INQ hack goes Mac

I am with you, Dean. I do not use a Mac, but I did switch to Linux (Kubuntu for desktops and OpenSuse for home server) in 2005, neatly avoiding the Vista-debacle. It is great to be Microsoft-free, and I certainly advocate that folks try out alternatives like Linux and OSX (instead of putting up with the shoddy products and terrible customer relations of Microsoft). 

And I echo your sentiments about the *reality distortion* of Apple. I like to control my own investments (not be controlled by closed-source third parties), that is why I personally do not use Microsoft or Apple products.

Xp and Linux are still good options, eye candy can be done with both, Compiz Fusion for example has the best eye candy and thats found on linux, Yes Vista was a massive failure but mac, anything but mac, overpriced, lame, bit gay, no offence

Hi there,

I read the article and is good for someone to switch to Mac OSX just forget about the fan drama of Apple and focus on quality. Don't cry about the mistake apple has done on design, LOOK @ Microsoft, IT SUCKSS. I have worked in linux, Mac, Windows, Conclusion: MAC OSX. It works for me perfectly and I like Steve Jobs better than Bill Gates, I heard a speech of a graduation jobs did and it was excellent hes knows he doing. Microsoft has to come down some time and its happening, well look @ vista, Jobs switch to *nix because is the father of OS and Apple did a great job. Still I thank Microsoft for introducing me to computers but the time has come. Best Wishes…

It took me about a week to get used to the foibles of Vista.
I think I was lucky as I came to Vista via Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn and 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. 
Its obvious that MS saw a good thing in Nautilus and copied the concept for Vista's windows explorer.
I had that hdd "thrashing" problem for around 2 days after I bought my current PC with Windows Vista Home premium installed. Tuns out it was only the indexing service running. I disabled indexing and my hdd's never "thrash".
I have never used all the functions of Aero Glass due to my gfx card (Nvidia Geforce 8400) not supporting them. however what I have seen is on par with compiz. its not as advanced as the original Sun "Looking Glass" or even Compiz Fusion in Ubuntu 8.04, but its good enough for general use.
In my personal opinion, I don't see the point in paying my hard earned cash for any high-margin apple product, when I can get what I want cheaper by going with MS, Sony and Linux.

... When you could have simply installed Linux onto your current lump of plastic. Well done, you bought the Apple Hype(TM).

Jumped out of. Into.

I know what you mean. I've seen several contractors (all equipped with Vista laptops), unable to run the basic tools they need to get the job done. Most were very hacked-off at Microsoft, because the new OS breaks more than it fixes. I personally solved my problems by buying a three-pack of Windows XP Pro (new discs with SP3!) OEM licences, so I should be covered for some time.

Unfortunately for me, Linux is not an option because I actually do real work (so I need real applications, like Adobe CS3 and Microsoft Office - including Project and Visio - which rules out Linux). OpenOffice is nice, but it isn't there yet. There are still problems with formatting documents in MS format, and since this is important to me, it means I'll continue using MS Office.

Linux still requires far too much fiddling to get it to work properly, and I just don't have the time, because I'm too busy billing for it. Recently, I had to jump through hoops just to install a package on Ubuntu, and the open sauce crowd seem to deem external VGA as something nobody could possible want on a laptop - which is especially unfortunate for me, because I do.

(If you don't believe this is serious, try making a presentation to a group of board members with an average Linux laptop attached to a video projector. It's the quickest possible way to make yourself look like a total incompetent).

That leaves Apple, which is really the only other option that can run what I want. To be frank, it's not a good one - although if I can run OS X on my own (HCL-supported) hardware, I'd be willing to give it a try. This may happen sooner than I think, with luck. On no account, however, am I willing to purchase Apple hardware, though. Sorry to all the zealots, but it's cheap (and overpriced) tat.

Good luck with your adventures.

Well as an IT hack you really should've known better. Where did you see people proclaiming that Vista was ready for real work? Nowhere! No one I know is using it for real work. Surely, you should've just installed it, reviewed it and then deleted it. XP is now nice and mature and works - we all know SP2 is a minimum req before using MS software. Linux is an option for those with time to tinker and you could go Mac if you want to seriously limit your choice of apps and don't mind being even-more-locked-in. iPhones' are good too if you have big pockets and don't really need a phone as much as an etcho-sketch. 


