the time the bloke in the cube next to you hoses his hard disk with some damn VB virus.
Stick with the Mac, it’s not easy sometimes, but it pays off. Within a few months you’ll be looking down through your nose at Windows plebs too.
MacOSX is just all around better, better standards compliance (yup, Windows is NOT standard and never will be – they bastardize everything just enough so that it won’t work well with the rest of the world) Apple does not spin out products that deliberately break compatibility just to lock you in, they build products that are designed to just work.
Hook up your Mac to a Windows or Unix network and see how much of a good citizen it is. NFS mounts, BootP, Apache and a whole slew of other stuff.
Start button ? WTF ? that was never a good idea to start with. That WAS the biggest complaint to Sun about star office. Too “Microsofty”.
“Yes, this may be true, but only because nobody has yet offered up a workable alternative [to MS-Windows] that runs on hardware that I already own. ”
So long as Microsoft is a power, there isn’t going to be. MS has more than sufficient influence to keep major software vendors from supporting a new platform competitive with MS-Windows.
An issue not touched on here is that many of the most important Mac apps are graphic arts tools, which still (!) work better on Macs. My impression, generally, is that Apple has lost much of its commitment to usability. Which leaves graphic artists like me in a very bad situation.
Oh, well. My pens still work.
you talk about standards, and then diss a company (sun)because they where making it follow a standard type of interface (start menu)so that people can understand what they’re doing (microsofty) sounds like a complaint from a mac user… like, why come up with this drivvle, cause x86 platform have better hardware? whilst apple PPC have the better OS, there, i have said it, everyone happy????
geez,
i would like to see…
macosx GUI ported to linux, straight away it gains SOOO much hardware support, and it keeps to a similar kernel,
darwin x86 is okay, but lacks hardware support, release that on the world and apple would make ALOT of money, the geek population out there, although small% still consists of a huge number of people, but i would hate to see what happens to apple with the microsoft backlash….
so therefore i doubt its going to happen, i’ll keep my tibook, but not buying another mac till they use decent parts in there computers (as in my previous post) they use cheap parts with huge markup,
used to be okay back in the day, as they used good quality parts that not normally found in a desktop pc, decent sound, and scsi hdd, very good video, but i dont see apple hardware (any part of it other than the case)nearly as good as any PC hardware..
because, you can buy what you want in a pc, cheaper and faster, but thats the price you pay for not having such a nice OS,
I thought the review is interesting. And given that it was provided in the perspective of the writer, the opinions are valid. Why? Because they are his opinions. Reviews are subjective, and to believe otherwise is folly.
But rule number 1 when dealing with Apple products is that Apple users must be dealt with kid gloves. A lot of the Apple mystique is tied to identification with the brand. People with Macs identify themselves with their computer, much like many people identify with their cars. Most people don’t take it too well when you make fun of their cars. A “heated backlash” was inevitable.
Having said that…
1 – The IDE cable is a valid complaint. One of my friends is a die-hard Mac user. I constantly hear about how the “fit and finish” of Macs kills the x86 world. It’s like comparing a BMW Z3 to a Ford Escort is a typical analogy I hear. So the cable impacts negatively on two commonly held perceptions of the Mac – “It Just Works” and “Unrivaled Fit and Finish”.
2 – The one button mouse. It’s a valid complaint, because the reviewer is role-playing on the “switcher”, not a computer newbie. If I remember correctly, Option-click was a “hack” that appeared after Windows 95 became popular. I switched to Windows after System 8, so it’s been a while. But Option-click wasn’t always there. Yeah, you can buy a better mouse, but after paying thousands of dollars for a computer that _COMES_ with a mouse, why should you have to buy another one?
3 – The software. Yes, Apple includes excellent bundled software. On their own, the iApps probably are superior to their competitors on many levels. On the other hand, I’ve survived nicely with MusicMatch, ACDSee and Pinnacle Studio (which I think is much better than iMovie in every respect other than price). Yes, Final Cut is awesome and only available on Mac. But guess what? Final Cut was available on Windows until Apple bought the company. Hmm, this reeks of Microsoft-like behaviour. Don’t tell that to a Mac fan though.
Macs seem to be getting more ground in Estonia here, which is in eastern europe. Macs are used in TV shows, we use Macs mostly in the studio running Final Cut and Photoshop, I’ve got a 800mhz Powerbook (not my own, studio’s) at home where I do most of my work. Too bad that it doesnt integrate with the Estonian language too well – õüäö are still pretty awkward. If you use a PC keyboard, you wont get the special mac keys, if you use a mac keyboard, you wont get the special estonian keys. Sucks. But it’s true what they say – MS Office is actually pretty nice on Mac OS X.
But yeah, Macs are a good therapy once Linux pisses me off again
>Yes, Final Cut is awesome and only available on Mac. But >guess what? Final Cut was available on Windows until >Apple bought the company. Hmm, this reeks of Microsoft->like behaviour. Don’t tell that to a Mac fan though.
i agree,
what has a OS’s usability got to do with the underhanded tactics of either company, i mean linux moving to linux i can understand from such a point as it is mostly OSS, and therefore much LESS of these tactics happen
both apple and microsoft are corporations bent on increasing marketshare and profit, they do what they can, microsoft is under a lot more scrutiny because even its users have a brain in there head and look at more than 1 side of every story… also the world is focused more on MS than APPLE,
apple users are so die hard… so dedicated, that they fail to see the bigger picture,
they’re happy with what they have congratulations sit in your own world,
i am a mac user, and i like the experience, but i have other tools at my disposal, and i have to say, i like to have a choice of software to use, and not be so limited,
port MACOS to linux, (or freebsd or whatever)
get WINE/WINEX etc, working and lets have the best of both worlds..
mac wouldnt fail they’d still have the diehard fans after there computers, as MAC users LOVE apple, they are very loyal, i’ll give them that… but they wont because they wont have a MONOPOLY on there own system (read: yes they also do underhanded business tactics to keep macintosh on there own propriety systems…. at least microsoft lets there OS be run on any hardware config…
also today i discovered that apple disabled use of external DVD writers with there own video editing stuff, as it was MEANT to be used with the internal dvd writers they sell, and they stopped the release of the unblocker drivers.. (i’ll even get the artical i read if requested..)
is that underhanded i think so….
hehe, my surname Ritchie is of scottish decent, its a sept of the “Macintosh” clan…
though i am not a mac zealot,
hehe,
NOT RELEVANT, OFFTOPIC, I DONT CARE,!
I’ve been a PC user since the early 90s. My first PC was 486 DX/33. I’ve been through MS-DOS 5.0 to 6.22 and Windows 3.1 to Windows 98SE. I’ve tinkered with Linux, QNX, BeOS, and other OSes in this time. I’ve built my own systems since the time after my first purchase, and learned a lot about PCs. I transitioned to AMD before the bandwagon.
Two years ago I was moving into the dorms at school and was looking to get a new computer. To be honest, there were four things that drew me to a Mac. It looked cool. It had no floppy drive. It was pretty simple to carry to school. And it was a Mac. My reasoning was that no one would want to use.
I purchased an iMac DV model. I hated OS 9 from the get-go. I didn’t know how to work it and it wasn’t “my Windows.” Overtime, I adapted to getting around in it. I still used my PC at home on the weekends. I never thought it would replace the PC as my primary system.
It was earlier this year that I made the transition to OS X (10.1, now 10.1.5). Again, it took some adapting to the new interface. My roommate even made comments about OS X being lame. However, we both grew to prefer it over OS 9.
Well, this summer I moved back home and I didn’t have room for both computers. Thus, I opted out of the PC and gave it to my roommate. It’s kind of funny, but he whines about how he wants a Mac all the time. Now, my platform of choice is the Mac. Are the some shortcomings? Sure, but none that I could see convincing me to switch back.
Of course, by now, I am a Mac advocate so I read stories about switchers all the time. I also read articles about the “tryer-outers.” This time, after reading some of the posts, I felt it necessary to respond.
From the get-go, the author ruined some of his credibility with me by assuming Apple would ship a system without an OS installed. Sure, the system wouldn’t boot, but assuming that and then trying to install Jaguar? I felt this is a little far-fetched for a “power user.”
Next, the mouse issue. I complained about this one myself, but I have come to enjoy the ease of one button. I find that Apple and many developers learn to develop the UI around this. Plus, hands on keyboard most of the time, I like shortcuts over jumping to the mouse and right-clicking. The old Apple slogan comes to mind. Think different. I think those who use a Mac, do think differently. Not better or worse, just differently.
Next, I run on an older iMac now. It contains a G3 450 in it. I have 384mb of RAM, and don’t see the sluggishness most people talk about under OS X. Sure, the beach ball comes up occasionally (90% of the time in IE). Overall, I don’t “feel” the OS being slow. Especially not any slower than Windows ever felt to me.
Now, I browsed over here from macslash.org. I tend to give Adam the benefit of the doubt on his review, and don’t really think he was lying. However, his claim to be a “power user” is questionable in my opinion. I don’t claim to be a “power user,” but see some of his processes from problem to solution to be a bit out there. This, of course, is my humble opinion though.
I would like to make another comment here though, in regards to Eugenia. I see your posts as largely biased. Even, hypocritical. It seems as if you are saying people can say bad things about Macs and OS X, but they dare not say it about Windows. How about a balance here?
After all, if there are 94% of the users out that agree Windows is the better platform then the Mac/OS X users should be significantly out numbered.
The remaining 6% of us will persist in thinking differently, and never being tied down by the status quo. We will push the envelop and make the world a better place for the other 94%.
Just my humble thoughts.
6 months ago I had to sell my PC for financial reasons with the intention of buying it back when I had money. In the meantime I used my gf tangerine ibook 300Mhz 128MB RAM with OSX.1.
A couple of weeks ago I bought a new Windows XP laptop. A Sony Vaio with twice the memory and 3 times the processor speed. I never thought ‘wow, this is so much faster’ and I found having to bend my thumb back to click the right mouse button far more annoying that having to cold down ctrl.
I then tried to plug in my old USB scanner. Windows XP showed me the BSOD and rebooted… no kidding! It works now though with downloaded drivers.
Whenever I cancel my dial-up if the line is engaged or something and try to redial XP says that the device is already in use and won’t change until I reboot.
These things would NOT happen under a mac.
All this coming from a PC user for 13 years.
I always wanted a Mac, but even in 1987 when I bought my first computer they were overpriced and instead I bought an Atari ST, the “poor boy’s Mac”. Ever since Atari imploded I wanted to switch to Mac, but the price always deterred me. It took me a while to realize that Apple likes its elitist, cult image. Despite the current switch campaign, Jobs is pretty content with his 2-3% market share. Otherwise he wouldn’t have killed the Mac clones and would port OSX to x86 where he could really grow market share from all of us many M$ serfs who would just love to switch if we didn’t have to buy a truck load of overpriced Apple hardware. It’s my opinion that Mac OS’s and software have always been superior to anything available on M$ Wintel, and probably always will be. And I constantly beat myself bloody fighting with audio on wintel and promise to reward myself with a Mac that can actually do it without all the headaches. Until I look at the price tag, and all of the hardware I would have sitting around collecting dust. I wish Jobs really wanted to increase Apple market share. And put Mac prices where they would convince me to switch. Finally.
