3 Reasons I Use a Mac
- From: Chance Furlong <t-bone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:19:40 -0500
From Low End Mac:
http://www.lowendmac.com/misc/08mr/mb1015.html
Cuss and discuss.
3 Reasons I Use a Mac
Charles Moore 2008.10.15
From Chris in response to What's So Great About a Mac? Plenty!:
Oh, hello, it's me.
(Well I couldn't resist that one.)
I'm sure you don't really remember me, but I was the one who wrote a
while back about USB booting and problems with disc 1 of Tiger. I'm back
to confirm that USB booting is possible on both G3 and G4 systems. I
managed to boot of a Tiger install disc on a USB drive while holding
option and choosing the CD drive as a boot disk. Worked just fine, and
Tiger installed slowly, but fine.
Still, that's not the reason why I am writing, but rather in response to
the article by Alex Gallegos. I still use Windows for various reasons
(mostly games). But there are three reasons why I use a Macintosh.
The first one is choice.
I like to have a choice in operating system, not what the manufacturer
decides is right for me.
And Mac OS X is the biggest commercially viable alternative to Windows
out there right now.
Let's have a look at the other alternatives: Amiga OS? Whatever the
Amiga aficionados might want you to believe, Amiga OS is soundly dead.
Cold as Haagen Dazs. It's a cool system to fiddle with but not exactly
up for prime time.
BeOS? Very much dead.
OS/2? IBM pulled the plug on that one.
Mac OS 9? Dead, dead, dead. Even deader with the Intel machines - they
won't even boot in OS 9.
Linux: Ah, now here is a bone of contention. Linux is making strides
into mainstream with Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Gentoo,
Puppy, and Xandros. Asus even sells their Eee laptops and boxes with
Linux. Which is great - they are the first manufacturers to actually
offer Linux in a mainstream machine. However Linux is still not ready
for prime time; unlike Windows or Mac OS, you still can't buy the apps
in a store - you have to download them, and let's not talk about games.
(Don't dismiss games; it's a multibillion dollar industry that thrives.
Playing games these days is just as important as running office suites
used to be.) Linux is just not ready yet.
Unix and Unix like? Too difficult and oblique.
So what does that leave us with then? Mac OS X its the easiest and only
really viable competition to Windows right now. That's the first reason
I use Mac OS X.
Second reason:
I am rather sick of Microsoft' s anti piracy crap. I know they are
trying to protect their operating system against piracy, and they have
that right. But they are going to draconian measures. I have several
original legal versions of Windows XP, and I'll be damned if I will let
them call home to Microsoft and ask for permission to be activated.
Those are my computers, and it's none of Microsoft's business how many
times I decide to reinstall XP or not. Another reason I prefer Windows
2000 over XP - it at least still has a normal serial.
Apple doesn't use such ridiculous draconian measures, so that's another
very good reason.
And the third reason has actually been discussed in your article.
Malware. I'm wary of going online with Windows. With Mac OS X I know I
don't really need to worry.
Of course I'm still careful and scan my downloads and files, because I
still have Windows machines, but still I don't need to worry about a
link that will bring my whole system down.
Those are my reasons - now lets add some commentary to Mr. Gallegos'
arguments about why Windows is better.
Mac OS X looks like a Fisher Price toy.
If Mac OS X looks like a Fisher Price toy, then Mr. Gallegos hasn't been
paying attention or looking at Windows in the past two years. Vista is
even more gaudy and brightly colored than Mac OS X is. Even the stark
ugliness of Leopard can't trump Vista in this regard. And that trope
really is antiquated. XP looks rather candy cane like as well with the
Luna theme, and one could argue that all GUI's look inherently childish
and toy-like. Even the Spartan and utilitarian by comparison Windows 95
and Mac OS 7.
It's all about software stupid.
On this one I have to disagree with you, if only for personal
preferences. Mac OS X doesn't really give me a better or more satisfying
working experience, only a different one. It's a simple fact for me,
that a Macintosh doesn't make me inherently more or less creative any
more or less than a PC does. They are both tools and let me get on with
my work. I only prefer to do my writing on MS Word 2000 on a PC, because
I prefer to do it like that. If only because I have been using MS Word
since 1997 and some habits are hard to shake. If the software is better
or not, is up to the individual user.
Malware doesn't matter.
At this point I'm starting to wonder on what planet Mr. Gallegos really
is living.
Malware does matter; it's one of the biggest reasons people move away
from Windows, because they are sick of worrying about every little
click, every new link, and every new email with an attachment. There are
hundreds of thousands of viri out there waiting to strike on any
unsuspecting Windows users.
Mac users by comparison have it easy.
With the transition to Intel and the ability to run Windows, now is the
best time ever to jump to Apple. All the security of Mac OS X without
having to give up certain apps for Windows. (Games, mostly, but also
certain applications you can't be without. ACDSee and MS Word 2000 in my
case.)
Macs are for lazy folk.
By this point Mr. Gallegos utterly destroys any credibility he has left.
"Macs are for people who don't really understand computers and want it
as easy as possible."
Right, I wonder where that leaves me, a user of computers for the past
12 years. I have been pulling them apart and putting them back together
for the past 10 years (and usually they work too). And a Mac user of 5
years. I wonder how I fit in that little trope. Mr. Gallegos doesn't
seem to realise that it's the ease of use that makes the Macintosh so
appealing.
Instead of having to jump through hoops or deal with vague conflicts, a
user can just install the software and get on with what he or she needs
to do with it, confident that every other Macintosh application will
behave in the same way, using the same short cuts. Yes, Windows does
follow that set of rules globally, but Windows, especially Vista, tends
to get in the way with warnings and overhead and asking for permission.
(Then again Tiger is sluggish on my eMac 700.)
The OS should only come to the foreground when it's absolutely
imperative when it needs you the user to do something, authorise
something, or when something has gone wrong. Otherwise it should get out
of the way and let the user do what they want. Microsoft seems to be
struggling with the concept that the OS doesn't matter any more. The
desktop metaphor is long gone, and it's about content and connectability
these days. Asus already demonstrates that new way of thinking with the
Eee and Xandros. There is no desktop any more, there are only tabs with
different actions and applications. The OS is safely tucked away in the
background.
Mac OS X isn't there yet but might get there, after all Finder is not
the OS, it's just the application that lets us interact with the OS.
Still there is every hope that Mr. Garregos will grow up and stop these
rather ridiculous fanboy rants.
Windows isn't perfect, but then neither is Mac OS X. And I find that
they are suitable to different purposes. Mac OS X for my online
purposes, Windows for offline. I'm sure other people have other purposes.
Making Megakat City safer one troll at a time.
.
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