stupidest questions from PC users

[Killyp]

One of the most irritating I ever heard was from a Mac user at my school. His parents used Macs, so he has to use them at home too. Now they didn't install Word or anything on their Macs, so had no apps that would open .doc files. He bought his PC laptop into school and I asked him why he went to a PC. He said because Macs can't do Word files. Anyways, this was before I got my MacBook Pro.

Just before the end of last year I was using it next to him in English (he was on one of our school PCs) and he looked across at my screen and saw Word open. He said something along the lines of "what did you do to get Word on there?".

I mean it's sure irritating when PC users don't know anything about Macs, and when Mac users don't know anything about PCs, but Mac users not knowing anything about Macs? That's just wierd...

All was well though because the machine he was on crashed at the end of the session while he was saving his work

 

[patrick0brien]

Please, don't stop the great stories...

I think the underlying message here is that none of us appreciate being belittled by somebody using bad information.

 

[SkyBell]

You know, I'm not exactly new to the community, but ive been wondering: Bootcamp allows you to run windows, but does it allow you to run programs made only for windows? I cant think of any example right now except for one: http://www.xfire.com

???

 

[patrick0brien]

Bootcamp allows you to run windows, but does it allow you to run programs made only for windows?

-Cassie

Yes. That is what it is designed for.

 

[rogersmj]

You know, I'm not exactly new to the community, but ive been wondering: Bootcamp allows you to run windows, but does it allow you to run programs made only for windows? I cant think of any example right now except for one: http://www.xfire.com

???

I think you mean run Windows programs within OSX? No, you have to actually boot into Windows to run Windows programs.

 

[fivetoadsloth]

ok well a friend of mine wher sitting in class talking when the science teacher was trying to get her laptop and projector to work. so, my friend goes up to help and he tells her he'll see what he can do, but he uses a mac. and she asks what a "mac" is, and he says an apple, and she says, oh, i thought they went bankrupt a while ago, and on her desk she has an ipod nano......

 

[luminosity]

maybe that's the cost of megasuccess. you're so dominant that you're no longer associated with your own product, but the product becomes the brand unto itself.

 

[monke]

I was talking to a friend about computers today, he started saying how many viruses he had, I said I couldn't get any. Told him I had a Mac.

"Wait you have a MAC?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Woah. Those are extremely slow!"
"They used to be, now their even faster then your computer."
"So?"
"So what, they are outright better then your Windows world."
"Yah, but you can't go on the internet with them cause webpages don't work on a Mac."

Stoping the conversation at that? I couldn't live with it, so I reply:

"Oh, viewing webpages. Next time do your self a favour and stop surfing the web in Microsoft's Internet Explorer."

 

[ATD]

Not a dumb question, just a story. About 6 years ago I got my DSL hooked up at home. At the time they had techs come out and hook it up for you. I was very clear with them that I had a Mac, they assured me a Mac tech is what I'll get. The tech came while I was at the office, my wife let him in. He called me when he started to tell me he was on it. 2 hours later my wife called and told me he can't hook up the DSL, so I told her to get him on the phone. I asked him why and he said I needed to reformat my drive and reinstall my OS. I told him that I have not had any problems with my computer so please tell me exactly why I need to do this. He started in talking about problems with my C drive...


After laying into him big time I ended it with "there's nothing wrong with my computer, you are an idiot. Please take your hands off my computer and leave." The guy had never touched a Mac in his life, what made him think he was a Mac tech is beyond me.

 

[Cinematographer]

He started in talking about problems with my C drive...

best story ever!

 

[ipedro]

Another one
*sister unplugged USB drive without ejecting it so the device removal message comes up and she calls me down again*
Me: Didn't you eject the drive first? All you have to do is drag the icon into the trashcan. And can you just read the message and press "ok" next time?
sister: but the message popped up so I had to call you down so you could fix it.
Me: Can't you read what it says before you call me down?
sister: No, you're the computer guy so you have to fix it.

Well, to be fair, having to eject a USB key before removing it is counterintuitive. It's the one thing I don't like having to tell the people I've switched. The other is telling them that they can't log into Windows LIVE Messenger (or any of the LIVE services).

I've switched 12 people this year to Macs (most of them to Mac Mini and MacBook) and every time I have to accept the fact that having to eject a USB drive is a feature "not better" than what Windows users are used to.
Now, getting on to LIVE messenger, that's Microsofts fault. They choose to boycott Mac users (understandably).

 

[SkyBell]

I was talking to a friend about computers today, he started saying how many viruses he had, I said I couldn't get any. Told him I had a Mac.

