I am considering getting an Apple Mac, as I have heard alot of positive things about them, but have never used them before. What OS do they use?And which email programs are available for them? Any extra info on them would be excellent
They use Mac OS (sounds like McOS, i know!) and you can run photoshop on them. They used to look good enough to almost justify the price, but not anymore. Their default interface uses an one-button mouse and various key combinations to do the same job the rest of the world does with a right-click. Macs are to blame for the least user-friendly media format ever developed - Quicktime. After going to the Apple website to see what info is available to a prospective buyer, here are some more selling points, according to Apple themselves: - If you buy a Mac you will look younger, fitter, and smarter dressed than all pc users. - Macs can finally run Microsoft Office, now on Intel processors and using the latest ATI Radeon. Yup, Macs are maturing. - If you buy a Mac you will make so great music that will get you a record deal. - If you are still not satisfied with your Mac, you can do the ultimate upgrade: run Windows XP! Note: the above information might be presented in a slightly non-neutral way, but it is still 100% true!
So you are Anti-Mac then? lol Are they really that bad? It sounds like they are hard to get to grips with. What sort of RAM, memory etc are available? anything similar to Windows based PC's?
Go to the apple website and look up all your answers. Windows have finally begun to catch up with Macs in what they can offer, but Macs will allow you to run windows prorgammes anyway if you buy the necessary software. The key advantgae to Macs is the more stable operating system and greater anti-virus/hacker security. I switched over to a mini mac (cheap option as it uses my old monitor and printer) from a PC last year and wouldn't consider going back to windows at all.
I have been known to exhibit non-overly-neutral behaviour during Mac debates, yes, but the important thing here is that I care. I don't think they are particularly hard to get to grips with, unless you have used a PC before, in which case they are. You don't need to worry what RAM etc is available. Apple will provide you with everything you need. They know what you need. They know that you will have no choice but to love it. As is stated on their website, Macs have Intel processors (like PCs, but you don't get the AMD option) ATI graphics cards (like PCs), they can run Microsoft Office and Windows XP. So you can have a machine that looks like a Mac, costs as much as a Mac, but runs like an emulated PC that can't be tailored to the user's needs. Remember, i might be presenting the facts in a certain way, but i am not lying at all . Where are the Mac drones - i mean users? Edit: can't help but laugh here! According to apple.com, all macs now (that's 2006) get a "two button wonder" mouse as standard. Not just that, they finally get a scroll wheel! Actually not a wheel, it is the 'nipple' that old PC laptops had, but close enough .
Yeh tried that, didnt find it all that useful, thats why I thought to ask people who actually use them day to day, first hand
Yeah, for some reason their website is full of PR babble and very little tech info. Their Hardware page has more info about software .
Well, I haven't had any problems personally. I use my mac for word-processing (using the ghastly word as it is the format that most of my colleagues use - I preferred Lotus word pro). I also use it to run a simple website, e mailing using mail, internet surfing using safari (which I personally prefer to ie), playing music and creating videos and writing dvds. I don't have a computer that freezes on a regular basis or one that tells me that I performed an illegal action or didn't turn it off correctly. Personally I like the stability of the system and its greater overall security against hackers (I got fed up with people in Califronia tryinng to break into my PC every 5 minutes). If you are the sort of person who likes to upgrade their computer hardware every few months then a mac isn't for you. If like me you would build a PC and then not touch it inside until it needed a whole new motherboard (ie about 2 - 5 years later) then a Mac will be fine for you. The new windows machines are pretty good so it really is horses for courses. To get a feel for the mac operating systems go to: http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard and click on the different features of the desktop to watch the presentations. Try pm-ing paulol, he's been a mac user for a long time. Given the proportion of mac users to pc users - I'd say that mac is over-represented on this thread so far.
Cool yeh, will P.M Paulol cheers. So what about connecting to the internet? Is that easy to set up, just use your IP disc as per normal?
