12 comments

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  Kip Hakes

  11 months ago

  Couldn't agree with you more Rob!
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  Samantha

  11 months ago

  I agree with Kip! Both are as hopeless as the other, a Mac I used broke a piece of Coursework I did that I spent about a month working on.
  
  I was so annoyed.
  
  I've decided when my current computer dies I'm moving to Linux, and open source software. Then I'll build the computer groud up, the way I want. I reckon that more people will probably take that line too.
  
  Samantha.
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  Ben Smith

  11 months ago

  This can be fun and allows you to be really precise about what you want, but it also exposes you to all the rough edges of software and hardware that the manufacturers take care of for you. I bought a new computer recently and considered all kinds of alternatives, but in the end went for an 'off the shelf' option with the OS already installed and set-up. I came to the conclusion that I just needed it to work immediately so I could get on with what I needed to do. If I want to play, I'll build a separate machine, but I won't rely on it to be productive / meet deadlines.
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  Samantha

  11 months ago

  Yeah true, but at the same time, the about of opensource software avaliable now for free is amazing. Adobe for instance offer their free Office solution as does Java. Or, if you want to be really cool, just use Microsoft Office and tweak it a bit to work on whatever platform you choose.
  
  I think if you look hard enough, you can find anything productive. I mean, Windows for instance, I wanted to use my current computer for Cubase (music making etc), and it doesn't like it. As for Photoshop? I can't run anything else at the same time as it. So all computers have their own downfalls in productivity, you just need to think of how to get around those issues.
  
  Where there's a will, there is definitely a way!
  (Well, that's what I like to think anyway).
  
  Samantha.
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  MarkW

  11 months ago

  While I kind of agree, I think there's still an edge for the Mac in terms of user experience. While I run PC desktops and laptops for my business, I also have a Mac lappy and I can tell you that when the PC and the Mac are both to hand and I just want to get on with whatever's in my head, I will pick up the Mac every time. It's just less fuss - probably because my Dell laptop is running Vista and I hate its picky, overbearing, unreliable ways!
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  James Burland

  11 months ago

  Wow! I feel like been beamed back to 1995!
  
  Okay now listen. There *is* still a big difference between OSX and Windows. Mac OS gets out of your way quicker than Windows, is less prone to hanging and still has no viruses to speak of (and no, it has nothing to do with being a minority OS). Plus, when you buy a new Mac you get the easiest music creation app on the planet (Garageband), and one of fastest video edited apps available (iMovie) for free...
  
  ... ah, forget it!! I've had this conversation so many times over the last 15 years or so... Some people just don't like Apple products, I do, and I can't get my head around any one who doesn't. That's all I can really say on the matter, that and the fact that of the 16 people that I personally know have gone from Windows to OSX in the last 8 years, only 1 has ever gone back to Windows and even then it was only because he uses Office and plays Champ Manager all day long!
  
  I use OSX, Win 2K, WinXP and Vista on a daily basis, for everything except gaming and syncing to a Nokia the Mac is better, not just bit better but considerably better.
  
  Oh, and for the record, 2.01 puts the iPhone back to being a rock solid pocket computer, not bad for 3 weeks work. How long did it take Nokia to 'fix' the N95?
  
  Rant over. ^_-
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  TerenceEden

  11 months ago

  Just a point - the Mac isn't virus free* because of its minority status. It's virus free for the same reasons Linux is - it's a well designed operating system.
  
  Linux may be a minority on the desktop - but it's in the majority for servers. If hackers wanted large targets, they'd go after Linux, Apache etc. They can't / don't because the systems have been designed with security in mind.
  
  *Very few out in the wild.
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  Rob

  11 months ago

  I said this would be contentious :)
  
  So, there are very few out in the wild???
  
  That means it is not virus free and people can exploit certain areas then?
  
  There are no OSs out there that is perfect. Speaking to a guy called Martin Warner recently (touts himself as a 'new media guru') I heard that Linux wasn't attacked because its OS was out in the open so what's the point of trying something so simple.
  