How could you like Jobs better than Gates? Jobs is a prick and a half, competent for sure but a prick non the less. While Bill Gates may have once been a ruthless businessman selling semi-functional products, he's now probably the word's biggest philanthropist. How much money has he given away?

"Fanboys bordering on zealotry is one major reason I've wanted to avoid Macs for a long time."

:facepalm: What an idiotic reason! You should think more about what you need and not about what people say or do.

Can't say I've EVER had any of the problems you described with Vista. 
Vista has always worked perfectly fine for me and is certainly better than XP.

What do ULPCs running Linux and IT hacks switching to Macs have in common?
>>
A few years ago, we would dismiss both as crazytalk. Now, when the news break out, it's just "Oh, another one..."
Needless to say, I like what I see happening. :-)

But this particular sentence:
"I pay good money for a decent CPU and graphics card, I expect the underlying software to utilise it. OSX does."
...says a new user of an OS that STILL has no usable means to do GPU-accelerated video decoding. Haa-haa :-P (I wonder how XvMC support is coming along...)

I actually like Vista a lot. There are a few crap things about it, like the horrible way of navigating in the open file dialog. That aside though, it does what I need to do.

Why bemoan having to go to Mac to avoid Vista ? Come on, XP SP2 is quite stable, and remarkably reasonable on requirements (for a Windows OS, that is).
I have absolutely zero intent of getting Vista at home, and at work nobody has it yet nor are there any rumors that anyone will get it any time soon.
But, as I'm a gamer at heart, it's XP for me, or bust. No other platform can approach the variety of games available to XP, not Mac, not Linux with Wine, not Vista.
So I'm stuck at XP, and not unhappy about it.
No need to go to Mac, really.


'Nuff said.

Yup, still here :

Peter Weilbacher's Thunderbird, Firefox and Seamonkey
Open Office.
Unix ports.
Dink's mp3 player Z!
Word Perfect 6 in a DOS VDM - I am not kidding!
Daniella's drivers for more hard disks than you ever knew existed.

Oh what the hell. Nobody's listening.

Ok. Eye candy (yawn) : 

www.ecomstation.com

Anyway take a look. You may be surprised.

Try it on a Pentium II first. Then you WILL be surprised.

Sayonara

at the other end of the spliff

since I experience spontaneous nausea whenever I go near Vista or Apple, I bought XP again

I have nothing against Linux except games compatibility, XP despite its problems is the most compatible platform for the foreseeable 

Vista (I haven't tried, no really) sounds like what I was expecting from MS after the way they borked up XP. Only now they have borked Vista up even better. 

If there is one thing an OS is supposed to do it is handle files efficiently and MS seem to have completely lost track of that. While all the IDE vendors spend millions improving read speeds, MS perversely spends billions devising ways of fragmenting files even faster and reducing file transfer rates. Despite constant interference with games & presumably other apps (I wouldn't know as I treat my PC like a better class of console like most people IMHO) due to background tasks you still have to defrag C: every week. Which is mind boggling until you realise the background tasks are actually fragmenting the disk not de-fragging at all, no seriously. And if you want to play a smooth game of anything then processideltasks is obligatory beforehand unless you have a quad, which I do now and a nice one even so I would not get vista as benches show it runs games slower and complaints like this above show they have not fixed file handling and we all know DX10 is to date insubstantial froth. XP even shipped with and still has inexcusable file access denial bugs which defy belief. I wont even start on organising shortcuts in All Programmes. 

Why would I want to reward failure by using a MS OS? Only because I have no choice due a compatibility monopoly as stated, so XP it is.

Its not because MS is the spawn of the devil, its because it is incorrectly managed. MS needs a new broom and an enema of gargantuan proportions. IMHO

Administrate?!

You castrate, but you administer!

I'm with Pascal on this one.

The goal is to get jobs done with a reasonable degree of comfort. Linux can accomplish most MS-Windows tasks. XP-SP2 can do the rest.

For me, XP is good for games and Linux is good for everything else.

If one *must* have Vista, it can live on a separate computer where it won't interfere with doing real work.

ScottJ


Apple hardware is overpriced, obviously. Apple hardware is overpriced, no doubt. Apple hardware is overpriced, YES.

Everyone who uses a mac knows that Apple hardware is overpriced and all I can say to that is SO WHAT.

