mac or pc

[epicasian]

...
That being said, I suggest investing millions of dollars to purchase a new IBM Roadrunner.
...

Why would one ever need a supercomputer; and who is willing to save that much money to get it? If you want supercomputer like speed, you could easily buy an nVidia Tesla.

Also, I don't think the OP can carry an entire room full of racked computers with him to his college classes

[N64vSNES]

In the end its a personal thing, and you should not be so much focused on price, you should just be happy with what you are using.

Agreed, if you can afford getting something you really like, get it, it's a lot more motivating on a learning curve. For instance I really liked the first guitar I bought and that kept me playing more and more, although it wasn't expensive but it was *mine*.

Your awesome!

[pritam]

In the end its a personal thing, and you should not be so much focused on price, you should just be happy with what you are using.

Agreed, if you can afford getting something you really like, get it, it's a lot more motivating on a learning curve. For instance I really liked the first guitar I bought and that kept me playing more and more, although it wasn't expensive but it was *mine*.

Your awesome!

Thank you, I've read about your project The Eternal Quest and just wanted to say keep up the good work, it's inspiring to see it progress.

[EccentricDuck]

I can only tell me story.

When I first purchased my mac, i was rather hesitant. It was a lot of money. And even for the first month or so I was regretting getting it.
But I can say with a fair amount of confidence, that it is the best (for me) computer/OS i have used. and I have used all of em. Now I know this is just my opinion, but this should still at least tell you something. Unless apple change their formula, or I cant afford it, I probably will not buy a "PC" again.

I think the issue here that you are strictly looking at a computer as a tool, when clearly it has become something waaaay bigger than that. Its not just something to crunch numbers, its a "living space". I feel that apple pays great detail to the intrinsic nature of their products as a whole.

Read up on Christopher Alexanders work, you'll find it rather interesting.

Oh, as for media, in terms of what EccentricDuck said, was watching myth-busters last night, they used a mac. (Not that im saying that means they are top dog or anything, just they they are still visible in the arena)

In the end its a personal thing, and you should not be so much focused on price, you should just be happy with what you are using.

I've actually become quite interested in reading some of his stuff. I recently read an essay by him called "A city is not a tree". It was really interesting and appealed to my interests in design, architecture, and discrete math... as well as the fact that a lot of architecture appears to me to be grandiose and not well designed for it's space/networks/users/inhabitants.

I'm also interested in how or why you think a Mac does a better job of implementing a more true human friendly interface. To be honest, not having used a Mac much, I can't say that I can really compare my experiences with it to a PC. I certainly appreciate an experience that makes me want to spend more time doing something versus avoiding it because of clutter/hassle though. I'm just not really sure how a Mac really would fix that over a PC.

[avansc]

I can only tell me story.

When I first purchased my mac, i was rather hesitant. It was a lot of money. And even for the first month or so I was regretting getting it.
But I can say with a fair amount of confidence, that it is the best (for me) computer/OS i have used. and I have used all of em. Now I know this is just my opinion, but this should still at least tell you something. Unless apple change their formula, or I cant afford it, I probably will not buy a "PC" again.

I think the issue here that you are strictly looking at a computer as a tool, when clearly it has become something waaaay bigger than that. Its not just something to crunch numbers, its a "living space". I feel that apple pays great detail to the intrinsic nature of their products as a whole.

Read up on Christopher Alexanders work, you'll find it rather interesting.

Oh, as for media, in terms of what EccentricDuck said, was watching myth-busters last night, they used a mac. (Not that im saying that means they are top dog or anything, just they they are still visible in the arena)

In the end its a personal thing, and you should not be so much focused on price, you should just be happy with what you are using.

I've actually become quite interested in reading some of his stuff. I recently read an essay by him called "A city is not a tree". It was really interesting and appealed to my interests in design, architecture, and discrete math... as well as the fact that a lot of architecture appears to me to be grandiose and not well designed for it's space/networks/users/inhabitants.

I'm also interested in how or why you think a Mac does a better job of implementing a more true human friendly interface. To be honest, not having used a Mac much, I can't say that I can really compare my experiences with it to a PC. I certainly appreciate an experience that makes me want to spend more time doing something versus avoiding it because of clutter/hassle though. I'm just not really sure how a Mac really would fix that over a PC.

Ummm... well it's really hard to do, because so much of it is something non tangible, but I'll do my best. Bare in mind that these are my experience, and I dont claim that they are exclusive to OSX, or that my experiences will translate to others, but have found, most that have used a mac for an extended period of time come to love them. I think you can ask Falco what he thinks.

