30 Days with Mac OS X @ [H]

[defstef]

I said I was done with this thread, and more specifically because of people like you.

I CAN figure it out with time, questions, playing around and reading. In fact, I did. One of the things I did was enable the dev mode for the widgets, so I could have them on my desktop where I could actually make use of them.

I used to write software and save it to a cassette with a VIC-20 for chr1st's sake - when I was 5 years old. I've built PCs from 286s to Core 2s. I've replaced gas tanks, sensors, fuel pumps, alternators, starters, installed remote starters, stereos, amps and speakers in cars and jeeps. Modified an '82 1100 gas tank to fit my '79 GS1000, along with the rust removal, body work and paint. Installed dozens of satellite dishes, PA systems, pre-wired homes and commercial buildings for built-in home theater and/or background music systems - that was my part time job in grade 8. Did audio systems for banks and bars when I was 15. I've recapped (dozens of) motherboards. Replaced power connectors and FL invertors on laptops. Framed walls. Installed drywall. Installed lighting, ballasts, outlets......... etc etc etc etc

By myself, with little to no instructions.

I dropped out half-way through a Bachelor of CompSci degree because my GPS was 4.0 and I was bored of not being challenged. Being in the top 10 out of 240 students was easy, even though I missed half my classes (slept through the other ones) and never opened my books.

MAC OS is marketed as something that is very easy, just works and makes sense. Apparently that is all total BS.

I SHOULDN'T NEED TO SPEND MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES LEARNING. I SHOULDN'T NEED TO READ WEBSITES AND ASK EXPERTS!!!! I SURE AS HELL SHOULDN'T HAVE TO ENABLE BASIC FEATURES.

And I shouldn't have to yell to get people to understand what I am saying.

GET THE FRICKEN POINT YET?

Well done - you're obviously brilliant. Why don't you just write your own OS?

As this is a hardware forum, it isn't too surprising to find members with a breadth and depth of technical proficiency in many different areas. Your attitude betrays an arrogance that may be the cause of your problem - if I did seem condescending, then I apologise, but I was trying to be helpful. In my current sphere of work, the people who tend to get on, tend to be those who accept that they may not know everything, no matter what their past achievements.

You may feel that you have to yell to "get people to understand what [you] are saying", but I suggest that you may have misunderstood my point, that what you consider 'basic features' that should, from your point of view, be 'enabled' by default, may not suit everyone's way of working, and have therefore been left as an option.

My first computer was a VIC-20, btw.

 

[vespr]

I liked the article, it gave a more open and honest view. Little disappointed you did choose a Mac Mini, for me that system is merely an unadvertised HTPC! I've got a powerbook g4 1.33ghz and I made the switch about 3-4 years ago. I had troubles turning the damn thing on and leaving my PC alone, until I finally sold the PC and focused entirely on the mac. And now I'd never use a PC as my only computer.

In terms of day to day running, the mac works seamlessly for me. From email, to browsing, torrents, irc, music, movies, burning, encoding. I find all the apps, even ones I download (of which there are a lot!), work so well together. I've also gone through two installations, panther and tiger without the need to upgrade the memory from 512mb. Although I have recently added a 256 stick.

Your gripe about front row only playing from the movies folder isn't true. It also plays from movies in your itunes library. Just create a short cut and dump that in itunes. You can then store the original file anywhere you want. For comparative software, ilife and iwork offer so much more than their windows counterparts for the value overall. I would never, ever recommend a Dell, or any pre-built windows PC over a mac to joe blogs. And like somebody has said previously, I've seen fresh installed (anti-virus included) PC's get turned into sh*t after a few weeks of use by the non-enthusiast types, of which none of us here enter that pool. Give that same person a Mac and all those problems just simply won't enter the frame. And you really cannot put a price on that.

My little brother went to uni and bought an old ibook, he's completely illiterate, but even he realises the mac has it's place amongst the non-geeks around us. What he loves, is whenever a friend plugs in a printer, camera, hard drive, it has always worked for him. I don't even think he knows what a driver is. Like I said, you can't put a price on that. Period. And in the 21st century, that really should be the state of "Home Computers".

 

[vespr]

I dislike Expose...I'm used to the way Windows (and WindowMaker) do things. I like using one key combination to move between all the windows for all my apps.

