After a recent automatic update Windows explorer started giving an error message and shutting down.

I said, "to hell with it" and changed my default browser to Mozilla/Foxfire. This was a good move.

I am stimulaing the economy with some of the tax preparation money I'm making.

Last week I bought a 24" widescreen Samsung monitor.

It tilts from landscape to portrait mode.This is useful, for example, in working with data bases. In landscape mode I can see more fields and by switching to portrait mode I can see more records.

It has a beautiful picture and operates in 1920 X 1200 pixel resolution.

As the CTO of my company I finally decided that I was going to get a computer I wanted to work on. While I decided not to get the MacBook Pro since I'm simply not turning wrenches like I used to the MacBook (Black) with 4GB of RAM, VMWare Fusion (to run XP) is the PERFECT computer rig for me. All the Unix tools a real Sys Admin needs and wants, Perl, Python and Ruby properly pre-installed and it look sooooo cool Occasionally I look at the MacBookPro and think "Oh I SO want that one," I'm very pleased to turn my laptop on in the morning now. PS I rarely open VMWare.

I just received a Sony reader PRS-505 as a gift. I really like it - I borrowed a friend's amazon kindle and found it kind of clunky. The Sony store for buying e-Books only works with windows. There are third-party workarounds, etc., but really. It's 2008 people. If you have an elegant, early-adopter fancy widget, get the freaking thing done cross-platform before you introduce it. Idiots. I still don't have a pentium Mac so I have to use "virtual PC" which is a total pain. I mean, if Pokerstars.com has a native Mac version, I would think that The Sony Corporation could be bothered. For a $300 reading device.
/end rant

BoF, I hear that the new Safari for windows is faster than Firefox. And can I please borrow your monitor to watch TV in hi def?

Hey, BoF! Is that tilt function built into the monitor itself or is it the software you're using?


Aquilla

The screen itself is rotated manually and the software rotates the picture.

When I moved my wife back to the midwest, we bought a new flat screen monitor for her Dell PC Desktop. The old monitor was too bulky to take in the car. But it works perfectly fine, so I bought a Mini DVI to VGA adapter for my iMac and hooked up the second monitor to it. Typical of the Mac, it saw the second monitor on boot up and just asked me "where do you want me to put this"? Up, down, right, left.... Now, I can watch TV on the Dell monitor while I work on the Mac monitor. Streaming the NCAA tournament on it right now.

Total cost for the adapter - $19.00
Coolness factor - Priceless!


Aquilla

true. it is really funny for u to say dat. if u like mac just bcoz of few games it has to offer, then i don think dat's a gud point to support mac.

besides, i heard dat mac is more complicated compare to microsoft; in terms of user-friendly and upgrading parts.thus, making mac a very though pc to upgrade.

anyway, it's from my opinion. pls correct me if im wrong.

Games=dual boot into Windows.

Upgrading it's possible on a Mac Pro. People have been throwing new chips in them, you can Frankenstein it out to some extent. It just depends on the extent to which you want to be able to upgrade.

So let me get this straight, I can get a computer that costs twice as much, barely has software for it, barely has games for it, and is next to impossible to upgrade? OOH OOH WHERE DO I SIGN UP?!?!?! The PC I am using right now, I have used for over 8 years, thanks to the ability to upgrade. That would be how many obsolete Macs? Unless you are into professional video/graphics Macs are garbage. And even if I did, I would have a Mac just for that, and a PC for...well, using as a computer. We need one of those Calvin urinating on an Apple logo emoticons.

In addition to my desktop, I purchased a Toshiba laptop with a 17" screen in December. I intend to use the laptop as a portable DJ machine. I'm up to the Ks alphabetically in importing songs into ITunes. I have 9000 at this time.

I was not satisfied with the sound coming from the headphone output, so I purchased a Lexicon Omega Desktop Recording studio. It connects through a USB 2.0 input.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Lexicon-Omega-...601-i1126257.gc

This provides an quality external sound card with the mixer included in the software package. This allows one to equalize the sound while playing a song through the laptop.

