I'm almost certain this user is a troll*. But I think this thread could still be useful for people who are actually considering a switch, so I thought I would respond to the various questions/statements made by the thread starter.
*If you haven't read the whole thread, and the other posts by this user on the forum then it may not be apparent to you, but its pretty clear he just came to this forum to antagonize people or he is just naturally astonishingly rude and clueless.
iWho? said:
sorry, i wasn't specific enough.
With the OS/security etc etc aside, only talking CPUs, because of the new switch to intel, is there any reason to switch.
but i have looked at why people use macs and mostly they say that they "like how it works and stuff"
but apart from those people, i have heard good things about security and the interface. However, i have never had one bit of trouble in security with windows, so that's why i was asking.
and
iWho? said:
sorry, i was mostly wondering about hardware advantages.
i guess my question has been answered.
So you bring up a few things here: hardware/cpu, security, and the interface/ease of use, but want to focus on hardware (though later we will hit the others).
Hardware
While all personal computers use essentially the same components (pop open even a PPC mac and Dell and you will find they looks essentially the same), Apple spends a great deal of time/money on the quality of their computers. What does this mean specifically? Well Apple typically choose more expensive and higher quality components when building Macs. Also Apple's very simple line-up of computers (6 right now) means they spend much more time designing each machine then a vendor who offers many dozens of different models. The operating system and various components are engineered to work together well (rather than simply plugging all the parts together the way you or I would if we were building our own machine). Some parts are custom (like the motherboard).
You mentioned that you have an iPod. Notice how all the seams are very tight? Ever pop it open and look inside? If you have you noticed the great care that has been taken in engineering it to fit in there. If you open a PowerMac (or any other mac for that matter) you will find the same great care has been taken in their engineering. User configurable parts are easy to get to, and opening the case is easy. Since the PowerMac has the most user configurable parts its the best showcase for this point. Take a trip to your local Apple store and pop one open. Its got a simple latch on the side and the guts lay out nicely so you can reach everything
The extreme quality of the engineering you see on the outside (as evidenced by the seams and such) extends to the guts of the machine, and thus the actual functioning of the hardware. This is further evidenced by customer service satisfaction surveys which consistently rate Apple above all other PC manufacturers, and failure rates which consistently show Apples having lower rates of failure/problems than other PCs.
So while the hardware of all PCs might be essentially the same (and some of us might prefer an AMD to an Intel) the quality with which Apple engineers things brings the hardware to a higher level (and I didn't even mention the industrial design).
iWho? said:
oh i've used it plenty of times.
the whole file system is a mess and the interface is a bit too "dumbed down" for me. It just seems too slow and clunky. I've found it gets in my way by thinking it knows what i want to do, when it really doesn't.
Above he is talking about MacOS (I know it sounds like he is talking about Windows, but he's not).
While I am pretty sure the user is being disingenuous with this statement I thought I would still respond to it. These are typically comments people make about MS products since they often try to guess what the user is doing and offer to help or just do things. On the Mac the system won't try to predict what you are doing or place things on your computer without your approval.
But if we assume he is sincere, here is my response.
The file system is based on Unix. Coming from Classic MacOS to MacOSX many users were rather frustrated by the multiple user accounts and home folders with documents folder etc. It felt like we were being told how we had to store our files, and therefore felt Windows-like. I think most of us came to see the advantage of the system though. Much of this has to do with security and the way a system that is designed to be secure is made. By separating user accounts you make a more secure system. And while the file system is more written in stone than it used to be, its actually completely open to you how you arrange files in your home folder. Also there is a great deal of logic in it if you choose to use it. I'll get to more of this later.
The interface is definitely not dumbed down. It is a more more flexible and complex system than any WindowsOS. The true beauty of the MacOS is the interface, and if you do not understand the philosophy behind it then it can take you a few months of use to start seeing why it is better (and even then you won't really know why - it will just work better for you). Unlike Microsoft, Apple writes and maintains extensive documentation on how Applications should look and function. (In another thread iWho commented on people were complaining about Aqua/brushedmetal/unified aqua - and this is why.) What this documentation (and Apple's free software developer tools) means is that every application (if it has been written properly) organizes things in the same way. So we always know where to go for preferences in an application, and they are always called preferences, and they are always organized the same way.
In Windows-based applications one has to learn each new program separately. Preferences are called preferences, settings, options and a dozen other things (often all in the same program) and you have to search for them in all the available menus. Windows has no guidelines for software developers to follow. Every program is organized differently. Not only does this mean you have to learn programs individually (whereas on a Mac once you know how things work you can work any application instantly), but it also means that when multitasking motor memory is not able to speed your work flow.
When Apple first created the PC GUI* when desiging LisaOS (to see a Lisa just watch an episode of Fraggle Rock) they performed extensive psychological studies to see how people interact with objects in their environment and how to increase efficiency.
So for instance Apple found that people can access items on the top of the screen faster than the bottom, and this is why Apple placed the menu bar at the top. Apple found that people access items on the right of the screen faster than the left, and this is why Apple has icons line up on the right of the desktop. Apple found people could access items in the corners of the screen faster so that is why the Apple menu was placed in the upper left, the Application switcher (of classic MacOS) the upper right, and the trash in the lower right. Further Apple found that people accessed edges faster than items not on the edge. This is why things like the Menubar are fixed to the top, rather than being part of a window like in Windows.
And they learned much much more (much of which is locked up in corporate secrets) and they continue these psychological studies in order to improve the GUI. What this translates into is an interface that is built for the way the human mind works and thus you can perform work much faster than you can on an OS like Windows in which decisions on how to organize the OS have been made arbitrarily.
*Often people critisize Apple saying that they stole the GUI concept from Xerox. This isn't true. Apple purchased the initial concept from Xerox and created most of what we know of as the modern PC GUI themselves. Only the concept was purchased.
