Windows... or Macintosh? OK.. so i used to be a real die-hard windows fan (as far as win vs. mac went).. but i got usin my friends power mac.. and now i'm debatin.. windows.. or mac... so tell me what you think!
I doubt that I would remain loyal to Windoze if I could afford a Mac, Jake. I have been rationalizing my living arrangements over the last few days. (Moving house to somewhere smaller and more manageable). The upshot of this is that I have wiped clean and system-restored an oldish Compaq notebook (AMD Duron 940MHz - 128MB running XP Home Edition). I plan to use this machine as my broadband access machine cos I don't want a big old desktop cluttering up my living room. One good thing is that my desktop will be freed from Norton's demands so it'll run TS2 better Anyway Windoze. How many restarts does it take a Windoze machine to complete an update of a pre-SP1 installation disk? I forgot cos it was a lot. First MS sent me a new updater ... restart. Then it sent me a whole pile of critical updates. Restart. Then I was allowed to get SP1. Restart. More critical updates and then (oops yeah ... restart again ) I get to acquire SP2. Even on broadband that takes about 1 ceiling and 2 walls (I was painting another room while I left it to get on with it ) Restart and yeah ... more updates available. Guess what? Another update to the windows update utility. Garrrgggghhh! Get it ... restart ... now I can get the final batch of critical updates. Restart. Then comes the fun bit. Removing Windoze messenger from the system. 3 more restarts ... then one more for fun just to make absolutely sure that stupid sys tray icon isn't hogging all the sys resources during start up (when it looks like the broadband is connected but me firewall ain't ... gonna hafta look into that but not right now. I won't be rebooting any time soon. What I can't figure out is why Windoze takes so blamed long to install the updates. Even a small patch takes it a dogs age to complete installing ... and as for the helpful little message that tells you to carry on working while it takes care of business. Like yeah. You're gonna attempt to do something important on a machine that is mostly ignoring everything key press and mouse-click. I don't think so. I am certain that Macs cannot be as bad as that! Glad I got that off my chest.
learn to slipstream those updates and sp2. get em all done during the initial install. btw, windows user here. having knowledge of it helps. (no offense, but most around here seem to have very minimal knowledge. just enough to turn it on, install and play ts2)
Yes, but that's the beauty of a Mac. You don't have to be an "expert" to use it correctly. I've been using Windows for years (have to for work) and I am still learning how to use it. I admit I'm no computer genius but I'm no dummy either. I used a Mac for my last job and was using it like a pro after a month. I still contend it's a better machine.
I agree SBW. Vchat is right tho. I managed to reinstall my desktop's XP Pro in a trice ... though I was using an actual real honest to goodness MS disc and I also employed a winnt.sif (cos I'm bone idle ). The Compaq of course comes with a handy Compaq system restore disc that has (a version of) WinXP plus the usual proprietary software cut-offs (MS Works -- talk about an oxymoron! -- and MS Office). As I shall only be using the notebook for web access I might look into trying out Linux when I get some enthusiasm for messing about at the same time as I have time on my hands; how cool that would be! (Unfortunately I usually use such opportunities to play with my Sims ).
LOL. Some "helpful" person installed the software on my notebook and now I can't install anything because they used some obscure admin password. I bought it used from a friend, and now I'm going to have to wipe it clean and start all over. Oh well. Guess you get what you pay for.
Macs do tend to be a bit more spendy. Worth the extra if you can pay for it though i think. You get a more functional support site (tryin to find help, or anything else for that matter, on microsofts site is like findin a needle in a hay barn.), more stable operating system (yes, it does crash.. but not nearly as often as windows.), and it is a lot easier to use than windows i think. It is true that if you know what your doing, windows can be easy to use.. for most things. I dont like how it insists on you using tutorials to set everything up for you. I prefer being able to go into the config window (whatever it may be) and setting all the stuff myself if i so choose. I completely agree with everything bout the updates too. If you think getting them for the computer that your on is a pain, try downloading them from another computer to burn onto a disk! I tried to go to the site to get the most up-to-date stuff (and sp2) from my friend's cable connection so i didn't have to do it over my dialup connection.. never could find them. or at least it wasn't clear if what i was lookin at was what i needed. sigh.. cant wait til i get the money to get my 15' powerbook...
Oh, I know all about how spendy they are, which is why I have to content myself with hand-me-down PCs. Sigh. As I've said before, you get what you pay for. I just don't have that much $$$ to spend on a computer. Too many other expenses that are more important.
