You're right on that Squash. The one botton mice are annoying. With your PC mouse, you can just highlight, right click, copy, right click, and paste. On the Apples, you have to highlight, hold the open Apple button (??--the one next to the space bar), select copy and then do the same to past. I find it easier with the two button mouses. As a PC user, spyware isn't that big of a deal. Spyware is usually downloaded when you visit bad sites, like Warez sites. They'll slam you with spyware, ad-aware and what not. Certain P2P programs will do the same. So if you watch what you do and use a spy-ware removal program, you're fine. Sure it's a downgfall that you are "restricted" in a sense, but some believe that's a better problem than not having the convinence of using some programs due to it's compatibility issues.
windows is much better than mac. everybody knows it. only mac fanboys resist to accept the painful fact
Don't pay any attention to what Premium Hamatachi says. Besides the fact that anyting he says is self evident of it's own complete ignorance and stupidity, he used to advertise his MCSE certification in his sig, and MCSE certification is well known throughout the professional IT world as being less then useless, and that a retarded baboon could obtain it. Also, the fact that he's an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and he was willing to pay the fees for the tests and study materials, means that he is a committed Microsoft zealot. My attack on PH aside (sorry to be nasty), MS does makes some good stuff, like Visual Studio, SQL Server, and the XBox. But they also make lots of very crappy stuff, like WinXP and Office. And they conduct their business as if they are the mafia. So it's a good idea to use MS alternatives, wherever possible. MAC OSX is a great alternative. It's user interface is second to none, and it's core kernel is build on BSD, the Unix-like open source OS that has set records for uptime and rock solid seurity, according to Netcraft. Macs can be quite pricey, but their quality is worth it for many people. I also suggest taking your existing Windows PC, wipe out Winblows, and install one of the fine Linux distributions. It's affordable (free in some cases), rock solid, easy in most cases, and addictively fun. Some really good newbie oriented distros (very easy) are: Mandrake - http://www.mandrakelinux.com Ubuntu - http://www.ubuntulinux.org Mepis - http://www.mepis.org These are just my favs, but there are many more. Anyway, go for your Mac, you won't regret it!
I'm willing to do that. No big fan of Windows. But the problem is there's no viable alternative. Is there any step by step guide for doing this? With all the small (or even baby) steps included. And can I assume if an application supports Windows it should also support Linux?
Not always. There's a windows emulator called wine that supports a few apps. More and more software apps are being ported to linux but getting vendor support for some of them can be difficult. I love FreeBSD though. I've never seen an OS boot up and shut down more quickly than FreeBSD.
Personally, I am looking forward to the release of "Longhorn"...whenever they actually get it out, because I see one of the following two scenarios occuring. 1. Longhorn is a good as some say and it locks Microsoft in as THE OS for the next two decades. Which is good because a new OS that actually works is released. 2. (the more likely) Longhorn has issues with numerous areas including stability, useability, and integration. This opens up the market for Linux OS and they gain substantial market share on MSFT. My biggest issue with using OS other than XP is that so many smaller programs are made with Microsoft products specifically in mind. Hopefully there small software aps will eventually be aplicable on other OS and I can finally rid myself of Microsoft. Until then though, I can deal with the small issues presented by Windows software.
