Although that definitely used to be the case (IE 4.5 for Mac - let along Office 4.2.1 (!) ), the Mac versions of MS programs are now all written by a specific sub-unit of MS, the Macintosh Business Unit, and are generally considered best-of-breed.
A) The Office series of programs came out for the Mac first. Excel was available for the Mac before Windows existed.
B) IIRC, the MBU has been around since before Apple released the Macintosh. Microsoft is one of the companies that was developing software for the initial introduction of the Mac.
As you stated, Microsoft's Mac products are usually superior to their Windows counterparts.
However, for $1500 these days you can build a fast, high quality PC.
Yes, you can and I have. Then again I admin my own systems and don't bill myself. The average user has to call for help when his Windows system chokes. Novice Linux users have to call for help a lot too -- I remember my first few months with RedHat and XFree86 constantly crashing from misconfigurations.
My point is that beyond the initial cost of the computer, you have to factor in support costs when you are talking about the mythical average user. The average user does not build his own PC. He buys something from BestBuy. He will also need lots of support because he won't know how to tweak the network control panel to connect to DSL and stop whining about dialing when he finally ditches dial-up.
With a Mac, setup, administration, and maintainence are easy for the novice user, but powerful enough for extreeme customization. It really is an easy to use UNIX.
I was once given a free car. $1500 and 3 months later I had to pay to have it towed away after the engine blew up.
Another car of mine cost $4250 and after one year needed $3000 of repairs.
My latest car cost $13500. I also bought a $1200 extended warranty for it. I've yet to have a single problem with it.
Sure my old cheap (even free!) cars got me from place to place. They also cost me a lot in repairs, maintainence, fuel, and headaches. My new car cost more, but it's a pleasure to drive and I won't have to worry about mechanical problems until 2007.
In the end, you get what you pay for when it comes to hardware (software is often a different story).
It's the same with computers. If you buy cheap hardware, expect reliability problems. If you buy a Mac, you can concentrate on using the computer, not fixing it or fighting against the OS. If something does go wrong, you know that you can call Apple and they will fix it for free. Heh, they even sell extended warranties.
Many new cars are at 5k, 7500 or 10k miles between oil changes (especially with semi or full synthetic).
I was reffering to older (early 90's?) cars that required 3k miles between oil changes. These older cars are more likely to be LPG converted than new cars since it voids the warranty. Most passenger car LPG conversions are done by enthusiasts working on their own cars -- often not their main car.
LPG does not was away your oil. In fact, it is better for your oil than gasoline. I think LPG converted vehicles change oil at 10k miles rather than 3k miles -- and the oil comes out clear. Gasoline is corrosive.
What the hell is wrong with Microsoft, as a commercial corporation, writing an emulator layer for Linux?
There isn't anything wrong with it per se. What I suspect is their motives. Other companies making Linux software are usually very interested in having Linux prosper. I don't think Microsoft is likely to take that view. Based on their previous statements and actions, I think that their goal is to destroy Linux.
Additionally, I dislike the fact that Microsoft is exhibiting at a Linux tradeshow after calling the GPL "viral" and producing much anti-Linux FUD. Don't forget that they are after UNIX too. Remember their whole "We Have The Way Out" campaign?
I don't feel that Microsoft is entering the LinuxWorld Expo in good faith.
Well, it would not be totally out of the realm of possibility that MS might form a Linux Business Unit in the same way they already have a Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft has been writing Mac software longer than it has been writing Windows software. Microsoft Word came out for the Mac first. I remember using it on a Mac Plus long ago.
In any case, I assume that Micrsoft will be selling something for Linux rather than trying to fight it openly at the expo. The former scenario is in line with their history, the latter is just silly.
My fear is that Microsoft writes something like wine and sells it for Linux. They don't need you to buy their OS, they get you to buy their propriety compatibility layer and their software. Just think how many places that use Linux will be willing to pay $50 for the ability to use Windows apps. Microsoft will make money, and increase market penetration w/out giving anything to the community. Getting Linux users to run Microsoft software may be their first step in fighting Linux.
I'd like to see a package management system somewhat like CPAN (more info). I like being able to use a ReadLine enabled interface and automatic dependancy checking. I like being able to break the install into parts: I gan get the module, tweak it as I see fit, then install it. It just seems like a better system then fink, apt-get, etc.
There are great Cliff's Notes for math. I picked up the one for Calculus before taking the course. It came with a CD that had great visualizations, etc. The book was great. It had quick reference cards, was well organized, and was short and to the point. I preffered it to my actual text for that class.
The version of the CD that I have doesn't work under OS 9, much less X, but I'm sure they've updated it by now. I don't know what kind of support it has for Linux or Windows. I know it did work with some version of Windows, but Linux support is probably poor.