Apple has a great OS, plain and simple. As much as it may hurt you turkeys, MSFT has zealots as well as Apple... ALL ZEALOTS are asshats.

The major reason that people use a mac (that I know of) has nothing to do with Apple hardware and EVERYTHING TO DO WITH OS X.

FACT: OSX is a good OS, maybe the best right now for 'JOE CONSUMER.'
Vista and Linux alone simply do not have BOTH the ease of use and eye candy, nor the application support and reliability that come with OS X. 

I wish they did because competition can be nothing but good for this business, but they don't. I've only used a Mac for three years and I just cannot understand why there are so many people spouting off 'anything but a mac.' Sorry people, but right now, the best way to get the best computer/OS package is with a simple macbook. - Good price, great OS.

The END.

I've used Macs since 1988 and it has always been a pleasant, minimal troubleshooting experience. Even in the dark days of OS8, I could manage a minimum of two days of intensive, 20+ app computing without crashing or rebooting, which others seem to not have been able to do. Of course now the time is greatly extended. Except for 3 fried hard drives and a power supply (which could happen on any computer(s)), I've never had catastrophic hardware failure. I've run the Macs 24/7/365 and the greatest downtime has been just a few hours. I've never had to swear at and hate the computer I was using. So am I a fanboy? You bet! Apple's hardware and software has always done right by me, so how else could I react?

There are always plusses and minuses, but overall Mac seems to work pretty well. The total cost of ownership has always been lower due to a number of factors (flame away if you must but it's true). I've been working in heterogeneous computing environments for more than two decades and can safely say that, though the same kinds of problems can develop, it almost always takes less time to address said problems on a Mac. Please take some time to read the materials available for those who have been using Windows, (for better or worse, the search term is "switchers" even though many of us are really bi- or tri-platform). Also, give VirtualBox (from Sun) a go so you can have Mac, Win, and Linux up all at once if you like. Best wishes!

is this a joke? wow, someone who bought a mac for quality, usability, underlying efficiency and compatibility with 'nix? whoda thunk that was ever possible! :) congrats on seeing what it's really about, hat is off to u mr mister, and for not being a fanboy to boot.

Snow Leopard (the next Mac OS X version) will soport Exchange 2007 out of the box. You just have to wait a year before it comes out but good things take their time, right?

When Vista went RTM, I was working with a contractor from Microsoft.

He was on-site and eagerly upgraded his system from XP to Vista. Yes, this was in the middle of working on a project for us.

Immediately, his VPN client quit working, so he had to either do work offline from his hotel after hours or just stay in the office longer.

The "beta" version of the VPN client that supported Vista had a tendency to BSoD his system.

He had other quirks and complaints of learning the new interface.

I was amused to see an employee from Microsoft experiencing the frustration that end-users would come to know and love.

Not so sure. Just went to the website for Psystar website and spec'd one out to match all the features of the base 20" iMac. It came to within $1-$150. For the far sleeker all in one design alone, I'd opt for the iMac.
Granted, if you don't want firewire 400, bluetooth, wireless, webcam, Mic, then substantially less money, $3-400 less is possible.
IMHO macs are not the least expensive machines, but you do get what you pay for. The value is there.


[...and you could go Mac if you want to seriously limit your choice of apps ..]

News Flash...Macs has a choice of MORE apps than PCs, as Macs run OSX apps PLUS all the apps of PCs, either through alternate booting or virtualization with Parallels.

[...But, as I'm a gamer at heart, it's XP for me, or bust. No other platform can approach the variety of games available to XP, not Mac..]

News Flash...Macs can run XP...so the same “variety” (plus more) is available on Mac.

Apple Fanboys ?

Sheesh - just reading these comments I now know why MS are in the dumpster (apart from Bill Gates leaving and taking all his money with him - always a bad sign when the CEO walks out the door with the loot!)

It's all the Microsoft Hateboys...

Wake up guys - the 90's are over...Win98/XP are the ghosts of Christmas past and present, Vista is the ghost of christmas future...

Nix is the way forward - OSX or Linux...


<Comments posted from a trouble free mac by a happy Apple customer...>



"Macs are too expensive"
"There is no software for Macs"
"I hate Apple because other people love it"

And you people are on the internet? Wake up already. It's 2008. Your anti-Apple canards are dead, have been dead for some time, and whenever you repeat any of the above propaganda, you are only confirming the fact that you are incapable of learning anything new, or anything at all.

