Has anyone gone from a Windows 7 machine to an Apple and thought OMG...

[JSt0rm]

how do you set a corporate screensaver timeout that locks with the user's network password? How do you send a certificate to it automatically when it is joined to the domain? How do you add trusted sites to the browser? How do you deploy software from a centrally managed location?

I could go on, but what I'm getting at is how do you do group policy and SCCM software pushes on Macs in a corporate environment?

Well I cant answer all of those questions but I do know os x server will allow you to deploy software from a centrally managed location. For the rest of the items on your list I would suggest googling and finding out.

 

[Hmongkeysauce]

I have a 21in imac at work. Best thing I did was install bootcamp on it so I can boot Windows 7. OSX is just not for me.

 

[JSt0rm]

JSt0rm, despite the use of 0 instead of o, is not an idiot.

I was young.

But he does need to be less condescending on a forum full of advanced computer users... of course, what else do you expect from a forum of advanced computer users?

I was not trying to be condescending in this case. I worked on windows 95 to 98 to 2000 to xp without ever looking at a mac. For the work I do now in the industry I am in it is 100% mac. So I bought a mac mini and then a macbook and then a mac pro. You learn to use the os just like any other and now after investing time into it I enjoy working in it better then windows. I was just trying to address the complaints from an informed position. I dont work in a normal office so people can have complaints from that world and they dont even register ove here. I do know it took my at least a year to get comfortable with the os.

 

[Terzo]

I haven't really used the mac OS, only for one time during a job in college. I don't remember much, and don't see any reason to switch to using it instead of windows/linux.
On the other hand, as many have mentioned, I am coming more and more to appreciate the build quality of the apple laptops. The aluminum unibody enclosure really does look nice. Additionally, battery life seems to be respectable on average, and screen quality exceptional. Another bonus is they tend to use 16:10 aspect ratio, something I consider more valuable as the majority of laptops switch to 1366x768 displays. Since I don't care fore apple I would prefer to get a business class laptop from one of the other manufacturers (where 16x10 seems to still be prevalent) but then I'll be knocking at entry level macbook prices, and I'm not sure if battery life would be comparable.

 

[Ns1]

I haven't really used the mac OS, only for one time during a job in college. I don't remember much, and don't see any reason to switch to using it instead of windows/linux.
On the other hand, as many have mentioned, I am coming more and more to appreciate the build quality of the apple laptops. The aluminum unibody enclosure really does look nice. Additionally, battery life seems to be respectable on average, and screen quality exceptional. Another bonus is they tend to use 16:10 aspect ratio, something I consider more valuable as the majority of laptops switch to 1366x768 displays. Since I don't care fore apple I would prefer to get a business class laptop from one of the other manufacturers (where 16x10 seems to still be prevalent) but then I'll be knocking at entry level macbook prices, and I'm not sure if battery life would be comparable.

I hated the mac os the first month I used it. After learning the damn thing it's pretty awesome. Still, a lot of shit pisses me off about it.

 

[Paladin3]

In the time you folks spent debating Windows vs. Mac, I had played a marathon round of CS:S on my...well, it doesn't matter much, does it?

 

[MrX8503]

Agree wholeheartedly. I work in an e-discovery/computer forensics dept and several of my co-workers work with macs to test various forensic tools. When not being used for strictly forensic purposes, it's Win 7 or Linux bootcamp all the way. The display though is miles away from the rest of our Lenovo Thinkpads... I just don't understand why other manufacturers haven't caught on to the design cues. Sony is close but MacBooks just look... airtight. As if not even a grain of sand can get in between the seams. And the screen... oh lordie the screen.

I would gladly ditch my thinkpad (even if the hardware specs are better) for an aluminum body macbook pro with Win 7 bootcamp if my company offered it.

The HP Envy and the new Chrome OS notebooks look a lot like the macbook pros. Other than those two there hasn't been much towards the advancement of notebook design, a good majority of them are still closer to 1.5" thick.

Its funny that you say that macbooks are air tight, because I experienced that design with the iPhone 4. You can have the phone volume on max and when you cover the speaker of the phone, its almost becomes silent. This shows how tightly sealed the device is, whereas some manufacturers, *cough* HTC *cough* cant even get their battery door to fit right.

 

[HAL9000]

I am thinking about ditching my desktop PC for something of the mobile variety. I have a 3GS IPhone, and ever since the first IPhone, I have been sold on them. I am wondering if I would feel the same way about a MacBook Pro... ? I rarely game that much anymore, I really only play a bit of SC2 and TF2, both of which can be played easily on an Apple(I think). I'm just wondering if the Apple tax is worth it or not...

