The Baffling case of the Mac User

Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you ;-)

PC user's perspective:
The people I've known who switched from PC to Mac have generally been the types who just couldn't keep their PC clean, secure, and virus-free. For most of the PC users here on this forum it's probably second nature, but a lot of people out there just can't or don't want to learn. Mac promises you something which will pretty much just work, and has less confusing hardware and software choices (for the target audience this is a "plus", mind you)

Really it's the same thing as with cars. On one end of the spectrum, you have the guys who take apart their engines for fun on the weekend, and on the other end you have guys like me who don't care, wouldn't know horsepower from a horsecollar, and just want to put gas in the car and have it go.

 

Yeah that makes sense.

Now the important part, Main Reason I'm so anti mac is there doesn't seem to be any games/emulators for it.

 

Uh emulators are mostly fine, and plenty of Windows games can use cider to run on osx. But no one should buy a Mac and intend to use OSX for games. It comes down to interface, and usability due to optimization

 

Short anecdote: Old lady across the street (who actually passed away a last year from a stroke, sorry for the sad introduction) had an eMac and was confused to all hell some of the time with it.
And she was a very technology-oriented person for someone of her age. Ran a VCR and shit like that.
What I want to say, is that I think the "it's easier" thing is a moot argument.

GoH: True. lt's a worthwhile point to make (the software selection and inability for one to get a lot of hobby-related things done due to such selection/compatibility) but also we can't just dig up the horse and beat on him for kicks anymore, as it doesn't seem to be changing the fact. Perhaps one day in the future the platforms really will get close enough (the Intel step was excellent, definitely!) that if I want to run... my Saturn ISO Region Patcher and all I can get to is an Apple product, that I could do it without fuss.

Side note: I am pretty hardcore with PCs, but certainly don't have much against Macs. However, I certainly have a lot against some PEOPLE and I think that's a good point to make. If we could all just use our computers and then go to sleep at night, without any pompous arguments and crapola then these threads wouldn't have to exist.

Side-side-note: I really want a 12-inch Mac laptop. I usually look at the late G4 rigs, like the sweet Powerbooks. I really really wish I could get MorphOS on any 'ol G4. That OS must be far more complicated when it comes to hardware than I think, as it seems like it'd be an easy job to get some OS working on a platform it was basically written for. Hell, we've hacked OSX to work on PCs, even AMD PCs, but I guess the difference there is the volume of people backing the project.
Regardless, if anyone has an old 12" ____Book they want to hauk for cheap, especially one that needs work...

 

...or are the kind of people that, after doing as such for 16 years, have grown bored of it after realising that they didn't have to anymore. Sometimes, after working with computers for such a long time, you want a break from mollycoddling your machine just to keep the damn thing upright. After you've defragged your machine (which is now supposedly unnecessary in Win7), kicked the virus scanner for eating up all your system resources, run CCleaner for what feels like the 10 millionth time, reformatted and reinstalled Windows after a service pack leaves your system BSODing due to bad drivers, sometimes you want a break.

That's true, but I'm guessing she would have been equally confused with a Windows machine. I know a few people who can operate a VCR but are baffled by a DVD player. Just because a system is different doesn't mean that it's actually easier, and she would well have had one hell of a problem finding other people nearby who knew the answer to her problems.

As I said, I'm not trying to be pious here. I still consider myself a Windows user by a long way (I spend way more time on a Windows computer, and I can probably find a solution to a problem faster on a Windows machine than on a Mac), and I still recommend going with Windows if you're happy with it and know it. Likewise, if you can get along with a Mac, then go with a Mac. If you have any reasons not to use it - for example it doesn't support your favourite game or you don't like the look of Win7 - guess what? Don't buy it! No-one's forcing you to!

I completely agree with alecjahn, anyone who is purely anti-Windows or anti-Mac (much like someone who is anti-PS3 or anti-Xbox360) and rams the same old spiel home (OMG? One mouse button? / M$ WinDoze) can go sit on it. I've had enough of your crap. Stay out of the debate - I would like a grown-up conversation on this subject for once, without the snarky comments and the FUD. The fact that this thread is called 'The Baffling case of the Mac User' is probably the wrong time to be asking for this, however.

 

Well, I do have my reasons to not like macs, Interface, lack of games, REALLY don't know what it does that Windows 7 can't.

Then again I just tried running Knoppix and the thing wouldn't quite boot up.

 

GoH: Guess what - the answer is NOTHING! Apart from the fact that Macs have all of their updates, drivers (including add-on sound cards, printers, etc.) and fixes self-contained (due to their very nature), there is actually very little between them.

(apart from use each other's software without some 'converter' code in there)

 

Really WHAT advantage does a Mac have. What can I do on a Mac I can't do in Windows 7?[/quote]

walk in public with it, speaking from a design point of view, i could shit something more attractive that any pc on the market, but as discussed before its all a trend. There is no answer to this banal question.

:katamari2 the prince says "peace"

 

Plus you pay what $500 more for a machine that doesn't even have games for it?

