once you go mac, you don't go back. if you are of the opinion that cost effectiveness triumphs all, then you will never appreciate what mac/os x has to offer. i used to hate the idea of using a mac, being one of the fatwallet/slickdeal mentality - that is until one day i said, hey let's just give it ago and see what the hype is all about. now i use both windows machines and macs. i use windows machines for gaming, and my macbook pro for everything else. you just have to see if it works for you. it's a small investment, but damn - apple makes some fantastic laptops and oses. granted windows 7 comes close to leopard now, but the upcoming snow leopard is going to push the envelop again and keep it one step ahead of windows 7. bottom line, no reason not to use both.
I've been using Leopard for a while now. I don't see what's so special about it. I don't own a Mac itself, but I have a hackintosh. I'm aware it's not perfect, but I have school computers (Macs and PCs) to make sure I get the overall full experience.
I still would never buy one. The OS is OK (overrated, I think). I think Windows 7 is better, IMO. I find it to be more intuitive overall. However, I'm not saying Windows 7 is AMAZING. I would still change things about it.
Snow Leopard won't be some huge improvement over Leopard in terms of functionality (mostly performance).
Sure, Apple makes solid, sexy laptops...but you can get better performance for less, while still having a decently solid and decent looking laptop.
Commodus
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- Oct 9, 2004
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Won't deny that Apple is controlling, but that's part of why their notebooks work so well, I think. The instant sleep/wake, the multi-touch trackpad, and the particularly long battery life are all the results of Apple knowing what hardware it's working with.
Also, "half the price" is definitely an exaggeration. Price out a Dell Studio XPS 13 (the obvious competitor) as closely as you can get to a 13-inch MacBook Pro. That means adding the LED-backlit display, Bluetooth, and so on. It costs virtually the same. You'll get a bit more RAM and hard drive space, but you'll also lose the backlit keyboard, the multi-touch trackpad, and of course that 7-hour battery.
The advantage Windows notebooks have is the ability to go low -- if you're willing to deal with the consequences. You can get a system for half the price if you don't mind a slower processor, a not-terribly-sturdy case, a heavy and thick chassis, very basic integrated graphics and 802.11g-only Wi-Fi. Money spent on a MacBook doesn't disappear down a black hole; it just goes into more areas than raw numbers.
That's interesting. Maybe you got a defective T61? My one's as solid as a rock, and has phenomenal build quality. In fact, I was debating between the T61 and a Macbook, and went for the T61 because it was almost $200 less for the exact same CPU and comparable RAM/HDD/etc.
A friend of mine actually had the exact opposite experience you did - he started with a Macbook and later switched to a Thinkpad, significantly preferring the build quality of the latter.
What's that have to do with the OS? I virtually never maximize my windows in Vista, either. That's more an advantage of having a widescreen and/or high resolution display than something inherent to OS X/Windows.
What do you mean by this? I'm genuinely curious, as I haven't encountered any problems manipulating/moving files in Vista. I'll admit that XP pissed me of sometimes because it'd abort large transfers with multiple files at random places whenever it hit an error, but Vista fixed this issue. I've used OS X a fair amount and haven't noticed any advantages in terms of file management. I don't understand what you mean by "working through the OS" either.
OS X is a fine operating system, but I personally don't find it to be any better than Vista. If cost and hardware had been identical, I probably would've gotten an Apple laptop just for the hell of it, but they weren't.
The fact that OS X has no borders on most windows instead of the default thick border in Vista or 7 (yes, I know that you can dial that down, but I had to ask how to do that, and I am pretty good with computers. How many people will know that is the setting, and where to get at it?) means that is just that much more space.
Plus there is expose (think Aero Peek in 7, so something that doesn't exist yet in the Windows world if we stick to release OSes) which helps with window management. Running almost identical things in both OS X and Windows on my MacBook, I can be more productive and more easily get at more things in OS X.
As for the file management... for one thing, OS X has spring loaded folders, and a file path that you can drop files onto. You can more easily rename files, and if you tell the OS to always display file extensions, it will ignore those when you go to rename them. Both OSes have multiple file views, but the wider range of both icon sizing and spacing means I can have icon view be exactly what I want.
The one thing I miss from Windows is icon view with Grouping. Where you had distinct sections of files/folders.
