Well, that only says that the Mac platform has reached enough maturity to have all the apps you need. Which is good for them and for you, I guess. But that doesn't say anything about the availability and quality of Windows software. Just sayin'...
I've had tons of problems, but most of the time it was my fault for going for the not so official means of obtaining games. I won't complain about that:)
The only game I've bought, Starcraft 2, was pretty straight forward to install, but took some fiddling around to make it work optimally on my mid to low end GPU. No big deal for me, but I see why some people who don't know about shadows, textures and reflections might think that their PC from two years ago is a lousy gaming machine.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating consoles. Actually I find them useless. I'm just suggesting some reasons people might like them. You'll never have RTSes on consoles (my favorite type of games), from my limited time on a friend's Xbox, FPS are unplayable without serious hand-holding from the game, Kinect is just too family friendly and makes everything too easy and the Wii controller is just gimmicky. So, for me consoles are a big no-no. But then again, different people, different needs.
When current gen consoles came out you had to shell out a lot of money to get an equivalent PC in terms of gaming performance. That's because the hardware and software are highly optimized to run games. Also there are just a few configurations that developers have to target (which leads to further optimization). Don't forget the fact that consoles are also heavily subsidized in the hope that they'll make their money back out of game purchases. At the moment, I guess current consoles are kind of behind the times in terms of hardware and you could build an equivalent gaming PC for about $500-$600, but this argument won't stand for very long considering that everybody is prepping their next gen machines.
Next, there's the fact that everything just works. No 15 minute installs and dicking around with options. You put the disk in and it works. Don't forget that most people are scared of complicated electronics like PCs. This is pathetic, considering the huge role computers have in our lives, but that's an entirely discussion altogether.
Lastly, it's the fact that consoles also are socializing tools. It would be pretty hard for Joe Sixpack to setup his PC in his living room both as a work machine and also as a gaming machine and get some extra controllers for his friends.
So, to conclude, consoles make sense because people are bad at technology or lazy and because they offer a better cost/result ratio due to subsidizes and heavy platform-specific optimizations. That being said... there's a torrent [piratebay.se] of possibilities to get games from not so-official channels. If you take that into consideration, then a PC is a much better deal.
3 to 5 years? Are you crazy? This is why we had this mess with IE6 - because of companies and people that were too lazy or too incompetent to make a browser agnostic standard compliant solution.
it takes 6-12 months to do full regression testing
People complain that everything in Java must be a class, but that is a good message to pound into the mind of the noob - we don't need any more aspies banging out unreadable C monoliths.
You know that everything you do with OOP, can also be done with procedural programming... Also you can write messy code, no matter what programming paradigm you choose.
I don't think that you should write every library you use from scratch, but I think that, if you consider yourself a programmer, you should be able to it if the need arises.
Thanks a bunch... Now all I have to do is decide whether I want to void my warranty or wait and pray that Samsung will eventually release ICS for the Galaxy S:)
My device came with Froyo so I don't know about Eclair, but Gingerbread brings better battery life on my Galaxy S and also a nice battery profiling tool. Also it looks a little better. Probably there are other features and security updates I don't know about.
Same in Romania... everybody has a Yahoo Messenger account (which BTW is a horrible application) and all the clueless people (most people) have a Yahoo Mail account as their main account.
The idea that Windows keyboard shortcuts are correct and Mac OS ones are wrong is just moronic. Neither is wrong or right - they're just different. Note that Mac OS keystrokes came first. Most of the Windows ones are the same, but with using the CTRL key, because Microsoft copied them yet didn't have an Apple Command key.
Which one sounds sane: Ctrl+Down to open (a 2 key combination to do the most used thing on a computer) and Enter to rename, or Enter to open (the key's name is Enter after all and is one of the biggest keys on the keyboard) and F2 to rename (still a one key shortcut, which is not necessarily easy to discover, but easy enough to use once you know it).
