Who here likes Macs, and who here doesn't, and why?

[soundfx4]

Hey, I was just wandering if anyone here liked macs at all or not at all, and why. I'm not trying to start a huge argument here, I am just curious on everyones opinions about Macs. Here is mine:

I like macs, especially the cool cases apple makes up for them, but if I got one I would want to build it, and that is impossible since apple only allows Motorola to sell their processors to them, so I am staying away from them for now, but I still think they are cool.

 

[Borisw37]

I very mich Dis-Like macs and here are the reasons:

1) only ONE button on the mouse. I can not possibly function with just one button, 2 buttom mice are ok, but Logitech mx700 has like 8, very convenient.

2) Limited in upgrading.

3) Fruity cases.

4) Lack of compatible software.

5) Having to run virtual PC to use any normal applications such as AutoCad.

 

[Cyberwiz01]

Considering that this is an overclocking forum, i would guess to say that most people here would dislike macs because of their very limited (almost nonexistant) overclockability. From a design standpoint, i think the G5 aka cheese grater case is very cool. The thermal design of the case is very neat too. But i could never justify buying a mac just because, you have this pretty decent system, and then you cant run anything on it. Macs are more for graphic designers and people like that. For the average consumer, there would be no reason to buy a mac other than they look cool.

 

[HaTE]

i think macs are very good computers, but price is the main thing that keeps me from buying one and not being able to build it myself.

 

[Bensa]

Price, the only factor stopping me from buying a mac, next to the disability of not being able to play games .
Link to a 10mb video on mac gamers.

 

[Renigade]

I love Macs for these reasons:
1) Far easier to use, once you get past the nominal learning curve
2) More secure than a Windows box
3) It takes me 2 minutes to set up a Web site/FTP server, etc
4) It works FLAWLESSLY with PCs, including cross compatability applications
5) You *CAN* upgrade the G3/G4/G5 towers.
6) You *CAN* buy a Logitech mx700 mouse and plug it into your mac and have 8 buttons
7) The cases look way cooler than any PC I have EVER seen, take for example the cube Im writing this on: http://www.macmotion.de/modules.php...allery&file=index&do=showpic&pid=682&orderby= http://www.macmotion.de/modules.php...allery&file=index&do=showpic&pid=335&orderby= (Watch the two videos, and the power button you on top of the case isn't a button, there is a conductive sensor there(like a laptop touchpad), so all you have to do is touch the case and it turns on)
8) There is absolutely every reason for an "average consumer" to use a Mac. Think of what the "average" person uses a Mac for, word processing, e-mail, web browsing, digital photography (I know a bazilion people who have digital cameras), printing, burning music CDs, etc. And you can do every one of these with built in software with OS X. That doesn't include OS X applications such as Photoshop, Office, Final Cut Pro, etc. You can take a Word document on a Mac, transfer it over a network to a PC, and open it with Word on the PC. iChat does videoconferencing over the AOL Instant Messenger service quite easily over a high speed internet connection or over a LAN using Rendezvous. There are many more examples of easy-to-use cross-platform-compatible software.
9) There are very, very few harmful viruses for the Mac. It is harder to hack into a Mac, and it is impossible to hack into anything pre-OS X (appletalk can't be routed over the internet)

The list goes on and on as to why I have honestly switched to a Mac. Im not saying I dont use my PC, as it is my beast for games , but virtually everything else I do is on my Mac.

 

[soundfx4]

I very mich Dis-Like macs and here are the reasons:

1) only ONE button on the mouse

I agree with you about the one button thing, however, any mouse will work with a mac now a days. My uncle has a 3 button mouse for his mac and you could easily use your 8 button mouse with a mac. You still don't like them, and that's ok of coarse, but you just can't not like them for that reason anymore

Oh yeah, and the upgrading limitations are only the motherboard and processor. That is it I believe. Everything else (at least I think) is standard, hard drives, PCI cards, AGP graphics cards. Just as long as the device has the drivers for Mac. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[soundfx4]

That switch thing with the games was pretty funny, I really don't know if it is true or not, but it was still funny. And speaking of those switch commercials. I really hate them, lol (still think macs are neat though)