You are wrong:
If you go to http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/spainstore?family=iBook
You will see tha an ibook@700Mhz is 1274€ and if you look down in the page you can see:
“Precios incluyen los 16% de IVA y excluyen los gastos de envío”
Price includes VAT, but not shipping. But you get free shipping if you buy more than 50€
Apple has designed the system from the ground up, so there is very little chance that anything unplanned occurs.
Yeah, like modems mysterially not working, or mouses and keyboards suddenly stop responding till you unplug and replug the keyboard…. or your Cube casing starts going all mouldy….
One advantage of building the hardware and the software together is that you target a small audience of hardware, unlike PCs where Windows XP itself can’t run on a lot of hardware. But the machine is assembled by the same people who assemble PCs. Taiwanese.
This community is not like the Linux community, which in my experience, is tiered, judgmental, and, I’ll even say i: elitist. The Mac community welcomes “newbies,” not shuns them and makes them feel stupid, unvalued, and generally unloved.
You must understand that most of the Mac community are the same kind of people as the newbies. So it is way easier to be nice to newbies coming from Windows to the Mac than to Linux. If I was a long time FreeBSD or Solaris or <insert whatever non-Linux *nix here> migrating to Linux for the very first time, I can be said as a Linux newbie. And the community is way more supportive of this group of people.
Apple has gone to great lengths to research user behavior and and user interface.
And threw it all away with Aqua :-). Had Apple used Platinum, add a little eye candy (not to the extend of Aqua), things would be way way better, trust me.
This is a neat idea. Let me explain. For Mozilla users, or better yet, for anyone who uses Java applications or apps like Openoffice.org or StarOffice, you’ll notice a delay in starting these applications.[…]
I think it is a stupid idea. When I close all of the windows, I expect the app to be closed. If I don’t want to go through the initial startup time, Windows has something called Quicklaunch, where OpenOffice and Mozilla takes advantage of.
This review was OK but there is a slight bias against Apple. The reviewer made some valid complaints (speed, mouse, etc.) but then followed his “stream of consciousness” too far and obviously isnt familiar ENOUGH with Apple’s history, and maybe not Windows history either. Not super-heavily, but it’s definitely there. It’s the same tone I noticed with Eugenia’s earlier article about OSX Jaguar if memory serves.
Basically, it’s a bitterness, and it has ALOT to do with pricing. The reviewer comes off to me like that guy who bought a Toyota Camry and then constantly convinces himself why it was practical to skip on the Mercedes, as if to keep his mind off it. Obviously this is not a apples to apples analogy and cars are much different from computers, but its the same TONE based off of what people can and cannot AFFORD. I am lucky because I can buy a Mac without worrying about the price so this makes it painfully obvious to me when pricing skews a review…this happens with Apple critiques all the time.
I have a Linux, Windows 2000 and Mac OSX on three SEPARATE and MODERN machines at home. I have used all three systems for years, and am as close to “objective” about this topic as nearly anyone could be. Each system balances the other out.
If the author is really a power user, which its clear he is not, then this article would be longer and more thought out, and his conclusions of why windows is preferably would be more developed. A whole MONTH of apple, and only three pages? I used to write hardware reviews we would write at least 3-5 pages per DAY, or at least finish the article within a day or two. This smells of volunteer journalism or shitty pay and bitterness.
Anyway, done with my rant.
Evan: Every common application I use is just as good or better then a windows counterpart.
For me, no. I much prefer Office XP to Office v. X, for example. Why? Although the latter looks way more gorgeuos, it is completely annoying. Dialogs popping up everywhere, *eek*. Then, there’s smart tags, which is IIRC not available on Office:mac (if it was, they sure hid it well).
Evan: That is what I like about OS X, on windows there are tons of crappy applications out there.
But there’s a lot of good apps out there too. For example, Jasc Quick View Plus, not available for Mac. Or *grin* Opera 7 Beta?
Evan: Many of which carry viruses/spyware/etc that people get tricked into downloading for their new PCs.
Stupid people are people that download stuff from unreputable places. If you download anything from Download.com or ZDnet or Tucows, you can be assured there’s no viruses. Plus, apps that contain spyware, like KaZaa also have spyware on their Mac version. Bummer.
Evan: I would not spend a dime on the desktop systems personally, the laptops are so far ahead of PCs in power, battery life, and design and are cheaper or similiarly priced.
Power? Kidding? The top end PC can beat the top end laptop PC anyday. Design? Kidding again? You prefer a laptop keyboard and trackpad to a fullblown keyboard and mouse? Cheaper? Senile? Maybe for Macs they are cheaper, but for PCs, they are way for expensive.
SJS: What that should have been was a plus, as to how easy it was to open up the case compared to the typical PC.
Those $10-15 beige dollars ATX cases, maybe, but those from Dell, Alienware, etc. are far more easier to open than the PowerMac.
new users get mouse buttons confused, and if all you need to do most things is just one button, then provide just one button.
Somebody at Apple is underestimating the consumer market. Even my mother knows the difference between a right and left mouse, albeit now she gets confused between the right and the middle button.
But for so many cases one have to Command-Click just to get the context menus, newbies is better off with a two button mouse. And what’s wrong with scroll wheels?
matt: Face it, if you MUST have windows installed you are a slave to microsoft.
If I must have water, I’m a slave to my water provider? Man, modern-day slavery. If you don’t want Windows, you can just dump it, something a slave can’t do. The caveat for most users is they can’t do their work as good as before.
matt: But wait you’re a badass pc user who builds your own machines, a disconnected cable should not be a peeve.
Yeah, because I built it myself, so I’m practically the manufacturer. But if I order from any store or company, and it had a disconnected cable, it is a peeve.
Evan: meant comparable to PC laptops.
Ahhh, I still disagree with the power, battery life, style. If you want the same power as a mobile G3 or G4, a Pentium III-m Low Voltage would do it. Great battery life. All notebooks using it looks gorgeous. (metalic finish, a way to get to my heart :-). iBook is the only Mac I would consider…
Darius: so unless I can rent one for a week or two for about $50, the Mac loses by default.
There is leasing. I’m not sure about American prices, go to store.apple.com to find out. There is no charges by weeks, by months only, IIRC.
spider: Can you back that claim up with real number please? If you can’t then please stop thinking for everyone!
He wasn’t talking about hardware speed but responsiveness. BeOS was a very responsive OS, everyone I showed it to was impress. (Had Be marketed it better, it is bound to succeed). Now, not too many people are impress by OS X’s responsiveness. It makes KDE 2 on a 120mhz Pentium MMX with 32mb look fast.
ryan: The apple is fast enough for joe/jane word/web user.
Yeah it is. But the market Apple is ultimately targeting is the higher end. New markets like audio, and trying to secure their niches in print and video. Speed matters there. And plus, while it is fast enough, OS X is still not responsive. All the Mac users I know personally use OS 9 for that very reason.
Spudnuts: Complaining about the OBM is like complaining that the license plate holder on your new Porsche carries the name of the dealership.
Wha’s wrong with that? Completely bad analogy. Having your dealership logo on the license plate holder won’t hinder your driving experience, and probably not your style too. OBM does hinder your productivity.
How do I buy that Workstation 530? There’s no “buy now” button.
Go to Dell.
Michael Smith: I think that it is unfair to expect a MAC to provide an instantly more productive experience than a windows machine.
But after a month, I would expect that, shouldn’t I?
Chris: The fastest Mac processor is NOT faster than the fastest PC processor, but most of the other parts are EXACTLY THE SAME except for the one thing that sets them apart…
I beg to differ. For the same price, you normally get a faster and/or bigger hard disk, faster RAM, better GPU, and/or better sound card.
Chris: Apple uses the higher quality versions of those parts than most PC manufacturers on ALL their systems instead of just their highest end systems.
I beg to differ. Yeah, if you buy a $200 machine from a unknown maker, expect terrible quality. But for Dells, for example, uses good parts and is assembled well.
Chris: I feel absolutely no need to upgrade to a P4 3GHz.
Well, I have a Duron 1GHz, and I want to get a dual Athlon MP 1800+. Because I need the speed because my apps need it. The reason why you don’t see the need to upgrade is that the software haven’t catched up.
Chris: Obviously you have never seen the inside of a Porsche or ridden in one. It’s the elegance and high quality parts that make up a Porsche that make it a PORSCHE…
I have been in a Porche once, but been into plenty of BMWs, Mercs, etc. to know what you mean. But in some many cases I find PCs are more elegant that a Mac. (elegant as in look goods as well as feels good). Don’t expect anything from a cheap ATX beige box and a cheap monitor.
Rayiner: It’s not comparable to technologies like EVAS or the Longhorn D3D GUI.
I don’t think you should compare with Longhorn, after all you never tried it, no technical info is available and QE may have improved by time Longhorn is out.
ryan: What are you saying that we need more bloated software? Or are you saying that we need more software/applications to take advantage of the processor speed or both.
No, more features to take advantage of the power. Notice professional apps have no trouble taking advantage of more power. Features. Not bloat.
I love Linux and have been developing in it for the past 5 years, but my Mac can do it all, plus more. Sure it’s not as snappy as Windowmaker, but I don’t feel that anything on my PC is – not Gnome x.x, not Kde, not, well, yah, I guess TWM is, but..
I have a funny story about the OBM thing. The author didn’t like his and fine, but he also didn’t mention that it’s literally a non-issue to replace it – even with the one on his Intel box. On my other old work mandated windoze dev box, replacing this even most basic piece was an issue. When I plugged in my new usb mouse and kbd, win2k provided me with all the annoying ‘new hardware found’ boxes. and with that, the stupid wizards to install the new hardware. However, being that I unplugged my ps2 stuff, windoze was not smart enough to just install it and use the new stuff – my new kbd and mouse wouldn’t even work! so i had to plug in the old ps2 kbd so i could tab to the ‘Next’ button and complete the useless hardware detection wizards. On my tibook, I plugged in the exact same kbd and mouse and they just worked. No annoying messages, no nothing. Just ready to go. That’s what I’m takin about and that’s what windoze will prob never do – just work.
I have a completely biased perspective as I have never owned a Mac, and have been running Windows for a few years. My question is, what exactly makes Macs so much better then Windows?
I could understand and completely agree with the stability issues back with Windows 9X/NT, but Windows 2000 and Windows XP have never crashed on me, and any program hang ups are easily fixed.
I’ve read that having too much software to choose from in a bad thing? This makes no sense to me. How can having too much of a choice be bad thing? Sure, there is lots of bug-ridden spyware/adware/whatever available, but there’s also a lot of really good software out there. Using the wealth of software as a complaint also seems to contradict the issue of Microsoft having a monopoly. Microsoft can’t include middleware because it’s stifling competition; yet when other companies do make the software, it’s also a bad thing… Who is suppose to make and distribute the software then?
