what's wrong with MACs ?

[LimpingFish]

I have a mac. It's shiny and yellow and keeps me dry when it rains.

[enkerro]

Hasn't this happened before?

[yukonhorror]

I WORK for an Apple zealot.  Meaning, if I use a PC at work, I get my head bit off.  MAC's have their advantages as do PCs, but I am forced to use a MAC at work (if I want a computer).  Considering I am a grad student doing research on molecular computer simulations, not having a computer would be a bit of a hindrance. 

MAC's don't have Linux, they have Unix.  I tried to use the LINUX stuff for a tale of two kingdoms and got shot down like a Nazi plane in England. 

[Vince Twelve]

Oh yeah.  This thread makes a great case for the Mac users being the smug ones.  :

I own a MacBook Pro and a MacBook, both of which I use every day.  They both also run Windows.  My primary take-to-work computer, the MacBook, runs Windows probably 90% of the time.  Our home computer, the MBP runs OSX probably 90% of the time.  So, as someone straddling the fence, I'm going to make a long post with my observations on the debate.

Here's how I see it: OSX has fewer programs, obviously, and with more choices on Windows, you often have the upper hand.  So you can not do everything on OSX that you can on Windows.  However, as far as average daily use goes (surfing the net, using email, watching movies) the mac is a lot easier for the computer layman to use safely. 

Thanks to Windows being the prevalent technology, Mac users have very close to zero viruses and malware targetting their systems.  So, when my wife is using the OSX at home, I don't have to worry about our computer being turned into a adware colony while I'm off at work.  (Her previous computer, an NEC Windows XP laptop was utterly unusable after less than 2 years of use.  I wiped it and it now runs the GIMPS all day.)  My wife loves it and has figured out on her own how to do things that she used to ask me how to do once a week on Windows.  You can call OSX "computers for dummies," but think of how many times you've had to clean adware off your mom's computer, or reinstall Windows on your Grandmas machine because she somehow managed to delete half of the system files.

I, however, am an advanced computer user, and want to do things like work on my AGS game and use many Windows-only programs out there that do not have appropriate replacements for OSX.  So, I run Windows on my MB pretty much all the time.  The MacBook makes a great Windows machine.  Apart from the fact that it's much prettier than most other manufacturer's laptops, it's also a very sturdy machine.  And Apple does have great customer service and warranty service, which some companies do not (obviously experiences vary, though).   Apple's computers also run Windows faster than many comparable rigs.  (I've seen the MacBook Pro called the best Vista laptop on the market)  So, on a hardware level, they're expensive, yes, but I consider them worth it.  If you don't that's fine.  The added benefit of being able to boot up into OSX to use my favorite video editing suite, easily transfer files between my computers (seriously, macs do this so much easier than windows), and other nice features is a great bonus.

Yes, Apple users have a stereotypical aloof image, and Apple's own smug-ass advertising certainly doesn't help.  But I honestly don't know anyone who fits that image.  I know they exist.  I can't imagine sitting outside an Apple store all night to get the first new iPod design on launch day, but some one does it.  However, those people seem to me to be the exception rather than the rule among Mac users.  Now look at the comments in this thread and tell me that those same attitudes don't run both ways and that the pot hasn't just called the kettle black. 

People on both sides of the aisle who fight about which OS is better and insult the other side are kind of missing the point.  Both platforms have benefits and both have down sides.  Mac is better for some people's usage, and Windows is better for others.  The beautiful thing is that you can use both on the same computer if you'd like.

It sometimes seems that the reason people get so vocally defensive of their own platform is because they need to make themselves feel better about their decision.  Declaring your platform the best and only choice only makes your penis look smaller.

[voh]

The problem with macs is between the screen and the chair

(Also, I'm no longer a mac user, sold the macbook, got a Compaq )

[Domino]

I don't like Big Mac's. There is something about the sauce that irritates my taste buds. Plus, why do they put that extra bun in the middle, I mean, what's the point.

yuck.

