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clevin said:
mac mini, $599, why?
osx 10.x, every "0.1" costs $129, why?
Compare the Mac Mini with an identical system built using the AOpen whatever Mac Mini clone, and you'll see that the Mac Mini is by a very far margin cheaper. Apple makes use of notebook components, and that's why they are so expensive (+they like to earn alot of money, of course).

And the 0.1... I think they find X or 10 pretty cool and just want to stay there. The 0.1 difference is actually rather comparable to the change from Windows NT4 to 2000, then XP, then Vista.
 
kadajawi said:
And the 0.1... I think they find X or 10 pretty cool and just want to stay there. The 0.1 difference is actually rather comparable to the change from Windows NT4 to 2000, then XP, then Vista.
you must be kidding me, "0.1" in OSX is comparable to XP vs. VISTA? There is huge difference between "add some eye candy" and "changing the system structure".
 
you know what the biggest problem with mac fanatics is? they cannot even fathom the fact that windows DOES do some things better. windows is great. so is OS X. but try seeing how many 3dmarks a mac system gets. maybe windows isnt for you, thats nice. other people need it for specific reasons.. and some *gasp* actually prefer it. i happened to have grown up on windows and so i learned alot through it. i dont really prefer one over the other. i like that soon i will have both available to me full time.
 
Chundles said:
The day that happens is the day Apple go out of business. The loss of money from hardware sales will never be made up with sales of the OS, not when you're competing directly with "Mr 90%" Microsoft. All MS have to do is pull the pin on Office and that would be the final nail in the coffin.

funny that day has already passed.
 
clevin said:

Have you heard these systems? Try and really compare like for like, old chap. If you do, there's actually not a lot in it. Apple is still more expensive but not by the gaps that the Windows-maniacs say.

Hardware price wasn't an issue for me - the Macs aren't bad in terms of what you get. It's just the reliability of some models, and Applecare - now that's what's really overpriced for what you get.
 
My friend asked me what is the advantage of a mac, I think it over and over, then told him: "prettier, stable, and safe", and to be honest, the only comfortable one for me is "prettier". Not that others are not true, its just not that important.
disadvantage is quite clear tho, $100 more expensive than PC and Lack of softwares.
 
The vast majority of users find that you do get what you pay for.

It's unfortunate that you find yourself in financial circumstances that do not permit you to buy a reliable and powerful system.

Until you've worked under Mac OSX for a while, it may be difficult to understand
just how useful and capable these machines really are.

These and other forums are filled with comments from highly seasoned Windows users who never EVER thought they would buy an Apple product.
While this doesn't always work out, the majority are extremely pleased with their choice.

When I consider how much work goes into Apple's MAJOR OS updates,
I don't think $129.00 is all that much.

Since you know Leopard is just over the horizon this spring, save your money for a Leopard powered machine.

If you buy a cheap P/C you might be able to run the cut down version of Vista
for an additional $99.00, but if you want ALL the features you'll be out several $100 dollars and then your machine may not be able to handle it.
Vista will also be much more restrictive with installation
and machine validation.
Then you'll have to buy Vista compatible upgrades for all your applications.
So where's the economy?
 
FFTT said:
The vast majority of users find that you do get what you pay for.
It's unfortunate that you find yourself in financial circumstances that do not permit you to buy a reliable and powerful system.
You clearly confused about powerful OS or powerful machine. OSX can run on $399 PC with all the powerful aspect you want.
I don't dispute the first OSX deserve a price of at least $150, but all those subsequent "0.1" increments don't deserve any number near that, $60 at most.
and, don't forget Apple use major codes from FREE Unix project.
 
Assuming that all of your software is legal. that $100.00 difference is quickly
reduced when you consider the cost of a good Windows A/V security suite.
You're also not taking into consideration just how useful the iLife applications are.
You also have tons of free and low cost shareware applications for just about every needs.

If you can't find your chosen application under OSX, you can install your LEGAL
copy of Windows or Linux and still have the security of OSX.

Cheaper is better generally results in false economy.

