Slashdot Mirror
After a Decade, Mac Sales Again Top 10%
GMGruman writes "The last time Apple's Mac sales accounted for more than 10 percent of the U.S. PC market was 1991. This spring, Apple finally returned to that market share high, with 10.7 percent of all U.S. PC sales, according to both IDC and Gartner. That's a major reversal from its 2004 share of under 2 percent. The sales report comes after some other good news this week for Apple: A third of big businesses now let employees choose a Mac as their PC — and more than half choose the Mac."
Since when does 20 years = 1 decade?
That's TWO decades.
let me know when you pass 12 percent. silly moderns.
Since when does 20 years = 1 decade?
The title should read "After a Baker's Decade, ...".
#DeleteChrome
Perhaps this method of counting is an attempt to delay Y3K problems?
Am I the only person delighted that they used PC not exclusively in the Windows context? I don't think the Microsoft campaign to make PC == Windows is an accident.
mov ah, 4ch
int 21h
Fortunately, in the real world, apple doesn't do those things, so there's nothing to worry about.
In most of these situations, it isn't your device but often company property and therefore allowed only to run approved applications because it will have access to sensitive company networks. Mac vs windows vs linux security / usability arguments aside, I can see why companies would want to standardize the tools they buy for their employees / have some degree of control over them.
it simply is not OK for a person or computer company to dictate that it can't be changed, what apps are OK or not OK, or how to use YOUR device. Get a clue people.
Fortunately, Apple does not do any of these things with Mac desktops or servers. I'm free to change anything I want, I can run any app I want, and I can use my Mac desktop any way I want. So I'm not really sure what your point is.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
What the hell are you talking about?
Track your TV Shows with your iPhone - FREE
It's measured in some odd recursive binary.
10 in binary is 2
and so it's' recursive like PHP, 10 *2 = 20.
So 20 this is a recursive binary decade.
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
'Clueless' - how apt. You really have no clue about OSX / UNIX do you?
"it simply is not OK for a person or computer company to dictate that it can't be changed, what apps are OK or not OK, or how to use YOUR device." You know we are talking about Macs, right? Please stand up and defend your statement.
Yep, nothing says "locked down" more than bundling an IDE with your OS, along with GCC, LLVM, Perl, Java, Python, Ruby...
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
You can still boot other OSes or run them in a VM, and there's no requirement to use the App Store to get your apps. We're talking Macs, not iOS devices.
Just because people are making a choice you don't like, doesn't make everyone else is clueless.
The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains
Really? Try switching where your window controls are located. I'll wait until you get back.
Apple does not sell servers. The X-serve was discontinued last year, I think.
I wouldn't have expected this in a down economy, considering the mac's premium price. I'm a little surprised.
I'm wondering if part of the explanation is that the PC market has become saturated, with new hardware having much more horsepower than any office user could reasonably take advantage of.
But I have to agree about the uptick in corporations allowing macs, having seen it in my own company.
I'm not a mac fan; I have one at home because my daughter is required to use them at school, but it's always good to see more choices in the marketplace.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Can't you run X and any windowing system you want inside that on a mac? Then it would be very simple.
The only thing i am not understanding is why are the tech magazines online are making that great fuss over the results of one company only over its U.S. sales.
if u.s. is a market of 300 million, china is a market of 1.5 bn. japan is 100 million (and you HAVE to have advanced gadgetry there - cellular phones that cannot display tv broadcasts dont sell - that includes apple's iphones http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/why-the-iphone/ ), the market that is india is another 1 bn, the market that is europe is another approx 500 mn.
and all these markets have either huge volume, or high purchasing power.
and yet, this much stampede is being made over apple reaching 10% share in american market - so much that one would think apple conquered all markets.
or is it some marketing hype in order to make the stocks in nasdaq move ?
Read radical news here
Solaris workstations are still sold. Are workstations not desktops?
and I like people who own flower shops and have big hula hoop earrings.
Apple does not sell servers. The X-serve was discontinued last year, I think.
Apple sells servers, in big tower configurations and in home appliance-like configurations. What they no longer sell is rack mounted servers.
and also uhm...
the conspiarcy side of me says that there is a gigantic education bubble going on, all those 'graphic designers' need macs for their gubmint funded for-profit 'degrees in animation'.
Apple does not sell servers. The X-serve was discontinued last year, I think.
They still have the Mac Mini server for SOHO use. They are out of the enterprise server market, although there's a rumor they are planning a rack mountable version of the Mac Pro. But then there are always Apple rumors.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
They were marketing some of their Macs/Powerbooks as if they could run MS-DOS programs. This somewhat helped. That was false.
You are mistaken. In the 90s some Macs came with a x86 coprocessor card, it was basically a PC in a slot. So yes, Apple did have Macs that could run MS-DOS and Windows just fine back in the 90s.
Fast forward to now, since the x86 macs, they can finally actually run MS-DOS programs. (boot disk of course)
That is also mistaken. You can dual boot or use a virtual machine. As a matter of fact the virtual machine software on the Mac can run Windows from that dual boot partition or a more typical VM filesystem file(s). So if you want to conveniently run some office type app on the Mac desktop you can do so, and when you want to run a game and get full performance you can dual boot rather than emulate.
Babylonians would probably use sixtieths instead of percent, making the milestone 6/60:
The last time Apple's Mac sales account for more than 6 sixtieths of the U.S. PC market was 1991. This spring, Apple finally returned to that market share high, with 6.4 sixtieths of all U.S. PC sales, according to both IDC and Gartner. That's a major reversal from its 2004 share of barely over 1 sixtieth.
"oh wait. their entire build environment is proprietary, as are their build tools." This is one of those statements where one could right an entire essay on how full of shit you are and how and why you are wrong. I'm in a hurry so I'm going to keep it short.
