You're Doing it Wrong! - Why I Switched From Mac to PC

[Abstract]

I've been thinking similar things to yourself I suppose what really tips the boat for me is Apple's arrogance with certain issues such as removing Firewire from Macbooks for instance - I know its a can of worms to mention it but it gets the point across-

Locking users out of a certain functions making things difficult, seemingly just for the sake of it which is hard to explain but after using a Mac for a while one want's to do a bit more than the current system allows, if you know what I mean?

I feel the same.

I really think that with regards to Apple's laptop line, the options are lacking, and perhaps the solution is, believe it or not, a 4rd line of laptops (if you include the MacBook Air as its own line). This FireWire, glossy screen "issue" is a simple example. Apple designed the MBP and MB to have a very similar appearance, but an essential part of their new design (aesthetically speaking) is based around having that high-gloss glass screen.

Rather than making us choose either this laptop or that laptop, they could create another laptop model without the consumer frills, but with all the "work" related frills like matte screen, firewire, 4-in-1 card reader, esata, and perhaps even a 3rd USB slot in their 15" MBP. Perhaps not all of them, but a few of them.

I'm not telling Apple that their MB and MBP design is bad or incomplete for everyone, but that there are some people who are more interested in achieving their goals and accomplish tasks with their laptop more than anything else.


SJ once said that you need to think long and hard before you add a feature, because once you add it in, it's nearly impossible to take it away from the customer. Well, they started taking things away, and now I don't understand what they're thinking.

 

[leekohler]

I feel the same.

I really think that with regards to Apple's laptop line, the options are lacking, and perhaps the solution is, believe it or not, a 4rd line of laptops (if you include the MacBook Air as its own line). This FireWire, glossy screen "issue" is a simple example. Apple designed the MBP and MB to have a very similar appearance, but an essential part of their new design (aesthetically speaking) is based around having that high-gloss glass screen.

Rather than making us choose either this laptop or that laptop, they could create another laptop model without the consumer frills, but with all the "work" related frills like matte screen, firewire, 4-in-1 card reader, esata, and perhaps even a 3rd USB slot in their 15" MBP. Perhaps not all of them, but a few of them.

I'm not telling Apple that their MB and MBP design is bad or incomplete for everyone, but that there are some people who are more interested in achieving their goals and accomplish tasks with their laptop more than anything else.


SJ once said that you need to think long and hard before you add a feature, because once you add it in, it's nearly impossible to take it away from the customer. Well, they started taking things away, and now I don't understand what they're thinking.

I see this as a huge problem too. In this day and age and economy, Apple should be looking to give people MORE, not less. I think this is going to hurt them, not help them in the long run.

 

[Keebler]

hey, thanks for sharing. i like the theme being a personal experience rather than rant about one OS over the other.

For me, I used PCs exclusively and then I ventured into the mac world. I'm loving it and they do the trick for me where a PC couldn't (at the time..things may have changed).

I won't go back simply b/c i've invested enough hardware and software with apple, it works (so why break it and I love how everything is well-integrated wrt software. Just seems more intuitive to me.

From a gaming point of view, i don't play much at all. If I was, I probably would have a PC b/c it seems to be easier to upgrade the parts to the latest and greatest.

happy computing,
keebler

 

[GGGUUUYYY]

After six months of heavy use running AutoCAD, Inventor, Word, Excel and general use i've really noticed my computer slow down. Doing some cleaning like the disk cleanup but i've notice there is alot of excess files compared to OSX.

Personally i enjoy playing with OSX more than windows just because that what i grew up on getting hand me down apple computers.

 

[barkmonster]

A lot of the appeal of the mac to the windows crowd has got to be the "different" factor.

You've being a mac guy for a long time, found a lot of software that suits your needs that is windows only and gone for the "different" OS, Windows!