Anand seems to be pretty sold on them...

EDIT: I should preface by saying that my wife and I are attempting to have our first child and we currently own a 2br, 2ba condo, and one of those bedrooms is currently my office. If I can knock her up, that room will no longer be mine anymore... hence why I want a new laptop.

I was a windows user between v 3.1 and windows Vista, then I thought I'll get a Mac for a giggle, for £50 from my work. I have not owned a strictly windows machine since. If I ever want to play a game I reboot into windows, the other 85% of the time I'm in OSX, I have no windows software installed other than games, and thats the way I like it.

 

[MovingTarget]

windows = work
apple = play

apple trackpad > *

if you don't game anymore the MBP is awesome. The only reason I have a PC is for gaming.

Likewise, but the MBP is still decent for gaming (especially once Steam for OSX came out). I do think that as far as laptops go, Apple is the way to go. For desktops, PC is the way to go especially if cost is a factor.

As far as pure OS is concerned, going from a W7 user experience to an OSX experience isn't too much of a difference to be concerned about. W7 seems very solid and well put together. But compare OSX (Tiger and above) to Vista or XP and it comes out well on top.

 

[Demo24]

I can't stand OSX. It just feels more complicated and cluttered than it needs to be. I've also never understood why people think its 'pretty', it's drab grey all around apart from the lauchbar thingy on the bottom, the only well semi-well designed unit of the whole OS. I've been using them on/off for over a year now and each time I find something that pisses me off about it. I just can't see any advantage they hold over Win7 or hell Ubuntu (which has a much nicer UI imo, at least it's coherent and easily accessible).

Hardware wise..eh, whatever. The construction is solid but beyond that nothing outstanding there.

 

[HAL9000]

I can't stand OSX. It just feels more complicated and cluttered than it needs to be. I've also never understood why people think its 'pretty', it's drab grey all around apart from the lauchbar thingy on the bottom, the only well semi-well designed unit of the whole OS. I've been using them on/off for over a year now and each time I find something that pisses me off about it. I just can't see any advantage they hold over Win7 or hell Ubuntu (which has a much nicer UI imo, at least it's coherent and easily accessible).

Hardware wise..eh, whatever. The construction is solid but beyond that nothing outstanding there.

I've never heard anyone call OSX complicated or cluttered before!

 

[QueBert]

I've never heard anyone call OSX complicated or cluttered before!

I've heard that from people who only know Windows. When I first installed OSX I had some WTF moments trying to figure things out. But my thinking has changed somewhat and I not only understand the different way OSX does some things, but I actually prefer them. Like in Windows it's called backspace, where in OSX it's called delete. I hated that for about a month but it makes more sense to me now because when I press it it DELETES something.

I use both and both are far from perfect.

 

[MrX8503]

My biggest gripe with osx was the window not maximizing when you pressed the "+" button,but I can see why it handles windows the way it does now.

My current gripe with OSX right now that doesn't go away is it not supporting NTFS natively. I have a windows machine too and OSX not supporting NTFS causes major problems. Most solutions I get from Mac users, which aren't solutions, is to use FAT32 or have windows work with Journal.

 

[VinylxScratches]

windows = work
apple = play

apple trackpad > *

if you don't game anymore the MBP is awesome. The only reason I have a PC is for gaming.

Yeah... tell that to all the Linux Engineers here at work that use Macbook Pros....

 

[halik]

My biggest gripe with osx was the window not maximizing when you pressed the "+" button,but I can see why it handles windows the way it does now.

My current gripe with OSX right now that doesn't go away is it not supporting NTFS natively. I have a windows machine too and OSX not supporting NTFS causes major problems. Most solutions I get from Mac users, which aren't solutions, is to use FAT32 or have windows work with Journal.

I think there's an open source kernel extension for NTFS support.

edit:
looks like 10.6 has it built in :
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090913140023382

I've definitely mounted NTFS drives on my hackintosh before.

 

[muskie32]

PC= Gaming/Office Tasks
Mac= Imovie/ internet

 

[IGBT]

The two systems are similar. Mac OS X is more geared toasted simplicity while Windows 7 is more customizable. They're two sides to the same coin though. I personally think Mac is a better platform for creative design. Especially video editing. They definitely have some of the best laptops around. Good battery life and very durable.

Its all really a matter of personal preference. I use both.

don't they both use the same hardware now?? apple dumped Motorola chips? in favor of Intel?