Your statement is full of shit to the point you are not making any sense. Go do some research. Oh crap, did I just feed a troll?
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
> When you are really scraping pennies you want something that will not break all the time, that you can use as long as possible.
Well ok, but would you really expect Fred and Ethyl Mertz to understand this and make decisions based on it? Or is this somewhat of a nerd thing? Or, is it even true? These days, Macs are just PCs running a different OS with a slightly cooler display and keyboard.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
The Apple Store isn't the only game in town for buying Mac service agreements.
Fink page says that the X11 server that comes with Mac OS X defaults to the quartz-wm window manager, which puts the window controls in the same place as the host window system's window controls. And if you switch your window manager in .xinitrc, it'll only affect X11 apps, not Mac apps.
The public school district we lived in back in Ohio exclusively used Windows machines. We moved to Maryland three years ago. Again, the school district exclusively uses Windows. Both of my daughters have complained about this until I finally convinced them that Office on the Mac was compatible with Office on Windows.
That said, my eldest is going off to college in the fall. The university she will attend (St. John's) requires the purchase of a laptop. Students have a choice of being provided a Windows machine for "free" or ponying up $400 more for a Mac.
The first result from Google solaris workstation points to a page about the Sun Ray, not stand-alone desktop computers designed for, say, small office environments
"Try switching where your window controls are located"
you poor tortured soul.
Not to mention they are bringing back the OS X Server with Lion as an add on.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Is that the reason FreeBSD is replacing GCC with Clang/LLVM mostly developed by Apple? No idea what you are talking about right?
The personal computer isn't locked down like that. There is some internal stuff going on that makes it look like that's where Jobs wants to go, but that can change.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Who is this "their" you talk about? I assume you were being sarcastic since I don't have a proprietary build system on my Mac and the build system was provided by Apple. I assume you meant those Windows guys.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Ironically, the grand parent poster outed himself as clueless.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
False economies tend to happen to people (and government agencies) that live paycheck to paycheck. For example, people use expensive check cashing services and payday loans because they lack the minimum deposit and credit history to set up a checking account and credit card.
Why do you think a windows machine won't? I have two windows machines, in use, that are over 6 years old. One of which was a 199.99 Frys special.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The Apple Time Warp alters one's perception of time.
I know its purely anecdotal but I have Apple computers that are PowerPCs and they are still running well without problems. I have several first generation Intel models and I haven't had a problem. During that same period, I've had 1 dead Sony laptop, 3 dead Dell Desktops, and 2 operational but basically worthless Dell laptops due to their cases breaking at key mechanical points (eg hinges, latches, keyboard).
I also haven't had any problems with last year's model of the iMac 27 i7 or the previous year iMac 24 core2 duo. We pretty much went all Mac for all new purchases because of the great experience we have with Apple computers and their excellent customer support. Apple sent us a notice last year to come by the store and fix one of our white macbook chasis for free because they considered some cracking to be a manufacturing defect. I have 2 completely broken Dell laptops that are around the same age, so we didn't consider a crack on a macbook to be that big of a deal.
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
no was just a mistake, i thought i was logged on. I'm not afraid :} repost.
Apple is doing well because they are making cool hardware designs. The imac and mac mini are both sexy. Aluminum feels way better than cheap plastic and the pc designs look old in comparison. OSX is nice and even though you can't change everything in it, it is quite secure and reliable with some nice tools. Apple adopts new technologies faster than PC companies, like EFI, GUID partitioning, mini displayport, etc. You can even dual boot with linux if you really want (i had to do this couldn't live without linux :)). I wrote a simple how to dual-boot on my blog: keithshome.blogspot.com
I'm thinking the editor just had a serious "Jesus- I'm THAT old?!" moment when he realised his mistake (or will do when he will). A bit like realising your favourite music is now considered "retro", or seeing a style of clothing come "back into fashion" which you recognise from the first time round.
I didn't know gcc was proprietary. You learn something new every day.
FWIW Apple has replaced gcc with Clang/LLVM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clang
At what point of Apple market penetration does it make sense to ask whether the bad guys are paying attention and whether Mac is as easily penetrated as Windows (as so many have claimed will happen when there are enough Macs out there).
Is that the Lion share?...
http://refit.sourceforge.net/myths/
I'd be willing to bet that iOS development is a HUGE factor in this... because a lot of houses are wanting to jump on the iOS development bandwagon, and the only authorized way to develop for iOS (and the only way to get an app on iTunes) is by using a Mac for development.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I talked to an IDC analyst when this broke: Apple was at 10.5% back around spring/summer 2010. The difference here is that Apple is likely to keep this spot because of gangbuster sales -- and, of course, Acer's "there are no iPads in Baghdad" strategy of depending way too much on netbooks and cheap notebooks.
In my group we have a high chunk of problems with macbooks, especially with batteries. I wouldn't really categorize them as long-lasting and reliable but maybe it's just a mac-fail cluster here. The other problem I see is that the people who want these macbooks the most tend to want them because they're cool, and thus will be more likely to want upgrades before five years is up.
Personally I'd prefer a Thinkpad with Linux if it could get past the corporate blockade that requires Outlook. Or better yet, no laptop, give me a cheaper/faster tower instead since I rarely go mobile. This is business so there's no reason to give everyone an expensive luxury item like a laptop.
The OS the machine runs has nothing to do with how well the hardware lasts. There are many premium brands of Windows-equipped PC which compete with Apple for the "premium" computing dollars (in addition to the dirt cheap Windows PCs of this world, which still have that market segment to themselves).
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that, in tough economic times, it tends to be the poor who suffer (the ones who would buy the cheapest PCs), while those with a lot of spare cash tend to carry on having a lot of spare cash (If someone on $150,000 a year takes a 10% pay cut, he's still a rich man; if someone on $20,000 a year takes a 10% pay cut, he can't pay the bills). Seeing as Apple have a far greater share of the premium market than they do the budget market, they'll see their overall share of the market go up as long as the budget market is shrinking.
