What DONT you like about your mac?

[strydr]

How often does it crash?
- My PB has crashed 4 times in almost 4 years. 2 times were after I did some serious "learning" about the FreeBSD core

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
- I have reloaded my PB twice. Once because I screwed it up, once for a clean Tiger install

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
- My mom handles OSX way better than XP. I take calls from her at least once a week about her work PC, but I haven't had to fix a "problem" for her mac in many years.. Some learning to use her iPod Shuffle, but no fixing broken things.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
- Yes, I have 4 or 5 WinXP machines. I use them for a few things (see sig)

What annoys you the most?
- that I can't afford a PowerMac yet.. Or all the software I already have for a PC

Would you ever switch back?
- I consider myself a Macite. I will always use a Mac, but will also always have a PC (if nothing else, then to run Linux on)

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
- If the job was worth it, sure I'd use a PC. I already do, anyway.. (Until PC Anywhere is available for the Mac, fat chance)

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
- DOS, Win 3.1 (workgroups), Win95, Win98 (se), WinME, Win2K, WinXP (32 &64bit), NT4, Server2K, Server2K3, Novell, Fedora, Red Hat, etc....

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
- I provide HelpDesk support for USC medical center, Trader Joe's, and other clients.

 

[w_parietti22]

I am a potential convert to Mac. However, I am also a person that likes to have the full information on a system. I would really like to know what people DONT like about their macs. I have heard quite a bit about what people like about them and I have done quite a bit of research.

As background Im a senior software architect and O'Reilly author so I know my way around computers; feel free to spit out the technical terminology. I have used windows and several variants of unix heavily but havent used macs since the mac classic days.

Lets hear the dirty laundry =)

How often does it crash?
How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
What annoys you the most?
Would you ever switch back?
Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
What is your profession; or area of study if a student?

1.) 2 Kernal Panics so far.

2.) When I first get a new Mac, after a Year, new OS

3.) Mom -Loves it, Dad- Considers it, but "needs" a PC for work, Brother- has gotten use to it that he begs to use my mom's PB instead of the family PC.

4.)It was the family PC until everyone got there own laptop. Now it just manages print jobs, manages the network, server, and serfs the web at times. (Planning to get a Mac Mini at some point)

5.) Its a tad older so I can't play many Mac games.

6.) Nope.

7.) N/A Haven't been in that situation/ to young.

8.) Windows: 95, 98, 2000, Me, XP/ Mac: OS 7, OS 8, OS 9

9.) Student (Middle School)

 

[whooleytoo]

Lets hear the dirty laundry =)

How often does it crash?

One kernel panic last week, first in about 6 months. On average, perhaps 2 such panics a year, and my Macs are on 24/7; and in use for most of it.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?

Only when upgrading.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?

Takes a bit of getting used to (particularly the one button mouse), but they never complain.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?

Yup, I need to do Windows development from time to time, so need one.

What annoys you the most?

Lack of choice. I want a very fast CPU, hard disk and memory system, and an upgradable graphics card. I don't need a DVD burner, large screen, large hard disk, modem, Gigabit Ethernet card, or several slots. It's very hard to buy the things on List A without having to pay for several on List B.

Would you ever switch back?

Never really was a switcher, I started using Mac & DOS at around the same time, and one stuck.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?

Well, I actually have to do Windows development sometimes, so no. But I didn't buy a PC, so they bought me one for home.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?

My first home computer was a Mac; before that I'd used several OSs, Primos, Unix, AIX.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?

Mac developer. Getting paid to do what I love!!

 

[7254278]

How often does it crash?

On both my macs a total of 2 kernal panics

How often does it crash?

Only when a new OS comes out so on 10.5 or if I seriously screw sonmething up.


How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?

I dont know many but a few of my friends who tried to use OSX didnt like it simply because they were used to windows, so it doesnt count.


Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?

My sister has a dell inspiron 2.4ghz laptop with WinXP Home, only use it if my brother is using my mac for some design projects. Sometimes he uses my ibook becuase only his powerbook isnt enough.

What annoys you the most?

The lack of Vram in consumer machines and the lack of games.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?

