I'm not going to be as zealous as afantee here, but you do have a couple errors.
I've not seen a system for some time where IE startup wasn't so fast that feedback is required - but that's not the point. XP does give feedback - when the system is processing in the background, the cursor changes from an arrow to an arrow+hourglass icon. This includes (or should) the time while programs are loading and not displaying anything to screen. Unfortunately I don't have an XP box handy to test this with right now, but it certainly happens with Win2k and was also present in Win95.
I have a 700 MHz Celeron running Windows XP, and I've accidentally done what the author mentions several times. In XP, there is no (consistently available) feedback that lets you know an application is launching, particularly if you do it from the Quick Launch menu. When you start a program by double clicking on it, you do (most of the time) get that cursor-hourglass thing, but you rarely see it when you launch something from the Taskbar.
Something else that isn't commented on is how often applications block (the beachball), particularly the Finder. It happens *way* too much and on tasks that really should be quick or multithreaded.
That doesn't block the whole system, though. I've seen the Windows equivalent of the Finder lock many times (when trying to download a file from a busy FTP server, for example), and I've seen the OS X Finder beachball a lot as well on my poor 400 MHz iMac, but on neither OS does this prevent you from using other applications as normal. IIRC OS X is actually a little better behaved in this regard; dragging anything over a "busy" Windows program window will, notoriously, put images of whatever you dragged through the window, because the window doesn't refresh when it's busy; I don't recall OS X doing this.
Cumbersome it may be, but it is infinitely better than the complete lack of equivalent functionality in OS X.
What do you mean? Dragging a Word document on Word's icon in the Dock will open it in Word. Dragging a URL from the Finder to any web browser will open the URL in that browser. Dragging the icon of a Word document from the title bar to the Mail icon in the dock will open a new mail with the Word document attached. And I'm not using OS X on this machine, so I can't ensure this, but I believe dragging a URL onto a minimized browser window in the Dock will open the URL in the window, etc.
He forgot that Cmd+` will cycle between the windows of the foreground app. Also, a big weakness in OS X's keyboard switching IMHO is an inability to quickly & easily move to an arbitrary window (particularly without having all the app's other windows obscure the rest of the screen).
I'm sure you know that you can interleave windows from (almost) any application in the Finder, so you can switch to an "arbitrary window" pretty easily by clicking on it, without all the app's other windows take over the screen. If that's too much effort, there's also the method I use -- minimize all windows to the Dock when I'm not using them. The little application icons on the minimized windows are very helpful in organizing and finding them, as are the previews -- neither of which Windows provides. But I do agree that OS X doesn't provide a way to do this using the keyboard.
No ! This is exactly what it *should* do. All the keyboard shortcuts should be Win+ or have a programmable modifier key. Using the control key for shortcuts was a Really Bad Idea.
I agree that Win+ is a good concept, but given that Windows has been using the control key for so long, adding it now just makes it seem inconsistent. Also, a lot of newbies to Windows (I've seen this personally) find the Win key very annoying, since accidentally pressing it makes the Start menu pop up in the middle of a lot of things, and tend to ignore it completely. To top it off, this isn't a very well documented shortcut; I only found it by accident.
I'm not quite sure why "screen capture" is in this section - I don't think I've ever wanted to take a screen capture in my life, let alone cared about how flexible the builtin tools to do it are.
You've never ever taken a screen capture? For any purpose, ever? I find that really amazing. I do it on average twice a month or so, and every time I'm annoyed by the way Windows does it. I know it's not a huge concern, but it does exist -- and it's pretty much crucial for tech support folks and reviewers. (The latter may be why he considers it so important.;-)
That's because the audience it's targetted at won't be running machines with multiple CPUs.
But the people that do want to run machines with multiple CPUs will have to shell out extra dough. The review isn't targeted at only the typical user; the extra cost to support multiple CPUs is a significant concern for a lot of folks, I'm sure.
i doubt that aol.com is going to be slashdotted. you must be new here...