You're only considering out of pocket expenses for the hardware and software, when a tremendous number of people consider the value of their time as well.
 
matttrick said:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/180229/

and unless youve never broken the speed limit even once (or gone so slow as to impede traffic for that matter), unless you have never broken one law dont preach to me about legality. judge not lest ye be judged first. im not saying i condone it or not but its very doable.

Never said it wasn't do-able. It's quite easy actually. But it's not supported nor can you go out and purchase a copy of OSX for any old PC. It is that day that will never come.
 
FFTT said:
Assuming that all of your software is legal. that $100.00 difference is quickly
reduced when you consider the cost of a good Windows A/V security suite.
You're also not taking into consideration just how useful the iLife applications are.
You're only considering out of pocket expenses for the hardware and software, when a tremendous number of people consider the value of their time as well.
You need to update your knowledge about windows, there are tons of freeware under windows now,
AV? try a!vast, AVG, AntiVire or whatever free one. There is MUCH MORE freeware under windows now wit great quality than under Mac, which means, in future use, to accomplish same task, you have better chance to finish it cheap with a PC than a Mac due to the spending of software. Thats what Im saying, release OSX to PC will greatly encourage the development of freewares for Mac, which will benefit more mac users.
 
clevin said:
You need to update your knowledge about windows, there are tons of freeware under windows now,
AV? try a!vast, AVG, AntiVire or whatever free one. There is MUCH MORE freeware under windows now than under Mac, which means, in future use, to accomplish same task, you have better chance to finish it cheap with a PC than a Mac due to the spending of software. Thats what Im saying, release OSX to PC will greatly encourage the developement of freewares for Mac, which will benefit more mac users.

i agree. security software is highly touted by windows haters as a necessary cost for windows users but its simply not true. avast and antivir are superb, and they are actually less obtrusive than that crap norton, and while mcaffee is good, its an unnecessary expense. you can also pickup ad aware for spyware for free.

as far as im concerned, pc's dominate in price. not to say that macs cant be worth the extra cost for alot of people.
 
Chundles said:
Never said it wasn't do-able. It's quite easy actually. But it's not supported nor can you go out and purchase a copy of OSX for any old PC. It is that day that will never come.

true true. people usually respond with the legal debate when i bring that up so forgive my preemptive defensiveness :p
 
Passante said:
That you need a PC for (lets leave boot camp and parallels out of the discussion). Yes this is a thread hijack. But a closely related one. ;)

I can't use Adobe Audition 2. I absolutely love that program, and despite trying to use Audacity and SoundTrack Pro—still miss it. I've used Cool Edit Pro for years!
 
matttrick said:
i agree. security software is highly touted by windows haters as a necessary cost for windows users but its simply not true. avast and antivir are superb, and they are actually less obtrusive than that crap norton, and while mcaffee is good, its an unnecessary expense. you can also pickup ad aware for spyware for free.
Mac is always in a closed developing system, it doesn't attract software developers, thats the problem, there is no breakthrough improvement since OSX first released in 2001, and somehow Jobs managed to get people to pay him $129 every year. Look at Linux, it won't take long for OSX to lose its "prettier face" advantage. those Xgl 3D effect under linux is already surpass OSX technically.
 
The changes between OSX Jaguar, Panther and Tiger were considerable and generally improved function, performance, security and stability.
Contrary to what some believe, these changes were not just eye candy.

Microsoft XP has become an infested pile of maggot laiden *****, but it hasn't changed much, so some users are perfectly fine with it.

They don't mind risking all their important data to the whims of skript kiddies
or care about how much time their IT department spends keeping it all going, because they get paid by the hour anyway.

It's people who generate their own income on their computers who care the most about workflow, stability, security and productivity.

If you enjoy tweaking computer systems and don't mind all the headaches and pressure of security issues, you'll do well working in a Windows only environment.

Some computer users really do need someone watching their every move on an administrative level and that's what IT loves about Windows.
They can tell exactly what you've been doing on their time.

Windows was designed to allow this kind of invasive control.
That same capability also allows hacker to exploit all of these vulnerabilites.
Out of this chaos comes job security, until your company hires someone with
up to date IT skills who fully understands the capabilties of Vista, Mac OSX and Linux.


