Easily solved. Use one of these under your laptop, and you won't feel the heat, nor prevent that vital airflow underneath when you have it on any soft surface, like your lap, a sofa or even in bed...Spies said:
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From a PC users perspective
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Not again.generik said:
As has been stated often enough before, it is the tight integration of hardware and software that makes Macs so reliable and easy to use. The issues that Win users complain about over limited upgradability are tied to the same issue. OS X works well because it knows exactly what it's working with, as does most of the other software available, because Apple makes sure developers design to that hardware. OS X on a generik PC would be, at that level, the same PIA that XP is, and for exactly the same reasons, if less so for all the other reasons. Unless by "correct hardware" you mean Apple, then yes.
If Microsoft were in Apple's position now, ie, only allowing their OS on machines they certified, wouldn't Windows be OSX?
Microsoft do have to cator for billions upon billions of possible configurations and that's where the problems lie. My PC at the moment is running fine (touch wood) so I wouldn't suddenly get less headaches from getting a mac.
The appealing nature of the iBook (soon to be MacBook?) is they're well built, small (as a portable should be), have good battery life, quite light, fairly powerful, and when Microsoft releases Vista, they'll run Windows? But I'm going to be hung drawn and quartered for even thinking of putting a Microsoft operating system on an apple aren't I?
I can't find those attributes in a PC laptop, the last laptop I had left a sour taste in my mouth, it was an Acer and it was terrible, the backspace key got stuck, it was too big, and the backlight pulsated when it was charging.
Microsoft do have to cator for billions upon billions of possible configurations and that's where the problems lie. My PC at the moment is running fine (touch wood) so I wouldn't suddenly get less headaches from getting a mac.
The appealing nature of the iBook (soon to be MacBook?) is they're well built, small (as a portable should be), have good battery life, quite light, fairly powerful, and when Microsoft releases Vista, they'll run Windows? But I'm going to be hung drawn and quartered for even thinking of putting a Microsoft operating system on an apple aren't I?
I can't find those attributes in a PC laptop, the last laptop I had left a sour taste in my mouth, it was an Acer and it was terrible, the backspace key got stuck, it was too big, and the backlight pulsated when it was charging.
While that's true to some extent, that's not ALL there is to a Mac + OXSX.Spies said:
As others have said, the difference in how it works, how easily it works and so on are difficult to describe. To some switchers i'm certain that initially it's actually a worse experience because the way X does things is different, but you get to the point pretty quickly where it's just "better".
Again, as previously posted, it's probably not til you've used a mac for a while and then are forced back into trying to do the same things in a Windows environment that you'll realise just how much time-wasting, annoying crap you've put up with all these years.
I really don't think anyone can accurately convey to you what the big difference is, and although on a site like this you inevitably run the risk of encountering the opinions of blinkered fanboys, you just have to trust me (us) when I say that I've used both (and Linux) reasonably extensively for years and the Mac X experience is overall by far the best.
I hate Windows now (i didn't use to) and have to be dragged kicking and screaming whenever i'm forced to go near it (which is admittedly usually when it's crapped out, which is frequently)
Spies said:
Sure, probably. But the fact of the matter is, this isn't the case.
It's kind of like the argument against Macs in regards to viruses. Some people like to say that "If Macs had more than 5% market share, they would have viruses too! That's why Windows has viruses." Well, sure. But again, the fact of that matter is that there aren't currently any viruses. The possibility of a mac virus exists, but there aren't any so you don't have to currently worry about it.
Consider the following. Two people living in two different types of countries.
A) Violent, War-torn country
B) Very Peaceful country, little violence (use your imagination
)Person A has life MUCH worse off because they're always threatened. Person B, while their life COULD be threatened, isn't, so it's a non-issue.
frankblundt said:
Its so true... I find it really hard not to annoy everyone I know (mostly PC users but hey...) with all the little things they do better.
A couple of examples
The operating system is seperate from the applications, if you need to re-install you insert the CD, start the software, run the setup and go away for an hour or so, when you come back your applications will still work as before... (unlike another operating system I know...)
also (mostly) the software works together and they multitask better than PC's... I personally would say they are more stable but when they go wrong, in my experience I have had no problems with either... in general when there are problems you can recover much more quickly...
I also have about 100 (little) apps installed (mostly freeware) and they don't slow me down at all, unlike with a PC...
Windows *is* MUCH better for gaming, but in my experience thats about it... when it comes to movies I would get a copy of VLC for Mac though, apart from that there is no software you *need*...
Like others I would advise having a play see
http://www.apple.com/uk/buy/
for where to buy, and make sure you get one with an Intel processor...
