Track this topic | Email this topic | Print this topic

Mac is my all time fav. OS.
No viruses = No problems
Plus it just looks pretty too!

PC's are alright. They have some nice features.
They could work on Vista a little more though 8\

This post has been edited by Dark Cecil on 8th October 2008 01:24

--------------------

Music. defines. society.

I prefer to use a pc, because I like to build and upgrade a lot, and they are also cheaper.

--------------------

"You know that feeling you get when you're on a merry go 'round, and you want to jump off to make the spinning stop, but you know it'll suck when you land? I feel like that all the time"- Keno

"I stab my girl until I fall down"
-Yukari
Do you like Horny Bunnies?

I could have sworn there was an identical topic before in which I gave my opinion, but perhaps not. I guess my thread about Mac users' attitudes is close, but not really intentionally.

I will agree that OSX does look pretty nice, and Apple definitely bought some superb-quality stock photography to use for its default wallpaper selection. I just simply don't care to use it as much, because I don't find the functionality to be in line with how I work. I don't really care for the way the dock handles applications, and I especially don't like how (at least on a default setup) it's hard to tell what apps are already loaded in memory, because the glowing dot isn't very easy to see. I kind of feel as if the OS as a whole is geared more towards people who do only one or two things regularly, and just take the thing out of the box and start using it and never make any big changes to their system or their workflow.

I realize there are still people out there who work in my own industry who think that Macs are the supreme computer for all kinds of work. However, a good number of these people, in my experience, immediately do things like plug in a three-button mouse or perhaps a graphics tablet to do their work - you know what you have then? A Windows PC with a somewhat prettier interface that is still a pain in the butt to properly integrate with a Windows network.

As for the viruses, well, that's only a matter of time. There's nothing about a Mac that makes it immune to viruses, merely immune to Windows-based viruses. When it becomes "useful" for the authors of viruses and malware to target Mac users, then they will - the question is, will most Mac users see it coming in time to reduce the damage?

Long story short - the lingering industrial design enthusiast in me still loves the outward appearance of most any Mac, starting from the G4 Cube and going on up through everything they have on offer right now. But that's not enough to make me change from XP and have to start getting software from scratch.

All that said, I really don't have anything against Macs in general. If it does what you want it to do, and you like using it, go for it. My wife likes the one she bought this summer, and more power to her and everyone else who likes the ones they have. I certainly don't ever see one becoming my daily-use machine, though I do still want a Mac Mini someday!



--------------------

"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

One time I had to use a mac as part of an internship, during the beginning month and near the end of the internship. The second time I had to get on it I told my boss, "I'll use it, but I'm just warning you now, it'll prolly bring back Bitchy-Neil."

Maybe...maybe with a two mouse setup, I might have been able to deal with it, but as Josh mentioned, I just can't suffer that interface.

In short, never again.

...never...again...

--------------------

Arts

Farts

Twarts

Quote (Rangers51 @ 8th October 2008 12:44)

As for the viruses, well, that's only a matter of time. There's nothing about a Mac that makes it immune to viruses, merely immune to Windows-based viruses. When it becomes "useful" for the authors of viruses and malware to target Mac users, then they will - the question is, will most Mac users see it coming in time to reduce the damage?

As much as I love my little Macbook, I'll admit that one of the problems with the OS is its lack of a decent security system. I personally use Virex to stay on the safe side, and it's done all right so far, but one of my friends at college got hit pretty hard with one of those buggers just before the school year started. She didn't lose too much of her data, fortunately, but that just proves that Mac isn't magically immune to malware just because there's less of it out there. (Of course, someone wittier than I once put it like this: bragging about how your Mac never get viruses is like bragging about how you don't have STDs because you're too ugly to get laid. )

Flaws aside, I didn't start working with a Mac regularly until I started college, and only then it was so I could get adjusted to working with those computers in the Design program—and I somehow am able to work with it better than with all the Windows PCs I grew up using. The dock on my laptop uses little arrows instead of those glowing dots, though, so that's probably why I don't have too hard a time with the layout in general. And my Macbook is the first computer I've had that doesn't seem to actively hate me—the programs don't crash quite as often, although I'm not sure how much of it has to do with me being a little older and not quite as dumb about checking for viruses like I neglected to do on the family PC.