"Wait you have a MAC?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Woah. Those are extremely slow!"
"They used to be, now their even faster then your computer."
"So?"
"So what, they are outright better then your Windows world."
"Yah, but you can't go on the internet with them cause webpages don't work on a Mac."

Stoping the conversation at that? I couldn't live with it, so I reply:

"Oh, viewing webpages. Next time do your self a favour and stop surfing the web in Microsoft's Internet Explorer."

I can't stop a conversation at that either. I like to argue until they realize I'm right, or they prove me wrong.

When people say "macs are slow" or "macs can't veiw the internet" I usually respond sarcasticly in agreement with them (That really pisses them off )

But if I don't think sarcasm is right for the situation, i just flat out tell 'em the facts, and if they still don't belive me, i show 'em my G3 iMac, which they beleive is dinosauric, and show them it can still do everything they say NEW Macs can't . Then the silence begins.

 

[slu]

Well, to be fair, having to eject a USB key before removing it is counterintuitive. It's the one thing I don't like having to tell the people I've switched. The other is telling them that they can't log into Windows LIVE Messenger (or any of the LIVE services).

I've switched 12 people this year to Macs (most of them to Mac Mini and MacBook) and every time I have to accept the fact that having to eject a USB drive is a feature "not better" than what Windows users are used to.
Now, getting on to LIVE messenger, that's Microsofts fault. They choose to boycott Mac users (understandably).

Uhhhh...you have to stop (read: eject) usb drives in Windows as well.

Actually, I think this is better in Mac OS X, since there are several ways to eject the drives, whereas in Windows, you have to double-click the system tray and then select the drive, and then click stop.

If you just pull a drive out in Windows without stopping it, you can corrupt the drive, just like in OS X.

 

[mkrishnan]

Uhhhh...you have to stop (read: eject) usb drives in Windows as well.

And Windows also nastygrams you when you fail to do it.

 

[joshwest]

I had a networking professor at Belmont in nashville, always would say why are you bringing that garbage in here. I was like because im open to new things maybe if you were you wouldnt be teaching networking you'd be doing it.

 

[zephead]

Uhhhh...you have to stop (read: eject) usb drives in Windows as well.

Actually, I think this is better in Mac OS X, since there are several ways to eject the drives, whereas in Windows, you have to double-click the system tray and then select the drive, and then click stop.

If you just pull a drive out in Windows without stopping it, you can corrupt the drive, just like in OS X.

Not that I'm defending Windows or anything, but most of that you're wrong about. I have a 512MB Cruzer mini and by default, Windows disables write caching so "you can disconnect this device without using the Safe Removal icon." And there's an easier way to eject devices, just left-click the safe removal icon once, pick which device you want to remove, and it's ejected after a few seconds. I pull out my flash drive when I'm done with it, as long as it's not exchanging data with the computer, and I've done it for 2 1/2 years and it still works like a charm, though I'd trade having to use eject on a Mac for not having to put up with Windows any day.

 

[mduser63]

Not that I'm defending Windows or anything, but most of that you're wrong about. I have a 512MB Cruzer mini and by default, Windows disables write caching so "you can disconnect this device without using the Safe Removal icon." And there's an easier way to eject devices, just left-click the safe removal icon once, pick which device you want to remove, and it's ejected after a few seconds. I pull out my flash drive when I'm done with it, as long as it's not exchanging data with the computer, and I've done it for 2 1/2 years and it still works like a charm, though I'd trade having to use eject on a Mac for not having to put up with Windows any day.

Hmm...everytime I've used my flash drive on a Windows machine, I've had to eject it. The times when I haven't ejected it before pulling it out, Windows has thrown up an error complaining about what I just did. Now to be fair, I've never had any data corruption from doing that either, but the same is true of times that I've pulled my flash drive out of my Mac before ejecting.

 

[richard4339]

Hmm...everytime I've used my flash drive on a Windows machine, I've had to eject it. The times when I haven't ejected it before pulling it out, Windows has thrown up an error complaining about what I just did. Now to be fair, I've never had any data corruption from doing that either, but the same is true of times that I've pulled my flash drive out of my Mac before ejecting.

We have people lose data at school all the time... they've disabled "Safely Remove Hardware".

 

[ipedro]

^^ Thanks for the clarification guys, but I also always pulled my USB keys out as long as they're not reading and not only do I not get any error message, I also don't see any corruption. The same goes for connecting a camera. I simply turn off the camera or unplug it and nothing happens, its icon simply disappears from My Computer.

