[aliquis]

Personally I think Windows have come so far since the days when I used AmigaOS 3.0 and compared it with Windows 95 that I could survive on both platforms. Both got merits.

However, I use OS X now, and for free I may pick that over Windows. But it comes at a cost. For instance latest OS X just recently got frameworks which will enable Flash to play H.264 video accelerated on the GPU on macs. But Apple being Apple forget about it if you have an Intel chipset which can play H.264 or even any mac with Nvidia 8600m GT or 9600m GT, they only add it for the latest models.

For stupid things like one one of the cores in my 2.2 GHz Core2Duo was always running at 100% since I had a few tabs open with flash crap in them. (Which heat your computer a lot which heat the battery which make it lose performance much faster.)
(The magsafe power-adapter got lose in the cable so it doesn't charge as it should and the machine would just turn itself of because it ran out of juice. The DVD-burner doesn't work because it's built with the sturdiness of the aluminum around a piece of chocolate. The optical sound output uses the headphone jack instead of a normal toslink connector so you have to buy such a cable (used for minidisks back in the days) but it's very fragile and I've bent plenty, which leaves a piece of plastic in the jack ..), there are no microphone input, just line in, so if you want to connnect a non-amplified mic you need to get a usb microphone port. I don't remember now but only one of the Apple Airport Extreme and the Apple Airport Express did wireless audio from your laptop, and the other could handle USB storage if I remember correctly. So then you have to buy BOTH if you want wireless LAN with network storage and hook it up to your receiver .. Why didn't the newer one have all the features of the older one?)

You won't get ass-raped (not in the good way ) like that on Windows, and you would have had video acceleration for the beginning of time there. Your hardware will be crippled by default to give Apple as good margins as possible and the vendor lock-in is amazingly tight. If you feel like Microsoft tries to control everything then don't step into the world of Apple because you will be really disappointed.


Running Linux or FreeBSD makes your computer and your data YOURS but you'll lack the commercial apps.

[aliquis]

If you worry so much about viruses then you could throw together something cheap from AMD and Nvidia and hook it up to an e-IPS panel but with no Internet connection. Then you'll be plenty safe...

Or you can install a virtual machine with a clean Windows image which you start up every time you surf and then no matter what happen with that setup you'll start fresh the next time ..
Or better yet let it be an image of a Linux installation or something such since whatever OS it is doesn't matter as long as you'll only use the browser. ChromeOS image maybe, whatever.

[aliquis]

Oh, that sounds interesting. Can you tell me the 'howes' of that? and what do you mean when you say 'run programmes inside Mac OS (OS?)? thank you.

Since a mac more or less is a PC only with EFI instead of BIOS and which require special graphics cards which work with EFI you can install Windows on a Mac but you need a software called bootcamp which I believe is free. See it as a drivers CD.

Another alternative is to setup a virtual machine, for instance Parallels, and install Windows in that one.

Finally even free Windows emulation layers/environments such as Wine may work for single apps.

But there is plenty of good programs for both platforms and most of the best is available for both so it doesn't matter much what you choose.

No reason not to get a Mac if you can afford one. Simple as that.

As far as running Windows programs within Mac OS X, check out VMware Fusion.

Just as many reasons as not to buy a ferrari/aston-martin/rolls royce/whatever expensive car just because you can. It may not be the wisest investment and eventually not even the best car you could had got.

For instance maybe that Volvo XC90 would had worked better for your family ..

[Steve Beswick]