I personally saw the macintosh platform as the only alternative when my Atari became a dinosaur, I'd used a Mac Plus for DTP in high school, an early Power Mac for DTP at work, was unimpressed by windows 95 in comparison even though I found the manual memory management of the Classic Mac OS annoying in comparison, OS X is a dream compared with what I started out with and even Vista is cumbersome for simple file management tasks in comparison with the Finder of OS X.

From a software point of view, I agree with you, there is more for windows in a lot situations but some times it's an "availability" issue even if the software is cross platform...

I like to try audio plug-ins and software synths before I shell out any money for them because there's so much out there that claims to be just what I'm looking for and demos are often not available to go with any positive reviews I find.

If it's of genuine use, isn't a resource hog and I can justify the cost, I'll buy it but more often than not, there's little to sway me into using more than I already have and I end up deleting them with nothing lost.

You can find infinitely more "windows only" versions of cross platform software on the torrent sites. That means you can 'demo' software more easily but that behaviour is half the reason viruses are such a problem on the windows platform.

Just out of interest, have you made it a "hackintosh" yet and installed Leopard to see how it performs as a mac?

I feel the same.

I really think that with regards to Apple's laptop line, the options are lacking, and perhaps the solution is, believe it or not, a 4rd line of laptops (if you include the MacBook Air as its own line). This FireWire, glossy screen "issue" is a simple example. Apple designed the MBP and MB to have a very similar appearance, but an essential part of their new design (aesthetically speaking) is based around having that high-gloss glass screen.

Rather than making us choose either this laptop or that laptop, they could create another laptop model without the consumer frills, but with all the "work" related frills like matte screen, firewire, 4-in-1 card reader, esata, and perhaps even a 3rd USB slot in their 15" MBP. Perhaps not all of them, but a few of them.

I'm not telling Apple that their MB and MBP design is bad or incomplete for everyone, but that there are some people who are more interested in achieving their goals and accomplish tasks with their laptop more than anything else.


SJ once said that you need to think long and hard before you add a feature, because once you add it in, it's nearly impossible to take it away from the customer. Well, they started taking things away, and now I don't understand what they're thinking.

I agree with you on the laptops. A friend of mine had a 17" Sony Vaio 4 years ago with 2Gb RAM, dual 2.5 HD bays, firewire, wi-fi USB etc... and if it ran OS X and had the CPU power of the C2D and C2Q laptops of today with at least equal if not even more expandability, a "matte" screen and eSATA connectors it would be the "perfect" laptop a lot of users are looking for.

Audio people would fit an SSD as the system drive for fast start ups and patch loading and record to the 7,200 HDD it came with, Photo editors would do the opposite and use the SSD as a lightning fast scratch disk, everyone gets what they want and you could still dual boot or use Parallels or Fusion to run windows if you wanted to.

 

[Hmac]

Just the opposite for me. I switched from Windows XP to Mac OSX. I do have XP loaded on my Mac Pro and use it with Boot Camp for playing games, but virtually everything else, I restart Mac OSX. Truly, the more I use OSX, the more dissatisfied I am with Windows, and the performance of the PC's I use at work.

 

[Silencio]

[...] I can avoid that slowdown by paying a lot of attention to my OS. Not only do I have all sorts of anti-virus features in place, but I also make sure I keep everything as optimized as possible.

And although this is kind of a hassle, I find that reformatting frequently (every 6 months?) is a good way to keep things running well. It's not neccesary, but it isn't too big of a deal. I have a folder set up that I keep every installer for every app I download, and every save and pref file for games and apps. It makes a reformat quick and efficient.

As I've gotten older and more involved with other aspects of my life, the prospect of spending any more time than absolutely necessary to maintain my computers really pains me. Many times I feel like I work more for my Windows machines than they do working for me. With Mac OS X, it's almost always the exact opposite.

Most users are not "enthusiasts". They don't see tweaking registry files or manually defragging their disks as "fun" things: they seem them as chores that take away from time they could be using to do actual productive work.

