The dark mysterious world of Leopard

The dark mysterious world of Leopard.

Id like to share my experiences on using leopard on my new MBP 17 which I’ve been using virtually non stop for the last week.

Since it arrived I’ve enjoyed every moment on this marvel of a machine but I don’t feel too sure about Leopard and all the hype surrounding it. I’m a windows user and purchased the MBP for the fact that’s it’s a fab machine with the added benefits that Boot camp brings. My search for a PC yes PC ended, after 2 months of endless searching and sending a number of machines back from various vendors, after I learnt about boot camp, The decision was basically a no brainer “ The best of both worlds”

Id already read a lot about Leopard and how fabously great it was supposed to be in comparison to the dreaded micro$oft Vista.

Keen for new challenges I thought id give it a try.

BUT to be honest its all hype. Ive had nothing but problems with leopard as follows:

1 Ive found it Sluggish ( ive got 2.4 dual core and 4 gig ram ). Really programmes sometimes take an eternity to load up with no signal that anything is happening.

2 Airport struggles around the house. I wonder what problems I’d really have at a proper Airport. No point saying its my wireless because I’ve no such problems under windows.

3 Safari locks up the and freezes the MBP and cant force anything so have to power down.

4 Even though they claim that all the drivers for virtually every device/machine are preloaded ive found the opposite. Ive got a very expensive fujitsu scanner and after lots of painstaking searching I managed to find the drivers.

5 The whole MAC experience is supposed to be easy but Ive found it a MISH MASH world of disorganised folders and options with everything in virtually the wrong place.

Im sorry guys I like to speak the truth and to be honest ive found absolutely nothing in Leopard that I cant achieve in Windows and in fact more as ive come to learn that some software I require is not available under MAC. Yes I hear you shout “ parallels” BUT what on earth for; so I can run some of my Windows apps on a platform which is no better (wont say worse as its not ).

I bought the MBP to make the switch but I have ended up switching and installing to Vista Ultimate. Honestly Vista has shown itself to be far more reliable and responsive and feature-full without trying to show off with flying windows and jumping icons in the dock. The whole set up of windows is simply more logical and intuitive.

Talk about flying icons and machines the MBP really does fly under Vista and my whole user experience has been enhanced with the luxury of Vista and the MBP. I’v even managed to get Vista user experience index of 4.8 which I think is pretty decent and as good as any top end machine running Vista.

I now have NO lockups and my wireless works as it should. Oh and another point about people saying that windows is nothing but a problem; well to be honest of course we hear about more problems as more than 90% of the computer world uses windows. At least in windows you get an error message that the system has encountered a problems and needs to close the program blady da da but under leopard you never get these horrible error messages because the system locks up and never informs that a problem has arisen.

Anyway I have got nothing against Leopard and no loyalty to Window$ but its just that its so over hyped and hey Im all for competion and anything that raises the standard for the betterment of the end user but im sorry guys I see noting in Leopard or any apple software that I cant get better in windows and with more ease of use.

The only real thing that ive liked about leopard is front row and its great for showing your snaps to friends etc but to use as a proper business and multimedia platform it still has some growing up to do and I really hope it does for the sake of competition.

No offence or hard feelings and im not really picking on the small guy but I like to tell the facts as they are.

Hmm, I suggest backing up and doing a clean install, see if that fixes you issues, as I know a lot of people are having those problems (including myself) but than i did a clean install and everything was working just fine and dandy.

I always love it when new folks come in here and tell us that they simply like to "tell it like it is", it always makes me laugh.

I would suggest you sell the Mac (not MAC) and get a nice PC that suits your needs. Stick with what you know and like, no need to branch out to anything different.

The suggestion by The Vindicat3d above is where I would start but I'm not sure that it's worth your effort. Your assertion that OSX is a "Mish-Mash" with things "just scattered" and "out of place" simply tells me you are not willing to learn or even understand that OSX is just different from Windows. There is no "right or wrong" there is only "different". If you can't wrap you head around that then the I again recommend the first line of this paragraph.

Your experience is different than 95% of the Mac users in this and other forums that I brows. Maybe you just got a bum machine or a bad instal, it happens.

So you spent $2,800 on a MBP to run Windows? Wow!

I'm currently researching the Macbooks, but am having a hard time digesting the price compared to a Lenovo Thinkpad that I can get tremendous discounts on through a corporate account. My problem is the opposite of yours: I've begun my transition back to the Mac, and will never want to see another new Windows machine again in my house. But I love the Thinkpads. I just got a fully optioned-out X61s at work for under $2K. It's a killer machine.

Like the other posters, I would suggest you reinstall OS X and give your MBP another try. I think most folks would drool at the opportunity to own the 17" MBP. Don't cripple it with a half-baked OS that you will soon enough get tired of maintaining, tweaking and reinstalling.

