mac

Joe_it · Post by **Joe_it** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:08 pm

How good is mac. What are the pros/cons of using it and is it worth getting?

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:20 pm

From what I know, they're way better at doing graphical stuff, they're more reliable too. Though they're expensive, and more propiatary (I dont think you can do stuff like change the hdd etc). Though I could be wrong since I never worked with macs.

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Joe_it · Post by **Joe_it** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:10 pm

Yea someone at another forums was telling me they are great. IDK you don't really here much about them from computer tech people.

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Cold Drink · Post by **Cold Drink** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:21 pm

Mac graphics aren't really any better than PC graphics at this point, although at one point I belive that was true.

Apple simply makes better hardware. Boot up a Mac with a FireWire port and hold down "T". It will become a giant external hard drive. PowerPC processors do more work per cycle than an Intel processor (AMD usualy beats Intel, too) so G3-5 Macs will outperform many PCs at lower clocks speeds.

Apple simply makes better software. Mac OS X is less buggy (certianly not perfect, though), more robust, and more simply designed than Windows. Windows users will get thrown off and claim Macs are hard and stupid, but the majority of them tend to think "Where is the Start Menu on a Mac? Where is Windows Explorer on a Mac?". Macs just do things differently. If you like it or not is a personal prefrences, but if anything, Mac OS is easier to use than Windows. Its simply more intuitive once you shed your Windows misconceptions. Mac software tends to be better than Windows software as well. IE for the Mac is much better than IE for Windows, although its still crap (in my opinion anyway).

There isn't quite as much software available for Macs are there are for Windows, but you'll likely find what you need (if you don't need a ton of games, that is). Audio/Video editing and playback, Word Processing, Database stuff, its all there. The fact that OS X runs over BSD has been a great boon too, as there is a lot of *NIX software ported to OS X.

Mac OS X is a network whore. It will interface with as many things as you can throw at it, Mac and non-Mac. It can utilize Netinfo (Apples directory service), YP/NIS, LDAP, NT Domains, and I belive Active Directory, but don't quote me on that.

Apple Macs are more expensive than comparable x86 machines, but looking at harware alone, I'd say its worth it. I would't deploy a farm of junky Macs, but I would use them for workstations and in several situations, servers. If you are going to do a cheap firewall or mini fileserver, using a Mac is a waste of money, unless you are in a mostly Mac network and want to minimize mantainance.

OS X is cheaper than Windows, but major releases (that you have to purchase) come out more often. If you are too far beind in your Mac OS X release, you are going to be locked out of some software. I'm still happily using OS 10.1, though.

Edit: Oh yeah, and you can swap hardware as much as you want, although in come cases you man need Mac specific stuff, but its no a big enough deal that you need to worry about it.

Edit Again: http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html DDR SDRAM, SATA HDs, PCI(-X) slots... same stuff you would find in a PC.

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Death · Post by **Death** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:53 pm

Ya, windows sucks simply because it's popular. Mac's OS is stable, and reliable. Mac's are a big pro for stability and reliability. Most viruses are made for Windows because it is the most common OS. There exists a couple of viruses for Macs, but it's rare to get them. The only thing I don't like about mac is the fact that software AND hardware are proprietary to Windows. About 79% of all software is meant to be used for windows. Mind you, more software engineers are beginning to make Mac equivalent versions of software, but these can be harder to find and are probably more expensive. Hardware such as mice and keyboards have to be supported by macs but most of the time, printers are the biggee. I've seen a couple of printers and scanners that aren't supported by Macs, which blows because there are ALOT of good printers out there, so your choices are somewhat limited. I have heard that Macs are better for graphics and video. I'm sure the same applies for PC's but I've heard the interfaces set up for macs tend to be more structurized and quicker for graphical work. There's my 2 cents on mac vs pc

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Joe_it · Post by **Joe_it** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:09 pm

Thanks for all that info, very interesting. Well i am getting a new computer sooon and just thought that maybe i'd look into macs. After thinking about it, i've realized that the reason i'm not gonna get a mac is the reason not many people do because its different. Not for me but other people who will use the computer. I just don't have the time to teach it to them.

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:14 pm

Yeah I think the biggest issue is compatibility. If that would not be a problem at all I'd get a mac. But then again if macs were standard they would probably just as exploited as windows. The real answer is linux, but it needs to be more user friendly. I'm slowly learning it, but there's no way someone like my grandma or even my parants would be able to understand it. So it needs to be made much more user friendly. As long as they don't pull off something like windows XP.

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Death · Post by **Death** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:05 pm

Macs are good. I remember using the old old ones with the 10" monitors moulded into the computer. Crappy systems but good game

. I've seem modern day macs, some of them look pretty funky

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:08 pm

I remember playing a canon game that's the only thing I remember about macs.

They are pretty cool though.

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Death · Post by **Death** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:17 pm

OMG, I think I know that game! I remember a game where you had to parachute a guy onto a moving horse carridge. It was black and white, but the horse trotting was surprisingly well done

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Red Squirrel · Post by **Red Squirrel** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:44 pm

This one had 2 cannons and you had to try to hit the other person by using the right angle, and I think you could set the force too. It was 2 players, where you just take turns.

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Death · Post by **Death** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:57 pm

Ya, I actually have the windows version of that game. I should smuggle it into HTML sometime

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Cold Drink · Post by **Cold Drink** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 1:51 am

Red Squirrel wrote: This one had 2 cannons and you had to try to hit the other person by using the right angle, and I think you could set the force too. It was 2 players, where you just take turns.

"Cannon Fodder"

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Murray · Post by **Murray** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:48 pm

I personally dont like macs because some software is not compatible with macs... the most widely used computers are PC's so i try to stick to them cuz u can get a wide variety of software.

P.S. GO Microsoft!!!

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wtd · Post by **wtd** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:25 pm

More expensive than an x86 PC?

No. In fact, in most cases, they're on par or slightly cheaper, assuming you compare them fairly. This means not comparing the top-end PowerMac to an eMachines box.

You can sometimes pay less for an x86 PC, but only by buying less.

Additionally, the software bundle Apple offers on every machine is worth at least a few hundred dollars.

Are they as fast?

Simply put: yes.

The processors utilized in Apple's computers are remarkably efficient, and achieve more per clock than either Intel or AMD's offerings. The clock speed is on par with or exceeding that of AMD's offerings, and slightly lagging Intel.

Apple's Mac OS X is also more thoroughly multi-threaded than Windows. While a Windows machine may become unresponsive running several apps, the Mac will not. Though one application may be working very hard, the computer will instantly switch to another as needed.

Compatibility?

Well, the big one is Office documents. Microsoft makes a version of Office for the Mac. They freely admit that it's better than Office for Windows. Also, there is OpenOffice, and some other apps included by default have limited Office document compatibility. This should singificantly improve in 3 days.

As for other file formats...

Mac OS X is built on standards. I'd wager the Mac is more compatible with much of what you'll find on the internet and in the world than Windows itself. It benefits from having a ton of Unix software available, since Mac OS X is built on Unix.

For those occassions when you need to run an old Windows app, there's VirtualPC, which can emulate an entire x86 PC on the Mac.

Hardware Compatibility

The Mac is compatible with just about everything that will plug in via a USB or Firewire cable. If you get a Mac without an integral display, you will be able to use your old display with it.

It's Not Popular

At least 25 million people use Macs, and that number expands every day, and is expanding faster and faster. The Mac community is large, diverse, and thriving.

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