I have quite a lot of little gripes about Apple these days, but the experience of using Leopard is just vastly superior to that of using XP or Vista. I get a kick out of hacking and tweaking hardware as much as the next dweeb, but all the joy drains away when I start to load Windows. In the end, the benefits of Mac OS X trump all the different hardware choices available to Windows users.

I will totally agree with a poster above that competition is good, and Windows still needs a lot more of it in order to make a truly heterogenous computing world a reality.

Windows 7 might end up being a great OS. But given Microsoft's recent track record, I think it's clear why many people are skeptical that they'll release it on time and with a minimum amount of nasty problems.

 

[EmperorDarius]

As I've gotten older and more involved with other aspects of my life, the prospect of spending any more time than absolutely necessary to maintain my computers really pains me. Many times I feel like I work more for my Windows machines than they do working for me. With Mac OS X, it's almost always the exact opposite.

Most users are not "enthusiasts". They don't see tweaking registry files or manually defragging their disks as "fun" things: they seem them as chores that take away from time they could be using to do actual productive work.

I have quite a lot of little gripes about Apple these days, but the experience of using Leopard is just vastly superior to that of using XP or Vista. I get a kick out of hacking and tweaking hardware as much as the next dweeb, but all the joy drains away when I start to load Windows. In the end, the benefits of Mac OS X trump all the different hardware choices available to Windows users.

I agree. It may look fun, perhaps at the beginning, to run a computer cleaning program, a registry cleaning program every day, and then defragmenting and maybe formatting every 6 months. But then it becomes just terribly annoying (especially if you have a lot of programs you have to reinstall after each formatting).
But well, the important thing is that the thread starter is happy. Have fun.

 

[okrelayer]

it all depends on what your doing with your computer. You obviously like playing games. So its definitly logical to get a windows pc. I NEVER play games. I write,record, and produce music. So useing Logic Pro, and Garage Band is a deal breaker to me.

I also love the operating system. I find that, though Windows has MORE of a software selection, macs software typically is better made, looks better, and has less problems. I also live in the iLife suit. Managing all of my pictures, and movies is a snap. I know its a bit of a mac fanboi-ness, and i surly do not hate microsoft windows. But for my activitys, useing a mac is better in the long run.

 

[-hh]

As I've gotten older and more involved with other aspects of my life, the prospect of spending any more time than absolutely necessary to maintain my computers really pains me. Many times I feel like I work more for my Windows machines than they do working for me. With Mac OS X, it's almost always the exact opposite.

Most users are not "enthusiasts". They don't see tweaking registry files or manually defragging their disks as "fun" things: they seem them as chores that take away from time they could be using to do actual productive work.

+1 on this ... like eighty billion times over

What I love about my Windows PCs is ... that they're at work, so when there's any sort of problem, I just call IT and put in a Ticket. They come and fix it, automagically.

What I love about my Macs is ... that since I don't have 'free' IT service at home, they have the courtesy of very rarely causing me any problems for which I'd probably lose half a weekend fixing.

I will totally agree with a poster above that competition is good, and Windows still needs a lot more of it in order to make a truly heterogenous computing world a reality.

Windows 7 might end up being a great OS. But given Microsoft's recent track record, I think it's clear why many people are skeptical that they'll release it on time and with a minimum amount of nasty problems.

As a longtime personal computer user, I've lived (suffered) through the Microsoft Monopoly days. I won't forgive them for driving Lotus, Wordperfect, etc, etc, out of business ... until the GANTT-or-die! MS-Project dies a deservedly horrible bloody death under a big truck from Death Race 2000, because innovative project creation requires plotting with a PERT. This flaw in MS-Project serves to illustrate that they're not creators, but merely implimentors...MS-Project is only a scheduling tool for the drones.

Bring Back Mac Project!


-hh

 

[Melrose]

Many times I feel like I work more for my Windows machines than they do working for me. With Mac OS X, it's almost always the exact opposite.

Most users are not "enthusiasts". They don't see tweaking registry files or manually defragging their disks as "fun" things: they seem them as chores that take away from time they could be using to do actual productive work.

