Blasphemy

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Hey guys and gals,
Its been awhile since I posted, but I have to ask this question is it Blasphemy that I bought a Microsoft Arc mouse for my MB, I just couldnt find any other mouse I liked for travel, I wish it was bluetooth though :( but its nice. Still havent installed it yet been super busy.
 
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Course it is not. Mac users run a variety of mice, including MS, Logitech, Laser and A4 to name a few.
 
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I use a Logitech Track Ball myself. (and to make it worse - I did not buy an iPhone but instead got a Palm Pre!!!) So far no one has come to collect my iMac!
 

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Microsoft is not the enemy and they aren't all bad. I actually like certain products they make. In fact, they make quite a few good products including the Xbox 360 and Visual Studio. Office for Windows is a solid product and is by far the best office suite for Windows. I'm also starting to like Silverlight - from my perspective, it has the capabilities of Flash with 1/10 the resource consumption. From where I'm standing, MS has outdone Adobe in terms of developing a rich content browser plugin (what do you call these?). I'm sure many will disagree with this position but you can't honestly say that all of their products are bad. You may be asking why I own a Mac then? Well, I dislike Windows and I'm a *nix nerd at heart :).

You are no being any more "blasphemous" than someone who loves Microsoft and owns an iPod. Insinuating a level of blasphemy implies that you have to buy all Apple or all MS. You don't have to buy everything from one company - you should buy what suits you best. For instance, Apple's cinema displays would probably be the last monitor I would buy simply because I can get a monitor that is suitable for my needs at a much cheaper price. Buy what you need, not what you feel you need to buy because of an artificially created sense of allegiance to a certain brand.
 

dtravis7


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Not at all. Mice are very specific to certain users. Some hands work better with some mice than others if you know where I am coming from. I own 2 Microsoft Mice. One Bluetooth.

I normally am a big Logitech fan but I could not find a BT Logitech the day I needed one so went with the Microsoft mouse. Works fine.
 
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Nope. I've been using a MS Trackball Mouse for years on my Mac at home. MS actually makes some darn good hardware.
 
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Just installed my Arc Mouse well installed the Intellipoint software..
 
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It's only blasphemy if you're a hardcore Apple fanboy
 

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I'm very seriously considering building a Win7 box for a HTPC instead of another Mac.
 

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Just curious, Why, because of Media Center in Windows?
 

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Several reasons:

The way a Mac treats output via HDMI to a HDTV is a big one - on this count - Windows just works and the Mac doesn't - this is why I haven't bought a mini already in the last year or so.

Browsing the web or reading text on a 65" screen from a Mac, looks like doodoo - MS ClearType rendering just wins hands down on a big screen.

No Core i7 on a Mac

Can't play commercial Blu-Rays on a Mac

Along with that one, no sound card for a Mac that can output Dolby True HD or DTS-HD or even pass thru to my receiver for the decoding.

Am really not interested in the 9400M of the mini

Don't think I'll give up OS X for my personal computing, but just can't see a Mac for an HTPC that I may want to game on from time to time also.
 

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Several reasons:

The way a Mac treats output via HDMI to a HDTV is a big one - on this count - Windows just works and the Mac doesn't - this is why I haven't bought a mini already in the last year or so.

Browsing the web or reading text on a 65" screen from a Mac, looks like doodoo - MS ClearType rendering just wins hands down on a big screen.

No Core i7 on a Mac

Can't play commercial Blu-Rays on a Mac

Along with that one, no sound card for a Mac that can output Dolby True HD or DTS-HD or even pass thru to my receiver for the decoding.

Am really not interested in the 9400M of the mini

Don't think I'll give up OS X for my personal computing, but just can't see a Mac for an HTPC that I may want to game on from time to time also.
This is a perfect example of what I was saying earlier: "You don't have to buy everything from one company - you should buy what suits you best." If a Windows machine suits what you're doing better, go for it. The fonts and the Blu-Ray are pretty big ones for me - very good reasons for choosing it.
 

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Most of Microsoft's peripherals are pretty decent, including their keyboards and webcams. I actually have a USB Microsoft Sidewinder game pad that's probably 8 years old now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I have to disagree with you on one thing though, Van.... Microsoft Office 2007 is utter garbage. Absolutely, positively terrible. I have never seen a worse example of UI design in my life. And don't even get me started on how bloated and slow it is. I will never willingly participate in a roll-out of that product to replace Office 2003 in any enterprise I support.
 

bobtomay

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Boy, I'm right with ya on Office 2007. Have had to use it for a year now and I still hate it.

