Should I get an Apple Computer?Dell?

[dendronepthya]

You know I hear vauge comments like yours all the time from mac users. They like macs better because of the operating system. But they never tell me why, specifically, they like OS better.

I like not having to reboot up my machine for 6 months at a time.
In the rare instance where I do reboot, I am not faced with a new ambiguous error message from an application I do not remember installing.
I like when I open my web browser(Safari) the home page is the one I set it to.
I like not having to run AdAware.
I like the fact my machine has never crashed.
I like the fact that I cannot hear my machine operate unless I am 2" away from it.
I like the vector-based effects (wave on the dock, expose, minimize)
Expose is the single best UI feature ever made.

[NoobieNemo]

sounds awesome!!! I can't wait until I can say that...I got the packaging stuff from Michael Dell today, I'll send it off after exams, and then buy an apple when I come back from Europe June 5th...is it true that when you call tech support for apple they are in America?

Noob

[crna63]

The thing I love about my mac's is when I plug something into it, it just works. I don't have to call tech support 2-3 times before it works it works right away.

[Robbob29]

Originally posted by revance
Why should Dell be responsible for you having software problems (probably due to spyware)? They don't warrant the software anyway, they don't make the software. They merely put 3rd party computer parts together and install Windows.

If that is your attitude, I feel very sorry for you.

That is exactly why I bought a Mac. Apple builds the OS and the hardware. Its not a bunch of random parts thrown together with the hope that they might work. I was one of the people who thought Apple and Mac were junk, until I got the chance to use one. I was completely blown away by how stable it is. Its is so nice ot open up my ibook and have it wake up from sleep, everytime. My old Dell laptop wouldn't wake up when it was new most of the time, so I just shut it down. So far the only problem I have had with my iBook has been one program that shuts down now and then, that program is Office 2004 for Mac. But unlike when an app goes belly up in windows, my mac has never frozen or needed rebooted.

I still have my Windows PC its great for gaming, use it still for some office work, but it is no longer on the internet, I wiped it clean and reinstalled XP it is working just fine now.

Anyway I hope you are happy with your Powerbook it is a great machine. The 15in screen would be really nice, but I like the portability of the 12in. The apps that come with your system are really nice. Garageband is a great recording program. Appleworks might be old but it is still useful. From what I have heard OS X Tiger is a great operating system with many new useful features.

Rob

[galore]

I use Windows XP, Linux and OSX and from my experience with all three OSs, OSX has these major advantages:

* tailor made for Apple hardware. This is a top differentiating property of OSX. This is mostly where the whole 'it just works' thing comes from. I haven't had any problems ever with OSX not working with the hardware. Can't say this about Windows (bluescreens are mostly due to drivers or HW problems (bad memory, for example - the cheaper the worse)) and definitely not about Linux (driver nightmare for some HW).

* well thought through OS. The simple things that make a huge difference in usability. For example, if I want a cover art for a CD that I ripped in iTunes, I just drag the cover art from wherever (e.g. Amazon.com page for that CD) to iTunes and thats it. No context menu, save as, add cover art in iTunes etc.
Or Expose - its very cool to locate a window, if the desktop gets cluttered.
Or playing DVDs. Just slip into the slot, the DVD application starts, gently fades out the desktop, and starts the DVD in full screen. On Windows, it seems I always have to click through badly designed dialog boxes where cancel or ok can have different meanings, which gets annoying.
Or installing applications. Just drag it on your HDD and thats it. No installer, which clutters the system with millions of files.

*iLife - An Apple computer is a complete appliance, ready to use for Music, Internet, photography, DVD, word processing... No clunky third party applications like on Windows, typically bloatware that just kills the user experience.

Also, Apple hardware besides feeling very solid has got the looks. Of course its a matter of taste and priorities, but I won't put a clunky PC in a nice room in my house.

The major disadvantages are:
*Price - well, mostly if you instead pirate Windows software. Otherwise, its a wash.
*Not a hard core game machine

[rnsmith]

Well said.

RS

[ReeferMac]

Originally posted by beerguy
I switched 18 months ago and won't ever go back.

It's funny how you never hear people saying that, the other way around....

That should tell you something.

- Mac

[revance]

Don't get me wrong, I think OSX is pretty cool. I also think Windows sucks. However I think it is kind of ironic that die hard Mac people spent the past 3 decades accusing Microsoft of "stealing their idea". Now, Apple didn't just take an idea, they used the source code! Of course FreeBSD IS open source, so there is nothing wrong with using it. It sure made one heck of an OS, I just think it is kind of funny.

