Hello

[essaygee]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and to macs. I have a few questions to ask, so i hope someone can answer them. I have been looking around at macs and talking to a few people, and some say that apple will not survive for much longer. Is there any truth in this?
Also how do macs compare to PCs? I have noticed the Mhz ratings are lower, why is this? I am hoping someone can help me in my quest for knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

sag

 

[sparkleytone]

LOL!!!!

that is the most ridiculous thing i've heard in a while.

fact...in these horrible times for tech companies, two companies are making money in the personal computing sector. dell and apple. everyone else is hemmoraghing money. so we'll see who sticks around.

 

[King Cobra]

Re: Hello

>I am new to the forum and to macs. I have a few questions to ask, so i hope someone can answer them.

Welcome to the stable world of computers.

>I have been looking around at macs and talking to a few people, and some say that apple will not survive for much longer. Is there any truth in this?

That depends on one's opinion. Basically, people are not buying something called the MHz myth: The overall performance of a computer does not centralize around the speed of the CPU in terms of MHz/GHz. When people compare a Mac: dual 1GHz for $2 or $3 thousand dollars, and they see a P4 listed for 2.x or 3GHz and for under $2000 dollars, what would most people go with? Right, the PCs.

Supposedly there will be a 4.x GHz chip ready for the PC sometime soon. Some people think that because a computer will soon come out with such a high "GHz" there is no way Apple can catch up, so people may eventually start leaving. This brings me to my second point...

>Also how do macs compare to PCs?

This question has varying answers, depending on what people need/do with their computer in general. Macs supposedly have a lower "GHz" rating. However, because the G4 has something called the Velocity Engine (sometimes referred to as AltiVec) any apps that support the Velocity Engine will perform much faster than apps that do not support the Velocity Engine. For those using a G4 for video/audio editing using apps, such as Final Cut Pro, iMovie, or iTunes, the Velocity Engine does come into play, and, in some cases, can actually perform faster than a 2GHz P4. However, this is not always the case.

I have noticed the Mhz ratings are lower, why is this? I am hoping someone can help me in my quest for knowledge.

Motorola is a chip supplier for Apple and has been for a while. However, for whatever reason Motorola's progress on these chips has been turtle slow. IBM occassionally had to assist Motorola with making some faster processors. For the past several months/the past year the G5 (an even more improved CPU than the G4) has been rumored to come out here, then there, and we haven't gotten you-know-what, except yearly increases of about 400 or 500MHz with newer computers.

Later this year there will be a conference, and, with luck, there will be an official word about the G5, instead of all these rumors/silly speculation.

 

[FattyMembrane]

if you buy a mac, you will not be disapointed, plain and simple. we're all holding our breath for the g5, which should not only put us ahead in terms of mhz, but completly obliterate the x86 architecture, but a fast g4 runing 10.2 is a far better experience than any xp box. Apple is not going out of buisness. like sparklytone said, apple is one of the few tech companies making money right now, and many of us have seen apple through much darker times.

 

[edesignuk]

Another member from the UK, we're starting to gain in numbers!

Anyway....getting back to the topic of discussion, I think King Cobra has answered all of your questions very well, so make sure to have a proper read through.
Yes, the Mhz/Ghz "speeds" do appear to be slower than their wintel equilivents, but, their wintel equilivents cannot run OS X.2!
I don't know if you know much about X and a new technology in X.2 called QE (Quartz Extreme), this gives the whole system a major speed boost off-loading all the work needed to create and maintain the wonderful OSX interface onto the video card, freeing up the processor to do what it should be doing.
From my understanding this means that whilst your wintel would be using up CPU to maximise/minimize windows, move windows etc the mac processor has to do none of that, that's all handed over to the video card, which of course being designed for mainly gaming finds these kinds of tasks a sinch, hence why OSX can do transparencies and the kool genie minimizing effects to the dock without effecting system performence....winblows could only dream of such a thing!
Oh yes, and all text has font smoothing which is just soooooo much nicer to look at, another thing brought by QE.
Another thing is protected memory, I find on my 1.4Ghz AMD w/ WinXP Pro that when an application crashes it usually likes to take down explorer.exe with it crashing the entire system, where as in X, if an app crashes it, and it alone comes to a tidy quick end, and closes...leaving you free to carry on working and to reopen the program again if you wish.

 

[blackpeter]

Unless you're a gamer, there's not one reason you shouldn't own an Apple.

When Dell broke the GHz barrier, I bought in and purchased one hell of a machine (for the time): a P4 1.2GHz. But a month later I got a fatal Blue Screen of Death. Sent the tower back - got a new one. Again, BSOD! This tower was so wacked that Dell granted me a full refund (40 days after the refund cut-off). They knew they were selling lemons.

So there I was, at CompUSA looking at a Mac that had a speed of 533MHz and cost more than my 1.2GHz Dell??? How can that be?