Regarding the hardware issue: on the one hand we have people criticizing Windows because it’s takes longer to install a digital camera. It’s wonderful that Apple users can do this, and, if it’s true that Windows can’t do it, it’s obviously a valid point. I myself don’t own a digital camera (although I am shopping for one if you have any suggestions), but when seeing my relatives or friends load pictures onto their windows computers, it doesn’t look difficult. From what I’ve heard about Apple, transfering from a digital camera is a breeze, but what about the wealth of other hardware available for Windows? New videocard, soundcard, ethernet, burner, tv tuner, etc… If we’re trashing Windows for not supporting digital cameras perfectly, I think Apple computers can be criticized for not supporting a plethora of other hardware. Some have made the arguement that this is actually better for Apple because it ensures the system is stable. This point falls along the lines of the software arguement. I don’t see how having the option to install so much hardware is a bad thing anymore then having the option to install so much software is a bad thing. Sure, some hardware sucks, but I’d expect a little research to be done before making a purchase; in that regard buying a computer or a computer part is the same as buying anything else. There are good products and bad.
My last couple comments refer to the Apple GUI that receives so much praise, and the mouse. The Apple Aqua GUI is a beautiful thing. I don’t know how responsive it is on an Apple, but using StyleXp, AquaDock and a couple other programs to have it on my Windows machine, it’s a pleasure to behold, and responsive as well. I suppose that’s also a indication towards of how having a lot of software available for a platform can be beneficial. Regarding the mouse, is it at least an option to have apple not include the mouse? I can understand the arguement that Apple is pushing the one button simplicity, but knowing you’re going to have to buy another mouse even before you buy the Apple in the first place is something of a downer if you do want a scroll mouse, 3 buttons, whatever.
Lastly (I hope), is regarding what kind of computer users we’re talking about here. I’ve read a lot of criticism of windows because it’s too difficult to operate, setup, etc… the digital camera is one such example. That indicates to me that we’re discussing about new users. These are assumptions of mine, but if someone was looking to purchase a new computer and didn’t know much, a big part of the process would be trying to keep options open in case this person doesn’t like the computer. Which will run more hardware? Which will run more operating systems? If I do like it, can I upgrade? Can I focus on one aspect such as programming or games, or media? What platform has more options available? Also, both Windows and Linux are aggressively gaining new users by donating their operating system to schools. I don’t think Apple is doing this, or if they are, it’s not getting nearly the amount of publicity.
That’s all. Please, bash is feces out of my post.
Oh, and cost IS an issue. Money is always an issue. If you mock someone for buying a PC instead of a mac because of the price, be willing to foot the difference for them.
yeah well, ps2 is old legacy, geez,
what can you expect, apple has control over the ports the mac has, and have long since forced a ditch of most legacy parts, disk drive, etc….
but in the PC world there is still a transition period,
we ditched ISA, and are slowly ditching the rest… but many people still have older pheriphials they wish to use… many motherboards come without these ports now in favour of USB varients…
i know first hand how pissed off people get with Apple with ditching legacy stuff, changing standards.. its good for newbies, but what about those people without printer drivers, etc…
similar happened with XP/2000, but the companies catch up fast.. we’re yet to see many epson drivers ported, and any older pheriphial never will be….
legacy… goodnight and good riddence…. but some need it..
i’m going to bed..
i’ve had my rant..
thanks everyone for participating,
cheers
Mark Ritchie
Kicked my Tbird 1.4ghz to the floor and used it as a nice table for my dual 867mhz G4. Do I notice the slower response time? Sure. Do I notice that I spend more time USING the computer instead of patching it up? Oh yeah! It’s not about first impressions with a Mac.
buy a 3 button mouse? I did. What did I find out? a lot of the functions I then hoped to find in the right-button context menu wasn’t there and still had to be accessed in the menubar. Conclusion: buying a 3 button mouse is a halfassed conclusion.
speed? 1GHz is enough for everything I’d usually do. But they have to be used right. I don’t run Photoshop filters 24/7 at home. I want a fast and responsive UI and while it did get speed up over time it’s still sluggish.
A shiny interface? Sure, I like it. I would like it even more if it wouldn’t waste horrendous amounts os screen realestate just to look good. And what about multiple workspaces? The add on applications to achieve this either don’t come with a good feature set or are rather expensive shareware which I did not try. “buy it if you want it” no, deliver me a computer with the basic features I need. Apple doesn’t. Their OS feels sluggish. They are far more expensive than PCs in europe. I switched to FreeBSD/Gnome2 not long ago. The PC I built for it cost me half as much as a comparable Mac while having a wider variety of ports (Firewire, USB2, serial ports, PS2, …) and also being small and nice (Shuttle SS51g case). The OS looks nice, is responsive and won’t have me getting annoyed at me being unable to do what I want as I can tweak it to behave exactly the way I want.
Yes, it takes more time and is more difficult to set up. Something I gladly did to circumvent the price of a new Mac and the annoyances in using OS X.
LOL, you are one of the few wise ones here – asking a question rather than shooting your mouth off!
There are no significant differences in hardware quality or GUI ease of use between Macs and Windows/PC’s now. There used to be, i.e. Mac System 7 and MS Dos/Windows 3.11, etc. But now, we are reduced to hairsplitting arguments about mice. Each platform has some cool features the other doesn’t, so we can take those into consideration – but they are not earthshaking.
What happened with Apple was that it was in the tank. Steve Jobs came back and saved it by cutting away all fat and then going on an industrial design rampage, beginning with the original iMac and iBook. And squeezing everything he could out of OS 9 while preparing OS X. He really did save Apple. And, of course, he tried to use this new look and all-USB Mac to poke fun at PC’s for being dull. So, there was this shift – you could no longer berate PC’s for having an inferior OS, so he shifted the attention to the industrial look and by adopting non-legacy attributes. Now, many PC makers have pretty nice industrial design and XP, so that’s pretty much been caught up with. So where can Apple go from there? Jobs has relentlessly concentrated on the digital lifestyle and Apple does offer a great bunch of apps out of the box for this. I’m and Apple user and watcher. And, aside from the iPod and “new” iMac, Apple has been pretty quiet on bringing out new products while, at the same time, running the Switch campaign. If Apple doesn’t bring out some new, higher powered stuff (and a Steve Jobs type bombshell) at MacWorld next month, then Apple, I fear wil begin to fade. I don’t want that to happen, as I steadfastly believe that a healthy Apple is good for the computing world at large – along with a healthy Linux. But, it is hard to keep coming out with jaw dropping products as Job did in saving Apple. Time will tell.
The vast majority of posts in this thread responding (or reacting) to Adam’s editorial and each other’s posts has been a disgrace. On both sides too. It is my fear that, when Eugenia is gone (which she almost is), this will be the rule rather than the exception. I hoee I’m wrong.
I do a lot of graphics and I need both the mac and the nt4_pc to share a graphics program..I think it’s called EDIT….the 2 are networked together…..I can honestly say that I can’t use just one or the other…be thankful for the diversity……….believe it or not the person with *the best* home computer in the world that I know of, is non other than,, Dick Van Dyke,, that he uses it to do 3D animations…..
People are creatures of habit and habits are difficult to remake. As a result, it would be better to test a new OS for a longer time than a month. It simply isn’t enough time to learn a new system when one is accustomed to another.
Macs are too slow and too expensive; Apple needs a different CPU. A good test would be Mac OS X on a 3-Ghz CPU. That would be a fair test of what OS X is supposed to be about. The rumor mills suggest that a much faster CPU is on the way, perhaps from IBM. Once OSX has had more time time to mature and is riding on a fast CPU, then Apple will be offering arguably the best power-user’s box on the planet. That could be as early as late summer 2003.
Apple always charges far too much for it’s machines. Check e-bay for diconinued macs and see what you think then. I saw a Powermac G4 867Mhz with 15In studio display for £1250 just last month. I think that is pretty reasonable. I love macs but I would never dream of buying one new!
[quote]I have a 333MHz iMac and a 400MHz PowerBook. Both have plenty of RAM, around 200 and 400 MB respectively. OS9 runs GREAT, but load up OSX Jaguar, and it is slower. The window resize problem is the main culprit, but startup and shutdown are slower, too. I hate to use the term, but applications “feel” slower. Launch times, file requester dialog boxes, file loading, everything. And some programs just run better in OS9, even the Carbon apps meant to run natively in OSX. So, as someone is bound to spout off, yes I’ve gone back to OS9 for my primary use, and keep Jaguar loaded for the occasional use.[/quote]
Well, duh! How many people except super-speed when running XP on a four year PC? I’ve installed OS X (10.2) on a 333MHz Mac and, yes, it is PAINFULLY slow. But let’s see how XP works on a 333MHz machine, or even a 600MHz one. Trust me, you’ll have that same molasses feeling.
What is never mentioned once is that OS X is multi-threaded, something only the latest greatest PC chips (the new Intel 3 3 GHz) can do and most Windows apps can’t even take advantage of. That means that you can render a Photoshop file, while copying files, while, all at the same time, listening to iTunes and downloading from the Internet. You can even launch 30 programs simultaneously if you want, or install four programs at the EXACT SAME TIME. Or start saving a document and, when the dialog box pops up, switch to another app, working in that for 20 minutes and THEN come back and save your doc. You can also have 30 open applications with no memory drain, hook up ANY peripheral and have it instantly recognized and function–no driver install, no restart, no problems.
Yes, it feels slower, at first, than OS 9. It’s a newer, larger application. It’s part of the curse/blessing effect of upgrading and, trust me, Macs are not only in feeling it. (Can you honestly tell me you can switch from Windows 98 to XP and NOT feel like XP is terribly slow by comparison?)
Study after study shows that, because of Mac’s (PowerPC) shorter chip cycles (7 commands to finished product, unlike a PC’s 17-22) they are totally comparable to PC speeds, even if the numbers on the box are lower. It’s so much a state of mind. A recent PC-run test comparing the Mac dual 1.25GHz to the new 3GHz PC–top of the line models each–show a less than 10% overall speed increase for the PC vs the Mac, despite the massive (comparatively) number gap.
I, personally, do graphic and video design very, very happily on my 800MHz TiBook. I usually have between 10-15 open applications at any given time and play MP3s in the background using iTunes almost constantly. I rarely ever have a glitch in the music, even when working with 100MB+ PhotoShop files or several gigabytes of video. Try that on even your best Windows machine (I have, the WinAmp/PhotoShop combo brings the whole system down every time).
Oh and, about the mouse. As a longtime Mac user (graphic designer, it goes with the biz) I never missed a two button mouse. (You can always option-click to get right button effects.) But, now that I have a three button with a scroll wheel, I wouldn’t go back. Still, it’s an easy add-on and keeping the Mac simple and easy to use is why Apple has kept the one-button mouse, it’s not a cost issue. (They’re no cheaper than the two button variety and, actually, because they’re used only on Macs, they’re usually pricier to buy separately.)
