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Date:         Fri, 1 Feb 2008 13:36:47 -0500
Reply-To:     craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: NVC - MS vs Mac
Comments: To: Sudhir Desai <sudhir.desai@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <5c80974c0802010908k30189526p42b3786f507416a3@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

As a long time PC user i got fed up with windows as Vista was coming out. I can agree that Ubuntu linux (WHICH IS FREE BY THE WAY!!!) is a wonderful way to get out of windows without having to buy new hardware. Plus, you can "dual boot" with XP (or vista) so you can still have your access to Etka and whatever other programs you need. This is something to consider....

Then....there's mac. OSX is amazing. Its just such a truely wonderful operating system, and the hardware apple uses to back it up is just top notch, in this regard i'm glad they dont really make a "low end" mac thats sold with the idea of having more performance than it really gets. "Macbook" is where its at in my mind, but i have a profound respect for all the other macs as well. The Imac is as perfect a design for a desktop computer as i can comprehend, and in many cases you dont NEED all the power associated with the macbook pros and Mac pros's. My macbook is indestructible, i say that with the greatest of confidence. I have successfully used it in -20* temperatures, carried it through rainstorms, and it lives its life in and out of a backpack and college classrooms. In 6 months of abuse, its lost a little paint around the corners.....many people i know with dells of comperable price range that have tried some of the same stuff as mine, have had major mechanical breaks like the screen hinges actually coming off. The Real world battery life is in a word, amazing, and its everything i could expect from a laptop. Furthermore, with the addition of parallells i can run windows on my macbook. I installed it the first day i bought the computer and expected to need it quite a bit, but as of last week.....i have uninstalled it as i only used it ONCE in 6 months. Theres nothing you cant do on OSX. Programs like Imovie and Iphoto are just "better" in so many ways. I spent alot of time learning Adobe Photoshop and Premier Pro, and i was very good at them, i could make some very nice videos and pictures.....but with the various mac programs i find they may not be quite as powerful....but they are just SOOO easy to use. And when i need the power....i have Adobe Photoshop and premier pro on my mac as well! Microsoft word, powerpoint, excel, all those great office programs that everyone is so dependent on now......they all work on mac, and with the addition of the applecare warranty system, i have only one company warranting all my hardware and software needs. When i have a problem, i give them a call and without ever being put on hold, i'm talking to a well educated employee of "The Genius Bar" at apple's home base in california......not one of Dells 'great' representatives in Gaum or Tailand, or wherever it is they are now. I can't forsee going back to "Windows VISTA!" anytime soon.

If a Mac isn't in your future and you just want to enjoy some of the perks, but find Ubuntu not to be for you (It really is worth trying!), OSX86 project might come into play. Assuming your up for creating a product that is so unique few people can help you with it (like putting a subaru into a vanagon and needing a mechanic....), OSX86 project is a great way to learn. http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page To sum it up...... All PC's for some time were on an X86 based platform. The reason Macs had a monopoly on their own hardware and software combinations, and keeping companies like Dell from being able to select their operating system to run on their computers, is Apples were not an X86 based platform....untill now. A few years back, with the addition of the macbook line and new imacs, apple went from the G4/G5 processor series to using Intel Core Duo (Now Core 2 Duo) chips making Macs, X86. With this switch, a new version of OSX came out that ran natively on these new machines. It wasn't long before some creative coders managed to unlock some of the features of the operating system, and get it to run on other X86 machines. As time has passed, they have created a very detailed list of what hardware works and what hardware does not on OSX86, and have even discovered some computers that have full compatibility (some dells for instance). While a macbook may cost $1000, a $700 dell might be able to do all the same things, while running OSX. I did the OSX86 thing for a while, it was fun and impressive.....but i've moved on for reliability and support.

Computers are more fun when you get to use them the way they were designed, and not spend your entire days trying to pioneer a way to make something work temporarily. The weak link in vanagons seems to be the engines, the weak link in computers....to me.....seems to be VISTA.

-Craig '85GL Mac user, big fan.

On Feb 1, 2008 12:08 PM, Sudhir Desai <sudhir.desai@gmail.com> wrote:

> Larry, > Why do you need to choose? > Both mac, and others are using the same intel bits nowadays. > You can install OSX onto your Dell(as an example), and Windows onto > your Macintosh. > :D > > Sudhir > > On Feb 1, 2008 11:22 AM, Larry Chase <roadguy@roadhaus.com> wrote: > > Volks, > > > > Friday NVC - Windows vs Mac inquiry > > > > I think I have finally had it with Windows based computers. > > > > No matter what I do .. Over time they seem to clog, slow down, crash > more > > frequently, are a > > pain in the B*tt and tech support really, really S*CKS! > > > > So I'm thinking of going over to the "light side" MAC. > > > > Although it may take several months to complete the conversion and I may > > still need to hold onto 1 MS system to > > run ETKA and such. > > > > Got my eye on a 42" HD TV first :) > > > > Thoughts, encouragement, discouragement, opinions ... All would be very > > welcome. > > > > I wonder if this topic will be as spirited as tire and engine conversion > > discussions. > > > > One can only hope. > > > > > > good road, > > good adventure, > > good life, > > > > larry chase > > www.roadhaus.com > > www.roadhaus.com/recipes.html > > www.roadhaus.com/camp.php > > www.roadhaus.com/shops.php > > www.roadhaus.com/tires.html > > www.roadhaus.com/face_book.html > > >


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