That is so true - I spent more time either waiting for or trying to fix my PCs I honestly began to dislike using computers altogether. Now, I just use my computer and don't think twice about it... I was forced to learn how to handle the registry and do regular, weekly system maintenance to keep it running at anything close to tolerably well. All my experience on Mac has been equally smooth. I'm not saying perfect, but a damn far cry better than what i had before. I believe Mac is on an entirely different scale of long-term usability.

And competition is great, yeh - but in my experience M$ has A LOT of catching up to do on basic system reliability before they can even begin to compete with OSX. That said, kudos to the OP for picking what works for him.

 

[marbles]

a little background....

I am quite disappointed with Apple's attitude at times but I do appreciate OS X , it is great for doing run of the mill computer stuff, I've only been using a computer since 2005 and I have learned so much now , considering that in 2004 I didn't even know what USB was........ as for actually turning on a computer ,I didn't have had a clue.

I chose an iMac G5 in July (I think) 2005 , it broke <edit> to cut a very long story short every Apple machine has been replaced or repaired in the first few weeks of ownership so I have had to learn quickly as each replacement had to be thoroughly tested, basically because if something go's wrong I have to know how to fix it or at least try too no matter what 'it' may be.

I have enjoyed learning to use a computer with the Macs I've had over the last few years, I appreciate the way it's all put together, so slickly( for the most part) and it is kind of sexy in a weird electronic obsessive sort of way, I'm the same with amps etc

Trouble is I get left with the feeling I'm missing something when I use OSX, so I speak to folk who use windows and even try it myself , it seems ok and I've had no major problems when using it although I have only done run of the mill stuff like I did with the Macs initially.

I guess I'll be buying a windows laptop in the near future though if one or two things are not changed with the refreshed Macbooks when we are 'allowed' to see them, don't even get me started on the long over due Mac Mini refresh.

So many odd decisions are made by Apple IMHO, I just don't understand why they do what they do sometimes,.... all you long time Mac users here know what I'm talking about.

Windows & OS X at the end of the day are both basically the same and so I'll use a Windows laptop for the net as no matter what they say a windows machine is just less hassle to use sometimes as it just works on the net.

I'll stick with a Mac for audio work IF some things get changed ie:FW, if not I will get a new hobby and use the money I'd have spent on the Mac to do it.

I don't want to do the windows route, as I, like others want the little guy to get our money and I support the 'underdog' too but in these times Apple is making me think l o n g and hard about buying a machine from them in the future, they are beginning to act like the 'top dog' with no respect IMO and that's a real shame to me because when I first heard the Mac story and started to look into buying my first computer it was what I'd heard about Windows bully boy tactics that put me off and so I went with the smaller (more expensive for the same thing) company that appeared to care for it's customers and listen to there needs.

I wish they'd have a reality check holiday or something , make all Apple employees go live with someone who has owned a Mac for more than three years, now there's a way to get some honest feedback in Apple, from your long standing paying customers, you know the bread and butter

apologies if I'm ranting , it's late, I need sleep , I can't sleep because my pain meds are keeping me awake And I have just bought a car that is basically a wreck looks like I'm going to have to learn how to fix cars.......

 

[djellison]

Many times I feel like I work more for my Windows machines than they do working for me. With Mac OS X, it's almost always the exact opposite.

For me - it feels the opposite. (I use both, regularly). Under OSX - I'm only ever doing things in the way that Steve Jobs wants me to be doing it. With XP, I can just get on and do what I want.

Doug

 

[Love]

So, you had an iPiphany.

 

[0098386]

Wait a few months when windows slow down inexplicably. Over time, the time you need to spend to fix windows will offset any perceived savings.

That is the reason people are switching to Macs.