I went to see Family Man based on the use of a Talking Heads song in the advertisement. The song was not used in the movie. Had I not gone to see that movie, I wouldn't have gotten together with my psychotic ex-gf (it was our first date). Can I sue for mental anguish?
One thing that's always bugged me about these kinds of updates? What do you do if the machines don't have internet access? I know that that invalidates most of the vulnerabilities (except inside the lan), but what happens someday in the future when the machine finally goes online and tries to download 3000 security updates?
Maybe vendors should have to release these updates on CD as well.
NOTE: I'm not focusing on MS here, other vendors should be asked to do the same.
Or, maybe we will be even luckier and it wont even be released in quicktime at all!
Or maybe we will be even luckier and group of/.ers who can't differentiate between a file format and a codec will get a clue and stop bashing QuickTime when they are pissed off at Sorrenson's licensing. QuickTime is the perfect format for distributing multimedia since it is the most widely supported format. Also: old applications that used to play QuickTime movies continue to work with the new versions perfectly. You can still use MoviePlayer 2.5 to watch QuickTime 5 movies. The whole framework was is elegantly designed and very expandable. If you don't like not being ablt to watch QuickTime movies on Linux, find a better, more free codec to use and convince the trailer makers to adopt it.
Actually, they may want to repackage it one day and sell it as classic games. By making the old games accessible on the new systems, this might scratch there plans a bit.
So what? I paid for my Indiana Jones game. It won't play on my G4. If someone writes software that lets me play the software I've already paid for, then kudos to them. Lucas can't stop them by saying "I was going to do that -- and charge!" If they make a classic games pack, I might buy it to get sound support and a newer version of The Fate of Atlantis. But claiming that a product that allows people to use LucasArts software may hinder their ability to sell a compatibility package or upgrade is pointless since there's nothing wrong with doing that.
OT: I actually ordered The Last Crusade for Mac because I had a 5.25" floppy version for DOS. Instead, I received The Fate of Atlantis -- before it was officially released. I was pissed because it wouldn't play on my black-and-white Classic II. I had to play it on the color Performas and LCs at school. When I finally got a color computer, the first thing I did was install the game. Since I got some weird early version of the game, I have it on floppies and it doesn't have spoken text for dialogue. I'd love to get the CD version that actually had spoken dialogue -- particularly since my G4 doesn't have a floppy drive.
One example of why cas is important. The http interface perl scripts 'HEAD', 'GET', and 'POST' get installed with a number of packages. The 'head' command is used for reading the first few lines of a file. I use 'last|head' to see who has logged in recently. After installing the perl mods, that command freaked. It took a while to realise that 'HEAD' had replaced 'head' -- forcing me to find a new 'head' from another system. I renamed 'HEAD', 'GET', and 'POST' be preceding their names with 'HTTP_'.
I hate to reply to myself but I forgot a few things:
Take cash if you can. Small wholesalers usually discout and/or wave tax for cash. Personal checks are almost as good as cash. Credit cards may incur a surcharge.
Haggle! This is part of the fun. Tell the clerk (often the owner) that you can't pay that much for such-and-such a part. Ask if there's a discout for buying more than one thing. Tell the clerk that the part is not exactly what you wanted and ask about the price again.
These places will almost always beat online prices (even w/ sales tax) and they don't charge shipping.
If you can, take someone with you who knows the proprietors. I get better deals at these places than some other customers since I know the owners of many of them. Also, I used to work for a resale store that would but from the sores in this strip. I went of procurement runs a few times and many of the owners remember the business that I brought them.
You can also find out where to go by visiting local computer stores (NOT CHAINS!) and asking the technicians where to get a particular part that their store does not carry.
Support you local computer wholesalers and resalers. Use the yellow pages and find out where they are located, as they tend to clump. I get all my parts in a shopping center that has dozens of small wholesalers. I never buy from just one. I start at one end of the strip and price my parts at every store. In the end, I go back to the ones that gave me the best deals. In Miami, the strip is located near the airport in a warehouse district. That will probably be a common location for such stores.
There are many other reasons why people might shop at Wal-mart including price, convenience, and selection.
I only shop at Wal-Mart when everything else is closed. Where else can you get a wrench, a towel, and a television stand at 2:00 AM?
Re:Structured Computer Organization and compilers
on
General IT Books?
·
· Score: 2
Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers is also a good book for learning how computers work. I'm no Intel fan, but once again, the concepts are the key. The knowledge contained in this book is really useful. The author is really a nice guy and provides tons of materials on his web page.
Oh! Pascal is the best text I've ever seen on programming. The language may not be that useful anymore, but the concepts are universal. I learned all about recursion, data structures, pointers, etc. from that book. The descriptions are engaging and well illustrated. It really is a good read for any programmer.