Apple has lapped Microsoft and embarrassed PC manufacturers for years Have you looked inside a Mac tower? Ever? Hardware wise the Macs internals have always embarrassed the mind numbing stupidity of the standard design of PCs, for the last 5 years Apple has been building an industrial strength OS that makes Microsoft's Windows look like the pathetic kludge it always has been.

And in light of the fact that many of the detractors are utterly clueless about Macs, all they can do is sputter and spew about there being "no software" which is really a codeword for "games" (get yourself a console and shut up) or that they are cheap buggers who don't wish to own top of the line hardware for a fraction more.

I hear ya... After a lifetime of using Windows I finally bought a Mac 3 months ago. What have I been thinking all these years. The Mac is SO much more pleasant to use and all the software I use was available for OS X. It even priced out close the same as the last Windows unit I bought. Never going back to Windows...love the Mac and will be getting an iPhone soon.

Glad to see you made the right choice. I quit Microsoft around 2004, after both similar problems and Microsoft's laziness at fighting malicious software. I bought a Mac Mini just to test the waters, and it works beautifully today. When Apple converts Mac Books to solid state memory as they have with the Mac Air, I'll buy my first Mac Book.

You are of course, entitled to use whatever O/S and hardware you please, as is everyone else.

I also admire what you say about fanboys turning you off, its absolutely true that some, otherwise normal people will get some kind of religion when it comes to operating systems. Seriously, some of them put the Talaban to shame with their dogma.

Why does the personality or views of the person that owns a company come into play when making a choice of O/S? Why does the opinion of others, without any proper comparison, come into play? The Internet is a really interesting place, but it holds some of the worst people to listen to when it comes to making an informed decision. 

Would you listen to a person that says voting an actor into political power is a good idea because they liked them in a film?

Would you listen to a person that argues that a scientific principal is flawed because they believe in God?

So, why would you listen to someone who says that one O/S is better than another without giving proper case studies?

Yep, Vista seems to be on everyone’s shit list at the moment, but it offers some good things too.

User account control (UAC) is one of those things that I thought was a good idea, but it backfired because people are a little too dim to see what it meant to do. In my opinion, UAC was never meant to be some kind of universal panacea to shit software. It was meant to HIGHLIGHT shit software, MS have a horrible case on their hands, they never went down the road Apple did; it was compatibility all the way. UAC was meant to provoke users into demanding better written apps from developers. You know, ones that require administrator rights to run. Instead, folk moan that UAC gets in the way and wanting to know how to turn it off telling you that that shit bit of software is demanding more rights that you as a user need.

MS are desperate for developers to use the .Net Framework. Why? The Framework is basically a virtual machine; it’s a great buffer between code and the O/S. That gives MS breathing space to do a better operating system without breaking .Net code. Much of it runs as intended, with better security I may add.

The original article also talks about an O/S with graphical bells and whistles. Well, from a developer standpoint, the Windows platform is getting pretty good, WPF offers native Windows and Browser apps that are vectors, no bitmaps unless you want them. We did a prototype app for accounts where I work. They needed a way to look up invoices. We made a XBAP app that displayed invoices like they are on the print out. No conversion to PDF or any other kind of document markup, just controls bound to objects. We added a zoom control too. No need for complexity, just stuck all the markup that displays the invoice into a ViewBox and bound a Transform to a Slider.

.Net Framework 3.5 SP1 is also even better as it offers shader control for those who want to create their own effects, all hardware accelerated and supported in XP. 
I can place controls on 2d or 3d surfaces. I can fundamentally change how controls are displayed without needing to understand them in a low level way. EG I want a ListBox to render horizontally rather than vertically. I tell it, in markup that the surface it’s rendered on is a Stackpanel with orientation set to horizontal. No events subscribe to, no methods to override nothing other than markup.

Am I sounding like too much of a fanboy when I’m accusing others? Perhaps I am, but I won’t allow my choices to be dictated to by others unless they can offer me a compelling reason to throw away a development environment that offers so much potential.

Mind you, if all you have to do in your job is surf the web, read emails and post articles, who gives a toss?

All in all, make your choice, if it works for you, go for it. Just don’t do it blindly!