Or you can reformat and install another OS. Apple doesn't force anyone to use OSX.
Dilbert RSS feed
Fortunately, Apple does not do any of these things with Mac desktops or servers. I'm free to change anything I want
How do you configure the dock to auto-hide and reappear with no delay? As it is it takes about half a second to pop up, which is long enough to get annoyed at it. The only thing worse than a laggy UI is a UI with delays deliberately built into it. Ugh.
I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know how to change it. I haven't found any suggestions on the internet.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
4. I don't need to make sure that an antivirus program is installed before I so much as plug in the ethernet cable. To my knowledge there is not one single drive-by (ie: not social engineering) exploit that can p0wn my system by doing nothing more than visiting a web page.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=drive-by+mac+exploit
First result seems interesting. I might consider using antivirus software if I were you.
Fast forward to now, since the x86 macs, they can finally actually run MS-DOS programs. (boot disk of course)
Can you actually run MS-DOS on an intel mac? Is the lack of BIOS support not a problem?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
They may not, but try setting a custom desktop background color on OSX.
Done. Next.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Um, are you implying that setting a custom desktop background color on OS X is difficult? Because that's what it sounds like you're saying.
And no, it's not hard. Like seriously, you have to be literally retarded if you can't do it.
Who honestly cares what other countries do? The only country that matters is the USA. Look at Nokia: they finally got their heads out of their asses and found that out, but it's already too late.
Decay of windows systems is far more to user action than hardware rot. It's easier for a geek to keep a Windows box operational for years than a nontechnical user.
But there is also a hardware quality issue too... it's great that your cheap system has lasted so long but that is not the norm with cheap equipment.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Because, with Apple products being so freakishly expensive here in the UK, it matters.
So funny! Wish I had points!
Huh? I totally missed the "look elsewhere" message. I know they're wanting to go after Prosumers, but FCPX is just like Quicktime X -- a new way of doing things. They bungled the media release, but you can still use FCP until they get X stable and feature complete -- I still use Quicktime instead of Quicktime X all the time. Just remember that they're two different products.
As for the app store, that's a PLUS -- enterprise markets can drop in their own App Store to control what employees install. It allows for variety within the ACLs, while locking down the systems (you can prevent non-App Store apps from being installed by users, and provide different departments with different sets of apps -- and updates are automatic!).
With a more generic laptop you have a choice of types: cheaper, faster, rugged, special purpose, expandable, reliable, media oriented, etc. With Apple you basically just get one choice with relatively minor variations (none of which allow the enterprise IT to fix the hardware).
Well, then it's a good thing that Apple doesn't tell you that you can never change your Mac, has zero control over what apps you can use on it, and has zero control over what you do with it.
/. users are.
It annoys me how clueless
I think that's a good list, but I'd be careful about #4: there's a known 0-day exploit in the Truetype font display library exposed thanks to the iOS OTA jailbreak; it lets you run arbitrary code on both iOS and OS X (same font library, same bug). Beyond that, the FakeAV stuff going around uses drive-by install, so the only bit that hasn't been included is privilege escalation -- and there are already separate kits that do that.
It's only a matter of time before some malicious soul combines all the parts that already exist to drop an OS X friendly drive-by rootkit via an ad banner or SEO poisoned page. Hopefully that time is measured in years rather than weeks, but it's coming, and you'd be better to be prepared than to be one of the many victims.
How do you think Intel Macs can boot XP? Apple's EFI has a BIOS compatibility layer.
The OS, yes. The question is what the hardware will be. Racks full of MacBooks in the datacenter would look cool, though.
Um...yes. You can wipe a Mac clean and install any OS that supports the hardware on it.
What IDE is bundled with OS X? Xcode is a separate download these days, and it's not free unless you have a developer account registered with Apple.
Apparently it's because of iPad sales. They're including pads in the "PC" mix.
Really? Try switching where your window controls are located. I'll wait until you get back.
That didn't take long...
It's a separate install, not a separate download (although it will be with 10.7 Lion)
No developer account necessary, just install it.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
How do you configure the dock to auto-hide and reappear with no delay?
Actually, it seems a LOT shorter than 500ms. My guess is that it is what used to be called a "VBI" task. That is, approximately 1/60th of a second. -Doug
Well, I spent a total of 5 seconds and found this software:
http://unsanity.com/haxies/shapeshifter
I haven't actually used it, but from its description, it sounds like, yeah, actually you *can* change where your window controls are located. And I can only assume that there are other pieces of similar software out there.
And before you say something along the lines of that software not being included with the normal OS, then you're missing the point of OS X entirely, where things aren't a mish-mash disaster of ppl's desktops looking like ugly WinAmp skins, and actually function (gasp!) consistently.
Done.
Done again.
Done a third time.
Do you want me to try and set one outside the colour gamut of the monitor? Perhaps that what you meant by "custom"?
Not here. 1/60th of a second would be 1 frame, which would be an imperceptible delay. I would LOVE that. Mine is much, much slower.
Maybe this has changed since 10.4, I don't have an Intel Mac to try.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Registering a "developer account" is free, but it doesn't give you access to Xcode - you need to belong to either iOS or Mac Development Programs, and they both cost $99.
I'm not sure when they changed it (I remember downloading it for free too), but the most recent version of XCode was a $5 purchase on the Mac App Store for me. It really doesn't appear to be free any more.
--- Bwah?
Cool story bro.
Yes, I should have been more specific. The version you'll find on OS X DVDs is Xcode 3. Xcode 4 is a separate (and non-free) download.
Not that I mind that - $5 for a full-fledged IDE is still insanely cheap - just something to keep in mind.