Slashdot Mirror
It's time for me to change my /. profile, since I will no longer have my mac.com e-mail address. I barely used it anyway. Bah!
Well, personally I love this thing. And since it's from Apple ...
This might be funny if it was an Apple product. In reality, it's just a PVR peripheral targeting the Mac market.
Although that definitely used to be the case (IE 4.5 for Mac - let along Office 4.2.1 (!) ), the Mac versions of MS programs are now all written by a specific sub-unit of MS, the Macintosh Business Unit, and are generally considered best-of-breed.
A) The Office series of programs came out for the Mac first. Excel was available for the Mac before Windows existed.
B) IIRC, the MBU has been around since before Apple released the Macintosh. Microsoft is one of the companies that was developing software for the initial introduction of the Mac.
As you stated, Microsoft's Mac products are usually superior to their Windows counterparts.
It still irks me than Bungee sold out.
However, for $1500 these days you can build a fast, high quality PC.
Yes, you can and I have. Then again I admin my own systems and don't bill myself. The average user has to call for help when his Windows system chokes. Novice Linux users have to call for help a lot too -- I remember my first few months with RedHat and XFree86 constantly crashing from misconfigurations.
My point is that beyond the initial cost of the computer, you have to factor in support costs when you are talking about the mythical average user. The average user does not build his own PC. He buys something from BestBuy. He will also need lots of support because he won't know how to tweak the network control panel to connect to DSL and stop whining about dialing when he finally ditches dial-up.
With a Mac, setup, administration, and maintainence are easy for the novice user, but powerful enough for extreeme customization. It really is an easy to use UNIX.
And spend yet more money on a machine? No thanks!
... You get what you pay for.
Well
I was once given a free car. $1500 and 3 months later I had to pay to have it towed away after the engine blew up.
Another car of mine cost $4250 and after one year needed $3000 of repairs.
My latest car cost $13500. I also bought a $1200 extended warranty for it. I've yet to have a single problem with it.
Sure my old cheap (even free!) cars got me from place to place. They also cost me a lot in repairs, maintainence, fuel, and headaches. My new car cost more, but it's a pleasure to drive and I won't have to worry about mechanical problems until 2007.
In the end, you get what you pay for when it comes to hardware (software is often a different story).
It's the same with computers. If you buy cheap hardware, expect reliability problems. If you buy a Mac, you can concentrate on using the computer, not fixing it or fighting against the OS. If something does go wrong, you know that you can call Apple and they will fix it for free. Heh, they even sell extended warranties.
Many new cars are at 5k, 7500 or 10k miles between oil changes (especially with semi or full synthetic).
I was reffering to older (early 90's?) cars that required 3k miles between oil changes. These older cars are more likely to be LPG converted than new cars since it voids the warranty. Most passenger car LPG conversions are done by enthusiasts working on their own cars -- often not their main car.
I know it's for the original NES, but just immagine playing Duck Hunt like this. Passersby might freak out.
LPG does not was away your oil. In fact, it is better for your oil than gasoline. I think LPG converted vehicles change oil at 10k miles rather than 3k miles -- and the oil comes out clear. Gasoline is corrosive.
What the hell is wrong with Microsoft, as a commercial corporation, writing an emulator layer for Linux?
There isn't anything wrong with it per se. What I suspect is their motives. Other companies making Linux software are usually very interested in having Linux prosper. I don't think Microsoft is likely to take that view. Based on their previous statements and actions, I think that their goal is to destroy Linux.
Additionally, I dislike the fact that Microsoft is exhibiting at a Linux tradeshow after calling the GPL "viral" and producing much anti-Linux FUD. Don't forget that they are after UNIX too. Remember their whole "We Have The Way Out" campaign?
I don't feel that Microsoft is entering the LinuxWorld Expo in good faith.
Well, it would not be totally out of the realm of possibility that MS might form a Linux Business Unit in the same way they already have a Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft has been writing Mac software longer than it has been writing Windows software. Microsoft Word came out for the Mac first. I remember using it on a Mac Plus long ago.
In any case, I assume that Micrsoft will be selling something for Linux rather than trying to fight it openly at the expo. The former scenario is in line with their history, the latter is just silly.
My fear is that Microsoft writes something like wine and sells it for Linux. They don't need you to buy their OS, they get you to buy their propriety compatibility layer and their software. Just think how many places that use Linux will be willing to pay $50 for the ability to use Windows apps. Microsoft will make money, and increase market penetration w/out giving anything to the community. Getting Linux users to run Microsoft software may be their first step in fighting Linux.
I'd like to see a package management system somewhat like CPAN (more info). I like being able to use a ReadLine enabled interface and automatic dependancy checking. I like being able to break the install into parts: I gan get the module, tweak it as I see fit, then install it. It just seems like a better system then fink, apt-get, etc.