You can also buy a floppy drive for $19.95, though the only time I ever use it is for reading PC files. With USB and firewire, universal standards, Mac peripihals have never been easier to use and with OS X’s built-in CUPS printing technology you can hook up almost any printer–even totally “unsupported” ones, I’ve found–and be printing in five minutes. Scanning is still a serious issue with OS X but new scanners are OS X compatible and work well, and there are work arounds for older models. (Epson and Nikon are currently the only manufactuers I know of with full OS X compatiblity.) And, Macs clearly aren’t designed for gamers, so if that’s what you’re into, Apple likely isn’t for you.
And, as for lack of applications, yeah, the sheer number is lower but I have yet to find a PC application (other than QuarkXPress and an online postage solution) that I can’t find an equivalent for on my Mac, frequently one I find a lot better. Saying there are tens of thousands more apps for PCs than Mac may be true, but it’s pretty irrelevant, as most people only use a handful of applications day-to-day and, to be honest, most of those “tens of thousands” of PC apps are just duplicates of each other (different apps that do the same thing). There is plenty of shareware and freeware for the Mac, just like the PC. In fact, whenever I’m looking for something I think is pretty obscure a search of VersionTracker almost allows shows me that someone else has already created it for OS X.
In summary, I use my computer to work, not because it looks good or has a pretty interface. And I wouldn’t use anything other than a Mac, despite fairly extensive PC experience (both before, and after, I became a Mac user). Mac OS X was a big adjustment for the Mac community and it’s only really come into its own this past year, but once you get past the learning curve (damn those permissions) it really is the best, most productive operating system I’ve ever used. Not to even point out that almost of all of Windows advances are taken directly from the Mac platform. Heck, all of you Apple critics would be shocked to see how closely OS 9 (and even, to an extent, OS X) resembles XP. Any experienced Mac user can sit down at a PC and get quite a lot done, without once asking a question. It’s sort of like Democrats and Republicans in Washington: the fighting and bickering goes on but, deep down, they’re an awful lot alike.
No.
Enough said.
I base this statement not on personal experience (I realize that I have been trained by Windows and X to think “close window, close app”) but based on years of watching complete newbies (the kind that need to be taught how to use a mouse in the first place) unwittingly leave applications running.
Admittedly, this has actually become less important in OSX than it was in OS<=9, where the lack of a good memory model meant that if you left MS Word running unnecessarily, you might be unable to run a web browsesr or something. Imagine what happens to that kind of user when the system tells them they need to close some applications to free up memory when they think they have closed all the applications.
But how many newbies exactly are thinking “I need to free up resources by closing this application?” A good OS with a good memory model should make it transparent to users. The UI is fine. If there’s a problem it’s with the OS resource handling.
I have read many reviews of the Mac OS over the years and I find it fun to read the complaints just disappear with OSX. The ones that they complain about are getting smaller. This one button mouse, some operator interfaces from time to time. However over all even the die hard wintel users are finding the Mac world better and better.
Apple has one very important thing to work on and that is speed. Even most wintel users (the sheep) will find that the G4 will work just fine for them. However they will continue to read computer wintel geeks like Adam Scheinberg talk about how Apple is slower. And as long as people like Adam continues to write about this fault, Apple will have problems they need to deal with.
One last comment, all you wintel lovers better pray that Apple does well… what would this computer world be like if we had no Apple. Like for example the digital hub idea would still be a dream on a shelf in the wintel world if Apple had not rethink the computer concept. We all need competition!
Yes a mac can replace anyones pc and alot more
and for you video game players , get a life or get a xbox the 1 and only thing MS did right
a PC that runs only games , the only thing pc’s are good for
enoughf said
//…and install a pirated copy of xp and your done. I think it’s kind of inmoral to give your money away just for the look of aqua…//
So ..it’s immoral to pay for Mac with OSX, but it’s perfectly OK to steal a copy of Windows XP from Microsoft.
What a moron.
I develop on Mac(G4 and Jaguar) at work and use Win2K to read emails. I use WinXP/2K/Debian, and TiBook with Jaguar on it at home. As more time I spend on Mac, it feels more and more like home and I find myself doing one of th following:
+Browsing with Mozilla on multiple taps
+ssh into my Debian box to apt-get update or do some work.
+connect to WinXX and do work/fun whateve
Win??, Most widely-spread and can’t nobody argue with that whether it’s because people like it or not as money talks.(94% of the world? isn’t the big chunk of it corporate portions??) it works if you know what you are doing like the arthur of the review or power users.
And it’s CHEAP.
Linux, I like it because well the geek inside me yearns for it. I feel very comfortable inside a terminal as I’d at work. But you gotta really know what you are doing to do all the little things you took for granded under WinXX. But, under Debian, the system(package) management is way beyond that of WinXX or other Distro using RPMs.
CHEAPER if you got little spare time.
Mac(OS X), generally speaking on behalf of ‘normal user’, Mac has both. Right out of box, you can do all the stuff that you’d do in WinXX without having to install drivers for camera and so on and having to PURCHASE or download the (legal ;-)softwares and go through install process. And, its system(apps/package) management can’t be any simpler. A s mentioned before, double-click on it and drag it to wherever you want. That’s it! however you can’t keep track of installed/not installed apps unlike Debian. But then again normal users do not need thousands of apps, just few that just works out of box. For the geek inside you, you can open up Terminal.app, do whatever you were doing under linux. You can install Fink and apt-get/dselect to put X, gnome, compile from source, make install, make, or whatever.
But, one glaring thing normal user CAN NOT ignore is its PRICE TAG. It’s not CHEAP. However, if she/he spend few more units of your favorite currency, she/he can just plug it in and enjoy! Or if you are a power user and short on cash, stick to PC with WinXX, Linux, whatever. But if you can afford to spend extra cach, go get a Mac and try it.
Too long, sorry. Not a good writer.
PS: about this OBM, who do you think had the mouse first?
On Windoes scrollweel is realy needed. But on the Mac it’s not such a big deal.
On windows when scrolling a document you really have to stay on the scrol bar the whole time. if you glide of,, whoopla, your not scrolling anymore..
On mac once you started scrolling, holding down the button you know, you can glide of the scrollbar and still be in control of the scrolling.
So scrollweel is a cute toy, but mostly just a hack to cover weaknesses in windows UI.
Speed discusions were unsupported and contradictory. There were no use case discussions. The author claims to be a power user and with the exception of php coding uses the machine to a more limited extent then most newbie end-users. The value added apps were not discussed. The Unix base was not addressed, with the exception of it’s benefit to system stability.
This is an incredibly lame review… in what way does it enable someone to make an informed purchasing decision?
The wheelmouse is a break-through UI utilization since it reduces hand/wrist movement and enable faster access to information, while diminishing the excessive stress of having to move the mouse around just to scroll up/down a document.
…you must be wearing pants to cover your weaknesses…
They may be cool but they are *way* too friggin’ expensive, and I know enough to be able to put together a PC from components. The prices on everything on the PC side (processors, RAM, storage) have continued to fall through the floor. If you get out of the “latest and greatest” trap, you can put together a very inexpensive machine that a couple of years ago would have cost $4000. Combine that with a cable modem and http://www.debian.org, and it seems bizarre for people to spend thousands of dollars on computers and software. Sure, “not everyone can do that”, but there are plenty of common hobby activities (sports, cooking, woodworking, music, etc) that involve at least as much specialized knowledge and experience as that needed to assemble and set up a PC.
Betamax is still in use today. It is superior to VHS and has been used by the television industry since the 1980s. VHS _is_ crap and I am so glad it is going to die out in favor of DVD-R and digital.
I picked up a factory refurbished DP 867 about 2 months ago. Total cost including shipping was less than 1600. I had been using an iBook 600 for about a year with 10.1.2 and loved it.
Best OS I’ve ever used. Setting up the cable modem was a snap.
I’m a wierdo because I just don’t seem to be noticing the sluggishness that everybody else bitches about, although I agree about the 1 button mouse. $25 later and I had a 2 button scroll wheel Logitec optical mouse that installed w/out a hitch. (Getting the same mouse installed in W98 was a PITA.)
I daresay my G4 tower has the most HD space of any computer I’ve ever used. I can get 4 hard drives in there! (Every PC I’ve ever owned has come with 2 hard drive bays and to get more involves some nice bailing wire and spit modding.)
If you’re like me and don’t want to give any more money to Mordorsoft and can’t stand the half baked cludge that’s desktop Linux, OS X is a dream come true. I no longer have to worry about my computer illterate husband wreaking settings or downloading spyware that royally wanks everything up. He logs in and his choices have a minimal impact on what my desktop does.
My biggest complaint was the $900 cost of my 17 inch monitor (a very crisp Formac with fast pixel response). If I hadn’t come into a small inheritence I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. I can get an equally crisp 17 inch monitor for a PC for about $600.
(My 2nd biggest complaint is that ATI needs to take its thumb out of its butt and release an AIW for the mac. But that’s a whole ‘nuther kettle of fish)
I wonder if the writer tried running several applications at once? This is where the current generation of Macs combined with the current 10.2 operating system really shines. You keep opening one application after another, and it simply doesn’t slow down. And my G4/466 with OS 10.2 offloads print jobs in Adobe Acrobat faster than 1GHz Pentiums. The best case scenario is the new MDD PowerMac (867 dual/1GHz dual/1.25GHz dual) such as the one the writer reviewed — the current 1GHz model, for example, is substantially better with multitasking than the previous generation 1GHz, and obviously the 1.25 is better still. Most single applications aren’t multi-processor aware, but OS X will opt to run two applications on separate processors, given the chance, and even though the G4 support for DDR RAM is at best indirect, other features of the new motherboard design make for impressive disk and I/O performance.
<quote>VHS _is_ crap and I am so glad it is going to die out in favor of DVD-R and digital.</quote>
Don’t you mean in favour of DVD+R or was it DVD+RW… ahhhhhh…… the new SONY burners are looking awfully nice.
quack, quack, quack (apologies… its a slow day).
This is a little like having a native German speaker “test” English to see if he would like it. Whatever you learn on, you tend to favor, even if you pass yourself off as a linguist. There is anti-Mac prejudice dripping from every line of the “objective” review. I work with both and both have their strengths and weaknesses. Given a choice, with absoute creative freedom, I opt for the Mac. Working in a windows world, I just default to windows, a courtesy for non-Mac speakers, if you would. It’s not about the language, it’s what you have to say.
Is it not amazing how an article about a Mac can turn a discussion thread into a major cat fight?
Or in this case a KITTEN FIGHT! and with the same people doing the arguing OVER AND OVER AGAIN!
SHEESH!
I second the complaint about reviewers griping over 1-button mice. Buy another mouse.
And can PC reviewers PLEASE take 2 seconds to name things correctly? There is no such thing as “MacMail”. It’s Mail. Or Mail.app. Is it so hard to use the same label that’s right in front of your face?
Finally, the “feature” that you so “brag proudly” about is a core difference between the Mac and almost all other OSs. When you launch an app, that app stays open until you close it. When you open a second document or other window with the app, it opens a second document or window. It does not open yet another copy of the app. How efficient can Windows be, if it launches another copy of an app every time you want to open a file? It’s ridiculous. Wouldn’t an unbiased reviewer analyze that?