I have had some friends, whose opinions I value, listen. Powered by a Peavey amp and Peavey speakers, they think it sounds great.

I have been calling my cats names over a microphone. They think I've lost it.

I also bought a LaCie external 320 gig harddrive this week to use with the laptop. It's heavy for its size.

Not sure where you've received information on the latest Macs, perhaps from a PC salesman, but you are operating under some pretty serious misconceptions. First of all, the iMac doesn't have as much third party software as a PC does because that software is BUILT IN to the OSX operating system. From a programing standpoint, most languages and tools come with a framework called "XCODE" which is available for free from the Apple Developers Connection. I do a lot of programming in C++ and with the IMac, I have two choices. Carbon or Cocoa. Both free for the taking. If you're into games (and I'm not), then for $80 you can buy Parallels or other similar programs that will allow you to run your iMac with any PC program you wish. Of course, if you're running it online in PC mode, you probably want to put up some virus protections.

All the Mac does is work. You plug it in, turn it on and it works - every time, all the time. Have a second monitor laying around, $18 for a DV - VGA cable and plug it in, and viola, Mac asks you where you want it's screen and it's a done deal. Have an external HD with a USB connection, plug it in and Mac asks you what you want to call it. Done deal. Want to import video from a digital camera or camcorder via USB? No problem. Edit it, add special effects or chaptering and burn a DVD or stream it on the Internet? Done. I have an Pyro A/V Link so I can even import direct TV off cable or Satellite and use the Mac as a TIVO. Once again, all built in software, came with the computer. And it works. I haven't even upgraded OSX from Tiger to Leopard because I can't think of anything I need to do with my computer that I can't do right now. All it does it work and do the things I ask it to do, and oh yeah, you can even talk to it top open applications. Built in.

My stupid kid went out and bought himself a PC to play games, "really awesome machine dad" and it wasn't a week before he was calling me to ask me if he could borrow my Windows XP disks because Vista sucked so bad. Now, he's wanting to know if I can import some of his camcorder stuff and burn it onto a DVD because he doesn't have the right software to do that. I do, built in.

I don't sell Macs, but I'll tell you what. I wish I did. They are damn fine computers.

Edited to add....


I forgot to add another thing - wireless

You have a wireless connection you want to use, maybe a home LAN like a D-Link connected to a cable modem? No problem. The first time you turn on your Mac. it'll find and connect to that network. Built in. Wanna do something with a Bluetooth thingy? Don't blink or you'll miss the grand connection to that as well. Built in.


Aquilla

For the sake of fairness, I need to point out some things here.



Parallels is not compatible with all games. If you want to play video games, Boot Camp is still the best option. Besides, that'll save you the $80 because Boot Camp is built in to the operating system.



Most PC's do this nowadays as well.



Most have this as well.


OS X is a better OS than Windows... no question. Not only that, but Macs run Windows pretty well. In terms of running Windows, PC Magazine - I believe - stated that the MacBook Pro was the fastest Windows notebook around.

It better be, for the price

I'm sure I'll break down at some point and maybe get a Mac, but the cost of entry is still too steep for me. Linux provides a nice stable distraction from windows for me, and I can indulge in it for free. I'm looking forward to my laptop refresh in June so that I can load Ubuntu as my base can do windows when necessary.

What do you mean? Do you mean that a Mac notebook is infinitely more expensive than a comparable Windows notebook?

I'm interested in checking out Ubuntu. I heard about it on Techzilla. Maybe good for a home server for me.

I am with you. In fact the way you can go is to, if you can, build your own – go to Newegg www.newegg.com.

The MAC is an overpriced and closed – not for me.

I agree with Ted, even if it is just Casual Conversation.

Even if a person can't build their own, there are people who will do so for a fee. When you build your own, or have it built, you do not have to deal with trial versions of software that expire or are stripped down versions.

One of the things I don't like about my new Toshiba laptop is that it is loaded down with so much stuff, I don't koow what to remove or not remove.