I was under the impression I wasn't the only person who likes to read the full article without having to follow a link -- and that to AOL to boot. My bad.
NEW YORK (AP) - Would you like super-sized Internet access with that burger and fries?
In a further sign of the spread of wireless Internet technology, McDonald's restaurants in three U.S. cities will offer one hour of free high-speed access to anyone who buys a combination meal.
Ten McDonald's in Manhattan will begin offering wireless WiFi, or 802.11b, Internet access on Wednesday, McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard said.
By year's end, McDonald's will extend the access to 300 McDonald restaurants in New York City, Chicago and a yet-unannounced California town, Howard said.
"You can come in and have an extra value meal and send some e-mail,'' Howard said. Window signs will alert customers to the restaurants with WiFi access, she said.
Besides McDonald's, Internet surfers will also be able to tote their laptops to 400 U.S. Borders book stores, hundreds of hotels and a pair of U.S. airports where WiFi access will be available by summer, companies announced Monday.
And computer maker Toshiba and chipmaker Intel say they'll set up wireless ``hot spots'' in coffee shops, hotels and convenience stores across the United States.
For those who roost with their laptops in McDonald's, Internet surfing could affect the waistline.
After using the hour of free access that comes with a meal, customers can pay $3 for another hour online - or simply buy another extra value meal, Howard said. The pilot program lasts for three months, she said.
Cometa Networks, a startup working to offer WiFi connections in businesses across the country, will provide the Internet bandwidth for the offer.
McDonalds' announcement coincides with several related WiFi developments timed to coincide with the Wednesday release of Intel Corp.'s Centrino microprocessor.
The Centrino chip, tailored for laptop computers, contains a built-in WiFi transceiver that allows Internet access at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, far faster than dial-up connections. More than a dozen computer makers will introduce new Centrino-based laptops on Wednesday.
Hilton, Mariott, Sheraton, Westin and W hotels will tout wireless access points in hundreds of hotels in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.
And access will also be extended to passenger lounges at the airports in Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco, Intel said.
---
It's a good idea. I've been waiting for someone other than Starbuck's to put it into practice.
IIRC, the Feds were big in the development of protocols like DES and then RSA, and are supporting the adoption of AES, so it's not as if they don't want to use secure tunneling at all. On the other hand, they've also realized pretty quickly (and largely from firsthand experience) that any encryption algorithm is breakable given enough computer power. So while I'm sure they don't have any problems using this sort of secure tunnel for most communication, I think it's a valid decision for them to use a totally different Intranet for the most secure stuff.
Personally, I wouldn't, and I haven't even when presented with the opportunity. However, though I don't know for sure, I flatter myself my sense of ethics is slightly stronger than the average hacker's. I imagine it's a fairly common practice, actually...
The site says up to 72 watt-hours... How long will that much juice last with a 2.4 GHz P4M? In other words how many watts does that processor suck down?
I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance.
with much gayness,
Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day, S.J.
You sound like you couldn't decide whether you were going for "Flamebait", "Funny", or "Troll" -- and ended up with an unfunny but still offensive mishmash. The moral of the story: decide what you're gunning for before you submit a post.;-) (If that is somehow hilarious, I don't get it. Could someone enlighten me?)
IIRC this has been something of a holy grail for mathematicians for years. When John Nash tried to prove it in his prime, everyone laughed at him, not believing that even someone as brilliant as Nash could solve the infamous problem. If this isn't a fake, it's a pretty amazing achievement.
The PowerPC is basically, as far as I can tell, something of a joint project between IBM and Motorola. Apple buys most of their chips from Motorola, but they buy some from IBM as well.
First of all, what is the processor that Apple using now? Isn't it some sort of PowerPC already? I see this one supports Altivec and I know that G3 and G4 Apple computers have the same instruction sets. Is this just another implementation, or is G3 and G4 relatives of this new processor?
