jefhatfield said:
I adamantly disagree. The way the hardware and software work together is what makes them so good. While both are very good separately, I really think this is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts.
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Worst Windows Experience that forced YOU to switch?
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I adamantly disagree. The way the hardware and software work together is what makes them so good. While both are very good separately, I really think this is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts.
I also haven't had any real negative experiences with Windows and don't think it's too bad. It has to be maintained much more carefully that OS X and so people not as good with computers often have problems. Really the main negative to Windows for me is being a hawk about what I install. And mostly because I like having a clean system, I re-install Windows about every year or two.
That's funny that you say that as I posted that, and this, message from my Core Solo Mini. I am planning on putting a Merom chip into it once Merom comes out, but I meant that I can upgrade every piece on my PC, but not my Mac.jefhatfield said:
As well, I don't get the hardware/software integration everyone talks about. My Windows machine supports all my hardware so it's just as integrated as Mac OS X.
The only thing different is that Apple builds things in, such as iSight, but I don't get the huge difference. If I buy a Dell every single piece of hardware is perfectly supported by Windows, so I just don't get it.
DeathChill said:As well, I don't get the hardware/software integration everyone talks about. My Windows machine supports all my hardware so it's just as integrated as Mac OS X.
With my PC, I have to keep track of all my driver and such. I have to know when new ones come out. I have to remember which ones are installed. I have to do a lot of things that I don't worry about with my Mac. You can install OS X and everything (except maybe a 3rd party wireless card or BT adapter or something) works. With my PC I have to install a video card driver, a sound card driver, DirectX, and so much more. Because Apple develops OS X for specific hardware, they can bundle the correct drivers with the OS instead of generic ones likes Windows.
Plus, Macs are some of the best hardware with some of the best software. It's a win-win situation.
I just hated always having to keep track of all my extra software with Windows... my camera software, had to have the printer cd's, etc. Too much to handle. With macs, it's all right there. Plug it in, and go.
I had an absolutely horrible experience with Windows that caused me to switch...
Windows was bugging me with those balloon reminders that I needed to install Service Pack 2 so I went ahead and OK'd it. BIG MISTAKE. Apparently I had spyware on my computer that was "incompatible with SP2." (Microsoft's words, not mine) The Solution? To reinstall windows of course!
Now the real problem was that I could not install windows to c:\windows because it was already installed there and since it crashed during a reboot after the SP2 install it would absolutely refuse to overwrite the existing windows' files.
...So naturally I though I would install a second copy of windows at c:\windows2. BIG MISTAKE 2. Apparently I didn't have enough room for a second install of windows ME so what did windows do?? If you answered that it warned me that I had insufficient hard drive space you would be wrong. Rather, windows install had decided to delete as much of my pictures in the HDD as necessary until there was enough room!!
Years of my memories gone, I recalled my housemates 12" powerbook and how I had kicked a beer onto it the past week (less than a week old too!) and how it was functioning fine (after drying for a day). As soon as I made my way to an Apple store I was a proud owner of a 15" powerbook!
My PC? Let's just say after meeting my sledge hammer it will never harm anyone again!
Windows was bugging me with those balloon reminders that I needed to install Service Pack 2 so I went ahead and OK'd it. BIG MISTAKE. Apparently I had spyware on my computer that was "incompatible with SP2." (Microsoft's words, not mine) The Solution? To reinstall windows of course!
Now the real problem was that I could not install windows to c:\windows because it was already installed there and since it crashed during a reboot after the SP2 install it would absolutely refuse to overwrite the existing windows' files.
...So naturally I though I would install a second copy of windows at c:\windows2. BIG MISTAKE 2. Apparently I didn't have enough room for a second install of windows ME so what did windows do?? If you answered that it warned me that I had insufficient hard drive space you would be wrong. Rather, windows install had decided to delete as much of my pictures in the HDD as necessary until there was enough room!!
Years of my memories gone, I recalled my housemates 12" powerbook and how I had kicked a beer onto it the past week (less than a week old too!) and how it was functioning fine (after drying for a day). As soon as I made my way to an Apple store I was a proud owner of a 15" powerbook!
