Eccentric old man or revolutionary?, Tomorrow, I abandon Microsoft Options

[Brotoi]

Tomorrow I am buying an iMac. I will not use Bootcamp to create a Vista/XP partition. I will not even buy the Macintosh compatible version of MS-Office.

Leopard is everything Vista should have been, but is not. I will still be working on Kandonda, naturally, but when it comes time to test the game, I guess I'll have to sit back and cheer loudly.

Am I on the leading edge of a new direction for the industry, or merely eccentric? Probably just eccentric, but I can hope!

Have any of you programmer types considered switching to XCode?

[njpaul]

Have any of you programmer types considered switching to XCode?

Nope. I hate Macs, although not because I don't like the technology. I don't like the culture that usually comes along with it (just about every douchbag-like college art or humanities student), I don't like Steve Jobs, I don't like the "Apple Tax", I don't like how often they break (my friend knows of 4 people this year who've had to get a new one, and these machines were only a year old), and I don't like their commercials (most of the info they present is false, and the Mac guy perfectly represents the Mac stereotype I hate so much). Maybe if we get this game done I'll consider buying one just for porting. Until then I'm keeping away from anything from Apple, unless the "issues" I presented above are cleared up.

[Mole]

I will admit that I have been thinking about getting a new Mac too, although for different reasons than Brotoi. I have been thinking about getting a Mac so that I can load Linux on it with the hopes of it becoming my main development and coding machine.

I am not fully convinced that this is something I want to do though, so I have not pulled the trigger yet.

Do not misunderstand me -- I am completely happy with my PC, and if pressed, I will grudgingly admit to liking the Windows installation I have running on it since I spent the time to configure it for me.

I would not get a Mac to allow me to run MacOS. Njpaul, I tend to feel the same way about Macs as you do.

-Mole

[Jerky]

Leopard is everything Vista should have been, but is not. I will still be working on Kandonda, naturally, but when it comes time to test the game, I guess I'll have to sit back and cheer loudly.

Am I on the leading edge of a new direction for the industry, or merely eccentric? Probably just eccentric, but I can hope!

Have any of you programmer types considered switching to XCode?

You're not eccentric, you're just part of the new wave of people who want something new. Just like people who will tire (or already have) of WoW, all good things come to an end. You know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side. Just make sure to stay objective when you can't do everything ever on a Mac.

Oh, and Leopard has arguably more bugs than Tiger. I had to set one up on our network for our marketer, and it is still a major pain in my butt to this day. Leopard doesn't like to play nice with windows networks, even with Samba configured correctly, it takes 15-20 minutes to open a 10mb file, which on windows takes 3 seconds. That's not my idea of great and perfect. Mac still needs to come a hell of a long way to make it in the business world, as illustrated in this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0gRgls2eYc

I won't tell anyone they won't like a Mac, cause if they want to change, there is nothing to stop them. It's only a matter of time before they either have to ask someone with a PC to do something for them, or they come back, however. Heck, I'd even run Linux before I'd run a Mac.

[Brotoi]

"douche-bag art or humanities student"?

My degree is in humanities (Comparative Culture with an emphasis in history & literature)...

[Jerky]

"douche-bag art or humanities student"?

My degree is in humanities (Comparative Culture with an emphasis in history & literature)...

He said "douchbag-like," implying that only the art or humanities students who are douche-bags, or act like them, are the ones who he is referring to. That doesn't mean all of them are, although I am not taking sides .

[njpaul]

Certainly did not mean all art or humanities students are douchbags.

And according to http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2239334,00.asp, Leopard was #7 on the top 10 list of worst technologies of 2007. They do expect it to improve this year though.

[Jerky]

And according to http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2239334,00.asp, Leopard was #7 on the top 10 list of worst technologies of 2007. They do expect it to improve this year though.

That somehow makes me feel better for all the pain I've suffered trying to support 1 Leopard computer (out of the 700 computers I support). They better patch that crap.

[Brotoi]

Certainly did not mean all art or humanities students are douchbags.