Apple currently uses the PowerPC G3 and G4 processors. (G3 and G4 are Apple marketing-speak; the G3 line actually consists of the MPC 740-755 processors, while the G4 line is the MPC 7xxx series of processors.) The G4 processors have support for Altivec, a specialized vector processing unit.
This is another implementation of the basic PowerPC ISA shared by the G3 and G4; this, like the G4, has tacked on Altivec support. So the G3 and G4 are close relatives of this processor.
Second: what operating system does the IBM PowerPC run?
One of the biggest purchasers of PowerPC processors is, of course, Apple. All of their computers currently use the G3 and G4, and run Mac OS X by default. However, there are also versions of Linux and other operating systems that run on PowerPC processors, and there are other PowerPC processors designed to work with other OS's. One example is IBM's Power4 processor, widely considered to be the best processor in existence today. It is designed to work with either IBM's Unix-based AIX operating system or, more recently, PowerPC Linux.
I suspect that the article is just confusing and processor itself is not made by IBM. Right??
No, the processor itself is made by IBM. This is IBM's page for the PowerPC 970.
Interestingly enough, I use jEdit happily on my (400 MHz G3) Mac, but find it too slow to be usable on my (XP 2100) PC. So I find myself with two great editors available for the Mac (though I don't own BBEdit, it is available), and none I know of for Windows... Which sucks really bad right now since my Mac is temporarily out of commission.
I'm a geek; I go to an admittedly geek-heavy university. But I played football for a year and a half as well, until I decided schoolwork was more important, and I still don't have any trouble mixing with kids my age. I do still play soccer. I wonder where this theory places us, the folks of supposedly well-above-average intelligence who can still fit in well enough with the rest.
I installed it with no problems whatsoever -- no changed prefs, nothing moved in the Dock, certainly nothing catastrophic like a messed-up clock -- on a 400 MHz iMac with 320 MB RAM, certainly not the cream of the crop. YMMV, of course, but I don't think Apple is deliberately screwing over older computers or anything.
The problem I see with this keyboard shortcuts argument is that IMHO the Mac OS UI was never really designed for keyboard usage, but, that said, the few really important keyboard shortcuts that existed have made the leap to Aqualand.
I've used the classic Mac interface for almost fifteen years, and switched to OS X a couple weeks ago, but I very rarely find myself looking for a keyboard shortcut. The aforementioned Cmd-N still throws me off -- they really need to fix that -- but the other ones I used in Classic with any regularity -- Cmd-Shift-Delete, Cmd-Delete, Cmd-I, Cmd-M, Cmd-D, the copy/cut/paste keys, Cmd-O, etc. -- have all been duplicated in OS X. If there are any that haven't, I've never noticed them, and I think I utilize keyboard shortcuts far more than the average user.
I'm not a Mac apologist. I have nothing against Windows in general (beyond the Microsoft business practices), and if a Windows machine ever appeals to me more than a Mac I won't hesitate to switch over. But, as of right now, I am very satisfied with OS 10.2 (on the same machine as your desktop, actually), and this kind of unjustified bashing needs correcting. Some of your statements do have a basis in fact, but the rest just smack of bitterness.;-)
- Hardware is still ~40% more than similar PC stuff.
On desktops, probably. Laptops, no.
- Dependablity has dropped to "white box" levels.
This one I haven't seen. Look here. I'm guessing you're the only person who thinks that.
- iMoive et all applications cost $100 per year (to stay up to date)
iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto are all completely free, unless you feel like paying for a CD to be shipped to you. iDVD costs, last I checked, $49, but that's only for computers that ship with an Apple SuperDrive. I don't know where that's coming from.
- blah@mac.com accounts cost $130 per year PER ACCOUNT PER YEAR.
Um... It's $99. I think there's a discount or something if you buy a new computer, but I'm not definite. And of course, no one is forcing you to use.Mac. I have a Mac, and I haven't used.Mac since they started charging for it, and it hasn't exactly been a deal-killer.