  If you think that Mac's cannot get attacked then why worry. But, do you really think that the people at Mac are less fallible than the people at MS? Come on? These are some of the best programmers on the planet (at both) and the vulnerabilities will be there.
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  juliancooling

  11 months ago

  There are different types of OS, device and user. The Mac has traditionally been a consumer system, Linux/Unix a server system and Windows a cross-breed consumer/business-desktop system. To break an OS you need to attack the OS directly, convince the user to do something for you or break an application.
  
  Phone systems including their native network protocols like bluetooth are locked down each and every way by design - including the questions they ask the user. Most OSs are fairly tight too.
  
  More generally, Linux/Unix server systems tend run very few applications, no users and they are typically well written: therefore it is hard to break system. Macs run with well written out-of-the-box applications for consumers only and they have a consistent, well constructed user interface that normally informs the user appropriately before they do something silly.
  
  Windows has 25 years of programming and user interface flip-flopping behind it with an unclear target audience. Additionally it has never had a proper tidy up. The user and programming interface is not consistent which leads to poor application writing as well as inconsistent/poorly targetted messages to users and to users breaking their own systems.
  
  No thief has ever chosen not to attack a target because they could see no point in 'trying something so simple'. I think you need to find a new media guru.
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  rob

  11 months ago

  I don't know, it makes sense to me. If you're a great climber, what would you choose to do, K2 / Everest or the little hill down the bottom of the garden? You do things because they're there and you want to push yourself.
  
  Same for cycling - Tour de France or the village green etc etc etc. If you want to be pushed then you're going to go for the hardest.
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  bitflung

  11 months ago

  as a mac user i have to strongly disagree with this statement: "I don’t mind Macs. I use them a lot but they’re no better than PCs unless you’re a designer or a producer. Most people are neither."
  
  macs are no better for designers or producers. macs suck at this just as much as windows. windows/mac/linux are all essentially bags of shit. the ONLY reason i prefer the mac is that i'm not completely fed-up with the company.
  
  when Be, Inc was selling the BeOS, i could accept some bugs and issues because, well, they were poor and under-staffed. microsoft hasn't had this excuse in decades. apple is somewhere in between - not as rich or filled with potential as microsoft, nor the under-dog that was Be, Inc.
  
  i feel like a school-kid being forced to work with the smart, rich prick that doesn't do his work because, well, he doesn't have to. and i'm constantly having to fix his crappy work. this analogy holds just as well for apple as it does with microsoft. linux? that's the smelly kid in the corner with buck-teeth -- if you can get past to aesthetics and are willing to do what he wants, you'll do well at it.
  
  they all suck. i want BeOS back. long live Haiku, once it's born.
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  Stephen Holmes

  11 months ago

  Mmm Rob… not many virus writers are out there just doing it for the challenge, most tend to nick information from the computer at the same time or are created for belief / political reasons (eg: ones that attacked NASA).
  
  As they're looking to steal personal info and other data you'd usually go for the unlocked door that's part open rather than try and smash your way through the reinforced steel blast doors. But then I use a Mac so I really don't care that they stick to PCs, whether it's because they like the challenge or because OS X is too difficult for them to get round or that the Mac community is too small, etc…
  
  Personally, I'm a designer and I do push my Mac fairly hard (6GB Photoshop files anyone?) and whilst the software would work in theory just as well on a PC, in reality everyone I know with a PC has their life filled with grief so it's not exactly a great reason to change.
  
  Anecdotally I think the Mac interface is far easier (and logical) than a PCs and the Mac makes it quite hard for you to delete anything important to the computer itself, where as I've had a couple of friends with PCs that have been allowed to delete core parts of the OS without any real warning which has then prevented it from booting up again. My parents have had several PCs and, despite having anti virus / spyware / malware software and a firewall, still had unwanted stuff installing itself and rendering their PC slower than a ZX Spectrum - so decided to switch to a Mac, and now even my father can use it and my mother is a complete whizz now.
  
  – As for the original point about software updates causing problems, my rule is the same for any sort of technology; never buy first generation and never install software updates / new OS's as soon as they come out – wait for second generation and a couple of weeks after the software releases, let the fanboys (and fangirls) point out and encounter all the glitches so that you end up with a smooth experience once they've all been fixed.
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