linux, windows or mac ?

[BrisBen]

Been with Apple machines since the IIe in 85.

Worked as an IT manager in a Advertising agency where the Artists had Mac's and the others had Winoze boxes, 98% of all the issues were with the latter for all sorts of reasons that needed time and effort to try and establish what the problem was.

OS X is extremely stable with its UNIX base (very similar to Linux but with a more pleasant User Interface, and as previously mentioned Microsoft applications run perfectly well and are easily moved between both platforms.

Consider buying a Mac Mini (around 1000 bucks) - which essentially is just the box, the size of 6 or seven Cd's stacked on top of each other with a slot loading cd/dvd drive, pre-loaded with the OS, you can add your own peripherals like monitor keyboard, mouse etc most brands are compatible even if it doesn't say it on the box...

I bought one for my parents and it comes loaded with a bunch of software for the things they really want a computer for - it has it's own web browser, mail client, digital photo software, movie making software, dvd making software etc.

Not to mention the change to Intel dual core processors to help with speed that was always seen as a "problem" with Mac

and besides - they are just so pretty to look at

My two bobs worth anyway

[bitingmidge]

I've said it before:

I have a computer, not a hobby.

I have a Mac.

I have several Macs in fact, wirelessly networked since Apple brought out Airport 6 or 7 years ago. All computers need some maintenance, but not all computer's need "experts" to work out how to do it while you are paying them an hourly rate, some you can simply do yourself.

Cheers,

P (with apologies to the "experts" among us)

[la Huerta]

BrisBen , those mac mini's sound good, has everything in a little package...

looks like theres a lean towards mac...

should be conducting a poll here...

[cellist]

Confessed Mac user here. Wouldn't go any other way, especially these days. Main thing is, I don't even have virus/spyware software and I don't need it. Mac's Safari browser blocks pop-up windows perfectly. Sure, they look more expensive, but when you consider the software that comes with it, compared to a PC (where you need to buy lots of stuff) it's not really expensive at all. The old analogy for Macs was,"it's like having a Rolls Royce, but you can only drive it on 10 percent of the roads." Well, times have changed, and now most programmes are available in both platforms.

I agree with the post that said PC for games and Macs for everything else. My computer NEVER crashes. Any PC users care to claim the same??? Never. Read it again: NEVER.

And now with the Intel chips, these things are lightening fast. Virtually everything is automatic on a Mac and integrated. No \ stuff. That symbol doesn't even exist in our world. No C drives, slave drives. Nothin'. No "Start" menu to go to for navigation. It's just plain easy to use and as reliable as Rolls Royces are meant to be.

That should stir up the PC hornets!
Cheers.
Mike

[PuppyPaw]

My computer NEVER crashes. Any PC users care to claim the same??? Never. Read it again: NEVER.

Yes I care to claim the same, none of my windows computers from Windows 98 to XP have ever, and I mean ABSOLUTELY NEVER EVER crashed, they have fozen but I have always gotten it back without having to reboot (a run away bad program) and I do intensive design, animation on a desktop that runs XP, never missed a beat, NONE of my computers have.

I am no expert in Windows, far from it, I just have optimising software I use thats well recommended, I also remove programs I don't need and then use other software to remove dead stuff left behind.

I have never had a virus either, or mail/ad crap on my computer either, well I thought I did once.

[Daddles]

Don't bother Puppy. This thread is just a Mac love in. Pathetic listening to all these Mac lovers bragging about what is standard for a modern PC running XP Yup, my PC, a Dell (oh horror), running XP, turned on at brekky everyday and used (or ignored) until bedtime, two years old now and never missed a beat, never had a crash.

Richard

[namtrak]

All due respect La Huerta, but I'm a bit over questions about which O/S (not just this forum). It really only gives people (me included) an opportunity to soapbox why their's is best and yours is worst.

[Termite]

Well, speaking as an end user and dabbler for many years, I find that computers are like vehicles, horses for courses. So my personal choices would be

1. For general work - PC with Intel chips.

2. For gaming - PC with overclocked AMD chips.

3. Graphics and CAD - Mac without question.

[bitingmidge]

I think it's interesting that this thread seems to have flushed out one or two other users of "that" OS that for reasons that I don't understand seems to get under the skin of the 92% of computer users that don't use it.

I would like to know:

a) How much you spend anually on software/OS upgrades and maintenance.

b) How much time each week on the same.

For me
a)
My Macs (run in home and office, networked wirelessly):
I upgrade my OS about every two years ($300 for a five-licence pack), and that comes with most of the upgrades for the Apple suite of software.

So that's about $30.00 per computer per year.

Our accounting software costs $300 per year, but that's a "necessary business expense".

I have NEVER needed to have a technician fix any software induced problem.
My PC's (run in shops with point of sale systems, networked back to home/office) used to cost a small fortune in weekly IT checks and fixes.

b)
Macs: pretty much set and forget. Auto backup when I remember to plug in the external hard drive.

