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XWayfarer	MACINTOSH	Lead	[-]
Posts: 2780 (03/03/08 19:34:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None So let's get it out here - I am now seriously thinking of going Macintosh. It went from a possibility to the fact I am now seeing if there's any reason NOT to move to a Mac. So, here's your chance to stop me. When it comes down to it, I'm no longer a hardcore technology person the way I used to be. True I'm still a developer, but I do cross-platform open-source development, fast and light stuff. I'm technical, but I'm no longer a hardcore person for whom a systems crash is as much an opportunity to learn on-the-job-skills as it is a frustration. I'm an office-document-web person. Information is central to me now. Right now I need something that's reliable, stable, grab-and-go, and has all your essential office and web dev functions. I don't care about putting in the latest graphics card, peripheral, or the seventh patch this month because of the newest Windows vulnerability. My development is for the web and open source. I want something that works - not something I can MAKE work. And when I look at Mac, it's got it's Unix certifications. You can put X11 on it and run some Xwindows apps. It comes with Apache and PHP, the very tools I use for my webwork. It's stable as hell, slick, and has all the basic software someone like me needs. I've wondered when I'd move to Linux . . . well Mac sort of lets me do that partially anyway. And its got windows emmulation and dual boot. I can just dump my current system onto it lock, stock, and barrel and have it all there as I migrate over. Hell, as most of my documents are office or text files, or standard graphics. My preferred graphic tool is Photoshop anyway. I'm a console gamer 99% of the time, and I actually avoid using anything but simple games on my system since it's meant for productivity. So I don't need to think games, and if I want to run something like WeirdWorlds I can use the windows emulation tools. Plus I admire any company that can make a machine so thin I could use it to jimmy locks. Macs are basically well-made consumer electronics. They do what they do, have the right options, and are stable and reliable. You may get more machine for your money PC-wise, but there's less chance I'll hate what I get. I've also seen these suckers last for some seven years - and I'm definitely not interested in Upgrade wars, I want something that one day I'll just swap out for another and walk away. So, here's the question for you folks - why not? As a note, here's what is must have for me: A web-server that allows PHP. A system on which I can run MySQL or Postgres. A system that has an MS-office compatible system for Word and Excel. A system that also has a regular simple text editor. A system that has a reliable web development program(s) available. A system that can run Photoshop or a compliant product. A system that has an FTP system worked into it for web transfer. A system on which I can run Java or Java development tools. A system that can run AOL IM and/or one of the emulators. An IRC chat agent.
The Lady of Darkness		#1	[-]
Posts: 96 (03/03/08 22:28:33) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Kudos! A marvellous site creator AND a cat-burglar with the ability to jimmy locks using a computer! Seriously, though, I have no idea about computers. I use a Mac at home and its never let me down, but most of the internet cafe/university computers aren't. Since I use the home computer (no net capabilities) more or less as a typewriter, it doesn't have to put up with half the stuff yours would.
Wolfgang Kaiser		#2	[-]
Posts: 152 (03/04/08 00:32:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Wait, you're not already on a Mac? What the deuce are you waiting for? ~ Wolfgang Kaiser, Zeppelin Vigilante ~ "Kidnapping Nubile Victorian Ladies Since 1867"
Lord DragonFang		#3	[-]
Posts: 1603 (03/04/08 01:04:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	if I want to run something like WeirdWorlds I can use the windows emulation tools. Actually there's a native Mac version. (Though when you first mentioned it, I bitterly assumed that there wouldn't be so I didn't end up replying to your thread about it and didn't discover the game until much later!) Plus you can always count on Blizzard's games being Mac compatible, Spore will be coming to Mac, and there's a (mostly) health Mac shareware community out there. (Ambrosia Software anyone?) So, the checklist: A web-server that allows PHP. - No clue! A system on which I can run MySQL or Postgres. - What and what? A system that has an MS-office compatible system for Word and Excel. - Yes, but why would you want to? Word is EVIL! A system that also has a regular simple text editor. - Yes, I use it constantly. A system that has a reliable web development program(s) available. A system that can run Photoshop or a compliant product. - Are you kidding? That's a trick question, right? A system that has an FTP system worked into it for web transfer. - See item 1. A system on which I can run Java or Java development tools. - As far as I know, yes. I know Macs are certainly Java compatible. A system that can run AOL IM and/or one of the emulators. - Yes, the multimessenger client Adium works with AOL, among others. (It's quite customisable, my dock icon looks like a Palantir with the Eye of Sauron flashing in it!) What sort of emulators are you talking about? An IRC chat agent. - I don't use IRC, but I'm fairly sure there are Mac clients out there. My personal (and utterly biased, I grew up on the things) opinion is jump right in! The graphics department at the local polytechnic is naturally all Macs, and the audio engineering school I went to was all Macs (except for one in the Mastering Suite, and one in the office.) Plus I admire any company that can make a machine so thin I could use it to jimmy locks. Aren't they great? Apple are certainly promoting miniaturisation technology in the mainstream. Loyalist ranting aside, it sounds to me like you'll have everything you need on a Mac, but I can't tell you anything definite about web development on a Mac I'm afraid.
CrusadersUnderwear		#4	[-]
Posts: 406 (03/04/08 12:08:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	If I wasn't a die hard PC gamer, I'd have a Mac as well. That's really my only complaint with the system: you don't have a lot of gaming options. (Personally, I smell a rat there. The operating systems can't be that different to load a game into. Can they?) But since your not interested in such things, Mac probably the best way to go. The last "Mac" we had was a color 1985 Apple computer, which was still in running condition when we sold it five years ago. From the day I'm born till the day I die, the only side I'm on is my own!
CRtheMighty		#5	[-]
Posts: 402 (03/04/08 16:01:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	When I have money (some day far, far, FAR in the future), I hope to get a Mac for my arting. I'll keep my laptop to write on, but art works better on Mac, from what I understand. Just promise us, X, that you will simply become a Mac owner and not a cultist.
Wolfgang Kaiser		#6	[-]
Posts: 153 (03/04/08 19:25:44) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Cultist? My dear Cee Arr, whatever could you mean? surreptitiously hides ivory fetishes of Steve Jobs and sacrificial iKnife ~ Wolfgang Kaiser, Zeppelin Vigilante ~ "Kidnapping Nubile Victorian Ladies Since 1867"
Ablean Buckslinger		#7	[-]
Posts: 2863 (03/05/08 01:38:50) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	crawls around the perimiter, hissing; Knife XP stuck in my belt Everything we do is a choice. Oatmeal or cereal, highway or side streets, kiss her or keep her, we make choices and we live with the consequences. If someone gets hurt along the way we ask for forgiveness, it's the best anyone can do. A blog: http://michaeljritchie.livejournal.com/ Fran: You know, in Tibet, if they want something, do you know what they do? They give something away. Bernard: Do they? Do they? That must be why they're such a dominant global power.
CMills22		#8	[-]
Posts: 10 (03/05/08 13:35:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I'm pretty much stuck with PC's, there's something about Mac's that I just don't like; they're overly artistic and post-modern designs, their attempts to seem "cool" and "down-to-earth" and then there's those damn adds that just reek of smugness and cheese. Then there is also the fact that a number of people I respect and agree with (the creater of the web-comic Ctrl+Alt+Del and Charlie Brooker) also express a sense of dismay towards Macs or Apple in general. That said, I'm an avid computer gamer, and Mac's simply don't play the number of games that PC's can (although, as was said, that shouldn't be a problem for you and it may also be some background corporate battle or something). Lastly, a lot of Mac users to me sound like brainwashed fanatics or whinging, overly protective nits who can't take the slightest degree of criticism, whenever a comment or criticism is made of Apple you suddenly get Mac users popping up and all but sending custom made foaming-at-the-mouth smilies at said comment. This is only emphasised by people who have only started using Mac's using the term "convert" once they started using Macs. Maybe there's some sort of mind control device in there...? In any case, I've been using Macs for a while now, and I'm sort of on the borders of "They're no different from PCs" and "This is actually rather pants...just ONE mouse button?" On the other hand, I have to admit the post-modernism and arty-warty do look rather nice and there are times when the errors with Windows just get so troublesome and once again I get a blue-screen-of-death for no apparent reason that I cry out to Heaven "Why don't I just buy a Mac then?" Additionally I shouldn't live my life by another man's doctrine, I abhor taking extreme sides in things and I am all too sure that PC's and Windows users have similar zealots in their ranks as well. Have you also considered Linux as an alternative? I've never tried it myself nor do I know much about it, but try to keep your options open. Here's some articles and strips from Ctrl+Alt+Del that have swayed my decision at points, you may find them useful. Be aware that both are not adverse to swearing (although I can guarantee you they won't use a profanity after every other word unless they're trying to make a point), so if you're easily offended by such colourful language I'd think twice before clicking these links. http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20021126 http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031226 http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20060513 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html Last Edited By: CMills22 03/08/08 06:25:32. Edited 4 times.
Lord DragonFang		#9	[-]
Posts: 1604 (03/05/08 17:37:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I think Apple's original marketing campaign for the Mac summed it up the best. "The computer for the rest of us." Just so you know CM, Macs have had multibutton mice for quite a while, and certainly they've been compatible with multibutton mice for ages longer. Personally I do have to use a multibutton mouse (where would I be in UT and Diablo without one?!) Lastly, a lot of Mac users to me sound like brainwashed fanatics or whinging, overly protective nits who can't take the slightest degree of criticism, whenever a comment or criticism is made of Apple you suddenly get Mac users popping up and all but sending custom made foaming-at-the-mouth smilies at said comment. Well in my experience, the criticism is usually along the lines of "omg macs suck u fag". Which does tend to get a bit irritating, considering you can't reason with people like that. (Though thankfully I've had little of that since intermediate.) Not that I'm accusing you of that CM. I think a lot of what you said about smugness among Mac users and the like relates to an observation I've made. Mac users seem to actually enjoy their computers for the sake of it, whereas Windows (I refuse to call them "PCs", honestly, how did "personal computer" come to mean only Microsoft?) users tend to just use their computers as a means (IE, gaming, data processing, etc.) I'm not trying to marginalise, just rationalise. But anyway, I think if anything, that's the defining difference between users of the two systems. Actually, that reminds me of an AG Lite strip about the different types of users. In regards to Ctrl+Alt+Del, they're just poking fun because they can. If they actually hated Macs quite that much, I doubt they would have done a guest strip for Applegeeks (even if it is along the same lines as the others.) "I think I taste Quicktime!" crawls around the perimiter, hissing; Knife XP stuck in my belt If it were a Vista knife, I'd be worried for your sanity Ablean. Edit: Okay, I didn't notice that article because it was buried in one of the Ctrl-Alt-Delete links. That article pretty much sums up exactly what I was saying a couple of paragraphs up, and is little more than childish Mac-bashing. Really, some people... Last Edited By: Lord DragonFang 03/05/08 17:45:44. Edited 1 times.
Ablean Buckslinger		#10	[-]
Posts: 2865 (03/06/08 01:52:09) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	If it were a Vista knife, I'd be worried for your sanity Ablean. Bloody Vista. It's OK but it annoys me with how some of the stuff is laid out and how folders work. The only thing that amuses me is that even though my laptop is now Vista, my Microsoft Office software is still like Windows 2000 or maybe even '98. That's 'cos we have a crack copy dad copied off one of his colleagues and we can't be bothered to buy a new one cos they're really expensive. The uni computer's have the new Office though and it's like, "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!" I only ever use Mac's when I'm out shopping, pass the Apple store and have an urge to check Facebook or something. Which happens all too often. I think they're kinda cool ... I like the flashiness of them, but at the same time, why the hell are the minimise/restore/close buttons on the left hand side? And how do you fit everything onto that little toolbar at the bottom. I'm happy with Windows and my lovely blue screen of death. Everything we do is a choice. Oatmeal or cereal, highway or side streets, kiss her or keep her, we make choices and we live with the consequences. If someone gets hurt along the way we ask for forgiveness, it's the best anyone can do. A blog: http://michaeljritchie.livejournal.com/ Fran: You know, in Tibet, if they want something, do you know what they do? They give something away. Bernard: Do they? Do they? That must be why they're such a dominant global power.

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