The Great Pc/mac Quandry....

[BaDToaD]

@BaDToaD: Whoa... IT guy who isnt anti Mac... its a revolution!

​

I've been in IT for over 20 years now. I used to run the IT for Blakes Holidays who were (still are but under different ownership) a large Boating and Cottage Holiday company before they sold up. I used to support VME mainframe, ICL DRS running CPM. PCs running DOS apps, 95, 98, NT and Novell and Macs running OS 8 and System 7 for brochure production. The macs gave me far less hassle than the PCs. After using all that lot I used to come home to an Amiga LOL.

 

[trooper]

@BaDToaD, Do you still have it, The amiga that is ?.

Trooper

 

[Blah]

PC's behave if you:

1. Don't use crap software.
2. Keep them healthy.
3. Don't use crap hardware.
4. Don't over-multitask. (As in don't tell it to do more than it can do at a time, or it will give you the "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" error.)

You can do whatever the #$%^@ you want on a PC, not so with a MAC.
And faster, too.

 

[spongebue]

At school, I use emacs with OSX. After having a class that uses them for 80 minutes a day, 5 days a week, I've began to absolutely love them. I like the little features it has, like F9 and F11 to change programs or clear what you have. At home in the past, I've used Windows. It's ok, especially if it's what you are used to. Sure it crashes quite a bit (mostly in Windows 98) and it is a virus magnet, but it is fairly easy to use and defend from stuff if you know what you are doing. Recently I have been dabbling into Linux a bit. At first I hated it. I couldn't do much, and it was really hard to install things. Red Hat wouldn't work with my network card, Mandrake (64-bit) wouldn't go above 640x480, and it would have other problems (such as the inability to start X after a while) and I couldn't put much on SuSE. (64-bit) Then I started using SuSE 32-bit. It is really nice. I can install some things (still haven't mastered it, but I don't really need to go beyond Firefox since I'm such an internet junkie) and haven't had too many problems. I'm trying to get farther and farther away from Windows, and am actually doing it. Maybe this should be my New Year's resolution

 

[Gruntfuggly]

PC's behave if you:

1. Don't use crap software.
2. Keep them healthy.
3. Don't use crap hardware.

Goes for just about anything...

4. Don't over-multitask. (As in don't tell it to do more than it can do at a time, or it will give you the "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" error.)

That error has nothing to do with multi-tasking - it's usually caused by older software trying to do things that are now illegal in newer versions of windows. Microsoft puts a lot of effort into making newer versions of windows compatible with old software (unlike Apple)...

You can do whatever the #$%^@ you want on a PC, not so with a MAC.
And faster, too.

Total utter crap. Give a single example to back up either statement...

 

[BaDToaD]

@BaDToaD, Do you still have it, The amiga that is ?.

Trooper

​

We've been here before Trooper

I've got :

A500

A600

CD32

A1200 030/40

A1200 040/40


Only the 040/40 is always set up though. I do all my graphics on it.

 

[spray]

i think anyone who has a bit of computer savvy should not run into any problems when using a windows based pc.

people keep saying that 98 was always crashing, guys, theres been four upgrades since then, theres a reason for these upgrades.

with regard to viruses, as long as you're running a compotent AVS and firewall you will be happy. Also, if you're sensible about d/l software off the net then the little problems just disappear.

far too many idiots use windows pcs whilst you're average kaaza loving, aim using fool will never pick up a mac, scews the results a bit i think.

 

[BaDToaD]

I think the main problem is people who like PCs have generally had no experience of a stable operating system. To me a system that crashes a lot is one which crashes once a week. Even once a month is not good but most PC users would love to see a system that stable.

As for average non savvy windows users I could put an idiot windows user on my Amiga and he'd be very hard pushed to crash it. I'm sure he could over multitask it until it ran out of memory and complained but it's VERY unlikely he'd crash it.

Hell I used to let my kids on the Amiga from 5 years old with no supervision because I knew they'd have a hard time breaking it.

Those of you interested in the Amiga or alternative OSs might like to download UAE and Amiga in a box from here.

At least have a look at the screenies and remember that they are basically running on a tweaked version of an OS over 12 years old.

Even many ex Amiga users will be surprised at what the old girl can do.

 

[Axeman]

Nice to see some miggy owners in here.

I've still got me 1200 wiith 060 (or 040?) upgrade accelerator card. Runs like a beast.

Also used UAE and AIAB a fair bit too.


Right - back on track. I've got me iMac! Got it this mrning and this is my first post on gp32x since. I've been using it and I gotta say I'm really happy with it

Need a day or so of playing to really give a proper opinion, but it seems fine

Will report back in a while...

 

[Klown]

As for average non savvy windows users I could put an idiot windows user on my Amiga and he'd be very hard pushed to crash it. I'm sure he could over multitask it until it ran out of memory and complained but it's VERY unlikely he'd crash it.

