First Mac

[sactownbwoy]

This is my first Mac and so far I am liking it. I am still keeping my pc, gotta keep it for games and because I built it myself also I like Vista. I bought the new 2.4 macbook, 2 gigs of RAM which I'll upgrade later myself. I bought mine from the military exchange online and it only took 3 days to arrive.

Nothing else really to say except that I like it and hopefully it serves me well. I don't plan on using it for much, mostly web browsing and as a machine to watch my slingbox on when I'm working on my pc.

I don't have any of the problems that others are having. Mine seems to look okay and is working perfectly. I am not going to get into a pc vs mac debate they both have their uses.

[natebookpro]

Congrats, enjoy it.

[jav6454]

Welcome to the family, you will love it.

[sactownbwoy]

So far I am, I just kinda bought it on a whim but I liking it. Nice features and pretty decent set of pre-installed software. I like the new track pad and simple finger gestures to navigate the browser. I went with opera instead of firefox.

[jav6454]

So far I am, I just kinda bought it on a whim but I liking it. Nice features and pretty decent set of pre-installed software. I like the new track pad and simple finger gestures to navigate the browser. I went with opera instead of firefox.

Don't you enjoy being free of crapware (I mean trialware), viruses and what not BSODs or cryptic error msgs? Lol, I do from day 1 I dumped Vista.

Anyways...

Totally off topic question and you don't have to answer it. But, out of curiosity, what was the whim around?

[mosx]

Don't you enjoy being free of crapware (I mean trialware), viruses and what not BSODs or cryptic error msgs? Lol, I do from day 1 I dumped Vista.

Anyways...

Totally off topic question and you don't have to answer it. But, out of curiosity, what was the whim around?

I refuse to turn this thread into a flameware.

But I have to say that I've been free of those things since upgrading to XP several years ago.

Those simply are not issues any more so please don't spread FUD or ruin threads like this with that kind of nonsense.

[vandozza]

Those simply are not issues any more so please don't spread FUD or ruin threads like this with that kind of nonsense.

respectfully i'd disagree with this statement a little, i use vista and osx.

- the crapware/bloatware completely depends on where you buy the PC. If you do your own Vista install, then yeah, none of that stuff is an issue. if you buy a dell however...

- vista's error messages are still pretty useless "error - 188837... abort or cancel?" i mean wtf... :P (though this could be the fault of developers.)

- i get many more "freeze ups" and "slow downs" on my vista machine than compared to my macbook (both fairly similarly equiped cpu/ram wise.) i'm still cntrl-alt-deleting about 5x more than i cmd-option-escape on osx.

[sactownbwoy]

Don't you enjoy being free of crapware (I mean trialware), viruses and what not BSODs or cryptic error msgs? Lol, I do from day 1 I dumped Vista.

Anyways...

Totally off topic question and you don't have to answer it. But, out of curiosity, what was the whim around?


I built my vista pc myself. The only crashes I had was when I was testing my overclocks. Once I found a stable config it hasn't gone down on me yet. I do heavy gaming and video encoding.

The whim was me having $1500 lying around and figured I'd give Apple a shot.

[jav6454]

I built my vista pc myself. The only crashes I had was when I was testing my overclocks. Once I found a stable config it hasn't gone down on me yet. I do heavy gaming and video encoding.

The whim was me having $1500 lying around and figured I'd give Apple a shot.

Ah, so a clean Vista install then. Yes, Vista can be hassle free if you can find its sweet spot, which sometimes might be hard.

[sactownbwoy]

Ah, so a clean Vista install then. Yes, Vista can be hassle free if you can find its sweet spot, which sometimes might be hard.

But finding that sweet spot is fun. I love being able to tweak every little setting. It took me about a week to find stable overclocks but once I did it hasn't gone down on me yet.

[jav6454]

But finding that sweet spot is fun. I love being able to tweak every little setting. It took me about a week to find stable overclocks but once I did it hasn't gone down on me yet.

I know its fun, but it got my brother infuriated to a point where he beat his desktop literally.:eek:

I had to finally show him a simple switch that should be off which pestered him, yes it was the UAC.

[sactownbwoy]

That is funny. It takes a special kinda of person to have patience to build your on pc. I fix telephone and computer systems for the Marine Corps so it is fun for me and my job.

