Well dejavu. I'm planning to switch to mac [...] Now I'm wondering if I will even like os x. (my mac experience is very limited I used System 6 (I think) to mac os x 10.0)
I am sure that you will like OS X. No one cannot not enjoy it. But, in my modest opinion, Mac OS and Apple hardware are not the right choice for you
now.
Apple libraries are wonderful. But I think that you can really enjoy them and understand why they are so wonderful only after you have fought against other APIs, in particular Microsoft APIs.
Unix system programming is better under Linux because
- the Unix kernel shipped with Mac OS does not correspond to the public distribution of Darwin =>
- the Unix part of Mac OS is slightly different from the "common" (FreeBSD) one (or obviously linux). The core part of the OS is not hidden or partially public as in, respectively, Windows or OS X. You can find a lot of stuff to learn from. You can participate in real projects in the open source world.
System graphics programming with the Microsoft APIs is quite important. You can understand how graphics libraries have evolved. From the X window system in Linux you can study another different approach to a window manager. Mac OS X is too advanced: it's not bad, but everyone should know a little "history"
Other languages, like Java, are supported much better on platforms different from OS X. And you should not learn only Objective C. It's not as good as they say: study C under linux, C++ under windows.
If you mean computer administration, you can do it on any platform. But if you mean hardware manteinance, Apple hardware, in its current form, is not for you. Buy a cheap PC, open it, mess with whatever you see inside, exchange parts, add hard drives, configure raids... At your age you are interested in such exercises (I was). I can assure you that when you become older you will lose all the interest in it. If you buy apple hardware you are stuck with those components and that's it.
-Video editing (only used Window's movie maker and Sony Vegas PRO trial)
-Garage Band (my school had garage band and I was in love with it
)
-3D modeling (blender)
-Virus/Spyware removal
-using windows (under bootcamp if have mac)
- tweaking
-Doing risky stuff (Like doing a risk take such as installing another os by partitioning for my first time)
-Linux
You can do those on whatever platform (software and hardware) you choose.
-Being reliable when I'm sad (I actuall don't like ease of use and reliability sometimes it's not awarding lol. That does not matter at all lol)
Vista, Linux and Mac OS are all quite reliable.
Couldn't understand what you mean.
Here's some stuff I hate:
-Being locked in (not able to install linux for example)
-Too easy to use that a computer newbie can become pro (it's offending to people who spend years learning about computers--in my opinion)
Among the three platforms, Apple is the most locked one. Mac OS hides many advanced features. If Mac OS is a little open it's only for its Unix foundation. On Mac OS it's difficult to get access to early previews, you have a limited hardware choice, ...
In conclusion, I think that to fully appreciate the Mac OS you have first to understand the other two great OS around: windows and linux. Once you have worked with them, you do realize the great work behind Mac OS and you will automatically switch.
Buy a PC now. Mess with it, use windows, use linux. Exercise in GUI programming with native windows API, in system programming in Linux, in multiplatform development with both of them... in few years you will understand the reason why so many people buy apple hardware even if it is so expensive and lousy. The only reason being Mac OS and its great programming libraries.
Do not choose Mac now: it's too early.
thistle
The newest one is really bad, it uses icam to take pictures of you, keylogs your keystrokes, share your files, and more.
