Occasional Windows Gamer contemplates making the jump to Apple

[Tesselator]

Probably. Steve Jobs isn't a fan of blu ray, and makes money with the iTunes store. I don't agree with this, internet where I am (Australia) is quite expensive, with ridiculous download quotas, so I doubt optical media are going away any time soon (good for making backups, storage, etc.)

See, that's where I have my doubts and perhaps am in agreement with Mr. Jobs.

I don't think blueray or even DVDs are any good at all for backups.

You have to research maker/media quality endlessly.
90% of the media manufacturers can't make 95% of their disks last more than about 6 months (if even 1 day!) so if the bad one was part of a series... crapola-and-a-half!
The drives fail regularly. I've had 20, maybe 30 DVD drives. They all died - every single one - usually in about 1 year - sometimes much less. The one in my MacPro is 2 years old. Guess what? Yep it died a year ago! No surprises there! It can not read anything it writes.
They're way too flipping slow! OMFG, what a waste of my time:

insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
...
...
...
Gahhhhh!!!
Don't drop it! Don't scratch it! Don't store near a window! Don't store it in humid weather. Don't store it for very long. And don't store ANYTHING you actually want to keep. And if you really must... then you have to write not one BU set, not two BU sets, but three! Three whole BU sets! Just to make sure.

All of this is just too much fun for me! Especially when backing up 500 gigs. And one set of DVDs for 500 gigs (if you buy the media you actually need - if you happened to guess which maker is even a little trustworthy - if you actually want some remote chance of having all the disks work after a year... will cost you two or three times what a hard drive would cost you.

Optical media is good for nothing IMHO except for carrying some small amounts of data to work and back or over to a friends house for show and tell or show and share. Seriously, floppy disks were more reliable.

Blueray? Now they're asking me to trust the same basic mechanism, the same basic technology, the same quality variances, to a disk that costs way too much while they try and stuff 100gigs or whatever onto one? Umm, well I don't think so. Evidently Mr. Jobs doesn't think so. Based one the fact that I've never even seen one in all the stores I go to I guess the Japanese computing community doesn't think so.

What are they actually good for? I dunno, like I said I dunno much about them but I'd be willing to bet they ain't good for nothing except pirating movies in 1080p. I see those in shops. They're replaced VHS weeee... I need that? Really?

Apple doesn't support BlueRay... you want my honest opinion about that? Bahahaaaa.

 

[Tesselator]

What a selective response. You ignored most of the questions.

1. I know Leopard is 64bit. What 64bit software runs on it? Are you actually saying that you are better off not being able to access all of the memory in your machine?

Lightwave, Houdini, LightRoom, oh wait... this part isn't my argument - I like discussions that actually make sense.

 

[ilovefanboyz]

See, that's where I have my doubts and perhaps am in agreement with Mr. Jobs.

I don't think blueray or even DVDs are any good at all for backups.

You have to research maker/media quality endlessly.
90% of the media manufacturers can't make 95% of their disks last more than about 6 months (if even 1 day!) so if the bad one was part of a series... crapola-and-a-half!
The drives fail regularly. I've had 20, maybe 30 DVD drives. They all died - every single one - usually in about 1 year - sometimes much less. The one in my MacPro is 2 years old. Guess what? Yep it died a year ago! No surprises there! It can not read anything it writes.
They're way too flipping slow! OMFG, what a waste of my time:

insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
insert-wait-burn-wait-label-sheath,
...
...
...
Gahhhhh!!!
Don't drop it! Don't scratch it! Don't store near a window! Don't store it in humid weather. Don't store it for very long. And don't store ANYTHING you actually want to keep. And if you really must... then you have to write not one BU set, not two BU sets, but three! Three whole BU sets! Just to make sure.

All of this is just too much fun for me! Especially when backing up 500 gigs. And one set of DVDs for 500 gigs (if you buy the media you actually need - if you happened to guess which maker is even a little trustworthy - if you actually want some remote chance of having all the disks work after a year... will cost you two or three times what a hard drive would cost you.

Optical media is good for nothing IMHO except for carrying some small amounts of data to work and back or over to a friends house for show and tell or show and share. Seriously, floppy disks were more reliable.

