Switching to Mac, still a reasonsble thing to do?

[KingYaba]

I'm not too happy with Apple's current hardware offerings and price points. So, I built a computer myself. Learning to use Ubuntu is easy and that's what I did. So is Mac a reasonable thing to do? In my opinion it's not. At least not today. Their notebook line is in need of a refresh and it's anyone's guess when that's happening. I'm lookin' forward to the whole desktop + netbook setup from now on instead of a $2,000 laptop from Apple.

 

[Xenophon]

KingYaba, 8 years back I also ran Linux, compiled gentoo from scratch and had a very performant system. Unfortunately it also meant a lot of tinkering, investing time in maintenance etc. My conclusion was/is that linux is good for 2 categories of users: a) those who only surf, use mail and occasionally do some document-editing or b) true geeks who want to invest a lot of time in tuning/maintenance. I've yet to see any linux-distro that approaches OS/X in terms of integration and ease of use. For most people it's just not an option. I agree with your point on apple's hardware pricing, though.

 

[macrumorsMaster]

KingYaba, 8 years back I also ran Linux, compiled gentoo from scratch and had a very performant system. Unfortunately it also meant a lot of tinkering, investing time in maintenance etc. My conclusion was/is that linux is good for 2 categories of users: a) those who only surf, use mail and occasionally do some document-editing or b) true geeks who want to invest a lot of time in tuning/maintenance. I've yet to see any linux-distro that approaches OS/X in terms of integration and ease of use. For most people it's just not an option. I agree with your point on apple's hardware pricing, though.

That was 8 years ago, have you even tried linux today? Ubuntu and others make it so easy to install linux and install & uninstalling software is even easier than OS X.

 

[KingYaba]

I've yet to see any linux-distro that approaches OS/X in terms of integration and ease of use. For most people it's just not an option.

Have a look at Ubuntu's latest release (10.4 "Lucid Lynx"). The last few releases have been better than the first. I know there's some issues like when they pushed Pulse Audio on people when it was too soon but for the most part, Ubuntu is starting to be comparable. Ease of use? There's an app for almost everything. Installing/uninstalling programs is simple to do. You have many choices. You can do it by hand in the terminal, you can use the software center, you can use .deb packages, and you can use Synaptic Package Manager. And if you feel compelled you can compile your own. Installing Ubuntu is just as easy as installing OS X. For an average computer user, all they need to do is spend one Saturday afternoon watching YouTube videos about Ubuntu and they'll know what it's about and how to use it. Want a dock? Install Awn. Like Quicksilver on that Mac side? Install Gnome-Do.

I think every Mac user reading this post should download the latest Ubuntu release (9.10) and size off a 10 GB partition. OS X is still awesome, though. Still can't use Photoshop reasonably on Linux (WINE is terrible) and if you like Keynote well you're out of luck on that part. Office work can be done with Open Office. I use Audacity regularly like I used to on OS X. Haven't really missed a beat on that front. I know, as an OS X user it's hard to find a good reason to use Ubuntu or any Linux distro for that matter. You have that Mac hardware after all...

 

[Mal67]

C'mon apple what next for mac?

I have been hoping apple would produce a low cost i3 or i5 mini or imac for some weeks now. While I've no doubt that something will be released at some point there are some great deals out there on i3, i5 and i7 notebooks and desktops from the other manufacturers which are a reasonably priced way to upgrade to new processing tech.
PS Can't wait to see what specs the ipad has and how it is being used in two or three years time.