What is this bull feces that Macs are expensive? I MacBook and a comparable Dell are about the same price and depending on configuration the MacBook comes out cheaper at least as many times. A Dell XPS and a MacBookPro are almost identical in price.

And just how many parts are swapping out of your laptops?

Desktops you say? Well which desktop because they're all pretty close. Since there's nothing like an iMac there's no comparison there. News flash lots of Mac games and seriously who plays video games on a PC anymore? PS3, Wii? Hi, welcome to 2008... 1998 called and wants it's technology back.

Um, you might want to check that, BA. A macbook pro starts at $1999. A Dell XPS starts at $999. Even a generous comparison (like for like where possible) reveals a minimum $500 difference.



Dude, you reveal your complete Apple bias here. Almost none of the top games wind up on the Mac platform (WoW I believe is the exception) and lots of people still game on a PC (15 million WoW subscribers ring a bell?). Yes, consoles are outpacing the PC as a gaming platform, but there is a far more ample market for gaming PCs than there are for Macs.

I like Macs, I want an iPhone and an Air at some point, but I call shenanigans if you really think they are priced equally with PC's and have the same level of gaming support.

The 999 XPS is hardly comparable to a MacBookPro but the 1730 which is close starts at 1799 and if you actually get it close is 3500.

Now I'll admit things like Memory Pricing are CRAZY over at Apple but all you hard core builders should be able to handle a simple memory swap.

If you set up a 15.4" Dell XPS M1530 for a "like for like where possible" comparison, you end up with a $150 difference in favor of the Dell. But, you don't get the software that you get on a mac for free, so that eats up the $150 right there.

If you compare the 17" notebooks, "like for like where possible" ends up with an $85 difference in favor of the Dell. Again, none of the software that comes with a mac for free. So, a similar 17" XPS notebook will cost more than a MacBook Pro.




I can play any PC game I want on Mac hardware. And they are pretty closely priced in "like for like where possible" comparisons.

Thought this was interesting:

Mac Ad Copy Bites Back

Seems that one of the myths in this world is that by buying Mac all your computer woes go away. So the 20" version iMac can't do millions of colors, and to tell you the truth, who cares. Well, I guess someone does for editing pics and vids, and isn't that a primary reason for Mac's existence?

Edited to add some early morning research:

BTW, on the price thing, you can't touch refurbished Macs for under the $300-500 range. You can get refurbished PCs for under $200. One price I saw at Tiger Direct was $179. This tells me that Macs haven't hit the comodity level of PCs, and if price is the primary consideration, it's still better to go with PC.

In a few more years it won't matter. All you'll need is a decent Web browser to do utility computing, except for the hot new games. That's always been true since the early years of personal computing -- gaming is expensive. Meanwhile, I balk at spending more than say $350 for a box. This has also always been true: It's way less expensive to stay behind the curve one full step. The $179 'puter is a couple steps back, but it'll work for most things except high-end gaming.

I do not believe that there were any "trial versions" or stripped-down versions of software on my Mac. Just full versions of everything I needed. I have only purchased 3 software programs in 4 years, one for advanced sound editing, "Vitrual PC" to run a DOS-based proprietary home security program, and Quicken. Every other program in my taskbar was included with the computer.

The only distinction I'll make here is entry point. I bought my wife a wonderful Dell notebook for $599. It lacks the elegance of the Mac, of course, but does everything she needs (including playing WoW). I won't dispute that when you get up to a feature for feature apples comparison, the price likely levels out. BA's note on memory is fair as well.

I will also say, however, that I've considered Dell's gaming laptops to be overpriced, so that's slants the argument a bit.



At what cost in performance? Unless you're running boot camp with XP, which obviously would moot the performance difference. I won't disagree that Apple made a very smart move in allowing XP to run on Mac hardware by moving off the power platform. I would still contend, however, that in the price/performance curve, Apple only becomes competitive after you cross the $1500 bright line. Prior to that, I can make any PC cheaper and just as feature rich. If free software is such a boon, I can build a $300 PC with all open source software.