Working through the OS means putting up with the OSes weird quirks to do things. Put another way... since switching to OS X, I am more surprised when a random thing I might try doesn't work. In Windows, I am floored when it does. A lot of it comes back to the spring loaded-ness of almost everything. Where I can drag an image from Safari to iPhoto, fiddle with it there, and then drag it to Mail and it will automatically open a new Message window with that as the attachment (any file dropped on the Mail icon will do that). I KNOW that I cannot do that with Windows XP and Outlook 2007. I do not have Office 2007 here at home, and I don't have Vista at work so I can't test that combo.
Plus, there is a system wide spellchecker/dictionary/thesaurus, and that just rocks.
Ah, I see. I generally have borders of adjacent windows in Vista overlap each other, and hadn't really paid attention to the different borders between Windows and OS X. I can see how that could be an advantage to some people, though (on the other hand, I actually sort of prefer Vista's window borders - everything feels more uniform, and all the windows fit in with each other thanks to their borders. But to each his own). As for Expose, there are free apps for Vista that can do the exact same thing (but with even more flexibility in terms of how it's presented). It's not integrated into the OS though, so that's a downside. Oddly enough, I prefer alt+tab and its OS X equivalent (cmd [or whatever you call that key]+tab) most of the time.
Oh, and you can drag any random file into Windows Mail (not just images) and it'll automatically open a new message window with the file as an attachment. I guess I'm just not familiar enough with OS X to understand the "spring loadedness" you're talking about. As for the icon sizes, Vista gives you an extremely wide range of sizes. Just hold control and move the scroll wheel, and you can fine tune your icon size (or drag the little slider bar in the menu that comes up when you hit the arrow next to the "Views" button).
The systemwide spellchecker/dictionary/thesaurus does sound damn cool.
Oh, and you can drag any random file into Windows Mail (not just images) and it'll automatically open a new message window with the file as an attachment. I guess I'm just not familiar enough with OS X to understand the "spring loadedness" you're talking about. As for the icon sizes, Vista gives you an extremely wide range of sizes. Just hold control and move the scroll wheel, and you can fine tune your icon size (or drag the little slider bar in the menu that comes up when you hit the arrow next to the "Views" button).
The systemwide spellchecker/dictionary/thesaurus does sound damn cool.
Every expose knockoff I have ever tried has been laggy as all get out, and just doesn't quite feel right, since you can use spring loaded things in Expose too. (Grab file from finder, hit Expose, drag file to other window, release expose key). Very handy on a laptop where your hands are right there on the keyboard/trackpad.
Spring loaded: I drag something from a finder (explorer in OS X) window, i can move it over another folder, hesitate for a second, and the folder pops open. Same for dragging things to other applications, just hold it over the application window, or icon on the Dock. This is something that is finally added to 7, but anything prior to that lacks it.
I used one for ten minutes at an apple store and it was annoying. I don't know about whether you get used to it in the long term. if tap to click is available, then it should be workable, even if having to press the entire trackpad is annoying(it seemed a little stiff to me).
The bigger problem for me though is the sharp edges on the palm rest. When using the original macbook on a desk(it has the same design problem, except at least it isn't aluminum), I get actual marks on my wrists in just a few minutes. I looked at apple forums and their solution was to wear gloves(seriously), because obviously everything apple does is perfect and any problems you have are your own fault. Laptop getting hot? Put on an extra pair of pants.
Still, I want a macbook, they are so nice and clean looking, they are light weight and have great battery life, and the price with the free ipod is really attractive. Of course, logically a thinkpad is better in every way. Everything is ergonomic, with the best keyboard and trackpads in the industry, roll cages and magnesium frames. Most of the latest Thinkpads even have semi-rugged mil. spec certification! On top of all that, they are cheaper than macbooks and have better specs. On the other hand, the macbook is sooo shiny.
Switcher is a pretty decent expose clone. Not quite as good, but decent. The biggest problem I have with it is that you cant deactivate it by putting the mouse in the hot corner again, you have to click a window. THis is annoying for when you just want a peak at your open windows without changing it. The other problem is that it stop working after Aero is disabled/reenabled, which is something I unfortunately have to do all the time in Windows 7 to get VLC to work properly.
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