No

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP Home


What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Highschool Student, I do a lot of music creating and web design.

 

[wako]

The only thing I dont like about macs is they are far behind the PC counter parts in terms of hardware. While the PC market is breaking the 5ghz mark with multiple cores, the mac is still trying to break the 3ghz mark with 1. Also PC laptops are able to have 7200RPM HDDs while Macs still have 5400.

Other than hardware related grudges I have against Macs, software side, Macs definately take the cake with the cream.

 

[Jay42]

How often does it crash?
- Never crashed, although I've only had my PowerBook for about 3mo. My dad (the one who convinced me to by the PB) has used his 1Ghz TiBook daily for several years now. I do remember showing him how to hold down the power button to force a restart, it was his first (and only) time

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
-I wouldn't really ever feel compelled. The only time would be upgrading to a new operating system. I like to backup and do a complete reinstall mostly because I need to keep everything obsessively compulsively clean. Also, that way I make sure I have a good back up for down the road.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
- My mom also uses the computer way more with Tiger than she ever would with XP. She now manages her own music with her iPod mini rather than having me do it for her. My dad is pretty much a OS X master, uses it every day for his job (involving computer military applications), but I have to walk him through a lot of stuff on XP (which he sometimes is forced to use because of client demands).

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
- No, we had three Windows computers and switched them all over to the Mac (far less maintenance). I do have virtual PC (got it for free), and use it rarely.

What annoys you the most?
- Just minor stuff, at least compared with XP and all the spyware!! is really the only thing that still bugs me, but I've worked around it.

Would you ever switch back?
- Without any bribing involved, never.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
- It depends, if I had to work on/fix computers 24/7, then yeah, I wouldn't want to be dealing with XP's ridiculously frustrating problems all the time. Then again, XP doesn't annoy me enough to give up a dream job in which I only use a comp. for everyday tasks (word processing and email).

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
- I grew up with a Mac a long time ago (don't even know the OS), but I've used 95, 98, ME, 2000, and XP up until a couple of years ago.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
- I'm a student and use my mac for normal student stuff. I like not running into problems at 2 in the morning when my 20 page paper is due (that's my main reason for switching). I also use my PowerBook with my guitar.

 

[feakbeak]

How often does it crash?
I have never had my Mac crash - honest. I have had several system hangs that forced me to hard-reboot, which in my book is equivalent to a crash. I've only owned a Mac since March. I had two or three system hangs under 10.3.8 and 10.3.9. These 10.3 problems seemed to be mostly caused by Finder. I started getting more, maybe 2-3 a month with 10.4.0 and 10.4.1 but ever since 10.4.2 I've been doing quite well. Starcraft hangs on me a lot these days (only when I try to exit thankfully) but I can Force Quit that without issue. Aside from those issues I haven't had any crashing issues with OS X or the built-in apps.

EDIT: I thought I should note this. While I have not had many issues with OS crashes or system hangs on my Mac I get more with OS X than I do with Windows XP. This surprised me because many Mac users are always talking about how it never crashes like Windows does all the time. I do get more apps crashing on the Windows side, but it's mostly 3rd party apps.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
I haven't felt the need to reinstall since I've owned my Mac, granted that isn't a very long time. I "Archived and Installed" when upgrading from Panther to Tiger. I am normally someone who ONLY installs Windows fresh from the ground up, reformatting the drive. In fact, I'm on the verge of reinstalling XP on my PC since it's been nearly three years now and Windows is not running as fast as it originally did - clean installs seem to do wonders for Windows responsiveness. I have not noticed any performance degredation with OS X, it doesn't seem to get messed up as much from installing/uninstalling software. I'll give it another year or two and see how it is doing.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
Most of them think it is strange at first because they are all Windows users and it is simply not familiar with them. The one or two who have used it long enough became comfortable with navigating around and runnings apps quite quickly. They weren't experts but quickly were able to use it just as well as they can use Windows. Almost all of them comment on the eye-candy and how nice it is to be able to work with multimedia tasks using iLife.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?Yes, I couldn't live without a Windows machine. I really like XP and think it is a great OS. I use it for work (programming) and gaming. I also run a web server on a WinXP box out of my home. I prefer using my Mac for most daily tasks though - web browsing, emailing, IM'ing, MS Office, finances, all my multimedia tasks are done on my Mac. I also tinker around with it trying to learn more about Unix and I'd like to start some programming on the Mac-side as well.

