Apple Fans

[Gavin.K]

I run inventor on mine with boot camp no problems

[harvyk]

Thanks for the laughs guys...

But it's time to dispel some of those myths about macs...

There are no viruses for macs - Wrong

Here is some of the viruses which affect macs

ANTI \ Code 252 virus \ CDEF virus \ Code 1 virus

(No this is not an exhaustive list) The reason why there are less viruses for macs is simple, there is a fraction of the people using them compared to PC's. Why spent the time \ effort \ risk into writing a virus which will effect only a small percentage of the population. Macs are not immune to viruses, it's just people can't be bothered writing them.

Everything a PC can do a Mac can do better - Wrong

Once again a mac's limited user base generally makes it undesirable to make software mac compatible. Whilst yes there is software for mac's the software has either been developed from a PC version, or a PC version will shortly follow. The reason again is there is limited user base for the macs. Also lets face it, apple themselves don't even write Mac only software (otherwise there would be no Quicktime or iTunes for windows).

Macs are excellent business machines - Wrong

As above, there is limited support for software running on macs. Funny enough most of the serious business software available for Mac's have actually been ported over from Unix or a variant of. The one exception that I can think of off the top of my head is File Maker.

Just finally if you ever want to know why IBM \ IBM compatibles beat Mac's the answer is two fold. First IBM went to the uni's in the early 80's and said "how many free IBM's do you want" of course the uni's went for it big time. Apple tried the same thing, except with schools, the school said "Thanks but we really don't give a " which is why apples used to be so heavily used in primary schools. The second was IBM allowed clones, Apple did not. (There is only a couple of apple clones that I am aware of, and they didn't sell very well)

There are others but I have to get back to work...

Just finally wesleyt's comments about only have to go to 2 mac problems ever whilst running his business. Maybe wesleyt, you could enlighten us to what percentage of your users where macs, and what they are typically used for, compared to you PC users...

[Twisty]

otherwise there would be no Quicktime or iTunes for windows

How would they sell the couple of hundred million iPods if they didn't have windows compatible software?

[Grudgee]

Macs are far superior to PCs, I beg to differ

Fair enough.

I can tell you now I work in IT and I wont scream ill tell you its true I can build a pc for half the price. and its twice as good I dont have any problems with my pc at all I also dont get virus.

You work in IT, so you know how to protect your machine. Most don't.

do you have any idea what it cost to fix a mac? its not cheap they do break trust me. reliability and stability if you get anything that's not MAC there is hardly any support for you. if you buy a nokia N95 and want to use it as a modem GOOD LUCK. it can be done if you know what you doing but my point is if not apple branded and the company does not have software for it your f*cked.

Yep, I've had issues in the past. Not cheap, but we're not debating the fact that Mac is expensive. Not true about the software at all. There is less available, but I've only ever been stuck once when looking for a remote-access program (which is now available).

they only reason they go all the time is because there are a laptop you cant do anything to, the OS is not filled with 3ed party gear it only has software for mac.

I'm not sure I know what you mean. I run a a powerbook and it's loaded with everything most people would ever need. What can't you get for mac?

if my dvd rom was to break or I wanted another one I can get one for $40 same with hard drive. plenty of apps you can put on a pc. also plenty of games and I dont have any problems with HD video or CAD or Photoshop.

Good PC's, properly set up are great. Out of the box Macs are great also. Both can eat up video, CAD and graphics work. What's your point?

if I want to smell my own farts and drink my espresso coffee and pat my self on the back that I went to uni for 5 years and I know everything about the world but know really know nothing ill buy a mac.

Ignorant comment that has no bearing on what we're discussing.

sorry for the flack but every time I get a Mac customer they talk down to me and act like there are some superstar dead set gets on my nerves.

From the sounds of it, you probably prepare yourself for this kind of encounter and may even cause some of the grief. You should respect the fact that people have different preferences and get on with the job at hand. You're generalisation here is limited and biased.

all in all if your going to get on the internet and email macs arnt that bad OVERPRICED but not that bad.

You've obviously never owned a mac. Professionals with macs know your comment to be wrong. Yuppies that buy macs cause they look pretty may just agree with you - purely out of stupidity.

if you want to play games and use lots of devices and programs get a PC.

100% correct.

if you have VISTA turn off UAC is causes so much stuff to fail its not funny. to turn it off click START> Control Panel> classic view top left corner > User Accounts > at bottom of the page with a shield click Turn User Account Control on or off. if a box comes up click continue > untick the box then click OK > and then say yes to the restart.

[Grudgee]

I have to agree with Zap on this one.