 

i started on OSX 7, as a kid i always wanted a pc so i could play play play. But my folks are designers, back in the day mac was the only way + it was and is an industry standard

 

That's just about my point exactly.
The thing is... it's obvious that her family that got the computer for her weren't Mac people, because if that were the case they would be able to help her out. So, this means they made a decision to buy the thing over your standard simple, cheap, common box from Best Buy.

One of the funny problems was this one specific email that refused to delete in Mail. I was like "I don't know what the heck is going on, nor what to do about it other than ignore it."
One issue I have, is that I'm generally quite intuitive at these things and then I get even more baffled because there isn't much I feel I can dig into and diagnose in OSX. Sure, I'm no expert at all, and am probably even ignorant of a lot of aspects, but it's a tough little prick in the finger.

Ok, now you're just confusing me.
I understand freeware software and other things not working in OSX, but then I assumed we were talking about recent Macs, which will readily take Windows AFAIK.

 

And you still wont be paying 500$ more if you are buying a quality piece of hardware, unless the line you are looking at has yet to be refreshed (such as the Mac Pro, which is pretty dated at this point)

 

my friend if you use your keyboard as a toilet what else is it going to look like, my point being macs start off looking nice and with time turn shitty, pcs seem to start that way...aesthetically they exist on two different planes

(but on closer inspection that looks like a macbook 1st gen which did have a falt with the white plastic discoloring)

 

No offence, but what's the point of asking a question if you don't want to listen to the answer? This is why so many people get annoyed with you - you ask either hot or explosive questions and then you're so hardlined on your answer already you don't listen.

Macs are not $500 more for an equal-grade machine. Sure, you can vaguely buy a machine that has the same speed of processor, same amount of RAM and same amount of hard drive space for about $1-200 less. What you pay for when you buy a Mac is quality parts, design and software. Anyone who complains about the so-called 'Apple Tax' is just repeating the same guff that's been said by all the naysayers of the world without thinking.

 

Ok Fair enough.

It's also the same Argument PC Commercials keep using.

Ok so lets hit best buy

Here's a Macbook 13.3 inch display 2 gigs of ram 250 GIG hard drive 1 ghz intel processor

$1000

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple%26%23174%3B+-+MacBook%26%23174%3B+with+13.3%22+Display+-+White/9611541.p?id=1218131142326&skuId=9611541

PC with simular specs and parts from my manufacturer of choice Toshiba. (and their Tech Support hides their accents well)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Midnight+Breeze/9576942.p?id=1218127626133&skuId=9576942

ok granted that has onboard graphics bare with me

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...?id=pcmprd119500050010&skuId=9999119400050010

onboard again ok...

SO how about a laptop with HIGHER specs than that mac?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...Onyx/9553949.p?id=1218123210151&skuId=9553949

Then there's my laptop which was roughly $800 with 4 gigs of ram, 500 Gig Hard drive 16 inch Screen, and so on.

apparently Best Buy doesn't carry Toshibas with the ATI card that my laptop has anymore or at least not at the moment.

 

But at that point, youre buying a damn Toshiba. Just because it has the same processor, doesn't mean the rest of the hardware is actually any good, the motherboard makes an extremely huge difference to the design of a hardware. Thats like picking up a budget 50$ motherboard over one that costs 200$ and expecting it to be equal. And then theres the case design, which if it wasnt that big of a deal, why do PC builders go beyond a beige box? Then theres the screen quality. Oh, and battery quality (which, minus some exploding batteries that most manufacturers had a few years back). Sure, they arent removeable, and that sucks as an option-oriented person, but when the life is as good as it is, it just doesnt matter.

And commercials are trying to sell you stuff, no matter who makes them, so who cares what they say?

 

These threads are so lame. It's obvious GoH already made up his mind. We might as well just smash something over our heads. You'll get the same headache, except it goes away faster.

 

Ok, for the case of debate why don't we look up the reliability of a Toshiba.

Also I went to the site and configured a Toshiba as close the specs of mine as possible and it was about $1,043. I paid $800 for mine the difference is now they don't seem to have them/offer them with ATI cards anymore.

That said

http://www.ditii.com/2009/11/18/asus-and-toshiba-most-reliable-laptop-brands-dell-and-hp-worst/

http://www.itp.net/578466-asus-and-toshiba-most-reliable-laptop-brands

On the first site you'll see on the chart that by their stats Asus and Toshibas fail LESS than macs do. No Surprise HP and Dells Die en Masse. I had heard good things about Gateway/Acer but when we had our Gateway desktop It did have a ton of hardware issues eventually dying becuase the graphics card got loose and the slot for it broke off.

I've had my Toshiba since mid August It doesn't run very warm the fan goes on when it should and really I've had NO issues with it at all and since I put Windows 7 on it, this thing is pure lazy laying on my bed typing on a forum on thanksgiving day Bliss.

 

Admit it, you're a troll.
http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/macintosh/

 

So you're basically admitting that you don't like Macs/OS X because you beleive that there's no way to play all your illegally downloaded romz?

There's quite a few emulators available for the Mac, but I don't use them so I can't comment on how good they are. There's also quite a decent amount of native Mac games, but I don't play games on computer, that's what I have a PlayStation3 and a Wii for.