Windows 7 is actually pretty nice, now worried about Mac

[maflynn]

I'm guessing you mean 512MB, not 512k.

D'oh yeah

 

[BrotherCrack]

I've been using Windows 7 on my 2009 Mac Pro since the RC went live last year. I upgraded to the full version of Home Premium when it became available and I'm very happy with where it is.

The thing that it makes me wonder is that with such a great operating system available to install on any hardware, what reason is there to spend the huge premium buying a Mac any more?

The reason I moved from Windows XP to OS X in 2005 was because Windows was a mess and OS X Tiger was incredible (still the best OS ever released IMO). Now it seems to be the opposite that is true - Windows has sorted out ALL of the problems I had with it before (it's now completely secure and far, far more stable than Snow Leopard in my experience) and Apple has been making steps backwards with the two releases of OS X since I switched.

At the same time as all this was happening, hardware makers like Dell, Lenovo and HP were improving and improving and improving. I'm very impressed with the build quality of modern Dell machines and I'm fortunate enough to use a Lenovo system on a daily basis which is equally impressive.

The only reason I can see that anyone would still buy a Mac is for the build quality and materials. They're still ahead of everyone here IMO, but is this REALLY worth paying so much extra for?

Example (I tried to match the specifications of the systems as closely as possible):

MacBook Pro 15"
2.4GHz Intel Core i5
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MB

$1899

Dell Inspiron 15
2.23GHz Intel Core i5
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330

$829

Apple's system is $1070 more expensive. Is a fancy metal case really worth that much more?

$1070 More expensive? yes. Is it overpriced? depends. Are both systems you describe equal? Not Exactly. I personally think Dell's are crap since I have had 3 die on me, but this is personal experience and opinion and I wont get into that. The fact is the Inspiron 15's max resolution is 1366x768 vs. MBP's 1440x900 and just because it's a 512mb 4330 doesn't mean it's on equal footing with the 330M. In fact the 4330 is crap and despite that it's 512mb the 330 is 3x times faster. You do get what you pay for (sort of). But I will come to middle ground with you and say that Apple does charge more but hey you pay more for luxury items that also serve it's purposes in a pro market.

*LTD*, id like you to read this post off another forum, about the iPad. This will hopefully realise that not everyone likes the iPad at all. The iPad is not popular among most computer users, and I have found it to be them that avoid computers are attracted to the iPad. Which is great, well done Apple, you have captured a good market, but to go and say it is the future of computing is too far.

The iPad is not the future at all. If Mac's slowly become more iPad like, Apple will be just isolating themselves from pretty much every professional and creative industry. They will become a popular easy to use tablet PC for them who have no need for a computer, but certainly will not take of computers.

I'm gonna start with saying what has said before, a gaming forum is hardly proof. While I DO KNOW a lot of people that do not like the iPad it has great potential and it will be part of the future of computing. Gamers don't tend to like anything apple. It's a market segment not the norm. As a gamer I will refuse to play on an Apple machine, I like my PC for that thank you very much. But for work, I REFUSE to work on PC.

We're not honestly gonna stay in mouse and keyboard forever, eventually I want that interface Tony Stark had! Touch interfaces will get better, and though the iPad is far from perfect, someone needs to push technology and progress it. Things start off flawed then get polished. Now will the iPad dramatically change the future of computers within the next 5 years? I don't think so.

Try reading my posts perhaps?

- Gaming on touchscreen will never work out.
- Neither will Word Processing.
- USB is no where near dead yet so you cannot compare it to the Floppy Drive scenario.
- Who would want a wafer thin server than you cannot even add/remove a hard drive from?
- There is no chance it will benefit Media Production at all. The only possibilities I can think of in my industry is that it could be used as virtual faders on control/mix desks. Oh, it may benefit the tablety things for them photoshop types.
- YouTube should hopefully get better though.

Now puhleeze accept that the iPad is not the future. Yes, it will fill a gap in the market. Yes it will sell. Yes, it may even be popular. But it is not the future of computing.

I can agree with most of these points. But no chance to benefit media production? I'm not gonna question the benefits in your particular industry, I'll respect your opinion on the matter and take your word for it. Though the iPad is not for everyone I personally thought it was an oversized iTouch like everyone else. But then I saw Sketchbook pro and for photo-shoots, priceless. The photographer can give me the SD card, the model can see her pics and I can email the ones I want uploaded on the website easy to the webmasters. Could I do this with a laptop? Sure! But the iPad the few things it does, it does really well!

Not Machine. Machines. Three separate machines over three years. One has been given to someone else...guess what, 12 months down the line, they're saying the same thing as me.

My experience, without fail, across the board, has been that Mac's slow down over time as much if not more than Win PC's do.

Though I like many believe your issues are not the norm, I personally have had the problems you describe with XP and 7. Though I will join you in having experiences that are not the norm. Personally I have NEVER had problems with Vista, and I admit that's not the norm, everyone else around me got in fetal position rocking back and forth trying to find their happy place when it came to Vista! I simply looked around and asked the legendary 3 letters WTF to explain it to me...

