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The worst thing about Macs

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Lashiec:
Well, that's truly the first time I hear someone doing a critical defense of the Mac platform, without falling back to the usual Windows bashing, and pinpointing the real advantage of the system, instead of saying "it wins by default". Excellent read, and I'm glad that you can use a Mac and criticize Apple at the same time (what they did with the iPhone and the iPod as lately is simply unbearable).

I wish lots of people at certain forum would learn something about how to voice your opinions...

For the record, I always said, that, although I prefer Windows on a desktop, if I had to buy a laptop, it would be a MacBook (or an Asus EEE). If you're going to use a totally proprietary system, at least let's introduce some variety in the computer ecosystem at home

Now, let's go reading Renegade rants at those links :D

EDIT1: Wait, wait, I forgot the obligatory funny shot. Now they're on their way to assimilate YOU!. Of course, I'm talking about shorts and flip-flops (not the electronic ones)

EDIT2: Less smileys and one unneeded line removed (kudos to the one who founds which one)

Armando:
Well, that's truly the first time I hear someone doing a critical defense of the Mac platform, without falling back to the usual Windows bashing, and pinpointing the real advantage of the system, instead of saying "it wins by default".
-Lashiec (October 20, 2007, 12:00 PM)
--- End quote ---

Well, there are certainly a few of them -- e.g. this one by Chris Pirillo : http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/08/30/mac-os-x-leopard-vs-microsoft-windows-vista/

My secret plan is to consider Linux (Ubuntu, most probably, or even PCLinuxOS) or OSX as my next laptop's OS. I know that it will be a difficult move (I do find XP snappier and more versatile than Mac OSX, and like most people, I’m used to XP), but since I don't like what I've seen in Vista, I might as well switch to something else before getting even more immersed into Microsoft's ways.

There's no point for me in doing a sharp analysis of OSX/Linux/Vista now -- technology and prices won't be the same in 1.5-2 years.

Laughing Man:
If your going get Linux on a laptop, I'd say..

1) Go with a Dell laptop (they sell Ubuntu with it)
2) Go with a Macbook (the hardware is pretty uniform so most fixes to broken things like webcams would be easier)
3) Go with a laptop that is documented on the forums to have mostly everything work.

My VAIO is a pain to get working (well at least the webcam at least). Everything else pretty much works without trouble. My next laptop I purchase (after I finish grad school or near the end of it) will be a Dell or a Macbook Pro.

Ralf Maximus:
Has anyone here experimented with Linux and/or OS X running within VMWare?

If so, how's device emulation?  If it works at all, I would sort of expect it to be spot-on.  But...?

Carol Haynes:
OS X on VMWare is kind of difficult to do. Firstly it would be illegal as it would break most of the Mac OS X licensing agreemens and also as I understand it you need to have copies of the ROMs from an Apple machine - and I am not sure how you would use those in VMWare.

nontroppo thank you for your long and detailed background and pros and cons of the Mac. That is a really useful summary. It is good to see some genuine advantages that I wasn't aware of and aren't immediately apparent when you use a Mac. Having said that I think a lot of the 'insurmountable' differences are fairly specialised for the average user. I am sure ligatures are important if you are into publishing - but I'd guess the majority of users are pretty much unaware of what ligatures are.

I've sampled everything on PC desperately, but I've yet to find anything of the same quality. Windows abounds with apps with buttons everywhere, 10 different toolbars, scattered feature sets. As a writer, I get more bang for the buck, my writing has even improved, because the tools I have are better for the job.
--- End quote ---

I agree with you here - I really hate the plethora of unlabelled and cyptic buttons etc. you see littering most windows apps. Having said that I really hate the way the Mac deals with menus. I suppose you get used to it if you use it all the time but I think right clicking in a window for a context menu is a much more intutive and user firendly way of doing things (incidentally MS nicked this idea, along with the Task Bar, from Acorn Risc OS which for me had huge potential - but they were pushed out of the market because they were too small and aimed at a niche market).

And yet I cannot blithely dismiss my current platform as being no better ***IMO*** than what I've used for the previous 12 years. I have less lock-ups, slowdowns, un-reproducible shutdown freezes, less registry tweaking, less spyware battling. I have software which I couldn't find in Windows (and I can run XP in a VM when I need it, intermingling apps as if they were the same OS), while still benefiting from core unique OS X services which I value. More bang for the buck? For me, it clearly is.
--- End quote ---

In all fairness I don't experience those problems under Windows XP. OK I have had occasional glitches to deal with - but usually it is my fault for installing some crappy bit of software that screws things up! As for malware - that is just a function of scale. The Mac community seem to pretty glib about this but there have been malware issues with MacOS X and they will only grow in time. Having said that it is true that Windows is the prime target but only because it is ubiquitous.

The VMWare point is a good one - but that just goes to show the unfairness of the Apple approach. OK it is up to Apple if they want to spread OS X beyond its own hardware but the nature of what they do with their OS means that they have a MUCH easier time than Linux and Windows developers to ensure compatibility. Apart from the obvious reason I have never understood the protectionist stance with OS X and now it uses Intel architecture I would have thought it was in Apple's interest to release OS X to a wider audience. It is precisely the reaon why Windows is so dominant and is the one fundamentally inspired decision that MS/IBM made all those years ago with MS DOS - love of hate Gates as you like but the decision to license DOS was truly brilliant.

If you get more bang for buck then that is great - I still stand by my argument that the majority of users won't ;)

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