$360 per year for the feeding of a Mac is IMO too much. I resently bought a Toshiba 1115-S103 laptop (1.5Ghz Cel, 20G HD, 256M RAM, WinXP Home and a 14" screen) for $750 (new after $200 rebate). A similar iBook would be $1540 ($1050 + $130 + $360) over two years as opposed to my Toshiba for $900 ($750 + $150 for possible OS update costs).
You can redo the math yourself, but look what you got -- that Toshiba laptop has a Celeron, weighs 7 pounds, and has 2 hours of battery life. You've already considered the OS, so I won't rant about that. If that extra couple hundred dollars is worth it for you, go ahead. I won't dispute your opinion, but your facts could use some help. Sorry for ranting a little (OK, a lot), but unsupported bashing really has no place in a supposedly neutral discussion.:-)
... you won't have the nasty incompatibility problem with everyone you know who's not a graphic designer... (I'm a graphics/development guy.)
Can anyone say "flamebait"?
I've yet to encounter any insurmountable incompatibility problem between my Mac and anyone else's computer in three years studying computer engineering and computer science. I can't imagine what you had trouble transferring while doing graphics and development.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not going to be as zealous as afantee here, but you do have a couple errors.
;-)
I've not seen a system for some time where IE startup wasn't so fast that feedback is required - but that's not the point. XP does give feedback - when the system is processing in the background, the cursor changes from an arrow to an arrow+hourglass icon. This includes (or should) the time while programs are loading and not displaying anything to screen. Unfortunately I don't have an XP box handy to test this with right now, but it certainly happens with Win2k and was also present in Win95.
I have a 700 MHz Celeron running Windows XP, and I've accidentally done what the author mentions several times. In XP, there is no (consistently available) feedback that lets you know an application is launching, particularly if you do it from the Quick Launch menu. When you start a program by double clicking on it, you do (most of the time) get that cursor-hourglass thing, but you rarely see it when you launch something from the Taskbar.
Something else that isn't commented on is how often applications block (the beachball), particularly the Finder. It happens *way* too much and on tasks that really should be quick or multithreaded.
That doesn't block the whole system, though. I've seen the Windows equivalent of the Finder lock many times (when trying to download a file from a busy FTP server, for example), and I've seen the OS X Finder beachball a lot as well on my poor 400 MHz iMac, but on neither OS does this prevent you from using other applications as normal. IIRC OS X is actually a little better behaved in this regard; dragging anything over a "busy" Windows program window will, notoriously, put images of whatever you dragged through the window, because the window doesn't refresh when it's busy; I don't recall OS X doing this.
Cumbersome it may be, but it is infinitely better than the complete lack of equivalent functionality in OS X.
What do you mean? Dragging a Word document on Word's icon in the Dock will open it in Word. Dragging a URL from the Finder to any web browser will open the URL in that browser. Dragging the icon of a Word document from the title bar to the Mail icon in the dock will open a new mail with the Word document attached. And I'm not using OS X on this machine, so I can't ensure this, but I believe dragging a URL onto a minimized browser window in the Dock will open the URL in the window, etc.
He forgot that Cmd+` will cycle between the windows of the foreground app. Also, a big weakness in OS X's keyboard switching IMHO is an inability to quickly & easily move to an arbitrary window (particularly without having all the app's other windows obscure the rest of the screen).
I'm sure you know that you can interleave windows from (almost) any application in the Finder, so you can switch to an "arbitrary window" pretty easily by clicking on it, without all the app's other windows take over the screen. If that's too much effort, there's also the method I use -- minimize all windows to the Dock when I'm not using them. The little application icons on the minimized windows are very helpful in organizing and finding them, as are the previews -- neither of which Windows provides. But I do agree that OS X doesn't provide a way to do this using the keyboard.