It'd be easy to crash if it was the most common os and there was more customisable hardware etc etc.

 

[Axeman]

Well!

After a day or so of usage, I feel I'm qualified to report back on my experiences and first impressions.

Overall? I love it. I like the quietness, the screen quality, the speed (both booting and in action - and thats after using an Athlon 3000+).


To put it simply - the OS is a joy to use. Its much more relaxing than Windows in every way, and seems to be geared to be less stressful to use in general. It's all curves and brushed aluminium. Fast? Oh man it's fast! I bunged 512Mb of RAm in (came with a paltry 256Mb) and it flies. The G5 never really seems to break into a sweat. It boots fast, and is ready to use almost instantly. Not that you have to reboot it very often in any case. Being UNIX based, it hasnt crashed on me yet, and I've really pumelled it a few times. Have it networked to my PC, and I'm using that as a file store mroe or less at the mAnyoment. Saves cluttering up the Mac drive with stuff I dont use very often.

The 17" Widescreen display is a joy to behold. It's by far the clearest LCD screen I've ever seen. The colours are vibrant, and everythng is just so damn sharp. I love the way the Mac displays fonts - its as near to printed text I've seen on a computer. ItAnyways - off to play some more... looks cool set up next to my PC too, but makes it look like a bit of antique

I'll post a pic of my setup soon, if anyone's interested...

Anyways... off to play some more for a bit...

 

[BaDToaD]

Cool. Keep us posted.

 

[markusdragon]

and, uh... marcusdragon? your CD was probably scratched. to add to that, you don't HAVE to use iTunes anyway, there are alternatives (audion, anyone?). plus, you could just change the codec to LAME.

​

It was probably as scratched as hell. Katie is addicted to CDs, she caries around 50 with her at all times, most without cases. Nontheless, its no excuse: before i ripped it with the Mac i ripped it to my laptop, which took under a minute. The mac was just no comparison. It's just annoying that the media dept. tries to make us use eMacs.

I think the main problem is people who like PCs have generally had no experience of a stable operating system.

Contrary to popular Macintosh folklore, windows is perfectly stable unless you go and frag it up. I've had desktop computers running non-stop for multiple months without a hitch (except for the goddamned power cuts).

 

[PinkSpider]

XP is pretty darn stable to be fair... my pc hardly crashed at all before the hardware started fucking up.

 

[Axeman]

I agree that XP is pretty stable, but having used Linux and now OS X, it certainly aint the most stable of the bunch! XP is good, but unfortunately full of nasty holes and spyware and viruses.

OS X isn't - yet, and I hope it never will be (well... not to the extent Xp is anyways!)

To be honest, one of my main reasons for swapping is that I was just bored with Windows machines, and wanted something different - and that I've got. Like I said - will takes some getting used to, but it seems good so far.

Cheers!

 

[PinkSpider]

I agree that XP is pretty stable, but having used Linux and now OS X, it certainly aint the most stable of the bunch! XP is good, but unfortunately full of nasty holes and spyware and viruses.

OS X isn't - yet, and I hope it never will be (well... not to the extent Xp is anyways!)

To be honest, one of my main reasons for swapping is that I was just bored with Windows machines, and wanted something different - and that I've got. Like I said - will takes some getting used to, but it seems good so far.

Cheers!

​

S'pose so; I remember getting back from my grannies to find that the machine would reboot every 2 mins (bloody virus).

Also something new is always good, I like linux but I really cant be bothered to get the modem working (recompiling the kernel... I just about know what one is nevermind how to bloody compile one).

Also macs get easy over time, after 2 weeks I found it to be almost as efficient software wise as my pc was, keeping in mind I had been using PCs for >6 years.

 

[trooper]

Seeing as this is mac related, I thought this link may be of interest to potential mac buyers.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=802

Trooper

 

[thecheat]

that sounds awesome. i may have to get one so i'm not stuck on a PC in my room (win2k/man-gnome dual boot)

 

[thecheat]

I believe Lame is an encoder. Not a codec.

erm right. :unsure:
i just know that intsead of doing it via a separate prog, you install a plugin for iTunes... meh.

 

[andius]

Ok im definatly not a Windows fanboy here, but all of my expiernces with any mac Os have been painfull. I use a mac everyday almost every period, and it just makes me long for my machine. For some reason I haven't had a computer crash on me so much in my lifetime. The OS feels sluggish and slow, the keyboard stiff and unresponsive. The mouse always manages to click when i don't want to, and never when i do. It's some divine entity's novelty joke on me. If you don't like the look of windows just install Litestep litestep linskie Everything about windows just seems a little smoother, and more responsive. Both Mac and windows based systems have their weaknesses, but one is not above the other by any means. They are both bassically piles of shit we are forced to use for lack of a better OS, im thinking about Linux....