Should I make the switch?

**drivesafe** · 30th January 2006, 09:59 PM

Hi Grizzly, I’m the other way around after using Macs for many near faultless years, I have had nothing but trouble with OS X and just over 12 months ago I switched the PCs and XP and with one exception ( which I still not resolved ) the PCs and XP have been rock solid.

The only problem I have had and more through lack of operating knowledge than a problem with the PCs is that I have been unable to set up a wireless connection with an HP printer.

On the other hand, even after many attempt, I still can’t get the Macs to work anywhere near properly so I’ll be sticking with the PCs.

Cheers

**HangOver** · 31st January 2006, 12:20 AM

Originally posted by drivesafe
I have been unable to set up a wireless connection with an HP printer.

wow a mac to MS convert, that's novel.

Anyhow re: your printer I would just plug the damn thing in.
I have always mistrusted wireless.

Any one asks me about wireless and/or wireless security, (for home use, not talking radius stuff here) I always advise use wires.
Easier, cheaper secure, more reliable etc etc.
But it's a boon to those of you rich enough to own a laptop.

I bought a wireless router ($10) extra but still plug it in. much faster.

Like I said before if it works for you, stick with it .
Addendum: If it doesn't look for something better.

grizzly:
M$ relied on 3rd parties to develop the drivers for them. The end result? A OS that gained a rep. as not being particularly stable.

I like whay they have done now though, you know the, "this driver is not certified by MS" etc etc do you want to continue?

You always say yes but they have covered themselves if it doesn't work.
I have installed stuff from MS that even gets the " this is not certified " treatment.

Their lawyers must have been laughing the day they slipped that one into the OS.

**Captain_Rightfoot** · 31st January 2006, 06:18 AM

Well... it's not been a few months, and as a new switcher I am very very happy with the mac

The hardware is clearly very nice, in the way that a Ducatti is to other motor bikes, or a Elise is to other cars. The design is beautiful, and it is clearly meant to be a nice piece of kit

I look at other laptops and they just look cheap and nasty now.

Then there is the OS. I'm the first to admit that I had a few "oh no what have I done nights" after delivery when I couldn't get anything to work. However they are long gone now, and I love everything about the OS. The concept of a machine that never shuts down or needs re-booting is just great.

I don't use it for anything out of the ordinary, but the way all the apps integrate for a home user is sensational

Having the mac built on unix in another feature that I love. You can use the following command to find out how long your machine has been up!

<span style="color:green">Last login: Mon Jan 30 08:07:49 on console
Welcome to Darwin!
stephen-amos-powerbook58:~ stephenamos$ uptime
6:09 up 8 days, 17:49, 2 users, load averages: 0.26 0.23 0.21
stephen-amos-powerbook58:~ stephenamos$ </span>

If I can just stop re-booting the poor thing out of habbit. :roll: :roll:

Then to the pretty much complete lack of viruses and spyware... it's the way it should be. I now thing that XP is unsuitable for the purpose for which it is sold. Out of the box if you plug it straight into the web, you're asking for problems. Instead, as soon as you boot up you have to load anto-virus, anti-spyware, and a decent firewall. That is not right! And the vulnerabilities just keep coming. The one over new year was a doosy!

Some wit took a preview of MS Vista and overlaid vision of OS X. It would appear that whenever they release it, MS users will have some of the advanced features that OS X has had for years.

http://homepage.mac.com/lasolas/.Public/re...ta_ep1_h264.mov

http://homepage.mac.com/lasolas/.Public/re...ta_ep2_h264.mov

http://homepage.mac.com/lasolas/.Public/re...ta_ep3_h264.mov

**drivesafe** · 31st January 2006, 07:18 AM

Hi Captain, that’s the one area where the Macs leave everything else for dead ( except that they are slower on the net than PCs ) and the only place I excessively still use a Mac, for on line use.

There are NO viruses for Macs and the only way spyware can get on your Mac is if you physically provide your admin. password if a request is made for it while you are on the net.

I never EVER connect any of my PCs to the net.