No ! This is exactly what it *should* do. All the keyboard shortcuts should be Win+ or have a programmable modifier key. Using the control key for shortcuts was a Really Bad Idea.
I agree that Win+ is a good concept, but given that Windows has been using the control key for so long, adding it now just makes it seem inconsistent. Also, a lot of newbies to Windows (I've seen this personally) find the Win key very annoying, since accidentally pressing it makes the Start menu pop up in the middle of a lot of things, and tend to ignore it completely. To top it off, this isn't a very well documented shortcut; I only found it by accident.
I'm not quite sure why "screen capture" is in this section - I don't think I've ever wanted to take a screen capture in my life, let alone cared about how flexible the builtin tools to do it are.
You've never ever taken a screen capture? For any purpose, ever? I find that really amazing. I do it on average twice a month or so, and every time I'm annoyed by the way Windows does it. I know it's not a huge concern, but it does exist -- and it's pretty much crucial for tech support folks and reviewers. (The latter may be why he considers it so important.
That's because the audience it's targetted at won't be running machines with multiple CPUs.
But the people that do want to run machines with multiple CPUs will have to shell out extra dough. The review isn't targeted at only the typical user; the extra cost to support multiple CPUs is a significant concern for a lot of folks, I'm sure.
-- shayborg
i doubt that aol.com is going to be slashdotted. you must be new here...
I was under the impression I wasn't the only person who likes to read the full article without having to follow a link -- and that to AOL to boot. My bad.
-- shayborg
McDonald's to Offer Wireless Internet
The Associated Press
Mar 11 2003 12:09AM
NEW YORK (AP) - Would you like super-sized Internet access with that burger and fries?
In a further sign of the spread of wireless Internet technology, McDonald's restaurants in three U.S. cities will offer one hour of free high-speed access to anyone who buys a combination meal.
Ten McDonald's in Manhattan will begin offering wireless WiFi, or 802.11b, Internet access on Wednesday, McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard said.
By year's end, McDonald's will extend the access to 300 McDonald restaurants in New York City, Chicago and a yet-unannounced California town, Howard said.
"You can come in and have an extra value meal and send some e-mail,'' Howard said. Window signs will alert customers to the restaurants with WiFi access, she said.
Besides McDonald's, Internet surfers will also be able to tote their laptops to 400 U.S. Borders book stores, hundreds of hotels and a pair of U.S. airports where WiFi access will be available by summer, companies announced Monday.
And computer maker Toshiba and chipmaker Intel say they'll set up wireless ``hot spots'' in coffee shops, hotels and convenience stores across the United States.
For those who roost with their laptops in McDonald's, Internet surfing could affect the waistline.
After using the hour of free access that comes with a meal, customers can pay $3 for another hour online - or simply buy another extra value meal, Howard said. The pilot program lasts for three months, she said.
Cometa Networks, a startup working to offer WiFi connections in businesses across the country, will provide the Internet bandwidth for the offer.
McDonalds' announcement coincides with several related WiFi developments timed to coincide with the Wednesday release of Intel Corp.'s Centrino microprocessor.
The Centrino chip, tailored for laptop computers, contains a built-in WiFi transceiver that allows Internet access at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, far faster than dial-up connections. More than a dozen computer makers will introduce new Centrino-based laptops on Wednesday.
Hilton, Mariott, Sheraton, Westin and W hotels will tout wireless access points in hundreds of hotels in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.
And access will also be extended to passenger lounges at the airports in Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco, Intel said.
---
It's a good idea. I've been waiting for someone other than Starbuck's to put it into practice.
-- shayborg
IIRC, the Feds were big in the development of protocols like DES and then RSA, and are supporting the adoption of AES, so it's not as if they don't want to use secure tunneling at all. On the other hand, they've also realized pretty quickly (and largely from firsthand experience) that any encryption algorithm is breakable given enough computer power. So while I'm sure they don't have any problems using this sort of secure tunnel for most communication, I think it's a valid decision for them to use a totally different Intranet for the most secure stuff.