Note that Mac OS keystrokes came first.
So we should all be using Xerox and CP/M shortcuts because they came first? I vote for sensible and popular. I'm not bothered because Apple thinks that some shortcuts might work better, but for fuck's sake... offer an option to change them.
As to defrag, again that's your preconceived Windows idea.
Ok, maybe it doesn't need defrag, although I don't understand why it shouldn't, but it was really, really slow and the HDD was grinding all the time. After reinstallation with the exact same apps and data on the disk it flew. If you have another theory I can't wait to hear it.
Vuze is explained below in another post.
Mac OS isn't perfect, but it's so much better than Windows.
Maybe for you. The marketshare of Windows says otherwise for the rest of the world.
Really? So what are all those options in the System Preferences tool that let you change things?
It's really not enough. The mindset of OS X and the app ecosystem is broken from this point of view. Most apps have 5 to 10 times less options than their Windows or Linux equivalents. If most people don't need to fine tune applications that doesn't mean that ALL people don't need to do that. Usually power users and content creators will need to do that in order to be more efficient in their work. If you want just to consume content then the Mac is just fine, but then again, you can do that for less money with an iPad or an Android tablet.
It's not that you're trying to configure OSX to be like Windows is it?
No, I'm trying to make OS X sane. I'm in no mood now to make a list with all its design flaws and problems. These are not because Apple is stupid, it's because Apple wants to differentiate itself from everybody (Cmd+down to open, Enter to rename, Sort folders with the rest of the files, Play/pause key starts iTunes even if you are in another music app, the piece of shit that is Mission Control as the only way to manage your open windows, the crap fest that is the Dock and the fact that you can't see all open documents, just the open apps - unfortunately it spreads like the plague to other OSes and I could go on for a long, long time).
Heck, why would you do a clean install in the first place?
Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that it took 5 minutes to start the computer. Possible fragmentation issues, I don't know since there is no defrag tool included with the OS, and defrag programs cost a lot of money for the Mac.
I really don't understand people who want this kind of resolution in such a small form factor. Greater pixel density is great if we'd have at least one OS that is resolution independent, but since we don't all you do if you go with a higher res is hurt your eyes. For 13'' 1280x800 is more than enough.
As for OS X, it's a plus if you like being told how you can use your computer, because you can be sure as hell that Apple won't let you change one damn thing. When I do a clean install of OS X, I spend a few hours tweaking obscure plist files and installing all sorts of tools to make it more bearable and I'm still not satisfied in the end.
For now Thunderbolt isn't an advantage. Until there are more devices that support it and most important - dead cheap devices, not having Thunderbolt is a non-issue. Also I'm not going to buy something that I can't plug into any other computer.
Microphone & webcam - I don't know, some people need them, some don't... all people I know don't, but that might vary.
- Posted from Windows 7 on my first (and last) Mac
Because version numbers are a non-issue and a lot of us are really sick of people whining about version numbers. They have absolutely no relevance and addons work from one version to another with few issues.
about:crashes is very cool, thanks for the tip. I've had five this year. Two of which I caused with some heavy computational JS - I was trying to solve a problem with billions of iterations (not a job for JS). One is in the same day as another - probably I tried to reopen something that crashed Firefox. So that leaves 3 crashes I don't remember about. Considering I'm a webdeveloper and I use Firefox to test all my code, I think Firefox is doing pretty well. Also, I'm using Windows 7;)
Slashdot Mirror
Well, that only says that the Mac platform has reached enough maturity to have all the apps you need. Which is good for them and for you, I guess. But that doesn't say anything about the availability and quality of Windows software. Just sayin' ...
