Still have it in a drawer, it's the 8900
Also, the Iphone wall plug gives me another PT USB to plug into
Also, the Iphone wall plug gives me another PT USB to plug into
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Mac Vs PC...Whatcha think????
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To clarify, multitasking works the same on every operating system out there now. The only way to run more than 6 applications without any performance decrease is if they're all idle in the background. Technically speaking having Word, Firefox, Windows Media Player, Outlook and Paintshop open means you have 6 programs running.. but with the exception of Windows Media Player (or iTunes) chances are the other 5 are really just sitting there doing nothing. I have 8 applications open on my Windows PC right now and you'd never know it while I'm typing in this little text box for example.
I just have to touch on the audio/video editing thing since it came up a handful of times. This is all patently false now, there's no difference in the platforms, period.
About a decade ago no one had bothered creating graphics editing or audio editing software for PCs (not good stuff, anyway...) because it was a very niche market, everyone who was in to it used Mac. As a consequence Apple included fair tools for this stuff out of the box, and the hardware in the machine was optimized for the tasks. Apple put the first integrated 16 bit soundcards in their machines, for example, along with the first real graphics accelerators.
These days virtually any software you can find for Mac you can also find for PC. Photoshop, for example, is the industry standard for graphics editing (mainstream, at least) and is available for both Mac and PC. Someone tell me something you can do on the Mac version that you can't on the PC, please? Same with sound editing, there are plenty of multi-track editors available for both platforms that have all of the same capabilities.
The morale: At one point in time it was very true that if you wanted to edit pictures, videos or sounds you went with a Mac (even though at that time Amiga had them all beat, but that's a different novel). These days, though, there's literally no difference between the capabilities the two have.
About a decade ago no one had bothered creating graphics editing or audio editing software for PCs (not good stuff, anyway...) because it was a very niche market, everyone who was in to it used Mac. As a consequence Apple included fair tools for this stuff out of the box, and the hardware in the machine was optimized for the tasks. Apple put the first integrated 16 bit soundcards in their machines, for example, along with the first real graphics accelerators.
These days virtually any software you can find for Mac you can also find for PC. Photoshop, for example, is the industry standard for graphics editing (mainstream, at least) and is available for both Mac and PC. Someone tell me something you can do on the Mac version that you can't on the PC, please? Same with sound editing, there are plenty of multi-track editors available for both platforms that have all of the same capabilities.
The morale: At one point in time it was very true that if you wanted to edit pictures, videos or sounds you went with a Mac (even though at that time Amiga had them all beat, but that's a different novel). These days, though, there's literally no difference between the capabilities the two have.
Ah WTH, I'll jump in. I'm a 15+ year Mac user, here's my 2¢:
I find this thread a bit ironic considering the subforum its in.
I mean, why do you buy from V4L? You know you could order cheaper, plainer versions of the same stuff elsewhere. You could assemble a kit with plain white batts from one place, and questionable cartos that might be ok from another, and maybe a PT from some guy who just opened a webshop 2 weeks ago. You could order from another well known vendor that has less than stellar customer service. You could hope they're not selling factory rejects they got cheap. And you could hope they would take returns if something went wrong.
You could also try holding your breath for a long time.
You could assemble the whole thing for less- and argue it's just as good. It may not be pretty but it gets the job done... well kinda. Right?
So why buy from V4L?
Quality, Service, Looks, Reliability, Reputation, Loyalty.
V4L makes sure they have good juice. They make sure that the factory producing their batts does it right. They made the items personalized so you could have a vaping experience tailored to you. They stamp their reputation all over everything they put out. They guarantee every bit of it. And you all love belonging to this club, you'll pay more for a large variety of reasons.
That sounds a lot like Apple.
I paid $1000 for my last MacBook. Sure I could have built myself one for $20 with parts from Frys but I haven't the knowledge or patience.
I could have bought a $600 HP or whatever from Best Buy but when it went kabooey (like my husband's- 2 of them in 2 years) I'd probably be pretty much out of luck. I could peck around on ebay hoping that the $150 part we need would actually work and wasn't a cheap rip off. I could try to get the crappy warranty honored through BestBuy only to have them say HP refused or wanted to keep it for 4 weeks to investigate.
