Slashdot Mirror
How to Turn Your PC into a Mac
An anonymous reader writes "CNet is running a Mac fanboy's idea of a nightmare feature entitled 'Mock OS X: Five ways to make your PC more like a Mac'. While the idea of turning my PC into a Mac-like machine does get my juices flowing, I'm not sure the user experience would be exactly the same but I'm going to spend this afternoon trying it out anyway. "To borrow a metaphor from Spartacus, some people like oysters and some people like snails. Except what if there was a way to make your snail do some of the cool things oysters can do, like make pearls? And what if you could make your PC do some of the cool stuff that Macs do so well?"" Seems to me that this would be a lot easier if step one was install linux...
Next time I see tripe like this on the firehose I'm going to throw a negative on it, instead of just ignoring it. Get stardock and window blinds? I mean seriously ...
DeskSpace has a much flashier spinning-cube effect for the Apple 'wow' factor, as you can see from the manufacturer's screenshot above.
The thing that I like about most Apple 'wow' factors is they're non-intrusive. Flipping between screens I don't want a 1 second visualization. I do it constantly and it'd get annoying and in my way. When I switch users. I don't mind that extra second because I do it once and it's nice to show that I'm actually switching users.
Way #6: Install Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon. It includes most of this stuff right out of the box and the rest can be added right from Synaptic.
My blog
Why not just buy a mac? seems the easiest option to me
What makes Mac OS X special is not the glitz and glamour on the surface, it's what's underneath. The Cocoa framework for Objective C is head and shoulders above the MFC/Win32 programming approach. it's built on BSD and Mach and is now officially a Unix certified OS. It's built in a logical and elegant way. You can run Linux/Unix apps on it. X11 is included, although an optional install. OpenGl and Aqua make it beautiful to look at. There are literally hundreds of reasons why I prefer it, but won't go into them here.
Simply skinning XP with an' aqua' style skin and adding a dock does not make it anything like OS X. Any more than putting a Ferrari shell on top of a ford doesn't make it a Ferrari.
Install BootCamp with Windows XP.
However, if you're looking to keep her on MacOS because of the security or something else, then you'll need to figure out what specifically she's missing from Windows. Often, with casual users, it's just interface stuff that throws them for a loop, and that can be pretty easy to solve. Does she miss contextual menus (i.e., right-clicking in Windows?)? Get her a two-button mouse or show her the multi-touch trackpad capabilities (like two-fingered click = right-click). Does she miss the Start menu? Set up a folder in the dock with her favorite stuff.
Of course it may be that she just doesn't like using computers, and is using the MacOS/Windows thing as an excuse to avoid them...
Sam! If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.
I'd have modded this comment "funny" (as it was obviously intended) rather than "troll". OTOH I'd have modded the summmary "flamebait" for it suse of the phrase "Apple Fanboy". Actually the whole summary was rather trollish; if the summary was a comment and I was modding I'd mad it "Troll".
I'm not an Apple user; I run XP and Mandriva dual-boot and don't even have an iPod, but that summary was a troll. And the word "fanboy" is flamebait whether you're commenting on Apple, Microsoft, Linux, Be, Sun, or any other OS, company, or organization.
Is a bit of civility in the article summary too much to ask? I wish "drinking from the the firehose" was more like modding than a simple "yes/no".
Taco usually does a better job of editing than this (running jokes aside) but hay, it's Monday after a 4 day weekend. I'll cut him some slack.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
There is nothing wrong with either XP's or Vista's look and feel. Why the hell would you want to make it look like OS X? It seems that if you absolutely love the look of OS X that the best way of obtaining it is to buy a Mac.
People choose Macs for stability and freedom from viruses and other shitware (the reasons we wipe Windows and install Linux) and because some high end graphics programs either aren't ported to Windows or are ported badly./
Of course many of us run Windows free of viruses, malware, and shitware, and with high end graphics program that are ported to Windows, and ported well. We edit video, create books, posters, illustrations, animations, etc. We also realize it's no longer the early 90s.
You are welcome on my lawn.
ObjectDock is garbage, Konfabulator sucks up system resources, and DeskSpaces looks no different than YDOM, which made my system thrash like no tomorrow. (Granted, I don't have a 3D card) I wonder how much StarDock paid to get top billing...
Oh, great and wise Apple guru, what other objects does that action work on? Because so far, I've only found it on the Dock.
And how is my mother supposed to learn this? Right-click is non-destructive (unlike several meta-click combinations on the Mac) and it takes seconds to discover.