My PC? Let's just say after meeting my sledge hammer it will never harm anyone again!
grapes911 said:
i was mostly quoting a book on macs, in parenthesis, but it's not all one or the other for me
i would say most of my personal experience and attachment to macs is the operating system
if the world of computers had 1) an ugly beige/gray enclosure tower like some of the major maker pc companies and had os x, and
2) the only alternative was something that looked exactly like the power mac or imac but only ran windows,
then i would take the ugly tower with os x...my first experience with a modern mac (relatively recent) was when i bought a used power computing powertowerpro 180 with os 8.1 and though the computer was beige and unremarkable in appearance, i absolutely fell in love with the operating system
no bad exp
I have always been a windows user. I've had my share of crashes and stuff, but i am very satisfied overall.
The main reason I use Windows is because the world caters to PC users. Compatibility is what its all about. I can walk up to any computer at work, school, or in a public place and if it has windows, I know exactly what to do.
I seriously considered buying a mac but I could not justify it since my PC does everything I want to do, and there is nothing you can do on a mac that you can't do on a PC. Nothing.
And these people that have problems with viruses on PCs are just displaying their inexperience and/or ignorance. I currently do not run any anti-virus software other than what is supplied with WinXP (and never have), and I have no problems with viruses, spyware, etc. Its just a simple browser setting to disable installation of software. This eliminates 90% of the chance of getting a virus. The other way ppl get virii are through email. If you use gmail it filters out these emails and you never even have a chance to view them let alone download and open them.
I see no reason to switch to a more expensive, less common machine. Show me that it can do more than my PC or do the same for less money, then I'll switch.
I have always been a windows user. I've had my share of crashes and stuff, but i am very satisfied overall.
The main reason I use Windows is because the world caters to PC users. Compatibility is what its all about. I can walk up to any computer at work, school, or in a public place and if it has windows, I know exactly what to do.
I seriously considered buying a mac but I could not justify it since my PC does everything I want to do, and there is nothing you can do on a mac that you can't do on a PC. Nothing.
And these people that have problems with viruses on PCs are just displaying their inexperience and/or ignorance. I currently do not run any anti-virus software other than what is supplied with WinXP (and never have), and I have no problems with viruses, spyware, etc. Its just a simple browser setting to disable installation of software. This eliminates 90% of the chance of getting a virus. The other way ppl get virii are through email. If you use gmail it filters out these emails and you never even have a chance to view them let alone download and open them.
I see no reason to switch to a more expensive, less common machine. Show me that it can do more than my PC or do the same for less money, then I'll switch.
Having problems with IE6 that, as it is so deeply buried in the OS, would cause the whole computer to hang. Sometimes the only indication would be that the clock had stopped updating. No errors, logs, no solution. To make matters worse, after replacing IE6 with the awful IE7 Beta 2 (it was a last resort) the Fingerprint Reader on Microsofts own keyboard was no longer compatible. Uninstalls and reinstalls of IE6 followed.
For me it was mostly because of the hardware.
My Packard Bell PC was a pile of crap. It crashed and the restore disk didn't work. The support tech sent me a new one but the support number was not toll free, I ended up paying about $20 for the call. I took it in to replace the modem and ended up having to buy a new sound card because Packard Bell put them on the same card. The video card was built into the motherboard and was not very good, the new one I put in didn't work well. I got tired of software that didn't work with the video card, modem, and other software/hardware conflicts.
Got really tired of all those cords in the back.
Bought a Bondi Blue iMac and never looked back.
My Packard Bell PC was a pile of crap. It crashed and the restore disk didn't work. The support tech sent me a new one but the support number was not toll free, I ended up paying about $20 for the call. I took it in to replace the modem and ended up having to buy a new sound card because Packard Bell put them on the same card. The video card was built into the motherboard and was not very good, the new one I put in didn't work well. I got tired of software that didn't work with the video card, modem, and other software/hardware conflicts.
Got really tired of all those cords in the back.
Bought a Bondi Blue iMac and never looked back.
My HP didn't come with a restore disc (this was bought in-store for 1400 bucks just for the tower). So it crashed, and we were screwed. I believe there was a lawsuit against HP for that..
Being employed as a IT tech and administrator for Center for Resources in Human Development Education of Temple University
I needed to be able to keep my computing life sane, by being able to come home to non-windows environent. Linux still reminded me too much of Windows GUI, so off to Apple I went.
I needed to be able to keep my computing life sane, by being able to come home to non-windows environent. Linux still reminded me too much of Windows GUI, so off to Apple I went.