Xcode 3 is (and will always be) free for all OS X users.
Xcode 4 will be free for OS X Lion users.
It would be nice if Xcode 4 was free for everybody, but it's hard to complain about their software pricing ($5 by itself, free with $30 OS or $99 MSDN-like developer program)
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
They aren't killing me (I have dev membership, as a matter of fact), but something is either free or it's not.
They may not, but try setting a custom desktop background color on OSX.
Uhhh, seriously? I'm starting to understand that posts like this, and dislike of Macs in general, are steeped in sheer ignorance.
Imagine a Bewoulf cluster of those...
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
Apple does not sell servers.
Every current Mac model (and most of them going back to 2007) will be able to run Server when it comes out next week or the week after. Even a white Macbook can be a "server". This is going to freak people out and really confuse the hardcore nerds around these parts.
More RAM, perhaps? Mine appears instantaneously (Macbook Pro, i7, 8GB RAM).
Xcode 3 is free. 4 is what, $5 or so?
You forgot the most awesome "don't forget" of all time. Less space than a nomad. No wireless. Lame.
Mine on 10.4 has just enough delay to allow you to put desktop icons there, and use them, before the dock pops out over them. maybe 500th's of a second or so.
Now I don't hide the dock since I use widescreen monitors. I just hang it on the side and be done with it.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
This is why I love Slashdot. I read the summary and think "20 years is 2 decades, you fools", then the first post says exactly that.
Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results
Newb. I have a half-dozen RIGHT NOW.
It would be interesting to see how Apple stacks up in Asia, where the PC market is still growing at 12% per year...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Fast forward to now, since the x86 macs, they can finally actually run MS-DOS programs. (boot disk of course)
Can you actually run MS-DOS on an intel mac? Is the lack of BIOS support not a problem?
Parallels Desktop lists MS-DOS as a supported "Guest" OS. So, I guess so, eh?
The question is what the hardware will be.
As I understand it, one could fit two Mac mini servers onto 1U of 19" rack with enough space around them for air to circulate.
That is the worst argument against a MacBook Pro I've ever heard.
My Linux is fun. I grew up on a PowerPC Performa and had an iBook until 2 years ago, it was dull and believe me i found every space to tinker in. Even had an alternate DE running OpenStep, with Mozilla, etc, but the packages available through Fink were so limited you really couldn't make that much out of the BSD underpinnings.
Right, because OSX is so customisable, Though i only used OSX untill 10.4, i remember the leanghts you had to go to just to auto-hide the menu bar.
Yes Apple are evil, but:
Seeing as Microsoft have all but given up on the corporate desktop with Windows Vista/7 I suspect we will see more of this.
And I think it's a good thing.
Not that more Macs are being purchased, but that corporations are stepping out of this Microsoft monoculture. Now if they can just avoid the Apple monoculture during this transition we may yet see more corporations with Linux desktops. I know where I work we give newcomers the option of Linux/Mac/Windows, and the response probabilities are roughly descending in that order.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
http://www.macworld.com/article/133297/2008/05/solidcolors.html Last time I used OSX, it wasn't like you could pick an arbitrary background color. You had to do what the article describes. Now, if that's changed, then I am misinformed. But it's not like it was "Click here to chose an arbitrary color" easy on my Mac. Rather, you were presented with Apple's pre-defined selection of solid colors.
It can't run it legally, and you're very likely to have issues with hardware unless you very carefully buy each component to work properly.
I don't like Apple's high prices or the fact that they make it difficult to use OSX on a non-Mac computer, but you have to understand that Apple is in the hardware business, not the software business. The only way they can make the margins that they do is by keeping OSX exclusive to their hardware. There's also the added benefit (from Apple's perspective) or detriment (from the perspective of someone wanting to run OSX on non-Apple hardware) of not needing to support hardware configurations outside the scope of the few configurations they sell.
Then it's really worth forking out for one of there over priced, underspeced, unibody, yuppie magnets.
Certainly not GNU Linux.
Right, you just reserve the privilege to pay for it all.
For now.
Sadly, this means there will be more of them to come here, we will be able to recognise many of them by the 'mac' they like to factor into their handles.
Lets just see how many more comments this trivial apple related tidbit garners compared to the news that GNU Hurd is about to hit, backed by Debian, no less. Lets go there, and talk about that. I'm bored of the flame war, not that i haven't let of a few blasts of my thrower.
Of all the customizations you could have picked that are difficult or impossible on OSX, you picked one of the easiest ones there is. Here's one that actually is, to my knowledge, impossible or at least extremely difficult: changing the font size on the menu bar. While it doesn't affect me, this would be a huge issue to someone who is visually impaired. And no, changing the resolution to something lower than native resolution is not the proper solution.
There are also lots of other things you can't change, from the purely cosmetic (changing the appearance of the title bar, for instance) to the incredibly annoying (OSX spewing ._ and .DS_Store files all over network shares), to the unsolvable without a $20 program (the awful mouse acceleration curve that makes it feel like you're dragging your cursor through mud).
Let's face it: the people who made OSX envisioned exactly one way to do almost everything, and if you don't like that way of doing it, tough shit. I own a Mac, and it was a very frustrating experience after years of solely using Linux. I still have (and use) my Mac, but I regularly run into issues where the only answer is that there is no solution. That said, I still prefer it over Windows. Windows may be a bit more customizable, but I can't productively use any machine without a real terminal. The Windows command prompt is merely a toy shell in comparison. (Yes, I know there's Cygwin, and I do have it installed on the machines that have a Windows partition, but I seldom have a reason boot into Windows anyway).