As for rebooting ( Mac just call it RESTART ), you will actually find that if you have not done a restart for a while and then do one, you may find that some of the programs will work better than they were before the restart.

And I’m not sure if it is still needed when using OS 10.4 but you will find that after a while things will start to slow down and you will need to do a Permissions Repair to get things going properly again.

How often you have to do a Permissions Repair depends on the type of applications you are regularly running. If you do a fair bit of image and video processing, which I was, I was having to do a Permissions Repair every 4 or 5 days otherwise applications like FCP wouldn’t work. Now, that I only use the laptop and only for net use, I only do it every few months ( if I remember ).

Macs have there place but to consider them anything more than a toy now is a mistake. They are great for home use but there are so many business programs that are needed but not available on Macs.

But the biggest single problem with using a Mac is that, if you ever do need support, you won’t get it. Apple does NOT support it’s users.

Cheers and enjoy your TOY.

**incisor** · 31st January 2006, 07:53 AM

Originally posted by downundersteve
Hmmm OS/2, there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Apparently When IBM stopped developing OS/2 a company called Serenity took over and called it E-Commerce Station, (or something like that) the last version was released about 2003/5ish ??
Maybe you should check it out?

i have it, and it is extremely good with very good hardware intergration but it is a business class product and priced accordingly so it will never compete for a place in the desktop market. I have several large business sites using it.

there is still a very good software base for it tho some of it is a little dated.

**drivesafe** · 7th February 2006, 06:46 AM

Well, you all know how I feel about all things applecrap but they have sunk to an all time low, even for apple.

It now seems that if you buy an ipod and have problems, which is all to often, and you call the apple help line, you will now be connected to apple’s Indian call centre.

Not only does this mongrel company charge you a fortune for anything you buy off them, but to squeeze every last cent out of you, they now longer employ Australians to try to help you.

If you have had the misfortune of buying products from companies like HP and have had problems, you will very quickly find how totally useless these off shore help ( “ help “ that’s a laugh ) centres are and now good old apple crap are again showing how the sort of contempt they have for their customers.

Cheers.

**VladTepes** · 7th February 2006, 09:13 AM

I have found the solution. A small suite of hardware and ancillaries which will do MOST of what you want and at VERY low cost.

**drivesafe** · 7th February 2006, 10:18 AM

Hey, It’s gota work better than an apple.

**Captain_Rightfoot** · 7th February 2006, 12:39 PM

Drivesafe... I feel your vennom 8O 8O I'm looking forward to having a chat with you sometime in person and find out the story on what they did to you

If it make you feel any better, we pay Oracle tens of thousands of dollars a year for support, and if we ring them we usually get people from india. I have even got someone from Russia once!

What's more, I think apple is by no means alone with this. Tonight I will post a comic I have that suggests microsoft is the same...

Have a look at this.... a MS employee caught MS buying macs (to copy I presume) and he got sacked

So, whatever you don't like about apple will be coming to windows in the next few years

http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/..._microsoft.html

And

http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/...ogging_and.html

**drivesafe** · 7th February 2006, 03:04 PM

Hi Captain, my beef is that after using them from 1087 to 2002 and very VERY really having a problem I decided to spend a bundle and get right into my hobby which was to be making amateur rail videos to sell.

But thanks to the unreliable gear and almost total lack of any form of support from apple for either their hardware or their software, after spending well over $20,000 on the apple gear I thought would help me do what I wanted to do and finding out the hard way that I could have done it for heaps less with PCs and the PCs would probably have actually allowed me to do what I wanted instead of spending thousands of hours just trying to get the computer to work anywhere near what is was supposed to let alone actually doing some work on them for myself, I have now given up on my hobby.

And BTW, I had no intentions of trying to make enough from the rail videos to cover my costs, I just wanted to do the videos with some sort of professional finish.

Anyway don’t take any notice of my bitching, and don’t take this to heart but as far as I’m concerned apple only make toys for home use now compered with what they use to make, but if your apple does what YOU want then thats what it’s all about.

Cheers and have fun with yours.

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