Please don't misunderstand, I love what Apple has done in this space. My primary complaint is price and software support. The latter is improving, but Apple has a long way to catch up in the mainstream market from that perspective. I love the competition though, and very much hope it continues.

Wow. Who'da thunk we'd be getting into such a Mac vs. PC debate here on AD?

Here are a few facts that should be undebatable.

1. Macs have historically been priced way higher than comparable PCs. This is not true anymore. Why? Because Macs are basically PCs. That's right folks. Macs have the same internal hardware as PCs. I know this may be shocking for some. . In the price/performance war, PCs won. So, Macs are now PCs (been that way for the past 3 or so years).

2. Macs run MacOS AND Windows AND Linux. PCs run Windows and Linux; they don't run MacOS (actually, this isn't true: a few folks have managed to get MacOS running on their Dells). MacOS is a really nice operating system; it comes bundled with a lot of useful apps.

To sum up, Macs are PCs that run MacOS. PCs are Macs that don't run MacOS. Any questions?

Just one, frightfully pertinent question:

vi or emacs? *ducks

PC's are cheaper for the same spec's
PC's are more flexible and easier to work on , upgrade and fix.
More people know how to fix PC's so you can get help easier.
Microsoft is junk but you can always install Linux.

Mac's are better if you are going to do High end Professional Video and audio stuff.
And mac is technically better but that's only if you can tell the difference between
2uS and 4uS. Mac has also gone to a Unix platform so that's a plus.


Basically PC's are like VHS
and Mac's are like Beta.





That's not quite all to the issue.

The biggest difference is the Big-Endian, Little-Endian .
http://www.bitbanksoftware.com/Programmers/code5.html

Being that Apple uses the same type of processors that most PC's use now, this is no longer an issue. So, that is a difference that is no longer a difference.



Eh... not really.

Correct. Since Apple went to the Intel processor line they are essentially PCs. And what you get is the Mac OS. If you like it then you should buy a Mac but if Windows or Linux works for you the PC is far cheaper to buy and upgrade and has more programs to chose from and this will never change.

The Steve Jobs gaff imo was his insistence that he had to have “proprietary” hardware as oppoed to an open standard. Imo he could have owned the operating system market – and wiped out Microsoft, if he had not been obsessed with proprietary hardware.

I disagree with this assessment. Up until I purchased my iMac a year or so ago, I had been running PC's since the days of the 386sx and Windows 3.0. The fact that you could custom design your hardware, mix and match like a menu at a Chinese Restaurant and then choose between a ton of different software was attractive. No one computer was the same. The problem with that is that some PCs work better with entree A than other PCs. And, no one combination seems to really hit the mark. "Jack of all trades, master of none." The iMac offers the same basic things with every iMac they sell, built in. It works, every time, all the time. It works. When I was video editing and burning DVDs on the PC, it was a crapshoot. I'd use application A for one thing, application B for another and then hope that Application C actually completed the burn successfully. Sometimes I'd get the audio, sometimes not and I'd call "customer service" (a term I use loosely) to the particular software company and they'd tell me I had to configure this or change that and then when something else didn't work and I called them, they'd tell me to change it back. Or sometimes it wouldn't work at all and when I'd call they'd tell me something along the lines of "Oh yeah, we're working on a fix for that. You can pre-order our upgrade for $100. I can do that for you, credit card number?" Pretty soon, my "cheap PC" got a whole lot more expensive. With my off the shelf iMac, I've spent around $300 total for upgrades. One was an external 500 GB HD and the others were Parallels and a video cable for a second monitor. Meanwhile, all it does is work. Burns DVDs in any format I want, and with XCode, I can program applications to my heart's content. Works every time, all the time, Maybe there's some games out there I can't play, but for me, that's fine. I don't have a computer to play games. That's what PlayStations are for.


Aquilla

eh, no.