[jav6454]

That is funny. It takes a special kinda of person to have patience to build your on pc. I fix telephone and computer systems for the Marine Corps so it is fun for me and my job.

Tell that to tech guys who give up and end up doing a fresh Vista install just because they couldn't find the right spot. Yes, some people do that. Geek Squad wanted to do my moms PC, she called me I told them to leave it. I fixed it later and found out she had simply messed with one of the Network settings when hooking her internet.

[yoppie]

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the Mac family.

[mosx]

respectfully i'd disagree with this statement a little, i use vista and osx.

As do I ;)

- the crapware/bloatware completely depends on where you buy the PC. If you do your own Vista install, then yeah, none of that stuff is an issue. if you buy a dell however...

Well, my HP came with a trial version of Norton. Norton provides a tool to do a completely clean uninstall.

Uninstall the software and run ccleaner and you're good to go.

To be honest, my MacBook had more trialware than my HP. The HP had Norton while the MacBook had Office and iWork as trials. ;)

- vista's error messages are still pretty useless "error - 188837... abort or cancel?" i mean wtf... :P (though this could be the fault of developers.)

Been using Vista for the better part of the last two years (was a tester) and I've yet to see any error messages or any crashes or anything. Though I've lost count of how many times OS X has locked up on me.

- i get many more "freeze ups" and "slow downs" on my vista machine than compared to my macbook (both fairly similarly equiped cpu/ram wise.) i'm still cntrl-alt-deleting about 5x more than i cmd-option-escape on osx.

Well, I've had OS X fully lock up more times than I can count. Both Tiger and Leopard on different machines. All while Windows ran rock solid on both machines with no lockups.

On Vista I have absolutely no issues. Until about 3 weeks ago I had both my Mac and my HP roughly the same. The MacBook has a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo with 3GB of RAM and the HP has a 2GHz Core 2 Duo with 3GB of RAM. But I changed that around now and the MacBook has 2GB of RAM and the HP 4.

Vista is near perfect as long as you have quality hardware.

Ah, so a clean Vista install then. Yes, Vista can be hassle free if you can find its sweet spot, which sometimes might be hard.

Again, don't spread FUD.

Vista is fine as long as you're using good hardware. I've been using it since it was in public beta and I've yet to have any issues on any systems I've tried it on, including 2 Macs and 3 PCs.

[jav6454]

Again, don't spread FUD.

Vista is fine as long as you're using good hardware. I've been using it since it was in public beta and I've yet to have any issues on any systems I've tried it on, including 2 Macs and 3 PCs.

Well, not spreading FUD or whatever you want to call it. It has been my awful Vista experience. Then again, I run Vista side by side with my Mac using Fussion. I run the x64 version of Vista Home Premium and it runs/ran well until yesterday when it crashed trying to open notepad (NOTEPAD!!). Yes, Vista even crashed Fussion, had to force quit Fussion.

That aside, Vista has been stable and no problems. However, good hardware is not cheap for most people, I mean, I can buy expensive hardware and run it, but not everyone has that buying power, specially in todays frail economy. Which is why Microsoft has gone back down in hardware demand with Windows 7. According to Ballmer, Windows 7 should run fine in 1GB ram.

[mosx]

Well, not spreading FUD or whatever you want to call it. It has been my awful Vista experience. Then again, I run Vista side by side with my Mac using Fussion. I run the x64 version of Vista Home Premium and it runs/ran well until yesterday when it crashed trying to open notepad (NOTEPAD!!). Yes, Vista even crashed Fussion, had to force quit Fussion.[quote]

You mean VMWare Fusion?

You see, while Fusion gives the guest OS full access to the CPU and RAM the same way it would as if it was running natively, everything else is done via software.

So your experience with Vista is not reflective of how it would run on an actual PC.

And Fusion itself isn't 100% stable. I could guarantee you that your crash in Fusion was the result of Fusion itself. I've had Fusion crash on me a couple of times and it was not the result of Windows at all. Fusion just disappeared for no reason and closed.

[quote]However, good hardware is not cheap for most people, I mean, I can buy expensive hardware and run it, but not everyone has that buying power, specially in todays frail economy.