 

[DaBigJ]

I love Macs for these reasons:
1) Far easier to use, once you get past the nominal learning curve
2) More secure than a Windows box
3) It takes me 2 minutes to set up a Web site/FTP server, etc
4) It works FLAWLESSLY with PCs, including cross compatability applications
5) You *CAN* upgrade the G3/G4/G5 towers.
6) You *CAN* buy a Logitech mx700 mouse and plug it into your mac and have 8 buttons
7) The cases look way cooler than any PC I have EVER seen, take for example the cube Im writing this on: http://www.macmotion.de/modules.php...allery&file=index&do=showpic&pid=682&orderby= http://www.macmotion.de/modules.php...allery&file=index&do=showpic&pid=335&orderby= (Watch the two videos, and the power button you on top of the case isn't a button, there is a conductive sensor there(like a laptop touchpad), so all you have to do is touch the case and it turns on)
8) There is absolutely every reason for an "average consumer" to use a Mac. Think of what the "average" person uses a Mac for, word processing, e-mail, web browsing, digital photography (I know a bazilion people who have digital cameras), printing, burning music CDs, etc. And you can do every one of these with built in software with OS X. That doesn't include OS X applications such as Photoshop, Office, Final Cut Pro, etc. You can take a Word document on a Mac, transfer it over a network to a PC, and open it with Word on the PC. iChat does videoconferencing over the AOL Instant Messenger service quite easily over a high speed internet connection or over a LAN using Rendezvous. There are many more examples of easy-to-use cross-platform-compatible software.
9) There are very, very few harmful viruses for the Mac. It is harder to hack into a Mac, and it is impossible to hack into anything pre-OS X (appletalk can't be routed over the internet)

The list goes on and on as to why I have honestly switched to a Mac. Im not saying I dont use my PC, as it is my beast for games , but virtually everything else I do is on my Mac.

1. I disagree with that, but it's purely a matter of opinion
2. More secure than windows? i don't think that's true, but i don't have any proof so i'll just let that sit.
3. Same on windows, it's very very easy
4. Flawlessly? Macs have serious problems with joining windows domains.
5. good
6. yes, but i still don't see why apple ships them with single button mice... but that's not a big deal because you can always buy a new one.
7. I guess the cases are ok, but I'm too cheap to buy a nice case for my pc either...
8. That's all a matter of preference, but I'll admit, either a mac or a pc will be just fine for these tasks.
I used a G4 at school to burn ~5 mb of files to a cd. It took about 3 minutes on a 40x burner set to max speed.
9. I suppose the virus thing is true, but I run a firewall, NO antivirus software (I do run a check on websites like housecall from time to time), keep my OS patched, and I've never gotten a virus.

P.S. Please don't take my post as a personal insult.

 

[CamH]

I love Macs. I'd take a good Apple over a PC any day of the week. They're simple to use, nice to look at, the performance is up there. (Who cares if they aren't the fastest things ever?) And I can use bash if I want. Great machines all around.

 

[pummer]

Macs are fine for Joe Sixpack and his family, but I as a gamer would never be happy with one. There just aren't enough games out for the Mac. I can't justify spending that much on a box for Joe-Sixpack-like use. My PC runs Photoshop just fine, why run a Mac for things I can do on my PC?

Also, Apple's ad campaign for their G5 irks me to no end. "First 64-bit personal computer" my eye.

 

[JigPu]

Pretty much any computer on the market is great for the average family. My problem comes in overcharging for what they get For what I could buy myself a sweet G5 setup for, I could build myself a (IMO) sweeter PC. Especially if you consider that I could play loads of games on it

However, there is a point about ease of use. I've used Apple's off and on since the IIe, and (while the IIe wasn't...) they're very easy to use, and to learn. It's different from windows which means you're gonna have to learn everything again, though after a small amount of time, you can have it down enough to do rudimentary tasks.

