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Microsoft Switcher Ads: Part 2
burgburgburg writes "We all recall Microsoft's last attempt to emulate the Apple Switch ads. Well, it seems they're at it again. MacNN reports that Microsoft has sent out emails to those who have recently registered MS products, looking for candidates for their 'Sensible Solutions' campaign, which will 'highlight computer professionals that have recently converted from Apple Computer products to Microsoft based systems.' Do you qualify? You must be 'a US resident with a minimum of 3 years experience as a computer professional. You must have used an Apple Computer product and a Microsoft based system as part of your work'. So when does it just stop being the sincerest form of flattery and just become utter, pathetic laziness?"
photoshop for OSX seems a lot more stable and less bloated on my mac then it does on my windows machine, (windows machine = 1ghz with 1gig of ram, mac = 500mhz with 768 of ram)
Absolutely. OS X is wonderful. I never even considered owning a Mac before, but now I have an OS X machine right next to my Linux box and my (generally started only for games) Windows machine.
A few sites I use on a regular basis don't work with my preferred browsers (Safari and OmniWeb) . My online banking refuses to work with anything other than Netscape 4 (including Mac IE!). I can spoof as Windows IE for some sites, but with others (such as the banking site) I usually receive an error when I actually try to do something. Maybe they're trying to check for 128-bit security, but since my browser works on some of their pages (and it's a server side error when it does blow up), my browser is capable of handling their app.
There are many "webmasters" who develop on IE, serve the site with IIS, and either assume or don't know that there are browsers other than IE on windows.
I develop most of my sites using Omniweb (it has the best view source feature I've ever seen), but I test them against IE and Netscape whenever I make major changes. I also check my logs to see what browsers are actually being used (and I appear to be the only non-IE user)
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
Yes, this language is recursively enumerable. But you probably meant to say regular. Recursively enumerable languages are the languages that are decidable by some Turing Machine - that includes a lot of languages. Regular languages are those that correspond to deterministic finite automata, or regexps. There are less of these. (Every regular language is also recursively enumerable, of course.)
This is old news and has been bench marked. Photoshop is made for the Mac specifically, and ported to PC. Thus, your "conclusion" is only logical. Most software designed specifically for one platform and ported to another performs significantly better on it's native platform...I have no idea why you even posted.
Does someone want to modernize Logo for OS X? That would rock! ;)
Ask, and ye shall receive:
ACSLogo for Mac OS X
Quite a few of the Unix geeks I know (and I work at a university so I know plenty) have purchased powerbooks, ibooks, flat panel imacs, and powermacs since OSX came out. Few of them used windows on their desktop/laptop to begin with though.
Now I cannot go to a conference without seeing a ton of powerbooks where there used to be only windows/linux PCs.
Finkployd
You've made your argument based on outdated facts and hearsay. Nice work.
Fact is, my Mac burns CD quite well. I click the "burn" button, and it just happens. I didn't even have to install any software beforehand! Pretty steep learning curve there.
And what if I want to delve into my system more? Well, it's there waiting for me. Remember, it's a BSD variant at heart. I can even recompile my kernel if I want to. That's delving a lot deeper than any Windows user will ever be able to do. Oh yeah, I have a half-dozen different shells on the system, it comes with apache, perl, etc, and you can install the best X11 implementation I've ever seen or heard about with one click.
As for patches and drivers, OS X takes care of that for me (just like WinXP!). Shit just magically works on this system, and it fucking rules.
So next time you want to argue something, check around for some current facts before you put your foot in your mouth.
I don't see why almost everyone on Slashdot is making fun of the idea of switching from the Mac to PC. I was an Amiga (2000, upgraded with a Picasso II+ and a 68060 accelerator) owner, then an iMac owner, and now a Windows user.
Two of my friends switched in the last two years from the Mac to the PC. Both of them were hard-core Mac zealots. One of them is married to a graphic designer, and he himself is a user interface designer, so he was naturally a Mac user for a long time. The other had been a Mac user since he was 10, and was a huge believer that Macs were superior to PCs in any and every way.
Well, eventually MacOS X came out, and my friend the user interface designer basically made the switch to the PC. Why? Because Macs are too expensive, don't provide the benefits they used to (let's face it - there's no difference between using Photoshop and Quark on the Mac vs. the PC any more), and because Apple broke all of its own great user interface rules with MacOS X.
My friend who had used Macs since he was 10 switched to the PC because Macs were just too fucking slow. He had a super-speedy Athlon for much less than a new Mac would cost him. He's a big geek, so he runs Linux most of the time, but he uses Windows for gaming.
And me? I like the fact that Apple puts a lot of thought into how the software works, and how the system works as a whole. I like the fact that the computers are cool looking. But, that is not worth the premium of the MUCH higher cost of Macs (I'm sorry, for what I want to do with my computer Macs are way more expensive). Additionally, I was really, really disappointed by MacOS X's interface. The MacOS had such a great interface, and now it's as lame as Windows. So why pay a premium for it?
On the other hand, a friend of mine who was a PC-zealot (he used to mock my iMac all the time, and thought Mac users were idiots) just visited an Apple Store and has become a total convert. It's fascinating.