What annoys you the most?
I wish OS X included Remote Desktop. You can turn on the service and then connect to it using any VNC client but the performance is not that good. I might even be tempted to buy RD for the Mac but it's pricy and they do not make a Windows client. That's probably the thing I like most about Windows XP (Pro) over OS X is that they include Remote Desktop and make clients for both Windows and Mac. I RD from my Mac to my Windows boxes all the time. For now, I just SSH into my Mac via command line to access files, etc.

Another irritation is that while I've gotten used not always maximizing and minimizing windows (and actually prefer the Mac way of using windows on the Mac) I still wish I could resize them from any border, not just the lower-left corner of the window.

Third - I wish I could easily build a Mac like you can a PC. Although this might become more feasible with the Intel switch.

Would you ever switch back?
I am not a switcher, I'm a dual-user and never refer to myself as a switcher. However, I plan to continue using OS X until I have reason not to - I really like the OS.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
No, that's absurd.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
Windows 3.1 - Windows XP and a little experience with Unix and OpenVMS.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Software Programmer (almost exlusively for Windows apps)

 

[hulugu]

...How often does it crash?

Once in a blue moon, I've been using OSX since 2001 and I've had three kernal panics. Ocassionally, an application will just bomb but that's also fairly rare. I had more when I got Tiger, Safari and Mail were a little flaky, but they've settled down nicely.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?

When the new OS version is out, so since 2001 I've upped to Jaguar, Panther, and Tiger. But, I always feel compelled by new features, speed, the restless need to have a new cool looking box.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?

My wife could crash a solar-powered calculator, but she gets around fine. She uses Garage Band and a few other apps.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?

No, I hate Windows and I don't really feel like having another machine besides the two I've got.

What annoys you the most?

My Powerbook's wireless reception sucks compared to my wife's and lots of other machines, and frankly the design means it's too easy to scratch the screen.

Would you ever switch back?

I'm pretty biased since I started out using Macs, but Windows would have to change dramatically for me to even look at it as a viable alternative. If Apple went away tomorrow I'd probably move towards Linux if I could.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?

I'm really comfortable with Windows because I've used it in the past, if the job was something I wanted to do I would use Windows.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs)?

Mac OS9, Windows 95, 98, 2000.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?

Writer.

 

[agreenster]

1. How often does it crash?
2. How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
3. How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
4. Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
5. What annoys you the most?
6. Would you ever switch back?
7. Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
8. What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
9. What is your profession; or area of study if a student?

1. About once every 6 months or so
2. Never, or only for new versions
3. Fine
4. Just at work
5. Networking. Computers dont always see each other
6. Only if future machines or OSes suck
7. No way
8. Windows, Irix, DOS
9. Computer/Video Game Animator

 

[SchmoBurger]

How often does it crash? My old iMac 266 would crash every so often under OS 9.2.2, but that was more than likely some dodgy extension. It never once crashed after I clean installed Panther... in fact I spent 2 hours putting it through system resource hell trying to crash it once, but it still remained rock solid. My Powerbook G3 has never had a crash, ever. When I put OSX on it it would sometimes refuse to wake from sleep, but this turned out to be a hardware quirk caused by the CPU daughtercard (????)... since I replaced that with a newer one the machine has never missed a beat!
My G3 tower with Panther occasionally locks up, or refuses to wake up (maybe once or twice a month, if that), but I attribute that to a stick of sketchy RAM, and possibly the overclocking (I clocked it to 450 from 400).