Thats absolutely not true. You can build a good AMD or Intel based PC (Core 2 or Phenom) with parts from very reputable manufacturers for around $600. You'd even be able to play modern games, except Crysis, at high settings and better than the current consoles at that price. You could go even cheaper and still get reputable parts just without the ability to game. It's funny that Apple said they don't know how to build a computer for $500 that isn't a piece of junk. Well, I could build one for $500 thats more reliable than the 20" iMac and faster.

Good hardware is absolutely not expensive.

And don't try to tell me that a $600 HP or Dell is not good either. They all use Asus, Gigabyte, Biostar, or MSI motherboards with Intel or AMD or nvidia chipsets with Western Digital and Seagate HDDs, Kingston or Crucial or Samsung RAM, etc.

Very good hardware is very cheap these days, despite what Apple would have you believe.

Which is why Microsoft has gone back down in hardware demand with Windows 7. According to Ballmer, Windows 7 should run fine in 1GB ram.

I've run Vista on 1GB on 2 PCs and 2 Macs and I never had any issues with speed or HDD paging or anything. The only time I noticed a bit of a difference was when playing UT2004 on one of those PCs and after exiting the game it took a second or two to redraw the desktop.

Vista runs abolutely fine on 1GB for most peoples uses. I have 4GB right now and my little monitors show that I never really use more than 1GB in total.

I refuse to turn this into a flame war. So I won't. But I'm just tired of people spreading lies about Windows.

[jav6454]

Well you are turning it into flame war.

If you read my other post months ago, you'd realize I had an HP dv1660se with Vista in it, have a custom built desktop with Vista in it. (Remember my 2003 desktop?) So before accusing me of not dealing with Vista full install check my posts.

Fusion has never frozen up on me to this day. (except that perk when Notepad crashed the entire OS)

You call $600 cheap for a desktop? My friend you have to realize that there are people outside the US that don't have $600 for computer hardware (without including software). I come from one of those countries. Let me tell you that your comment on $600 being not much is simply irrational. $600 is a lot of money for people and people would rather spend that in food or other stuff than trying to buy compatible hardware for a lame excuse of an OS. Microsoft out be giving thanks people haven't revolted in a way to really screw Vista image or for that matter Microsoft's.

So, you say Vista can run fie with 1GB and are a proponent of it, then I want to see you use Vista with 1GB only. Ditch those 4GB you have an run Vista with 1GB. If you talk the talk, then walk the walk.

[polaris20]

[quote]Well, not spreading FUD or whatever you want to call it. It has been my awful Vista experience. Then again, I run Vista side by side with my Mac using Fussion. I run the x64 version of Vista Home Premium and it runs/ran well until yesterday when it crashed trying to open notepad (NOTEPAD!!). Yes, Vista even crashed Fussion, had to force quit Fussion.[quote]

You mean VMWare Fusion?

You see, while Fusion gives the guest OS full access to the CPU and RAM the same way it would as if it was running natively, everything else is done via software.

So your experience with Vista is not reflective of how it would run on an actual PC.

And Fusion itself isn't 100% stable. I could guarantee you that your crash in Fusion was the result of Fusion itself. I've had Fusion crash on me a couple of times and it was not the result of Windows at all. Fusion just disappeared for no reason and closed.



Thats absolutely not true. You can build a good AMD or Intel based PC (Core 2 or Phenom) with parts from very reputable manufacturers for around $600. You'd even be able to play modern games, except Crysis, at high settings and better than the current consoles at that price. You could go even cheaper and still get reputable parts just without the ability to game. It's funny that Apple said they don't know how to build a computer for $500 that isn't a piece of junk. Well, I could build one for $500 thats more reliable than the 20" iMac and faster.

Good hardware is absolutely not expensive.

And don't try to tell me that a $600 HP or Dell is not good either. They all use Asus, Gigabyte, Biostar, or MSI motherboards with Intel or AMD or nvidia chipsets with Western Digital and Seagate HDDs, Kingston or Crucial or Samsung RAM, etc.

Very good hardware is very cheap these days, despite what Apple would have you believe.



I've run Vista on 1GB on 2 PCs and 2 Macs and I never had any issues with speed or HDD paging or anything. The only time I noticed a bit of a difference was when playing UT2004 on one of those PCs and after exiting the game it took a second or two to redraw the desktop.