-- shayborg
Personally, I wouldn't, and I haven't even when presented with the opportunity. However, though I don't know for sure, I flatter myself my sense of ethics is slightly stronger than the average hacker's. I imagine it's a fairly common practice, actually ...
-- shayborg
The site says up to 72 watt-hours ... How long will that much juice last with a 2.4 GHz P4M? In other words how many watts does that processor suck down?
-- shayborg
Both have CD-RW/DVD-R's, and half a gig of memory (upgradable on both).
Actually, the Dell doesn't have a DVD writer, even as an option.
-- shayborg
Dear Apple,
;-) (If that is somehow hilarious, I don't get it. Could someone enlighten me?)
I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance.
with much gayness,
Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day, S.J.
You sound like you couldn't decide whether you were going for "Flamebait", "Funny", or "Troll" -- and ended up with an unfunny but still offensive mishmash. The moral of the story: decide what you're gunning for before you submit a post.
-- shayborg
This provides a pretty good layperson's overview of the problem, as well as why it's relevant.
-- shayborg
IIRC this has been something of a holy grail for mathematicians for years. When John Nash tried to prove it in his prime, everyone laughed at him, not believing that even someone as brilliant as Nash could solve the infamous problem. If this isn't a fake, it's a pretty amazing achievement.
-- shayborg
The PowerPC is basically, as far as I can tell, something of a joint project between IBM and Motorola. Apple buys most of their chips from Motorola, but they buy some from IBM as well.
/. karma whore
First of all, what is the processor that Apple using now? Isn't it some sort of PowerPC already? I see this one supports Altivec and I know that G3 and G4 Apple computers have the same instruction sets. Is this just another implementation, or is G3 and G4 relatives of this new processor?
Apple currently uses the PowerPC G3 and G4 processors. (G3 and G4 are Apple marketing-speak; the G3 line actually consists of the MPC 740-755 processors, while the G4 line is the MPC 7xxx series of processors.) The G4 processors have support for Altivec, a specialized vector processing unit.
This is another implementation of the basic PowerPC ISA shared by the G3 and G4; this, like the G4, has tacked on Altivec support. So the G3 and G4 are close relatives of this processor.
Second: what operating system does the IBM PowerPC run?
One of the biggest purchasers of PowerPC processors is, of course, Apple. All of their computers currently use the G3 and G4, and run Mac OS X by default. However, there are also versions of Linux and other operating systems that run on PowerPC processors, and there are other PowerPC processors designed to work with other OS's. One example is IBM's Power4 processor, widely considered to be the best processor in existence today. It is designed to work with either IBM's Unix-based AIX operating system or, more recently, PowerPC Linux.
I suspect that the article is just confusing and processor itself is not made by IBM. Right??
No, the processor itself is made by IBM. This is IBM's page for the PowerPC 970.
I hope that clears up your questions.
-- shayborg, the
Interestingly enough, I use jEdit happily on my (400 MHz G3) Mac, but find it too slow to be usable on my (XP 2100) PC. So I find myself with two great editors available for the Mac (though I don't own BBEdit, it is available), and none I know of for Windows ... Which sucks really bad right now since my Mac is temporarily out of commission.
-- shayborg
Xdocs looks pretty good, actually ...
-- shayborg
I'm a geek; I go to an admittedly geek-heavy university. But I played football for a year and a half as well, until I decided schoolwork was more important, and I still don't have any trouble mixing with kids my age. I do still play soccer. I wonder where this theory places us, the folks of supposedly well-above-average intelligence who can still fit in well enough with the rest.
-- shayborg
I installed it with no problems whatsoever -- no changed prefs, nothing moved in the Dock, certainly nothing catastrophic like a messed-up clock -- on a 400 MHz iMac with 320 MB RAM, certainly not the cream of the crop. YMMV, of course, but I don't think Apple is deliberately screwing over older computers or anything.