I much prefer OSX to XP but from my experience-

I've spent 95% of my iMacs time in XP since October last year, I'm using up 50% of the 32gb I allocated to it whilst OSX has 116gb and loads free. For whatever reason OSX is getting slow too. Bootups are much slower than what they were, launching an app takes a couple more icon bounces. If anything now it's quicker for me to boot into XP and launch Mozilla than it is to get into OSX and launch Safari (though I still find OSX Safari the quickest browser I've used).

Both systems need maintenance. I defrag XP once every week - no more maintenance required. OSX? I don't know what to do. I run YASU every week but I still don't get the old speed back. It's quick for a few weeks after a fresh format though.

I just wish OSX had a built in defrag and other maintenance bits without needing Terminal knowledge or paying for 3rd party apps.
Maybe I'm just lucky or "doing it right". But I don't install loads of software, I don't get viruses, I've had less problems with XP than OSX in the past few years.

 

[Sun Baked]

I'm glad this is in the "proper forum", since this thread belongs right next to ...

Poll: How many squares of toilet paper do you use per "application"?

 

[mithrilfox]

I grew up on Windows since DOS.... I remember how nice 3.11 seemed. I also grew up with a growing hatred for the crap that Windows made me endure. I put my own machines together, but Windows was always the weak chain in the link for me.

When I finally switched after a decade, I loved Mac. Not flawless in every regard, but it's infinitely better than Windows in everything but accessibility of games for me (for me... I don't use business apps).

I then started playing one game a lot, and mainly used a PC I built. I hated Windows. Vista, XP, they all suck... bad... real bad.

I hated it so much I broke down and "forced" Mac OS X on my PC (hackintosh). Now I'm happily running Mac OS X again.. and believe it or not, when I tried to install Vista on a second drive, it gave me crap... lots of crap. Froze up again and again, finally installed but updates froze while downloading... reboot froze at "Configuring Updates."

Reinstalled... froze again. SAME hardware, SAME EVERYTHING! Leopard was easier to install on my PC than Windows Vista!

Installed XP instead... could not get Vista to run again. It worked last time, what's wrong this time? Who cares, it's Windows, it's garbage.

I love Mac. I hate so much about how Windows works...

DLLs... registry... IE integration... ActiveX... the system tray... stay-resident programs... bloatware, crapware, viruses, malware, trojans, the visual look of the OS, the craptastic rip-off of Aqua (Aero), crappy move towards the "see-through operating system" (lame transparency for fake "futuristic" look), memory hogging, lame product distribution forcing you to choose one flavor of Windows... etc...

Now if only Mac would release a simple mid-level tower model. ... if only.

 

[jaw04005]

Your thread is interesting as I just purchased a Dell XPS Studio a few weeks ago and it arrives tomorrow.

The new Dell XPS Studio will replace my aging Dell Dimension 8300 (Pentium 4 @ 3Ghz).

I hope I get as much leverage out of the XPS Studio as the Dimension. I bought the Dimension in January 2003, and it's been my workhorse PC ever since.

I installed Windows 7 on my Dimension, and I must say it runs extremely well. I was pleasantly surprised. I've been using Windows 7 as my primary PC operating system since November, and absolutely love it.

Ironically, if Apple offered a Mac similar to the XPS Studio with Core i7, I probably would have purchased it. But Apple chooses to turn its nose up at those of us who want a mid-range tower.

I like the Mac ecosystem (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, MobileMe, iChat, QuickTime, etc), but I'm not willing to shell out 3x as much ($920 to $2799 Mac Pro) for similar performance and expandability.

You know there's a market for people who want a Mac with:

1) The ability to drive more than one monitor
2) Basic storage expandability including at least two hard drives, tray-loading CD/DVD drives (not slow, gimped slot-loading drives), etc
3) Swappable video card
4) Desktop (not portable or server) processors

Which XPS Studio did you buy, OP? I got all of this for $920 + tax.

Dell XPS Studio
Core i7 920 2.66Ghz
500GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 3850
6GB of DDR3 Ram
One DVD-R/+R 16x Burner
One DVD/CD-R Drive
23" 1080p LCD Monitor

 

[Benguitar]

Is this Bill Gates?