Shad.

hello? is this thing on? It's not "switching" if you dual boot. Same goes for "running more software." If you boot into Windows on your mac, and your favorite software runs... you can thank Bill. Steve was just dragging his feet on x86, it's not a good thing.

wake me up when OSX runs on generic hardware unhacked........

This article reminds me a bit of where I was 7 years ago when the introduction of Product Activation had me rethinking my entire support of Windows. It's ironic that the one OS which supports the most hardware was now deciding you could only install it a few times, and being a hardware fiend back then I screamed to the hills about it.

I did try Macs, once in 2002 and again in 2005. I'm not ready for a round 3. Both times the cost of everything (since on most Windows boxes I reused half my hardware) and the attitude of the Mac brethren turned me off. That and the incompatibilities of OSX with most hardware and software I wanted to use.

So today I use Windows XP only because I know my way around it, I can play games, and there's one 3D app I still like to use.

I have a Linux box on standby for the day when I say enough, it can run the 3D app in Wine, it can handle my photos and web surfing, all I lack is games. 

Heck, maybe there'll be a PlayStation 3 in my future.

ok, i am typing this on a macbook... i also have a 1st generation intel imac, have a 233 imac (still works fine, just sloow with panther loaded)
have a performa, and an old mac plus... all still work.
only repairs ever needed was a cd drive burned out from excessive diablo 2 play on my 233.
i've used every system from 4 on up, no major problems. i repair windows at work daily, and have for many years. i gave my pentium 3 away, monitor and all because i was fed up with freezes, loss of data, of HD,s, and viral infections. 
i'm fed up listening to people whine and drag Apple products down due to price, or 1st gen hassles.... let's talk longhorn, dudes. let's talk big ass table... let's talk hp touch screen, dude, any app or hardware will have some problems 1st run out... all my ipods work well even now... have 4 generations of em. mine all still work FINE... and YEAS, I GOT MY MONEY'S WORTH EVERY TIME! oops, i forgot... the dvd drive in my 2 1/2 year old imac is intermittent... called Apple... yup, there's a problem there... bring it in, we'll replace it for you.. no charge.... a five minute call... simple. I'm a fanboy who gets his work done.

I find it desperately sad that some of the above comments still recommend XP, an OS that is now seven years old, as a viable alternative.

Are you THAT dependent on Redmond for your computing experience, that you would continue with this relic for God knows how long, until Microsoft somehow manages to shove Windows 7 out the door? By then XP will no doubt be over a decade old and until Microsoft bites the bullet, get some guts and rewrite their OS from scratch (which they won't), there's still no guarantee that Windows 7 will be any better.

I kinda thought that computers were all about embracing the cutting edge, not hanging on to an old mouldy antique from a by-gone era.

There's life outside of Microsoft you know.

Can you do a real review of Mac, XP and Vista os's?

I like XP because I know it and all my work and game stuff runs ok on it.

Vista I'm trying because I need to learn it, but it's awkward to get around in it. Windows Explorer doesn't display the full path to folders/files unless you click and wait. Waiting, wtf are MS playing at? Why are we waiting, lol.

Faster, easier, more efficienct, able to predict what I'm going to do, assisting me and helping me without getting in the way. This is what Vista should have been when compared to XP, instead Vista is just XP but with that paperclip x1million.

Mac OS - I have never used it, I am curious about it.

Linux - tried redhat7-8 and suse about 5 years ago, both worked just about, but couldn't install anything without learning grep or unpack or some code stuff, so left them behind in their 1980's interface.

Summary: Vista is just XP but with that paperclip x1million. What a shame.

I've been a PC user since my first XT way back in the 80's. I always considered Mac's as a useless overpriced toy that only someone with a low IQ would own. This opinion was further enforced when for a short period I was required to provide support for OS 8. 

Well it's been a long time since OS 8, and this past December I was exposed to OS X via my friends Macbook. I was quite impressed and had some spare $$$ floating around so I bought a 24" iMac for the hell of it. 

Honestly, I did second-guess myself while waiting for it to arrive, as I feared it could end up being an expensive paperweight. But sanity prevailed when I realized I could convert it to nice quiet, compact Windows XP machine, or I could always just give it to my wife hehe... Anyway much to my surprise, 8 months later I don't even let my wife touch it. And my once high end Quad Core, 8GB RAM, and Dual video carded, Vista 64 Ultimate machine sits turned off 99% of the time. I can hardly believe it myself but I’ve been converted to Mac. IMHO OSX is so far superior to Vista (or any Windows OS version) I can’t even put it into words. I won’t even get into uptime and the constant need to reboot a windows machine. 