Finally (and i mean it this time) you get your panties in a bunch because window refreshes aren’t as snappy as Windows (and they aren’t) without noticing the many other productivity enhancing features such as dynamically updating folder views. How many times in their life will a Mac user hit f5 (or any key) to refresh their directory window? A: never. It’s unnecessary.
The only really good, thorough review i’ve read on OS X is on Ars Technica – search for it, you won’t be disappointed (but your eyes will be swimming, it’s very long).
Mass of PC users + Macs are better designed = Mass PC user denial.
It’s sad really.
10.2 is simply the most finished, polished, if you care about user experience OS currently in production. I used to joke about Mac OS, When I tried 10.2, Well I simply bought a mac. I have lived on linux boxen for the last four years and for what is is it’s awesome. Best server OS on commodity hardware in the world. But it cannot even begin to approach OS X in UI integration/experience. I have not met one OS geek that after using OS X did not lust after this sweet sweet OS. If you understand that an OS has a “feel” beyond specifications happiness awaits you in OS X.
to “appleforever,” and anyone else who has to belabor these points:
Mac users seem to always say the same thing: Mac is better. But WHY? Is it so unfair to say that I can build a PC with twice the hardware that runs twice as quickly and accomplish everything I need faster?
I guess I would sum it up in two main points.
1) I just seem to work more efficiently on the Mac. Alot of people hate these things but I love the dock (and the bouncing icons). The dock is incredibly powerful. It’s more than just a list of running applications and links. Want to email a file? Drag it to the email program on the dock. Little things like that are built into the whole system. The UI is IMO very efficient and accessible.
2) The internals of the system are also very accessible. The system’s guts are alot more intelligently laid out than on XP and a very powerful command line is only a click away. Most programs can be dragged around as a file (or folder) and will work anywhere. Uninstall is just as easy. There is just plain less mess to deal with.
People who think speed is limited solely by hardware have never studied ergonomics and human-machine interfaces.
I’ve had exactly the same experiences… just too slow and unresponsive… I ended up tweaking everything all the damn time. That’s why there are more than half a dozen replacements for the Dock!!! Isn’t that a clue to anyone that the UI was just thought out and it not mature enough? (The Dock is just but one example!)
Perhaps you have not done enough research and are not aware of the large amount of software available to re-skin Windows XP and completely retool the UI. Using your logic XP is not well thought out and not mature??
So, if I use my computer soley for playing games (a lot of people do) and you have acknowldged that the PC has more games, then what am I in denail of? That iDVD in OSX kicks ass? Why do I care? I play games!
Actually I was just thinking over the weekend that one of the nice things about my Mac is that I cannot play MMORPG!!
I also love it when it comes down to how much software you can run. I always have 6 different text editing programs, doesn’t everybody?
I was surprised at the amount of Mac software available on the web. Not free, of course. But, honestly, does it really matter if I am looking for a specific type of software and I can only find FIVE good alternatives on Mac OS X instead of the TEN good alternatives that might exist on Windows?
I have yet to go hunting for a particular kind of software and not find several good alternatives, all of which met my needs, to choose from.
This article does nothing that illustrate the ramblings of someone who was curious about the Mac but missed the point by comparing it to other computers, and didn’t look at how it helps/hurts the work this guy does.
Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses, but people, why do we even give these flamebait trolls the time of day?
I bought a PowerBook G4 because it lets me get my work done without interrruption. (software architect for a financial services company) The computer simply does not FAIL. I simply tire of dealing with other operating systems’ quirks, vagaries, instabilities and insecurities.
Mac just works. Period. And that’s worth more to me than anything.
From what I’ve read the main reason for the slowness of OSX’s GUI is that everything is being rendering in software as pdf files. Not sure of all the details but I would imagine that _eventually_ apple will try to get hardware accelerated video programmed. Microsoft took a better route and put the window management subsystem into the kernel and went all out hardware acceleration for the GUI via DirectX. This is what people wanted – trade a bit of stability for speed.
A bit of stability? Try going from a system that’s very stable (first release of NT) to one where IE can crash the entire computer (NT 4 through XP). By moving the GDI into the kernel MS essentially said stability was no longer a goal.
For the records, Jaguar added Quartz Extreme which enables hardware acceleration for many graphics tasks in the GUI. Unfortunately I don’t believe iBooks can take advantage of this yet (maybe the latest rev. of iBooks this month changed that though).
<http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=50000333>
After the author shows geek cred (mocking apples marketing) in the linked article above, he does some benchmarks that show
mac as not the crippled POS that some would have U believe.
(And the main point, isn’t the existence of a viable alternative in computing platforms a GOOD thing?)
http://www.aceshardware.com/read.jsp?id=50000333
Can you imagine a designer who works on hundreds of different Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks documents EVERY DAY having those applications quit EVERY TIME they close one document and then having the software relaunch EVERY TIME you open another document from the finder? Pre OSX this would result in severe memory fragmentation and sooner or later bring the system down not to mention a complete WASTE OF TIME waiting for the application to start up again OVER and OVER and OVER and…..
shoot man, i have an old machine, and it has gotten faster with every release. however, i am also a big tweaker and make the most out of my nearly dinosauric hardware (imac 400 se graphite). <p>turning the eye candy off is part of the equasion, and simple to accomplish. then for a “power user” you go to your favorite mac appz dl zone and get something like MOX optimizer and Diablotin software to name a couple. they let you toggle parts of the system that are always running, alternate fonts, de-internationalize your machine to the only langs. you need. etc. once tweaked, the mac really shines, and this is how it has always been. once i sit down on a OS 9 system for fifteen minutes and jiggle the extensions around, same thing. Apple leaves everything on by default as part of their way of making ABSOULETLY everything available out of the box. <p>if you want faster, it is well within grasp, just a couple of easy to use applications, and you’re done. <p>as einstein might say “When you are using a mac an hour seems like a second. When you sit and wait for windows to finish crashing once it’s done spying on you, a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”<p>bottom line, PC wins (no pun intended) the games and divx viewing and file sharing stuff, hands down. if you want a computer to do some fun stuff, and work like a champ, go mac.
Now that I’ve wasted half a day reading this dumb thread top to bottom… a question: I noticed that Adam mentioned that he does a fair bit of work in PHP. How come he didn’t talk at all about the built-in LAMP capabilities of the OS X box? The turning point for me back to macs was when OS X came out of the box with the abiility to code and preview using PHP/MySQL… Makes a huge difference for me. What was he missing or didn’t like about the apache implementation or being able to use more or less standard PHP installs, without the MS instability?
The previous rev of iBooks with Radeon mobility graphics chips had full hardware acceleration. The current rev has the Radeon 7500 which is even better.
Well, it sure sounds like you tried out the Mac. It seems that the machine that was provided didn’t really have enough RAM. The increase in speed is substantial when you double your RAM in these machines. So, try a GB of RAM next time.
As for the rest, well, I am truly surprised that someone that is a “power-user” that knows BeOS wouldn’t appreciate all of the BeOS underpinnings to Jaguar.
Apple is the only company that makes the mouse completely responsive. This is due to the fact that they priority for the mouse under any Mac OS is of the highest priority.
It really sounded, by the end of the article, like you were really just “missing” your familiarity with your other OSs. The simplicity of use is what Apple is selling in their switch campaign and you’ve verified that the setup of the system was easier than any other, even the ones that you are 100% familiar with. So, you’ve actually proven them right. Thanks.
Calling the article “Can the Mac replace my PC?” is completely misleading, since the article does not even attempt to answer that question. “Can” the Mac replace your PC, implies IS the Mac capable of replacing your PC. Since Macs can do everything you said you like to do on your PC (web browsing, e-mail, word processing, etc), then the answer to the question is clearly yes.
However, the question that you addressed and answered in your review is WILL the Mac replace your PC, not CAN it. This is an extremely objective question, and is based less on fact than personal preference; which is a signature mark of shoddy journalism. I suggest you change the title of the peice.
Grant, that is something a “power user” would have known though. You see, the problem is that the PC based “power user”, as described by the author doesn’t know the first thing about tweaking a Macintosh. They assume that it’s all the same and that since they know the Windows world that the Mac must be easy for them to understand. This isn’t really the case, unfortunately. The real problem is that these “PC power users” are given too much credit. They’re opinions really matter to the other sheep that they agree with. That’s OK. More for the rest of us that actually KNOW.
I hate it too when a reviewer makes a bad comment about the mouse. It’s not as if 2 buttons is a standard. You can always change the mouse.
As for the app loading, this is not a new feature, but it’s a good ‘un. RISC OS has always had the feature where a program remains in memory even when all its document windows have been closed. MS Windows used to have this feature (multiple document interface with Word, etc), but now the last document closed will remove the Word program from memory.
One button mouse complaint? Give me a break. Get the pointing device of your desire and plug it in. If you spent upwards of $4200 on a computer, a $15 two-button wheel mouse is trivial.
Speed problems? Turn off the animations and windows effects. In all honesty, I’ve used a dual 1Ghz processor Mac and it felt speedy to me. Not a problem with no tweaking whatsoever.
Disconnected IDE cable on delivery? Not a major problem for a power user, but this is definitely something that Apple execs hate to hear. It should not happen.
How did you come to your conclusion from your observations? The Mac had a gorgeous interface, performed just as well, the bundled apps are fantastic and without equal within the WinXP world (I’d like to see any PC reseller bundle an equivalent software package with the ease of use and functionality of the Mac apps), the hardware is top-notch, the update service is effortless, software installation is a model for everyone to follow, etc. Besides your perception of less than adequate responsiveness, there is nothing rational about your conclusion. I hold that your perception of sluggishness is just the last remnant of anti-Mac sentiment left. Hopefully you will see the error of your conclusion and go for the truly more advanced system.
First of all, Adam congratulations! You were brave enough to face ferocious beast – a Mac user. I must tell you I am “switcher” too: I switched from DOS to Unix. That was long time ago. I read your article with interest and I see a few weak points.
1. In the title you should add word “my impressions” so it would be clear after reading article that this is not a review (how newbie can review anything? Really) but your impressions as a potential switcher. However this is partially your own fault: you did use word “review” four times.
2. Being serious, one button mouse is something so well know and I thing that this is a part of Mac image. If I would but Mac I would expect it to come with OBM. Now not liking it I would buy three button mouse.
3. disconnected HDD is something that simple might happen to any computer.
4. I would not write about something I am not sure of: StarOffice as Java app? Same goes to OO.org
5. Now if app stays in the memory after exiting, it is rather bad memory handling that anything else. However it it possible to pre-load some libraries at lets say boot time. And that makes specific application to open faster.
6. I agree that “cool” features become annoying after while. But I must admit honestly that I am using blackbox very feature-poor WM. However I do not have time to contemplate my computer’s desktop.
In all this thread I have not seen even one constructive advice:
how to turn off annoying FOR YOU elements of Mac desktop. How to make this whole switching thing less painful. How to make MacOS X win your heart.
However after reading this and few other threads I learned a little about Macs:
– there are two programs for Mac: Adobe (including DTP) and Final Cut Pro
– all benchmarks with code optimized for Altivec are o.k. if something is optimized for SSE it is outrageous that someone even tried to use it. Imagine: benchmarks optimized for SSE and not for Altivec!