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system? Never. I've never reinstalled a Mac OS on one of my Mac's since I did a dodgy install of OS 8.0 on my PM5500 back in 2002... since then I have only upgraded OS'es. Mac OS installs stay fast and stable forever.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
My mum hasn't touched it (she's still putting up with adware and viruses because she's sceptical of Mac's). My dad lives with it... although I get the feeling he may be starting to endear to it as well (He gave me a '98 vintage Toshiba craptop that he would still take on business trips with him. I traded it with a friend of mine for their PB 1400cs/133, then later on bought My Powerbook G3, sold the 1400, then bought my dad a similar Powerbook G3 to mine... so he's basically got no choice. ). My sister rather likes it, but only cos it's trendy, and that's all she cares about. My brother loves it, and can't wait to get an OSX MAc of his own.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why? Yes, to play games on, and I've got an old PIII to play with Linux, an ancient 386 to play DOS games, and an old PII that I use as network storage and as a platform for designing and building MS Flight Simuator aircraft (BAO FlightShop...used to design and produce the planes, and MS Flight Sim 5...used to test the planes before I convert them to FS2002 format, will not run properly under Bin XP).

What annoys you the most? The crapholes who are adding useless stuff to the OS that makes it bloated and crap (yes I mean Tiger!)
take this example: I booted my Powerbook G3/400 with 256Mb RAM and a "dirty" install of Panther alongside an iBook G4/800 with 384Mb and a clean Tiger install... The Powerbook booted Panther in under 2 minutes, while the iBook took almost 7 minutes!

Would you ever switch back? Not a chance!

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back? Well, I'm heading for a job in graphic design, so that situation more than likely won't arise. :mrgreen:

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ? MS-DOS 3, 4, 5, Bin 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 95b, 98, Me.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student? My areas of expertise are graphic design, digital video production, and theatrical performance. I am about to commence final exams in a week, and I have applied to study Graphic Design & New Media and Performance at the University of Wollongong.

 

[AlmostThere]

1. How often does it crash?
About once every two weeks (average - Tiger install bumped that up from about once a month)
2. How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
New OS upgrades ... every 18 months or so.
3. How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
Of three new users, I have had ten support phone calls in 6 months, so pretty well I guess. Only one problem required hands-on help.
4. Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
Yes, horsepower for anything CPU intensive (PMacs are too expensive for plain old data crunching) and games.
5. What annoys you the most?
My PB is my main machine, hooked up to a second external monitor. It has power, DVI, 1, sometimes 2 USB connections, Firewire, often ethernet plugged in and often headphones; someone commented the other day, "Mate, your laptop looks like it's in intensive care". They were right. Apple need a *decent* docking station.
6. Would you ever switch back?
At the moment, no. But I don't ever envision buying myself a Mac desktop either. If the right machine was made, either point of view would change.
7. Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
Of course not.
8. What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
Mostly Linux and Windows (all flavours), assorted Unix variants.
9. What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Half research (data processing algorithms), half contract programmer (all sorts).

 

[jkandell]

os x v windows stability

How often does it crash?
While I have not had many issues with OS crashes or system hangs on my Mac I get more with OS X than I do with Windows XP. This surprised me because many Mac users are always talking about how it never crashes like Windows does all the time.

My own experience thus far (a month) is I've had more application crashes/forced reboot in OS-X in the first few weeks than I did using Windows98 for years! LIke you, I was surprised by this given windows reputation. I think windows reputation for crashes was based on windows95 and earlier: it's been a very stable system from w98 on. My os-x problems are safari crashing, various applications hanging, and the system freezing on restart, often after an update.

I'm not drawing any conclusions yet from this because "starting up" and "updating" are more likely to make trouble than using a system you've already set up. Also, I have not yet upgraded my memory beyond 512, and that could be causing some of the problems above.

 

[feakbeak]

My own experience thus far (a month) is I've had more application crashes/forced reboot in OS-X in the first few weeks than I did using Windows98 for years! LIke you, I was surprised by this given windows reputation. I think windows reputation for crashes was based on windows95 and earlier: it's been a very stable system from w98 on. My os-x problems are safari crashing, various applications hanging, and the system freezing on restart, often after an update.

I'm surprised that you're having worse experience with OS X than Windows 98. I'm a big fan of Windows 2000 and XP (NT4 was stable, but was clunky to use, IMO). However, when I was using Windows 98 (or any Win9x version) I had a lot of crashes. I think this was mainly because of not having protected memory, whenever an application misbehaved it could easily bring the system down. Any programmer who screws up some pointer arithmetic would blue screen your box.

