The Baffling case of the Mac User

So How is Crysis for Mac OH WAIT...

How about Modern Warfare 2 on Mac OH WAIT

Well Surely you must have played BIOSHOCK. YES YES YOU HAVE 2 years after it was on Windows/360 and a year after ps3

STFU

 

WTF, that’s messed up on so many levels. So, just because you happen to think gaming is the end-all/be-all to computing, _SD_ should STFU and everyone should agree that Mac's suck?

People do use the computer for things other than video games… Like actually productive endeavors, some of which are done professionally for a living.

 

Thank you Trenton. Yes, I actually use the computer to earn a living. It's not for watching porn, arsing around on Facebook or running around shooting people in Quake. It's for doing work on to pay my bills.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Funny thread!!!

Love it or hate it, Macs are on the rise. Doesn't prevent you to play on a PC.

Got a Mac recently and I'm very impressed on how good and simple they are. I've used PCs for the best part of 17 years, from Windows 2.0 to Windows 7. I'll probably get flamed for that but MacOSX rocks.

I still love my PC, it's perfect for gaming, it's been ok although rocky at some point to record and produce my music.

There is just something about the Macs, it's inviting, simple, fast to boot, doesn't require an update every minute, doesn't need antivirus, firewall or a constant need for attention for security. It just works. Yep you can't fiddle with it as much as with Windows, but I'm at a point where, I'm done fiddling, reformatting, updating, tuning my PC to get things working. I just want to get things done and Macs are about that.

I spent a lot of money on a Core i7 machine and my Core 2 Duo mac with a 3rd of the ram, no raid0 boots faster than Vista or even Windows 7!!!

Whatever the opinion, you can't deny that Apple is doing something right with the Mac.

 

FYI the STFU was about the Roms comment not the Mac argument.

OK I never said Gaming was the Be all end of of computers. I don't even really game on my Computer too much but this is a Gaming Forums and since I made the mistake of posting this in the game section It does need to be part of my argument for PCs.

How about Instant messaging? I tried Pidgen which is Adium which is the mac client and MEH To my knowledge Macs dont have a full featured AIM and they sure don't have MSN. Not sure about Yahoo, QQ Skype and whatever else the kids use these days.

I'll admit Itunes is nice and you can get that on PC but in my experence with it it hijacks all my media functions. Also Windows Media Center blows

I got a 120 gig Zune Last year. It was DOA out of the box. (it wouldn't keep charging) I found the Zune software to be cumbersome and as well organized as my music was it was a total pain in the ass to get the Zune Software to find it.

In terms of features though IN THEORY the Zune wins for me.

Somebody tell me about Word Processors on Mac.

I type alot of papers and stuff what's the mac have to offer there?

Is there a Mac Version of Final Draft?

 

I've been trying to stay out of it, but woah there - you don't have any kind of firewall, not even on your router? Bad idea. Macs are not a panacea for all things security, and the more popular they get, the more security will become an issue.

...

 

My threads seem to go that way

Back in the day if you wanted to use Photoshop it was Mac or bust. My high school used some older pre G4 macs and they could do things the G4s couldn't do in photoshop (something about using the processor for generating effects.

I think the only thing Apple has done was create the idiot proof computer.

And yeah Macs DO get viruses, not as many as Windows but they DO get them.

 

I use it daily, it's part of Mac Office.

And now we're moving on to Word Processors and Office Suites? Ok, there's iWork, MS Office 2008 (which I use) and Open Office. I'm sure there are a few more but those seem to be the most popular.

 

ah Touche'
Now granted a Word processor and Office Suite isn't going to make me go run out and get a mac. But again if we're talking about every day things we use then the options are to be considered.

OK how about graphic design?

3d modeling and shit.

This isn't something I know a whole lot about I know about Maya I'm not even sure if that's the standard anymore.

Dunno what macs Have not 100% sure about windows either.

 

I think it's time you were quiet, GoH.

 

I'd normally say GFYS but the Turkey is kicking in

NAP TIME

 

I do have firewalls on my router, but it's nice not to have some Symantec crap installed on your machine, which I have to have for business :-( Or Windows Firewall complaining that I've disabled it XD.

But yeah that's my fear as well, the more success the more people will try to destroy it. Only a question a time...

 

Don't be so hard on yourself

I'm sure they do get viruses but I have yet to encounter one!!!

I agree with your point on Photoshop, Mac use to rule that space. You're right to say Macs are idiot proof, but in a way, it's good!!! I usually help quite a few people with their PCs for general repair, rebuild, upgrades. Now that I have less time to do that, I just advise them to buy Macs instead. Don't hear about them so much these days.

Hope the Turkey was good, happy thanks giving BTW!!!

 

Crysis is quite fun on my Mac, actually. Thanks for asking.

Actually, all of that is quite fine, thank you. Adium is a ton better, again interface-wise and functionality because of it, including the various Linux skins Ive used. Skype works great, used it while I was in London, have done Webchats on Yahoo messenger, talk on MSN a ton, so yeah.

Popular opinion says that iTunes on Windows is awful, iTunes on OSX is actually quite nice.

In theory? Wonderful, that's nothing.

Microsoft has an Office package, then theres the free NeoOffice, and also Apple's own iWork package which is quite nice.

Never used Final Draft, but : http://alternativeto.net/desktop/final-draft/


Oh, and I think there is 1, maybe 2 viruses? If that, as the only ones I remember were all trojans, which are entirely different since they require you to A. Download pirated software, then B. Insert your Admin password. Virus implies clicking on something then all hell breaking loose.