One button mouse?? Dosen't really matter to me. I only have a 2 button mouse, and as long as their control panels are easily accessable, I'm fine with only one. (though I've heard you have to click with your whole hand... which I'd hate)

JigPu

 

[William]

You can get twice the performance, or a sizeable improvement by buying a PC in the same price range as a mac. I don't particullarly like the G5 design much, at least from the pictures I have seen but I haven't seen in person. I like the powerbook a lot, but like everything apple, its too expensive because of their business model. The mac may be slightly more user friendly (some of the things that people admire about it though is just, well silly). There is of course the application side as well that probably will never be overcome. Apple is a VERY slowly dieing platform. They have priced themselves out of the market.

Now if they would ever release their OS X port, this might be a different discussion.....

This was the mild reply btw.

 

[Renigade]

I can list the posters in this thread who have never used OS X on a decent machine for more than a day though.

Read these articles from the CTO of InfoWorld (A Fortune 500 PC only company): http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/05/35OPconnection_1.html
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/12/36OPconnection_1.html

True, some people like certain computers for some silly reasons, but we IT guys dig Macs for Unix and BSD tools, including all the benefits that come with them.

DaBigJ: No insult taken =) Im gonna setup a W2K domain and try to get my Mac to join it soon, I know OS X does LDAP well, but as we know, AD is LDAP+ some, so I know OS X wont have all the features, but Im sure I can get it to access the domain and get access to the resources... but you may be right (I need to take people's word more often ) Also I absolutely agree with you about just running a firewall and practicing SAFE Software EXchange and keeping the OS updated and youll be fine (Ive been running same install of XP Pro for about 6 months, no AV, w/ firewall, no virus to date)

Apple is not dying... if it would have died at any time, it would have been in the mid-late 90's... Thats like saying Ferarri is going to die because they charge too much for their cars (LOL, slight exaggeration on that illustration, but you get the idea; I would have to say 95% of persons who switch to Macs stay Macs)

Im 99.99% sure Apple will never release an OS X port... Apple is first and foremost a hardware company, and they are VERY good at making hardware. If you port OS X, then you lose a bit of your hardware business to x86. (Not to mention all the people who could have hacked copies of OS X...)

oh yah, 10) Fixing a Mac is so much easier than fixing a PC.

Wish me the best on my ACTC exam (Apple Certified Technical Coordinator), Im takin the cert test on October 8th

P.S. I love PCs too

 

[soundfx4]

If you have a Best buy near you they sell macs now. At least the one near me does (which I work for now btw! yay for me! I can finally save money to get a new computer! ). It was bigger then the old G4 case, aluminum, and you could feel a steady breeze blowing right through the thing. I would like to get one, and I might one day even if I have to buy it all in one piece and even if I have to pay a lot o money for it. Actually, Mac processors are faster then x86 processors, or at least "older" x86 processors, like the Athlon XP's, and Pentium 4's I think. My uncle has a G4 400 MHz PC133 system and it seams to fly compared to my system. I am not sure about where they stand now that AMD has released their 64 bit monster though.

 

[Renigade]

Yes, Best Buy worked out a deal with Apple. Apple will put employees in best buy stores to run the apple section b/c BB is too gay to know why anyone would want to buy a Mac and has dropped the ball about 3 times now...

Anyways Yes, Macs are faster MHz to MHz than x86, its b/c their processors are Simple Insruction Set and x86 are Complicated Instruction Set. That is why there is also Virtual PC for Mac and not Virtual Mac for PC =).

(P.S. The G4 400 is PC100 )

And Im awaiting the 64 vs 64 benchies myself

 

[Captain Slug]

They annoy me. I've been forced to use them in the school computer labs because the PCs that are setup do not have any graphical software on them. So from my experience Macs are lacking in everything except upper level networking and server features, which the average person will probably never use.