Side note: Why is it that every stupid little program on OSX costs $20? A tool that would be freeware on Windows or open-source on Linux, that does just one thing, seems to invariably cost about $20 on OSX. It's absurd. Oftentimes, I can write a shell script in minutes that does the same thing as a $20 program, minus the GUI. It seems that Mac still has the reputation of being for people with too much money, and every lousy shareware vendor wants their piece of the pie.
I know its purely anecdotal but I have Apple computers that are PowerPCs and they are still running well without problems. I have several first generation Intel models and I haven't had a problem. During that same period, I've had 1 dead Sony laptop, 3 dead Dell Desktops, and 2 operational but basically worthless Dell laptops due to their cases breaking at key mechanical points (eg hinges, latches, keyboard).
I'm the main tech support for my extended family who all used Windows computers. Pretty much every weekend I was cleaning up one computer or another, fixing both hardware and software issues.
I finally got fed up with it and convinced each one to convert over to Mac as their computers died out. Now they all run Macs and I rarely have to do anything. It's pure heaven!
Yes, the Macs do have the occasional issue but they are much easier to use and they rarely break down. Even when they do break down it usually a quick fix and the machine is back in action.
I'm sure that there are plenty of Windows users out there who have very few problems with their machines but for the ordinary person a Windows machine can be very fragile.
Sapere aude!
Is requiring that you create a transparent .png file, or your own set of color swatches, really that easy though? Compared to how easy that task is in even earlier versions of MacOS, and certainly in Windows and any Linux window manager I've ever used, it seems asinine to ask the most basic of users to create custom images - even once - in order to make desktop background a color specifically of their choosing. Not impossible like some other tasks are, sure, but it's not a one step process like it should be, and requires that you have the software on your computer to create the necessary image. Which can actually make the task pretty damn impossible in some situations. I had a projector connected eMac running 10.4 back when 10.4 was the latest version of OSX, and I wanted to set the desktop color to black so that if I was switching between a powerpoint presentation and a DVD for instance, the projector would only show black. That machine had no image editing software installed, and was not network connected in any shape or form. Therefore I had to use another machine in order to create a black PNG file to use as my background color, because black wasn't among the palette of choices Apple offered out of the box. (Transparent would have worked to enable any color, but I only needed black in that specific case). So, given only that computer, with what came on it, I could never have changed my background to black.
And frankly, if it's easier than that to do I'd actually really like to know how, because it was one hell of a pain in the ass, and if there are other options, then either they're newer than 10.4, or so undocumented I haven't heard about them in copious Google searches since.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)
please let me know when you can compile a good portion of these 'open source releases':
http://www.opensource.apple.com/release/mac-os-x-1068/
opendarwin failed partly because Apple did not release its build system or proper source code for its tools.
the pure darwin folks (http://www.puredarwin.org/) are just now seeing the "dawn" of network support.
if darwin were 'open source' i dont think it would take 10 years to get an open source OS based off of it to have networking support (compare with redhat and whatever the free derivative is)
or ask the OpenDarwin people before them.
and does your mother know you talk like that ?
ask the OpenDarwin and PureDarwin people... its been 10 years, where is the open source OS based off apples core?
No, but I'd like you to list the steps required to set your background to an arbitrary color, say... RGB=(76, 43, 25)
In Windows, it'd be:
1) Right click on desktop
2) Click personalize
3) Click "Desktop Background"
4) In "Picture location:" chose "Solid Colors"
5) Click "More..."
6) Type in the RGB values into the color picker
7) Press OK
--- at this point the desktop color will have changed, the full desktop will be this one specific color. ---
8) Press "save changes" to actually commit the changes.
8 steps, a fairly logical and intuitive procedure, narrowing down from the desire to personalize the look, to selecting the specific solid color. No outside applications, no transparent images, and that procedure will work on a fresh install, with no network connectivity.
I'm pretty sure it's not that easy on OSX.
Last time I used OSX, it wasn't like you could pick an arbitrary background color. You had to do what the article describes. Now, if that's changed, then I am misinformed.
1. Run Safari
2. Google Image solid color blue
3. Right-click on an image and choose "Use Image as Desktop Picture"
It's a little obscure but simple. I think most people will use images off the web for desktop backgrounds anyways so this might be more intuitive for the masses than for tech people.
Sapere aude!
Now, do that on a machine without an internet connection.
Now, do that on a machine without an internet connection.
Now you're just coming up with arbitrary roadblocks. This is the year 2011, nearly every computer is connected to the internet at some time or another. Yes, this trick doesn't work in every single case but it's good enough for the vast majority.
The original argument was:
No one can argue that Macs have a beautiful interface but it simply is not OK for a person or computer company to dictate that it can't be changed...
This has been proven to be false. Yeah, it might not be as customizable as some people would like but it CAN be changed.
Sapere aude!
Or maybe they're steeped with having faced real world problems with no expedient solutions. It is very difficult to set a custom specific solid desktop color in OSX when there is no internet connection, and no paint-like program on the machine. If you know how it would be possible, please let me know, because it's come up rather frequently in the circles I'm in, and I can offer no help. I admit that with the internet, or a paint-type program, it's not a huge problem. It's not as convenient as just letting the user use a damn color picker in the desktop customization control panel, but it's pretty doable.
Barely any church I've ever been to has an internet connection for the computer that's connected to their computer. Many of these churches use macs. Many summer camps that I've been to do not have internet connections for the computers connected to their projectors, some have no internet connections at all on the property. This is 2011, and when you're connecting a computer to a projector, being able to set the desktop background color to black is pretty damn useful, as it's not considered professional to see pictures of your family or whatever when you close PowerPoint or something. And as black isn't one of the predetermined colors given to you by Apple... it's not an arbitrary roadblock, it's a roadblock I've actually had to deal with many many times. So many times that I generally have a 32x32 black png file on my memory stick just in case a mac user needs a black background.
