I'm having my doubts about Mac's. Please help!

[jc0481]

I've been looking at Macs since the OS 8 days but never thought about getting one until recently. Since Windows Vista is coming out by the end of the year I don't know. I've played around with OS X and liked it a lot. Just yesterday I was in college and learning about XML we had break time it was like Mac bashing big time one guy said if you buy a Mac it's a waste of money. I just kept quiet. My college is very Windows centric. A lot of people have laptops. I will be getting a laptop too but the new MBP But just having recent doubts. Hope somebody could show me the light. Thanks

 

[Applespider]

You could go and read the threads on 'Why I chose a Mac?' or the 'misconceptions about Macs' to get some clues.

But to be honest, it's better if you tell us your doubts - or what in particular concerns you - and we can answer those specifically. If it's any comfort, I switched back from a PC just over 2 years ago and have no regrets now although I had some doubts at the start.

 

[2nyRiggz]

indeed...bring on your questions and we will be happy to give you the most honest response.


Bless

 

[jc0481]

Okay here goes

Stupid question some of my friends are Window gamers when I bring my mbp to play with can I connect to their computers in a LAN environment with no connection to the Internet? Since going into computer science can I program in C++ and Java possibly using Xcode? Is OS X really much more secure than Windows XP and the incoming Vista? I saw a screenshot of some guys OS X computer running two games at once!! Also some other programs if you have enough RAM how does OS X hold up? That's all for now. I'll try think of more later. Thanks again

 

[Applespider]

Since the only LAN network I regularly play with is wirelessly connecting Macs to one another (which is as simple as clicking a few tickboxes), I'll leave that question to someone else!

You can program but again I'll leave the details to someone else.

I'll answer your multi-task question though. Stick a GB of RAM in a Mac and you can multi-task to your heart's content. I'm sitting with a 2 year old Powerbook at the moment running Tiger with 1.25GB of RAM. I've got Photoshop and Imageready running, Mail, Safari - streaming the Olympics from the BBC in one window with 8 tabs open in another, iCal, Address Book, iPhoto, iTunes (streaming to the stereo), VLC with an avi on pause, Preview and I'm backing up my HD as a bootable clone onto my external drive. And it's all just fine; heck, the fan's not even on!

 

[stridey]

Stupid question some of my friends are Window gamers when I bring my mbp to play with can I connect to their computers in a LAN environment with no connection to the Internet?

Yup, shouldn't be a problem.

Since going into computer science can I program in C++ and Java possibly using Xcode?

Absolutely. It's a pleasure to code in, and if you don't like it there are various other programming environments available. (including a text editor and terminal compiling... )

Is OS X really much more secure than Windows XP and the incoming Vista?

Yes. Much more secure, since all sensative processes require an admin password.

I saw a screenshot of some guys OS X computer running two games at once!!

Um... ok. Cool. Is there any reason he shouldn't have been able to?

Also some other programs if you have enough RAM how does OS X hold up?

If you have enough RAM, you could run an almost unlimited number of apps at once.

 

[XNine]

Stupid question some of my friends are Window gamers when I bring my mbp to play with can I connect to their computers in a LAN environment with no connection to the Internet? Since going into computer science can I program in C++ and Java possibly using Xcode? Is OS X really much more secure than Windows XP and the incoming Vista? I saw a screenshot of some guys OS X computer running two games at once!! Also some other programs if you have enough RAM how does OS X hold up? That's all for now. I'll try think of more later. Thanks again

Depends, for most games you'll ahve to have VPC running.

Is it more secure? Without a doubt. Is it more secure than Vista? Well, I don't know for sure, but being that Legacy code is still a huge part of Vista, I would say yes.

Xcode can program in C++ and Java.

As far as speed? I have a 933 MHz Powermac G4 with 1.25 gigs of Ram and it's still faster then my friends 2 GHz P4 with a gig of Ram.

I would say you shouldn't run from these idiots who have nothing but bad things to say about Macs. OS X owns windows. Sorry, it's true.

 

[Johnny Rico]

As far as speed? I have a 933 MHz Powermac G4 with 1.25 gigs of Ram and it's still faster then my friends 2 GHz P4 with a gig of Ram.

Is this true? I have an athlon xp 2.1 ghz w/ 1.5 gb ram that absolutely stomps my 800 mhz g4 imac w/1 gb ram all day long. Like, ridiculous stomps all day long. Don't get me wrong the imac is the superior machine but it is enormously slower.

 

[Applespider]

Is this true? I have an athlon xp 2.1 ghz w/ 1.5 gb ram that absolutely stomps my 800 mhz g4 imac w/1 gb ram all day long. Like, ridiculous stomps all day long.

I use a 2.8Ghz P4 at work with a GB of RAM and a 1.25Ghz Powerbook at home with 1.25GB of RAM.

The PC at work has the edge on starting up and on launching programs. But the Powerbook feels faster to work on in general; that's generally because I work with very large spreadsheets in Excel. When I run them at home, I can do other things while I wait for it to calculate. When I run them at work, I have to sit and stare at the screen since trying to open new apps or windows while Excel is working feels like trying to swim in treacle.

 

[stridey]

Is this true? I have an athlon xp 2.1 ghz w/ 1.5 gb ram that absolutely stomps my 800 mhz g4 imac w/1 gb ram all day long. Like, ridiculous stomps all day long. Don't get me wrong the imac is the superior machine but it is enormously slower.

Well, your example is (a) athlon and not P4, so it's a slightly different situation and (b) has a 233 bigger MHz difference and a 256 MB bigger RAM difference.