I work in publishing, and we, as have a few others in our field, happily dumped our Macs in favour of PCs. The majority of graphics houses still use Mac, but that is more out of habbit now, rather than necessity. Half of our photographers have also dumped their Macs in favour of PCs due to reliability, the necessity to communicate and transfer files easier, price and ease of operation.

PCs have come a long way in the last five years for graphics work.

Our Macs certainly weren't more reliable than our PCs, with constant breakdowns, which required specalist attention.

The Macs were OK as a stand alone prospect, but on a network they were a nightmare. Their network communication skills are simplistic compared to PCs, and they often caused our entire network to grind to a halt. Often with the Macs, if a file was moved on the network, the Macs would refuse to accept that and would continually try to access the file where it used to be, locking themselves up in the process.

And, if Macs are so great with graphics, why the hell do they need to create seperate files for every image so they can be viewed as a thumnail.

But the bit I hated the most (and I know the latest generation stuff is better) was the fact that while we had no problems accessing and reading Mac files from our PCs, the Macs refused to read or access PC files.

Never again!

When was the last time you had Macs in there? None of this has been the case for many, many years. Again, nobody can argue the price aspect. They're dearer.

[Twisty]

I agree with Grudgee... Tmac450, the issues you've listed have all been addressed and fixed... years ago. Must've been a while since you've used a mac, or you've been using old machines using the PowerPC processors.

[tmac450]

I agree with Grudgee... Tmac450, the issues you've listed have all been addressed and fixed... years ago. Must've been a while since you've used a mac, or you've been using old machines using the PowerPC processors.

Yes, I did say I know the latest generation stuff is better, we made the changes about 4 years ago. They were starting to impliment the fixes for our Macs then, but the initial fixes caused more problems than the problems. We, like quite a few others in the publishing game, had had enough. By then the Macs had been uncooperative for too long to wait around for them to come good, in the meantime PCs were improving in leaps and bounds with graphics and publishing, they were faster, cheaper to purchase, maintian and more readily available.

Despite the changes, several of the graphics houses and photographers we deal with still have networking and file conversion issues, Macs are still dearer, maintenance is dearer and harder, and they're not readily available.

As a publisher we have to receive files from a wide range of sources, both Mac and IBM based, using PCs, this is never an issue for us, but other publishers and graphics houses still need to have at least one IBM based machine to handle the files their Macs refuse to work with.

If we have an issue with a PC, we can either fix it inhouse, or pay a small fee to have it repaired, go into any one of the 25 computer retailers near our office and get a new one.

Ultimately, to keep out business efficient with strict deadlines, Macs still are too inflexible and restrictive, while our IBM only network is a much simpler prospect. For us, it just isn't smart business to use Mac, and I fail to see why any business would want to use a system that is still not 100% compatible with the majority of other businesses in the world.

[harvyk]

How would they sell the couple of hundred million iPods if they didn't have windows compatible software?

That's exactly my point. Here is a piece of Mac hardware, which they allow to be used on Windows machines. IPod is arguably mac's most successful product, and they could have forced it to be a mac only piece of hardware. But instead they have allowed it to be used on windows machines...

This simply re-enforces my point that mac does not have any major advantage over windows...

[harvyk]

Last year I saw a doco on the IPod... Basically it's the companies savior. They knew 8 years ago when they first started designing the IPod that apple was going to be known as a Music company, not a computer company.

The only reason they still build mac's is because it's a flagship product. Everyone knows what a mac is, even if they don't use one. If they got rid of the mac's then apple would become seen in the same vein as Amiga... Amiga used to build computers (non IBM compatible), and where very well known. The company was then sold, went through several iterations, and now they only make software, which no one uses, or even knows about...

Edited 04/07/08 07:24 AM by harvyk

[Grudgee]

iPods would HAVE to be the most popular product. Dunno about stats, but I'd put my money on it.

I agree that PCS are more readily available. Macs can be a 3 week wait on a custom built machine.

Tmac, I find it interesting that you mention "fixes" and "uncooperative" as this only applied when trying to integrate into a PC network. A mac-only network has always been fine. PC is just the established setup, meaning if Mac can't integrate perfectly, it's the worry. 5 years ago, you could stick a PC on a mac network just fine, but not vice-versa. It is a problem with the machine, or the network?

I've been in printing for over 10 years, much of which was in the prepress. We've never had issues with files being compatible (although we have a skilled team).

We're going in circles here, as both Mac and PC are great in their own rights. Get them together, as I have, and you have an unbeatable combo. Who cares which is better - just get both.