I miss having good games to choose from, though. I might work around this by investing in Crossover Mac, if only to indulge in that Orange Box goodness all the cool kids were talking about a year ago.

Quote (Rangers51 @ 8th October 2008 04:44)

As for the viruses, well, that's only a matter of time. There's nothing about a Mac that makes it immune to viruses, merely immune to Windows-based viruses. When it becomes "useful" for the authors of viruses and malware to target Mac users, then they will - the question is, will most Mac users see it coming in time to reduce the damage?

Can you elaborate on this? As a Mac user, I really would like to know what signs I should be looking for so that I can "see it coming in time to reduce the damage."

Quote (MetroidMorphBall @ 12th October 2008 03:08)

Quote (Rangers51 @ 8th October 2008 04:44)

As for the viruses, well, that's only a matter of time. There's nothing about a Mac that makes it immune to viruses, merely immune to Windows-based viruses. When it becomes "useful" for the authors of viruses and malware to target Mac users, then they will - the question is, will most Mac users see it coming in time to reduce the damage?

Can you elaborate on this? As a Mac user, I really would like to know what signs I should be looking for so that I can "see it coming in time to reduce the damage."

Odds are you won't see them, MMB. You'll see it coming simply in the way that PC users have gotten accustomed to seeing it coming - either in the news when a serious outbreak happens, or by already having a virus scan installed and kept up to date enough that you might be able to be immunized before it happens.

I do rather doubt that you have anything to worry about for the near future, because OSX is more secure out of the box than anything pre-XP SP2 on the Windows side. My comments aren't intended to be alarmist, look-out-because-the-bad-guys-hate-you fearmongering - just more of a rebuttal to people like the OP who blindly trumpet that the'ye "immune" because they're on a "superior machine." (Quotes, of course, mine in this case). The people who will be in danger will be those who buy into Apple's marketing hype and therefore never even have a clue that they could be susceptible until it's too late.

Quote (Anaesthesia)

Flaws aside, I didn't start working with a Mac regularly until I started college, and only then it was so I could get adjusted to working with those computers in the Design program—and I somehow am able to work with it better than with all the Windows PCs I grew up using. The dock on my laptop uses little arrows instead of those glowing dots, though, so that's probably why I don't have too hard a time with the layout in general. And my Macbook is the first computer I've had that doesn't seem to actively hate me—the programs don't crash quite as often, although I'm not sure how much of it has to do with me being a little older and not quite as dumb about checking for viruses like I neglected to do on the family PC.

Yeah, I'd probably make an effort to change the OSX look on my wife's laptop in some ways like those arrows - if only I cared enough to use it enough to bother.

Did you ever ask why the Design program at your school selected Macs? I never did when I had the opportunity, and I kind of wished I did, just out of curiosity - I have a feeling that it would have been the typical "tradition"-based answer. At the time, though, the novelty of using a Mac for design work was such that I just went with the flow. I do think it's telling that in one of the most renowned schools of Communications in the United States, though, by the time I left they had replaced all but three of the Macs with Dell PCs in the primary lab.

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 12th October 2008 13:52

--------------------

"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

I'm bumping this because I just saw this on Engadget; of course, you would only run into this problem if you were doing something you shouldn't, but in any event, here you go: Mac malware in the wild.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/iwork-0...0-000-machines/

--------------------

"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

The only decent computers we have at school are macs. I can't stand them.

I'm just so used to PCs. I'm used to how things run. I can't stand microsoft word on a mac, which is probably the program I use the most. I'm not exactly a big computer user or even a very knowledgable one. I like my internet explorer, my ability to right click, and my current project in word not looking like an appleworks document.