Blueray? Now they're asking me to trust the same basic mechanism, the same basic technology, the same quality variances, to a disk that costs way too much while they try and stuff 100gigs or whatever onto one? Umm, well I don't think so. Evidently Mr. Jobs doesn't think so. Based one the fact that I've never even seen one in all the stores I go to I guess the Japanese computing community doesn't think so.

What are they actually good for? I dunno, like I said I dunno much about them but I'd be willing to bet they ain't good for nothing except pirating movies in 1080p. I see those in shops. They're replaced VHS weeee... I need that? Really?

Apple doesn't support BlueRay... you want my honest opinion about that? Bahahaaaa.

This whole argument can be replaced by your medium of choice. ie cant drop hard disks.. humidity.. manufacturer etc.

Because you personally dont like backing up on permanent media means that they should remove the option for others? You prefer no option to any option? Oh wait, I was looking for an argument that made sense...

 

[ilovefanboyz]

Lightwave, Houdini, LightRoom, oh wait... this part isn't my argument - I like discussions that actually make sense.

Kinda sounds like Apples game lineup.


Obscure titles

 

[Tesselator]

This whole argument can be replaced by your medium of choice. ie cant drop hard disks.. humidity.. manufacturer etc.

Because you personally dont like backing up on permanent media means that they should remove the option for others? You prefer no option to any option? Oh wait, I was looking for an argument that made sense...

touché...

But seriously besides the dropping issue you mentioned none of that is at all true.

 

[Tesselator]

Kinda sounds like Apples game lineup.


Obscure titles

The full list is huge. LightRoom is obscure? That other guy was right to insinuate you were a troll I think.

K, I'm out.

 

[EmperorDarius]

You see.. This kind of statement really bothers me. Why do you guys do this? Its so embarrassing. You guys trash Windows/ Microsoft / PC's so much but actually I would say Apple is getting further and further behind each day.

1. Why on EARTH is there no 64bit software on Apple machines? Every CGI artist needs to access more than 2.5GB. Answer is Windows / Linux. NOT Apple. Even Photoshop isnt 64bit on Apple. I mean we're talking 2 years+ behind schedule here.

2. Blu-ray / new media technologies. The only reason this isnt available is because it takes sales away from iTunes. This is terrifying. So now, let me get this straight, technology will be limited according to iTunes. How does the consumer win? This is what happened with Netflix.. again a year+ behind PC schedule.

3. Cost. PC's are substantially cheaper. No need to elaborate here.

4. Upgradeability. Because Windows can run on an infinite number of configurations (which many Mac users forget - wow.. how hard it must be to get an operating system stable on 20 different machines), I can get the latest graphics card in my machine whenever I want.

5. Games. Enough said.

6. Mouse. Why do the laptop Macs ship with one mouse button? I have 5 fingers. Is it easier to ctrl click??? Embarrassing.

7. Windows Explorer vs Finder. I havent met any serious person who thinks finder is better at manipulating files.

8. Mini DV adapter. Pleeeeeeeeeeease dont make me go there. (Laughs as he plugs an HDMI cable into his laptop)

9. Green. Apple are still bottom of the PC manufacturers pile for their policies on recycling / environmental. http://www.environmentalleader.com/...-most-eco-friendly-greenpeace-says-different/



So I proudly use a PC. Fortunately, 90% of the world agrees with me. But then again we must all be doing something wrong.

1.Yes, Cinema4D for example. Java. Probably the next versions of the Adobe Programs. Probably there are others, which I don't know. And the number will increase even more, since Leopard (and Snow Leopard) has no problem running 64-bit and 32-bit apps unlike *cough*Windows 64-bit*cough*
2.Blu-Ray Discs are not used a lot. When they'll get more popular, you'll only need a software update and a exteral Blu Ray Drive and you're set.
3.You can't compare an OEM product with a custom built PC. And you won't get the Apple's design by making a custom built PC.
4.So can you with a Mac Pro. And you can upgrade the HDD and RAM of every Mac.
5.As long as you're using Windows only for games, it's like running the gaming themselves. You're not using Windows as your main OS, just like a game emulator.
6.Modern Macbook/Pro/Air-s can be configured to right click by clicking on the lower right/left corner
7.BS. That's just personal preference. I actually prefer the Finder. Anything against that?
9.Macs are made with recyclable aluminium, not cheap materials, and got a good rating for their "greenness".