[radiowaves]

I would prefer to see a carrot instead an apple on my computer cover.

[lo_res_man]

I resently bought a computer with Windows XP for 50 bucks, I though Eeek! I had just bought a MAC! Then it crashed, and I knew all was right with the world. 

Seriously though, 1) I have seen macs crash harder then me after the first time I got drunk (2) I hate how some mac users brag about how they don't get viruses or hack attacks. If they were the more common beast, they would get as many viruses as the worst windows. 3) Dedicated games are rarer then veal at a veagan convention.

Me? I am a DOS man, still a neophite, but I like the unclutterd look.

[tube]

1) I have seen macs crash harder then me after the first time I got drunk

Me too (not that I've seen you get drunk). Seems like there might be less driver or core OS related crashes than in Windows though, which sounds plausible due to the controlled hardware base.

(2) I hate how some mac users brag about how they don't get viruses or hack attacks. If they were the more common beast, they would get as many viruses as the worst windows.

What's your point here? We should use windows because we feel sorry for it? Or because it has the biggest market share? This argument always makes me laugh.

3) Dedicated games are rarer then veal at a veagan convention.

True. Gamers have little choice other than to use Windows.

Me? I am a DOS man, still a neophite, but I like the unclutterd look.

I use Linux, but I'm no "Linux man". The OS is just a tool. You use whatever suits you best until you find something better. Not that I'm looking for anything better currently, Linux seems to do everything I need it to do with the least hassle, thus letting me concentrate in more important stuff than keeping my tools in working order. But I believe this has much to do with the way us users like to do stuff, so there's no such thing as the best OS for everyone.

[rharpe]

I have MANY PCs and Linux computers, but I wish I had a MAC to play/test with and an Amiga too. I know PCs inside and out -- would love to learn other systems though.

[radiowaves]

Macs are for people who want to look professional and cool. But that doesn't mean macs are proffesional. Shure you can use PS, but you can use it on PC better! Pc has more functionality, its common sence. Mac is just all about marketing, the aim was that cool people use macs.... The campaign has been quite successful, I must say.

However, if you know what demoscene is, then you know better, there aren't much demos for macs.

Crashing is secondary. Every computer is able to crash. The real thing that gets on my nerves, is Macs attitude, it is supposed to be cool and functional, then why doesn't it have a proper mouse.... I am not particualry talking about one button, but the overall mouse... it just sucks so bad that I have to use Trust.

[BOYD1981]

However, if you know what demoscene is, then you know better, there aren't much demos for macs.

i doubt many people take into consideration the demoscene when choosing which hardware to buy, and the windows demoscene is mostly just about hardware acceleration and increasing system requirements these days anyway, which sucks and kinda defeats the point in my opinion. but if you were to base your choice of platform on the demoscene then yeh, get yourself a pc (or amiga )

[deadsuperhero]

I've always wanted an Amiga...sigh...

[Oliwerko]

Well,

I agree with these mac snobs thingies, BUT:
Both my mother and my father are graphic designers, and thus we have four macs so far, one really old, two 5 years old and one completely new. I am not a mac snob. I do not say that macs are better. But I can definitely say, that they are somewhat faster in certain things. They handle PS and these kind of things better. And I dont talk about pixel art. I talk about 300MB images or so. They handle FreeHand and Illustrator better. This software has been originally made for macs, if I am not mistaken.

So - Stupot and radiowaves - from your statements I can now clearly realize that we are just stupidly rich businessmen (and the money is well hidden so we cannot use it until we are dead), we go to vacation every week, I go to a rich private school and so on.

I agree that PCs are more universal. I like to have a PC. But if I did things like my parents do, or whatever macs are better in - I would no doubt get a mac. I agree there are many people using macs just for their image yelling "Look, I have a mac, I am cool because I am different!", but guys - do NOT throw everyone into the same pack! From what you have written, it seems that you are just as "cool" PC users as those "cool" Mac users. You are now doing the same thing as mackers do with PCs - complaining about how it is useless. You are doing the same, just in different color.

