Thinking of converting............to Mac!

[i.p.i.]

we also have a PC at home and do all secure transactions on it since it's not on wi-fi.  that is a negative for wi-fi.

really, the best thing about wi-fi, AFAIC, is that i can take my iBook and sit up in bed if i like.  of course i could take it other places and use it but i don't because i am mostly homebound due to disabilities.  i mostly have it plugged in when i use it and am thinking about having a plug-in near the bed and getting rid of wi-fi.  having to go downstairs to the PC every time i want to order something is a nuisance. 

i don't know that wi-fi is any worse for your health than using computers in general and i am older, have accepted that nobody gets out of here alive.  if i had small children, i would certainly be concerned about how it might affect their health.  if i were young, i'd be more concerned about its possible effect on my own health.  my health problems are genetic, however, so i should have chosen different parents for optimum health.   

[Rosarium]

My current home setup is pretty white-bread - Dell PC, DSL modem, all wired, running (of course ) XP Home Edition

I am going to modernize to wireless pretty soon (cat 5 is so 1986), but on top of that I am trying to decide whether, when I do, I ought to switch over to Apple laptops and peripherals.

Who here's a Mac devotee? Any advice?

Who's made the PC->Mac leap?  Any pitfalls, second thoughts?

An Apple computer is the same as a PC. It has all the same parts except for a few logos and a restrictive chip.

The issue is operating system.

OS X does not "just work". It is actually a mess, and Apple just restricts it so it can only be "officially" used on the PCs they sell. You can install Windows on Apple computers.

Now, if you want OS X, then you should get an Apple computer, unless you want to fiddle around with the work arounds (which violates Apple's licenses).

If you don't want OS X specifically, getting an Apple computer is an expensive mistake.

Now, for the real answer of what is better, it is simple.

OS X and Windows are a false dichotomy. Windows is a security nightmare, unethically marketed and forced into the consumers faces so they don't know of the choice they actually did have and overly expensive and extremely buggy.

OS X is for idiots. It has all the choices stripped from it, and it uses as its basis, Unix code (it is actually a certified Unix) from a free system. Its interface is nothing special.

I use Linux. Ever hear of it?

[Rosarium]

 People with PCs seem to constantly be battling viruses and spam. 

OS X users use PCs. They just use OS X on it, instead of the variety of other OSs.

I don't know any Mac owners who have a problem with viruses or spam. 

I do not know any Linux, FreeBSD (or any BSD), Solaris or Hurd uses with problems with them either. Also, they, unlike OS X, lets you change the interface.

Besides, Macs are Catholic.   ;D

They are a fundy cult.

Here is an option for all you out there who want a choice: http://www.ubuntu.com/

Get the live disk (all the instructions are there on how to get one, you can download it in a variety of ways) and try it out. For free. On almost any computer. With the features you want. With the freedom to see what you are using.

Remember, hardware and software are different things.

I used an iBook once. It crashed, supported nothing, and I couldn't even remove the battery.

For those interested, look up "ubuntu" on youtube. Look up "compiz fusion" for something OS X and Windows will never do.

[DesperatelySeeking]

Also, my husband is in computer security and he prefers I do all secure transactions on the hard wired desk-top.  He says wireless is never as secure.

Hey, that is a good point.  I'll probably need to keep the wired machine for using Money or Quicken or doing any banking.

[DesperatelySeeking]

I use Linux. Ever hear of it?

Yeah. Red Hat and the other OS's as well.  Even though I am a pretty savvy computer user from years of being chained to a laptop at work, at home the computer's just another appliance like a toaster.  As close as I can get to "plug & play", the better.

Although Microsoft is infinitely infuriating with all its non-helpful "upgrades" and the deathly slow bootup and shutdown with Windows, it's at least familiar, broadly-used, and relatively well-supported....as are to a lesser extent Apple products.  I guess I am willing to make that trade-off.

Going with other OSs wouldn't be impossible, but it could require being a little more hands-on, and for home use, that's just more effort than it is worth to me.

Good input from this thread, though....most Mac users I know are starry-eyed devotees who think Apple can do no wrong.  Glad to see the flip side of the coin.

[i.p.i.]

Um, OK, not sure on that last post.....but thanks for the rest of the feedback.

Lol, it's a joke.  Because the Mac mice typically have one button. 

lol

i'm glad you explained that because i use a touchpad, haven't used a mouse since i had a PC many years ago, so i was puzzled by the joke.

[i.p.i.]