Well, I'll tell ya, I've been a techie nerd (primarily a programmer) for ... well, for a while. I started on a Commodore Vic-20, then C-64, and used a few Apple IIs along the way. I used MS-DOS for several years and then moved to Windows 3.1 after a lot of resistance. For the next 20-ish years, I was a solid Windows user. And, during that time, as a programmer, it made a lot of sense because programming on Macs was, by all accounts, a nightmare. A few months ago, though, I had 2 viruses get past my 3 antivirus apps and was forced to wipe my hard drive twice and reinstall everything from the ground up. I was sick of it. Also, while I'm still a programmer, most of what I do these days is web-based (using PHP/MySQL, JavaScript, and HTML). These uses have also forced me to get more and more involved with graphic design and layout. And, from what I understand, programming for Macs has become much more developer-friendly of late (though I haven't had any reason to delve into that side of it yet). So, after weighing my options, I opted to buy a new Intel MacbookPro. It only took me a couple of days to get used to the interface. As far as the single mouse button - yeah, that was kind of annoying. But, you know what, I bought a Logitech bluetooth mouse and it works flawlessly (right-click included). And there were some aspects of the interface that I *loved* from the get-go. Things like Expose and Dashboard are *so* useful I can't believe Windows hasn't implemented things like them yet. Now, I still use Windows - I have some hardware that will only run with a Windows machine. And, in fact, I still have a computer that runs Linux that I occasionally use for some things. But I'll never go back to using Windows as my primary OS. Mike
I have a pc and an Ibook (mac laptop) and let me think here, the pc has had a new processor, two new harddrives and i've had to erase the stupid thing and start over God only knows how many times. The mac....Still running lol. You can use any standard 2 button mouse, i bought one from Biglots for $5 and it works fine. I also run microsoft office, they have a mail system that is comperable to outlook and now on the brand new macs you can run the Mac OS and Windows XP simultaneously on the machine. So no more need for that pc at all because mac will do both. But you don't have to pay for windows to use the office programs, anything you make in the mac version of microsoft office is compatible to any windows computer & vica versa. Mac memory etc is expandable to the same amounts as pcs perhaps more, you forget that the powerhouses who design your video games and cartoon movies like pixar are very often created on a mac using programs like Adobe Atmosphere. Any other questions??
I had a go on one yesterday for around 5 hours, and quite liked it. Took a while to get used to all the functions and controls, especially when you go to restart or shut down the system, but I do like the Mac, and think that they outweigh the PC quite a bit in terms on their moderness (is that a word? ) I used an iMac 17" that used OS X Tiger
I'm non-neutraler than you are. Much like people have been doing since photoshop came out. I'm not sure how that addresses his 'email software' question. For email you can use the built in 'mail' program, or outlook / entourage, thunderbird, or many other choices. Yep, now they have superior performance to justify the price too. And a great package of included software. Thanks to strict interface guidelines, apparently one button is all that is necessary to access everything. Amazing what thoughtful design can do. Personally I prefer my 'five button with scroll wheel' wireless mouse that I use with my old iMac. Apparently one of the biggest time wasters on tech support calls is getting the pc users to 'click the right button. No the left. right. Aaargh.' If by 'least user-friendly' you mean 'industry standard' I guess that would be a good analogy for windows. I think you have it backwards. Buying a mac won't make you smarter, rather being smarter will make you buy a mac. Yep, thank goodness we can finally (at least I have since 1993, I'm sure it was available earlier) run Microsoft office! Maybe not a record deal, but what kind of Mixing software do PC's ship with for free? So can PC's run Mac OS? Not without some hacking. Ironically, today's Mac's will likely be able to run Vista, if it ever comes out. Most PC's on the market today won't meet the minimum requirements. Have you seen the vista/longhorn screenshots? It looks like it wants to be Mac OSX when it grows up. Ditto. But there are some ways in which PC's really outdo Macs, so I do want to give their due: Viruses -about a zillion for windows, none in the wild for macs, and some for the yet unreleased Vista. Number of times you reformat your hard drive due to catastrophic failure, malware, spyware, etc. Windows folks get to practice that alot. Enjoy your mac. Matt
Ooops, Dell has outdone the mac in another area too now. I just saw an interesting article comparing the new Mac Pro to a similarly equipped Dell workstation. It's called Review: Mac Pro beats Dell on Price. Congratulations Dell! Matt
I own PCs and a Mac (a slightly older Powerbook laptop). The biggest thing for me is what applications you need to run. If you want a particular game or graphics package or music tool that's only available on a Windows PC, then the Mac may not be the best choice. There may be Mac equivalents though, but it depends who you want to share your files with. If you want email, web browsing, M$ Office (not Access database), playing movies, etc. then there's no reason not to go Mac. Curiously, I would not even consider one without MS Office! I personally like the interface better than Windoze, but would not go as far as saying it is vastly superior. Of course, the underlying operating system is UNIX, which makes it inherently superior to NT. There is talk of being able to run Windows programs within Mac OS. I have a thing called Virtual PC, which let me run up Windows XP in a window, but it was too slow to be usable. With the new Intel based systems, there is the potential to run Native Mac and Windows apps side by side. I don't know what stage the development is at though. One of the things I have never got with Apple is the one-button mouse (I first used Macs in the 80s), and the first thing I did when I bought my Powerbook was to get a standard USB wheel mouse. I know people say you don't need more buttons, but IMHO that is crap - people can move around on one leg, but it sure is easier with two! With mine I can share my home wireless LAN with Windows machines (inc. accessing shared drives), and out to the internet. If I were starting from scratch, I would probably have a Mac only environment.