And according to http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2239334,00.asp, Leopard was #7 on the top 10 list of worst technologies of 2007. They do expect it to improve this year though.

Not trying to be argumentive, just pointing out a couple of interesting tidbits:

#5 The never-ending format war between HD-DVD and Blue Ray Disc is over in Japan and Blue Ray has won hands down.

#4 DirectX 10 is one of the key technologies of Vista (to the extent that OpenGL now only runs through a DirectX 10 interpretation layer, resulting in noticeably reduced performance for OpenGL-based games).

I don't have Jerky's responsibilities over a large network. All I have to worry about is my family and our little Buffalo wireless LAN. In a couple hours, I'll find out if Jerky's dire predictions of network incompatibility come to pass.

[Brotoi]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0gRgls2eYc

Finally got time to watch this. Amusing, very.

But a little out of context:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HdBB4ekspRg&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lQbKVUp34v0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4oP_ITqMc...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFAJDbV9Vfs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdBB4ekspRg



And in the end, the whole collection of several dozen spoof ads are mostly intended to communicate the advantage of Linux, which despite two decades of open source development still remains the most user unfriendly of the three.

I've experimented with Linux, too many times to count. In the end, I'd rather spend time using my computer than tweaking it.

[Brotoi]

Just a quick note to say my new iMac connected without a single hiccup. The only problem so far is getting it to recognize and use a Buffalo external HDD I bought to use with Time Machine. Not a problem, though, Buffalo installation is always a bit of a head scratcher. I'll have it figured out soon.

So far, it's pure joy!

[Minthos]

you forgot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1VQBfLDLA...feature=related
and the classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2-UuIEOcss...feature=related

[Honis]

Sorry Brotoi but you just payed for a logo... And every MAC user I have run into and talked to did it because zomg virus' or other equally silly reasons.

I only ask if you write documents in it ALWAYS save it in some *.doc format. Same goes for other things like spreadsheets. I say this to help save the other 90% of us computer users from shooting you when you send us some f'd up document that only you and 10 other people in the world can read. (most linux users already do this or make pdfs instead or the windows user installed openoffice...)

[Brotoi]

Sorry Brotoi but you just payed for a logo... And every MAC user I have run into and talked to did it because zomg virus' or other equally silly reasons.

I only ask if you write documents in it ALWAYS save it in some *.doc format. Same goes for other things like spreadsheets. I say this to help save the other 90% of us computer users from shooting you when you send us some f'd up document that only you and 10 other people in the world can read. (most linux users already do this or make pdfs instead or the windows user installed openoffice...)

"Paid for a logo"? Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by this.

I switched because after considerable research I felt the available evidence indicated that Leopard is a more stable, more functional, easier to use and maintain OS than Vista. The one advantage Vista has, namely the ability to natively run Microsoft applications, is negligible for me. The one thing I will miss is the ability to play City of Heroes/Villains, however, since Spore is coming out for both Mac and PC on Sep. 7th, even that is a minor consideration.

Given the choice between:

a free, integrated IDE
a suite of free, integrated multimedia authoring tools that provide excellent results while being easy to use
flawless internet connectivity for a private user
an inexpensive, simplified productivity suite
an integrated, easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to access back-up utility (Time Machine)

and

a $1000 semi-integrated IDE
a suite of free, nearly useless multimedia authoring tools that produce lousy results and are difficult to use
complicated, multi-step internet connectivity for a private user
an overly complex, nearly $1000 productivity suite with far more functionality than I will ever need
a complex back-up utility designed for IT professionals
the ability to play City of Heroes/Villains

I decided that at this point in time, Macintosh produces the package I need to accomplish my personal and professional goals.

It's taken a bit of learning, and there have been a few false starts, but I must say, so far Leopard and my new iMac are performing well beyond my expectations!

I even got the Buffalo external HDD up and running and Time Machine buzzing merrily in the background while I work. So far, at the end of day two, I have zero complaints! That would not be true if I had bought a Vista-based PC.