I am still using XP Pro… Anyways, why buy a PC-Lite when you can get a PC?
I’m not following that. I got the Mac mini because it could do more than my PC.
Problem: It is expected that Microsoft will soon end licensed distribution of Windows XP, and that Microsoft support of Windows XP will end before 2013.
Go Mac!
Yeah… don’t fool yourself into thinking that Apple is not also a corporation.
They will also only support their software as long as it does not hurt the
bottom line. Then you’ll have to upgrade, same as with Microsquish.
Basically, you’re right. Both Apple and Microsoft are corporations, where the bottom line is the bottom line. However, given that Windows XP’s future appears to be limited, that seems to leave Vista as the only Microsoft option in the not so distant future, and, worse, Microsoft doesn’t appear to include any downsizing plans of its future operating systems, so perhaps we could expect ever greater hardware requirements. On the other hand, Apple appears to have “smallness” in mind for its future, so if anything perhaps we could expect even more efficiency. So, the bottom line being the bottom line, the future looks bright for Apple, and its customers.
But we have so much fun in doing so!
This message brought to you by a genuine Mac computer.
I wouldn’t worry about it. For instance, this is a Mac mini (Hello!), on which I’ve run Google Earth for hours on end, which keeps the hard drive busy for hours on end. I haven’t had a bit of trouble with it. It barely gets warm.
Go Mac!
Blatant lies and propaganda?? oh, c’mon. I have watched my ex-wife and sons reload software on their crappy PC so many times because of corruption, virus or whatever. Hours and hours my older son spent on the phone with 'em. He is a savvy kid, so it wasn’t stupidity; he is at home on both platforms but prefers the Mac.
I bought my most recent Mac in 02. I have never had to do a clean install, EVER. I’ve added memory, hard drives, etc etc., upgraded the system several times, installed all kinds of software. OSX took some getting used to, but I have to say, it works better than 9 in the end, even though I fought it at first, along with many others when it was released. Even when my hard drive was on its way to dying, I still managed to salvage the contents, and I have no doubt that it was the quality of the system that made this possible.
I am prejudiced of course. I work with a Mac all day long (as a graphic artist), and occassionally, have to go over to the other office and fight with a PC for very basic tasks and it’s a pain in the keister.
we just got a new G-5 in the office and I opened it up and it’s never been simpler to add drives and such.
I am not a zealot and I remain pissed off permanently at the obsolescence cycle of hardware, software and all electronic equipment. To that extent, I dislike Apple, but never as much as MS because of the struggles and proprietary bs that MS foists upon people (“painful issues of home ownership” as Ballmer calls it).
But I still think Apple makes a superior computer for many uses, but I’m sure there is something that PC’s are better at doing, just not one I encounter. I am much less enamored of iPods and iPhones, so my affection is neither automatic nor universal.
For me, the marriage of Apple computers and Adobe software is pretty damn satisfying, except perhaps, web-building software. I had a rough time with GoLive, because it was so different than other Adobe apps.
The biggest newer problem to me is the transition to Intel-based Macs, because it opened up a can of little bugs, still being ironed out. Although our office server works at 10.5, I am still using 10.3.9 because it’s so damn stable and we have older machines in the office. But the new feature, of constant backup, of 10.5, is a compelling improvement.
I use an ancient dualie G4 at home, works fine. Travel with an old old 1st gen Tibook. Networked and airported ,so I’m probably giving bandwidth to my neighbors. I use a XP64 at work since we do high end CAD modeling on ProE. Personally, I’d love to see what a a new multi processor G5 could do with ProE but that’s me
haven’t crashed, or done anything like that in a long time at home; nor at work.
Its not like the old days with “You can take my Mac when I let go of the mouse with my cold dead fingers”. Every tool in its place.
Big Mac…
I’ve been using Macs for about 18 years, I think I’ve counted up that between work and home I’ve had 17. These have included desktops, laptops, lab computers, pro and consumer models. In that time I’ve had to re-install the system twice, and onc of those times it was a hardware problem (the notorious capacitor problem that was publicized when it was in Macs but affected many more PC’s). In addition to that problem, I’ve had two other hardware problems, one on a cheap refurb, the other one on a three-year-old iMac. I’ve never had any trouble upgrading hardware, nor transferring files from one to the next.
