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Why don't more people buy Macs?

NYCHitman1 said:
What's your take on perhaps loading games onto the SSD? Unnecessary?
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I'm sure games would certainly benefit from being run from an SSD. Especially large FPSs that access data from a drive frequently. they'll load much quicker as well. My thinking is keep the OS, plus applications and games on the SSD for best performance, basically anything that's in "Program Files".


With those things which don't really benefit from a fast SSD, like MP3s, photos, movies, "Documents" etc, put them on the slower cheaper large capacity mechanical HDD.
 
mikedt said:
30 seconds from cold seems OK for me, that's including POST. This is a coat pocket sized UMPC with Atom CPU. Suspend and resume is instant, as to be expected.

It takes my crappy school desktop PC nearly 2 minutes to boot into Chinese XP, but then it's an ancient "Great Wall" Pentium 4 and probably full of Green Dam and other junk. Often I'll boot it into Linux Mint from a USB stick.
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Ahh, I was unaware of the Atom. My netbook (also w/ atom) takes quite a bit longer to boot than my dell here with an old intel (centrino or core 2 duo ... depends if you go by the sticker or device manager ;) -- but I like to think it is morphing between the two ;) :) )
 
mikedt said:
When I went to buy a laptop almost 4 years ago, price was a consideration but so was the quality and if the thing will last. In the end I bought a 15inch Macbook Pro, so far it's lasting very well, especially with extensive use and travel around China. I've had to replace the battery, upgraded the HDD once, and open it up to clean the fans out. Apart from that I think it's actually done very well, and should go on for another couple of years.

If I had bought a cheap own brand thing or a plastic HP or Acer or something, I'd probably have needed to replace the thing by now.

BTW I do have a Fujitsu Windows 7 UMPC as well, that I bought in Hong Kong earlier this year. This wasn't exactly cheap, but on the other hand it seems to be solidly built and should last.
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I have a 7 year old HP laptop thats still alive and kicking. Took it on deployment with me. Its pretty beat up (hinges dont work anymore, easy fix if i wasnt so lazy) but other than that its good. I recently reinstalled windows and it runs like a brand new laptop.

psychotron said:
Well I notice a huge difference in my MacBook Pro compared to the high end HP I had right before it. Sure the MB cost double but I took the HP back and gladly paid more, why? Build quality for one. The MB is alluminum and built like a tank, very solid and quality all over it. The HP had tons of plastic, the keyboard bowed and creeked when you applied any pressure while typing, the trackpad was garbage and it just felt cheaply made but cost $800. Everything from the keyboard to the trackpad to the awesome screen on the MB was much higher quality.

Then there is software. Where Apple comes thru is giving you tons of great programs for free. HP gave me a ton of bloatware for free, gee thanks! Zero bloatware to uninstall on the MB and zero time or effort having to install maximum security programs and lock the computer down like a vault before even attempting to go online. iLife runs circles around the free Windows garbage that's loaded on their laptops, much more useful. So yea, I gladly paid double to get twice the laptop.
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I like how you said. "Free software" and "gladly pay twice as much" in the same argument.

psychotron said:
One experience? Nah, not even close. That was just the most recent. I switched to Mac 5 years ago but deciided to give Windows 7 a shot with the HP laptop a few months ago and I regretted it to say the least. I have had tons of bad experiences with non Mac products, mostly poorly made computers and tons of viruses crashing hard drives. Switching to Mac was the easiest and best choice I have made, glad that Acer works for you though and you can't beat the price.
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Why is it i never get these crazy viruses that people always talk about? I never use anti virus software either. I got a virus ONE time and all i had to do to fix it was boot into safe mode and use one of the recoveries the computer automatically made for me. Voila. I dont get it. None of my friends complain about viruses either. I have to assume the idea that windows machines attract viruses like california attracts liberals is mostly a myth propagated by steve jobs. I just dont see it in real life, only on forums.
 
welbinator said:
Why is it i never get these crazy viruses that people always talk about? I never use anti virus software either. I got a virus ONE time and all i had to do to fix it was boot into safe mode and use one of the recoveries the computer automatically made for me. Voila. I dont get it. None of my friends complain about viruses either. I have to assume the idea that windows machines attract viruses like california attracts liberals is mostly a myth propagated by steve jobs. I just dont see it in real life, only on forums.
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Try downloading movies, music or games on a P2P site like Piratebay on Windows and see if you don't get viruses out the ass. I can do the same thing on Mac OS and not a single virus in 5 years. That's reason enough to never touch Windows again right there.
 
psychotron said:
Try downloading movies, music or games on a P2P site like Piratebay on Windows and see if you don't get viruses out the ass. I can do the same thing on Mac OS and not a single virus in 5 years. That's reason enough to never touch Windows again right there.
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Why didn't Apple latch on to this? They can Market Macs as the safest way to pirate music, movies and software!
 