 

I say Zune IN THEORY becuase Mine didn't work. But Built in FM tuner, a huge screen I like those things.

Ipods have a nice interface but they scream HEY APPLE MADE ME!

I'll give the Ipod Touch and Iphone that, they don't scream APPLE MADE ME

 

Have you been eating too many of those little alcohol filled chocolates again? I don't even know what you mean anymore! Go sleep that Tia Maria off man! :fresh:

 

Maybe 5-8 years ago, I still used some things on Windows because either I couldn't afford the Mac equivalent or I couldn't find one.

These days, the OS X platform has grown so much that it's the opposite, when I use Windows I try to find the PC equivalent of the great, innovative Mac software.

OS X Office 2008 is so much nicer and cleaner than Windows Office 2007 in my opinion, but Apple's own iWork boots faster and has a cleaner, sleeker interface than any office suite I've ever used.

Plus, with VMWare Fusion or Parallels, I can just run XP or whatever I want alongside OS X (still comfortably in my 2GB of stock RAM) and it gets rid of the Windows desktop and taskbar and just superimposes the windows over my OS X screen (if you want to, that is.) That's a dream come true in terms of compatibility and usability.

As for games, there's cider ports, virtualization that supports DX10, native booting of Windows for more demanding games, etc. Not to mention all of the great Mac-exclusive games and our now-great library of emulators (which is still a little behind Windows, but that's what virtualization is for, and maybe I'll port some things one day if I can get the source.) Oh, and newer Macs even come with multiple NVidia cards so you can swap to save battery or have full performance.

Adium on the Mac is freaking amazing and I've been using it for years. Going back to standard IM programs on Windows seems limiting, though Trillian is nice. I have it set to display my contact list transparently over my desktop. It looks so sleek.

About Macs being idiot-proof, any computer can still get messed up if you try hard enough but OS X abstracts the system details from the user's working space. If you want to tinker with the system, you have the Unix terminal and still retain system file access. It's like the power of Linux but with a much more refined GUI and less bloat. I'm not insulting Linux whatsoever, but it's not very polished and OS X is just as powerful.

The thing that makes Macs so great for media work is that OS X's multitasking is unmatched as far as I'm concerned. Being able to open Safari, iTunes, Photoshop CS4, Dreamweaver CS4, Flash CS4, Adium, BBEdit, FTP programs, etc. all at the same time with no lag in only 2GB of RAM (wow, times have changed!) is astounding. A visit to the Activity Monitor (like the Task Manager) shows the actual RAM your apps are taking up, but OS X has advanced protected memory management that allows the all to share the space in a limited pool of resources.

Don't even get me started on developing software for the Mac. I do most of my work in Java, but the native tools and especially the API blow my mind.

 

Well I'm not sold on macs, but At least you all educated me on what one might use it for.

What would a good windows equelevent of Garage band be? Alebeton?

 

http://www.pcmusicstuff.com/

If you are going to be recording anything at all, you need to be certain of what you are planning to do rather than what software is like Garage Band or Ableton.

If it's just you with a guitar and a mic then most of the "lite" versions such as basic Cubasis will do the trick. However, if you are interested in doing more complex things with soft synths etc then you are looking at Reason / Rebirth or Storm.

As soon as you move away from software synths and MIDI sequencing to recording live audio or instruments over microphones then you had better have a shit hot processor and a heap of memory installed. The processing power required is the main issue, swiftly followed by the storage space required for the raw material prior to editing and making a series of tracks into a stereo output. You thankfully have software that provides virtual tracks, so you can access multiple takes of the same track and choose the best one, but again it's power hungry.

These days however most PCs are more than capable of handling the lite versions and cope pretty well with whatever you wish to throw at them.

I've tried Ableton and frankly I didn't like it, much preferring to use Cubasis VST 4.0. You could also try Sony's Sound Forge Audio Studio, or Magix Music Maker but I have not used either.

No doubt there are a thousand other packages that are available, some freeware others utterly outside most people's budget and a few that are actually pretty decent and at a good price.

However, it really does depend on what you are planning and what you want the software to do.

I've used Garageband a lot and found it very basic, to the point of me using it to it's very limitations and finding it wanting. I found the controls clunky and inaccurate, but hey, it's not meant to be the best, it's just an entry level recording package.

At a totally different level, if you don't need multi track recording, but just some means of recording one take and editing stereo or mono audio from a variety of sources then Audacity is available for the Mac & PC. I use it to record from my main external recording devices into my iMac. I can then edit on the fly and format it without losing much. I really like it, but it is very, very limited. It's best for recording basic vocal pieces, say for radio broadcast rather than music.

At the other end of the scale then I recommend Logic Pro, which is Mac based, sadly!

Get a decent interface such as a Cakewalk USB audio interface and you'll get software for Mac & PC bundled with it.
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/83377

The pros and cons of owning a PC or Mac will present themselves when you attempt to do a variety of things. It's each to their own preference and their own budget. I can't be bothered to persuade anyone either way whether they should or should not invest in a particular item, especially if they come to the discussion with their mind completely made up.

None of it is particularly baffling if you retain an open mind and don't accept all the fan boy bullshit. There are good points with both systems and the fact is that most hardware is becoming increasingly standardized and really the bulk of the preference is whether you like one OS over another. The way the hardware is set up is also critical and can be the difference between a computer with good specs on a piece of paper that never the less fails to deliver and a rather minimal set up that just exceeds expectations. Go figure!

However, there is already a Mac vs PC thread and I really think this has done its' job, which is to say "it's not baffling at all". Case closed.

 

There are a stack of equivalents, each with their own strengths. The PC isn't short of GarageBand substitutes.