As for virus and speed problems, my computer is more than fast enough for whatever I need to do. I've never encountered a virus either, for that matter (which is a good thing: I haven't really protected my computer either... I keep getting messages saying that it's been over 500 days since my mcafee trial expired )

--------------------

Currently Playing : Final Fantasy V
Most Recently Beat : Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Favorite Game : Final Fantasy X

The newest CoNcast is up! Have a listen!

PCs.

We used Macs during Primary School.

Therefore, bad memories= no macs for me.

But actually, I just prefer PCs. I don't know why, I'm just more comfortable using them =]

When it comes down to it though, for me a computers a computer. As long as it can do whatever its meant to do, I'm happy.

--------------------

*Sigh*....Times are tough

I prefer the Windows 95/98/XP interface. Hence I prefer Windows.

I also enjoy the ability to right-click.

No, I'm not going to call a Windows computer a "PC". Because that's a bad, bad misnomer.

I've lately been, in my spare spare time, looking into Ubuntu, which I might at some point learn to use, because it has a vaguely Windows-like interface, combined with being freeware and building off of freeware components.

I'm lazy to switch, though, and this is also an older computer. Also, I don't know how to emulate some systems on Linux.

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

I like the Mac more than the PC.

My Macbook hasn't given me one problem in 2 years of use. And it gets used ALOT. I could never ever say that with any of the PCs I owned.

The only thing that sucks is that the video game library for the Macs is lacking. I wish FFXI would be made for the Mac without having to jump through hoops.

--------------------

GS Forums: Come vist!
"I have no wish to change the world."
”Ramza Beoulve

The physics department at my university uses Macs for some reason. And after almost a year and a half of regularly using them, I can't stand them. The interface is just so irritating; I find it flashy and gimmicky at the cost of usability. Since they don't belong to me, I can't switch out the mouse either, so I can't escape the "the entire mouse is the button so you have to click the whole damn mouse" thing.
There's a lot of computer programming that is done (I'm fixing to hit the course level where I'll be doing that) and I have no idea why Macs would be better for that.

--------------------

"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Quote (Dark Paladin @ 9th March 2009 14:55)

The physics department at my university uses Macs for some reason. And after almost a year and a half of regularly using them, I can't stand them. The interface is just so irritating; I find it flashy and gimmicky at the cost of usability. Since they don't belong to me, I can't switch out the mouse either, so I can't escape the "the entire mouse is the button so you have to click the whole damn mouse" thing.
There's a lot of computer programming that is done (I'm fixing to hit the course level where I'll be doing that) and I have no idea why Macs would be better for that.

My very computer-savvy friend claims that there are keyboard shortcuts for just about everything in a Mac.

However, they're often unintuitive for a person who's grown up on using Windows. For example, I think MacKey+C or something like that goes to the address bar or something in a browser, rather than copying text. Something like that.

And yes, I find the interface annoyingly flashy. And I don't like the entire-mouse-is-the-button mouse either because I accidentally click a lot of things when I use that style of mouse. Sure, it "feels" more elegant, but it makes it harder to use.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 9th March 2009 19:34

--------------------

Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Rangers51 @ 23rd January 2009 12:16)

I'm bumping this because I just saw this on Engadget; of course, you would only run into this problem if you were doing something you shouldn't, but in any event, here you go: Mac malware in the wild.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/iwork-0...0-000-machines/

Since you manned up and admitted that you bought your wife a Mac, Josh, I might as well go ahead and admit that my Mac crashed recently. It wasn't because of malware or anything, just a good old fashioned hard drive failure. It was the very first problem I've had with the comp in three years, and naturally it turned out to be a doozy. The three year warranty covered it and luckily I back up my most important data, but the drive was completely unsalvagable. That definitely removed the aura of Mac invincibility. Though I still prefer them; all machines break, and this interface has just been better for me than PC/Windows ever was.

PCs are what I'm used to. I don't know, nor have I ever known anyone who used anything else. In my lifetime, I've only seen one person use a Mac.

Sorry to go off topic, but I'd like to mention how annoying those Mac vs. PC commercials are. They make that PC guy look incredibly pathetic, just like those Alltel commercials with the dudes representing Verizon and Cingular and such.