But I don't do any of that, I have a Mac. When my machines have problems I take them to the Apple store, and after a bunch of nice staff members figure out what the problem is, they take it and give it back with a new motherboard, keyboard, case, LCD whatever. The longest they've ever kept one was 3 days, and I've never paid for a repair.
When something craps out I drive to the store and they fix it. That's not with additional AppleCare service, once it wasn't even under warranty.
When my logic board went bad in the middle of me working on the tightest deadline in history for a ad campaign for Volvo an Apple guy drove my laptop across town and the guy at the other store stayed late to repair it. They gave it to me the next morning. I made my deadline.
Since the stores opened here I've been in there a lot and gotten to know the people who work there. It's similar to the way you guys feel about the V4L staff: they know me, they take care of problems with a smile, they actually seem to care and I know they're going to do whatever they have to to make things right. I get the feeling of having an extended family that's into the same stuff I am.
It's not just about hardware or software. It's partially about the experience as well. Other people may have a different experience with Apple, but that's mine for what it's worth.
There are a lot of other practical reasons I'm a Mac girl but that's the part that seems relevant to this forum anyway.
I find this thread a bit ironic considering the subforum its in.
I mean, why do you buy from V4L? You know you could order cheaper, plainer versions of the same stuff elsewhere. You could assemble a kit with plain white batts from one place, and questionable cartos that might be ok from another, and maybe a PT from some guy who just opened a webshop 2 weeks ago. You could order from another well known vendor that has less than stellar customer service. You could hope they're not selling factory rejects they got cheap. And you could hope they would take returns if something went wrong.
You could also try holding your breath for a long time.
You could assemble the whole thing for less- and argue it's just as good. It may not be pretty but it gets the job done... well kinda. Right?
So why buy from V4L?
Quality, Service, Looks, Reliability, Reputation, Loyalty.
V4L makes sure they have good juice. They make sure that the factory producing their batts does it right. They made the items personalized so you could have a vaping experience tailored to you. They stamp their reputation all over everything they put out. They guarantee every bit of it. And you all love belonging to this club, you'll pay more for a large variety of reasons.
That sounds a lot like Apple.
I paid $1000 for my last MacBook. Sure I could have built myself one for $20 with parts from Frys but I haven't the knowledge or patience.
I could have bought a $600 HP or whatever from Best Buy but when it went kabooey (like my husband's- 2 of them in 2 years) I'd probably be pretty much out of luck. I could peck around on ebay hoping that the $150 part we need would actually work and wasn't a cheap rip off. I could try to get the crappy warranty honored through BestBuy only to have them say HP refused or wanted to keep it for 4 weeks to investigate.
But I don't do any of that, I have a Mac. When my machines have problems I take them to the Apple store, and after a bunch of nice staff members figure out what the problem is, they take it and give it back with a new motherboard, keyboard, case, LCD whatever. The longest they've ever kept one was 3 days, and I've never paid for a repair.
When something craps out I drive to the store and they fix it. That's not with additional AppleCare service, once it wasn't even under warranty.
When my logic board went bad in the middle of me working on the tightest deadline in history for a ad campaign for Volvo an Apple guy drove my laptop across town and the guy at the other store stayed late to repair it. They gave it to me the next morning. I made my deadline.
Since the stores opened here I've been in there a lot and gotten to know the people who work there. It's similar to the way you guys feel about the V4L staff: they know me, they take care of problems with a smile, they actually seem to care and I know they're going to do whatever they have to to make things right. I get the feeling of having an extended family that's into the same stuff I am.
It's not just about hardware or software. It's partially about the experience as well. Other people may have a different experience with Apple, but that's mine for what it's worth.
There are a lot of other practical reasons I'm a Mac girl but that's the part that seems relevant to this forum anyway.
Ditto on the Droid awesome device. Price, tweaking, overclocking, upgrade-ability just to name a few got to go PC. Pro Tools and Abelton Live run smooth as glass on mine. Win 7 is great so far,runs cooler in fact than XP an Vista(multiboot on dt and laptop). Oh and gaming? Game over man.
A quick reply to your post; Comparing your mac laptop to an hp laptop is like comparing a Honda Accord to a... really crappy and unreliable laptop.
HP laptops are arguably the least reliable laptops on the market. They are, for lack of a better term, pure garbage.