Okay, let us begin.

From perspective of the hardware, you would be hard pressed to find another laptop that has the same build quality, they just are built superbly. A Mac is truly an attractive piece of "furniture", even when it is closed. you can only see the ports, and the line splitting the screen and the body, not to mention that the screen is as thin as screens get. all the ports are on one side, with the diskbay being on the other side, its just a slit, so no silly sliding out "racks".

Something that is super cool is what they call magsafe, the power cable does not stick into a port, there is just a small recess that has a magnet in, and the powercall "clips" to, if you pull laterally on it, it will just come undone, unlike other laptops that get hurt. also, there are no latches for the clamb shell, its all done with magnets. so thats pretty sweet. from an open view, you just have this sleek plain aluminum look, with the back lit black keys. nothing fancy, but its soo functional. meta key combos out the wazooo.



The touch pad deserves a big mention as well, it is a large glass surface, that has multi touch support. also, the entire mouse pad is the mouse button. two fingers act as the right click, and you can also hold down ctrl and click for right click. two finger swipe is a scroll(momentum scroll), 4 fingers down activates expose, up shows the desktop, and left and right activates the atl-tab windows feature thing.

oh, and also, on the design, the speaker holes are lazer drilled, so you have very little wholes but the sound comes out great,



and on the side there are these tiny holes you can barely see, and a small button, that when you press it, it tells you the power level. the computer does not need to be on.


There are some other things, but I'll get onto the OS for now.

One thing that makes OSX great is not so much that its got features from here to there, but that everything just works. Its an os specifically designed for that specific hardware. for example, when I get on a network, all the computers are automatically listed for me, all the printers are located, etc. So that definitely is something you might not immediately think of, but does do a lot in terms of making you not wanna kill something. Out the box DVD's play, MP3's, all those kinda things. It will mount ISO's by just double clicking em. its got tons of cool things that im not saying you dont get on other OS', just that that is given to the person that does not wanna have to hit the terminal and what not(but you have all that at your fingertips if you choose to use it).

OSX has something called Spotlight, its basically a system wide search, and it is just dandy, its very fast, as in instantaneous. its takes about 5 min to build the database the first time you run the OS, but then it keeps it updates as you do things. Its something I use constantly.

Oh, one more feature that I use a lot, but that is not something huge, is the combo, ctrl+cmd+d, if you press that and hover over a word, in a pdf, webpage, email. anywhere, it will super impose a popup saying the definition of the word, the wiki entry, and some thesaurus info. its super handy.

As for 3rd party software, apple is very rigorous(some dont like this) about only allowing quality software on their OS, this is a very very very good thing.(you can still download junk from 3rd parties, but if its in any way associated with apple is good software for the most part)

I could go on and on, but i suspect this post is reaching my attention span. All those things are great, and definitely make it a great OS, but the thing that makes people LOVE, and I really mean LOVE their mac, is something you cant really express. its like listening to music, you cant explain why it makes you happy, Computers are no different, they can have an emotional effect on us, dont believe me, ask this dude. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwM3cUJK ... re=related


With is all being said, I would like to add that Most of the OS' you get today are all great, in their own way, and that for me, OSX has just been something I enjoy using more that the others, but its completely subjective, and I dont wanna hear Windows plays games better, and linux is open, and all that stuffs.


PS: there are probably lots of spelling and grammar issues, i did not proof read, im kinda beat too.

EDIT: I might make a video where im just using it as a general computer with some commentary.

[N64vSNES]

In the end its a personal thing, and you should not be so much focused on price, you should just be happy with what you are using.

Agreed, if you can afford getting something you really like, get it, it's a lot more motivating on a learning curve. For instance I really liked the first guitar I bought and that kept me playing more and more, although it wasn't expensive but it was *mine*.

Your awesome!

Thank you, I've read about your project The Eternal Quest and just wanted to say keep up the good work, it's inspiring to see it progress.

Thanks man, posts like this is really motivating

Back on topic though...

If you don't have a Windows PC and your going for a degree in computer science then I'd strongly recomend a windows PC.

Otherwise I suggest get a mac because no matter what people say they are more efficent less resource greedy and fairly simple to use. I've not used windows 7 or Windows Vista but I've been hearing that they are quite complicated to use.

[dandymcgee]

Otherwise I suggest get a mac because no matter what people say they are more efficent less resource greedy and fairly simple to use.

What people, who are you sources?

I've not used windows 7 or Windows Vista but I've been hearing that they are quite complicated to use.

