Re: want to try Mac, but which?
- From: Howard S Shubs <howard@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:46:44 -0400
In article <u1144962841@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
dancingbear7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (dancingbear) wrote:
Here are the hang-ups:
1. Where I live, in the middle of nowhere, the ONLY high-speed
provider available is absurdly expensive, so I have only dial-up as
an option. I already understand that this isn't as fast as DSL or
WIFI, but since I don't have any choice, I really don't need to be
told to try those instead. Let's skip that part, ok?
The main problem isn't that my connection lacks lightening speed,
it's that both my OS's suck.
I have news for you: all operating systems suck. All of them. It's
just that some suck a bit less. I prefer MacOS 8's interface, but Apple
went with NeXT's, so I live with it. It crashes rarely, is fairly easy
to use, and I can dig into it if/when I want to.
But then, I've not found Windows to crash much either. If you're
constantly downloading stuff off the net and installing it, you're going
to end up with a messed up system. It's best to figure out what you
want to *do* with your system (whichever it is), figure out which
software you're going to use, load it, and NEVER LOAD ANYTHING MORE.
Your system (whichever) will be more stable that way. I'm speaking as a
system manager, here.
Also, make sure you've got good backups before installing anything from
questionable sources, just in case. See what I've written on that last
bit at <http://www.shubs.net/backup.html> if you like.
2. Where I live, in the middle of nowhere, we have frequent power
outages. This means I can't just leave my machine on all the time. I
have to turn it off when I'm not using it. I don't really care if the
boot-time is a little slow, as long as the machine actually works
right after I boot up.
Two answers for that: "okay fine" and, "have you every considered
getting a UPS?" :-D
3. I am not a computer tech. This doesn't make me an idiot, but if I
ask what time it is, I don't need an explanation of how to build a
watch. If I ask how to build a watch, an answer such as "First,
build a movement, then build a case for it." doesn't really help
much, either.
It's fairly difficult to determine a person's experience level and
interest over the net. You'll get those kinds of answers everywhere,
because we can't tell who we're dealing with here, and we're being paid
ZERO for helping. At least with Tech Support lines, their *job* is to
help you. Please keep all this in mind.
4. I need to be able to set up a website and work on it website
quickly, easily, efficiently, and without my computer either
crashing or freezing up.
Not a problem either on the Mac, or under Windows, or with Linux, in my
experience. It depends a lot on how much programming you're willing to
do and what your requirements are for your website.
5. I need to be able to design and print labels for my products,
without my machine crashing or freezing up.
I've only done this with Mac software, so I can't speak about others.
I'm currently using "SOHO Labels & Envelopes"
<http://www.chronosnet.com/>. I've only used it for business cards so
far. I don't know how it'd deal with labels for a mail merge.
6. I need to download and modify photos from my digital camera
easily, and use them to design labels for my products. Again, with
no crashes or freeze-ups.
iPhoto may be enough for you, and it'll come free with a new Mac, or
maybe you need Adobe's Photoshop Elements (US$100 list), or maybe you
need the full version of Adobe Photoshop. Without knowing the kinds of
things you want to be able to do with your photographs, and what kind of
photographs you make, it's difficult to answer. Perhaps you'd be happy
with Graphic Converter <http://www.lemkesoft.com/>, which is cheaper and
has capabilities I've not really tried out.
7. I need to be able to keep business records.
What sort? Checking accounts? Customer lists? Time tracking? More?
Other?
8. I want to try to get some idea which Macs I should look at, it's a
150 mile round trip for me to go to the nearest city where I can do
this. If I have to rely entirely on a salesperson who wants a
commission for selling me an expensive system, I may never get
anything but screwed.
Use a store which doesn't do commissions. I don't think CompUSA uses
such, but then they don't have much for sales staff either, in my
experience.
I need to know more about your requirements before I can recommend
anything. Are you going to do heavy graphics work? Going to crunch a
lot of numbers? Gonna play Unreal Tournament 2004 or Doom 3? Do you
want a large display? Multiple displays? What are your memory/disk
requirements? How much custom software are you going to run, what does
it do, and how are you planning to get it to run on the Mac? And what's
your budget for this project?
9. I like living in the middle of nowhere, so, no, I'm not going to
give up my nearly paid for farm and move to town, just to make using
computers easier.
Understood. I can imagine, after reading your list here, that you've
encountered a lot of condescending people, or people you've seen as
condescending. Hopefully, we can put an end to some of that here. Not
that we're perfect or whatever.
OTOH, remember that you're talking about effectively dumping all your
existing software and starting over. You might want to consider
straightening out your Windows box first, as at least you're familiar
with it. Or, if you're going to do this Mac thing regardless, you might
want to look at the books written for Switchers, to help make the
adjustment easier.
--
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams.
from "Ode", Arthur O'Shaughnessy
.
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