[edit] I'm sorry if my reply didn't really address everything, but my eyes are barely open right now.
HP laptops are arguably the least reliable laptops on the market. They are, for lack of a better term, pure garbage.
[edit] I'm sorry if my reply didn't really address everything, but my eyes are barely open right now.
Teibidh
You made some really great points. I can remember a turning point. The graphics - desktop publishing software companies that had been the realm of the MAC, like Quark for instance, decided to start developing their software for the PC. The software upgrades for the MAC, as usually happens, had made the code inflexible over time. When those companies started writing for the PC they started from scratch rather than recoding. At that point the software for the PC actually ran MUCH better than the same software on a MAC.
That's no longer the case but it was valid in the late 90s. You are correct that when it comes to business software in particular there is nothing you can do on a MAC that you can't do on a PC but there is plenty you can do on a PC you can't do on a MAC.
One of my customers who bought a MAC Book Pro 6 months ago now has it on a shelf. He had installed Parallels when he realized he couldn't use "most" of the software he needed for work, then had to purchase XP Pro. Being a nerd himself he did all the work and was satisfied with the results but it took many hours to get it done.
He called me early one morning to ask a question unrelated to the MAC but began raving about Apple support, (their big strong point). He had decided to use some feature in the MAC OS, I don't remember what, but it would not work. He told me that the Apple tech spent forever on the phone trying to solve the problem and the suport was great. But after nearly 2 hours of trying to solve the problem the Apple support tech suggested he reinstall the MAC OS. That's when my customer decided it wasn't worth the trouble to go through all those installs and configurations again. That's when it went into the bookcase.
I have several video and audio companies that quit using a MAC years ago and have never looked back.
My success is based on the fact that I treat my customers the same as Steve treats his. That has given be a huge advantage in the support area compared to the large manufacturers. In my 3rd year in business here in Atlanta, (that was 17 years ago) I did just short of $1 million in sales with zero advertising. To this day I don't have a listing in the yellow pages.
You made some really great points. I can remember a turning point. The graphics - desktop publishing software companies that had been the realm of the MAC, like Quark for instance, decided to start developing their software for the PC. The software upgrades for the MAC, as usually happens, had made the code inflexible over time. When those companies started writing for the PC they started from scratch rather than recoding. At that point the software for the PC actually ran MUCH better than the same software on a MAC.
That's no longer the case but it was valid in the late 90s. You are correct that when it comes to business software in particular there is nothing you can do on a MAC that you can't do on a PC but there is plenty you can do on a PC you can't do on a MAC.
One of my customers who bought a MAC Book Pro 6 months ago now has it on a shelf. He had installed Parallels when he realized he couldn't use "most" of the software he needed for work, then had to purchase XP Pro. Being a nerd himself he did all the work and was satisfied with the results but it took many hours to get it done.
He called me early one morning to ask a question unrelated to the MAC but began raving about Apple support, (their big strong point). He had decided to use some feature in the MAC OS, I don't remember what, but it would not work. He told me that the Apple tech spent forever on the phone trying to solve the problem and the suport was great. But after nearly 2 hours of trying to solve the problem the Apple support tech suggested he reinstall the MAC OS. That's when my customer decided it wasn't worth the trouble to go through all those installs and configurations again. That's when it went into the bookcase.
I have several video and audio companies that quit using a MAC years ago and have never looked back.
My success is based on the fact that I treat my customers the same as Steve treats his. That has given be a huge advantage in the support area compared to the large manufacturers. In my 3rd year in business here in Atlanta, (that was 17 years ago) I did just short of $1 million in sales with zero advertising. To this day I don't have a listing in the yellow pages.
In the ever growing "mac Vs PC" debate, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't throw my opinion out to get trampled and explain it.
I always vote for PC. I vote for PC because it's the most widely used platform, and as such, has the most available options and software.
There's a reason Mac commercials point out (rightly so) the vulnerabilities to viruses of windows (although they call it PC) It's because most script kiddies realize (rightly so) that to hit the biggest target, a virus has to work on most machines...That large target is Windows. If the world were 99% Mac and 1% PC, things would be very different.