I'm now planning on a couple Macbooks for the wife and I, and I’ll probably get rid of my PC and stick to my Xbox 360 and PS3 for gaming. One last thing, (I think someone else touched it too) you can’t buy a PC that is anywhere near as compact as an iMac, not to mention as quiet (my iMac is as close to dead silent as you can get). That alone is worth a bit of a price premium on the hardware, the OS is just the icing on the cake… 

"spec'd one out to match all the features of the base 20" iMac. It came to within $1-$150. For the far sleeker all in one design alone, I'd opt for the iMac."

Subtract several years' expenses associated with a suite of security programs, and the Mac comes out well ahead.

I so agree with your comments. After having my hard drive crash, wiping out everything, I refused to switch to Vista. In October, I purchased a Mac and I cannot believe how I ever got along without one. I used to hang out in computer stores, tinkering and building, but now I have absolutely no need, since everything is right there. I have added 2 terabytes of external USB Harddrive memory and the beauty of this is that I don't need to shut down, reboot or anything like that if I decide to turn one of them on or off. It's just there.

Photo editing, Music and editing, compatible Microsoft files, book writing, card making, presentation software...It's all available and all much better than anything on windows. The only drawback I have had so far is the inability to make DVD's very well. A small point. Otherwise, everything just works flawlessly.

Ever tried having 3 or 4 consecutive sessions of windows going simultaneously? I have had 4 people running programs in the background, while I used the same computer and there was no lag. Switching was as easy as clicking a button. Try that in Windows XP and it'll take an eternity to switch.

It's not that I hate Windows, I use it at work, it's just that OS X for Mac is so much better.

It is absolutly amazing that some people still thinks it is Windows computers that are the most compatible ones software wise. The Mac runs Mac software, Windows software and Unix software. You have to switch between environments in order to do so, but if you learn the key commands you have, in reality, three easily accessed computing environments for the price of one. The only drag with the Mac is games, because you have to reboot if you want them to run smoothly (or at all).

Price wise, the Macs are roughly as cheap as PCs in the middle and high end category, and actually some times cheaper, try to spec out your own computer and see. Since Apple don't compete in the low end category, you have to go with Windows or Linux if you want that kind of machine.

For me, it is totally out of the question to get anything but a Mac, not only because the hardware/software package is so much better than anything possible with a Windows box, but also because I need a real high end computer for my work. I have tried to compare my Mac Pro with PC alternatives, but have not been able to find any alternative with similar high specs (8-core CPU, 6 TB harddrive, 16 Gb ram). I installed Ram and harddrives myself (because Apple overcharge for these addons), and total cost for the whole shebang is only 4500 dollars (new Mac 8-core 2600 on eBay, Samsung F1 harddrives 1000, Install kit for two extra drives 130, Ram 800.)

It is funny that you guys are happy using software (XP) that came out when my grandma was born. Get with the ages. We have come a long way since then.

..to justify your purchase of overpriced entry level PC hardware in a white plastic shell?

Good for you.

After being a Windows 'power user' for years and years (even a avid Ms-Dos user) I decided to switch to a Mac. 

Before switching I did some extensive research on program availability and how the thing actually works, and I switched to an iMac three months ago. I’ve never been happier.

At work I still have to use AutoCAD on the PC, but in general I’ve found, that there are many, many more good Mac applications free and cheap that are available than I had realized. Only two areas of software that seem to be lacking on a mac: CAD software and Professional Financial software. And I imagine that as market share grows this will catch up.

I heard (and sill hear) it up and down from my ‘nerd’ and engineer friends that Mac’s aren’t worth the money and don’t have the software. I’ve tried to tell them, but they won’t listen; they are dead wrong. (And they make these comments without ever having even touched a new Mac.)

Does that mean there are no problems? No. There are several quirks and problems (as I seem them) with the Mac.

I have reservations about relying on the iMac’s internal hard drive and I don’t like the way they bury start-up items in the settings menu; and nor is there any quick way to see running processes (I know go to utilities and use the activity monitor, but that’s not quick.).

