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Originally posted by: KDR_11k That's what parts lists are for.
Then I consider never having to look at one before ordering a Mac a luxury. I don't need to worry about what sound card, HD brand, ethernet adapter, etc. I'm going to receive because I've seldom had a problem with them. My HDs under OS9 used to die every now and then. I've yet to lose one under OSX.
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Most productivity machines are owned by companies or other larger institutions. They can just plop Macs in there without much trouble but from what I see they mostly prefer Linux and Solaris.
For ease of use, nothing beats OSX, and I'm saying that from experience.
As a computer tech, you'd be hard pressed to not have a few relatives who think that, because you're tech savvy and a family memeber, they can milk you for all the technical support they'll
ever need. Speaking as a guy who relishes every spare second he gets to call his own, this SUCKS. However, once OSX rolled around, I've seen to it that at least 4 relatives have all started using it. Now, these are some of the most computer inept people to walk the planet, and after a few initial questions about OSX,
I don't hear a goddamn PEEP out of them. Meanwhile, OS9 and Windows generated plenty of questions from these people (mostly complaints about viruses).
So what's easier to do? Install security and maintenance utilities on the computers of all of these people and attempt to train them to use it and keep everything updated regularly...or see to it that they get an OSX machine and I never hear from them again on the subject of computers?
It's a rhetorical question.
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Wait, so if you push Windows on an emulation layer it suddently becomes highly secure?
No, it becomes OSX's
bitch. All of the normal activities which make Windows non-secure (email, web browsing, etc.) are going to be done on the Mac side.
So, yeah, as long as you don't get too many people who, for some godforsaken reason, cling tightly the the twin security abominations of IE and Outlook, Windows will be a great deal more secure because it should never expose any vulnerabilities to the web.
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You can only make guesses about the layers of proprietary software Apple put on top of that and most vulnerabilities are going to sit there.
The same vulnerabilities which even Symantec cannot convince people to find for $50,000?
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The chip is the least problematic thing, x86 chips(I think we have to say IA32 these days as there is very little of the original 8086 remaining) are compatible to the point where the OS hardly knows what it's running on. Try peripherials like USB scanners, printers, modems, stuff like that. Those are the biggest source of driver problems.
That's a given: in any and all cases, it'll be sloppy 3rd party programming which will cause the most issues.
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Tells you something about the profit margins on Mac hardware, doesn't it?
Ever been to Wal-mart and seen those dirt-cheap items which tend to always persist on shelves near the name brand ones? Most people, upon seeing those, will say, "Hey, it's such a bargain!" and buy it, only to have it break or fail on them less than a month later.
That's what windows PCs are: they're cheaper, but they're cheaper
for a reason.
Between the fact that my Macs never crash, never lose work which I was in the middle of doing, never become randomly corrupted and need to be repaired, never catch a virus, never become fragmented, never become bogged down with spyware, keep my relatives off my back about tech support and allow me to install one copy of OSX on as many computers as I want, the extra money I've paid for Apple quality has in turn saved me an amount of headaches and hassle monetarily equivalent to the difference I'd pay over windows machines.
The thought has often crossed my mind while struggling with an XP installation: "What would I pay to have avoided this and all subsequent problems I'm going to have with it?"
Windows is trash. It always has been and it always will be. It is a sloppy, poorly-written OS filled with gaping security holes, bad coding choices and ill-fated features which actually damage the OS and pave the way for malware (email scripting, anyone?).
Macs could cost twice what they do now and I'd still buy them. I've dealt with everything, DEC, Redhat, UNIX, even NeXT: Apple is the only company which literally protects my free time by ensuring that I never need to do anything to fix or maintain their computers.
As an additional comparison, buying a PC is like buying a whiny emo for a friend: the f*cker won't shut up about his problems and will spend a great deal of time cutting himself, is always getting sick, but he'll eat at dirt-cheap restaurants.
Buying a mac is like having a friend who never has emotional drama, never needs consoling, never gets sick and never asks any favors. He's always helpful, always has information, and if he says he'll do something, you know it'll happen, he just insists on eating at good restaurants when you go out to eat.
Topic: My Mac is a better PC than my PC... (Read 28845 times)