You keep overlooking the fact that most of the people here either have previously or do still currently work in dual platforms.

We know the ups and downs of all of your points.

You also ignore the fact that Apple hardware allows you to run
OSX, Windows or Linux.

That flexibilty alone is more than worth the price difference.
 
I cant wait to switch to mac full-on I use both and I am so tired of windows instability. that I almost swore off computer till I get my MBP I use my windows machine of four thing Email, torrents, slight gaming (occasional BF2 and pokerstars.com), and web surfing and in the past 3 months I have had about 5 problems from spyware to a virus I cant take it anymore I want to throw it out the window sometimes.
 
It's hard to come up with a reasoned debate, especially as both sides are arguably equally misinformed in this thread. The 'Macs pretty' side has missed the point, as has the 'Windows maggot infested piece of crap' side.

From my side it's purely the support + hardware engineering / reliability that is the issue causing me to switch away. It's not the superiority of the OS X platform for personal productivity, which I think is undoubted. However Windows does nearly as good a job, and I'll take a slightly inferior OS + rock-solid hardware + good support over advanced OS + flaky gear + poor support.

Still, if you must argue, probably safer to argue about this than Israel vs Hizb-Allah, eh?...
 
Maxiseller said:
Are you for real? Go check out the estimates on Vista Prices. OSX is like, Half price for a heck of a lot of features - besides which, nobody forces you to buy it.

Oh, come on.. not again. The prices recently published are for the FULL version, while there is no full version of Mac OS X (it's always an updated - unless you somehow managed to buy a Mac without OS X). Nothing is known about OEM prices, and they will be significantly lower. Furthermore, Windows Vista is the first update after 5 years, there were at least 3 Mac OS X versions released in this time, and not all of them came with as many new features as Vista has compared to XP. The TCO of Windows is lower, so to speak.
 
weg said:
Oh, come on.. not again. The prices recently published are for the FULL version, while there is no full version of Mac OS X (it's always an updated - unless you somehow managed to buy a Mac without OS X). Nothing is known about OEM prices, and they will be significantly lower. Furthermore, Windows Vista is the first update after 5 years, there were at least 3 Mac OS X versions released in this time, and not all of them came with as many new features as Vista has compared to XP. The TCO of Windows is lower, so to speak.

Yeah, but with these "Update" versions of OSX it is possible to install OSX onto a blank HDD (for say, an upgraded MacBook).

Can't do that with an "Update" version of Windows.
 
clevin

Over the next few years developers will have to wrap their heads around
taking full advantage of dual, quad and octa core processing and bandwidth they never dreamed of before.

These technology breakthroughs are forcing a lot of once comfortable MS Certified
developers out of their XP comfort zones.

You should also keep in mind that the enterprise will be very slow to adopt Vista.
When faced with new hardware, licensing and retraining costs, they have a whole new set of options.

For government IT , office and general customer data base managment, Linux
will probably have the greatest impact.
I think MS may have grown far too confident about the necessitry of MS Office suite as more freeware apps become available.

However, for audio visual, music, design, math and sciences, OSX Leopard will
remain the most attractive.

You're looking at the lowest end expecting perfection.

Perhaps you need to save up a little bit and then reconsider your options after both Leopard and Vista have made their debut.
 
Well my first post here as a newly converted Windows to Mac person. Got my 20in iMac 4 weeks ago and couldn't be happier with the system. Have no reason at all to install XP via bootcamp, everything I want is on my Mac, can get work e-mail etc etc

I've even designed new documents, presentations and newsletters that have gone down a storm in the office, my CEO is now considering getting a Mac for me to work on.

I was a Windows user for years, from the early days in fact. On my last system I was running Vista Beta2 and was very unimpressed with the resources it demanded. Even start up and **** down took an age. I got hit by the Spy-falcon virus 4 bloody times in a few months with XP!

look, windows is fine, it works most of the time and does its job. But the Mac is just a step up for me, beautiful, simple design and for designing and publishing it's fantastic for me...
 
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