[beerguy]

There's quite a difference between licensing and stealing......

If you're keeping score, the ideas that Apple complains about came from PARC.

[revance]

I just think it is ironic that they complained about someone using their very simple conceptual GUI idea (simple enough it couldn't be pattented) and are now using an open source kernel for their OS. I'm not keeping score, I just think it is funny.

[beerguy]

Actually they aren't using the BSD kernel. It's the mach kernel, from Steve's gig at NeXT. They are using much of the BSD subsystem, but the kernel is theirs.

[Scuba_Dave]

I tried calling Michael Dell to get a refund for Windows 386, 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, WIN95, WIN98, WINME, WIN2K & XP.
All of which have flaws that have never been fixed

He wouldn't take my calls.......

[dendronepthya]

Or installing applications. Just drag it on your HDD and thats it. No installer, which clutters the system with millions of files.

That is a great point that I totally overlooked. I forgot that Windows programs basically install themselves in a billion different places so you have to run an uninstaller (that sometimes doesn't finish the job). "Uninstall" on a Mac is as simple as dragging a folder into the trash. I don't have to worry about some random not-so-intuitively-named *.dll file sitting on my HD for eternity.

[Mark]

I did find one flaw in my Apple. Safari has a memory leak. If I leave my safari web browser open for two weeks and surf heavily on it, it eventually uses up like 500 mb or memory. However, it doesn't crash my computer or lock the rest of my OS up. I simple have to kill it and restart. I tried clearing the cache and such, but to no avail. I have since switched to Mozilla Firefox anyhow.

Just throwing this out there, so people don't think I'm claiming it's perfect. Pretty close though.

I love expose! Such a cool and usefull app. At work where I am forced to use Win XP, I keep finding myself moving my cursor to the corners of the screen and expecting something.

[Hobster]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
I tried calling Michael Dell to get a refund for Windows 386, 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, WIN95, WIN98, WINME, WIN2K & XP.
All of which have flaws that have never been fixed

He wouldn't take my calls.......

"New updates are avaliable, would you like to download them now?"

and tomorrow, and the next day................

[daFrimpster]

Yep Macs are better that's why so many more of them are sold than PC's....

[Dolfan0925]

lol

[beerguy]

Originally posted by daFrimpster
Yep Macs are better that's why so many more of them are sold than PC's....

Your logic is impeccable. Your parents must be proud.


The Ford Focus is a much better car than the Mercedes SLK55 AMG. It's obvious since there are so many more of them sold.

[Dolfan0925]

I like windows better because the only people who use macs are nuts and fruits

[revance]

Originally posted by daFrimpster
Yep Macs are better that's why so many more of them are sold than PC's....

And since there are more Prizm skimmers sold than ER skimmers they MUST be better.

[beerguy]

Originally posted by Dolfan0925
I like windows better because the only people who use macs are nuts and fruits

You laugh at us because we're different. We laugh at you because you're all the same.

[revance]

Originally posted by Dolfan0925
I like windows better because the only people who use macs are nuts and fruits

You know Tony, I would have expected more from you. Yes, macs used to be fore hippies, but now they have come out with a clearly superior product. They took a flavor of UNIX, which used to be only available on VERY expensive proprietary computers (typically big Sun, IBM, Silicon Graphics, etc. servers) and too complicated for the average moron user, and put an intuitive interface on it. They made it user friendly while preserving the performance, efficiency, stability, and robustness of a Unix machine.

[revance]

Oh wait... I noticed your occupation is computer repair... NO WONDER you are pro Windows. Microsoft's unstable and insecure OS brings in millions of $$ for companies like Ad-Aware, Norton, and computer repair shops. You have any idea how much free beer I got in school for fixing peoples computers that were riddled with spyware?

[Dolfan0925]

lol, actually that post was because this topic was getting to serious for the lounge and I can't close it and ban the serious ones.

[Scuba_Dave]

I have worked on PC's (Pretty Crappy) all my life. My 1st MAC (Most Admired Computer) had OS7x installed, I upgraded to 8x.
It blew me away what the MAC was capable of. I could run programs off of a Zip drive without installing them. Or I could drag a copy to the desktop, use the program, then delete it if I needed the space. The graphics were (are) far better then any PC I have seen

I love MAC's, my bank account loves PC's

I can upgrade a PC - I've been upgrading my PC for over 2 years now instead of buying a new one
Bought ATI AIW 9800, dual SATA 160g drives for a RAID array, already have 1g of memory. At some point I will install a new motherboard with the latest Athlon CPU

Plus all of my software is for the PC....

Someday I will own the best computer again......