When I can insert a commercial Mac DVD or download a Mac .DMG installer disk, run the installer, and run the apps, then I'll have a PC that looks and feels like a Mac.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
people don't choose Macs because of any of the Apple's features
Really?? I guess I must have been imagining it, then, when I chose to use Macs due to their superior UI, their Unix core, their high quality bundled applications, their superior hardware, etc., etc.
Duh.
Am I the only one who's tired of the PC being cast as the boring office-machine while OSX is fun? Or, as the article puts it, "ancient HP WageSlave 486s in strip-lit spreadsheet farms across the world". Not that I give a crap about which OS is more fun...I'm just tired of hearing the same message repeated over and over again. Yeah, I get it, Apple wants me to think PCs are for work, and Macs are for fun.
Less is more. War is peace. 2+2=5.
Whatever.
I'm currently typing this on a Mac, but seriously, gaming has always been way better on the PC than on the Mac, and while OSX comes with better entry-level multimedia-creation tools, on the professional front, I can't think of a single OSX application that doesn't have a comparable Windows-based competitor. It's not like anybody serious about movie or music making would use iMovie or GarageBand, anyway.
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
I stopped reading the article right there.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
If you mean Windows, say "Windows".
Unlike OSX, running all that crap on Vista or XP (stardock, "myexpose", etc) will significantly slow windows down. You can't bolt on a load of [poorly designed] third party apps and say its more like OSX.
Linux can run IE, that doesn't make it "more like windows."
Right, I suppose that's Linux's excuse also. Security is so poo-poo on Mac OS X and Linux that they're only safe because they aren't big enough targets. uh huh.
Look man, Windows security _was_ horrible.... nonexistent. Mac OS X and Linux are not in some security Dark Age just because they haven't had widespread attacks. If/when malware and viruses come to these platforms, they are plenty prepared. There wont be a repeat on the same scale as some older Windows attacks. Vista will have an easier time this generation too. Think where OS security will be however far into the future you think Mac OS X or Linux could be 'big enough' targets.
Some malware can already be adopted to any platform. Trojans, installed to user's home directory, and replication done by using the client's mail application, all while throwing out dozens of pop-up confirmations. The kind of attack vector which will probably exist for another 10 years or so in computing.
There will always be bugs in system software, but as far as being a serious compromise to security, they get fewer and further between. Too many different layers today for the nastier types of stuff that used to fly in the past.
People chose Macs for many different reasons. Some may pick them for stability and freedom from viruses but I suspect most purchase them for other reasons because it would require that the buyer is educated on these things. The percentage of home users who buy computers who know computers is small. Most people buying Macs are probably buying them because their friends recommended them, the case and UI look cool, or because they were in the Apple store already to buy an iPod.
There is some truth to that. TFA featured Windows equivalents of the Dock, Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces, and -- for lack of a better term -- window & desktop skins. None of those will convince Average User to pick any OS over another.
While you do cite stability I would instead describe the reasons people choose a Mac as:
Malware and bloatware is gravy. Aside from viruses, most users take everything else that is evil for granted and are often incredulous as to all the crap (including viruses) that is missing on the Mac; you virtually have to show them a working Mac before they can fully grasp the reality.
Ask your Average User who has any sort of clue why a Mac would be a good choice (and I have asked many over the years) and the typical response is that "it's easier to use" (seriously!) and something like "isn't it good for graphics?"
Easier to use refers to the interface. The Mac interface is (generally) simple, clean, and intuitable (the amount of intuition spread across individuals of the human population is not constant). A person left alone with a Mac will often be able to perform basic tasks with little or no help. Which leads to...
"It just works" means that the Out of the Box experience is virtually painless. The most troublesome is configuring email; it can be for me too but I know what information I need and manage to find it though some ISPs [coughroadrunnercough] do their best to make it difficult to find.
Installing software and peripherals most often goes without a hitch and using them continues to do so. I've known countless numbers of Windows users who simply give up using printers, scanners, mice, and whatever else you can think of; fewer than Mac users to be sure.
"Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein
Why not save up a bit more. You could get a nice iMac.....and with VMWare...well, then you'd have the best of all worlds. You could run OSX apps, you could run windows stuff virtually, and you have a pretty easy run with open source software on OSX too.
This way with a little more $ upfront, you have all the OS'es you want to run, all the apps you will need for awhile, and a system that actually will hold its value for awhile.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You are welcome on my lawn.