– when you do comparison of AMD/Intel with Mac remember: choose systems that makes Mac at least as good as PC.
– Mac is not a slow computer why? Because it is fast enough for me ( if you read it it sound kind of stupid )
– Mac users seem to be unable to grasp the idea that if is on one machine tested rendering time is 1s and on another 2s in real world it is comparison of one week to two weeks and that is the difference
– multitasking. From definition presented in this thread multitasking is an operation where you have 16 windows open. I thing that this is Mac user multitasking. How many operations you can efficiently control? If I do “buildworld” so this is one window (on my old box it takes 50 min) in the meantime opened PostgreSQL and xmms. Or is multitasking an operation where you have 16 idle opened?
– iStuff – you should be sorry not using it – personally I thought that these are gadgets, nice but still gadgets, not the productivity apps.
– if you are not using Mac, you are fascist (there is something about it in this thread – that was simply stupid)
– Mac is UNIX. It is like saying that Windows NT is VMS. Mac is hybrid with old userland implementations from FreeBSD, packaging system from NetBSD and Deb.
– Mac users proudly announce how many times they crashed NT or XP ar W2k. For me this is indicator that someone does not know what he is doing. If my system crashes, the first thing I check is what I did wrong. If someone is admitting that after 10 years of experience his/her NT is still unstable he/she is simply stupid. Crashes are happening and they will unless you are working on mainframe, but the sheer number of crashes reported by poor Mac users forced to work with PC is ridiculous. If I would crash so many times MacOS X, first I would ask what I am doing wrong with supposely stable system
– and then networking stuff including rendezvous. I know that this is one of the reasons to be proud of. However it is good at home and dangerous in corporate world. Any sysadmin will tell you that he wants to determine who is advertising what and what you can or cannot see. Besides from what I learned (I am not using Win) for the first time zeroconf was widely introduced in WinME (bad idea!), not found in Win2K (good) and again it is present in WinXP (really stupid, although I admit that it is ok for Home version, but not for Prof)
– There is also another killer of the rest of the world – Xserve. I would even not mention this but it seems to me that for Mac users MacOS X was going to knock down Digital UNIX, Solaris, and even Linux in the server world as well as everything else in the desktop world.
Xserve is o.k. for small Mac only shops or home users (read interview with J. Hubbard, apple engineers also are admitting that 50 connections/server that is max). So running SAMBA or Apache does not make it viable alternative forTo be more specific there is a problem with slow I/O subsystem, slow filesystem, slow SDRAM. I would like to see hot-swap NICs, hot-swap SCSI host adapters, and multipath I/O. I have seen boot off the server, and that one box pulled 30% of the server’s CPU resources for some time.
If someone is trying to learn UNIX and does not understand it at first I do not consider it as an attack on my world.
I do not think that Adam (I am trying to guess what you think) wanted to bash Mac. Each time when there is anything about Apple, Mac users are trying to defend it, even if there is no reason to be angry. It makes you guys only ridiculous. Obvoiusly he is not familiar with Mac, instead of criticize him explain how things work.
I find my ibook so much more productive then my w2k box, but they both have incredibly annoying quirks.
Finder has some sort of duplication bug in column/page views but not in icon view.
Explorer has to refresh often, opening my computer checks the cd roms too often (same sort of problem I guess)
Can do other things while burning/ripping mp3s/cds on my ibook.
CD burner fix I was given (thanks anyways kasper) crashes my system, so I still cant do anything but burn a cd on my pc.
I have trillian on my pc, which doesnt match my desktop properly (little peeved about how some windowsish skins overlap badly).
I like how ichat is so integrated (mostly the online buddy list is easily and quickly accessible), but want the other services I use msm/icq/y! in the same sort of integration, so I run both ichat and fire, depends on who I want to talk to.
Opera 6b3 is very fast, but unstable, has many bugs which annoy me.
Opera 7 is awesome on win2k, but has some annoying UI issues with the transfer window, etc.
itunes is very nice, unlike winnamp3 doesnt take forever to process a search query on my mp3 collection.
winamp3 is too slow, and winamp 2 cant handle randomization well.
Apps like system prefs and whatnot stay open when I “close” them, which is annoying as you rarely use that app. But its nice for chimera, or mail, which with mozilla on pc take either a while to load, or dont check email when mail window isnt open (did they fix this?)
VCD playing ability sucks on mac.
fink needs more support in general.
System profiler is very stupid, I dont need it checking my hardware config every time its asked for some script.
Other apps, like network utilities are nice.
When working on papers or whatever, I can save them to disk and just back them up to idisk, one of the FEW ways one can access their homework from our school’s network. You cannot goto ftp sites, etc. That finally lets me not need a floppy disk ever again.
Ive had my Ibook only 3 months, this is what I have noticed. When I use my pc it feels clunky now, the window appearences arent smooth, icons everywhere, etc. OS X is such a cleaner interface, I turned off the genie affect, and switched from colored buttons to grey, and the few icons I have on the desktop are access to storage only, not shortcuts.
When Syllable gets networking, im buying a new harddisk and installing that alone, just put my old hard disk on a share on another pc we have here and never bother with windows again.
I bought a pc cause its so stable.. since ive had it its been awesome i cant crash it even when ive tried. On the other hand ive had to repair many of my friends macs.
Anyone claiming their mac is stable probably cant use it for anything much anyway.
Seems when u use it for audio or u actually change any settings in it.. it starts to freak.
Macs crash more than pcs now days .. thats why buisnesses use PCS not macs.
I’ve been a long time user of both Mac and Windows systems. I currently own one PC that resides on a network with five Macs. The Macs simply work. The PC is idle 90% of the time, and when I do actually NEED it, there is almost always a problem. The article did point out one truth though, OSX is slow and unresponsive compared to the PC. However, we all must remember that this OS is still in its infancy. Give Apple some time to do some system optimization. Good things are yet to come. This OS is truly the most intuitive, beautiful, and advanced on the market. Every PC user that I show it to immediately falls in love with it.
Its funny how UI reviews bagged osx. Even Mac Users admit its slow. What exactly is good about it? The fact its really just unix? so why not use unix? because u dunno how?
Now its nice to think theres much point having unix there if u need it.. but the fact is if u could use it u would be. Contrary to much mac masturbation i dont see many linux ppl buying macs.. why would they linux is free and fully open source as opposed to apples much criticised upgrade fees and lack of complete source.(Free, open source and stability are the keys 2 unix right so apple has 1 out of 3 (except for the lack of mem protection in kernal mode drivers)) Apple means little to linux users.. perhaps it means something to ppl who pretend they like unix though.
Some might find it beautiful.. but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.. ill take the F1 mclaren pc thanks over a colourful combi MAC thanks. Actually i thought pcs were to be used… to be honest the fact my pc is grey dosent bother me cause i dont stare it it.. i use it i look at the screen, i dont bring friends over to point at the shinny box and go look how cool my computer is (without even needing to turn it on). I dont find endless animations to demonstrate how much cpu power and electricity i can waste.. oh wait i do run a screensaver but that nicely gets out of my way when im actually useing the computer.
After Apples dream run in marketing and the media this year.. it hasnt reached its targets and there are no droves of converts (sales prove that). Apple survives on hype alone.
PPl want a computer that works, has support for lots of devices, gives users the choice of how to use it and who to purchase software from, gets out of their way so they can get on with the job and is a resonable price.
PPl want a pc, thats not going to change. Even a million apple users claiming the mac just works wont change that.. because these days many ppl have tried a mac and seen it fail.. lies get u nowhere. Get over it and get to the truth.
1 button mouse.. sure u could buy a 3 button.. but if u just bought the most expensive mountain bike.. wouldnt u be kinda peaved it came with training wheels and u have to pay to have them removed. Even my computer disadvantaged parents went out and got a scroll mouse for their pc( from just a 3 button mouse).. so just WHO is going to buy a 4k computer and not replace the mouse? Nice work steve.. even the most powerful apple users are still considerd more novice than my parents.
As for price performance.. nobody cares what speed a computer is.. unless u use it.
A previous post said that Windows NT derives from VMS. This is not so. It derives instead from a DEC OS project called Mica–which was to be a new OS altogether. But a myopic DEC VP cancelled the project and David Cutler took 16 DEC consulting engineers with him–and Gates lured him to Microsoft.
Microsoft hardly innovates a thing.
– FoxPro? No–acquired from another company.
– Internet Explorer? No, acquired from Spyglass with roots in Mosaic.
– SQL Server? No, acquired from another company.
– C# language? No–it’s Java with C and C++ adulterations thrown in.
– Truetype fonts? No–they come from Apple.
– Firewire? No, it comes from Apple.
– Windows NT kernel? No, appropriated from DEC.
– Powerpoint? No, acquired from another company.
– Hotmail? No, acquired from another company.
And it’s only the Justice Dept which kept Microsoft from acquiring Intuit and its products of Quicken and Quickbooks Pro.
Microsoft employs an army of software engineers and yet is more of a software marketer and distributor than innovator.
Other companies are following suit. Compaq and now HP is allowing DEC’s Alpha chip to be co-opted by Intel–such as with the DEC innovation of hyper-threading. The brilliant OS of Tru64 (formerly OS/F1) languishes in maintenance mode. HP is de-emphasizing its own chips and HP/UX in favor of Intel’s Itanium and Linux. And HP is embracing Microsoft’s .Net in lieu of Sun’s superior Java family of technology.
Sun is doing the same thing–embracing Intel now over its own Sparc chip and Linux over Solaris for low-end servers.
My God–where are the true technology companies anymore? HP is becoming another Dell–a mere PC assembler. At least Apple is a TRUE computer maker–one of the last ones standing.
Whoa!
PCs aren’t used in business because they’re more stable–LOL. They’re used because of availability (of the PC, aux. hardware and software), price/financing and marketing. Intel will be spending ~ $1B on marketing this year.
PCs definitely take more resources to support–study after study has shown this. PCs definitely crash way more than Macs. For our planning purposes, we budget one support person for every 20-30 PCs and one support person for every 50-60 Macs (depending on the type of user and their applications).
In my observations, people without computers at home tend to want and enjoy Macs. People with PCs at home tend to like PCs at work. This also leads to a lot of effort on our part to keep in license compliance–people don’t understand why they can’t just borrow a corporate copy to install on their personal/home computer.
I’ve got two Macs, four PCs and 2 SPARCs at home. I’ve used Apple computers from the Apple II to the DP G4s. I’ve used PCs since IBMs first one (x86) to top-end Dells w/ P4s and AMD MPs. And I’ve used Windows since v0.9 (former VMS-er
Just wanted add a little to correct the comment on why PCs are used in business
Ol’ Tech Guy
Naah,
never said that NT derives from VMS. Sed Mac is as much Unix as NT is VMS. So neither Mac is Unix nor NT is VMS. I know that Cutler joined MS after in 88′ Digital cencelled his project Prism (hardware)/Mica OS. I do not know exact story, but never was interested in NT.
I think that in general MS is a “wrapping” company. They buy something and next sell as MS product. But is “simply works” for their business.