App- and window-switching is another gripe of mine about OS X in general. You don't switch windows with OS X's command-tab, you switch applications, then you get to switch windows within that application using another set of keys (command-`). On top of that, command-` only lets you switch to the next window in window-creation order, whereas WIndows' alt-tab lets you switch in most-recent-first order. If I have five terms open in terminal.app and I'm on term four, yet I want to get to term three, I have to go through six, one, two and finally three. Of course, I could use command-left/rightarrow (and I do), but those are inconsistently used between different applications, even by Apple. I thought Apple was supposed to be consistent about this kind of stuff. Third-party apps are very inconsistent about it on OS X, while they're very consistent on Windows. Hrmmm...

Why do I care about keyboard window-switching? Cause that's what I'm used to. I hate reaching for the mouse just to switch to another window. I want to do it quickly and efficiently. I'd really like to be able to switch between two windows spawned by the same application using the same keyboard command. With WIndows I can; with OS X there's no guarantees.

Dude I don't know how expose didn't do it for you. With hot corners, on my laptop I'm flicking in and out of corners and selecting the windows I want in under a second easy. When you select it to do the windows in the app (I understand your gripe, but I don't notice it anymore), it's even faster.

Overall I'm convinced it's so much nicer than alt + tab...

 

[vespr]

ive previously had no experience with macs but we recently got a imac 24" at work, i agree with the article in regards to the interface and basic functionality, but getting it to work well with windows networks is not a lot of fun and requires changes to your w2k3 servers to get them recognized by the mac, and getting them to join a domain isn't all that simple either, considering that it's a windows world you'd think apple would do a better job at implementing their tools to connect to microsoft networks

I've routinely brought my powerbook into work and plugged it into our network and it's worked fine. As long as I set the proxy settings for the isa server, I'm straight online, and I can see every share whether it's drive or printer after a few clicks. But then I know what I'm looking for on a mac, it may be you've got an in-experienced user...

 

[vespr]

Expose is slow. When I just want to switch between two windows of the same app, I don't want to wait for it to scale the app windows down, arrow around to one, then wait for them to scale up again. It's dumb. Give me a fast, simple way to switch apps that doesn't require me to move my hands from the home row or to do more than one keyboard command. Maybe it's just me, but I like to get work done, not get work done more slowly while looking good doing it.

I'm griping about what turns me off about Macs and why I don't think they're good for me---and trust me, many have tried to persuade me otherwise---not asking for a fix. I've been using Macs at work for a year and a half now and I'm still happy to come home to my FreeBSD and Windows machines every evening.

Why would I want to grab the mouse to switch windows? It should be a simple, one-shot keyboard command away. No way in hell am I setting up a "hot corner" for expose.

You're contradicting yourself from a previous post? You said you know the command to switch between windows within an app, command a + `. So expose isn't required then, just do that and it's easily as fast as alt tab. I think once you get into hot corners and expose, the ways you can navigate between windows and apps is amazing. Especially when dragging windows into corners with expose, such as clearing desktop but maintaing control of a window.

 

[vespr]

I also want a screen shot program as good or better than PrintKey that I use on Windows. And I want more keyboards available to offer more buttons, maybe an iPod station (but that would have to have more power, as I can't plug an iPod in the back of an Apple keyboard and have it work now).

apples screen shot problem allows you to select any part of the desktop you want, like sizing up a window. what couldn't be simpler than that?

 

[ne0-reloaded]

I think the biggest mistake that a lot of people make when working with a Mac the first time, is to assume that because some things that work on Windows don't work the same way (by the same keyboard shortcut, or whatever), there isn't a way of doing it. Many long-time Windows users act as though they were born knowing alt-tab, or alt-F4, or Ctrl-S etc., when in reality they either were told, or spent a lot of time figuring things out for themselves by trial and error.

Rameeti's post is superb, btw.

Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-Eject

actually the problem is really with apple, especially with their new marketting campaign. they make mac sound like its 100% easy, nothing ever breaks, and was given from god almighty through the angel gabriel. shit i believed it 100%, and im extremely untrusting of ads (the marketting dir must have gotten a fat ass bonus for those commercials). it was the same issue i ran into my 1st go at linux after reading how easy linux is and that "it just works." reading the review and not hearding omg mac's are the greating thing on planet earth surprised me, especially since all ive heard from mac users is how much windows sucks and how much better mac is. when brian said the cheap mac mini was sluggish and that their was trial softwae installed i was shocked, why? because of the commercials.

now you can say im a idiot for believing the hype, but so will the possibly 10'ss or 100's of thousands of new mac users who don't read [H] who go out and buy a mac. thanks for doing the article, it was a good help to me. i've never used a mac outside of the few times at the apple store, so this really let me see the "bad side" of macs

and i tend to side with VIC, mac users are some of the most elitist bastards ive met my whole life, more so than linux users. a class mate had a mac and everything he had to say basically ended in "windows sucks." we had to use photoshop in a class to make some designs and he didnt have it on his mac and the 1st thing that came out his mouth was "God I hate pc's, theyre so slow, they all have viruses blah blah blah." the whole time im there like damn son stop bitchin.

a previous co-worker had a mac for two days and every chance he got he felt he had to remind me how much windows sucks......


sorry for the rant

 

[Brian Boyko]

I do want to say this, and if I overstep my bounds, I apologize.

But what I tried to get across is not that the Macintosh was a poor computer or poor platform. Honestly, it wasn't, and I've had worse experiences (and better experiences) on the PC side, both in Windows and in Linux. But I tried to point out core competencies and deficiencies.

I think I can understand much of the criticism of my article on Vista. If you go out and say something like I did - that it was buggy and unstable and unfit for any user (a statement even editor in chief Kyle didn't 100% agree with) you're going to get controversy. But what I said was that the Macintosh platform wasn't right for me and probably wasn't right for many people like me while still acknowledging it as a stable and secure plaform.

In other words, I got tons of hatemail because I dared to call the Macintosh "merely good" instead of "excellent." That wasn't something I was expecting.

-- Brian.

 

[maq1988]

Brian you gave it a fair shot, I'll give you that. Switching to a new OS is not the easiest thing to do at all. Trying it for 30 days will not give you a full feel for the OS though (In my opinion) but then, who really has the time and money to spend on machines and using an OS for say, 4 months solid.

There are elitist Windows users, with the Mac Sucks comments, the same with Linux, Mac fans can be elitist towards OS X. Even though I'm a Mac OS X user, it annoys me that they are. Nothing is perfect, Windows and Linux have their uses too - I run Windows for games and general storage - Linux for a FTP/Webserver and I use Mac OS X on my iBook for Uni. Each OS has it's points, I love the bundled apps, iPhoto I use most, along with iTunes.

X11 is a pain, I gave up on it and got Office for Mac. You raise interesting points, the Mac Mini is no beast, and needs updating badly. The Mac Pro is rather expensive for this kind of review. Apple links you to their hardware, which in situations can be a great thing. Apple does charge a premium for their machines, prices are still dropping though.

You missed (in my view) a few vital things of the Macs Firewire targetdisk mode is a great example, the fact I can take a hard drive running OS X Server from a Quad G5 and boot it from a PowerMac G4 and use it as a quick and dirty server while we fix a hardware problem is amazing.

You did well in your review, there were a few problems with it, but someone will always find holes in anything. Well done for actually doing a review.

 

[[H]EMI_426]

You're contradicting yourself from a previous post? You said you know the command to switch between windows within an app, command a + `. So expose isn't required then, just do that and it's easily as fast as alt tab. I think once you get into hot corners and expose, the ways you can navigate between windows and apps is amazing. Especially when dragging windows into corners with expose, such as clearing desktop but maintaing control of a window.

No, I'm not contradicting myself. I said I knew how to switch windows (but only in one direction) using command+`. I said it's inefficient cause it only works in order of window creation, instead of most-recent-first order. Command+` is certainly not fast, particularly when I have to crawl through a pile of windows to get back to the one I want. I could use command-left/rightarrow to move back and forth, but that's very inconsistent between applications under OS X. If I want to switch between applications (not just windows) I have to add in command-tab. So, if I want to move to a different window than the most-recent window in a different app, I have to use two different keyboard commands. It's dumb. Just let me move between all the windows in all the apps with one keyboard command. That's all I ask. Please try to understand instead of saying I'm contradicting myself, which certainly isn't the case.

The problem with expose is it requires me to go for the mouse or to go for keys that require me to move my hand away from the home row. Both of those options are slower for me than expose. I'm not dragging or dropping anything between apps and I never mentioned that as a criteria, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop mentioning it.