ROFL!!!!!

 

[nplima]

I miss my Mac sometimes

Hi All,

<iRant>
I think of myself as being a computer enthusiast, not so much OS/software specific ... erm... fanboy
Having grown up with ZX Spectrum computers and jumped to PCs with DOS and then Windows, Macs are something I always thought would be just too expensive for me and never cared much. I learned to live with shortcomings of Windows 3.11, then 95, then XP and Vista. At some point I decided to see what the fuss was all about and got a Powermac G4 on eBay. I liked it enough to go back to eBay and get a Powerbook G4. Months later I decided to move to a different country and sold the Macs - it would be just too expensive for me to use the tiBook as the sole computer, compared to getting a new Laptop PC, a TV Tuner, printer and other small things that I needed fr my adventure abroad. For my mother I got a Mac Mini and this was to ensure that Skype would always work with minimum maintenance.

I am writing this using that Mini and despite the lack of horsepower and the problems I still had with Skype and a USB microphone & webcam, it's still a machine I enjoy using. The fact of the matter is that the difference between these different platforms is not only what is in the box with OS X, XP, Vista and Ubuntu Linux. It's the quality of the rest of the software that is required that makes the computing experience good or bad. With Windows, I feel that there is a horde of software manufacturers trying to fight for my undivided attention, trying to update things and to push other software in my face. This applies to unknown small companies and to big and essential products like Adobe Reader, Sun's Java, iTunes/Quicktime and Skype.

The notification area on Windows 7 is going to be revamped and with good reason. Whoever wants to see status messages from the software should log in as admin and check the logs manually. As it is today, the lack of usability and the way that all software tries to get cursor focus is absurd. I have seen my passwords showing up in clear view because of splash screens and idiotic software deciding it needs to be in front of what I am doing. Heavens help other OSs from getting this kind of low quality software add-ons.

So, to sum this up, great that Windows Vista and XP are much better than their predecessors. Shame on the rest of the Windows "ecosystem" for developing such rubbish without caring for what the user needs to do with their PCs.
</iRant>

 

[numbersyx]

Your thread is interesting as I just purchased a Dell XPS Studio a few weeks ago and it arrives tomorrow.

The new Dell XPS Studio will replace my aging Dell Dimension 8300 (Pentium 4 @ 3Ghz).

I hope I get as much leverage out of the XPS Studio as the Dimension. I bought the Dimension in January 2003, and it's been my workhorse PC ever since.

I installed Windows 7 on my Dimension, and I must say it runs extremely well. I was pleasantly surprised. I've been using Windows 7 as my primary PC operating system since November, and absolutely love it.

Ironically, if Apple offered a Mac similar to the XPS Studio with Core i7, I probably would have purchased it. But Apple chooses to turn its nose up at those of us who want a mid-range tower.

I like the Mac ecosystem (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, MobileMe, iChat, QuickTime, etc), but I'm not willing to shell out 3x as much ($920 to $2799 Mac Pro) for similar performance and expandability.

You know there's a market for people who want a Mac with:

1) The ability to drive more than one monitor
2) Basic storage expandability including at least two hard drives, tray-loading CD/DVD drives (not slow, gimped slot-loading drives), etc
3) Swappable video card
4) Desktop (not portable or server) processors

Which XPS Studio did you buy, OP? I got all of this for $920 + tax.

Dell XPS Studio
Core i7 920 2.66Ghz
500GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 3850
6GB of DDR3 Ram
One DVD-R/+R 16x Burner
One DVD/CD-R Drive
23" 1080p LCD Monitor

Similar performance to quad core chips???? Or in a few month 8 core ones? Don't think so...

 

[Winni]

All Apple platforms are heavily controlled and restricted. I strongly disapprove of OS X iPhone (and iPod Touch) for that reason to a degree where I almost hate it.