As Darth said - they are just different. Not more, not less. That's it.

[Mugs]

I just like to tease mac users when their "everything just runs on a mac" statement doesn't hold true.

People seem to confuse "Mac" with "Mac OS X".   When the ads say "everything just runs on a mac",  they are talking about the computer itself, not the OS.   This weekend, I bought myself a copy of Windows XP  for my MacBook Pro just to enable me to run AGS games on it (I love AGS so much).   I can run an AGS game on Windows, which runs on my Mac, therefore I can run an AGS game on my Mac.  Everything DOES run on a Mac.


BTW:  A Mac is a PC, and always has been.  People seem to confuse "Windows" with "PC".

[ryanlandry]

I agree with Oliwerko that different computers have different strengths, obviously. I've been using Macs since OS 9, alongside windows PCs. I still use both depending on what I need to do. Aside from the general gaming and surfing etc that the average user does, I work a lot with audio, doing recording/mixing/composing/etc and I've found that drivers and compatibility issues abound on a windows PC because of the wide variety of hardware. With OS X I haven't had any issues with that type of thing, and all the professional studios I've been to use macs for the same reason. Plus, I like using Logic, which is Mac-only, even though the "industry standard" is pro tools.

I don't have a soul-patch, or wear a beret, or "work on my screenplay" in an internet cafe on my mac laptop -- I'm not part of the "indie" music scene, and I don't use iphoto to share my vacation photos online with all my mac friends. Your choice of computer should be based on what you're most comfortable and most productive working with, and what you expect/need to do. I'm very familiar with windows PCs, I have a computer engineering technology diploma which was 90%+ windows-based, and I worked for over a year as a network admin for a microsoft certified gold partner, maintaining 5 win2k3 servers and a 50 person staff of xp users. I really don't think there needs to be such an animosity between users of different computers, but that's just my several cents.

[Stupot]

So - Stupot and radiowaves ... do NOT throw everyone into the same pack! From what you have written, it seems that you are just as "cool" PC users as those "cool" Mac users. You are now doing the same thing as mackers do with PCs...

No way, my PC is shit and I'll be the first to admit it.
My PC is about as cool as Gary Glitter in a maternity ward.

[deadsuperhero]

I used to want a Mac. In fact, sometimes I still do. I mainly use Linux, which has gotten great at emulating Windows games. It does most of what I need just fine, except for editing movies. Apparently, Apple's iLife suite is great for that, but the combined price is just too high.
Heck, I could just apply an OSX Leopard  imitation theme, and probably be just fine.

[tube]

BTW:  A Mac is a PC, and always has been.  People seem to confuse "Windows" with "PC".

Macs used to be based on the PowerPC architecture, but their recent move to Intel hardware removed this difference. You definitely couldn't install Windows on a PPC Mac. That's probably why people still talk about PCs and Macs.

[ryanlandry]

I think the point he was making is that "PC" means personal computer. I know, even apple says "PC and Mac" as if they're 2 different things, but they're not. I used to have a Tandy CoCo 3, at the time it was called a "home computer" or i guess "HC."

a little wiki history:

"As one of the earliest and most successful home computers, it [the Apple 2] is widely attributed as the father of the personal computer industry and what sparked its revolution"

"The success of the Apple II in business spurred IBM to create the IBM PC"

So i guess technically IBM was the first to use the term PC to describe a personal computer.

"The term "personal computer" was common currency before 1981, and was used as early as 1972 to characterize Xerox PARC's Alto. However, because of the success of the IBM PC, what had been a generic term sometimes meant specifically a microcomputer compatible with IBM's products."

"In addition to PC-DOS, buyers could choose either CP/M-86 or UCSD p-System as operating systems."

So PC was never really a term associated with miscrosoft or windows-based computers until the laymen started referring to it that way. Like a facial tissue is a "kleenex" (at least in north america).

Anyway, as you can see I'm bored. Must be 'cause I can't play any games on my mac