There are great Cliff's Notes for math. I picked up the one for Calculus before taking the course. It came with a CD that had great visualizations, etc. The book was great. It had quick reference cards, was well organized, and was short and to the point. I preffered it to my actual text for that class.
The version of the CD that I have doesn't work under OS 9, much less X, but I'm sure they've updated it by now. I don't know what kind of support it has for Linux or Windows. I know it did work with some version of Windows, but Linux support is probably poor.
I went to see Family Man based on the use of a Talking Heads song in the advertisement. The song was not used in the movie. Had I not gone to see that movie, I wouldn't have gotten together with my psychotic ex-gf (it was our first date). Can I sue for mental anguish?
As a Brazilian geek, I had to check Slashdot after the game.
Penta!
One thing that's always bugged me about these kinds of updates? What do you do if the machines don't have internet access? I know that that invalidates most of the vulnerabilities (except inside the lan), but what happens someday in the future when the machine finally goes online and tries to download 3000 security updates?
Maybe vendors should have to release these updates on CD as well.
NOTE: I'm not focusing on MS here, other vendors should be asked to do the same.
Or maybe we will be even luckier and group of
In any case the original article says:
Actually, they may want to repackage it one day and sell it as classic games. By making the old games accessible on the new systems, this might scratch there plans a bit.
So what? I paid for my Indiana Jones game. It won't play on my G4. If someone writes software that lets me play the software I've already paid for, then kudos to them. Lucas can't stop them by saying "I was going to do that -- and charge!" If they make a classic games pack, I might buy it to get sound support and a newer version of The Fate of Atlantis. But claiming that a product that allows people to use LucasArts software may hinder their ability to sell a compatibility package or upgrade is pointless since there's nothing wrong with doing that.
OT: I actually ordered The Last Crusade for Mac because I had a 5.25" floppy version for DOS. Instead, I received The Fate of Atlantis -- before it was officially released. I was pissed because it wouldn't play on my black-and-white Classic II. I had to play it on the color Performas and LCs at school. When I finally got a color computer, the first thing I did was install the game. Since I got some weird early version of the game, I have it on floppies and it doesn't have spoken text for dialogue. I'd love to get the CD version that actually had spoken dialogue -- particularly since my G4 doesn't have a floppy drive.
One example of why cas is important. The http interface perl scripts 'HEAD', 'GET', and 'POST' get installed with a number of packages. The 'head' command is used for reading the first few lines of a file. I use 'last|head' to see who has logged in recently. After installing the perl mods, that command freaked. It took a while to realise that 'HEAD' had replaced 'head' -- forcing me to find a new 'head' from another system. I renamed 'HEAD', 'GET', and 'POST' be preceding their names with 'HTTP_'.
I hate to reply to myself but I forgot a few things:
Take cash if you can.
Small wholesalers usually discout and/or wave tax for cash. Personal checks are almost as good as cash. Credit cards may incur a surcharge.
Haggle!
This is part of the fun. Tell the clerk (often the owner) that you can't pay that much for such-and-such a part. Ask if there's a discout for buying more than one thing. Tell the clerk that the part is not exactly what you wanted and ask about the price again.
These places will almost always beat online prices (even w/ sales tax) and they don't charge shipping.
If you can, take someone with you who knows the proprietors. I get better deals at these places than some other customers since I know the owners of many of them. Also, I used to work for a resale store that would but from the sores in this strip. I went of procurement runs a few times and many of the owners remember the business that I brought them.
You can also find out where to go by visiting local computer stores (NOT CHAINS!) and asking the technicians where to get a particular part that their store does not carry.
Support you local computer wholesalers and resalers. Use the yellow pages and find out where they are located, as they tend to clump. I get all my parts in a shopping center that has dozens of small wholesalers. I never buy from just one. I start at one end of the strip and price my parts at every store. In the end, I go back to the ones that gave me the best deals. In Miami, the strip is located near the airport in a warehouse district. That will probably be a common location for such stores.
Since the scale is actually .01 micron, I don't think that any process based on the current tech used to make processors will catch up any time soon.
There are many other reasons why people might shop at Wal-mart including price, convenience, and selection.
I only shop at Wal-Mart when everything else is closed. Where else can you get a wrench, a towel, and a television stand at 2:00 AM?
Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers is also a good book for learning how computers work. I'm no Intel fan, but once again, the concepts are the key. The knowledge contained in this book is really useful. The author is really a nice guy and provides tons of materials on his web page.
Oh! Pascal is the best text I've ever seen on programming. The language may not be that useful anymore, but the concepts are universal. I learned all about recursion, data structures, pointers, etc. from that book. The descriptions are engaging and well illustrated. It really is a good read for any programmer.