Question...

[aerialbomber]

It seems the majority of complaints on the board, at least on the first page, are about problems with Macintosh. I just have one, what should be simple, question. Why would you buy a Mac in the first place?

[TruStarwarrior]

I know that most people don't Macs. I don't like to assume, but I am going to here. Judging from the replies you have posted, you really, really dislike Macs. Is it because they are slower? More expensive? Harder to be compatible with?

In most cases, this would be enough to make anybody deterred from buying one. But I do believe that that mac's main strength lies in its stability and video editing. Being a cinematographer myself, I can tell you from experience that the Mac is way better for this than a PC. But if you want to go online and write papers with your computer, you'd be wasting your time and money on a Mac.

And just another note: You seem to be eager to dis the mac any way you can. In this case, it is not the mac's case that there are problems with LimeWire, but it is the lack of developer support. I'm not saying that the LimeWire team is neglecting it and not doing a good job, but they realize that they need to concentrate on the more important platforms, such as windows. That's where most of the users are, and accordingly, that's where their focus is.

[aerialbomber]

I've grown up using Macintosh at school, and PCs at home. The school gets new Mac computers every year, and only has Macintosh computers. Now, the easiest and fastest way for me to transfer school work I've done at home to a school computer is to copy the file to a floppy disk. That way, I can work on a project easier, rather than staying after school to work on their computers. Now that the school has bought I-Macs, there is no way for me to work on a school project at home. They either have "top-of-the-line" I-macs, or two classrooms have older model Macs, I'm not sure of the model, but they aren't compatible with PCs.

I'll agree that Macs are better at graphics than PCs are, however, I have to disagree about their stability. My friend is going to C.M.U. (Carnegie Mellon University, one of the premier computer institutes) and he said that the majority of their computers are PCs, but they're graphics design courses use Macintosh, and he said that every five - ten minutes somebody's cussing at their computers because they fail. Also, pretty much the same situation is at my school.

Also, the only time that I've seen Macs outside of school was at Circuit City. They were I-Macs. I forget the specs on them, but they were at least twice as much as the HP that was sitting right next to it.

As to the lack of developer support for programs written for Macintosh. Talking with a few computer programmers, it's harder to write for a Macintosh because the company tries to control who programs for it, where with a PC, you can write a program for personal use without too much work.

[TruStarwarrior]

Yup. Macs are expensive. Yes, they're cumbersome to program with Apple's proprietary coding standards. Yes, they're unpopular and you'll probably never see one outside your school.


"but they're graphics design courses use Macintosh, and he said that every five - ten minutes somebody's cussing at their computers because they fail"

Ever try serious graphics manipulation on a PC? In a lab with other students? I bought earphones just for this.

If your school still runs Mac OS 9.x or lower, you're not experiencing the higher capabilities of the Mac. Mac OS X is worlds better when it comes to stability, but it is not widely used yet.

P.S. Case in point. The PC I was typing this on crashed- right when I was about to post this. I had to retype the entire message. Sure. PCs are great.

Well I own a Macintosh G3 with 512 MB RAM and all the bells & whistles I might want.
The greatest frustration I have encountered is the sometimes slow release of Macintosh
versions of common apps.

As a scientist I use my Mac for graphics applications and just about everything
else, including business & programming. I also have a number of storage options
floppy, ZIP, JAZ (Re:iMacs & lack of floppy drive-please note that I foolishly insisted
on buying an external floppy and it is gathering dust-most file transfer requirements
exceed the low storage capacity of floppies-think external ZIP or JAZ drives instead-I have both).
But I digress .... I have been using Macs, PCs & UNIX etc..
machines for 15+ years and have continued to select Macintosh computers as my
computer of choice for personal & business use.

I would consider an iMac an entry-level Macintosh and not representative of the
higher end Macs, therefore please don't rush to judgement on the stability/utility of
Apple computers. Apple technology is always on the cutting edge and their
hardware design group has provoked a revolution in the whole PC design industry
- what I call the "beyond beige" era. Think different!

-One of the "rest of us"