As for apps, it depends on which apps. If it's Office type stuff, then Linux has plenty of great alternatives, including Wine and CrossOver Office, and OpenOffice. If it's browsers, Linux has awesome browsers that kick Internet Explorer's *ss. If it's top of the line, current hot games, then Winblows is your choice. If it's development tools, MS Visual Studio sets the bar, but Linux has more awesome development tools then you could know what to do with. In short, Linux has everything Windows has, and much more, except for the top games. And even with games, Linux offers plenty of "light-weight" games that are plenty fun. As for just getting started with Linux, there are tons of websites and books, and of course Linux distributions. A great, no-risk, cheap, super easy way to give Linux a peek is with a Live CD, which boots the OS from CD-ROM, and does not touch your hard drive. This will give you a nice sampling. The best Live CD distros are: Knoppix Mepis PCLinuxOS MandrakeMove All of these can be obtained cheaply (4 or 5 bucks) from Linux CD vendors such as: CheapBytes - http://www.cheapbytes.com TuxCDs - http://www.tuxcds.com If you like what you see, you can go for an "install to hard drive" distro. And websites like http://www.linux.org http://www.desktoplinux.com are excellent starting points for getting info on Linux, and where to start. There are also great books, which can be obtained at Amazon and the like, for the newbie, such as: "Linux for Non Geeks" "Point and Click Linux" (comes with Mepis Linux) "Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye" (comes with Knoppix Linux). Also, the vast majority of common hardware is supported, and automatically detected and configured by Linux upon installation, using the desktop, newbie friendly distros like Mandrake, SuSE, Mepis, Ubuntu, and Knoppix (to name a small sampling). I have installed both Windows and Linux many times each, and quite frankly, Linux installation (with modern distros) is much, much easier than Windows. The one area where Linux has trouble is WinModems. These are modems that depend on the PC's cpu (as opposed to hardware modems, which have their own small cpu), and require a software driver, usually written specifically for Windows. There are a handful of WinModems supported in Linux, like Lucent and Conexant, but most are not. However, it is easy and affordable to get a Linux compatible, serial or usb modem (these work much better than cheap-o, crapy WinModems anyway). So jump on in, the Linux water is fine. Start by exploring the websites I mentioned above, then spring 4 or 5 bucks for a LiveCD. Then go for a full installed distro. Again, my favorites for those are Mandrake, Ubuntu, and Mepis. Go for it, it's waaaaay easy. BTW - I work at a software company that makes Windows based software. I got my start in software as a career using mostly Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C++. I've always had a Windows PC at home. Then I tried Linux both out of curiosity and a need to expand my IT skills, then promptly fell in love with Linux and other open source software, and became addicted. I'm promoting it here because I really like using it, not because I'm just a geek or a zealot. In fact, I'm married and have a two year old daughter, and a life. I'm saying this because some (a minority) in the Linux community can be overly geeky zealots, and subsequently turn off and repel would be Linux adoptors. Anyway, if you decide to try Linux, HAVE FUN!
What programs specifically? I can find any Mac program that will do the same thing a windows program does. I switched a couple years ago, bought myself a 15" Powerbook. It was the best thing I've ever done computer related. My wife loves how simple it is to use and how great looking the OS is. Are you aware that Longhorn requires a minimum of 1 gig of RAM to run properly? The specs when that thing is released? 2006? 2007? will be ridiculous. I have to laugh when I read what "new" features Longhorn will have, too bad they don't realize that OS X already has many of them.
Not to point out another key thing about mac users.....i notice a lot of the moderators on bigsoccer are smart and use them Hmmmm macs may not rule the world, but they seem to rule in being mods
Yea. That's just another reason I think the release of Longhorn is going to mark a point in software and OS development that sees alternative OS (i.e. Linux and Macs) really grow in market share.
no not new...just rarely gave the tech threads much time. I was talking about the mac using mods, but I'll include you
Sure, but you can do all those things on a Mac if you have a two button mouse, and they're pretty cheap nowadays so it's not that big a deal. And when I'm not using a mouse (which is more often than not since I have a laptop), I can just control-click and do the same thing. It's a non-issue. It's even less of a consideration when you consider OS X's stability and security, and Apple machines' lower cost of ownership.
The Power Mac G5 is one helluva machine. If I had the money I'd buy one. The best consumer computer you can get. -RE Mice, I use a Logitech 5 button mouse. I use the extra buttons as shortcuts for Expose
FreeBSD is a fantastic OS, but it is complex to set up (I talk from experience). BSD's best suited for server applications than desktop. The way things have panned out in the Unix clone world, Linux has become the defacto desktop machine, BSD doesn't have the level of support that Linux gets in that regards.