Vista runs abolutely fine on 1GB for most peoples uses. I have 4GB right now and my little monitors show that I never really use more than 1GB in total.

I refuse to turn this into a flame war. So I won't. But I'm just tired of people spreading lies about Windows.

"Lies". ".FUD". Rofl.

It's okay for you to say how incredibly unstable OSX is for you on two computers, but when people share their bad Vista experiences,it's no longer just opinions but "lies" and "FUD".

I regularly run 2-3 VMs in Fusion on a daily basis, and it has not crashed once. This is with XP,Server 2008, and Debian, all going at once.

And no, a $600 Dell or HP is not good. They're crap. But that's my opinion after dealing with hundreds of those turds....feel free to once again disagree.

This time next year Vista will be MS's ugly redheaded stepchild, and the world will have forgotten about it with Windows 7's release.

You've still yet to back anything up with any real world experience. No, 4 laptops and a few home built PCs do not count.

[richard.mac]

So far I am, I just kinda bought it on a whim but I liking it. Nice features and pretty decent set of pre-installed software. I like the new track pad and simple finger gestures to navigate the browser. I went with opera instead of firefox.

have you considered Safari? you dont have to use it if you dont want but its a really great lightweight browser that integrates well with OS X and is perfect for general browsing.

this isnt Windows here when you automatically have to download another browser.

but if you are using Opera because you like it better than Safari or Firefox or you need its features then my bad.

[mosx]

Well you are turning it into flame war.

Wouldn't be if you'd stop spreading lies about Vista ;)

If you read my other post months ago, you'd realize I had an HP dv1660se with Vista in it, have a custom built desktop with Vista in it. (Remember my 2003 desktop?) So before accusing me of not dealing with Vista full install check my posts.

If I remember correctly, all of the supposed problems you had were caused by the user(s) and not by Vista itself.

My friend you have to realize that there are people outside the US that don't have $600 for computer hardware (without including software). I come from one of those countries. Let me tell you that your comment on $600 being not much is simply irrational. $600 is a lot of money for people and people would rather spend that in food or other stuff than trying to buy compatible hardware for a lame excuse of an OS. Microsoft out be giving thanks people haven't revolted in a way to really screw Vista image or for that matter Microsoft's.

Here we go with this. Be realistic, okay? This discussion has already been had on this forum and theres no reason to bring it up again.

You can essentially build a Vista compatible PC for very cheap. Any DDR-based Athlon system running upwards of 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM or more will run Vista + Firefox + Office + Winamp just fine and that sort of hardware can be had for a little over $100.

And whats with this "people revolting" stuff? Vista has sold how many licences now? Exactly.

So, you say Vista can run fie with 1GB and are a proponent of it, then I want to see you use Vista with 1GB only. Ditch those 4GB you have an run Vista with 1GB. If you talk the talk, then walk the walk.

Did you happen to read my posts? I ran Vista on multiple systems with 1GB for months! I only upgrade because *gasp* I play GAMES on occasion and games DO in fact use more than 1GB of memory these days.

It's okay for you to say how incredibly unstable OSX is for you on two computers, but when people share their bad Vista experiences,it's no longer just opinions but "lies" and "FUD".

Maybe you should read up on past posts before putting your foot in your mouth? ;)

I already explained my OS X crashes. Random tasks with OS X crashing at random times. Sometimes not even doing anything at all and OS X would crash.

The other poster here, however, claims that Notepad brought down Vista which brought down Fusion. Fusion crashing itself (not just the OS within) means that Fusion crashed. Not Vista.

I regularly run 2-3 VMs in Fusion on a daily basis, and it has not crashed once. This is with XP,Server 2008, and Debian, all going at once.

Good for you. That doesn't mean other people haven't had it crash.

And no, a $600 Dell or HP is not good. They're crap. But that's my opinion after dealing with hundreds of those turds....feel free to once again disagree.

And the plastic MacBooks were good? Have you seen the hundreds of posts here regarding their cracking from heat, use, design, and other flaws?

A $600 HP is built from the same shell as a $1400 HP. The difference is that HP uses good plastics and you don't have to worry about cracks from design flaws or regular use.

This time next year Vista will be MS's ugly redheaded stepchild, and the world will have forgotten about it with Windows 7's release.