I have still yet to find a good tutorial on how to effectively use the Terminal for new people not experienced at Linux or Unix environments (and what the heck does ‘bash’ and those other types mean anyway?!). And finally, I hate the way my localhost MAMP web server has to have the :8888 port number behind it (nor have I found a clear explanation of setting up Virtual Hosts in terminal).

But usability, stability, and system resource management are top notch. Fanboy or not that's the way I see it. I just got tired of 'fixing' my computer daily. I’ll never go back to Windows if I can help it.

First off, shut off Indexing!

For a mobile application, I have been tempted on getting a Macbook Pro and dual booting. In the mobile arena where performance is premium and guaranteed functionality is key, I have seen few laptops that look as good and perform as well as the Macbooks (except the Air, but thats another rant). But for the desktop arena...
Untill the applications I use are available, untill it lets me run what I want, and untill I can do something as simple as install it on a computer I built w/o fear of violating the EULA, I will be sticking with my Vista x64 (works like a charm, no problems! but we are also talking hand built for performance)/Ubuntu 8.04 system. While granted OSX is a great OS, "It just works" with such a limited choice of apps and hardware that I wont be making the swap any time soon. Open it up however? I will be first in line!

IT, Tinkerer and Gamer

I was an earlier adopter of VISTA and enjoyed the new interface. However, many of the security tools I used were not compatible with VISTA. I tried running in XP Compatibility mode with no success. I was also tired of a "security feature" screwing up a legacy applications of my customers. For example, I couldn't purchase an ECA certificate from Verisign because their @#$@#$ website was not designed to handle VISTA and IE7. 

I've tried Fedora, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, OpenSuse, and Knoppix. They're all fun to tinker, but lack the maturity for me to use day-to-day. I don't like having to compile source code from scratch in order to get an application to run. I'm also skeptical of updates using up2date, apt, or another Linux patch management application.

(Side Note: Before the Linux folks complain that real security people don't use Windows, let me advise you that some commercial tools are not designed for the Linux environment AND I couldn't get these working in Wine. It really sucked!!)

I am now happily running OS X. It visually stunning, runs XP flawlessly inside of Parallels, goes into sleep mode in seconds, restart/shutdown perfectly, and makes using a computer fun again. 

I'm too old to keep tinkering with an OS. I just want it to work!




I formatted all the laptops, and installed Ubuntu. Then when I needed a new one, I got a Mac. I'm not going back to Windows, it was just to damned frustrating (and insecure). 

As to Linux not working with VGA - worked fine for me, as did wireless, and everything else (except Compiz, I have ATI video).

Not gonna argue that Vista has its issues, but when I read some of Dean's statements and many of the comments, I have to wonder what the **** people are thinking when they drop a fat new OS from a company infamous for fat products onto a sub-standard box and expect it to perform.

We have Dean saying that unexpected thrashing - which in spite of him being an "IT Professional" he hasn't bothered to locate the origin - makes his system unusable. Then we have other people such as RickW complaining that in XP multitasking will "take an eternity to switch". Yes, that will happen on any computer trying to run more software than available memory can support. Or John who gave his P-III away because he was fed up with freezes, loss of data and hard drives, and viral infections. Yeah, that's ALL Windows' fault...

And His Shadow extolls the virtues of Apple's tower design. That's nice. Would that be the same Apple design genius put a ridiculously loud exhaust fan into my Quicksilver G4 and into the next generation mirror door units as well? It was funny at the time since Apple was billing these as ideal for studio use. You'd need a separate anachoic chamber just to store the Macs!

There was the comment about the constant need to patch Windows. Funny, last time I started up my OS-X box it downloaded a whopping 200MB of updates. When we pass laws that allow the public beheading of malicious hackers and virus/worm authors perhaps we won't need so many patches. The fellow who mentioned OS/2 had the right idea if you're worried about threat profile, though.

There are all the people complaining about Windows' frequent reboots and crashes. Maybe this could be the part where Apple's restricted hardware approach has some value since I suspect most of this is driver related. But I also suspect that buying hardware from respected vendors would solve many of these problems. I can't duplicate these problems in spite of installing and running dozens of software packages on several desktops and laptops running 2000 and XP. The machines run and run and run. Every now and then an app will crash but that's not the OS' fault, and no other apps will be affected. It is also possible that some of these people may have virus infections and not know it. The popular A/V packages miss a LOT of stuff that I've been able to dig out of my customer's machines by hand.