Dell Tech Support, or lack there of
I bought a $2500 Inspiron 8600, and a $500 4 year warranty, (complete care+, & accidental drop etc. etc. etc). About 6 months in the battery stopped charging. I spent 3 hrs on the phone w/ tech support & supervisors. They tjem told me I had to BUY a $150 battery & a $30 plug. I did. It didn't fix the problem. The new battery would not charge. I spent 4 hrs on the phone this time. They finally sent out a tech to install a new motherboard. He fried the new motherboard during installation & then the old one while reinstalling it. Luckily, he had another in his car. After that, I spent 4 hrs trying to fix all the new software problems that started popping up after the motherboard fiasco. I gave up and called Tech support where they told me (after 2 hrs of transferring) that I would have to contact Microsoft et al. for software problems.
That's when I decided after using pc's since IBM's PS2 30, I was done being a sucker.
I bought a $2500 Inspiron 8600, and a $500 4 year warranty, (complete care+, & accidental drop etc. etc. etc). About 6 months in the battery stopped charging. I spent 3 hrs on the phone w/ tech support & supervisors. They tjem told me I had to BUY a $150 battery & a $30 plug. I did. It didn't fix the problem. The new battery would not charge. I spent 4 hrs on the phone this time. They finally sent out a tech to install a new motherboard. He fried the new motherboard during installation & then the old one while reinstalling it. Luckily, he had another in his car. After that, I spent 4 hrs trying to fix all the new software problems that started popping up after the motherboard fiasco. I gave up and called Tech support where they told me (after 2 hrs of transferring) that I would have to contact Microsoft et al. for software problems.
That's when I decided after using pc's since IBM's PS2 30, I was done being a sucker.
IThe homebrew box I built got a nasty spyware infection last year that kept causing my WLAN connection to drop every couple of minutes as it phoned home. No antivirus or antispyware software picked up the infection and so a weekend was wasted formatting and reinstalling Windows and other programs.
Buying a laptop was a gleam in my eye at that stage, but as my reinstalled Windows got filled with the sludge of redundant DLLs and fragmented, my desire for something better grew...
By the time my MBP arrived, my Windows machine took over 4 minutes to boot. It was good to get back to sub-30s boot times.
Buying a laptop was a gleam in my eye at that stage, but as my reinstalled Windows got filled with the sludge of redundant DLLs and fragmented, my desire for something better grew...
By the time my MBP arrived, my Windows machine took over 4 minutes to boot. It was good to get back to sub-30s boot times.
Well, I had always had Macs at home as a kid, but one day I finally just got a PC cause it was cheaper. This must have been the System 8 days. A few years later I got Fujitsu laptop when I went to college, and that thing was a nightmare. It ran Windows ME, which is the worst operating system in the world. I got constant blue screens and crashes, it was awful. I got Win2k on it, finally, but I ended up selling it off. I stuck to building custom boxes for a while, but I kept having standard PC problems - oops, virus, gotta reformat - oops, Windows randomly decided to delete part of itself, reinstall - crap like that. Finally, one day my PC died, and I was broke, so my dad sent me his old Titanium G4 Powerbook, and I fell in love again. It was all so simple, and hassle-free, and just a great experience. Since then, it's been smooth sailing. I have never once had a major problem with Mac OS X itself, and the hardware works great too. Yay!
bdugan said:
See? good things do come out of something bad, in this case better than before.
I swiched because of lots of small things, I knew about the Mac for a long time but what keped me sticking to windows was the "crowd" effect. A few years ago I managed to get a few older Macs; I think a performa and cintra or something like that and 3 working laptops, one had a track ball and the other two were the same and had a passive matrix LCD screen. And then I saw my first program, instantly my life changed as I desired to learn how to program. A few months later I wrote my first program in chimpmonk BASIC to do a homework problem from my math book on one of my Mac laptops. Some time later my dad got his getaway and has had printer/driver problems from the beginning and recently partitioned his HD and installed XP again and after that it has been locking up and shutting it's self down way more/too often. About 1 year ago I was looking for a laptop and I was asking my cousin about the iBook and in general Macs, (he worked in an Apple store fixing computers for a few years and now maintains a network of Macs) I was astounded when he said in all my years I have seen but one viruses which froze up the computer and was easly removed. Wow, I also found out OS X keeps the disk defraged (for the most part). The deeper I dug trying to find a reason to not buy a Mac the more features I saw, like not having a system regestry and the command line and... [long list]. now my dad will buy a Mac for his next computer.
sorry for my life's story (from a computers stand point)
Happy windows user?
Scenario 1:
Run cygwin.
Then run a full-blown Linux/Unix and see how much better it is than crappy cygwin or Unix Services for Windows.
Then try running Microsoft Word and Linux/Unix at the same time, without WINE.
The Mac will do this better.