PCs are like VHS
Macs are like DVD

Sure you can record but it looks like Hell and it's going to degrade horrible over the years "just because". It took a few years longer but now you can record on DVD too, oh and it's WAY better.

Well, if you install OSX86 on your PC, chances are you will enjoy the Hackintosh power on your laptop if your harware is close enough in compatibility. It is illegal though so I wouldn't recommend it. I'm just citing to say that some hackers and Mac enthusiasts are trying to make a port of MacOS to the average PC.

Personally I recommend Linux. It is not as well known as MacOS for reasons that are historical and structural, but a few distributions are worth noting:

The free OpenSUSE 10.3 and enterprise Novell
The free Fedora 9 and enterprise Redhat
My favorite is UBUNTU which is the most popular Linux distribution of the moment, especially as version 8.04 is coming out at the end of April.

There is a learning curve just like with OSX, but the potential is awesome, you can dual boot with windows, there are no viruses or spyware, you can customize at will, you can run it on new and old PCs, the support is fantastic and it's completely free.

Check put the UBUNTU FORUMS for more information. I'm a regular member myself (the8thstar). Enjoy freedom.

That analogy was more apt than yall give it credit for. Beta was a superior format, yet vhs dominated because it was more practical and cheaper.


I second the vote for Ubuntu. It's so simple, even a caveman can do it.

There's a company called Psystar selling non-Apple hardware that will run OS X Leopard. It'll be interesting to see how far they'll get before Apple shuts them down for license violations.

Edited to add: Actually, it turns out that Psystar may be a scam. Apparently, the address keeps changing. And they seem not only to have violated Apple's license, but the license on the open source emulator that they're using. I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole.

Here's my business argument for PC:

Major client works with docx formats. Mac munges doc and docx a lot, one of the client's guys went Mac over Christmas and it's a real pain for the rest of us.

I'm now working on my $300 backup PC. Do you have a backup Mac?

After all, hardware is known to fail. For PC on the cheap, it's like flying with two planes.

I did Linux for a while. Then I got a real job

Edited to add: Well, false alarm. After a few boots of the primary machine, something in XP got straightened out. However, should hardware ever belly up right in the middle of heavy work time, all I have to do is push the KVM switch and I'm off and running. Might lose up to a day's worth of work, but no rebuild time and everything's in synch (except maybe for one day). Using Web backup/restore on the working folder for synching. Using USB bridge for heavy stuff like big audio/vid/pic files and software installs.

Yes, I have a backup Mac - it's the Mac that I had before I got my new one. It runs the same software, albeit a little slower. I've never had to use it.

edited to clarify: I've never had to use it as a backup.

Yeah but . . . my two PCs have about the same power, so moving from one to the other is a seemless button hit on the KVM switch. I also have the option of building a Beowulf cluster, but for now 2 GHz CPU and 1 GB RAM does the trick. I'll probably upgrade down the line, and by that time the availability of refurbished Vista machines should be good.

Maybe MAC has a better overall MTBF than a comparable PC, I don't know. I just know that hardware fails and operating systems crash. So one has to keep a couple 'puters if one is making a living through 'puters.

Ideally, I'd have a couple of Sun Rays . . . get my processing and memory from a giant Sun installation. It'd be like being back on the mainframe but with GUI and Web. The engineering department at Colorado State University (CSU) has 100% thin client Sun Rays. Students don't have to buy their own laptops or software. It's all available through their smart-card IDs, which let them carry their desktops from client to client anywhere on campus. The smart-card ID even retains the desktop state, so you can take right up where you left off -- no rebooting, no reopening apps. Also no batteries running down, disks crashing, accidentally deleted homework. Rock solid datacenter-class backup and DR.

Sun Ray CSU Video

That is so very cool and might become the next step in personal computing. It probably won't replace either the PC or Mac, like radio did not replace the phonograph. But imagine hotels, coffee shops, even bars having the Sun Rays, and all you need is a single smart card. Nifty neat-oh keen. I can see the Sun Ray being put into wireless laptop form too. Why not? And it'd be dirt cheap.