As it stands, it wouldn't be worth the effort of even the most introverted 40 year old script kiddie who is still living in his parents basement and torturing animals when no one is around to create a Mac virus and infect both functional Macs (an exaggeration), when he could spend the exact same effort or less (more literature and information on windows weaknesses in circulation so half the work is done if not virtually all of it) and create a virus that affects millions of users instead...its a no brainer.
As far as software availability, Again, PC wins, There are so few Macs out there that there is still not a superior software following. It doesn't pay to release a game...say an MMORPG, that works only on Mac. It *does* pay to release one that only works on PC, because by far the majority uses PC and the few you miss with Macs won't be enough to warrant the extra expense in making the game compatible with Mac.
Mac has the Urban Legend following related to its prowess with graphical programs, but in fact it's not the machine in this case as much as the software and how it's used. There has *never* been a "supercomputer" (the type used to do such esoteric work as calculating multiple orbits of stars around our galaxies central black hole and other such processor intensive feats) based on Mac or the Mac OS. That's not an accident. Many drafting and graphics programs do in fact exist for Mac...but it's largely due to that urban legend of the Mac's prowess and it's consequent popularity among that Mac literate minority who have created the demand.
EDITin this case my definition of a supercomputer is: "A mainframe computer that is among the largest, fastest, or most powerful of those available at a given time". quoted from: http://www.answers.com/topic/supercomputer and is the current accepted definition of "supercomputer" with very subtle differences across the web)
Another issue is hardware availability and options. Nothing beats PC for the sheer volume of available upgrades in sound, graphics and other related items. With Mac, youre limited to a very few, because there's a very few of them out there.
I suppose the argument can be made that you can install "Bootcamp" and run windows on a Mac...just as I figure some fellow has surely found a way to run Mac OS on a PC...You just don't hear much about people running Mac OS on a pc because it'd be pointless...Kinda like converting your gas powered car to work with pedals or something. You can do it..the question is: Is the result better than the base machine used as intended (with its proper OS)? The answer is pretty much NO. A mac performs at its peak with the Mac OS, just as the PC performs at it's peak with OSs created for PC (not always windows).
The reality is that you have thousands of manufacturers spending billions of dollars developing software, hardware, and processors to run on or as PCs..and you just don't have that kind of funding or following with Mac, and it's popularity will always suffer because of it.
Quite frankly, many many years ago I expected Mac to go the way of the Beta VCR. I then discovered something: Beta is still in use by Live Action News crews because among that "niche" it is considered superior, even to this day in some areas! Somehow Mac has struggled along, and still sells to the die hard consumers who prefer it...but unless something drastic happens in the near future, it will always play second string to PC... It just doesn't have the numbers to win.
I always vote for PC. I vote for PC because it's the most widely used platform, and as such, has the most available options and software.
There's a reason Mac commercials point out (rightly so) the vulnerabilities to viruses of windows (although they call it PC) It's because most script kiddies realize (rightly so) that to hit the biggest target, a virus has to work on most machines...That large target is Windows. If the world were 99% Mac and 1% PC, things would be very different.
As it stands, it wouldn't be worth the effort of even the most introverted 40 year old script kiddie who is still living in his parents basement and torturing animals when no one is around to create a Mac virus and infect both functional Macs (an exaggeration), when he could spend the exact same effort or less (more literature and information on windows weaknesses in circulation so half the work is done if not virtually all of it) and create a virus that affects millions of users instead...its a no brainer.
As far as software availability, Again, PC wins, There are so few Macs out there that there is still not a superior software following. It doesn't pay to release a game...say an MMORPG, that works only on Mac. It *does* pay to release one that only works on PC, because by far the majority uses PC and the few you miss with Macs won't be enough to warrant the extra expense in making the game compatible with Mac.
Mac has the Urban Legend following related to its prowess with graphical programs, but in fact it's not the machine in this case as much as the software and how it's used. There has *never* been a "supercomputer" (the type used to do such esoteric work as calculating multiple orbits of stars around our galaxies central black hole and other such processor intensive feats) based on Mac or the Mac OS. That's not an accident. Many drafting and graphics programs do in fact exist for Mac...but it's largely due to that urban legend of the Mac's prowess and it's consequent popularity among that Mac literate minority who have created the demand.