For the way I work, OS X is not faster. Get over it. It's not the right choice for everyone. It also doesn't help that I'd have to do things differently (and slower for me) in OS X than the other two environments I spend time in.

 

[flipflopsnowman]

I have been following this thread and was not going to join in since I have no interest in joining a "my dad can beat your dad up" contest. However, I do have an opinion since I have used all 3 (Mac, Linux, Windows) and would like to share my experiences.

1) Linux, for a power user, is perfect. If you want to learn all about boot sectors, drive partitions, and all the things that make your computer actually work, install Linux. However, I will probably never tell my parents to go burn an iso of any Linux flavor. I doubt that they would know how to burn an iso in the first place. Linux is a quality OS, but you have to know how it works at some point since 0 manufacturers that I know of ship a FULLY covered Linux distro. For that reason I am going to eliminate Linux from the discussion of "normal" users.

2) Macs and PCs for normal users are approximately the same. What I mean by approximately the same is that if I bought my parents a Mac (before they started using PCs at work) the "up and running time" is about the same. The Mac has the edge, but not by a lot. We as power users forget that the average person knows nothing about computers. If you don't believe me, work tech support for 8 hours.

3) PCs are "better" because they are more widely accepted in the business world at large. The ability for an IT department to EASILY swap out a defective HDD or add some RAM cannot be taken lightly. It costs a heck of a lot less to add some upgrades than it does to go out and buy a new computer. When thinking of a counter argument, please consider that an employee sans computer is getting paid to do nothing, so shipping has to be expedited. Plus, since Apple has a monopoly on the distribution of Macs, there are no Dell vs. Gateway price wars to drive the costs down. In the long run, for a company, PCs are a better investment. Even now that Macs are just as good as PCs, do you think a company is going to change its entire infrastructure and retrain all the "normal" users just so they can get some Macs?

4) With this "Apples are clearly superior" campaign, all Apple is going to do is find out how many stupid people it takes to make their "user friendly" computer a haven for viruses. A well patched PC is more secure than a non-updated Mac. With this ad campaign, Apple is going to create a slew of users who think that anti-virus is a thing of the past and not install it on their Macs. Then they will be furious when their Macs start dying because they can't stop opening e-mail attachments from unknown senders. I live in Chicago and I'm aware of the dangers and take precautions. My parents live in a small town and don't lock their doors. Who do you think is safer?

Now, for [H]ard users, there is no sense to argue. Each of the three options has their high points and each has low points. Find the one that works for you, and stop flaming.

 

[ikellensbro]

Time for me to bop in - I thought about writing my own article just like this a few months ago.

Background: I've used Windows all my life, not surprisingly. I'm 17, but I've used XP since the first cracked versions came out for it. I'm more interested in hardware than software/OS, but I easily know my way around most of Windows' GUI menus.

I decided I wanted to buy a laptop at the start of last school year (10 months ago), and first looked long and hard for a tablet, but I couldn't find one within my price range that had what I wanted. So, I started looking at 14.1" HP WS models, and then started thinking about a Macbook, mainly because of 2 friends who have been raised on Apple for more than a decade. After factoring in the savings of the iPod deal ($180 off any iPod, I didn't really care about getting an iPod so much as just an MP3 player that didn't suck), I thought I would suck up the few hundred dollars' difference in price for a similar PC laptop and bite the Mac bullet.

Within the first month, there were plenty of little things that made me feel happy and glad to have goen fruity. Little things like showing off Photo Booth, the Dock, and Expose to my classmates, dragging flash drives into the trash can to eject them, Front Row, etc. After that month, I realized that I used those features less and less, or wasn't really wowed by them anymore. Sure, I took a picture of a cake today on the iSight - many PC laptops come with an optional webcam nowadays. I never use Front Row, and the remote sits at the bottom of my backpack. iChat died on me, so I was forced to switch over to Adium.

And then the little quirks started to rear their ugly heads. I was stuck with a useless partner for a video project, so I thought I'd just use iMovie and its fantastic powers to save the day. First of all, iMovie runs like shit. Sure, it can do some instant previewing. Try importing an MP3 into a 10 minute long movie, and tell me iMovie is still fast. Try going through the torture of sticking a still photo (I should point out that the Ken Burns Effect generator is pretty good, but it could use keyframes) in place of a portion of a video clip and matching the audio and video. Not to mention, my partner managed to somehow ruin the entire audio within a minute without knowing what he did, which required a project export/import, and new scene cuts to be made.