Not just "running a different OS with a slightly cooler display and keyboard". The build quality of Macs (particularly the laptops) utterly destroys the build quality of any (brand name) PC. They do seem to be tougher, and last longer (on average). Plus, OSX is an operating system that doesn't seem to suffer the same degree of 'it gets slower over time' as Windows does (though Win 7 isn't too bad in this regard). An OSX machine seems to be able to be abused by a clueless user for longer, in my experience, with less maintenance required.
Note that I don't own a Mac myself but I do recommend them to people like my parents etc. I get around the crappy build quality of most PCs by assembling my own and using high-end cases and components. But that's not the average user out there. For the average user, a Mac will last them longer than a typical cheap HP or Dell Windows PC.
After being called a "Apple Fanboi" several times here, I guess it's time to show my true colors. Yes, I like my iPad; it's a great piece of hardware and I use it frequently.
But I do not own a Mac - and wouldn't own one. They're OK in their way, but they're a PC with training wheels that you can't take off.
Is the popularity of the iPad leading to increased Mac sales? Maybe; if so, I hope the new owners are happy with what they bought.
Me, I'm using a Windows desktop and a Windows laptop - and an iPad. Each serves its purpose; why do people here bicker about "who made it" instead of "how well does it do its job?"
On a related note, it's not mentioned in this article summary, but according to the figures in the reports, the PC market declined overall by 4-6%.
Most people don't want to maintain a computer. The ambition of appliance computing has finally arrived. You think the little bubble you're living in represents the real world, but people like you who think that technical control is a top concern are a trivial niche, like a smug user of a manual transmission looking down on people who use automatic transmissions.
And as black isn't one of the predetermined colors given to you by Apple... it's not an arbitrary roadblock, it's a roadblock I've actually had to deal with many many times. So many times that I generally have a 32x32 black png file on my memory stick just in case a mac user needs a black background.
Cute little trick:
1. Open terminal
2. sips -c 1 1 ~/Library/Desktop\ Pictures/Solid\ Colors/Solid\ Gray\ Dark.png --out ~/Desktop/small.png
3. Right-click on desktop, choose "Change Desktop Background..."
4. Drag small.png to the "well" above the list of images.
5. Choose "Center" from the drop-down to the right of that
6. Click on the color button to the right of that and pick a color.
The sips command crops an image to 1x1, in this case I used the darkest solid color Apple has, and creates a new file with that one pixel. You can then put that single pixel on the screen and color the background to whatever you want. You'll have a single pixel of the original image in the middle of the screen but it's good for a pinch in your presentation scenario.
Yeah, this is not for a non-tech user but it's good for the times you don't have that black png handy.
Do I think that it's an oversight for Apple to not make this an easier task? Sure but it's not holding me back from using the platform. It's a fairly minor issue. Bug Apple about it, they actually do listen!
Sapere aude!
Try doing it on Windows. Or Ubuntu, for that matter.
(+1, Disagree)
You never heard of Steve Jobs' reality distortion field?
Seriously, get that aspergers treated. There are lots of reasons to dislike Apple and Mac OSX, but desktop backgrounds is not one of them.
This. I've had my current iMac since early-mid 2007 and it is perfectly fine for everything that I do (development-wise and all). Of course, I have upgraded the harddrive and maxed out the memory. Plus all of the extras (AudioUnits/graphics capabilities/pre-packaged apps) that come with Mac make it more than worth the price.
The problem is, you're making an assumption that setting the desktop to a very specific solid colour is something people actually give a shit enough about to compromise the UI for setting desktop pictures.
1) You can trivially set the desktop to one of many neutral patterns, to a selection of solid colours, to a variety of interesting images that don't interfere with the contents of the desktop.
2) Most users want an image on their desktop.
3) Adding the ability to set a colour requires a more complex UI on the settings pane.
4) If you're really that bothered, you can set it by creating a 1x1px image of your pet colour.
Basically, you're making an issue sound about a billion times more significant than it actually is, and you're not considering all the design decisions that went into it. Maybe the 3 extra steps to set a specific solid colour as your desktop really do make Mac OS totally unusable for you, but if that really is the case, I'd suggest you have bigger problems.
Many more than that – you can fit them 2 side by side, and 3 deep, with still plenty of room all around – hell, you could even squeeze a switch for them down the side if you needed to.
No, Xcode 4 – the Lion IDE is a $5 download for Snow Leopard users. Xcode 3 is still free for SL users, Xcode 4 will be free for Lion users.
Requires Mac OS X 10.4.x
NOT compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 Leopard.
Of course, it and all of Unsanity's other Haxies works by binary-patching programs and libraries to intercept function calls and modify program behaviour, so they're pretty much always broken by major OS releases anyway. They're a great big ugly hack.
The simplest way is to right click on the dock and open preferences, the little more complicated way is to go into the apple menu and choose system preferences and go to the dock ;D ... ... my dock pops up instantly. As a workaround I think you could configure a function key to let it pop up. Also google for "Mac tweaker" or similar there are tweaking tools to change nearly everything you can think about (95% of all "parameters" are somewhere in config files, there is basically nothing hard coded on a Mac)
Wow, that was easy
Hm, you have a pop up delay which you can not change? That is strange
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Nevertheless it is included on the install disk of EVERY Mac! You only have to install it seperately, it is not installed by default when you first time install your OS. ;D
However you are right, the latest XCode is download onyl, $4 I think it costs
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Funny you mention the color picker. Although it isn't available in the system preference for desktop "solid colors", it is available SYSTEM WIDE in pretty much any application that uses a color picker. Perhaps there are some apps that don't, but even the cheap and free tools I've downloaded from the Mac App Store (and shareware before that) have this capability, because it's built into the OS, unlike Windows. I'll refrain from commenting on other OSes, because I don't know about those.