[quote author=DesperatelySeeking link=topic=3429049.msg33256583#msg33256583 date=1271002191


Good input from this thread, though....most Mac users I know are starry-eyed devotees who think Apple can do no wrong.  Glad to see the flip side of the coin.
[/quote]

i haven't encountered any Mac users who are starry-eyed devotees, just people who prefer Macs to PCs, all of whom are professionally involved with graphic design.
 
but then Herr M is the only anti-Mac zealot i've encountered, though not the only Linux devotee, and i don't think his experience with a Mac is typical.

i don't think you'd find it difficult switching to Mac's OS but i don't know if it offers anything you really want or need.

[Rosarium]

i haven't encountered any Mac users who are starry-eyed devotees, just people who prefer Macs to PCs, all of whom are professionally involved with graphic design.

The issue is choice. We all have a choice we can make, but to marketing and computer company brainwashing (all those who make and sell computers on a large scale have an investment in keep the users dumb and they do it so well...a car is extremely less complex than a car, yet, users don't know anything about their computer and they are encouraged not to find out).  The average question I get about computers is the technical equivalent of a car user calling Ford to ask why their car stopped running and not knowing what a "steering wheel", "gas pedal"  and "dash board"  are and the importance of gasoline in running, all the while believing that they cannot know and do not need to know that "technical stuff". Mac users just make it worse, but at least they are honest about giving up.

but then Herr M is the only anti-Mac zealot i've encountered, though not the only Linux devotee, and i don't think his experience with a Mac is typical.

I'm a pro-freedom zealot. All systems have their place, and ideally would be chosen based on their qualities, rather than the software's maker ability to strong arm competition and make users dependent at the expense of quality software.

I actually am very well are that I do not know OS X well. The only thing I really know about it is that I cannot customise it although it is very technically possible (it is built as a Unix, but I can only use its terminal). This keeps it the same everywhere, leading to the myth it is "intuitive" (and it isn't...it just has to be learned like every other interface. The fact it stays the same creates that illusion, but it is extremely confusing to someone who does not routinely use a system like it).

OS X and Windows are choices, valid choices, but they are designed to be niche systems yet are forced as a one sized fits all solution.

i don't think you'd find it difficult switching to Mac's OS but i don't know if it offers anything you really want or need.

Difficult? It will be very difficult. He'll have to buy a new computer...a bad sign for a requirement of using software which should work on his current system but for the intentional restrictions on the software to force people to buy Apple computers.

[cgraye]

Before converting to wireless, you may want to do some research about the health effects.  We decided especially since we have young kids we want to minimize their exposure to wireless frequencies.  Mercola.com has a lot of artlicles about the health concerns.

What?  Wireless signals are constantly passing through your body at all times, whether you have a wireless home network or not.

[i.p.i.]

as i said, i ran DOS in the early Nineties, later got an iBook.  i have no virus protection software and have never had a virus on my Mac, which i view as a big plus.  and i paid my dues running DOS, and doing stats for my thesis before personal computers were available at all, so i don't have to prove my smarts to anyone by noodling with software.  been there, done that, got the t shirt, and have tried to help a lot of totally clueless people use their PCs, people who are afraid to venture beyond AOL, don't know how to delete their old e-mails, etc.  i've never met anyone who needed help using their Mac.

since i have only used a Mac in recent years, i talked with a good friend of mine who has been teaching the Adobe Graphics Suite for more than ten years, uses Macs exclusively at the college where he teaches, but has a PC and a Mac for personal use.  he has no preference for one over the other now but says Macs were more stable in the early years due to their Unix foundation.  early on, Windows was an attempt to imitate the Apple GUI and every Windows update since has been an attempt to emulate that interface.

he teaches digital imaging and web design and has no difficulty transferring files via flashdrive from PC to Mac and vice versa.  he says people who want to noodle with their software and format C:/ all the time usually are more at home with a PC.  there are some programs that aren't available for Macs.  obviously if you want to run those programs, you don't want a Mac, or you want to keep a PC and a Mac like he does.

he also says that, from a web design standpoint, Internet Explorer has to be the worst browser ever invented.  web designers are always having to invent work-arounds (hacks) to correct problems with Internet Explorer.  MacIntosh abandoned including Internet Explorer with version 5.5; IE used to come on a Mac but they ditched it, which was a good move.

with the new Macs, because of the dual core processors you can put Windows programs on a Mac but my friend would never do that, anyway.  he'd just use a PC for Windows and a Mac for software that would work on a Mac.  he thinks the whole Mac vs PC "war" is silly, and so do i, though i think Eco nailed some important differences in his amusing essay.  the essay is not meant to be taken as a guide to computer buying.

the whole idea that Macs are easier to use than PCs was part of the marketing strategy of Apple.  it doesn't mean that people who use Macs are stupid.  an intelligent person chooses the right tool for a particular job.  end of story.