-- shayborg
Chimera is Cocoa as well. I think we can judge the veracity of the rest of your post based on that little blunder.
-- shayborg
MacGecko? CocoaGecko? CocoaMozilla, CoMoz for short? (I'm aware Chimera isn't exactly Mozilla, but CoMoz just rolls off the tongue ... ;-)
I'm sure someone else can come up with better names than I, but Camino doesn't exactly conjure up images of web browsers.
-- shayborg
The problem I see with this keyboard shortcuts argument is that IMHO the Mac OS UI was never really designed for keyboard usage, but, that said, the few really important keyboard shortcuts that existed have made the leap to Aqualand.
I've used the classic Mac interface for almost fifteen years, and switched to OS X a couple weeks ago, but I very rarely find myself looking for a keyboard shortcut. The aforementioned Cmd-N still throws me off -- they really need to fix that -- but the other ones I used in Classic with any regularity -- Cmd-Shift-Delete, Cmd-Delete, Cmd-I, Cmd-M, Cmd-D, the copy/cut/paste keys, Cmd-O, etc. -- have all been duplicated in OS X. If there are any that haven't, I've never noticed them, and I think I utilize keyboard shortcuts far more than the average user.
-- shayborg
There're points at certain distances between the earth and the moon called Lawrencian points (I think that's the name, but don't quote me).
I think they're called Lagrangian points, but the rest of your post is essentially correct.
-- shayborg
I'm not a Mac apologist. I have nothing against Windows in general (beyond the Microsoft business practices), and if a Windows machine ever appeals to me more than a Mac I won't hesitate to switch over. But, as of right now, I am very satisfied with OS 10.2 (on the same machine as your desktop, actually), and this kind of unjustified bashing needs correcting. Some of your statements do have a basis in fact, but the rest just smack of bitterness. ;-)
... It's $99. I think there's a discount or something if you buy a new computer, but I'm not definite. And of course, no one is forcing you to use .Mac. I have a Mac, and I haven't used .Mac since they started charging for it, and it hasn't exactly been a deal-killer.
:-)
- Hardware is still ~40% more than similar PC stuff.
On desktops, probably. Laptops, no.
- Dependablity has dropped to "white box" levels.
This one I haven't seen. Look here. I'm guessing you're the only person who thinks that.
- iMoive et all applications cost $100 per year (to stay up to date)
iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto are all completely free, unless you feel like paying for a CD to be shipped to you. iDVD costs, last I checked, $49, but that's only for computers that ship with an Apple SuperDrive. I don't know where that's coming from.
- blah@mac.com accounts cost $130 per year PER ACCOUNT PER YEAR.
Um
$360 per year for the feeding of a Mac is IMO too much. I resently bought a Toshiba 1115-S103 laptop (1.5Ghz Cel, 20G HD, 256M RAM, WinXP Home and a 14" screen) for $750 (new after $200 rebate). A similar iBook would be $1540 ($1050 + $130 + $360) over two years as opposed to my Toshiba for $900 ($750 + $150 for possible OS update costs).
You can redo the math yourself, but look what you got -- that Toshiba laptop has a Celeron, weighs 7 pounds, and has 2 hours of battery life. You've already considered the OS, so I won't rant about that. If that extra couple hundred dollars is worth it for you, go ahead. I won't dispute your opinion, but your facts could use some help. Sorry for ranting a little (OK, a lot), but unsupported bashing really has no place in a supposedly neutral discussion.
-- shayborg
... you won't have the nasty incompatibility problem with everyone you know who's not a graphic designer... (I'm a graphics/development guy.)
Can anyone say "flamebait"?
I've yet to encounter any insurmountable incompatibility problem between my Mac and anyone else's computer in three years studying computer engineering and computer science. I can't imagine what you had trouble transferring while doing graphics and development.
-- shayborg