I've had tons of problems, but most of the time it was my fault for going for the not so official means of obtaining games. I won't complain about that :)
The only game I've bought, Starcraft 2, was pretty straight forward to install, but took some fiddling around to make it work optimally on my mid to low end GPU. No big deal for me, but I see why some people who don't know about shadows, textures and reflections might think that their PC from two years ago is a lousy gaming machine.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating consoles. Actually I find them useless. I'm just suggesting some reasons people might like them. You'll never have RTSes on consoles (my favorite type of games), from my limited time on a friend's Xbox, FPS are unplayable without serious hand-holding from the game, Kinect is just too family friendly and makes everything too easy and the Wii controller is just gimmicky. So, for me consoles are a big no-no. But then again, different people, different needs.
Aren't we feeling snobbish today
When current gen consoles came out you had to shell out a lot of money to get an equivalent PC in terms of gaming performance. That's because the hardware and software are highly optimized to run games. Also there are just a few configurations that developers have to target (which leads to further optimization). Don't forget the fact that consoles are also heavily subsidized in the hope that they'll make their money back out of game purchases. At the moment, I guess current consoles are kind of behind the times in terms of hardware and you could build an equivalent gaming PC for about $500-$600, but this argument won't stand for very long considering that everybody is prepping their next gen machines.
Next, there's the fact that everything just works. No 15 minute installs and dicking around with options. You put the disk in and it works. Don't forget that most people are scared of complicated electronics like PCs. This is pathetic, considering the huge role computers have in our lives, but that's an entirely discussion altogether.
Lastly, it's the fact that consoles also are socializing tools. It would be pretty hard for Joe Sixpack to setup his PC in his living room both as a work machine and also as a gaming machine and get some extra controllers for his friends.
So, to conclude, consoles make sense because people are bad at technology or lazy and because they offer a better cost/result ratio due to subsidizes and heavy platform-specific optimizations. That being said ... there's a torrent [piratebay.se] of possibilities to get games from not so-official channels. If you take that into consideration, then a PC is a much better deal.
3 to 5 years? Are you crazy? This is why we had this mess with IE6 - because of companies and people that were too lazy or too incompetent to make a browser agnostic standard compliant solution.
it takes 6-12 months to do full regression testing
Are you shitting me?
You can use Teamviewer's free version or TightVNC.
People complain that everything in Java must be a class, but that is a good message to pound into the mind of the noob - we don't need any more aspies banging out unreadable C monoliths.
You know that everything you do with OOP, can also be done with procedural programming ... Also you can write messy code, no matter what programming paradigm you choose.
Chrome might feel snappier, but for some time Firefox uses less memory.
I don't think that you should write every library you use from scratch, but I think that, if you consider yourself a programmer, you should be able to it if the need arises.
Thanks a bunch ... Now all I have to do is decide whether I want to void my warranty or wait and pray that Samsung will eventually release ICS for the Galaxy S :)
Would you mind posting the links to the build you installed? Thanks
My device came with Froyo so I don't know about Eclair, but Gingerbread brings better battery life on my Galaxy S and also a nice battery profiling tool. Also it looks a little better. Probably there are other features and security updates I don't know about.
In that page there's a fairly big list of competitors. Maybe some offer cheaper products.
... and they still manage to get them so mucked up I have to spend about 30 mins every month cleaning them up ...
Sound like a job for Deep Freeze. Makes tech support for clueless relatives much easier.
Same in Romania ... everybody has a Yahoo Messenger account (which BTW is a horrible application) and all the clueless people (most people) have a Yahoo Mail account as their main account.
How about everyone does what they enjoy in their time? Why does the state or you for that matter think you know what's best for someone else?
The idea that Windows keyboard shortcuts are correct and Mac OS ones are wrong is just moronic. Neither is wrong or right - they're just different. Note that Mac OS keystrokes came first. Most of the Windows ones are the same, but with using the CTRL key, because Microsoft copied them yet didn't have an Apple Command key.
Which one sounds sane: Ctrl+Down to open (a 2 key combination to do the most used thing on a computer) and Enter to rename, or Enter to open (the key's name is Enter after all and is one of the biggest keys on the keyboard) and F2 to rename (still a one key shortcut, which is not necessarily easy to discover, but easy enough to use once you know it).
