SillyDog701 Message Centre

[Antony]

[ahtak]

Let me share my story, a Windows based user from Windows 95 to Windows 2000, and why switched...

Started off with an Acer 133Mhz, 16MB Desktop as my first computer in my life, running with Windows 95 at that time, and upgraded to 98SE later ... Everything was fine bcoz at that time there wasn't alot of Virus, and USB devices to to deal with, I just use the computer to surf the new and some chatting with friends, ICQ and IRC was the coolest thing that time ....

untill 2001 I bought a brand new Mod PC ( I thought Mod PC was the best ! )...

.PIII Coppermine 1Ghz
.forgot the motherboard ...
.512 MB RAM
.CDRW

and other kickass spec, was all top of the range that time and it does really cost a big hole in my dad's wallet ... untill later I decide to get a used iBook from the net, which the production date is almost 1 year older than the PIII PC I had ....

When I start using the used iBook I have, I realize that I actually don't have to spend time waiting for the ScanDisk, Defragment, the AntiVirus ( which I will still be infected even after an hour I scaned, does that means I have to scan every hour ? ), and keep looking at what are the new "upgrades" I can get for my computer. When I have a PC, I just can't stop updating my self with RAM prices, what kind of keyboards will be nice to have, should I upgrade the Graphic Card and so on...

I too have the " I dunno how to use a Mac ... it's different" kind of thinking at first, but that's only for the first few days. The softwares in the Mac are so much easier to use and make more sense ... I can almost start using the machine.

Let's see what happen if any one get a new Mod PC.

1. Assemble the Machine. Maybe you can ask the shop to assemble for you, but I guess most of the people would think.. "How hard can that be ?" Try saying that to your girl friend .... 30 mins as average, 2 hours for those who reads the manual, and it just took me merely 15mins.

2. Install the Windows. Fastest I've tried is 30mins, havent tried on the new Intel.

3. Start downloading and installing softwares.... Varies of software demand. But the Mac use save alot of time buy using the simple Drag'n Drop installation. I really drop my jaw seeing that in my friend's Mac before I had mine. Now I drop my friend's jaw by showing them that ... Say, 15mins for the Windows based ?

4. Installing drivers for the Printers ... scanners .... webcam ... I hated doing these on my Windows ... I think I have a phobia of the "OK" and "Cancel" buttons, come on, do have have other choices ??? I have to click "OK" right ?! ... Be far, both PC and Mac are quite plug and play if you just want to print documents, but not if you want to use the extra functions that comes with the All in One printers like the HPs ...

Not so hectic, not too messy but I've to repeat the above steps at least once a 2 months. Becoz of the Virus, becoz the Windows will become slower and slower as I use, and all those .DLL are driving me crazy. I actually spend more time dealing with the computer rather than my work ...

FYI. The used iBook is still running well. Running the latest Mac OSX 10.4 ( hope I still can use with 10.5), which my iBook have been thru 9.1, 10.0, 10.1,10.2,10.3,10.4 ... that's total of 6 generations of OS. While for the Windows based Mod PC, I really have no idea where it is now ... And another FYI, my iBook just has a pity little 500Mhz G3, which is always faster than the PIII 1GB coppermine that I have ....


is my story too long ? I still have alot more to share if you guys are interested ~

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/522.11.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0.3 Safari/522.12.1

[Antony]

Many people have been bashing on the cost of Mac OS X, let's take a comparison.

In Australia,
Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" is priced at AU$158.

Whereas Windows Vista Home Basic is priced at AU$385 (or AU$179 for upgrade). But is it fair to compare Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" with more than 300 new features (on top of nine major features) to a feature lacked Vista Home Basic? Clearly not.
It should be fair to compare Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard to Vista Home Premium at least, where were priced at AU$455 (or AU$299 for upgrade version).
Of course, extremists would go for Ultimate version which priced at AU$751 (or AU$451 for upgrade version).

The cost of operating system wise, there are two facts.
1. Apple does not release a major upgrade to Mac OS X every year.
2. Mac OS X costs much less than Microsoft Windows.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.1.8) Gecko/20071008 Firefox/2.0.0.8

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MozInfo701 | MacCentre701 | AntBlog701 | don't steal music.

[Antony]

Despite popular perceptions, Macs are cheaper to own than PCs, a new article from Salon.com argues.

According to the article, it is true that the initial price of obtaining a new Mac may cost a little bit more than the comparatively-powered branded PCs at same time. Mac are said to maintain better resale value, this can offset any initial costs. Also, Macs last longer than PCs, Macs are useful for as much as five years (according to the article), whereas PC owners may have to upgrade every one or two years.

Article: Once and for all, proof that Macs are cheaper than PCs (by Farhad Manjoo, 7 Nov 2007)

[iJohnE]

I own a PC, and don't get me wrong I love it. But Antony has a point. Mac's are easier to own and easier to upgrade and cheaper. They may not always be as expandable, but their performance over the years has been well, great. Not to mention if you really need to use Windows, just get a virtual PC or boot camp for your mac. Clearly Mac's do win this battle.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061010 Firefox/2.0

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User of SeaMonkey on Windows XP Home SP3.

[Fulvio]

I may have participated to this thread, but have no time to go through all the messages.
I used to work at a place where I was the exception in using a PC. I could have requested a Mac, but I was looking at the real life, where, at home, I would never be able to afford a new Mac, but I could buy three pcs for the same price. So, I stuck with pcs, and, I have not been bothered a bit.
I have had the same computer with WinXP for the past five yrs. and I can access any program. If I would get a new pc, I was "upgrade" Vista to XP. I like what I have.
As for who did what first, and who "stole" the ideas, I could care less. I think that this is law territory, which is alien to me. But, I hear these arguments all the time, at another website. That Netscape initiated everything, and Mozilla, and its successors stole the ideas. So what?
As for the prices of the operating system, it may be easier to get a pc OS in a box, and a bit cheaper. I would not consider it to be a problem.
I know that I can use the same machine which I, originally, bought with Win98 some nine-ten years ago. Even after putting in Win98SE, some programs may not be compatible, but I can use that machine with a number of programs which don't work with a Mac of the same era. This contradicts the extreme statement from Antony: