In the old days there was a lot we could do, Window’s couldn’t. However times have changed and Windows is catching up. However, we are more stable (less crashes) especially for newbees. We have been emulating Windows for so long, that the bugs are worked out, so we can slum (run both systems simultaneity). This address the issues of the few programs that aren’t written for both platforms.

A Mac is a Mac, when you want to buy something for it, it’s a piece of cake. On the other hand with so many brands of PCs, you could end up pulling out your hair. A perfect example was my hubby’s Windows machines! It took 3 MS experts just to get the two machines to network correctly. Didn’t totally understand the problem, but it appeared that the Packard Bell didn’t like the other brand.

Most of all it isn’t the machines, but the owners of them. For many years Mac users have been more like a family! There is always someone out there willing to help.

You are right.  You can probably do anything I can do on a Windows machine.  Being an x-PCer, I can see its strengths: games, lots of software options, lots of hardware options, ect, but I would have to say that a Mac is much easier to use.  I use both, but I use PCs more hours per day (work).  For this I have to thank Uncle Sam for buying PCs.  While I am at it, I will thank them for the viruses that happen monthly.  I have yet to have a vrus on my Mac and I do not even own virus protection. 

I am an x-computer programmer and system specialist that still dabbles for fun.  I would hands down rather work on a mac based network than any microsoft based setup any day.  It is what I want out of the system - fun and easy to work with.  I don’t have time anymore to fight with a wintel box trying to figure out what dll file is missing or conflicted.

Chuck Haislip

Simply put, my iMac can make me happy.  There is not a windows machine out there that can do that.  They only tend to irritate me.

One more thing about the Mac classic <X file system (HFS)

On a Mac, I can name my boot volume WTH I want to, say “Ipswich Calliope” (yes, you can name your windows boot volume anything you want, but it is still C:). Then I can create a folder called, say, “Ye who enter here” with a subfolder like “Abandon All Hope” with a subfolder called “Golgafrincham - in Memoriam” in which I can put the operating system (in other words, “System Folder” becomes “Golgafrincham - in Memoriam”.

So what is the point of all this? On a windows machine, the system is always in the same place - C:Windows - and will not function correctly if the directory name is changed. This gives the intruder a handy little bit of leverage because everything is easy to find. To figure out that the system file is along a path like “Ipswich Calliope:Ye who enter here:Abandon All Hope:Golgafrincham - in Memoriam:System” may be more trouble than a hAx0r will want to deal with.

In reality, my system folder has a short name with characters in it that map logically only to Mac OS, FWIW

iMovie saved my bacon on Thanksgiving last year.

Short end of it was, I was goofin’ around with my iMac on Thanksgiving afternoon when my wife wants me to do something productive.  “You’ve got that new computer, you’ve been shooting video of the baby all month long, why don’t you put together that home movie for the big dinner tonight?  Or did we just buy the iMac so you could surf the web faster?”

Well, I couldn’t resist a challenge like that.   Even though I had never done nonlinear video editing before, even though I had never used iMovie before, even though I hadn’t even planned to do anything that day but veg out, I managed to take 90 minutes of raw footage and put together a 14-minute video, complete with soundtracks, transitions, effects, and every other bell and whistle—in under five hours.  The family had lots of fun watching it after dessert, and I eventually burned it onto a Video CD so I could send it to the in-laws in China.

Could I have done all that on a PC?  Maybe.
Could I have done all that while under pressure, completely fresh, and without blowing my cool during the entire time?  Fat chance.

That, my friends, is why Macs are cool.  It’s not because they can do something you can’t do on a PC, it’s because they make it much easier for you to do those things…

On 2001-09-06 18:30, cwbullet wrote:
Being an x-PCer, I can see its strengths: games, lots of software options

I like the fact that this is getting stronger and stronger on the Mac side. There are alot of major gaming people looking heavly at the Mac now that they are putting GeForce cards standard with the PMG4 line. GeForce is the #1 3D Gaming card on the PC side and I think that that deal was one of the best things that Apple has done to pull people from the PC side to the Macs (Faster processor, best cards, sleek looking systems, easy to use).

On 2001-09-08 01:51, Sydde wrote:
On a windows machine, the system is always in the same place - C:Windows - and will not function correctly if the directory name is changed

Although you are right that you cannot rename the folder that contains all the system files after the system is installed you can rename it during installations. I have had Windows 2k and 98SE both on my system in the past (just use Win2k now) and the name of the Windows 2ooo folder was c:win2k and the Windows 98SE folder was c:win98. Its not actually any form of protection but it does allow organization for myself. Hack…err…programmers who want to access my “system folder” can still use a simple programming trick of the %windir% to have the OS put in c:win98 where ever it sees the %windir% and thus allowing any access needed. I know there are similar commands on Mac side that tell programs where to put extensions and control panels. Neither side is truely safe from what you describe.