The other myth I think is rubbish is that "Mac's are more expensive", for what you get they are good value, though to get one you need to spend more (eg you can get a £300 dell, but a £800 Mac will be better than an £800 dell)
An exerpt from an article by a switcher which comes closest to my feelings about the difference between Macs and PC's (and I deeply regret losing the author's name):
It is actually quite difficult to deduce [the difference] by playing with a Macintosh in a store. In five or ten minutes you can tell that there are a lot of colorful icons and shimmery buttons, but Windows XP has colorful icons and shimmery buttons, too. You can open the various built-in applications, but everybody knows that built-in applications are worthless, and even if they weren't, you can't tell much from blank documents and sample data.
If you're used to PCs, you'll spend most of your five or ten minutes just trying to figure out where the hell the Start menu is, why you can't see two applications' menu bars at the same time, and why windows keep mysteriously disappearing and how in the world you ever find them again. Even if you get someone who knows what they're doing to show you their own machine, with their real life taking place on it, one by one the details don't seem so incredible.
But here is the thing you will learn from really using an OS X Macintosh, and must somehow accept on faith if that's what it takes to get you to Switch: Apple makes design decisions based on a sincere desire to make your life better ... somewhere in California, in the back corner of some office building where they're deciding what should appear on the screen when you click the next button, somebody is asking themselves not only what could appear on the screen that corresponds vaguely with what you nervously hoped you hit the right button to make appear, but what could jump a couple steps forward and startle and delight you.
The Mac interface is, in fact, playful, often well over the line into frivolity. It is not businesslike, in precisely the way that nothing should be "businesslike". The bouncing icons (and the puffs of smoke and the pipe-organ speech synthesizer and the way dialogs tidily resize and the drop-shadows on the windows and the jellybean buttons and the eject key on the keyboard) are not individually rationalizable on utilitarian grounds, and they do not pretend to be. They are there to, in aggregate, change the nature of your relationship with the device. They are joyful, and they hope their joy is infectious.
The bizarre truth is that although simple tasks are designed to be much simpler on the Mac than on a PC, the Mac is also much more deeply and pervasively capable of being tweaked and customized and automated and shortcutted. The more you use a Mac, and the more of its secrets you learn, the more you will like it. This is exactly, radically, totally the opposite of what happens in Windows, where every damn thing you learn after the first ten minutes will make you hate it more and more violently.
If you're used to PCs, you'll spend most of your five or ten minutes just trying to figure out where the hell the Start menu is, why you can't see two applications' menu bars at the same time, and why windows keep mysteriously disappearing and how in the world you ever find them again. Even if you get someone who knows what they're doing to show you their own machine, with their real life taking place on it, one by one the details don't seem so incredible.
But here is the thing you will learn from really using an OS X Macintosh, and must somehow accept on faith if that's what it takes to get you to Switch: Apple makes design decisions based on a sincere desire to make your life better ... somewhere in California, in the back corner of some office building where they're deciding what should appear on the screen when you click the next button, somebody is asking themselves not only what could appear on the screen that corresponds vaguely with what you nervously hoped you hit the right button to make appear, but what could jump a couple steps forward and startle and delight you.
The Mac interface is, in fact, playful, often well over the line into frivolity. It is not businesslike, in precisely the way that nothing should be "businesslike". The bouncing icons (and the puffs of smoke and the pipe-organ speech synthesizer and the way dialogs tidily resize and the drop-shadows on the windows and the jellybean buttons and the eject key on the keyboard) are not individually rationalizable on utilitarian grounds, and they do not pretend to be. They are there to, in aggregate, change the nature of your relationship with the device. They are joyful, and they hope their joy is infectious.
The bizarre truth is that although simple tasks are designed to be much simpler on the Mac than on a PC, the Mac is also much more deeply and pervasively capable of being tweaked and customized and automated and shortcutted. The more you use a Mac, and the more of its secrets you learn, the more you will like it. This is exactly, radically, totally the opposite of what happens in Windows, where every damn thing you learn after the first ten minutes will make you hate it more and more violently.
To those people who are posting, "No Viruses"...
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THIS PAST WEEK?!
TWO malicious codings have been found, a bunch of flaws within OSX have also been found and yet you keep preaching these naive words. Get over it, OSX isnt as safe as you thought.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THIS PAST WEEK?!
TWO malicious codings have been found, a bunch of flaws within OSX have also been found and yet you keep preaching these naive words. Get over it, OSX isnt as safe as you thought.
I've been torn whether or not to respond here - there are already good answers, and as has been pointed out, the subject has been covered extensively in other threads.