And please don't come in here and tell us how much leopard sucks... what good does that do, besides annoying and pissing people off?

maccernow, I have to ask if you are just baiting us? I too have just bought a new MacBook Pro (I got the 15", 2.2 GHz, so mine should be slower than yours). I have found it be very responsive, unconditionally stable and very much in keeping with the whole Apple experience... everything just works.

If you are a deeply experienced Windows user, I will grant you that you will find things are organized differently, and perhaps even employ a different user interface paradigm to Windows. To the extent that a different model makes it seem like a "mish mash" to you, I guess we just have to say "guilty as charged". Macs ARE different. They are not Windows machines made by a different manufacturer. They are Macs, running a unique and different set of software - Mac OS X.

If your machine is truly as slow and unstable as you report, and equipped with non supported hardware, something has gone horribly wrong in the build of your machine. I would return it and get a new one.

In the end however, if you are not willing to invest the time and effort to learn a new user interface, you should stay with what you know and like - Windows. Macs are not necessarily for everyone.

Just a few agreements and disagreements...

I'll agree that for a Windows user the Mac system is VERY different. The organization is quite foreign, and seems much like you are dealing with a different world. I think the truth of this is that you are dealing with a different world, and in my opinion it's a much better world.
My other agreement is Safari. I have had a few crashes in Safari and have been a bit disappointed with that particular app. This is not a huge issue however since the OS handles it gracefully and relaunching it is not a big deal.

The list of disagreements is much longer and I feel much more strongly about them. First off, Vista is something that I'll never run due to numerous reports of MS pushing things to the OS without any notification/authorization for the user. The virus issue is absolutely a major issue to me as I've had to deal with this numerous times in the past. The OS X interface is a thing of beauty, and I just plain like it. I could go on about advantages, but stability and security are far superior in my short experience with OS X than Windows.

I just got a MacBook a few weeks ago and I can understand where you are coming from with a few of your complaints but if you give OSX a chance I don't think you'll feel this way anymore. You think Windows is intuitive to you only because that's what you have used for so long and it's like second nature, I felt the same way and still do a little bit. Once you take a look at OSX though you'll realize how much better organized it really is and how you programs are kept seperate from you OS files and system preferences so that if any particular area gets messed up it doesn't destroy your whole entire system and can usually be fixed fairly easily.

As far as Windows Vista goes, that O/S is terrible and most people agree. Unlike you I lost compatibility with many of my printers and other accessories when I went to Vista not OSX. Vista was extremely slow on my system and I haven't found anyone that I personally know that likes Vista. Now if you said you preferred XP and it's stability I could see where you were coming from but Microsoft needs to give Vista some serious help if it wants it to be a good O/S. Needless to say I have XP Pro installed on my Bootcamp partition

This is my first post in this forum. I just got a mac-mini last week and I have to say it is a pleasure to use! I haven't seen that anything is hard to find or mish-mash just very simple and very different.
I did end up installing Firefox over Safari because it does lag on my machine. I have been on this machine pretty constantly since I got it. I just don't know why I didn't get one sooner!

I have just switched from being a longtime PC/Windows user to Mac about a month ago. I agree, OSX was different, it is taking getting used to. But in just the month that I have owned the Mac, I have been adjusting just fine. I found The Missing Manual to be a great help. I have a 2.4 GHz iMac with 4gig of ram and I have nothing but great experiences with how responsive and quick this machine is. I just recently connected an external 500 GB LaCie HD for Time Machine backups and storing video, and that process went flawless.

The main reason I went away from Windows/PC was because of the practice of releasing Operating Systems before the are ready. Vista was just horrible in the beginning. It seems to be making ground, but it still has a ways to go. Another reason is the ongoing saga of security issues with Windows. My 3.2 Ghz PC takes forever to boot because of all the security Windows needs to survive.

You may have a lemon MBP, this happens. I have built many PCs in my days, occasional hardware lemons are a fact of life. As far OSX being unorganized...I wouldn't say that. It is just different. The more I have become familiar, the more I am loving it. Maybe it's just a matter of a possible bad hardware build giving you a sour taste, so you're not giving OSX a chance. But then again, some people may never like the "feel" of OSX. If that is the case maybe Windows is the way to go.

Haha, your Macbook Pro kicks the cr@p outta mine in specs and I dont even notice any slowness in mine. Something is wrong. Your one of the few, its that simple. If you just flat out dont like it then get a windows computer. But I would never recommend buying a Mac just to run boot camp. Just isn't something that should be done. Honestly, I dont think windows is BAD. Its just that its strengths and weaknesses are not to our liking here. They are just different.

Here is the problem:

The whole set up of windows is simply more logical and intuitive.

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And this is hilarious:

I’v even managed to get Vista user experience index of 4.8 which I think is pretty decent and as good as any top end machine running Vista.