Reasons:
1. Lacking in stability.
Every time I'm in the lab, atleast one person is having their machine freeze up on them because of virtual memory problems with supposedly "OSX compatible software" or it simply stops working because I'm trying to run more than 2 Internet Explorer windows at once.
2. Clear plastic is pretty on show room floors, but after an hours use it just turns into a cloudy mess from finger prints.
3. Function taking a backseat.
The keyboards are uncomfortable and the included mice are always running over their own cord, wich prevents clicking (and often leads to painting errors in photoshop).
4. Speed vs Bandwidth.
G3s and G4s could by no means be considered fast because of their lacking memory bandwidth. I don't see any great consideration for larger memory bandwidth in the G5 either. All they seem to focus on is pure MHZ numbers.
5. Hardware.
Apple is usually several months behind the curve, yet still hypes their machines as if they were desposited from the near future from a benevolent race. Which leads me to my next point...
6. Hype.
If Apple didn't promote itself as something it's not, then I really wouldn't hate them as much. They make machines for a certain sector that want a certain set of functions and features. Instead they mark themselves as revolutionary and utopian and revel in slandering the products of other companies and those who don't use theirs. That's really immature.
7. Lack of versatility.
I can do more on my PC. I can change it to meet any need I could possibly have. In the world of Macs, If I wanted to do something my current machine can't, I'd have to buy another Mac.

 

[Renigade]

1. Lacking in stability.
Every time I'm in the lab, atleast one person is having their machine freeze up on them because of virtual memory problems with supposedly "OSX compatible software" or it simply stops working because I'm trying to run more than 2 Internet Explorer windows at once.
2. Clear plastic is pretty on show room floors, but after an hours use it just turns into a cloudy mess from finger prints.
3. Function taking a backseat.
The keyboards are uncomfortable and the included mice are always running over their own cord, wich prevents clicking (and often leads to painting errors in photoshop).
4. Speed vs Bandwidth.
G3s and G4s could by no means be considered fast because of their lacking memory bandwidth. I don't see any great consideration for larger memory bandwidth in the G5 either. All they seem to focus on is pure MHZ numbers.
5. Hardware.
Apple is usually several months behind the curve, yet still hypes their machines as if they were desposited from the near future from a benevolent race. Which leads me to my next point...
6. Hype.
If Apple didn't promote itself as something it's not, then I really wouldn't hate them as much. They make machines for a certain sector that want a certain set of functions and features. Instead they mark themselves as revolutionary and utopian and revel in slandering the products of other companies and those who don't use theirs. That's really immature.
7. Lack of versatility.
I can do more on my PC. I can change it to meet any need I could possibly have. In the world of Macs, If I wanted to do something my current machine can't, I'd have to buy another Mac.

1) Hm... If its the same "OS X Compatible software" then it not the machine... OS X crashes less than my XP Pro box... Um... Internet Explorer... of course... Use Safari, which is Apple's Internet Browser. IE is AWESOME for PC, it BLOWS CHUNKS on a Mac. Safari is very quick and plays well with OS X.
2) LOL, the clear plastic keyboards... Ive named the mosquito who has crawled in my keyboard and died. He lives right by my arrow keys on my keyboard.
4) Im not sure of all the details behind the G5's memory architecture, but they have the 800-1000 MHz FSB using DDR400.
5) Thats why Consumer Reports rates them at or near the top. The Apple monitors get the best rating, Apple computers have the lowest hardware repair rate, PB's get rocking ratings, etc etc etc...
6) Hype, hype, hype... Apple does hype their stuff a bit too much, but I can kind of understand why they do it. (One of the reasons Im sure is that everyone likes bashing on them)
7) List some things a Mac cant do =)

As DaBigJ said, please dont take this post as a personal insult.

 

[CrashOveride]

I dont.
Bad mice.
Not as costomizable as PC's.
Not as fast as they say they are.
Mice suck.
Minimal software support.- Some say they are great for XXX but a PC can be just as good and do more.
Expensive.

I would like it if I got one for free. After all Mac OSX is cool, but it's looks (the good thing about it) can be emulated on XP and prolly Linux. The looks are good, but it can be made in a PC.

 

[soundfx4]

Yes, Best Buy worked out a deal with Apple. Apple will put employees in best buy stores to run the apple section b/c BB is too gay to know why anyone would want to buy a Mac and has dropped the ball about 3 times now...

(P.S. The G4 400 is PC100 )

Oh I see, I didn't know that about Best Buy. Also, is it really only PC100? I thought it was PC133, heh, oh well.