Also, I have not yet upgraded my memory beyond 512, and that could be causing some of the problems above.

I wouldn't think the memory would cause such problems. However, if you run many apps at the same time you could easily be maxing out your RAM and IMO any system that is running with maxed out memory or CPU is straining itself and that might introduce problems more often than if the system was coasting smoothly.

As for the Safari crashes, I've heard several complaints about this - I would try Firefox, Opera or Camino and see how you like those. I'm a Firefox fan and use it on both Windows and OS X. I like Safari but it's missing a few features I have grown dependent on within Firefox (mouse gestures & their find bar) thouse I do like the built-in spellcheck within Safari. In my experience, Firefox utilizes nearly half the RAM that Safari does which is a big plus in my book. Although, I haven't personally had any crashing/freezing issues with Safari when I've used it.

 

[After G]

How often does it crash?

Two KPs with my eMac due to shoddy memory.
No KPs with my iBook, no system crashes, applications crashing once in a while.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?

Whenever I mess things up (I like to play around a lot). I reinstalled the system twice when playing with Linux PPC, because I didn't want to fork over the money for a partition resizer.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?

Better than Windows, that's for sure. I'd rather get calls about applications (OS X) then how to do things in the OS (Windows XP)

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?

Actually, I was planning to get a Windows machine to run Windows-only educational software. If I can't do it for the cost of VPC or less, though, I won't. I want to see an actual price benefit to PC hardware. None exists so far, IMO.

What annoys you the most?

The inconsistency in the UI. The need for an alternative to the Dock.

Would you ever switch back?

I'd never switch completely back. I like learning about all the different OSes and hardware.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?

If they bugged me about what I use privately, then I would quit.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?

DR-DOS, MS-DOS, Free-DOS, Red Hat Linux 6.2, Windows 3.1 - 98, Solaris for a bit.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?

Mechanical Engineering.

 

[Raid]

My $0.02

How often does it crash?
Well I experienced a kernel panic in Tiger for the first time on Saturday when I turned on my backup drive. The fix I found put blame on Maxtor's 'one-button' preferences, got rid of the extentions they mentioned and it worked like a charm. The only program that crashes on my machine is Excel.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
Whenever there is a major upgrade (i.e. Panther to Tiger).

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
Well we are all non-computer professionals at my house ... The only thing I have to do when I visit my parents is run the update check, I know it automaticaly comes up for them...but they usually close it without updating.

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
I don't have a windows machine at home, my roommate does though and all I do on his machine is play City of Heroes (no mac version...yet)

What annoys you the most?
What annoys me the most is Office for the Mac... in some cases the things they tried I really liked (like the floating format palatte in Word). However doing the same task is often different across platforms and I don't like the the floating button bar concept.

Would you ever switch back?
Well I've been a Mac user since 1986, never owned a windows box... only tempted to pick one up for games, that's about it.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
Well I HAVE to deal with a Windows machine at work, and I can't see being in a position where a company would dictate the type of personal computer I use. However I would consider a job that I uses Macs as a bonus.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
...before 1986?? Well my cousins did have a Commodore64

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
I'm an analyst for a bank.

 

[jpgodlew]

How often does it crash?
-Never happened to me before

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
-Only when I really screw something up

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
-Uncle just loves it but my immediate family could care less

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
-Yes...gaming and recording TV mostly (but it has become the family computer). Sister has one, too.

What annoys you the most?
-About what? In the operating system I hate how when you are working with multiple documents and you maximize one of them, another one will maximize out of the dock too.

