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1 more reason to use a Mac

wrldwzrd89

wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
Windows can be downright flaky when it comes to handling USB devices. For example:

1. Windows brings up a "New Hardware Wizard" the first time anything is inserted into any port on a hub attached to a Windows computer, even if two or more of the devices connected are identical and thus use the same driver(s).
2. Windows (falsely) tells you that you need to restart your computer for some USB devices to work when in fact you don't.
3. Ejecting a device would be far more intuitive if it was done by right-clicking the device and choosing Eject instead of using the Safely Remove Hardware dialog.
4. When removing a USB device, if you jiggle it a little instead of pulling it straight out, Windows (falsely) tells you that a device was removed in an unsafe manner.
 
FightTheFuture

FightTheFuture

macrumors 68000
Oct 19, 2003
1,878
3,031
that town east of ann arbor
i don't think thats really a great reason for using a mac, but it definitely is a flaw in windows. my old 6gig USB drive will mount on os x, then when i don't need it anymore, i'll just eject it and its done. on my pc, sometimes when i read or write to the drive, it won't let me 'safely remove the hardware' even when i'm finished quitting out all applications. then i wait ten minutes, no good. another 10 minutes. no good. eventually i just leave it plugged in and put it to standby mode, or log off and i'm happy with that. if its something like a scanner though - i'll just hot patch it.
 
F

friarbayliff

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2004
227
0
MN / IN
I've noticed that with windows machines. However, I don'y notice the whole problem with the device being designated as 'disconnected incorrectly' when the cord is removed. Even jiggling it a little doesn't confuse it. I generally just ingore whatever crap windows feeds me about my usb devices.
 
jacobj

jacobj

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2003
1,124
87
Jersey
wrldwzrd89 said:
Windows can be downright flaky when it comes to handling USB devices. For example:

1. Windows brings up a "New Hardware Wizard" the first time anything is inserted into any port on a hub attached to a Windows computer, even if two or more of the devices connected are identical and thus use the same driver(s).
2. Windows (falsely) tells you that you need to restart your computer for some USB devices to work when in fact you don't.
3. Ejecting a device would be far more intuitive if it was done by right-clicking the device and choosing Eject instead of using the Safely Remove Hardware dialog.
4. When removing a USB device, if you jiggle it a little instead of pulling it straight out, Windows (falsely) tells you that a device was removed in an unsafe manner.
Click to expand...

OSX isn't perfect. My external hard drive occassionally has issues when I try to eject it.
 
N

Nspace

macrumors regular
Jul 13, 2004
204
0
Toronto, Canada
For mice, keyboards, cameras, card readers, tablets, alot of mp3 players, ipod (after the software was installed), I can all plug in and simply un-plug without a problem and without being pestured by annoying messages. You also don't run into problems if you do not properly eject with maybe the exception of external hard drives.

I don't think this is a good reason to use a mac, considering i have had osx lock up in many circumstances at school where i have simply unplugged a card reader without dragging it to eject it.
 
R

Rabidjade

macrumors member
Mar 21, 2004
65
0
If you hate XP, then come out and say it, don't dig for it. Only problems I had are with external hard drives and even then it might be something else than Xp. The drive partition would unmount itself if removed without the wizards but the information could still be saved. This was once or twice out of about 30+ times dealing with external hard drives. Why XP brings up the "new hardware wizard" is XP keeps all devices seperate to keep organization easier when you removed and adding numerous devices of the same model. Having the same model of hardware but a seperate revision could throw you off too if you wanted to group devices under the same driver. I could go on but I feel this touches the bases.
 
wrldwzrd89

wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
Rabidjade said:
If you hate XP, then come out and say it, don't dig for it. Only problems I had are with external hard drives and even then it might be something else than Xp. The drive partition would unmount itself if removed without the wizards but the information could still be saved. This was once or twice out of about 30+ times dealing with external hard drives. Why XP brings up the "new hardware wizard" is XP keeps all devices seperate to keep organization easier when you removed and adding numerous devices of the same model. Having the same model of hardware but a seperate revision could throw you off too if you wanted to group devices under the same driver. I could go on but I feel this touches the bases.
Click to expand...
Truth be told - it's not XP that gives me these problems. It's Windows 2000, which I use at work, that does this to me.
 
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