EDIT
in this case my definition of a supercomputer is: "A mainframe computer that is among the largest, fastest, or most powerful of those available at a given time". quoted from: http://www.answers.com/topic/supercomputer and is the current accepted definition of "supercomputer" with very subtle differences across the web)Another issue is hardware availability and options. Nothing beats PC for the sheer volume of available upgrades in sound, graphics and other related items. With Mac, youre limited to a very few, because there's a very few of them out there.
I suppose the argument can be made that you can install "Bootcamp" and run windows on a Mac...just as I figure some fellow has surely found a way to run Mac OS on a PC...You just don't hear much about people running Mac OS on a pc because it'd be pointless...Kinda like converting your gas powered car to work with pedals or something. You can do it..the question is: Is the result better than the base machine used as intended (with its proper OS)? The answer is pretty much NO. A mac performs at its peak with the Mac OS, just as the PC performs at it's peak with OSs created for PC (not always windows).
The reality is that you have thousands of manufacturers spending billions of dollars developing software, hardware, and processors to run on or as PCs..and you just don't have that kind of funding or following with Mac, and it's popularity will always suffer because of it.
Quite frankly, many many years ago I expected Mac to go the way of the Beta VCR. I then discovered something: Beta is still in use by Live Action News crews because among that "niche" it is considered superior, even to this day in some areas! Somehow Mac has struggled along, and still sells to the die hard consumers who prefer it...but unless something drastic happens in the near future, it will always play second string to PC... It just doesn't have the numbers to win.
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Why are people still arguing the issue of Mac vs PC? I don't get it. Mac people will always be Mac people and PC people will always be PC people! Me personally, I use both. I have 2 Macs and 5 Windows machines all networked at my home office and all of them work just fine. The Windows machines work how I want them to because I built them myself. I might make a quick note that I do most of my work on my Mac simply because I can do everything on this one computer, but that doesn't make the Windows machines inferior, just tools for specific jobs.
I am able to run every single Windows program on my Mac with the assistance of VMWare Fusion and they run flawlessly! If they aren't running quite fast enough I just reboot my system to my Windows Partition on my Mac (boot camp). I also do all of my video editing on my Mac, but that is because I have trained extensively on Final Cut Studio which has and never will be ported to Windows. Does that mean that you can't edit on a Windows machine? Hell no! I just know Final Cut and happen to love it very much and therefore have no need to switch to Adobe Premiere or Avid.
I do still use my Windows machines on a day-day basis. Every single one of my machines has it's own little special purpose in life and each one of those machines has been optimized to be the best tool for that particular purpose. Though I do spend most of my time on my Macs, that does not mean for one second that my Windows machines are crap.
To each his own I always say! You take your Mac and that guy can take his Windows! Me, I'll take both thank you very much!
Snow Leopard rocks, but so does Windows 7.
My 2 pesos.
Ry
I am able to run every single Windows program on my Mac with the assistance of VMWare Fusion and they run flawlessly! If they aren't running quite fast enough I just reboot my system to my Windows Partition on my Mac (boot camp). I also do all of my video editing on my Mac, but that is because I have trained extensively on Final Cut Studio which has and never will be ported to Windows. Does that mean that you can't edit on a Windows machine? Hell no! I just know Final Cut and happen to love it very much and therefore have no need to switch to Adobe Premiere or Avid.
I do still use my Windows machines on a day-day basis. Every single one of my machines has it's own little special purpose in life and each one of those machines has been optimized to be the best tool for that particular purpose. Though I do spend most of my time on my Macs, that does not mean for one second that my Windows machines are crap.
To each his own I always say! You take your Mac and that guy can take his Windows! Me, I'll take both thank you very much!
Snow Leopard rocks, but so does Windows 7.
My 2 pesos.
Ry
A quick reply to your post; Comparing your mac laptop to an hp laptop is like comparing a Honda Accord to a... really crappy and unreliable laptop.
HP laptops are arguably the least reliable laptops on the market. They are, for lack of a better term, pure garbage.
[edit] I'm sorry if my reply didn't really address everything, but my eyes are barely open right now.
I have to agree, and it is really an "apples and oranges" contest to boot. There is precicely 1 manufacturer of Mac notebooks, there are hundreds of brands and probably thousands of individual manufacturers of PC compatible notebook parts. What is the fairest comparison? Mac to the worst pc? Mac to the Best PC?