TechGuy, I am not sure about this PC crashing thing. I do have some linux/BSD systems on PCs and they do not crash. I do not know why?
but if OSNews wants to “gain readers trust” Eugenia needs to grow up. this isn’t high school, act like an adult. yeah most of the world runs windows (though the % is debatable) but there are more cockroaches than humans too. don’t make ’em better. you have a reason windows is great? fine. saying an OS is no good because it isn’t windows is a fine example of circular reasoning. get over it.
> The guy’s POV is just plainly stupid. His opinion is that windows is trash, and I find him a complete idiot for that.
yours is the reverse. i find you a complete idiot for that.
….i, however, should not be maintaining an image for a web site. if the image you want to show us is “childish bitch who can only support the 100% microsoft view” you are doing great. personally i find i have 4 OS’s and see good and bad points all around.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. – Aristotle
anyone know if the mac will run 3D Studio MAX or Autocad???
Is this comparison fair?
The Challenge: Can the Macintosh, with no training, technical books, or prior knowledge, replace my PC running Windows 2000 and Red Hat’s Psyche?
The Background: I am not a standard PC user. I’m a network engineer, proficient in Windows, NetWare, BeOS, and Linux.
Although the mac is a personal computer it is not a PC. There is no Intel inside, nor any Windows, just windows, and folders, not directories. If all your computer knowlege and training is on PC’s you are not qualified to review the Mac as a power user, just as another Newbie. Welcome.
Back in the days (about 1991), when Apple introduced an operating system called System 7, we learned that we could keep more than one application open at a time and that closing its window did not quit the application. Switching between applications was easy in the Finder. The Mac has no Alt key, it has an Option key. The usual modifier key for keyboard commands is called the Command key and looks like a cloverleaf. The mouse has one button (or none) but the Control key is used to bring up contextual menus and alternative behaviours for the mouse in all Mac programs and the Finder. The inspiration for the Windows “Start” menu was the Apple menu which has existed in all Mac systems prior to OS X as a user configurable favourites menu and launcher.
All of the above is learned by Apple newbies in their first few days with the Mac. Power users know heaps more, unless they have switched from PCs and have learned that all computers are PCs and all have Alt keys and closing a window means “killing” (how un-Mac-like that sounds) a program, and if a mouse has only one button then there are no other ways to use it and no other multi-button mice would work.
My point is that your comparison is not fair because you assume Power User status when you’re a Newbie to the platform. Review the Mac as a Newbie and that’s fine. Your user habits on PCs will not help you in Mac land, except in the Unix world under the hood of OS X’s Aqua. I have only ever used PCs for short periods at work to do page layout, word processing and web surfing. Would I be qualified with no training to review one as a Power User? No way. I know about the Start Menu, Alt-Tab and how to navigate in Windows Explorer and that’s about ALL! I have a fear of using the right mouse button ’cause I don’t know what it will do. Do I condemn PCs for having too many buttons? No. Do I need training? Yes.
Apple was subjected to the great wrath of Mac users when it removed the user functionality from the Apple Menu in OS X, replacing it with the multi-purpose dock. Shareware fixes are available to restore this user configurable behaviour to the Apple Menu in OS X, so I agree with this gripe about not having a “Start” Menu, but it is easily fixed.
Yes, the OS X interface, Aqua, is slow, but it is still very immature, so I would expect that you will find a dramatic speed improvement in the interface and window display by 2005 on the same hardware. I don’t agree that on a dual G4 with Altivec (Velocity Engine) enabled software that this means the operating system itself is slow – it looks that way because your test was for instant responsiveness to user input, a limited measure of a computer’s speed but a crucial one nevertheless.
Apple, that’s right, who invented the GUI? Again Apple!
I think everybody should respect this company. Now that said, I like to tell some observations I made in my 20-year computing hobby/profession.
Speed was an issue in the days that it took 20 seconds to draw an image on your screen or do other basic things. Now I feel that on all platforms you can do all these multimedia things fast and be productive.
The computer users/pro’s around me don’t like to pay for software. The users like/know only the things they can *steal*. They only care for the cheapest hardware and *steal* from the industry, not returning any money than to some Taiwanese hardware producers. The pro’s tend more to linux/bsd/ms so they don’t *steal* so much. So a lot of their arguments are just “being cheap”.
I have friends over-clocking and modding their pc’s that they don’t have time to use/enjoy it.
I fell in love with OSX for a lot of reasons. I worked with all ms versions, solaris, linux distro’s but nothing could really thrill me anymore. Since I saw OSX Í wanted to have it. Macs are more expensive but if you see the whole package (hard/soft)it’s okee. Paying $1500 plus just to play some games on a pc while you have a playstation2 with GTA vice city for a tenth and even more fun, but that is my personal view.
At least I feel I have an OS that represents the progression made in IT.
Are the linux/ms users not just a bit jealous because they don’t have a superb GUI like OSX?
The MS-ers need a pentium 4 just to keep their anti-virus software not degrading their pc to a stand still
The mac replaced my pc with a big smile on my face.
No offend to anybody, happy computing!
Doug Engelbart with ARPA and later Xerox PARC. Apple contributed later, most of had to do with menus (pull down menus, menu bar, etc…
But Apple was the first to introduce it in the homecomputer market, not?
Why make decisions on an OS in 2002 based on what companies did in 1984? That’s just lame.
Overall, I thought the review was pretty good/fair. However, there are a few blatant inaccuracies in this article.
1. If the HD cable wasn’t attached to the drive, then the author wouldn’t have seen the initial startup screen with the Apple logo. Instead, he would have seen the blank screen with a HD icon and a “?”.
2. I’m curious how he tried to install X and then upgrade to Jaguar? The unit shipped with Jaguar. Apple doesn’t send X and Jaguar, you get one or the other. And the current systems ship with Jaguar. So, if this unit shipped with Jaguar, then how did he get a copy of X?
3. Clicking on the X in the window of an application doesn’t quit the application, it merely closes the window. To quit an application, you have to a) select “quit” from the menu, or use Apple/CMD+Q.
4. The author claims he has more OS and application choices on a PC than a Mac. Completely and utterly untrue. Macs can run Classic MacOS, MacOS X, BeOS, Linux, and Windows. PCs cannot run Classic MacOS, or MacOS X. So, it seems Macs allow you to run two additional operating systems beyond PCs. Therefore, if you can run two additional OSs on a Mac, then you can run more applications as well.
Other than that, I found the article to be relatively accurate. And yes, I think the UI is a bit slower in response time than I’d like to see.
Two additional questions:
1. What did he find annoying about the minimzed windows dropping down to the dock?
2. Why didn’t he review the system against his normal everyday tasks? He claims he uses his current system “primarily for web surfing, e-mail, office documents, and web development.” They why didn’t he review the system’s ability to perform these tasks if he was truly interested in seeing if the Mac could replace his Windows system?
*Note: I’m an avid Mac user since ’90 and regular PC user as well. My personal preference is for Macs — I have a TiG4 Powerbook and three G4 workstations. In addition, I have a Dell PC and run Virtual PC with Win2K on all of my Macs.
This is for you bashers, not for those who posted level headed responses, agreeing, disagreeing or making insightful points. You bashers, who took over this thread and even moved it over to MacSlash, have given not only OS News a black eye, but also, in your blind zealotry, have given each of the platforms you defend so ardently a black eye by your behavior. Why is it impossible for many of you to just post your opinion, just lay it out without venom and malice? Many of you indicated that the author should not be taken seriously. Why do you think anyone would take you seriously with your infantile comments? If I was considering buying a computer and wasn’t sure what to get, do you think i would consider your remarks as a guide to my decision making? Ha! In all future reviews and editorials, i will defend the author, even if I disagree with him or her, against this mob behavior and crucifixion.
Basically he complains about cost and a perceived speed lag, while praising just about every other aspect of the OS, and the machine. One thing that he *doesn’t* address it the concept that when one buys a mac, they are looking to buy a quality, trouble-free computer. There is value to that, and mac users are willing to pay a little extra for it.
Another thing he neglected to mention is that while macs may cost a few hundred bones more than PCs, mac users are buying computers that are *not* disposable. For example, a user can hang onto a mac for YEARS and *still* sell it for hundreds of dollars. So two years later, a mac user can sell their box for $500, while a PCer might get $100 (if they are lucky).
That blather about the mouse and the disconnected cable just indicates how little negative ammunition there is against the mac.
mick e is out
I’ve kept my mouth shut for a while now, watching people carry on all over the place, half wanting to respond, but half laughing and at how upset people have gotten. I’ve let their reactions speak louder than their responses.
But although I couldn’t care less what the extremists over at macslash have to say (and not all of them are extremists), there are two points I don’t want OSNews readers to be confused about.
1. Despite what you hear, there is no “?” screen. The conspiracy theorists who’ve said I’ve simply lied about this surely know more about Mac than I, but they are wrong about this – I know because I experienced it. I don’t dislike Macs, nor do I have any axe to grind, I’m telling you it happened, and I don’t care much whether anyone believes it. I lived it. I know I’m right.
2. As truthintruth above says, “Apple doesn’t send X and Jaguar, you get one or the other. And the current systems ship with Jaguar.” Well, again, another knowledgable Mac user, I’m sure, who’s simply wrong. I received two sets of disks with my Mac. A vanilla restore disc baring no mention of 10.2 or Jaguar, which appeared to be plain old OS X, and a boxed version of Jaguar. Don’t believe me? I don’t care. I’m telling you what happened, if you choose to not believe it, fine.
As for the other points brought up, I think it’s clear what’s occured here – people feel personally slighted and they’re lashing out at everything and anything – my accuracy, my writing style, my honesty, my character — my sexuality, for crying out loud! Sure, it’s probably only a very small percentage of Mac users that are so relentless and inflexible Mac, that find it so incredulous that anyone could prefer anything else, and they remind me of “that crowd” you find with any OS – the Linux elitists, the BSD purists…in the end, my life isn’t so much about computers that I have time to get upset about it. So, I’m putting this baby to bed. Say what you will, anyone who has gotten upset or fanatic about this – you’ve missed the point and I suspect you’re not rational enough to read anything fairly anyway.
Peace,
—
Adam Scheinberg
osnews.com
mick e is not charring your article, which was well written and thoughtful in many ways. He just wanted to point out some additional aspects to mac ownership that are not wholly understood by PC users.
Buying a mac, in many ways, is like buying a quality automobile. There is an intuitiveness that comes with it, a form factor that is desired, and a resale value that makes your purchase worthwhile. You get what you pay for, and with a mac, you get more.
Sorry about the “blather” comment, but it really did seem like you were reaching a bit on those two points.
Adam: Others have tried to enlighten you on this–apparently to no avail. There is no choice between Jaguar and OS X. Jaguar IS OS X.
Jaguar is simply a marketing moniker that Apple gave to a particular version of OS X–namely version 10.2. Previous versions of OS X are just that–previous versions of OS X.
Also, Apple does not ship multiple versions of the OS as part of a packet or software bundle with each new machine–no more so than Microsoft ships Windows NT 4.x and Windows 2000 in the same bundle.