But I just can't help putting in my 2 cents. I've used Windows extensively for many years, and Mac for almost 2 years now. Mac is simply more elegant, gives more integration between applications, is more stable, and is less prone to viruses/worms/trojans. Once you get used to the differences, if you're coming from Windows, it's also MUCH easier. A good example of the latter is installing and uninstalling programs. Just drag the icon, files are easy to round up when you need to uninstall, no restart necessary.
My Powerbook has NEVER crashed (= required me to turn it off and on again), and I have rarely turned it off in the time I've had it - I just let it sleep. Macs do crash of course, mine will probably someday, but the stability is just amazing.
The more I learn about my Mac, the happier I am that it's now my main computer.
But I just can't help putting in my 2 cents. I've used Windows extensively for many years, and Mac for almost 2 years now. Mac is simply more elegant, gives more integration between applications, is more stable, and is less prone to viruses/worms/trojans. Once you get used to the differences, if you're coming from Windows, it's also MUCH easier. A good example of the latter is installing and uninstalling programs. Just drag the icon, files are easy to round up when you need to uninstall, no restart necessary.
My Powerbook has NEVER crashed (= required me to turn it off and on again), and I have rarely turned it off in the time I've had it - I just let it sleep. Macs do crash of course, mine will probably someday, but the stability is just amazing.
The more I learn about my Mac, the happier I am that it's now my main computer.
wako said:
What a load of drivel... Firstly, they were NOT viruses - Secondly they were not malicious, thirdly you have to download and run these things if you want to infect your computers...
My computers rubbish because when i hit it with a hammer it breaks... might just stop hitting it with a hammer then
Not gonna feed that troll. Anywaaayyy...
Simply put - a dumb-ass could use a Macintosh. Easily. I'm living proof. When I got my first Mac I didn't even know Macs ran a different OS!! I was used to 95% troubleshooting 5% actual usage on a PC. On a Mac it's more like 99% usage 1% troubleshooting.
Simply put - a dumb-ass could use a Macintosh. Easily. I'm living proof. When I got my first Mac I didn't even know Macs ran a different OS!!
I was used to 95% troubleshooting 5% actual usage on a PC. On a Mac it's more like 99% usage 1% troubleshooting.
A lot of good reasons posted so far but for me...
I switched 3 months ago and am delighted I did. I find more and more things to make me smile when I use my mac, and everything is SO intuitive. I love the feeling of tight integration between the apps and the ability to do everything I want without having to slash out money.
In fact I enjoy using my Mac so much I turn it on and play with it even when I have absolutely nothing to do on it - just because it's so pleasurable. Something that never happened to me with windows.
And this is on an old second hand mac I picked up cheap off eBay!
I switched 3 months ago and am delighted I did. I find more and more things to make me smile when I use my mac, and everything is SO intuitive. I love the feeling of tight integration between the apps and the ability to do everything I want without having to slash out money.
In fact I enjoy using my Mac so much I turn it on and play with it even when I have absolutely nothing to do on it - just because it's so pleasurable. Something that never happened to me with windows.
And this is on an old second hand mac I picked up cheap off eBay!
Spies:
I use both actively. My main machine is a Quad listed below and my main laptop is a Toshiba Satellite I got at Christmas. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing 'easier' about using a mac than Windows.(lets use 2000/XP as our benchmark cause using NT 4 just wouldnt be fair). In fact I'd argue the opposite. A person never having touched a PC or a Mac would have an easier time in the beginning with a PC than a Mac. I've owned a Powerbook, price for performance they are over rated. Macbook pro, things are starting to look good(I'll probably get one in 12-18 months). While there are a lot of viruses for windows, anyone with some good virus protection and common sense will do just fine(It's worked for me thus far). I mean really, if you put ur OSX admin user name and password in your sig, and enable remote connections, ur box wont be so safe for very long. Common sense does go a long way. If you are looking to switch, switch for the software, not the OS. It is a good OS, don't get me wrong, but is not the holy grail of OSs like some would proclaim. OS X has a ways to go before it makes it there.
Why'd I switch? I liked where things were headed with the software. Apperture will become something special, Lightroom will make sure of that. That and I'm getting into video(HDV very soon) and FCP cuts through video on a G5 like it owns the place (and it does, o man cant wait till they enable quad support, yum).
I use both actively. My main machine is a Quad listed below and my main laptop is a Toshiba Satellite I got at Christmas. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing 'easier' about using a mac than Windows.(lets use 2000/XP as our benchmark cause using NT 4 just wouldnt be fair). In fact I'd argue the opposite. A person never having touched a PC or a Mac would have an easier time in the beginning with a PC than a Mac. I've owned a Powerbook, price for performance they are over rated. Macbook pro, things are starting to look good(I'll probably get one in 12-18 months). While there are a lot of viruses for windows, anyone with some good virus protection and common sense will do just fine(It's worked for me thus far). I mean really, if you put ur OSX admin user name and password in your sig, and enable remote connections, ur box wont be so safe for very long. Common sense does go a long way. If you are looking to switch, switch for the software, not the OS. It is a good OS, don't get me wrong, but is not the holy grail of OSs like some would proclaim. OS X has a ways to go before it makes it there.