Would you ever switch back?
-Voluntarily...nope

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
-If they wanted me to use PC's at work...I wouldn't mind. Kind of a weird question as the company you work for can't really dictate the computer you have at home.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista Beta 1 (yes, I am an official tester)

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Nothing really as of now. I am looking to venture into the legal world in the future, though. That or make pocket change being a graphic designer

 

[mahashel]

How often does it crash? It doesn't really. Never had a kernel panic, and any apps that crash tend to leave the OS unscathed. Can get pretty sluggish (aka: feels like a hang) trying to mount a server in shadier parts of a network.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system? Only had to reinstall once, due to a flaky load that came on my new iBook, resulting in an inability to burn a CD. Other than that, I've never felt "compelled" to reload, since application install on OSX is incredibly clean. This is coming from a guy who can't stand to let a Windows install sit for more than 6 months without a wipe.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X? I have them all convinced that they need a Mac as their next upgrade. For the time being, they're on Windows since their PCs are still mighty fast. Perhaps if I stopped supporting their XP installs they'd switch sooner.. hehe..

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why? I have a raging addiction to building my own computers. Thus, I have roughly half a dozen PCs sitting around for various reasons. Mostly used for GAMES. I despise the lack of games for Mac, as well as lack of 3D-acceleration priority in OSX. Mac OSX is a fabulous multitasker, which is a boon until you need 110% of your horsepower dedicated to a single application (game). OSX seems to fall on its nose in this regard.

What annoys you the most? A drought of games for OSX, as well as poor gaming performance.. *see previous*

Would you ever switch back? With the mountain of DRM being shoveled into Windows Vista, I don't see myself 'switching' anywhere, unless Linux really matures in the near future. Not that my loyalty is anything to deeply consider, however, since I still run a very mixed shop.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back? I love Apple's stuff, but to deny employment based on what *computer* to use just seems silly. Now, them trying to push their PC OS on my personal computing is another matter entirely.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ? Win98SE, 2K, XP, RedHat8, SuSE9.1

What is your profession; or area of study if a student? Software/firmware test engineer. CSTE

 

[Erendiox]

How often does it crash?
The system crashed on me once in the past 3 months i've owned my ibook. Every once and a while the OS may slow down but overall its a very stable experience.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
in 3 months, haven't yet and don't think i'll need to.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
My mom owns the same model ibook I do and after I went over some things with her she takes to it very well. The only occasional problem is when she tries to do things the windows way on her mac. (she uses XP at work)

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
Have a 6 year old PC amazingly still kicking. It's useful sometimes for toying with windows only stuff and for when i'm craving more screen real estate then my 12inch can provide. Other then that, I just let my siblings fight over the pc and I stick to my mac.

What annoys you the most?
Can't really think of much to complain about, other then the occasional safari crash, but thats rare and minor. Oh, and theres the fact that my school's wireless network doesn't support macs. Thats the biggest annoyance I think I have. The fact that much of the computing world will simply refuse to acknowledge macs as a legitimate platform.

Would you ever switch back?
Not a chance. I'm hooked and I never want to have to be frusterated with a PC ever again.

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
Well obviously theres a line between personal and professional computers. As long as I got a mac for home and personal use, I think I could put up with using PCs if they paid me good.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
Used Apple OS 8 as a littlun. Grew up with Windows 98 and then Windows XP.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
I'm currently a communications student in my second year of college.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I booted my Powerbook G3/400 with 256Mb RAM and a "dirty" install of Panther alongside an iBook G4/800 with 384Mb and a clean Tiger install... The Powerbook booted Panther in under 2 minutes, while the iBook took almost 7 minutes!

That's not normal, my iBook G4@800 boots Tiger in mere seconds. Much faster than it was under Panther. Something is wrong. Use the usual bag of tricks: Repair permissions, zap pram, verify preferences, check s.m.a.r.t. status, etc. and if that doesn't help it's time for an archive and install...

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

The need for an alternative to the Dock.

Try Quicksilver. The only thing's in my dock (which is tucked away in the top right corner) now is Finder, iTunes, Safari, Mail and my Downloads folder (I've even gotten rid of my "other" trash can since posting in the Dock thread):

Quicksilver rules!

 

[smdewart]

Web browsing...ehhh

I'm a faithful Mac user and have been since I was a toddler. However, I've found web browsing to be faster -- and thus, many times easier -- on a PC. I'm not sure what it is about the Mac that makes some web sites lag in their loading time, but it happens. Following this is what seems to be Windows' advantage in loading complex web pages -- such as MySpace pages where there is lots of media/movies/audio/etc. embedded. Also, Flash really sucks on a Mac -- although Macromedia has admitted this is their problem, not Apple's (let's hope Adobe's purchase of Mm will improve this.)