 

[Dr. Zaus]

don't they both use the same hardware now?? apple dumped Motorola chips? in favor of Intel?

Yes, but the video editing software on the Mac is superior as is the quality of other hardware and how it is laid out.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Yes, but the video editing software on the Mac is superior as is the quality of other hardware and how it is laid out.

 

[erikistired]

I am thinking about ditching my desktop PC for something of the mobile variety. I have a 3GS IPhone, and ever since the first IPhone, I have been sold on them. I am wondering if I would feel the same way about a MacBook Pro... ? I rarely game that much anymore, I really only play a bit of SC2 and TF2, both of which can be played easily on an Apple(I think). I'm just wondering if the Apple tax is worth it or not...

Anand seems to be pretty sold on them...

EDIT: I should preface by saying that my wife and I are attempting to have our first child and we currently own a 2br, 2ba condo, and one of those bedrooms is currently my office. If I can knock her up, that room will no longer be mine anymore... hence why I want a new laptop.

i actually left apple for windows 7. i do miss os x tho, it's really a great operating system. i also miss the effort devs put into the user experience with os x. the indie software scene on the mac is light years beyond windows.

 

[ed21x]

The HP Envy and the new Chrome OS notebooks look a lot like the macbook pros. Other than those two there hasn't been much towards the advancement of notebook design, a good majority of them are still closer to 1.5" thick.

Its funny that you say that macbooks are air tight, because I experienced that design with the iPhone 4. You can have the phone volume on max and when you cover the speaker of the phone, its almost becomes silent. This shows how tightly sealed the device is, whereas some manufacturers, *cough* HTC *cough* cant even get their battery door to fit right.

at least an HTC has a battery door...

 

[Acanthus]

Yes, but the video editing software on the Mac is superior as is the quality of other hardware and how it is laid out.

Adobe Premiere for Mac is identical to the PC version, and is far superior to iMovie which is comparable to consumer level software like Pinnacle.

The hardware argument is completely false. They now use the same processors, the same foxconn motherboards, the same intel/nvidia chipsets... and they also run about a 15 month lag on hardware. Macbooks JUST NOW got core i3s just before Sandy Bridge will be released. They JUST upgraded to geforce 320m and 330m's on their flagship notebook.

Where Apple is the clear winner is flashy design (thin notebooks, aluminum unibody, backlit keyboard, etc), top notch screens, and top notch support.

It is sickeningly bad how a concentration on aesthetics somehow gives people the illusion that the low-mid range hardware is somehow faster.

 

[HAL9000]

Adobe Premiere for Mac is identical to the PC version, and is far superior to iMovie which is comparable to consumer level software like Pinnacle.

The hardware argument is completely false. They now use the same processors, the same foxconn motherboards, the same intel/nvidia chipsets... and they also run about a 15 month lag on hardware. Macbooks JUST NOW got core i3s just before Sandy Bridge will be released. They JUST upgraded to geforce 320m and 330m's on their flagship notebook.

Where Apple is the clear winner is flashy design (thin notebooks, aluminum unibody, backlit keyboard, etc), top notch screens, and top notch support.

It is sickeningly bad how a concentration on aesthetics somehow gives people the illusion that the low-mid range hardware is somehow faster.

MBP's got Core i5 in april....

and MB's use Core 2 Duo...

 

[Acanthus]

MBP's got Core i5 in april....

and MB's use Core 2 Duo...

Thank for your semantic argument.

It changes nothing about my post, they are the same generation of architecture and have nothing to do with the timetable i am discussing.

I do apologize for not being abundantly, overwhelmingly clear about what i was stating.

I will make my argument crystal clear for you so we can avoid the silly side arguments.

The Macbook Pro was only upgraded to Core iX architecture recently. The Macbook is still using last years hardware... The Macbook Pro only received an upgrade to the Geforce 320/330 series as well.

The fact that Apple runs a severe lag on hardware is a big minus to someone shopping for performance.

 

[halik]

Thank for your semantic argument.

It changes nothing about my post, they are the same generation of architecture and have nothing to do with the timetable i am discussing.

I do apologize for not being abundantly, overwhelmingly clear about what i was stating.

I will make my argument crystal clear for you so we can avoid the silly side arguments.

The Macbook Pro was only upgraded to Core iX architecture recently. The Macbook is still using last years hardware... The Macbook Pro only received an upgrade to the Geforce 320/330 series as well.

The fact that Apple runs a severe lag on hardware is a big minus to someone shopping for performance.

Build it yourself, many people do just that for desktops