So I proudly use a PC. Fortunately, 90% of the world agrees with me. But then again we must all be doing something wrong.

Except that from that 88% of Windows users, there are:

*People who agree with you
*People who have never heard of any other OS except for Windows
*People who can't afford a Mac (but like it)

And I seriously doubt that from those people more than half of them agree with you.

 

[RobP]

You see.. This kind of statement really bothers me. Why do you guys do this? Its so embarrassing. You guys trash Windows/ Microsoft / PC's so much but actually I would say Apple is getting further and further behind each day.

1. Why on EARTH is there no 64bit software on Apple machines? Every CGI artist needs to access more than 2.5GB. Answer is Windows / Linux. NOT Apple. Even Photoshop isnt 64bit on Apple. I mean we're talking 2 years+ behind schedule here.

2. Blu-ray / new media technologies. The only reason this isnt available is because it takes sales away from iTunes. This is terrifying. So now, let me get this straight, technology will be limited according to iTunes. How does the consumer win? This is what happened with Netflix.. again a year+ behind PC schedule.

3. Cost. PC's are substantially cheaper. No need to elaborate here.

4. Upgradeability. Because Windows can run on an infinite number of configurations (which many Mac users forget - wow.. how hard it must be to get an operating system stable on 20 different machines), I can get the latest graphics card in my machine whenever I want.

5. Games. Enough said.

6. Mouse. Why do the laptop Macs ship with one mouse button? I have 5 fingers. Is it easier to ctrl click??? Embarrassing.

7. Windows Explorer vs Finder. I havent met any serious person who thinks finder is better at manipulating files.

8. Mini DV adapter. Pleeeeeeeeeeease dont make me go there. (Laughs as he plugs an HDMI cable into his laptop)

9. Green. Apple are still bottom of the PC manufacturers pile for their policies on recycling / environmental. http://www.environmentalleader.com/...-most-eco-friendly-greenpeace-says-different/



So I proudly use a PC. Fortunately, 90% of the world agrees with me. But then again we must all be doing something wrong.

I pretty much agree with most of what is said above, but have still switched to Mac. My big reason for switching being OSX. If OSX were sold as a standard consumer OS I would buy that instead - however if Steve Jobs did this his hardware sales would drop through the floor, so I don't see this happening anytime soon.

Anyone who says Macs are cheap or expandable are lying - period. I have a Mac Pro on order and yes it has numerous easy to get at slots etc, but if the hardware you want to put in isn't supported by OSX (Geforce 290) you are stuffed unless you boot into Windows.

I'm sure most Mac users are like me - they know the pros and cons and pretty much know what they are getting themselves into. I researched for many months and setup a Hackintosh before making my decision to move.

I basically bought a Mac because I want to do things the Mac way using OSX. I don't particularly care that I can get a 'better' Windows system for half the price. At the end of the day it's all down to what an individual wants.

Both Windows based and OSX based machines are good machines and if you are happy with using your machine, then what is the issue?

RobP

 

[jmpage2]

What a selective response. You ignored most of the questions.

1. I know Leopard is 64bit. What 64bit software runs on it? Are you actually saying that you are better off not being able to access all of the memory in your machine?

I'm not sure I follow you on this one. The OS is 64 bit and handles memory management. The OS can address all of the memory in the box, even if an individual application can't handle a particularly massive file.

 

[jmpage2]

Actually I have another question for you guys.

Right now I have all of my media files (music/pictures/videos) on Windows Home Server which presents them to my home network as SMB shares.

How difficult is it going to be for me to get the Mac to see these shares automatically every time I boot it up? Can I point my iTunes library over to the network share with the Mac the same as I currently do with iTunes on my Windows PC?

The WHS box has over 2TB of storage and I'd rather not have to find a way to migrate all of that to a different network service.