At this point, I realized the drawback of the whole included software gimmick. Ok, a 30 day trial of iWork is nice: 2 gigs. Word trial: 300 megs. Garageband and iDVD: 8-12 gigs (I forget, I haven't copied the files back over). Not to mention, iMovie is absolutely aweful when it comes to file size - the video clip system is absolutely abysmal. That 60gb hd fills up really fast: I counted 40 gigs available after software update. And you thought Dell bloatware was bad (to date, I have not used Garageband, iDVD [not surprising with not burner], iTunes [not enough space for my music anyway], iWeb, iCal, or Mail) when they include stuff you don't use.

So fine, I had some issues with hard drive space and especially iMovie - maybe I'm trying for a little too much out of a piece of software designed for exactly the type of project I was trying to do. Other cases are pretty bad as well. Firefox runs nowhere near as smoothly as it does on my S754 3000+ with less ram (1gb vs. 1.25gb). Dashboard and Expose at times will take 5 seconds to show up (not just from a cold boot, where Spotlight and Dashboard do take 5 seconds to load) while other times, I'll have 20 windows open and Expose will go from F9 to F10 to F11 just fine. That's another thing - using the F keys for volume/brightness control and window switching is cool. Failing to open up the menus in Warcraft 3 is not.

Now, OSX has plenty of flash and flair, which Vista is now attempting to incorporate as well. I still see no reason to upgrade to Vista, when I can use Google Desktop for fast file searching. Even Finder's column view can be duplicated by many Explorer replacements. And as for stability - well, I've had OSX crash on me as much as XP (other than OC related crashes), not much, but a few times.

Now, the review focused on the OS, but since Brain got a Macbook, I'll add in my thoughts on the hardware side. For the price, you pay a lot for OSX and the included software. You're not going to get a better value out of a Mac, unless you absolutely need Mac software, whereupon value isn't so important. For what you get, I'd guestimate the hardware to be the equivalent of a $700 PC laptop, if not less. Nothing is that spectacular, and not surprisingly, Apple charges even more than other OEM for hardware upgrades, and especially for color. Black Macbooks effectively add $150 to the pricetag - the same exact hardware, just in black. Apple likes to portray Microsoft as evil, and yet Apple charges $150 for color - because they can.

Apple also ca get a hell of a lot more out of you, if you let them. Want to show off Expose on a projector? Fork over $20 for an output adapter, because you'll need a mini-DVI adapter, and you'll have to choose VGA or DVI, or fork over another $20. 2 finger clicking and scrolling is nice with the trackpad, but it's still no replacement for a real right click or a mouse. The keyboard is pretty nice, except that a disk drive eject button is nice, but a physical button is much handier and allows you to start up WC3, then eject the disk so you can hear the action, not a CD spinning. The display is pretty nice as well - vertical viewing angles aren't perfect, but it's not too bad, except for outdoor use. It's a nice 13.3" WS. The problem with the Macbook is the unit itself is 15.5" across, and almost 9" tall and 13" wide. Not surprisingly, it clocks in around 5.5 pounds, making it heavier and bigger than 14.1" WS - but at least it's skinny. For my school use, I can usually get 2 1/2 to 3 hours of battery life if I knock the brightness down a few notches, so I usually can leave the charger at home.

Because Apple loves thinness and plainness, they decided to stick the intake and exhaust on the monitor hinge, which is just plain awful. I'm sitting here running Firefox with a dozen tabs and Adium, with the Macbook sitting on a flat surface to give it more room to breathe, and the CD (not C2D) is running at 60*C (around 15% CPU useage). If I start playing a video, it quickly jumps up to 70*C, which makes it quite toasty, and gets the fan(s) blazing. The cooling design is simply awful, and if I didn't plunk down for Applecare, I would put AS5 on there just to make sure it doesn't go to an early grave. Design wise, I would take an HP or an IBM/Lenovo any day.

So, all in all, I vented out my frustration with my Crapbook and OSX. Is it still good for multimedia? Yes, but make sure you're using FCP or FCE and will actually use Garageband on a regular basis. But Apple managed to grab their target market early, and they've lost me and anyone who asks me for advice. If anything, I'd tell someone to go Ubuntu before OSX if they didn't want Windows. In college, if I get bored with Windows, I'll simply dual boot Ubuntu and get the benefits of OSX without program and especially hardware hassles.