But too your point, I do find it one of the great ironies of the computing world that Mac OS X doesn't have a simple "paint" program yet it's the computer of choice for us artistic types. Maybe it's because we don't need a cheap paint tool because we have the high end tools already?
It's like Apple doesn't even try. I mean they have the great built in system wide alpha channel magic wand tool right in Preview, but you can't then fill the selected area with the trusty old paint bucket. Weird, that.
Seemed pretty easy to me. Four steps. Half as many as on Windows, so you're correct that it isn't 'that easy' on OS X.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Here's one that actually is, to my knowledge, impossible or at least extremely difficult: changing the font size on the menu bar. While it doesn't affect me, this would be a huge issue to someone who is visually impaired. And no, changing the resolution to something lower than native resolution is not the proper solution.
Changing the resolution is exactly what you want to do. Not changing the number of pixels, changing the DPI setting. With 10.5 and later, this can be done via the developer tools. With 10.7 there's a simple UI for it. Oh, and you can change it either globally or per application. If you set the zoom to 150%, for example, vectors like fonts will be rasterised 50% larger, bitmaps will be scaled.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
They understand well enough if you buy a cheap crap Toshiba laptop it's unusable within a year and it's usually cheaper to throw it away than pay a tech repair it.
If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
Well ok, but would you really expect Fred and Ethyl Mertz to understand this and make decisions based on it?
Fred and Ethel both died before the Mac or IBM PC came out.
What's not built in to Windows? The color picker? You'd be wrong about that.
just as an anecotal counterpoint, my dad runs two x86 machine in his vet practice, both have been running since late 1995 for near 12 hours a day, one's a 486dx2, the other a pentium 60mhz. The pentium required a few new cpu fans (there is only so much runtime a bearing can take on those 40mm fans), and both machines need a good vacuming every 2-3 years, but thats about it.
People, what a bunch of bastards
You are ignorant and stupid, truly living up to your chosen handle. Apple's OS for Macs is called OS X, not OS X. OS X is a certified implementation of Unix. As of 10.5, if I remember correctly.
Typos are fun.
Apple's OS for Macs is called OS X, not OS X.
That should read "Apple's OS for Macs is called OS X, not OS/X."
No, what I said is that when you are using the color picker in one application, you can't pick colors from outside of that application's windowed environment. OS X lets you pick system-wide. Maybe MS Paint lets you do this, but Adobe Photoshop, for example, doesn't. Third party apps in OS X do. My experience with the major tools (Adobe, Microsoft) on Windows is you can't because it's a limitation of the OS.
In Windows, in Adobe CS3, 4, and 5 at least, when you go outside of the current application's window, the color picker changes from the color picker back to the windows pointer. Maybe it's a shortcoming on Adobe's side, but that would be an awfully large shortcoming by the industry leader. In OS X, when you go outside of the current application window, the color picker remains, letting you pick a color from a web browser page and then use it in photoshop, for example. I'm pretty sure this is due to the different paradigms that Windows and OS X take towards windows management. Windows favors full screen single windowed environments for the most part, or windows minimized to the task bar, while OS X prefers a forest of floating windows.
Anecdotally, I say you're lying. It's theoretically possible for a small group of related people to have so many problems with one manufacturer, but I suspect you're just making it up. Or you live about 4 feet under water and forgot to mention that they all died due to saltwater damage.
Macbooks are simply another choice in the mix. Good quality and the ability to (legally) run OS X. If you don't want the features, don't pay for them. Buy a Toshiba or a Dell. It doesn't matter. Treating Apple computers as if they are not just another choice in the PC market is so 1990s.
I've had my current Macbook since 2005. (The first two I purchased in the same year were stolen.) I still don't feel a need to trade it in. Many adults who by Macs hold on to them until they die or they need to run a newer version of OS X that isn't supported on the older hardware. My laptop will be running Lion before the end of the month. Kids and teenagers want to trade in often, but that's true for everything they own, including cars.
$89 - Win 7
Where are you finding a copy of retail Windows at that price? Microsoft says you can't use OEM Windows in a PC that you build for your own use.
If I don't care and I buy it, who gives a rip? If I wanted complete control, I would have installed Linux.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Cmon guys! We geeks should know that 20 years = 1 decade for very large values of "decade". It's like you guys never took Calculus. ;)
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Apple Mac OS X is in fact "actually" Unix: http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/technology/unix.html
They paid the fees for the testing and certification, and made what few API and kernel changes were necessary for the certification back when 10.5/Intel was released. (They never certified the PPC edition)
Also, can you provide a reference for your assertion that it's called "Apple OS/X"? I've been using the platform in a technical capacity for many years and never before seen it written like that, either in marketing or tech docs.
Now they all run Macs and I rarely have to do anything. It's pure heaven!
Until you find them trying and failing to use Wine for Mac OS X to run an application designed for Windows that has no close substitute designed for Mac OS X. The fact that more Windows-only apps exist than Mac-only apps is part of why Macs get rated lower in "versatility" in Consumer Reports tests.
For less than 200 more than a netbook you can get a much more powerful laptop that weighs about the same.
But how large is it in surface area? Sometimes I want a computer that fits in my bag, and as far as I can tell, that means a 10" screen.
Netbooks will never disappear
What makes you so sure of that? There used to be home computers designed to connect to a TV back in the 8-bit microcomputer days. But as the market shifted toward IBM-compatible PCs with enhanced-definition (VGA) or high-definition (XGA) monitors capable of displaying more and more text, the concept of connecting a computer to a television pretty much disappeared. From the 1990s on, it was a rarity to see SDTV output on PCs. Even with the new HDTVs with VGA and HDMI inputs that can display PC video, the public is convinced that TVs are for the living room and PCs are for the desk and never the twain shall meet.
Well for the price you pay for the things they darn well BETTER last longer than PC's!!