OS diversity is great and folks should use what suits them, but don't go blaming the OS for crappy hardware, lack of sufficient resources, poor understanding of the software or the work of criminals.


it is possible to get compiz working on ati, i did it with my macbook pro (first gen). and to the guy who thinks it's entry level hardware...erm...he must've missed the article that the macbook pro was one of the best vista capable systems out there (with it's entry level at that).
however, it's pointless to use linux on a mac unless u just enjoy the way it looks, seeing as how the mac is posix compliant and a 'nix variation, wine works and macports/fink allows u to install most 'nix software u would want without any terminal commands (but terminal commands are an alternate route). microsoft should give us that too, but that would be against their beliefs. and anyone here having trouble with X11, search out xQuartz on google and install the latest open source release of apple's X11, it fixes a lot of bugs.

also, what i would find an awesome but maybe obvious tip for those who are familiar with applescript and running linux programs in OSX, you can create an applescript application and assign an icon to it in order to call terminal commands. I made an icon (copy image, paste in applescript application info (CMD+I) and an applescript application that i could place in the dock in order to launch GNUCash:
do shell script "/sw/bin/gnucash"
i recommend fink, but some prefer macports.

I am an IT professional whose switched to a Mac.

The bulk of my work is still MS based - SQL Server but I run that through parallels and have been far more productive in the last 21 months as a Mac user mainly because I don't use MS to access the outside world and thus can ignore the incessant security patches until I have the odd day to apply them all and reboot constantly. Subsequently my system is far, far more stable.

When I have to reload a PC - which used to be fairly frequently, I had to allow for upto 2 days of lost production just to reinstall software patches and drivers etc. When I bought my 2nd Mac, it took 2 hours to transfer everything and the new machine was running perfectly.

Who needs more hassle - get a Mac (and Parallels!)

Mac pricing is outrageous. Mac Pro starts @ $2799 [cough] that is the cost of a CAR! And it comes stripped, the same PC hardware would cost $800 and come with a monitor. I have a $500 PC that is 2 years old and crushes Vista x64 with none of the issues you have. You are still going to run XP over Bootcamp or VMware... gee wizz boss that up to like $5000 bucks for a computer and software! Have fun, the rest of us live in the real world and dont get our stuff FOR FREE!

What if Gates & Co. hadn't supplied an influx of cash into Apple a few short years ago?

What if Gates & Co. hadn't created MS Office for the Mac OS a few short years ago?

What if Jobs didn't wise up and create the new MS/Apple marriage via Intel to further save Apple?

What if Jobs stopped using his fanboy crowd to be his testing ground for "not yet ready for primetime" products?

What if the "hackers" turn their efforts to Macs, ala the iPhone?

What if the fanboys didn't have the ability to "switch" to Intel/MS when they wanted to do some real work?

What if you believe your Macs are still invincible with your version of MS?

What if your Macs had to be compatible with 92%+ of the computers and software in the entire WORLD instead of (a generous) 5%?

What if the fanboys had computers that could calculate the % of problems/issues with 5% of the take vs 92% of the take?

What if the fanboys were aware of the next gen technology from MS that will be released in the near future that further shows Macs are mere toys for the tech challenged Starbucks crowd? easy to check the MS lab websites to see some pretty amazing stuff coming to you soon.

What if, again, Apple had to satisfy 92% of the WORLD, including all the crappy hardware/software available, not to mention, again, the tech challenged crowd?

What if...? most hilarious article and comments!


@RamaFan who said:
"I have reservations about relying on the iMac’s internal hard drive..."
and 
"... nor is there any quick way to see running processes (I know go to utilities and use the activity monitor, but that’s not quick.)."

Advice:
If you fear of HD failure, get Time Capusule (or other external HD) and use Leopard's free, simple Time Machine for backup (TC has wireless backup, is also a wireless router, and connect your printer to print wirelessly for the price.). If it's fear of replacing it, it's not that tough 
http://www.macusersforum.com/index.php?showtopic=13913
an if it's under warranty Apple Store will replace it.

As for your second comment, about the Activity Monitor not being handy, why don't you drag the icon into your dock? It's always there for instant on. There is also a great Widget that tells you lots of info on what your computer is up to called iStat Pro from iSlayer.com

That an IT proffesional's main complaints about Vista are the search indexing service running in the background and automatic updates.

You know you have a multitude of settings to disable or tweak both right? :)