But I was desperate for something that just WORKED, and the Mac did seem snappier than my Dell when I tested it in my store. So I took the plunge. And it was the best decision I've ever made in terms of a computer. I don't restart, I don't reinstall, I don't call customer service every other day - I just use.

Don't be scared off my low MHz ratings. Was horse power the only factor you considered when buying your car? Don't be scared off by higher prices. Can you every really expect to get prime rib for Big Mac prices?

Just follow your heart young Padawan. Welcome to the Light side of The Force.

 

[essaygee]

Wow, im shocked at how quick you guys responded. I appreciate the answers so thanks. Are there any good courses or books to learn about macs?

thanks again

sag

 

[FattyMembrane]

there's really not much to learn. after a few days of using one, you will find that the layout is far more logical than windows (no desktop full of aliases and a byzantine folder structure full of .dll files). there's lots of good info on the mac itself, so if you can, check one out in a store and just look for the "help" menu in the finder, this will give you a database of all kinds of topics on using and setting up a mac. i'm sure that if you search on amazon.com for "beginer mac" or particularly "using OS X" you will find several books on the nuances of the operating system. but the real beauty of the mac os is that books devoted to learning how to use it are really unnceessary (i actually laughed the first time i saw "macs for dummies" in a bookstore).

in particular, i've heard good things about "mac os x unleashed", and on amazon.com's private vendors section, you can pick up a new copy of "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" " for about $15.

the best way to learn about them is just to spend an afternoon playing around on one at a comptuer store, so have fun!

 

[edesignuk]

As FattyMembrane said, the best thing you can do is try using one for a bit, now seeing as the UK doesn't have Apple Stores and such, this maybe a little more difficalt, however most PC Worlds have a small quintity of Macs you can check out, and John Lewis normally sell them too.

 

[essaygee]

Good morning all.

Thanks for the replys. I will have a look in pc world and see what they have. I did notice something as i was re-reading this thread:

Unless you're a gamer, there's not one reason you shouldn't own an Apple.

Why is this?

thanks

sag

 

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by essaygee
Why is this?

http://drunkgamers.com/switch0001.shtml

 

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by essaygee
Why is this?

There is nothing wrong with the Mac that it won't play games, infact the games that are available for it play VERY well, but, the key word there is available.
There are just no where near the ammount of games available for the mac, which is why you'll probably find that most people who own macs but are at the same time big gamers will either also have a PC just for gaming, or a games console.

 

[essaygee]

Thanks again for the answers. This isnt really related, but im gonna say it anyway..Why is it that people use pcs for games? I know that they have better graphics, but for the most up to date games you have to have a good machine (spec) high end graphics card and lots o' ram. This will cost quite a bit. Why not just buy a PS2/xbox/(console of choice)?

sag

 

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by essaygee
Thanks again for the answers. This isnt really related, but im gonna say it anyway..Why is it that people use pcs for games? I know that they have better graphics, but for the most up to date games you have to have a good machine (spec) high end graphics card and lots o' ram. This will cost quite a bit. Why not just buy a PS2/xbox/(console of choice)?

sag

I think mainly because of online gameing, until the console makers get their own broadband gaming networks up PC's are the only way to go.

 

[King Cobra]

>Why is it that people use pcs for games? I know that they have better graphics,

Don't forget that the memory in PCs, especially PC2700, operates very quickly. In some cases, you can find even faster memory.

I remember back to when an Athlon somethin'r'other was advertized with a four way bus, operating at 4x 100MHz for around $2000. That is considerably fast in comparison to a $2000 PowerMac/iMac with only 133MHz 1x or 2x.

>but for the most up to date games you have to have a good machine (spec) high end graphics card and lots o' ram. This will cost quite a bit. Why not just buy a PS2/xbox/(console of choice)?

The PC is supposed to be a fully functional computer. PC = Personal Computer. The PC isn't a gaming system, but it can be if you build one yourself with a high end processor, a fast bus, and a fast graphics card. However, as a result of making your PC a gaming system, you up the price to high 3 or low 4 digits.

In terms of PC gaming the Xbox is basically a PC brought down to simple gaming standards. Throw in a graphics card, a 733MHz PIII processor, an 8GB Hard Drive, a DVD drive, a fast bus, and some memory, and you have a gaming system. Yet it isn't the greatest looking console, especially compared to my translucent blue Nintendo 64 console, which I still use heavily.

Honestly, I don't have a PS2, and I haven't checked up on some of the specs for it, but the PS2 is basically a slower and more compact version of the Xbox.

 

[iGav]

Originally posted by verbose101

There is nothing wrong with the Mac that it won't play games, infact the games that are available for it play VERY well, but, the key word there is available.

Who needs lots of games when you have Quake 3...... and or Sega Outrun running through MacMame......

I guess I'm just easily pleased.......

 

[essaygee]

I did forget about the online gaming part, which is a big thing now. The good thing about consoles though, is that the games are made to the spec of the console itself and not to new technology. So when the time comes to upgrade it wont be as soon, or as expensive as keeping up with pc equivalents.

sag