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If Mac OS X Came to x86, Would You Switch?
A not-so anonymous Anonymous Coward would like to put this query before you: "I'm not a fan of Windows, and never have been, but I am a fan of the x86 architecture. I really like Linux, but there are still a few issues that are keeping me from switching completely. I really like Mac OS X but I don't want to drop $2000 on a computer that is only as fast as an x86 computer at half the price. Darwin, Mac OS X's unix-ish core, has been ported to x86 and Microsoft's upcoming Longhorn OS seems to be disliked by everyone but Microsoft. If Apple released Mac OS X to compete with Longhorn, would you switch?"
So your kernel is way out of date, and you've probably got a ton of remote exploits!
Mmm, love that Open Source Quality.
Who cares about uptimes? Unless your box happens to be a database server or something, which I highly doubt.
Fuck Yes.
I can't stand the one button mouse. I get so much done with three buttons and gestures that one button would be a productivity hit. My mac booster friend was watching me work the other day. After three minutes or so he said, "Dude, how are you doing all of this without ever touching the keyboard?" One button mouse has to go, then, maybe. I'd like to see Linux on the G5's though.
If you're using BSODs to point out that Windows is the problem with x86, then I hate to tell you this, but neither are you.
Crappy consumer hardware (or drivers) are the cause of almost all BSOD occurances on 2k/xp, and when running on the same hardware, i'd be willing to bet that Linux wouldn't even grant you that much of a courtesy.
I hate to tell you this, but the problem with x86 has always been Windows. The BSOD was not built in at chip level. I'm writing this on a Linux box that hasn't been rebooted since March.
And my Win XP machine which I use for gaming hasn't been rebooted since January or so...I even have a Win NT server on a dual processor box that's been up for almost 2 years now...runs our email, SQL server, print servers, etc...
You can buy a perfectly decent PC for about $400 these days (monitor included). Obviously, it's not high end, but it can do everything a $2000 G5 can do. It might not have the best components, but who cares? You could go through 5 of them and still save money over a G5 -- and generally they last for about as long. If you REALLY care, replace the power supply and the RAM and they'll be just as reliable. If you need 3D, add a nice videocard. The computer will still be a lot less than $700. As far as electricity consumption of CRTs vs. LCDs: unless you use your computer 24 hours a day, the energy difference will be negligible (less than a dollar per month). Monitors spend most of the time in powersave mode anyway.
It's not like Apple has exclusive suppliers or something. They get the same hard drives, videocards, and memory chips eMachines does. Unless you actually care how many cables it has coming out of the back, a cheap PC is a much better value than anything Apple offers, hardware-wise.
While this is a step in the right direction, I believe my previous argument still stands. If I want to replace the mainboard on an imac with an upgraded mainboard, say, from a dual-processor mac tower, then there is nothing to facilitate my doing this. In part, this is because of a lack of standardization in hardware specifications in macs, though this is getting better. However, in the imacs specifically, I believe there is still too much that the user cannot do in terms of taking their machine apart and upgrading it for it to compare favorably with PCs.
That aside, if I were choosing a computer based solely upon how well it matches my Scandinavian furniture, then I would most certainly buy an imac.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
I forgot to mention in my previous post that Apple specifically references this capability on the imac in the context of replacing faulty components, and not in the context of upgrading to newer hardware. While this capability is certainly a good thing, there is reason to believe that you may void the warranty on your machine if you upgrade or replace a vital component on the machine (such as the power-supply or CPU) as opposed to having a licensed Apple technician do it. Overall, I still have to cite the clear advantages of PC or PowerPC towers in this area.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
1) G5 is far superior to X86 in every way in two years X86 wont exist because your winblow will be running on a G5 decendant ( HAL anyone)
2) aplle is commited that all apple approved hardware will work on an apple, you cant do that in a comodity market.
3) if aplle went to anything it would be power4 or spark they are real processors not gamer boxen
4) i want to play my video games ( wawawa) thats why you still lice at your parents have no real job and cant get a date
5) anyone who says XP is an operating system and not the wors blight on humanity need to have a frontal lobotomy.
6) if you dont want winblows and you want to keep your peice of shit x86 get SUSE ive been playing around with it and its quite impressive.
7) whoever posed this question is a compleat moron and anyone who likes windows needs to be shot.
disclamer: i am not a apple fanatic
Maybe everyone is tired of saying it, let me say last time:
/. PLEASE learn, MHZ just means number of clock cycles per second.
" I really like Mac OS X but I don't want to drop $2000 on a computer that is only as fast as an x86 computer at half the price. "
If you are even at levels of story submitting to
Some SGI's we use at broadcast are 600 Mhz machines. So, they must be slow as a P2?
I don't understand all this Driver talk you have.
Clear example. Billionton bluetooth adapter. We fought to install it to my bros XP for CLEAR 1 day. It has a "hack like" installing for XP. Next 2 days passed with installing and making damn Nokia software work. For what? To Sync contacts, upload pictures to PC.
On Mac G5, guess what I did to achieve all? Insert the dongle to my keyboard usb!
I am also _not_ sure if OS X can do all those cool tricks on x86. We are speaking about a vector capable 64bit RISC cpu and years old CISC structure which still tries to emulate 8086.