Well, if you buy from a big company and don't build your pc yourself, you might as well get a Mac . About the viruses thing: I have had a virus infect my PC twice in my life: the first time was some time in the early 90's (i believe it was a Jerusalem variant). The second time was a couple of weeks ago: i downloaded a file that i shouldn't have, and when i run the application the file disappeared from my desktop and nothing else happened. "Oh crap!" Search, find, disinfect. Run a dozen other scans just to make sure. Happy end I honestly don't know what i am doing right or other people do wrong. I use Firefox, just one AV shield, and don't run files like "hotnakedchick.jpg.exe". Friends, experienced users, who claim that their PC is attacked multiple times every day, had damaged files a couple of times, and regularly use a multitude of protection software (still catching viruses though) used to tell me that my machine is probably full of them, i just don't see them because i am not looking. They have tried and failed to find anything than the occasional spyware cookie. Girlfriends are another story, give them internet access for a day and they will manage to infect and crash even your DVDs without clicking a button That was a bit off-topic, but it is something that always troubles me! Since Macs are used by proffessionals they must be doing something right (i will never like quicktime for everyday use though!), but i still don't think they are the best choice for a beginner - he will be encouraged to stay a beginner forever!
Just take a look at these screenshots: VISTA OS X Duh! Vista looks like a OS X v10.5 clone to me. Vista RAM = 800 MB OS X Tiger RAM = not sure but you need a machine with at least 256 MB RAM Security-wise, I would go for OS X as Windows has there are 60,000 known viruses for Win against a mere 40 written for OS X due to Win wide use. One last thing, I'd wait until 2007 as a new OS X (v10.5 "Leopard") is due by then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5 Wise choice. I'd do the same if I had the bucks. But I'll switch to Linux once Vista is implemented. Until then enjoy XP SP2 final days. Bye for now.
I grew up in a home with parents who worked for Microsoft. Used a PC all my life. After college, I grew a brain and bought a mac. I only wish I had my mac through college as it would have saved me weeks of time that could have been spent drinking. Crashes, viruses, lost papers and lost sleep are all because of Windows and the infamous "blue screen of death". I even had to use a PC at my last job (a good one, not an old one) and I was still rebooting once a day as it would get too slow to run outlook. I'm now a web designer running my own company completely off my mac. It literally does EVERYTHING better than any of my PC's. MS Office, firefox, dreamweaver, photoshop, Windows XP...the mac runs them all and never has any trouble. I get excited to use my mac every day...and got even more excited when I smashed up my old PC laptop after it crashed on another 10 viruses. My partner and I have vowed to never buy anything but a mac for our business and my wife is dying to get one for home. Work smarter, play smarter...buy a mac. (Notice I didn't have to resort to making up any ridiculous facts or claims that PC's have made. This is the honest truth from real experience at work, school and home.)
Yeh I now have one, but also have a Windows XP notebook which I use a fair bit aswell. One thing that I havent figured yet is, is it possible to use Windows Live Messenger on an iMac?