I heard a lot good thing about Mac. And first time I had an opportunitiy to use it - fail!
It was one of MacBooks, and it had to be connected on just an ordinary LCD projector. Ok, plug the prjector on DVI output . nothing. Press one of those buttons on keyboard, voila, projector gets the picture. But Mac screen goes blank?! Press again, projector loses the picture. Go to options, try to switch it manually - again, no picture at the same time. After many tries of everything, only thing that worked was turning off Mac, and repluging the projector shen system starts to boot. It happened with two of them. Don't know which Os X was on them. Third one couldn't give 16:9 on screen and 4:3 on projector, only the same on both.
Last week, 3 Macs to connect on eduroam network here were I work, everything done step-by-step like the manual says (because there must be some encryption set up, it's not just "find network -> connect -> surf the internet"), but no, it connected when Mac desided it's the time to establih the connection! And what's even more weird, on two of them it established the connection while I was entering the password for it?!
Of course, that doesn't mean that they're all the same - on the contrary, many of them worked flawlessly. But that's what I expected from ALL of them, after hearing so much praise about Macs. And especially when it's about such simple task as connecting LCD projector, or establishing Wi-fi connection, in spite of those encryptions, it should be like any other
So for that, it fails...
And what I also think is that Mac is much more appropriate for light users, who just wants everything to work, no mather how many programs are there installed, how many windows opened, and with less as possible of their interference with any settings. I, as a power user, are much more familiar with how things work and I can set up anything how I like, and get the most out of system. Probably that's why Windows 98 were the last Windows I had headache with ) Ok, never tried ME, I had Win 2000 then, but you know what I mean

Hmm... this all sounds like user error to me.

[Edvinas]

Anyhow, I did so because I was bored with Windows and was tired of trying to keep on top of virus updates and the number of pop-up windows I saw, even though I'm fully aware of how to disable them; they just annoyed me to death. I just wanted to log in and do my thing, not continually spend time maintaining and repairing and updating. So it's not like my Windows machines blew up or anything (although freeze-ups and BSOD's were common), I just wanted a change.

After such comments I always wonder what people are doing with their windows systems that they are managing to ruin them?
Common freez-ups and BSOD of Windows? Hmm, I think I've seen less of them in a few years than I've seen freeze-ups and kernel panics in a year when I'm using Mac. Continually spend time maintaining, repairing and updating? Never felt the need to repair or maintain. Updates are automatic. I spend zero time maintainint, repairing and updating my windows system.

[enoxatnep]

After such comments I always wonder what people are doing with their windows systems that they are managing to ruin them?

I was, of all things, running Norton Antivirus and Firewall and running Ad-Aware as well. I believe that Norton, however, led to the ruin of my old PC. If I ever get a Windows machine again I'll use AVG for anti-virus and a router for my firewall. Better yet, I'll just stick with Mac and not have to run AV or anti-spam software period and just use a router.

People like me with nearly trouble-free experience on a Mac versus lots of trouble on various Windows computers at peoples' houses, in very large to very small computer networks, at work, and at home find it very difficult to switch back from where they came. Just one man's experience, and I don't expect anyone to get excited about Macs when they read it.

But there are many reasons why the ranks of Mac users have swelled in recent years, and no one can deny that - I and several people I know (at least a dozen) with bad Windows experiences rank among them, and anyone telling us that Windows is the better system overall is wasting their time.

[George Lama]

Tell that to my wife who works in the graphic design dept at a local publication and has had her Mac Pro go nuts on her often enough she has more than once wanted to toss it out the window (the metal bars on the window would stop her though )

As an IT guy who manages multiple flavors and versions of Windows and Linux as well as multiple mobile OS platforms, I can guarantee you this:

* Expecting any OS to be perfect is naive. You want a perfect OS, stick to a calculator or digital watch.
* If Mac OS was impervious to viruses and malware, Apple wouldn't bother updating regularly. There have been 10 mayor security updates released from Apple this calendar year, nowhere near as many as Microsoft has released, but they exist and at times these updates are quite hefty in size.
* BitDefender, one of the top antivirus/antimalware software vendors just released a Mac OSX product that targets "270 specific threats," most of which seem to be browser and networking related.
* Are Macs less likely to have issues than Windows? Usually yes. Then again I've had production machines running Windows and Linux run for years without issues.

My philosophy is simple - if it works for you or for a task, use it. If you enjoy using it then it's all the better!

This whole entire argument about which OS is better is as productive as forwarding 100 emails because someone promised if you did, you will get a free restaurant gift card.