PC's at work: Tech spends a couple of hours a fortnight fiddling... buggered if I know on what. There is a server, three PC's and two Macs which never need attention.

From my crude observations, we could save the cost of a new computer every four months by firing the tech and running an all Mac system.

This is not a crusade, I just want to know why it's not simple for PC guys, perhaps it is for the intelligent ones??

Cheers,

P

[woodbe]

This is not a crusade, I just want to know why it's not simple for PC guys, perhaps it is for the intelligent ones??

P

There are two answers to this question, depending on your leaning

1. It's not simple, because if it was, thousands of people (techs) would be out of jobs. There is an industry based around returning PC's back into working state. Flaky hardware and flaky software abound in a market dominated by both big business with industrial marketing muscle and cheap thirdworld import hardware. It's not all MS's fault, but really, they have been on their security spin for years now. "Trustworthy Computing", remember that?

2. It's not that simple because there are more PC's out there, and they are doing more stuff than your two Macs. It is true that rummaging around in the internals of a Mac, doing things that don't work out of the box because the average user doesn't need them, is just as daunting as it is on a PC. Some of the Mac's ease-of-use diminishes as you put it into more complex environments, and do uncommon things with it.

I'd still trust a Mac more to 'stay fixed' though, and relatively unpopular as it is, the Mac way actually suits more of the average users requirements for basic hassle-free computing (WP, Spreadsheet, email and web) than the PC way. Most PC users would vehemently disagree with this though, because of the elements of ego and religion that get attached to the decision to buy this or that computer. It is very hard to stand back and impartially consider both sides when you have one or other under your desk.

Leaving the controlled environments at work to one side, and thinking about the small army of users who use me as their free IT guy, I have to say that the ones with least problems are either savvy to their systems, and have a higher understanding of what's going on inside the box and why, or they have a Mac.

Of the Mac users, only a few have regular problems, and mostly because they are terminal tinkerers who just don't understand their computer, or they are just terminal. I'm reminded of the tech story where the tech asks the user to put the computer back into the box, and send it back, because 'you are too dumb to own a computer'

Homily over, I return you to your normal program...

[Termite]

This is not a crusade, I just want to know why it's not simple for PC guys, perhaps it is for the intelligent ones??P

Midge, I think that PC's, being the "popular" workhorse, are used by a lot of people who basically wouldn't know one end of a computer from the other, technically speaking and no offence to anyone intended. To them it is the equivalent of a washing machine, just a tool, and is subject to the blissfully ignorant abuse that a lot of machinery is, and this is where a lot of the problems arise, and I won't go to deeply into the "Problems that arise".

The Mac user on the other hand is usually someone who has researched the right tool for the job (see previous post) and is usually reasonably knowlegable about computers. So being a different category of computer user, Mac users usually don't let their computers get into the mess that less knowledgable users do.

I'm no expert by any means, but I do have enough nouse to build and maintain my own computer, and keep it "clean" which is usually the best way to avoid problems in the first place. I could tell horror stories of some of the messes my rello's have got their computers into, simply from lack of knowledge, like the niece who ground her computer to a halt simply because she had never deleted a single web page in the whole time she had the computer, didn't know she had to, or how to. :eek:

You know the story, just keep putting petrol in it, nothing else, and then wonder why it stops.

[9Fingers]

As long as I can get at a web browers, I really don't care.

[la Huerta]

well put...

[Bob Willson]

Try this FrreBSD unix based operating sytem.
Running Xwindows (KDE) it will need about a 1 gig processor, 256 meg of RAM and a 10- gig HDD. to be the equal of a Pentium 4 running XP.
The system is free to download from http://www.freebsd.org and it has great community support at [email protected] (you need to register).
Everything is absolutely free and rock solid. Up times are measured in years.

The only bad thing is hat you will need to apply a degree of intelligence as the learing curve is quite steep but the finished product is GREAT.

Read and follow the manual at http://www.freebsd.org and you can't really go wrong.

[kiwigeo]

Don't know what the macs are worth but windows based systems seem to be good value, it's suprising what you get for little money...

Macs cost more than PC's but you dont have to upgrade them as often. You can run current Mac OS on a relatively old Mac....

I'm running current version of Mac OSX on a 5 year old G4 Powerbook. Ive got Virtual PC (Windows emulator) loaded on the machine in case I ever need to run Windows software but so far Ive never had to use it. Files created by Mac version of Office are fully compatible with windows machines.

During my PC days I was updating my laptops every 18 months on average...hardware either died on me or hardware wasnt fast enough to run latest versions of software. The powerbook cost me $7000 and has lasted me 5 years...you can do the sums yourself. Over long term the Mac has cost me alot less than a PC.

Mac support is very good.....they have this really novel concept...if you have problems with the computer you take it back to the shop you bought it from and THEY fix it. No dealing with some call centre in India and having to ship your machine to the other side of the country to get it fixed.

Cheers Martin