In my opinion, since there's only one Mac, You must compare it to the best available comparable option at the time among the PC notebooks. While I don't pretend to know which one that is, it wouldn't matter, because Mac owners would cry foul no matter which choice you make.
This is precisely why I dislike Microsoft and their products.
IEBlog : An Early Look At IE9 for Developers
Seriously, what is the point of developing IE? There is no point, it's a worthless pile of garbage.
This also is a perfect example of why and how they are holding back technology.
The comments are spot-on too.
IEBlog : An Early Look At IE9 for Developers
Seriously, what is the point of developing IE? There is no point, it's a worthless pile of garbage.
This also is a perfect example of why and how they are holding back technology.
The comments are spot-on too.
Now that's fair and balanced. Well said RyGuy. After reading that if I had the means I'd probably own both myself. ( enough is good, more is better, too much...just perfect)
I don't think that it should be Apple vs Top Shelf so much as Apple vs Same Price. That being said you can generally pick up a PC for the same price but is much more powerful.
For instance, you can pick up a 24" iMac for the same price as a core i7 Asus desktop. The Asus will have more memory, the fastest consumer processor in the world, and unlimited capabilities as far as upgrades are concerned (although if you upgrade that machine you really must be into something serious).
The other comparison would be specs vs specs and listing the prices of them. This would be the case with something like the Macbook Air and most $300-$400 netbooks. Comparable specs, $1100 price difference. Madness, I say.
I hate IE as much as the next guy, but at the same time you have to give Microsoft some sort of credit for actually developing their own software instead of just grabbing a free code, adding a layer of fluff, and slapping their logo on it.
I'd love to see Microsoft put the same efforts they did with 7 towards IE, but I don't think that will happen. IE8 is a buggy piece of junk, and I have a hard time believing that IE9 will be that much of an improvement.
In the meantime I'll stick with Firefox and Chrome. I would exclusively use Firefox but it seems as if they have no plans on addressing the CPU usage spike issues. When that happens I just close down and hop over to chrome. I can't tell you the last time that I voluntarily used IE, but I can assure you that I had to have been less-than-sober to make such a terrible decision.
I give them no credit, actually quite the opposite. I would rather see them provide their customers with a reliable, secure and forward-thinking internet browser than stick them with out-dated junk that hurts the web industry. They obviously do not have the necessary time/budget/resources to make a great internet browser so they should stick to making their own products better. They should rethink their place in the browser industry.
The internet is not a better place with IE. Microsoft is not a better company because they simply "try to make a browser." The fact that they make the worst browser you could ever use says everything. It is not worth their time and it really baffles me why they go on with it. They are not going to pioneer anything or be remotely innovative when they can't even reach the norm. Firefox, Chrome, Safari will always, always be far superior browsers.
Webkit and Gecko frameworks are used for a reason, a very good reason - they are actively developed/tested/researched by people outside of Windows or Apple.
This can be said for Wordpress, Magento and countless other open-source forward-thinking web applications.
I agree with Birdie about the Apple service. I stopped into the Apple store the other day and thought I had accidentally gone to another country because everyone was so much more friendly and helpful than I usually see in American stores.
And thanks for comparing V4L to Apple! Maybe that'll be our new motto; V4L, the Apple of e-cigs!
And thanks for comparing V4L to Apple! Maybe that'll be our new motto; V4L, the Apple of e-cigs!
Important part first:
I've got cartos a couple of times that dried out fast, but on those same orders I either got an extra 5ml bottle tossed in or free carts tosses in, so I figure it easily evens out, topped them off and was a happy camper. I know that isn't ideal for every customer, and if anyone has problems, they can comment in their next order and have it resolved hassle-free, but so far I've found that the exceptional freebies overcome any shortcomings, period.
Now, I'll admit I'm a lil rushed and skipped a lot of this thread (well, most of it) it seemed to go all over the place into pc vs mac territory, and as someone who started off as a graphic designer, and moved into a builder, fixer and upgrader of home pc's, and have ended up a web developer, I've hit most all of the different aspects of the battle, and in the end, with enough computer tech know-how the systems are basically the same compatable hardware, and are capable of running each other's software, essentially, just apple software tends to be, (on average, not always) more stable, and a lot more expensive, just as the apple hardware packaging tends to be prettier, and a lot more expensive. But after you factor in the customer service aspects (which vary wildly in pc but are pretty consistant for mac) then if you have the extra money, don't care too much about 'cutting edge' or the ability to do 'anything' with your computer, and want a predictable, reliable experience, then mac is a good choice. If you don't mind being driven crazy every now and then by something random, and like to be able to push the limit and try out wierd crap, then go PC. Just remember though, there's a lot more PC users than mac users out there, which means a few things: 1) virus writers will cater to the larger market, 2) new/independant software developers will focus on the larger market, 3) The larger market has a much smaller chance of collapsing, and leaving you with betamax movie players.