The sad thing is, there's still more I could expand on. NTFS barely works if you install extensions, and even then, it runs at 1meg/second. Seriously. Quicktime forces itself on too many files when VLC can actually play them. Not to mention, setting file types to open with certain applications is a lot harder than it is on XP - maybe I prefer pop up windows better. As mentioned, getting OpenOffice on OSX is a royal pain. I hate X11, and NeoOffice (all updated) literally crashes every 5 minutes, and locks up most of the time when I attempt to quit it. Etc., etc. Sorry to threadjack, but great review.

edit: Just for an example of Apple's iditioc hardware choices, someone at my parents' turtle owners club meeting had a Macbook, and wanted to connect their presentation to a projector. Whoops, no mini-DV to VGA adpater, no show. There is plenty of space to fit a VGA port. Please, someone explain to me the point of a mini-DV port, except to make more money for Apple and to make the ports side look thinner?

 

[odoe]

How about we not talk about using cracked software, ok.

 

[[H]EMI_426]

Wanna know one of the dumbest things missing from most of the Macs I've seen? LEDs to indicate link status. I don't control the network setup at work. The building admin will cable up one or two ports in a block of six on the wall. Of course, he won't tell me which ones he cabled up and I can't get in to the telco closets to find out myself, so I just have to plug and check. Most of the time these ports are located in hard-to-reach areas (like behind desks). So, I get to crawl under a desk, plug the thing in, crawl out, check the link status, then rinse and repeat if things don't work. It would just make my day if there was a link LED that I could actually see from the back of the machine. I guess they think LEDs that don't pulse while the machine is off would detract from the overall appearance of the machine...Or something. Sure, I could get a tester...But, honestly, a link LED has been there 99% of the time.

 

[GreNME]

I do want to say this, and if I overstep my bounds, I apologize.

But what I tried to get across is not that the Macintosh was a poor computer or poor platform. Honestly, it wasn't, and I've had worse experiences (and better experiences) on the PC side, both in Windows and in Linux. But I tried to point out core competencies and deficiencies.

I think I can understand much of the criticism of my article on Vista. If you go out and say something like I did - that it was buggy and unstable and unfit for any user (a statement even editor in chief Kyle didn't 100% agree with) you're going to get controversy. But what I said was that the Macintosh platform wasn't right for me and probably wasn't right for many people like me while still acknowledging it as a stable and secure plaform.

In other words, I got tons of hatemail because I dared to call the Macintosh "merely good" instead of "excellent." That wasn't something I was expecting.

-- Brian.

Perhaps it wasn't expected because you still don't seem to be understanding that you aren't simply saying that in the article. This is now the third time that you are being told by people you have misrepresented some things, you colored your words with recognizable bias, and your conclusions are not considered based on trustworthy analysis.

How many times do you have to be told you're doing it wrong before you evaluate whether you're doing it wrong?

 

[ND40oz]

Perhaps it wasn't expected because you still don't seem to be understanding that you aren't simply saying that in the article. This is now the third time that you are being told by people you have misrepresented some things, you colored your words with recognizable bias, and your conclusions are not considered based on trustworthy analysis.

How many times do you have to be told you're doing it wrong before you evaluate whether you're doing it wrong?

Who are you to say he misrepresented his experience? That's what this is about, his experience, not yours or anyone elses when switching to OSX. I found the article useful and agree with many points in it. My mini sits untouched except when my wife wants some new songs on her iPod. To me, that's it's only use because I don't feel like investing months into learning a new OS. Alot of people have seen these Mac vs. PC commercials and they're advertising that it's easy to switch. Obviously, in Brian and my cases, it's not so simple. Maybe for the computer illiterate who are making the switch and feel like investing the time into it, then it's easy. But for people that are power users in the Windows/Linux environments (especially if it's just windows) they can't just hop right in and feel comfortable using OSX. Some people may, but just they can make that jump doesn't mean it's easy for all people and this article is just a reflection of one persons experiences attempting to make that transition.

 

[GreNME]

That's what this is about, his experience, not yours or anyone elses when switching to OSX.