If Apple shipped you multiple versions of its OS, it did so only because you are in a position to review or benchmark the software–but this is not its general practice.
Now I’m TELLING you this as a Mac-platform power user with a fair degree of Unix fluency.
By the way, not everyone in this thread is a zealot who cannot speak with a civil tongue; a number of people here have raised thoughtful points. Why do you not then respond to them in good faith?
For example, when you promote yourself as a network-centric power user and yet you say nothing about OS X’s networking (preferring instead to focus on the crucial one-button mouse issue), why do you not answer those who call you to account for this? Or when one person points out that while you may be a power user under Windows, it doesn’t instantly make you one under the Mac platform, why do you not address this point as well? Are these not reasonable points for debate among people of good will?
You don’t have to answer, of course. But you are not infallible; and if one purpose of this forum is an exchange of views in which we can each learn from the other, why do you not respond to these points specifically? Instead, from where I sit, you take a defensive posture and call others cowards because they dare not include their e-mail address. That’s not my idea of a productive comment or thoughtful response. Is it yours?
Let me amend my previous post. I don’t have the quotation right in front of me, but if Adam did not call others cowards explicitly, he certainly did so by implication. So there is letter of the law and spirit of the law, and by the latter measure I do think he engaged in some name-calling himself, even as now he seems to fancy himself as standing above the fray, looking down on we poor cult-like souls blinded by our zeal in favor of the Mac.
One additional point: Power users under the Mac, Unix, and Linux platforms would not write so many words about OS X and scarcely even mention the Unix CLI and shells and the great power and customizability they offer. And yet Adam’s review, while devoting ample verbiage to the freak accident of an internal loose cable, is notably silent on this matter. Quite curious, hey?
Mr. Mincey
I write to you specifically because you’re unique. Certainly, I’ve not read every article or every comment on this site, but this is the first I’ve seen of you. You have suddenly appeared and with quite a bit to say about my article. You’ve left no e-mail address and had virtually nothing positive to say to me. Given on this, I’d tell you it’s typically the mark of a troll. That is no accusation, it’s just the feeling I’m left with since I’m now skeptical about all animated Mac users thanks to the communal reaction, which I place somewhere between disturbing and comical, to this piece.
That said, I’ve made no claims about myself as a Mac power user nor would I ever! I’m not! I went to great lengths to tell you I use Windows, Linux, and NetWare. Why anyone would presume that I am arrogant enough to pretend I am a Mac expert is beyond me. This article is NOT about me and what I personally can do outside the scope of this article. I will, therefore, not defend my skillset on this forums or any other. If you don’t respect me or my opinion, I’m none too happy to agree to disagree. In the meantime, I’m upset overall at how this article was received, as it generated what I believe is more negative that positive.
Moving on, the “ample verbage” I devoted to the disconnected cable you refer to was…ONE SENTENCE. Ample verbage indeed. I even said I didn’t hold that against Apple and then it was never mentioned again. Apple’s “it just works” fell flat for me. Should I simply not mention it? C’mon. I’d do the same if Dell sent me a messed up unit.
I received two sets of discs. One labeled OS X. Another, in a box, labeled OS X 10.2 Jaguar. The system didn’t boot. How should ANYONE who isn’t a previous Mac user know what to do? That’s all I’ll say.
Now, I’ve called no one a coward, I just don’t care to partake in this battling in the forums. It’s not only a discredit to the readers who want to contribute, it’s a display, a pissing contest, an intellectual stalemate everytime. I harbor no belief that I will even slightly change your mind about me or this piece.
No piece can cover everything about a Mac. That’s why people write complete books about them. I wrote about some things that I wanted to talk about. I apologize if it didn’t cover eveything you wanted to see. I guess you can always write something yourself.
I’d ask you, Mr. Mincey, to write something and send it to me at the above address if you’d like to reach more people. I’ll run it by the other writers of this website and so long as it meets our criteria for a piece, we’ll post it.
If you’d like to continue this, please feel free to use my e-mail address.
—
Adam Scheinberg
osnews.com
I haven’t read all the comments so I apologize if a few a my comments get repetative.
First off I thought the article was a fair represention of the writer’s experience with and opinion of Jaguar. Was I disapointed that Mr. Scheinberg was won over by Apple’s Macintosh and OS X Jaguar? Of course, because I am a huge Mac fan. But, hey the guy is entittled to his likes and dislikes. I don’t recall him saying that Windows or Linux was better than Mac OSX, just better for him as a user. That said I would like to share a couple of comments. These are more feedback comments to other posters.
The idea that closing a window does not kill an app is a bad thing is ludacris. Case in point, when surfing the internet and getting bombarded by 10 or fifteen pop-up adds, I have yet to find a simple way to close all the browser windows at once in Windows. On the Mac you simply hit Command-Q which quits the applicatoin and all the open browser windows close simultaneously. How is that a bad thing? I have asked my PC using friends if there is a similar way to do that in Windows and the answer I have been given is “no”. If someone can enlighten me on how this might be accomplished I would be truly grateful.
On the comments that since 95% of the world uses Windows 95% of the world wants to use Windows, is such a poor assumtion. MS has force Windows into users hands more than people were given the choice of what to use. Now Apple is not without fault here, poor leadership and bad choices caused them to loes out on the opportunity to trump Microsoft in the mid 90’s. But MS’s idea of fair competition is to stomp out anyone who has a better product than they do. I find it interesting that Apple has been the preverbial thorn in MS side for so many years. I take great pleasure in that.
The only reason that Windows is considers the “standard” UI (which I whole-heartedly disagree with) is becasue they stole most of their ideas from Apple. Heck when you move the Taskbar to the top of the screen, ta da, it looks like a Mac. Any OS that wants to compete with Windows does not have to have a “Windows-Like interface”. The Windows interface is unituative and counter-productive, in my opinion. I find the Start menu very limiting. Navigating through the computer itself seems to be discouraged by design.
Windows is not the end all of computers OS. Far from it. I predict that in 10-15 years Windows will not be the dominate OS. I am not saying that Mac will be, but in all reality, Windows is not all that great, it has too many bugs and short-cummings to be a truly great OS. Once consumers realize this, and demand something better (which they should alreaday be doing) someone will fill that need.
It is amusing the length some people will go to just make sure they have the last word on this issue. Mac VS PC is one of those things that will be a debate for as long as computers are around.
I’ve used everything from MS-Dos 2.00 all the way up to Win XP, Linux and Mac OS’s. I’ll put my 2 cents in here, use what you like and shut up!
No one Ford or Chevy is any better than the other, its just getting from “point A to point B” that all of this hardware and software is desgined to do. Each has their own particular way of getting there.
I have Macs and PC’s in my house, I use Mac’s the most and PC’s the least. Each has its own particular foibles that makes it unique. I prefer Mac’s for the ease of use and stability, I have several Macs that are up to 6 years old and I am able to everything on them that I can on a PC that is only a 18 months old. Does that make them better? No, just more useful to me.
Just grow up and shut up and use what you like, hate of a brand for a trivial thing like a loose cable or an OBM or instability or whatever is just stupid…
The ONLY things PCs have over macs are: cost, gonzo speed for cheap, games and every less common app is available.
But the first two of these have a huge and undeniable downside. The lower cost and higher speed come from the existence of multiple competing hardware venders (as opposed to one) — which inevitably means more problems and conflicts and no one company is accountable to fix them.
Also, you get much slower pickup of innovations on the PC. On the PC, you’re frequently stuck behind the times on new applications (like video editing – still Windows in behind after years). Apple’s making the whole shebang allows them to move forward faster and much, much better on things that take hardware and software.
The only 100 % advantage on the PC – i.e., no downsides — is the better software variety and games. But this has nothing to do with the relative design merits of the two platforms, it’s just because one is dominant.
In the end, there’s no reason to “prefer” a PC that has anything to do with the relative technical or design merits of the two platforms (hardware/OS/apps). There is no debate even possible — the Mac platform is far, far superior in technical design. In the end, Windows is just cheaper and the “standard,” albeit an inferior one.
I think the one-button mouse is a point in Apple’s favour. You can do just about everything you want with one button — why complicate matters with two? I use a laptop (PowerPook) where I can track-and-click with one finger and one thumb.
I thought Adam’s was a fair article, all-in-all. The loose cable is fair game for criticism because it’s a quality control problem. It shouldn’t happen.
The problem of speed is, I believe, essential. From all reports OSX is pretty good (I haven’t used it). But slow response is a killer. It’s not good enough for Apple to be as good as Windows; they need to be ahead of Windows. If Apple’s speed left Windows choking in its dust, people would be deserting Windows in their droves.
“If it were a high school student, it would be good at art and might be voted homecoming queen for it’s looks, but it probably couldn’t serve on the debate team, be captain of the football team, or pass that damned Trigonometry class.”
So what would be a PC if it were a high school student? Debate team captain and math wiz? That’s a scary thought.
Bullshit.
‘Los
“the Mac platform is far, far superior in technical design”
I think what we have to do is separate the PC Hardware from the OS, because a person could be running Linux, Windows, BeOS, etc…
Regarding the actual hardware, I have to take issue with the statement of Macs being superior. It’s true that because there is only the one distributor that it can progress faster, leaving behind legacy hardware. However, Apple, same as PC depends on other vendors sych as Motorola, ATI, etc for it’s hardware, and almost any hardware available for the Mac can also be found for a PC, as well as all the other hardware that PCs can run that Macs can not.
Now, looking at the actual OS comparing Windows to OS X, In that regard Macs are superior to Windows in ease of use and efficiency. Arguements can be made whether this is because of the strict hardware lists Mac requires, nonetheless, it’s true. The issue is whether the user is willing to not have the option of installing hardware/software that is avaible for the PC platform in favour of a Mac.
“the Mac platform is far, far superior in technical design”
Mac spunges of the PC market.. thats why most of the internal of a mac is really a pc technology. IDE AGP graphics cards etc…
Macs are slow .. this shows a “far far superior techinical design” .. yer right.
Mac ppl are snobs who cant see the truth.. your in denial .. all of u .. just give it up.
PC ppl dont like osx cause its a slow waste of time set of animations ontop of unix.
If PC ppl liked it wed change.. u really rekon we are stuck on pcs? i mean REALLY? macs have been around for years so have other computers. Get over yourselfs and accept u are second class PC citizens instead of crowing on about nothing to make out your ahead of the crowd.
You computers are slow, your operating system is new untested, full of bugs and has little hardware support, your spirtual leader (PC ppl dont have one person who makes everything for them.. they like choice) cares more about the outside colour of your computer than features, and u pretend all these things arent true.
Get a pc and be a real computer user, not a sucker to Steve Jobs whims.
The comments by Glenn Sweeney are typical of a closeminded PC zealot who is ignorant and ill-informed. You are the PC equivalent of the Mac snob. You are one of those people who use a hammer for everything even though it is not the right tool for the job. One size does not fit all. Choice is good. But your brain is too small to comprehend simple concepts like this.
PS – you need to work on your trolling skills much more because they are extremely lacking.