On the hardware side, I really like my Logitech MX Revolution cordless I use with my Mac.

And if in the last 6 months I've been looking I had found a late model mini for a good price, I would have given it a try.
 

cwa107


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Boy, I'm right with ya on Office 2007. Have had to use it for a year now and I still hate it.

Whomever designed that UI should be fired, and then the person that hired him/her should also be fired. They should then be barred from gainful employment in any industry that deals with human interface.
 

vansmith

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At the risk of looking like I'm retracting my original assertion, I do agree with you about Office 2K7. I didn't include it specifically before though because my experience with it is limited and I don't like jumping to conclusions on limited experience. I only experienced it at work mostly and it was a slow rollout (oh how I remember trying to support two very different versions of Office). The major complaint was the totally redesigned UI and the new Office formats. Trying to go to every computer and install the patch that allowed OOXML support was brutal. That said, most people warmed up to the UI and since it provided support for all Office formats, it started becoming popular. This is the basis for my claim to the quality of Office. Perhaps though, much like Windows, people don't know of much outside of Office. To each their own I guess.

Office 2K3 though is solid. It was fast and fairly stable in my experiences. Now, mind you, I have only really used Office 2K3 in a cursory way as well but from my experience, it was a pretty good version. My last real experience was with 2000 and I really don't remember it well. The previous 5 years have seen me using OOo predominately.

I understand the frustration with the Ribbon paradigm as I much prefer a design paradigm dominated by the menu/shortcut principle. How do you feel about the increased pervasiveness of the ribbon in W7 then (out of curiosity)? Last I checked it became the primary UI design for Paint and Wordpad.
 
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Apple's accessory choices can leave a bit to be desired. They make exactly two mice, the Mighty Mouse wired and wireless. This simply isn't going to be a "one size fits all" thing. Many people just don't like them for whatever reason.

You could always just buy a Microsoft mouse.. ...from Apple. 8)

Off-topic, but regarding the Office 2007 ribbon, I didn't like it much at first but I have gotten used to it. Pro tip: If you right-click any empty space in the ribbon, there is an option to "Minimize the Ribbon". In this mode the ribbon becomes more of a horizontal drop-down menu, and completely unobtrusive.
 

chscag

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Off-topic, but regarding the Office 2007 ribbon, I didn't like it much at first but I have gotten used to it. Pro tip: If you right-click any empty space in the ribbon, there is an option to "Minimize the Ribbon". In this mode the ribbon becomes more of a horizontal drop-down menu, and completely unobtrusive.

Or, you can always download the free "Ribbon Customizer" and get rid of it altogether and have the original Office menus back: Link

Give it a try - it works great. :)

Regards.
 

dtravis7


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For the HTPC I can see your point.

I could care about the TT Fonts though. On some displays they actually look too sharp to me now! :D

I have heard a lot of bad things about the new Office and glad I did not purchase it when I had the chance. I have 2003 for OSX and the for the little I need true office for, it's fine. I really like iWork 09 for most of my work and if I need more I have Open Office now that it's Native OSX and no longer needs X11.

I have no issues with the large external Apple keyboard but was a bit bugged when they made the small one with a USB cable. It's fine for some uses and Wireless but I will take the larger one any day for Wired usage.

I do love Logitech Mice and Keyboards. Microsoft also makes some very nice ones also.

Anand of Anandtech is one of the few large PC Site people who loves OSX and uses Macs for a good portion of his work/fun but also built his own HTPC for his home theater using hand picked parts and Vista at the time since there was no Windows 7 then. I totally respect Anand and I think Bob is making the right choice for his needs.

For the little I do with it, the Mini is great for my HTPC. If I did more I would go with Windows 7 and built my own system.
 
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I agree with the notion of using Windows for an HTPC. I personally have have a Windows box hooked up to my TV as an HTPC. The Windows Media Center interface on Windows 7 is fantastic, Front Row simply doesn't compare.

However, I completely disagree about Office 2007. I personally think it's great, as well as Office 2008 for the Mac. I really like the Ribbon interface, it's helped me use more Office features than I ever have before.
 

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