Convince me to switch.

I

ikoul

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First off, I want to say that I am very open minded in this. I'm not some biased windows demon.

Convince me to buy a mac.

There are a few things I'm worried about:
I'm used to the windows OS.
Some mac elitists scare me, with their french coffee and hip apple store.
The mouse has only one button. Aren't creating folders and renaming files difficult?
Again, one mouse button?
New OS X updates every month. (I don't want to pay 200 bucks every month for the next panther or jaguar, or tiger, or some other cat.):mad:
What about my precious games and Win32 apps?

On another note, I have some general questions:
How loud are Powerbooks? Is the noise barely noticeable?
Is the Airport dealy compatible with regular 802.11b/g networks, or do you have to have a Airport base station, specifically?

Thanks,
ikoul.
(I've got Gmail...hehe)
 
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First off, I want to say that I am very open minded in this.

I'm used to the windows OS.

My condolences.

Some mac elitists scare me, with their french coffee and hip apple store.

French Coffee? I thought it came from Columbia or Brazil.

The mouse has only one button. Aren't creating folders and renaming files difficult?

Nope.

Again, one mouse button?

How many do you want, my Logitech Wireless Track-ball has 7!

New OS X updates every month. (I don't want to pay 200 bucks every month for the next panther or jaguar, or tiger, or some other cat.):mad:

So don't upgrade, I've had my iMac for over a year now and it is still fine with 10.2.8 all my other Macs came with 10.3 and so far all 4 upgrades have been free downloads.

What about my precious games and Win32 apps?

I have 3 PC's and 3 Macs, the kids play the same games on both and prefer the Macs. I'm having a hard time picturing a "precious" Win32 app btw. ;)

Is the Airport dealy compatible with regular 802.11b/g networks, or do you have to have a Airport base station, specifically?

Yes and No respectively, all my machines happily coexist on a Belkin 54mbps wireless network. The Macs didn't require any setting up. (although I have to admit that the XP powered PC didn't either but getting it to recognise the other PCs was a pain)

Thanks,

You're welcome.

Amen-Moses
 
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T

The mac 13

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yo man..
1)mac are beta...coz no screen of death..no .dll i m currently using a pc now..but hoping to switch soon...i feel like throwing ma pc out of the 18th floor!it totallly six...plus there are virus...spyware...u know why there are so many virus n spyware 4 windows?simple windows market share is 95% plus plus..mac is bout 3% plus..if u were a virus maker and u want 2 make the strongest virus, u would of course wack windows rite coz it will produce the MOST damage...when there is most damage, you are HAPPY rite?think different

2)As a pc user, i also wonder one button mouse?weird..but later i learnt that for right clicks, its CTRL+one click of the mouse button on where you wanna right click..ma friend using system 9 told me that u just click and hold..but i tried on osx cannot so just CTRL and one click..

3)well u know wat ikoul? there are people still using sytem 6..(tats bout 5 plus yrs ago...correct me mac fanatics...i only know got to know macs in osx)buy panter now..its at its peak...tiger is in its developing stages...still in progeramming...so i predict that it wont come out till nxt yr second quater..

4)well for yr games and win32 apps, there are games speciall built for mac..like sim city...it has both mac n pc...even tony hawk pro skater is built for mac...i neva heard of of a version for pc b4(correct me on this..i don usually play games)

then for yr win32 applications, there is an emulator for mac made by windows..you can run most applications on it..but the down side?sum applications dont work(windoze fault)..then you will slow down the mac and u will sped $$ on just upgrading the ram. it requires about 512mb but the best is bout 1gb n above of ram..so tats bout $$$$$ spend!(see..i m using windoze but i still know..hhaaahahaaa..)

5)loud?i presume fan noise n stuff...i think that it wont be a prob if u use it for just word precession ONLY..if you multi task it like anti-virus+word+safari+messenger+video editiong+listerning to music+ichat+dreamweaver, the processer will get hot then the fans will get fatser and LOUDER..but seriously for word processing, it wont be LOUD..it will be unnoticiable..(logic)

6)for the airport extrem, its compatiable to both b and g clients..but on a mixed mode(both at the same time), the g clients must switch to b just to cater to the b clients(idiot)..for the base station q, i don know as i m still using a pc coz no1 wanna gimme a mac...so caant ans..but i can ans sum qs on basic mac thingys..