Why'd I switch? I liked where things were headed with the software. Apperture will become something special, Lightroom will make sure of that. That and I'm getting into video(HDV very soon) and FCP cuts through video on a G5 like it owns the place (and it does, o man cant wait till they enable quad support, yum).
wako said:
It was classed as a low risk trojan/worm by the major security companies, it was something you needed to download and run - and if you are not an admin then you have to password authorize it to use your computer.
it spread via bonjour not through the internet either - it wasnt a virus
Malfoy said:
Well, just a small example. My boyfriend and I received his HP PC and my iBook at about the same time. My iBook was up and running and on the internet in under 5 minutes. His HP took 3 days and a few hours on the phone to get it up and running. (There were driver issues, etc ) And previous to that my only real experience on a computer was playing the Oregon Trail on an old Apple in 2nd grade. Perhaps if I were a computer whiz I wouldn't have had any problem, but I don't think you should have to be to use one.
I would just like to say I have always been a PC user and just recently (like in the last couple of weeks) started using a mac. Its just a basic set up but it sure runs really smooth and it only took me a couple of days to get use to the way a mac runs. I love it.
I sure have learnt a phenomenal amount about Windows from a mac. Work that out! Basically till I got a Mac I was never into computers. Using a Wordprocessor on a PC was quite scary and god forbid anything went wrong. Straight to my brother asking what do I do next! Photos, music video, were all things that "other people did" As a complete dunce I turned on my Powerbook and 3 years later I still have that child like grin on my face when I find a new programme or a neat shortcut for burning music, doing slideshows, flash, building websites,... and yes, troubleshooting people's Windows boxes. The thing is, having used OS X I understand how things work - not through breakdowns, but through tweaking and finding all the features if you want to really customise an already solid setup. So although I cant necessarily go straight to a problem area in Windows, I can say, "Find me the control panel or the bit that deals with X Y Z, and I will figure it out.
Really, if you like to work hard, play hard (not games of course) and be relaxed, I cannot recommend OS X and the associate software enough. And of course to run that software you need an Apple box. Simple philosophy and why didnt anyone else think of it!
Really, if you like to work hard, play hard (not games of course) and be relaxed, I cannot recommend OS X and the associate software enough. And of course to run that software you need an Apple box. Simple philosophy and why didnt anyone else think of it!
I've bought 2 pcs since and never had one work out of the box without major hair-pulling/tears/swearing. Whatever the reason, I'm done with things that raise my blood pressure.Malfoy said:
Spies said:
People always like analogies with cars. So here is one: You need to get to work in the moring and home at night. So how can a brand new BMW do that better them my used Ford Pinto? On one level it can't. Either way the end result is that I get to go where I need to be. so the BMW is a waste of money. I'll keep my $600 Pinto.
But look deeper. I'm always having to hassel with the Pinto, some times it stops working and I have to figure out why. It is not much fun to drive and it never did have all those fun extras like power mirrors and seats and a decent stereo.
Back to computers. If the job is to read e-mail a $400 Walmart P will do the job as will a $2,000 Mac Book. What do you get for the money. Style, reliabilty, not having to hassel with geting things to work. and end to spywere, virus attacts, system crashes. but mostly jst ease of use that comes from stuff just working like it should.
If you happen to use a computer to _create_, images, video, sound, music and the like then the Mac _really_ will allow you to do things the PC can't. It simly has much better software aimed at people who create stuff. I bought a Mac specificaly to run iPhoto (are something like it) Final Cut Express and rlated software if you want to run programs like these the Mac is the way to go.
Actually I don't know what you guys mean by "OSX being easier", apart from the 10 or so apps I can squeeze onto the dock, launching every other app (through finder) is a total pain in the arse.
Give me terminal over finder ANYDAY. Finder sucks! We need a new finder in the next OSX
Give me terminal over finder ANYDAY. Finder sucks! We need a new finder in the next OSX
generik said:
Squeeze?
You do realize that you can drag MORE apps into the Dock and it will resize itself? Or, you can resize it manually via the Dock prefpane? Or, you can click and drag the vertical separation bar in the Dock and resize manually?
My Dock has at least 40 apps in it.
generik said:
You may want to drag the Applications folder into your dock. Then your whole Applications structure is available through a simple click-and-hold!