Geez, somebody should just put Bill Gates out of his misery, and ours. Thinking back, we used to love the PC because of its open computing environment. The same reason we used to laugh at the Apple machines, with their pretty graphics in a closed environment. Then the evil Gates and his annoying Windows (or should I say Apple knock-offs?) came along. He gave them away for free at first. This marketing strategy worked, driving everybody else out of business and grabbed pretty much the whole PC OS market and the PC degenerated into a closed machine too. Now that both the PC and the Apple are closed. We might as well pick the better of the two devils, except that the Apple isn't supported nearly as widely as the Windows PC. Actually the PC can still be open again, with the Linux................ difficult though, the Gates empire is very entrenched now and has tens of billions to burn. No way out is there? For now, I'm stuck with Gates and his annoying machines.
Dreamer..one thing you'll notice on the apple side is most of the big software companies make things for mac. The thousands we don't get are usually junk anyways. There is plenty of mac related software and I'm sure software that does what you need even for your business. I know maybe not the same exact software, but you could and would find something similar that is as good or better working with it. You aren't trapped...you choose to be.
I understand where you're coming from and appreicate your help. But "most" is the keyword. Yes "most" do have dual support. So yes "most" aren't trapped like me in this particular situation. Trust me I'm not a guy who gives up easily. Speaking of "most," I wonder why we haven't seen a trend going increasingly in Apple's favor yet? Or is it already happening?
What exactly do you use on your pc for work that you'd need for a mac? Program name? Many times software companies are so entrenched in microsoft they have a hard time with the feel of making mac apps. Apple users in many ways are more particular about interface and user friendliness, if it's too pc like in looks or approach, we tend to not buy it. We are in many ways a hard market and a smaller one, that expects more. Most mac apps, including Office from microsoft have a very mac feel to them. It may sound petty, but we have higher expectations from applications. We don't want 6 million features, we want 20 that work and work right, in an easy way. Look at all of the iapps from Apple and you'll see they are dumbed down and basic. Apple slowly adds features that user feel are important, rather than 30 features to start. Starting with tons of features in many cases can give apps/programs things people hate or find useless, therefore giving the app a negative vibe right off the start. Microsoft is the king of 6 million thing and ways to do things, it only adds to the confusion of your average user and makes the experience negative for most. Tech support is a huge for windows for a reason
Your not stuck with Emperor Gates. You can get a Linux PC for cheap, and you can get a Linux distro for cheap, which is easy to install over, or dual boot with a Windows installation. Look at my previous post, and look into the links and recomendations. You won't regret it.
Since Macs are infinitely better than Windows PCs, one would think Macs would gain ground. Actually, after Microsoft's 90-95% market share in home PCs, there's Mac and Linux. And Linux has actually taken over the second spot, past Mac. Apple is making most of it's profit these days on iTunes and the iPod. I encourage you to try either Mac or Linux. Most of the rest of the posters here are saying Mac, and Mac is awesome. But Mac is expensive, while with Linux you can get a fully polished distro either for free or very low cost, and easily install it on your existing Windows PC.
But Mac is expensive, while with Linux you can get a fully polished distro either for free or very low cost, and easily install it on your existing Windows PC This is a false statement. macs are not expensive. You pay for what you get and you get a better resale value, better life of computer use, better OS, better community for helping with issues on your mac, and better overall experience. ibooks,emacs,imacs are all relatively inexpensive for what you get out of them. They all include iapps, and OS installed and included in the cost. They have added value beyond a basic computer. I can still sell one of my older macs(dual ghz) for over 1000 easy...i have a gig of ram in the old beast and a second harddrive..it's a nice extra machine i keep because she still purrrs like a kitten. Plus it's hard to get rid of things you love http://www.powermax.com/cgi-global/generate_css_temp.cgi?p=c-u56732 ....what is a 2 year old pc worth? Ingornorance is bliss...i guess