If this thread was about a blog, which is basically an online diary, then that is cool with me. However, it's not. This is a major difference between real journalism and the vast majority of online diary or blog posts. The [H] Consumer section, if I assume correctly, isn't a forum for what is essentially blogging. It is implicit that, when covering the experience of an operating system for something is expected to have more intrinsic journalistic integrity than, say, a LiveJournal posting. For the third time in a row, complaints have been aired about bias, misconstruing of details, and ramshackle analysis with regard to the "30 Days..." articles. Articles, not MySpace or LiveJournal blog entries. Instead of nuance we get bias, instead of analysis we get "feelings," and instead of detail we get opinion. If I wanted that, I'd read Dvorak or Fasoldt.

But maybe I'm just expecting too much. Maybe I'm bothered more when I see it happening with subjects (like operating systems) that I enjoy than I might be bothered with it happening with subjects that I don't hold such a great interest (like farm machinery).

 

[jido]

I do like MacOS X, though I wish it would work faster with less RAM.

To switch to the previous used application, press Command-Tab. If you keep Command pressed you will see a list of open applications. Command-Tab to go right (previous used), Shift-Command-Tab to go left (next used).

Same thing for windows in the same application, use Command-` for the previous used window, and Shift-Command-` for the next used window (there is not list coming up if you keep Command pressed but it cycles).

You cannot do DVD Player captures with the bundled software for copyright reasons.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/30/howto_defeat_apples_.html

The MacOS X install disk has X11 on it-- you know that-- but it is also an option if you run the OS installer (use "Custom Install").

I don't know where you went for help, don't think I ran into you.

Some people suggested Brian to buy a professional application (Word) for his professional work. But he did well trying the free NeoOffice instead, can you imagine MS Word running on a Mac mini with 512MB RAM? (MS Word was compiled for PowerPC, so it uses the Rosetta virtual machine/translator to run on Intel)

The network LEDs are in System Preferences, Network, Network overview. You are welcome

 

[As I Lay Dying]

Ok seriously I dunno why people get so rilled up about operating systems. I use all three that Brian reviewed, they have their pluses and minuses. Not everyone has the same experiences as you and it really should not matter what anyone writes. Each operating system has its advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately it boils down to your preference, I my main operating system is linux, though I do use vista, xp, plan 9, osx across varying machines.

 

[Brian Boyko]

How many times do you have to be told you're doing it wrong before you evaluate whether you're doing it wrong?

Eight.

Exactly eight.

Oh, and in the meantime, I - and I'm not being sarcastic or snarky or nasty - if you'd like to write an article "the right way" I'll do every reasonable thing in my power to help you get the material you require and try to help you get it published. Seriously. No article is perfect, which is why there should always be lots of people commenting and communicating.

 

[GreNME]

I appreciate (and just may patronize) such an offer some time, Brian, but I don't see how "let's see you do better" means much. Eight is a much more concrete answer.

Honestly, though, I'm well aware of my tendancy with writing to place me more in the role of polemicist than most else. I'll keep offer in mind, however. Not typically my gig, but I can see the worth in the doing instead of just saying.

 

[Easykill1978]

Thanks For the artical (sp?.... -tri lingual here sorry)

I found it infromative and interesting read.. i like the way it was written, its the way i would of gone about it. i went to the mac store the otherday just to see and your correct in that a company that controls everything about their os and pc should put the recommended amounts of ram in their pc before selling them. the extra ram would make no difference to those who are going to buy it (speaking in $ here), over here in aus they are premium prices and cost a lot of money so whats an extra 60~120 on the price tag, bah and ram really is cheap regardless of what mac say. i still think i will stay away from macs, after the wiz bang same old same old and i personally ahte being told "you cant do this unless you pay more of this $$$ to do it... " i mean WTF my pc, i do what i want with my pc.. end rant..
loved the aricale .. two thumbs up

 

[MurphysLaww]

Guess I have no sympathy for any "PowerUser" that assumes that a modern OS is going to be "PowerUser" usable with 512 MB of RAM, or that the Mac Mini was intended for power users,

I was half tempted to quit reading with that, if he was so unknowledgeble of the Mac platform to see this.

I don't even use a mac, because I have been building a system slowly over time, something you unfortunately can't do with a Mac, for the most part. That said, I do have a deep admiration for them and the engineering behind them. I've always been able to make the distinction between Apple and Microsoft as an engineering firm as opposed to a marketing company.