Anyway, I guess the point is, it's not ridiculous for people to switch from PCs to Macs, and it's not ridiculous to switch from Macs to PCs. Seriously, different platforms have different advantages. MS showing people who went from Mac to PC is no more ridiculous than showing people going from PC to Mac.
(When I switched from Mac to PC, I found the PC annoying at first. But then I got used to it, and now I find the Mac annoying when I first start using it again. A lot of this is what you're used to.)
I'm not a Mac apologist. I have nothing against Windows in general (beyond the Microsoft business practices), and if a Windows machine ever appeals to me more than a Mac I won't hesitate to switch over. But, as of right now, I am very satisfied with OS 10.2 (on the same machine as your desktop, actually), and this kind of unjustified bashing needs correcting. Some of your statements do have a basis in fact, but the rest just smack of bitterness. ;-)
... It's $99. I think there's a discount or something if you buy a new computer, but I'm not definite. And of course, no one is forcing you to use .Mac. I have a Mac, and I haven't used .Mac since they started charging for it, and it hasn't exactly been a deal-killer.
:-)
- Hardware is still ~40% more than similar PC stuff.
On desktops, probably. Laptops, no.
- Dependablity has dropped to "white box" levels.
This one I haven't seen. Look here. I'm guessing you're the only person who thinks that.
- iMoive et all applications cost $100 per year (to stay up to date)
iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto are all completely free, unless you feel like paying for a CD to be shipped to you. iDVD costs, last I checked, $49, but that's only for computers that ship with an Apple SuperDrive. I don't know where that's coming from.
- blah@mac.com accounts cost $130 per year PER ACCOUNT PER YEAR.
Um
$360 per year for the feeding of a Mac is IMO too much. I resently bought a Toshiba 1115-S103 laptop (1.5Ghz Cel, 20G HD, 256M RAM, WinXP Home and a 14" screen) for $750 (new after $200 rebate). A similar iBook would be $1540 ($1050 + $130 + $360) over two years as opposed to my Toshiba for $900 ($750 + $150 for possible OS update costs).
You can redo the math yourself, but look what you got -- that Toshiba laptop has a Celeron, weighs 7 pounds, and has 2 hours of battery life. You've already considered the OS, so I won't rant about that. If that extra couple hundred dollars is worth it for you, go ahead. I won't dispute your opinion, but your facts could use some help. Sorry for ranting a little (OK, a lot), but unsupported bashing really has no place in a supposedly neutral discussion.
-- shayborg
It's not that they can't do it, its that they shouldn't do it. It's such a blatant rip off of the Apple ads that it makes them seem rather foolish and desperate.
But then, they rip off so much from so many companies, that I think we've come to expect this sort of behavior from MS.
There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
Wow. When I finish counting all the ways that statement was stupid, I'll yell at you. But before I spend the next three months of my life reciting numbers, here's a little useful feedback.
1 - Starcraft has been out for Mac for a long time. In fact, you don't even have to buy two copies to have both the Mac and Windows versions, as they're on the same CD.
2 - Only an idiot would pay "twice as much" for hardware upgrades. The only non-standard part in a Mac is the motherboard and the processor mounted on it.
3 - They don't lock up "once a day" any more than Windows does(more like once a week regularly and ten times in a single day when it's acting up), and judging by your time frame(before the release of SC), I'd wager you haven't even *seen* MacOS X. Don't bash it unless you've tried it.
4 - There are tons of games for the Mac. Unless you're looking for shitty games(like the latest no-name shooter or EQ clone), chances are, you'll find plenty of decent games on the Mac. Hell, there's even a game finder that puts GameSpy to shame called GameRanger.
Next time you troll, try trolling with one or two of your brain cells active.
Yes, the iMacs are dumbed down hardware. That was the point - entry-level computer.
However, my G4 (post-OS X) came with awk, sed, gcc, and vim. I can also add memory just by popping open the side of the computer (which can be done WHILE it's running! Though I do need to shut down to add the memory) and plugging it in. I can change monitors incredibly simply, same as you can with any other PC, and I never have to install a driver (can you say the same?), I can add a boatload of peripherals, including 256 USB or Firewire devices, I don't need to worry about cables since I've got an airport antenna built in (and if I had a new Powerbook, it'd also have 802.11g and Bluetooth), I can add any USB or Firewire peripheral - and if by some odd chance I want serial, I can buy an adapter for less than $10 (and as for SCSI, I have no interest in it, thanks to Firewire - including internal Firewire, thank you), I can put a second internal hard drive in with my eyes closed, add an internal DVD burner(!), swap out the video card (or run two of 'em, like I do now, to support my three monitors), and add a new sound card, or use a Firewire 8-channel interface such as the ones from MOTU or Digidesign.
Yes, the iMac is dumbed down hardware. But don't compare it to real computers, compare it to those super tiny minitowers on the PC side that you can't upgrade either.
For comparison of your expandable system, compare it to my expandable system. Then run my OS in an emulator window on your computer, and really prove that you can do anything, just like me. ;)
-T