The funny thing is that its only Apple fanboys and those who like to get the attention of the anti-Microsoft crowd who say bad things about Vista. Nobody else does.

It's not my fault that people don't like to hear that Vista is, in fact, problem free in the way that Apple is trying to make it out to be problematic. Or that OS X does have some short comings.

[sactownbwoy]

have you considered Safari? you dont have to use it if you dont want but its a really great lightweight browser that integrates well with OS X and is perfect for general browsing.

this isnt Windows here when you automatically have to download another browser.

but if you are using Opera because you like it better than Safari or Firefox or you need its features then my bad.

Safari is okay but I have been using Opera for damn near ten years and I just love the feel of it. I have never had a problem with IE, just liked Opera better.

[richard.mac]

^ good to hear.

[jav6454]

Vista crashing due to user error? Pff, read well child! Vista has crashed on me numerous times for stupid things like the UAC.

[mosx]

Vista crashing due to user error? Pff, read well child! Vista has crashed on me numerous times for stupid things like the UAC.

You can disable UAC.

You can't disable OS X's random crashing.

[jav6454]

You can disable UAC.

You can't disable OS X's random crashing.

Yes, while disabling the UAC Vista crashes... its like it wants to annoy me, it does. OS X has not crashed on me on the other hand. So no problem's there...

[TuffLuffJimmy]

You can disable UAC.

You can't disable OS X's random crashing.

alright we get it. You hate OS X. Why do you hang around this forum if you hate Macs so much? Get a life...

[polaris20]

Wouldn't be if you'd stop spreading lies about Vista ;)

He's not lying, he's giving his opinion.

If I remember correctly, all of the supposed problems you had were caused by the user(s) and not by Vista itself.

Here we go with this. Be realistic, okay? This discussion has already been had on this forum and theres no reason to bring it up again.

You can essentially build a Vista compatible PC for very cheap. Any DDR-based Athlon system running upwards of 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM or more will run Vista + Firefox + Office + Winamp just fine and that sort of hardware can be had for a little over $100.

And whats with this "people revolting" stuff? Vista has sold how many licences now? Exactly.

Vista has sold well because PCs sell well. It's what comes on 90% of new PCs. Unfortunately MS propaganda doesn't say how many of those people "downgraded" to XP after buying the PC.
Did you happen to read my posts? I ran Vista on multiple systems with 1GB for months! I only upgrade because *gasp* I play GAMES on occasion and games DO in fact use more than 1GB of memory these days.

Vista is painfully slow on 1GB. XP and Windows 7 run well on 1GB. What does that tell you about Vista? Of all the netbooks being sold, only one comes preloaded with Vista (by HP, ironically enough). The rest are all XP or Linux. Why? Because Vista is a pig.

Even MS realizes this, and one of the main points of 7 is to remove the bloat. The head of Windows 7 development even has 7 running on a netbook with 1GB of RAM. Like I said, even MS is quick to abandon your precious Vista, because it's a pig.

I already explained my OS X crashes. Random tasks with OS X crashing at random times. Sometimes not even doing anything at all and OS X would crash.

The other poster here, however, claims that Notepad brought down Vista which brought down Fusion. Fusion crashing itself (not just the OS within) means that Fusion crashed. Not Vista.

Try to know what you're talking about next time, okay? ;)

I actually do know what I'm talking about, unlike yourself. I actually have seen an OS crash VMWare (Workstation in that case). Just because it's Vista doesn't mean it's automatically VMWare's fault. Of course you're too much of a fanboy to realize how an OS could crash VMWare (or any other virtualization platform) but that's okay, I know you lack the real world experience with these things.
And the plastic MacBooks were good? Have you seen the hundreds of posts here regarding their cracking from heat, use, design, and other flaws?

A $600 HP is built from the same shell as a $1400 HP. The difference is that HP uses good plastics and you don't have to worry about cracks from design flaws or regular use.

I'm sorry to inform you HPs crack as well. Add that to failed USB ports, bad motherboards failed LCD cables due to poor hinge design, failed phase inverters, etc. all happen too. You'd know that, if you actually had any real world experience, with more than 4 computers.

The funny thing is that its only Apple fanboys and those who like to get the attention of the anti-Microsoft crowd who say bad things about Vista. Nobody else does.