Then why bother speculating based on rumors? Windows Vista is a known failure, but Windows 7 is pretty damn easy to use for standard daily work IMO.

[epicasian]

I've not used windows 7 or Windows Vista but I've been hearing that they are quite complicated to use.

Then why bother speculating based on rumors? Windows Vista is a known failure, but Windows 7 is pretty d*** easy to use for standard daily work IMO.

I have to agree with you on that. I absolutely LOVE the Aero Snap feature. It makes devving a whole lot easier.

[avansc]

I've not used windows 7 or Windows Vista but I've been hearing that they are quite complicated to use.

Then why bother speculating based on rumors? Windows Vista is a known failure, but Windows 7 is pretty d*** easy to use for standard daily work IMO.

I have to agree with you on that. I absolutely LOVE the Aero Snap feature. It makes devving a whole lot easier.

myeah that is a very nice feature, I wish osx had it, but xcode does offer split panes, its its kinda okay.

OH shit, I also forgot to mention applescript and automator in my list of osx awesomeness..

[epicasian]

What is AppleScript exactly? I've seen it, but have no idea what it is/does.

[JGorard159]

What is AppleScript exactly? I've seen it, but have no idea what it is/does.

From what I've heard/seen, it's a high level scripting language designed to automate common operations on the Mac OS, like renaming folders, emptying the trash and executing other applicaions. A friend showed it to me once; I think that's what it does .

[N64vSNES]

Otherwise I suggest get a mac because no matter what people say they are more efficent less resource greedy and fairly simple to use.

What people, who are you sources?

I've not used windows 7 or Windows Vista but I've been hearing that they are quite complicated to use.

Then why bother speculating based on rumors? Windows Vista is a known failure, but Windows 7 is pretty damn easy to use for standard daily work IMO.

What people, who are you sources?

Either I wasn't clear enough or you misread it .
What I mean is the majority of people are so used to windows and barely heard of a mac and a lot of people don't even know linux exists but a mac is less "resource consuming" than windows.

Then why bother speculating based on rumors? Windows Vista is a known failure, but Windows 7 is pretty damn easy to use for standard daily work IMO.

Most people that I've asked who have used Windows 7 would agree with this, but you have to remember that not everyone is a computer guru and everyone at college over here is ready to kill themselves because they upgraded to winodws 7

I'm not trying to start a Windows V Mac war but I am just trying to point out the are people less expeianced with computers and find windows 7 a struggle.

[avansc]

What is AppleScript exactly? I've seen it, but have no idea what it is/does.

From what I've heard/seen, it's a high level scripting language designed to automate common operations on the Mac OS, like renaming folders, emptying the trash and executing other applicaions. A friend showed it to me once; I think that's what it does .

Wel yes, you can do things like that, but automator os better for that. Automator is a sort of component workflow thing, you drag operations in a sequential order to achieve some greater task. Like make a folder than if you drag pictures into it, it will automatically duplicate them with a new scale, or sort them based on name/date whatever.

Applescript can do all these things, but a more generic explanation would be something like this. A scripting language that is completely intertwined with the OS.
Its like say what a ES' scripting language is to their engine, It effortlessly communicates with the OS.

I dont use Applescript as much as i could, but I do have one nifty automater service, (a service is something that associates with a certain part of the OS, text/folders/programs/etc)
I have a pastebin service, I select all the text i want to push to pastebin, then I have a shortcut key ctr+cmd+p pastes it to pastebin and puts the URL in the clipboard. so i just cmd+v to paste the url.

[dandymcgee]

I'm not trying to start a Windows V Mac war but I am just trying to point out the are people less expeianced with computers and find windows 7 a struggle.

Nor am I, but every person I've talked to has loved Windows 7 since the day the upgraded, and almost all of them are standard college student users (word processing, facebook, music/DVDs).

Honestly I don't see how someone having trouble the basics of Windows 7 is going to find their way around a Mac any easier unless they have previous experience with one.

[avansc]

I'm not trying to start a Windows V Mac war but I am just trying to point out the are people less expeianced with computers and find windows 7 a struggle.

Nor am I, but every person I've talked to has loved Windows 7 since the day the upgraded, and almost all of them are standard college student users (word processing, facebook, music/DVDs).

Honestly I don't see how someone having trouble the basics of Windows 7 is going to find their way around a Mac any easier unless they have previous experience with one.

Windows 7 is a bangin OS, its just fashmashtic. I went to the apple store around the release of win7, and I overheard the apple tech staff talk about how awesome it is.

I will say this for your college comment, It seems like about 20-40 percent of the people in any given class are using macs these days. Thats massive.