I’ve had two PC’s. One is about one month old, and I’ve already had problems with it – software wouldn’t run, not because of a problem with the software, but a problem with Windows that required a patch that for some reason hasn’t been included in any of the regular updates, but is available from the MS downloads page. The other is maybe a year and a half old, and we had to re-install the operating system twice in the first six months, I’m not sure how often since.
For me having a computer that works and requires no babysitting is worth the extra money. If money is tight, it may not be worth it.
I have one of each…
they’re just tools people, shhheeesh.
this is like arguing over f**king craftsman and snapon fercryssakes!!
if all you aare is a basic computer user with limitedx to basic computer skills, and you’re not going to be doing any networking over, say, five mac clients at a time on your apple based network, or anything like that, ,ake your fashion statement and git yerself a mac!
jayhsuslawdalmighty.
i fyou are an advanced user and know how to make your tool do what you want it to do when you want it done, use a frakin PC.
I’m no fan of vista, as i have bmade clear on several occasions, but ther’s no way I’d be able to do my job on a mac. thats just the way life is, ms has the advanced acceptance in the market, therefore the majority of what’s out there is ms based
etc, etc, on and on…jimgordonwept…
what gripes the hellouttame is, even being a mac owner myself, that the mac fans i know have to resort to name calling (see previous post in this thread for an example) instead of understanding exactly why they supposedly like their macs over my pcs (other than the popularity involved in being part of the “mac-cult”), regardless of the fact that I can use both platforms in circles around them. most “militant mac owners” have no idea about exactly how thier computers work, they just parrot technological stats and facts they’ve heard along the way and think they’re being techno-savvy.
I’ve never had anything bad to say about macs, or most mac users for that matter.
they’re good tools and they serve a purpose for a certain segment of computer users, but they just don’t serve my needs. they’re not invulnerable (certainly not to the degree that 'militant mac owners" think they are, see the hack of the macbook at cansecwest this year for just such an example) and they’re not perfect.
If I want perfection, or as close as i can get, I use pcs, b_ecause I know how to make them do what I want them to do when I want them to do it, plain and simple._ its not so simple to do what I can do with a pc on a mac, ergo my choice to use pc.
call me a weener if you want; it just shows me your true colors.
Paul - I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you got the Mac. I bought my first one in 1988, and it’s all I’ve used since with one exception: I now have a 24" iMac, and for the couple of PC support clients I have, XP runs in Parallels so I can answer their questions.
That said - if they used Macs and not PC’s it would take a considerable chunk out of my income!
Reg
I asked a close friend this same question the other day and she said you don’t need a mac unless you are doing a lot of graphics. She owns a publishing house. I just bought an “entertainment notebook PC”. that’s what I use it for, mainly music, videos, surfing and SKYPE calls.
I guess it depends on what you want to do with it. To get what virtues I have in this PC it would cost more than twice as much for the MAC.Also a desktop would be worthless to me, I have to have portable, wireless and 12 volt.
Tyler–was it a tough night for you?
I’m looking for the name-calling post you’re referring to and not finding 'em.
Fwiw, (which isn’t much,) I have more or less adapted to bumbling my way around either platform. The PCs have given me a few more headaches, but it may merely be that I am more familiar with Macs, in general, and have more of a learning curve when troubleshooting the PC.
It is not infrequent that one or the other goes kaflooey and I resort to researching the Mac problem on the PC and vice versa.
Actually, perhaps I could take credit for flaming on this thread, on my first post where I said, “Pay no attention to these Microsoft weenies. Go Mac!” Now, if you look around the 'net, especially on tech oriented sites, it simply won’t take long to find similar such flames, as part of a long running flame war between Mac users and PC users, yet as a war which goes somewhat tongue in cheek, one which amounts to a friendly rivalry, and one which most of the participants don’t seem to take altogether seriously.
The model for that statement I took from Toto, from the Wizard of Oz, something like, “Pay no attention to that Microsoft weenie behind the curtain!”
Edit: Oops! I wrote screen, when I should have written curtain.
Look at this month’s Consumer’s Report - Apple is way, way above everyone else in tech support on their products.
Well dang. A perfectly serviceable flame and I missed it.
Which is another way of saying mac users need the most support. 
On the contrary, Mac users get the support they need, but Microsoft already knows that theirs is a hopeless case!