I've got cartos a couple of times that dried out fast, but on those same orders I either got an extra 5ml bottle tossed in or free carts tosses in, so I figure it easily evens out, topped them off and was a happy camper. I know that isn't ideal for every customer, and if anyone has problems, they can comment in their next order and have it resolved hassle-free, but so far I've found that the exceptional freebies overcome any shortcomings, period.
Now, I'll admit I'm a lil rushed and skipped a lot of this thread (well, most of it) it seemed to go all over the place into pc vs mac territory, and as someone who started off as a graphic designer, and moved into a builder, fixer and upgrader of home pc's, and have ended up a web developer, I've hit most all of the different aspects of the battle, and in the end, with enough computer tech know-how the systems are basically the same compatable hardware, and are capable of running each other's software, essentially, just apple software tends to be, (on average, not always) more stable, and a lot more expensive, just as the apple hardware packaging tends to be prettier, and a lot more expensive. But after you factor in the customer service aspects (which vary wildly in pc but are pretty consistant for mac) then if you have the extra money, don't care too much about 'cutting edge' or the ability to do 'anything' with your computer, and want a predictable, reliable experience, then mac is a good choice. If you don't mind being driven crazy every now and then by something random, and like to be able to push the limit and try out wierd crap, then go PC. Just remember though, there's a lot more PC users than mac users out there, which means a few things: 1) virus writers will cater to the larger market, 2) new/independant software developers will focus on the larger market, 3) The larger market has a much smaller chance of collapsing, and leaving you with betamax movie players.
It is based on Mach and FreeBSD which are Unix compliant systems. Pedantic yes.
I'll just throw my 2c in. As a developer I find it a pleasure to work with OS-X. The bash command shell is a must for what I do. I find working with CigWin to be a cludge. I need make, autotools, gcc etc. I also need to port some projects to to Solaris and Windows. Runing fusion allows me to do this on a single machine. I am also starting to dig their grand central dispatch, OpenCL and closure extension to C (lambdas for C#). In any case I choose apple for the above reasons, I did not choose it so I could look cool in starbucks as I ponder the implication of adding a new character into my novel.
The TexShop Latex environment is very nice for writing scientific papers. I am not aware of anything similar on windows that is free.
From a end user perspective...
I really dig Win 7. I think they have brought a solid intuitive OS to the market. It was painless to start working with it. I just wish Win 7 had virtual desktops (without add on software)... such as on every nix flavor.
I have huge issues with OS-X file browser. For me it down right sucks. Finder is just a pain to work with.
I have had issues with networking on my mac. Generally this comes down to the MTU being to high for the router I am connecting to (wireless connect). Why it does not auto-negotiate is beyond me... not a real low level networking guy.
It does suck not being able to play PC games. I have a 360, but often miss using a mouse and keyboard with FPS.
Sorry I could not add any gas to the
. I have never really seen the point in arguing which is better. For me they are just tools. One just happens to (unfortunately) be more expensive. EDIT: For end user computing. For workstations, apple is very competitive.
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I am being pedantic again.
This is not technically correct. Each OS kernel handles task switching differently. When you add in more cores, the management of processes and threads differs across kernel architectures. Generally all UNIX kernels will behave the same. Different flavors of Linux may or may not follow general UNIX practices. Windows is considerable different then any UNIX system. One look at a computer science OS book will make this very apparent. It looks like Win 7 has may be closer to a unix like kernel.
As an example. OS 10.5 handles multiple processes/threads much different then OS 10.6. In os 10.6 apple's grand central dispatch handles it. When multithreading within an app for gcd, you now have a queue to execute tasks. This queue has all sorts of really cool features such as the ability to link dependent code fragments in very elegant ways.
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