Absolutely the funniest part of your post. No IT administrator is avoiding Vista like the plague, right?

If you must know, I'm 32. About the same age as you, IIRC. I also work on Windows XP, 2003, and 2008 EVERYDAY. I work on linux workstations and servers EVERYDAY. I work on Macs EVERYDAY. I work on hypervisor-based virtualization platforms such as Xen and ESX EVERYDAY.

But yeah, I'm a horrible Apple fanboy. That's why I use all OS's.

[jav6454]

I bet he didn't even read the references to my posts, he just said user error like Ballmer.:rolleyes: figures...


Also, its funny how he defends Vista so much. If Vista is as great as it sounds, then why is Microsoft so desperate to push out Windows 7? Why is Microsoft not letting Vista settle itself down like XP? Cause it sucks... and Microsoft knows it.

[Carnivor]

How can it be FUD if Apple are using Vista as a reason behind its growth?


Another completely ruined thread for the OP, sorry OP don't be offended, Hope you really enjoy your Mac experiences, don't get to frustrated by peoples opinions on here!

[polaris20]

Yes, Vista is fantastic, no one's having problems:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/ballmer_says_skip_vista

Yup, they're selling tons of Vista licenses. It's a success!

http://vista.blorge.com/2008/04/27/microsoft-to-claim-vista-downgrades-to-xp-as-vista-sales/

[joe01]

I just got mine a couple hours ago

[Jonesy85]

My Macbook is my first Mac as well and I love it. The OS is really great and I've not had any crashes or freezing yet. Surprisingly, to me, the touch pad has become something I truly love and feels like something I can't do without now. Swiping your fingers to do different things is quick and convenient. I think I've been converted to Mac.

[jav6454]

Yes, Vista is fantastic, no one's having problems:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/ballmer_says_skip_vista

Yup, they're selling tons of Vista licenses. It's a success!

http://vista.blorge.com/2008/04/27/microsoft-to-claim-vista-downgrades-to-xp-as-vista-sales/

oh I lol'd so hard at this. :D:D:D

[JoeDRC]

Someone had to mention vista didn't they! Oh dear!

[sactownbwoy]

How can it be FUD if Apple are using Vista as a reason behind its growth?


Another completely ruined thread for the OP, sorry OP don't be offended, Hope you really enjoy your Mac experiences, don't get to frustrated by peoples opinions on here!

I am not offended. I am a regular on all kinds of forums. It is just a part of forum life. lol Fanboys are everywhere, threads get derailed but I still love reading them. Sometimes there is a sliver of truth in all the nonsense.

[Chappers]

You can disable UAC.

You can't disable OS X's random crashing.

Would disabling UAC be a good idea? I seem to remember you basically saying that only idiots would do that.

You have random crashes - don't make out that your experience is that of the masses, unless you can quote some numbers from a reliable and respectable source. And there goes you accusing others of spreading FUD over Vista.

How did your MB repair go ?

[Farkum]

It's not my fault that people don't like to hear that Vista is, in fact, problem free in the way that Apple is trying to make it out to be problematic. Or that OS X does have some short comings.

I second this. I have ran vista on a 2.0ghz desktop with 1 gb of ram and dual monitors for almost 2 years. I did finally upgrade the ram recently and it definitely made the games run much smoother but I didn't have any major problems with Vista. Actually the only issue I ever had with it was with file permissions on a couple things that I was transferring from an XP machine. I never had issues with it crashing or freezing. That being said I have never had issues with OS X crashing or freezing either. I do prefer OS X which is lucky for Mac because my HP nc8430 had a much better screen and way better build quality then my previous Macbook. I'm just hoping that my new alum macbook is better than the last one or I may be one of the few ppl that switches back to PC after going mac.

[aaquib]

I remember running Vista. 2.0 C2D and 2GB RAM HP notebook. Complete garbage.

[bengal85]

Have fun

[subq]

I refuse to turn this thread into a flameware.

But I have to say that I've been free of those things since upgrading to XP several years ago.

Those simply are not issues any more so please don't spread FUD or ruin threads like this with that kind of nonsense.

Agreed, XP Pro is a very solid OS, and I use it daily for work that requires stability & reliability. I can't stand the FUD that is spread about windows sometimes.

That being said, I like OS X and I like my macbook as well.