The newest version of Xcode is $5. The older version is still available if you have your system disc.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Ha! Now that made me laugh!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
My mid-year 2007 iMac is on its third logic board. And I ain't the only one:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1516765?start=0&tstart=0
Apple replaced it twice under AppleCare, but that has run out. Seems likely it will blow again in less than a year. I highly doubt I'll be buying another Mac. I didn't pay "the Apple premium" for hardware to die this quickly, this often.
You do realize that you can in fact buy a new bag, right?
First, this means the $200 price differential between a netbook and a lightweight full-size laptop is in fact more than $200 in practice: it's $200 plus the price of a new bag. Second, I'm under the impression that a larger bag is more attractive to thieves who guess that a valuable laptop is more likely to be inside. Third, a larger laptop is more awkward to pull out while riding a crowded bus to and from work or to and from the store.
the public is convinced that TVs are for the living room and PCs are for the desk and never the twain shall meet.
There is a whole class of PCs SPECIFICALLY designed to connect to your television, they are called home theatre PCs.
I am aware that the class exists. But even though the class exists, the public isn't convinced that it exists. Statisticaly nobody is buying them, if previous comments (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) are to be believed. I can't even find them in Best Buy; instead, the sales associate directs me to the Xbox 360 or PLAYSTATION 3 section.
I didn't have a problem (except for one word), but then I hang out on other forums with people of various nationalities, which means varying English skills. I'll insert punctuation and fix spelling errors:
Macs don't cost a premium price.
While you certainly can buy a cheap PC somewhere, most people end up buying some non-cheap PC that's close in price to a Mac or even more.
And to you people bragging about prices and premiums all the time, try to understand once and for all: A Mac does NOT RUN WINDOWS. Someone who had a Windows PC for 15 years or more is obviously so tired of this bullshit OS that he'd like to switch away. A Mac is the first thing coming to mind then.
And why you call this "a down economy" is beyond me. Economy is soughring [sic] like mad right now ...
Hmm, I think my point was mixed. However I don't remember what it was either... Anyway, Macs are fine as a choice I wasn't arguing against that, if it's what you want and need as opposed to being peer pressure into believing macs are always perfect.
Also, compiling custom code is a lot simpler (gcc program.c) than setting up and dealing with either Visual Studio (and it's odd licensing for redistribution and compiler quirks) or Cygwin.
Which is why I've preferred MinGW instead of Cygwin. MinGW is a straight-up port of GCC to Win32 without Cygwin's copylefted POSIX emulation baggage. It's often used with MSYS, a lighter-weight port of GNU Coreutils and Make used to run build scripts.
Never said it was; I wouldn't buy one.
Dilbert RSS feed
So why do you expect a platform specific window to be affected by an X11 windows manager?
I guess some people expect all operating systems providing the POSIX API and a GUI to use the X Window System natively, despite that this is not in fact the case in Mac OS X and Android.
I mean come on. Troll?
It does not mean "-1 disagree"
For one thing, Boot Camp increases the price of a Mac by $200, the price of a copy of retail Windows, making Apple products look even more overpriced. For another, the copy of Windows still needs to be patched and kept clean of malware, bringing some of the alleged fragility back.
Really, cos when I asked a question about it on the forums, it was deleted. And at that point, it was fairly early on in the problem so I was actually rather polite about it too.
Really, cos when I asked a question about it on the forums, it was deleted.
The forums aren't for suggestions or product feedback, they are for help with bugs and such. If you want to submit a suggestion you have to go to the right place:
General Mac OS X feedback
Other product feedback pages.
I've had some of my ideas incorporated into Apple products. I probably wasn't the only person who suggested them but the point is that Apple does improve their products based on customer feedback.
By the way, from what I hear this feature is already incorporated into Mac OS X 10.7.
Sapere aude!
What, NOBODY remembers the Apple soldering fiasco??
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
If their previous computer came with the OEM version of Windows XP or Windows Vista, then technically that license can't be transferred to a Mac. Part of what makes the retail version of Windows more expensive is that it includes the option to transfer a license when a computer is decommissioned.
There's a difference between wanting to have a black desktop and not wanting to look unprofessional by having pictures of your family on your desktop. If you mean that you don't want folder clutter on your desktop, then.... put your shit away! If you mean you don't want some garish photo as your desktop BG... then DON'T USE A PHOTO AS YOUR DESKTOP BG!!! Jesus Christ, this isn't a hard problem to deal with. The level of whining from people because their one retarded "problem" isn't solved is really unbelievable. Whether your desktop BG is black or not seems like a very arbitrary problem that you're causing yourself. If you want it to be black, then fine, do what you're already doing. But seriously... just stop talking.
Yep, he has one very specific thing he wants to do, and it takes a few extra steps, so the entire OS is garbage. Pretty much standard on /.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Oh, they'll just bitch that it costs money, and every little thing that every single thing for every single person in the world should be done "their way." How many things could be brought up about Windows and Linux? Oh, wait, this is /.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Using old hardware and old OS versions is not exactly a valid complaint when the new stuff works just fine.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Did you read what the guy uses? It's over 7 years old- no Intel & running OS 10.4. Yeah, great argument there.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
After all your replies I've read, you really got a hardon for Darwin, don't you?
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Score!
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
The best part about it is that I don't have to worry about the Genuine Microsoft (or whatever it's called) that pops up occasionally on my wife's computer. Hell, my sister rebuilt her system with my Snow Leopard disc no problem (she only had Leopard). But Apple is so draconian in whatever random thing someone wants to whine about, most of which no one really cares about.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
I tried upgrading my microwave with the "Toaster Implant Upgrade," but it kinda of blew up. I think it was manufacturer compatibility issues.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
then you download the source.... surprise, you can't compile it.
thats what im upset about.