So convinced to switch?no? well then..ask pcjabber or night crawler or witeshark or Graeme43 or Absolute Zero or Padawan..they are using maC...i m using pc(come kill me!!!wait!!nono!!kill ma pc!!1)

wow...got gmail..i heard tat its still beta testing..so...good luck
Thanks!
 
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ikoul

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Anyone else want to try? Also, anyone with a PB willing to tell me about the volume of its operation?

(Macs are expensive)
 
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Matt

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I love my PC, + WinXP doesn't have the bsod (blue screen of death) and deosn't have missing system files (dll's, exe's, sys, etc) because it doesn't let other files share windows files (except for updates n stuff). If you do get a mac (which would be great!), make sure you keep your current PC for win32 Apps and gaming, or just buy another cheap PC from dell or something if your PC is too outdated to play the game(s) you like. If you do have the money and see things that will advantage you or you relise anything that will enhance your computing experiance, then get a mac. I do not have a mac, and, I sort of sound like a biased windows user, but, believe it or not, I CRAVE A MAC, + my dad just bought me a new Sony Vaio about 4 months ago, and I would feel guilty if I bought another machine now.
 
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Hi!

I was recently facing a similar dilemma, to mac, or not to mac?

I was also not unhappy using windows, especially since xp is actually not that bad...
But i decided to bite the bullet and go for it (plus i would still have my desktop pc as a backup...)

Well now to your questions:

Used to windows: Believe me, it isn't a big step to get used to mac, if you know your way around windows...

Sure some things are in different places, but nearly everything is either easier or just as easy.
you still have a basic settings panel like windows
also you'll still use a folder based system
Most applications look and feel the same on both systems..

worries aside, most mac apps run smoother, look better and seem more intuitive than on windows as they all use a standardised interface (sounds boring and bad, but is actually very nice...)

One button mouse:
well if you're getting a portable, you'll have to adjust to the mouse, sure. But as for renaming, creating files etc: Everything can either be accessed through the menu bar at the top, or by a button+click.
so shift+click opens a new window, apple+w closes a window, highlighting an icon and hitting enter lets you rename it, or apple+click brings a contect menu (=right click)

At home i just hook up my logitech mouse and use that (all buttons are supported...) so there's not much difference to windows there...

Upgrading mania:
That doesn't seem appealing to me either, but i have to agree: "so don't upgrade".
Or did you buy windows 95,98,98SE,2000,xp,(xpSE)??

No, neither did i, skip a few updates every so often and then get one...

Apps & Games:

well most apps are available in mac versions (with exceptions, granted)...at least i haven't come accross anything i really miss.
Some programs you don't have on macs for a reason: macs just work anyway, without all the little helper programs you need on windows (xp antispy springs to mind)

Games: Yep, this could be the clincher: You can get many current titles for mac osx, however, they don't seem to be as well adapted as their pc counterparts.
On the other hand, if you look at GTA3 on the Ps2 and GTA3 on the pc, the Ps2 version is miles better, simply because the pc version is a sloppy conversion...

But gaming is still more evolved on the pc...
But having said that, it will depend on the type of games you play: as mentioned above tony hawk, sim city, warcraft 3, halo etc are all out on mac as well as pc...

Loudness on the powerbooks:
I'd say 95% of the time you won't hear the fan, except when you are really taxing the processor, when it is slightly audible. But nothing like a pentium 3/4 pc laptop, sooo much quieter! Comparable to a decent centrino pc laptop..


mac addict/evangelists: they have seen the light, they can't understand why people still buy windows pc's when macs are (to them) so obviously better....so they act a bit strange on times.. ignore them until you are like them...
 
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Answers...

I'm not going to convince you. If you want one, go do some research and make your own decision. Ten minutes of using OS X convinced me, while standing in an Apple store.