However, OS X lets me do anything that I need to do or want to do - with more user friendly applications than are available for Windows. Just compare everyday things like Handbrake or VLC on both systems. They should be identical, shouldn't they? Well, they're not. The Windows versions are ugly and feel strangely alien.

The first thing that I miss on Windows - and I've been a Windows user since version 3.0 - is drag & drop everything, everywhere. In Windows, I always have to take de-tours even for basic stuff. Although Windows Vista itself feels faster than OS X Leopard, -- I -- am faster on OS X. And that is the only performance boos that ultimately counts. And, again: I'm a regular Mac user only since the beginning of 2005, but I've been using Microsoft products since the dawn of time - DOS 1.0 - and know the platform inside-out.

There's also the "Tamagotchi-effect" of Windows: Bubble-boxes everywhere, continuously informing me about crap that I don't want or need to know. Yeah, I know that I've plugged in that USB device. Just use it, will ya! Oh, you've updated your virus signature file. Great. That's what I expected. Why are you telling me that? Please only bother me if you --FAILED-- to do so. In other words: Windows and its average software always detract me from what I am trying to concentrate on, while the Mac just lets me do my crap.

Then, of course, there is the question of design. Apple stuff is beautiful out of the box. I don't need to customize it or tweak the UI. That's important for me, because I enjoy beautiful things.

Still, it comes at a price. While Windows, although it comes from "the evil empire", is a very open platform for everybody and every purpose, the Apple world feels closed in every imaginable way. And that software developers have to agree to an NDA just to get the development tools already says it all.

In the Windows world I have a huge choice of development tools and languages from a large number of manufacturers - free and proprietary. In Apple land, I am extremely restricted, especially when I want to write NATIVE applications for OS X (which basically excludes Java and most open source products). And I usually have to use an ugly and antique language that nobody else in the world except for Apple uses to get the job done: Objective-C. That. Is. Not. Attractive.

The next thing is that I can choose my hardware from exactly one vendor: Apple. And at the end of the day nobody cares whether Macs are so gorgeous and well designed. It doesn't matter. If I want to use a computer on an oil rig, in a submarine, a battle cruiser, in Antarctica or somewhere in a desert storm, I need outdoor hardware that Apple does not produce.

The killer argument for Windows is that it runs on almost any available computer system. And that I can build a computer per my own requirements and specifications to run my software on. I don't have to depend on ONE vendor for EVERYTHING.

And that's the Apple deadlock: They won't ever gain significant market share unless they open their software platform to third party vendors.

 

[jaw04005]

Similar performance to quad core chips???? Or in a few month 8 core ones? Don't think so...

What are you talking about? The 920 Core i7 is a quad-core chip, and it supports 8 threads (or in Intel marketing speak, 8 total cores, 4 real + 4 logical = 8 threads).

The same amount of threads as the current Mac Pro (2 x quad-core XEON processors = 8 total cores, 8 real = 8 threads).

Additionally, the Dell XPS Studio has even beat out the current Mac Pro on benchmark tests.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6968425/

The forthcoming new XEONs are practically the same chip as the current crop of Core i7 chips, just available in dual socket configurations.

 

[barr08]

What are you talking about? The 920 Core i7 is a quad-core chip, and it supports 8 threads (or in Intel marketing speak, 8 total cores, 4 real + 4 logical = 8 threads).

The same amount of threads as the current Mac Pro (2 x quad-core XEON processors = 8 total cores, 8 real = 8 threads).

Additionally, the Dell XPS Studio has even beat out the current Mac Pro on benchmark tests.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/6968425/

The forthcoming new XEONs are practically the same chip as the current crop of Core i7 chips, just available in dual socket configurations.

You will not be dissapointed with the i7's speed, btw. FWOOOOOSH

I like where this thread went, and I liked reading everyone's opinions. Those who are bashing it clearly didn't take the time to read the interesting opinions and facts that people brought to this thread.

 

[jaw04005]

You will not be dissapointed with the i7's speed, btw. FWOOOOOSH.

It arrives today, and I have a clean desk ready and waiting!