Scenario 2:
Make a movie with the included software on your PC. No pirating "Best Movie Maker for Windows version 9.33.07.622" with a crack from some warez group.
Then burn that video to a disc with the included software on your PC. Again, no pirating CD burning software. Only use what is bundled with your PC.
The Mac will do this better.
Scenario 3:
Get a copy of Mac OS X for Intel-based PC.
Run it on your current hardware.
The Mac will do this better.
My point is the world should cater to all computing, not just Windows. Unix does just fine on the Internet. in fact, you are more compatible in terms of networking by using a Mac. Intel Macs can do everything that PCs do, PLUS run OS X. Which no plain vanilla PC can do easily or legally. And it costs less than doing it on equivalent PC hardware.
You should have been a switcher back in February.
You shouldn't be satisfied with crashes.damax452 said:
What happens when the computer doesn't run Windows?
Are you sure? See below.
This constant vigilance should not be required. With all the power a computer has, it should be able to do some of this stuff for you. I would have dared you to find this "simple" browser setting when you were new to computing, but I can't. I can deal with all the preventative measures you have mentioned. I have never had spyware or viruses back when I owned PCs. But the point is I DON'T WANT TO. I want to do things with my computer besides have it be a glorified Tamagotchi, with me taking care of the damned thing all the time.
Alright, since you asked for it ...
Scenario 1:
Run cygwin.
Then run a full-blown Linux/Unix and see how much better it is than crappy cygwin or Unix Services for Windows.
Then try running Microsoft Word and Linux/Unix at the same time, without WINE.
The Mac will do this better.
Scenario 2:
Make a movie with the included software on your PC. No pirating "Best Movie Maker for Windows version 9.33.07.622" with a crack from some warez group.
Then burn that video to a disc with the included software on your PC. Again, no pirating CD burning software. Only use what is bundled with your PC.
The Mac will do this better.
Scenario 3:
Get a copy of Mac OS X for Intel-based PC.
Run it on your current hardware.
The Mac will do this better.
My point is the world should cater to all computing, not just Windows. Unix does just fine on the Internet. in fact, you are more compatible in terms of networking by using a Mac. Intel Macs can do everything that PCs do, PLUS run OS X. Which no plain vanilla PC can do easily or legally. And it costs less than doing it on equivalent PC hardware.
You should have been a switcher back in February.
And the reason I switched? (to get back on topic)
OS X was a better Unix than Linux. I had moved away from the Windows camp a long time ago because Windows doesn't do well on older hardware. But Linux just didn't feel right, like it was unfinished (back during the days of Red Hat Linux 7). Mac OS X just seemed like the logical next step to take.
OS X was a better Unix than Linux. I had moved away from the Windows camp a long time ago because Windows doesn't do well on older hardware. But Linux just didn't feel right, like it was unfinished (back during the days of Red Hat Linux 7). Mac OS X just seemed like the logical next step to take.
Windows does horrible job when multi-tasking!!!
I'm doing music production on Windows for years, it doesn't provide me good efficiency and workflow, and DRIVERS...god, really give me hard time when installing drivers for my interfaces and stuff.
Second, too many virus, worm, and adware when connected to internet. Those stuffs really slow my machine down.
And yeah, I have to clean up the whole system and do some organizing job on my files every week which waste me a lot of time.
I couldn't be happier when I switch to OS X!!
I'm doing music production on Windows for years, it doesn't provide me good efficiency and workflow, and DRIVERS...god, really give me hard time when installing drivers for my interfaces and stuff.
Second, too many virus, worm, and adware when connected to internet. Those stuffs really slow my machine down.
And yeah, I have to clean up the whole system and do some organizing job on my files every week which waste me a lot of time.
I couldn't be happier when I switch to OS X!!
For me coming back to Apple was not the result of any one experience with Windows, but more the realization that there was really nothing holding me back anymore. The main things I wanted to do with my home computer could just as well be done on a Mac or a PC, light Office duty + lots of Web, iLife, and I would actually enjoy using the Mac.
The 17" iMac followed me home on a particularly bad day of dealing with MS Project at work.
B
The 17" iMac followed me home on a particularly bad day of dealing with MS Project at work.
B
Windows had nothing to do with me moving to OS X. I wanted a UNIX laptop that just worked. At the time Linux notebook support was crap, so here I am.
balamw said:
Aw mom, can't I keep him? He's so scared and doesn't have a home! I promise I'll feed him RAM and repair disk permissions at LEAST once a month!! Pleeeease?