[boriscleto]

Tell that to my wife who works in the graphic design dept at a local publication and has had her Mac Pro go nuts on her often enough she has more than once wanted to toss it out the window (the metal bars on the window would stop her though )

As an IT guy who manages multiple flavors and versions of Windows and Linux as well as multiple mobile OS platforms, I can guarantee you this:

* Expecting any OS to be perfect is naive. You want a perfect OS, stick to a calculator or digital watch.
* If Mac OS was impervious to viruses and malware, Apple wouldn't bother updating regularly. There have been 10 mayor security updates released from Apple this calendar year, nowhere near as many as Microsoft has released, but they exist and at times these updates are quite hefty in size.
* BitDefender, one of the top antivirus/antimalware software vendors just released a Mac OSX product that targets "270 specific threats," most of which seem to be browser and networking related.
* Are Macs less likely to have issues than Windows? Usually yes. Then again I've had production machines running Windows and Linux run for years without issues.

My philosophy is simple - if it works for you or for a task, use it. If you enjoy using it then it's all the better!

This whole entire argument about which OS is better is as productive as forwarding 100 emails because someone promised if you did, you will get a free restaurant gift card.

As an IT professional your biases a clear. Windows has provided you a career. Your wife's problems are most likely Adobe problems, not Mac OS problems. Those "270 specific threats" all require user action or physical access to the computer. Spybot S&D searches for over 200,000 threats on Windows.

[George Lama]

Biases? You assuming I'm one of those who rags on Macs or are you saying that because you presume PCs to be horrible when compared to Macs?

I thought I was very clear - if the technology works, use it. If you love using that particular technology and it works for you, even better.

I guess I should tell some of the people I support, who run Mac networks and iPhones and pay me too, that I can't support them anymore because late at night, in my worst nightmares, I dream that Macs suck and they are the devil incarnate...

[boriscleto]

Biases? You assuming I'm one of those who rags on Macs or are you saying that because you presume PCs to be horrible when compared to Macs?

I thought I was very clear - if the technology works, use it. If you love using that particular technology and it works for you, even better.

I guess I should tell some of the people I support, who run Mac networks and iPhones and pay me too, that I can't support them anymore because late at night, in my worst nightmares, I dream that Macs suck and they are the devil incarnate...

I don't presume PCs to be horrible when compared to Macs, I KNOW PCs are horrible when compared to Macs.

I've done Windows support for friends and family for years, I support 3 Windows PCs at a local restaurant, I've sat through PCUG meetings and answered questions that the PC guys couldn't answer or answered wrong.

After years of using Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, NT 3.5, NT 4, 2000, XP, Vista, Linux, Mac OS 7,8,9, and X I KNOW that the only thing Windows PCs are better at is creating jobs for IT people. Linux is fine as a server but as an end user OS it sucks.

[George Lama]

In regard to Linux as an end user OS "sucking," that's not at all accurate. Only in the most narrowest of definitions is Linux not appropriate for end-users.

Ubuntu and CentOS (and a few other flavors) are incredibly user friendly and can be easily installed in just about any computer imaginable. Obviously Linux doesn't have the software support for certain specialized applications (i.e. adobe products) and alternatives like GIMP aren't all that easy to get used to, but for average use - surfing, emailing, office-type software, and browser-based apps, it's extremely user friendly and extremely stable.

Heck, I run a Linux port on my 4th Generation iPod and it has more features than Apple ever put on there (it even talks song titles). No, this is not a rag on Apple, just demonstrating that unlike some, I'm not satisfied with what comes in the box and I'm very willing to try alternatives.

[boriscleto]

I've had Windows experiences like this

My weekend Windows experience, or why I love Apple so much

It's why I love the Mac

Apple - Why You?ll Love a Mac - A Mac is the ultimate upgrade.

[George Lama]

Wow... so a Mac User buys a cheap Chinese web cam with a possibly old and incompatible driver set that needs to be setup with Windows before it works on a Mac?

What exactly are we trying to prove here - buyer beware? you get what you pay for?

It's like changing a spark plug with a screw driver...

[krypticide]

I almost thought of switching to a Macbook Pro, but the hardware options weren't what I wanted (I wanted a FHD screen 1920x1080 in a 15" form factor). Plus, Windows 7 is just awesome.

No maintenance needed. Just install Microsoft Security Essentials (yes, it is really really good) and you don't need anything else!

[dugrant153]

No maintenance needed. Just install Microsoft Security Essentials (yes, it is really really good) and you don't need anything else!

No need for antivirus or firewall with Microsoft Security Essentials??