Note that Mac OS keystrokes came first.
So we should all be using Xerox and CP/M shortcuts because they came first? I vote for sensible and popular. I'm not bothered because Apple thinks that some shortcuts might work better, but for fuck's sake ... offer an option to change them.
As to defrag, again that's your preconceived Windows idea.
Ok, maybe it doesn't need defrag, although I don't understand why it shouldn't, but it was really, really slow and the HDD was grinding all the time. After reinstallation with the exact same apps and data on the disk it flew. If you have another theory I can't wait to hear it.
Vuze is explained below in another post.
Mac OS isn't perfect, but it's so much better than Windows.
Maybe for you. The marketshare of Windows says otherwise for the rest of the world.
Really? So what are all those options in the System Preferences tool that let you change things?
It's really not enough. The mindset of OS X and the app ecosystem is broken from this point of view. Most apps have 5 to 10 times less options than their Windows or Linux equivalents. If most people don't need to fine tune applications that doesn't mean that ALL people don't need to do that. Usually power users and content creators will need to do that in order to be more efficient in their work. If you want just to consume content then the Mac is just fine, but then again, you can do that for less money with an iPad or an Android tablet.
It's not that you're trying to configure OSX to be like Windows is it?
No, I'm trying to make OS X sane. I'm in no mood now to make a list with all its design flaws and problems. These are not because Apple is stupid, it's because Apple wants to differentiate itself from everybody (Cmd+down to open, Enter to rename, Sort folders with the rest of the files, Play/pause key starts iTunes even if you are in another music app, the piece of shit that is Mission Control as the only way to manage your open windows, the crap fest that is the Dock and the fact that you can't see all open documents, just the open apps - unfortunately it spreads like the plague to other OSes and I could go on for a long, long time).
Heck, why would you do a clean install in the first place?
Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that it took 5 minutes to start the computer. Possible fragmentation issues, I don't know since there is no defrag tool included with the OS, and defrag programs cost a lot of money for the Mac.
I really don't understand people who want this kind of resolution in such a small form factor. Greater pixel density is great if we'd have at least one OS that is resolution independent, but since we don't all you do if you go with a higher res is hurt your eyes. For 13'' 1280x800 is more than enough.
As for OS X, it's a plus if you like being told how you can use your computer, because you can be sure as hell that Apple won't let you change one damn thing. When I do a clean install of OS X, I spend a few hours tweaking obscure plist files and installing all sorts of tools to make it more bearable and I'm still not satisfied in the end.
For now Thunderbolt isn't an advantage. Until there are more devices that support it and most important - dead cheap devices, not having Thunderbolt is a non-issue. Also I'm not going to buy something that I can't plug into any other computer.
Microphone & webcam - I don't know, some people need them, some don't ... all people I know don't, but that might vary.
- Posted from Windows 7 on my first (and last) Mac
Perhaps this might help:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wired-marker/
Because version numbers are a non-issue and a lot of us are really sick of people whining about version numbers. They have absolutely no relevance and addons work from one version to another with few issues.
dozens or even hundreds of windows/tabs
You're using it wrong ... you can't possibly need that many tabs at once. Just use bookmarks.
about:crashes is very cool, thanks for the tip. I've had five this year. Two of which I caused with some heavy computational JS - I was trying to solve a problem with billions of iterations (not a job for JS). One is in the same day as another - probably I tried to reopen something that crashed Firefox. So that leaves 3 crashes I don't remember about. Considering I'm a webdeveloper and I use Firefox to test all my code, I think Firefox is doing pretty well. Also, I'm using Windows 7 ;)
So what if you can compare strings and numbers? I see that as a plus.
I believe Maxthon uses whatever version of Trident (IE's engine) is installed. Later versions also have an alternate Webkit-based engine.