It's just counter intuitive to have to "eject a camera"

I know it's a UNIX thing, but I wish there would be a way to get around it. Plug & Play items such as cameras and USB sticks should "pre-eject" themselves when not in use so that if they're pulled out nothing will happen to the data structure on them. Pre-ejecting would imply that they're still physically connected and their icon would remain available and would "re-awaken" when prompted.

 

[mduser63]

I know it's a UNIX thing, but I wish there would be a way to get around it. Plug & Play items such as cameras and USB sticks should "pre-eject" themselves when not in use so that if they're pulled out nothing will happen to the data structure on them. Pre-ejecting would imply that they're still physically connected and their icon would remain available and would "re-awaken" when prompted.

You mean the way an iPod works in iTunes with disk mode enabled? I agree that would be sort of nice. At least with my camera, it shows up on the desktop as a memory stick, just like a memory stick in a card reader would. I have to manually eject it. My mother's Canon on the other hand, doesn't mount on the desktop, iPhoto just recognizes it, and I don't have to eject it before removing it (that I recall anyway).

 

[elvirav]

A couple, sort of disjointed stories.

Years ago, some "I know how to get around computers" PC users told me some whoppers. Like one lady said that her computer ran "Windows 97." She said this with a tone of great confidence. (She was in fact running Windows 98.)

Another lady (a great Mac basher) called the Windows operating system "MSN" and seemed confused about the difference between MSN and Windows. But oh, of course—she was a great authority on all the reasons why Macs sucked!

Some computer users seem to be so confident, so self-assured, so proud of their accomplishments on the computer, and so very opinionated. But when asked the simplest questions, like "What operating system do you have?" Or, "How much RAM? What processor speed?" they can't answer. They usually start to squirm a little, but I don't feel like my questions are unreasonable, especially since they profess to be well-versed in the running of a computer.

When I got my first computer (Packard Bell, Pentium 75, 1 GB HDD, 16 MB RAM, by the way—see? I still remember! ) I had to know the system requirements in order to get any software. What is so difficult about this? It isn't as if I knew much else about the computer—I was a flat-out newbie. But it seems to be pretty basic information. Why do so many people (particularly those who claim some expertise in computer usage) have no clue?

Recently a friend (who is not really hostile to Macs) made the confident statement that you couldn't keep the music you bought on iTunes, that it was only "rented." I quickly corrected her on this. But I was flabbergasted—where did she get such an idea?

 

[Shadow]

I find it ironic that my Dad says Expose is a "superfisial" feature.

For example. We are sitting next to each other on our laptops. Mine is a MacBook and his is XP. We are both surfing the net (in Safari and IE respectivley). Then, I switch to an Excel window running in Crossover by using Expose. He does the same thing, except he has to minimize the window to access the Excel window (because XP has "helpfully grouped all his open Excel windows together). Having done that, he wants to compare some data from Excel and IE, so me maximises IE, only to minimize it, and minimize the Excel window. I, on the other hand, saved loads of time and am finished.

 

[PCMacUser]

I find it ironic that my Dad says Expose is a "superfisial" feature.

For example. We are sitting next to each other on our laptops. Mine is a MacBook and his is XP. We are both surfing the net (in Safari and IE respectivley). Then, I switch to an Excel window running in Crossover by using Expose. He does the same thing, except he has to minimize the window to access the Excel window (because XP has "helpfully grouped all his open Excel windows together). Having done that, he wants to compare some data from Excel and IE, so me maximises IE, only to minimize it, and minimize the Excel window. I, on the other hand, saved loads of time and am finished.

I've gotta admit that I never use Expose. It's just a feature that I don't think about being there. Instead I Command+TAB a lot. As for the XP vs OS X comparison with your dad and Excel, that 'grouping' feature can easily be switched off - I'm guessing your dad just doesn't know how to do it.

 

[Evangelion]

Well, with all due respect, I have seen plenty of dumb comments from Mac-users as well.

 

[p0intblank]

I find it ironic that my Dad says Expose is a "superfisial" feature.

For example. We are sitting next to each other on our laptops. Mine is a MacBook and his is XP. We are both surfing the net (in Safari and IE respectivley). Then, I switch to an Excel window running in Crossover by using Expose. He does the same thing, except he has to minimize the window to access the Excel window (because XP has "helpfully grouped all his open Excel windows together). Having done that, he wants to compare some data from Excel and IE, so me maximises IE, only to minimize it, and minimize the Excel window. I, on the other hand, saved loads of time and am finished.

Haha, that's awesome and a very good example of how Expose can save the user a lot of time. I use Expose probably everyday. I especially use it in Photoshop when I have a bunch of images open at once.