I'm a recent convert from the PC world (though my PC is still used for games) and I agree about the Mac zealots, and quite frankly, the stereotype is mostly true, I've come to find out.

As for the single button, it's just to appease the simpletons. You can plug ANY usb mouse into your Mac and it'll work dandy. I've got a 5 button mouse (with wheel) that works like a charm. The "right click" for one-buttom mouse users, is done by holding the command key, and clicking. *shrug*. Just get another mouse.

Apple doesn't update their OS every month. Thus far, it has been updated twice in 3 years, at least in terms of updates you had to purchase. System patches and downloadable (read: free) updates occur every week or so. When they do come out with a new OS, they're never $200, as you say...but I understand your concern.

As for your precious Win32 games, you'll need to keep your PC around, for that. As for apps, I've found replacements for all of my Windows apps, that run on my Mac.

I use a Powerbook 1.33 GHz (12 inch) and it's absolutely dead silent. When it gets hot, the fans kick in, and they're absurdly quiet...you can barely hear them. It's the quietest laptop I've ever had.

Yes, Airport is a standard 802.11 setup. You can use ANY basestation and it'll work just fine. The only caveat is that Apple uses plaintext WEP keys (which is smart), whereas PC base stations use hex (which is stupid). This can be overcome by putting a $ in front of your Mac's WEP key.


ikoul said:
Convince me to buy a mac.

There are a few things I'm worried about:
I'm used to the windows OS.
Some mac elitists scare me, with their french coffee and hip apple store.
The mouse has only one button. Aren't creating folders and renaming files difficult?
Again, one mouse button?
New OS X updates every month. (I don't want to pay 200 bucks every month for the next panther or jaguar, or tiger, or some other cat.):mad:
What about my precious games and Win32 apps?

On another note, I have some general questions:
How loud are Powerbooks? Is the noise barely noticeable?
Is the Airport dealy compatible with regular 802.11b/g networks, or do you have to have a Airport base station, specifically?

Thanks,
ikoul.
(I've got Gmail...hehe)
 
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T

trenollet

Guest
I have to agree with Osiris, Do the research and convince yourself. I borrowed a powerbook from a buddy to use FinalCut and he had to hunt me down to get it back.

So my advice is to check out an Apple store or retailer and check out a PB or iBook. You'll like it... I'm sure.

I have a 15" PB 1.33 and I think the fan turned on once when I opened the Applications folder, selected everything and pressed option+O. That was when I first got it and hadn't set anything up so Garage Band, iTunes, and etc were all looking for my user info and wanted to search for music etc,etc,..

If you're still leary after the Apple store visit, do what I did, buy an iBook off ebay for $500-600 and see if you like it. If you like it, sell it on ebay and go buy a new PB. Or you could keep the ebay unit for kicking around the house..... If you don't like it, put the mac back on ebay and get your money back. No harm, no foul.

Good luck,

Tim
 
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d4rr3n

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ikoul said:
Some mac elitists scare me, with their french coffee and hip apple store.

That reminds me of this heh.

20020712l.gif
 
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d4rr3n said:
That reminds me of this heh.

20020712l.gif

Where's the cartoon of the PC owners condescendingly asking the Mac user "Why on Earth did you buy a Mac? There's like no software for them, and they're slow." ;)
 
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Convince you to switch?? Why?

You should try one for yourself it's easy...Goto any Apple Centre or reseller outlet and play, asks as many questions as you like. If in the end your still not happy, just then leave. Better yet, borrow your friend's machine.

You think, if one of us convinces, then you go out spend your hard earned money on one, later your unhappy with your purchase, will be blamed? And do you think this is fair?
 
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ikoul

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That Penny Arcade comic was pretty much the exact kind of mac user I'm afraid of, but I know that most mac users are not elitists. I have to say, Aptmunich and Osiris, you guys gave me the best convincing, although Osiris, you said you wouldn't convince me and then you did.
Anyone know if there's an online "Apple Store Locator"?


Thanks.
 

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