 

[BrotherCrack]

I've been using Windows 7 on my 2009 Mac Pro since the RC went live last year. I upgraded to the full version of Home Premium when it became available and I'm very happy with where it is.

The thing that it makes me wonder is that with such a great operating system available to install on any hardware, what reason is there to spend the huge premium buying a Mac any more?

The reason I moved from Windows XP to OS X in 2005 was because Windows was a mess and OS X Tiger was incredible (still the best OS ever released IMO). Now it seems to be the opposite that is true - Windows has sorted out ALL of the problems I had with it before (it's now completely secure and far, far more stable than Snow Leopard in my experience) and Apple has been making steps backwards with the two releases of OS X since I switched.

At the same time as all this was happening, hardware makers like Dell, Lenovo and HP were improving and improving and improving. I'm very impressed with the build quality of modern Dell machines and I'm fortunate enough to use a Lenovo system on a daily basis which is equally impressive.

The only reason I can see that anyone would still buy a Mac is for the build quality and materials. They're still ahead of everyone here IMO, but is this REALLY worth paying so much extra for?

Example (I tried to match the specifications of the systems as closely as possible):

MacBook Pro 15"
2.4GHz Intel Core i5
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MB

$1899

Dell Inspiron 15
2.23GHz Intel Core i5
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330

$829

Apple's system is $1070 more expensive. Is a fancy metal case really worth that much more?

$1070 More expensive? yes. Is it overpriced? depends. Are both systems you describe equal? Not Exactly. I personally think Dell's are crap since I have had 3 die on me, but this is personal experience and opinion and I wont get into that. The fact is the Inspiron 15's max resolution is 1366x768 vs. MBP's 1440x900 and just because it's a 512mb 4330 doesn't mean it's on equal footing with the 330M. In fact the 4330 is crap and despite that it's 512mb the 330 is 3x times faster. You do get what you pay for (sort of). But I will come to middle ground with you and say that Apple does charge more but hey you pay more for luxury items that also serve it's purposes in a pro market.

*LTD*, id like you to read this post off another forum, about the iPad. This will hopefully realise that not everyone likes the iPad at all. The iPad is not popular among most computer users, and I have found it to be them that avoid computers are attracted to the iPad. Which is great, well done Apple, you have captured a good market, but to go and say it is the future of computing is too far.

The iPad is not the future at all. If Mac's slowly become more iPad like, Apple will be just isolating themselves from pretty much every professional and creative industry. They will become a popular easy to use tablet PC for them who have no need for a computer, but certainly will not take of computers.

I'm gonna start with saying what has said before, a gaming forum is hardly proof. While I DO KNOW a lot of people that do not like the iPad it has great potential and it will be part of the future of computing. Gamers don't tend to like anything apple. It's a market segment not the norm. As a gamer I will refuse to play on an Apple machine, I like my PC for that thank you very much. But for work, I REFUSE to work on PC.

We're not honestly gonna stay in mouse and keyboard forever, eventually I want that interface Tony Stark had! Touch interfaces will get better, and though the iPad is far from perfect, someone needs to push technology and progress it. Things start off flawed then get polished. Now will the iPad dramatically change the future of computers within the next 5 years? I don't think so.

Try reading my posts perhaps?

- Gaming on touchscreen will never work out.
- Neither will Word Processing.
- USB is no where near dead yet so you cannot compare it to the Floppy Drive scenario.
- Who would want a wafer thin server than you cannot even add/remove a hard drive from?
- There is no chance it will benefit Media Production at all. The only possibilities I can think of in my industry is that it could be used as virtual faders on control/mix desks. Oh, it may benefit the tablety things for them photoshop types.
- YouTube should hopefully get better though.

Now puhleeze accept that the iPad is not the future. Yes, it will fill a gap in the market. Yes it will sell. Yes, it may even be popular. But it is not the future of computing.

I can agree with most of these points. But no chance to benefit media production? I'm not gonna question the benefits in your particular industry, I'll respect your opinion on the matter and take your word for it. Though the iPad is not for everyone I personally thought it was an oversized iTouch like everyone else. But then I saw Sketchbook pro and for photo-shoots, priceless. The photographer can give me the SD card, the model can see her pics and I can email the ones I want uploaded on the website easy to the webmasters. Could I do this with a laptop? Sure! But the iPad the few things it does, it does really well!

Not Machine. Machines. Three separate machines over three years. One has been given to someone else...guess what, 12 months down the line, they're saying the same thing as me.

My experience, without fail, across the board, has been that Mac's slow down over time as much if not more than Win PC's do.

Though I like many believe your issues are not the norm, I personally have had the problems you describe with XP and 7. Though I will join you in having experiences that are not the norm. Personally I have NEVER had problems with Vista, and I admit that's not the norm, everyone else around me got in fetal position, rocking back and forth trying to find their happy place when it came to Vista! I simply looked around and asked the legendary 3 letters WTF to explain it to me...

 

[BrotherCrack]

Sorry for the double post!