PC or MAC

[7thWoman]

IB said:

I personally think that a majority of computer OS problems stem from the user.

No doubt.

You computer "techies" will be safe as long as there are users screwing up the settings and coming to you for help after totally obliterating their systems.

Safe, but overworked and probably underpaid. I'm just glad I don't work for Electronic Arts.

That being said, I prefer the Windows XP interface over all others for:

Options available to the user, accessibility, look and feel

Whatever floats your boat. I almost agree with you, but I think it could be much better.

and availability of software for the OS.

Not to mention supportability, cost, hardware compatibility, etc. The real problem with Apple these days is $$$.

Still it is kinda nice having your hardware and OS supported by the same people. That's why we go with Sun and Solaris over Linux for our main department server, despite the cost.

I dislike the Mac OS because the alternate/option buttons are very difficult to retrieve

I don't follow.

I have dealt with way too many conversion issues between Mac and PC that I have a dark-deep passionate hate for the Mac OS

That is a problem that is slowly getting solved, especially now that it uses an open source BSD kernel and software manufacturers are adapting their unix applications to it. I think MS compatibility will always suck though. They intentionally break things in an attempt to force you to buy their products.

(especially it's optional use of extensions!).

You mean extensions like the daemons and device drivers and such, or filename extensions? I think filename extensions were a mistake on MS's part. It can be a real bummer when two different applications use the same file extension. Ever have to wait for a huge statistical analysis application to load because .log was registered as a file type associated with that application? Ugh. A better way would be to design the OS in such a way that the first byte or two of every file determines the application that launches it.

Linux/Unix OS's require too much typing and the look and feel is quite bland.

Too much typing? It is a computer, and the keyboard is the primary input device.

A while back there was a desktop environment for X-Windows called fvwm95 or something like that that pretty much looked exactly like windows 95. I think GNOME is good enough for most users though. The only thing they would need to get used to is the filesystem hierarchy.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of Longhorn from Microsoft, but I understand that it too, will be a Service Pack OS because of deadlines of releasing it.

Yeah, and from what I understand they've been stripping out advertised features left and right. I have a feeling it's not going to be much more than XP with new icons.

Yeah, as it stands, every OS out there really sucks.

[sIsam]

[quote author=Gorflink=board=chitchat&thread=1107750073&start=9#0 date=1108040963]

FWIW: 7th ain't a her.

[/quote]

Ooops! Sorry

[7thWoman]

That's okay, i get that a lot. One of these days I'll change my name to something less confusing.

[Deleted]

To get back to the original subject, I bought a Mac G-4 a couple of years ago, and it was so easy to use that I went out and bought a bunch of Apple stock. ;D ;D

[7thWoman]

Apple: Crash Different.

Shouldn't be too long now before Apple tries shipping computers that only have two buttons:

Button 1) Do what I'm thinking.
Button 2) I changed my mind.

And after several firmware upgrades, Button 2 will be mapped to button 1.

[Deleted]

7thWoman said:

Apple: Crash Different.

Shouldn't be too long now before Apple tries shipping computers that only have two buttons:

Button 1) Do what I'm thinking.
Button 2) I changed my mind.

And after several firmware upgrades, Button 2 will be mapped to button 1.

Apple: Stock up 500% in the last year. Check it out, 7th. AAPL

[7thWoman]

I believe it. They think, so we don't have to. It sells. Doesn't mean it works.

Not that it matters. The UC has a conflict of interest policy that forbids me from owning stock in companies whose products I have to support.

[Wolfgang]

Mac-Mini or Mini-Mac. Cool product. But it only comes with 2 USB ports, one of which is for the keyboard/mouse. Not a very big deal.

It's a G4 eMac in a smaller package. If you get the flat panel display with it, it's better than the eMac because you don't have to bother with the humungus CRT monitor.

I'm throwing away my 23" CRTs away and replacing them with 19" flat panels. I could sell the CRTs but for $80-$100 each, it's not worth it.

[Murina]

I was a windows user until I bought a G4 powerbook about 4 years ago and it is still going strong! I used os 9 until about a year ago when I finally switched to Panther (OS 10.3). The main reason I waited so long is it took me awhile to aquire os X software on a limited budget.

It went 4 years without disk maintenance before it started freezing up early last week. A little maintenance and it's better than new!

I've had no problems I couldn't have prevented with proper disk maintenance with either OS. I never get crashes even with several apps open including downloading files, while watching streaming video, and surfing the web all at once. Video, pictures, and MS office apps have all crossed platforms with ease for me.

The biggest drawback I have with Macs is price. For me the OS has been rock solid (especially OS X).

I'd buy another mac if I had it to do over again. For my next computer, I'm leaning toward another Mac unless there is something I want to do that is not available for Mac. I haven't run into much (DataVolley is one thing I'd like to play with that isn't available for Mac).

My limited experience with Windows XP has been good, and truth is that I didn't have to many problems with Win98 except when using multiple MS Access based apps at once. With proper maintenance, both platforms are decent as far as I'm concerned.