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My machine say I should be having around .5 more fun now I installed that second stick of Ram..

I hate the fact that noobs come on this forum and choose to sta threads saying macs suck. Your problem sir is that you are not giving yourself the time and convenience to learn mac. I have never had those problems with my mac. I think you just want to have a reason to bash the mac world. Instead of rambling on and on, on the internet, you should give apple a call and ask them what is wrong. Your mac is still under a two year warranty. I do not see you mentioning on your thread that you tried solving the problems or doing a reinstall. You are proving yourself as a not so wise person.

Correction its a one year warranty.

kc0ngg said:

I hate the fact that noobs come on this forum and choose to sta threads saying macs suck. Your problem sir is that you are not giving yourself the time and convenience to learn mac. I have never had those problems with my mac. I think you just want to have a reason to bash the mac world. Instead of rambling on and on, on the internet, you should give apple a call and ask them what is wrong. Your mac is still under a two year warranty. I do not see you mentioning on your thread that you tried solving the problems or doing a reinstall. You are proving yourself as a not so wise person.

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I entirely agree.

Either the OP did not research this enough before buying his Apple notebook or, since his MBP is still under Apple Care warranty, he doesn't even look for help to his issues but would rather complain about it.

Again, I have to agree with the general tone of this thread. I would definitely encourage the OP to contact Apple support and really try to work thru the issues. OS X is really a much better OS than even XP, and way beyond that POS Vista.

OS X is a big change from the Windoze world. Change isn't a bad thing though. You really have to be willing to give it a chance and experience a few growing pains though if you want to be able to truly appreciate what a really good OS can do for you.

Personally, I really don't like MS in general, and that was a big motivating factor in making the switch. I know this isn't an issue for a lot of people, but for me it's a matter of spending my money to support a company that I believe makes a quality product. Not spending my money in support of a company that makes people keep buying their product every few years by changing file formats, or building in features (DX10) only to the new product to force users to upgrade.

To the OP... Call Apple and get the support you need to resolve your issues. If you are not willing to take this most basic of steps, then I would have to conclude that you are just here to spew flame bait and for that I would say go back to your Windoze world and let us enjoy our Mac world.

Why do a reinstall when Vista works perfectly. Anyway isnt osx meant to be so much better so why do people need to keep reinstaling software. Nothing wrong with my hardware its the Leopard thats shown its true spots.

You guys seem to go on the defence anytime the slighest remark is made against MACs anyway I can confirm its all HYPE.

The apple machines are fantastic kit unfortunatley crippled by a childish OPS.

maccernow said:

Why do a reinstall when Vista works perfectly. Anyway isnt osx meant to be so much better so why do people need to keep reinstaling software. Nothing wrong with my hardware its the Leopard thats shown its true spots.

You guys seem to go on the defence anytime the slighest remark is made against MACs anyway I can confirm its all HYPE.

The apple machines are fantastic kit unfortunatley crippled by a childish OPS.

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Are you running Vista on your Mac? If so, then why have a Mac if you're not going to want to use OSX? No one is telling you to "keep" reinstalling software, sometimes a reinstall "done properly" will be the cure of your problem. Additionally, no one is really going on the defense when it comes to a Mac. This is a forum designed to dicuss and assist one another with problems, issues, or questions with their Macs. Frankly, most here can care less if you perfer Vista over Leopard. To each is his own. If you are content with running Vista on a Mac, without even trying to figure out with whats going on with OSX, by all means go for it.

maccernow said:

You guys seem to go on the defence anytime the slighest remark is made against MACs anyway I can confirm its all HYPE.

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A valid confirmation would have to come from someone who had an open mind, was unbiased and was willing to try. You meet none of those criteria but instead try to pass off FUD as fact. So common for a troll.

maccernow said:

Why do a reinstall when Vista works perfectly. Anyway isnt osx meant to be so much better so why do people need to keep reinstaling software. Nothing wrong with my hardware its the Leopard thats shown its true spots.

You guys seem to go on the defence anytime the slighest remark is made against MACs anyway I can confirm its all HYPE.

The apple machines are fantastic kit unfortunatley crippled by a childish OPS.

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You are acting like everyone is having problems... I do not think that is the case.
OSX could be sitting on bad sectors of the hard drive, so you really don't know if it hardware related.
Ok, so what if there is nothing wrong with the hardware?.. Then a possible bad install of OSX could be the culprit. You will never know unless you do the reinstall. I have had bad installs before with Windows, when that happened I performed a reinstall and all was well.

I don't think anyone here is on the defense, you posted a problem, and people are trying to help. But it seems you don't want help. Have you even talked to Apple Care?

Like others have said, don't sit back and cry foul without making an attempt to remedy the problem. Otherwise this is nothing but a troll.