Consider it this way, though: you might spend an extra minute in a day on a Mac viewing web pages, but think of all the time and frustration you'll save with all the Mac's advantages.

 

[Erendiox]

Quicksilver rules!

I second that. I use quicksilver to get to everything. Extremely useful.

 

[londonweb]

The thing that annoys me most about macs and Apple in general, and has put me off getting one for some time (finally cracked a few months ago), is the way that each time they bring out something new, it pretty much obsoletes everything before it. Ok, this might be seen as progress, but it means you end up constantly forking out money for new parts, peripherals, software etc. iTunes and the iPod are a prime example; you can't run an iPod on an early os than OSX 10.2 and you can't run it on USB1.1. To people who upgrade as a matter of course this may not seem like a big deal, but to more casual users who would like to buy a computer and then just have it sit for several years and do it's job, its a right pain in the neck. Airport is another good one- you can't fit an Airport Extreme card in any ibook G3 or titanium G4, both of which only left the shelves about 2 years ago- so if you want to go wireless on an 'older' laptop you have to scour eBay for a now obsolete Airport standard card and also pay upwards of £80 for it! Lots of software isn't compatible between different versions of OSX, which is just plain irritating- having to download new versions of Stuffit, for instance, because the current version doesn't work with your latest OSX upgrade....

The great thing about windows (in my opinion) is the way that you can happily run a piece of software that was written over a decade ago without having to load any sort of 'classic' environment- I have loads of small utilities and old games, some of which I still use regularly, that I would be sad to have to say goodbye to, but under windows I don't have to. It's much the same case with hardware as well. Most new pcs still ship with serial ports, PS2 ports, and even parallel ports meaning that when your £60 optical mouse packs up, you can dig out your old greasy beige one and stick it in the PS2 jack. Some may wince at that very thought, but when you're trying to finish a job at 2am little tricks like that make life at lot less upsetting.

I know it's a mortal sin to big up windows here, and for the record I much prefer the mac system, but I'd love to see future develoments be a bit more sympathetic to the preceeding technology- it'd make life a lot easier and not to mention easier on the wallet.

 

[iTim314]

- How often does it crash?
Only my iBook does, and only like, once a Month, and that's because it's old, beaten, watered, and I use it like a PowerMac.

- How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
I have yet to do it to either Panther or Tiger. It's actually been really nice to me.

- How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
My mom loves being able to trust a computer with all her purchased music from the iTMS. The Dell almost lost it all. My dad... well.. is technologicly challenge. Nothing works for him. He stares at a remote for 10 minute trying to find the button he wants... then it's wrong.

- Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
We managed to get the dell working 10 months after we bought it, and only my dad uses it for work.

- What annoys you the most?
My Windows Only friends. They're jealous.

- Would you ever switch back?
No. The only thing that would get me off Mac OS is if Google makes an operating system as rumored.

- Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
I would tell them to stuff it. It they want me to use a PC, they better buy it for me. And if that gets me fired, so be it.

- What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, both 98s, ME, 2000, XP... all sucked equally in various places.

- What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Student

 

[ReanimationLP]

How often does it crash?
Once or twice.

How often do you feel compelled to reinstall the system?
Why bother? Its working fine.

How do your non-computer professional family members handle OS X?
They look at me kinda funny. o.o

Do you still keep a Windows machine around and why?
Gaming, plus, some of the stuff I run doesnt work on OSX.

What annoys you the most?
Having a G4 machine that was based on a G3 board. That annoys me. No 2GB, 2 GHz, AGP, and Airport for me. *sniffles*

Would you ever switch back?
Nah. I'm a dual user guy now!

Would you quit a job that wanted to make you switch back?
Uhh, since I use both, I dont gotta worry about that.

What OS did you use before OS X (non Apple OSs) ?
DOS, 3.1, 95, NT, 98SE, 2000, XP (and sadly ME ) Now running Vista.

What is your profession; or area of study if a student?
Computer Engineering.