I agree it's mostly about price. Also most people are use to running Window's (and even have problems with that) and they are afraid to try another OS. Also the need for some software that is only running on Window's is another reason. Sure now that they are using a Intel CPU they can run Boot Camp to run Window's, but that's just to complicated for most users.
 
psychotron said:
Try downloading movies, music or games on a P2P site like Piratebay on Windows and see if you don't get viruses out the ass. I can do the same thing on Mac OS and not a single virus in 5 years. That's reason enough to never touch Windows again right there.
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The reason is because if you where to waste time writing a virus, would you want to effect 90% of the computers in the world or the other percentage? It's as simple as that. Macs are actually less secure then Window's, but due to no one wasting their time writing malware for them, they don't have to secure them.
 
psychotron said:
Try downloading movies, music or games on a P2P site like Piratebay on Windows and see if you don't get viruses out the ass. I can do the same thing on Mac OS and not a single virus in 5 years. That's reason enough to never touch Windows again right there.
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I was a frequent flyer on kazaa for long time. no viruses. :confused:
 
There is certain software that is Windows specific, and some of it likes XP rather than Vista or 7!
If you machine embroider - until recently, you had to use parallels on a Mac to run most of the programs. For Linux users, no one has ever listed any as running under WINE.
One program just came out in both Windows and Mac versions.

Some users of this software have machines that take files on a floppy. The embroidery machine is perfectly good, but you need an external floppy to use it. Will a Mac write to an external floppy?

There are many small craft programs that are Windows only.

My suggestion would be to get an XP machine or laptop, BUT DON'T GO ONLINE! Some of these programs also had hassles with security software.
You can save and transfer files from any other computer that is protected.

Windows machines are more backwards compatible. There's an app called DOSBOX that will let you play old games.
 
SoulTerror said:
The reason is because if you where to waste time writing a virus, would you want to effect 90% of the computers in the world or the other percentage? It's as simple as that. Macs are actually less secure then Window's, but due to no one wasting their time writing malware for them, they don't have to secure them.
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Of course. That still doesn't change the fact that it's safer for whatever reason.i also think its much faster, smoother and user friendly than Windows will ever be, but that's personal preference
 
welbinator said:
Why is it i never get these crazy viruses that people always talk about? I never use anti virus software either. I got a virus ONE time and all i had to do to fix it was boot into safe mode and use one of the recoveries the computer automatically made for me. Voila. I dont get it. None of my friends complain about viruses either. I have to assume the idea that windows machines attract viruses like california attracts liberals is mostly a myth propagated by steve jobs. I just dont see it in real life, only on forums.
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Oh those crazy viruses are very real, try using a Windows computer in China. Put it this way, I do NOT do any online banking or anything which involves personal information on any computer but my own, which have never left my sight.

Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
zhuhai school PC.jpg
BSOD caused by virus.

Hong Kong SAR.
Hong Kong PC.jpg
'DO NOT "UPDATE" WINDOWS!!' ... says it all really. Also that cute looking penguin in the taskbar is QQ spyware. I can go into more details about QQ spyware if people want, it is particularly nasty.

Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia.
Xilinhot.jpg
Probably malware or virus.

I have to check student's homework, this often comes on USB sticks. Put it this way, I only plug these into my PC when it's booted into Linux Mint or my Macbook Pro. I adopted this policy after getting cheesed off with all the Conficker and other warnings I was getting from MS Security Essentials, when I was working at a training school in Hangzhou last year.

I believe that most of the internet botnet traffic, DDOS attacks and email spam originates in China as well.

BTW most computers in China do have an AV, usually a thing called Qihoo 360, which from experience is worse than useless... 360.cn
 
jacksonliam said:
its all about fileupload websites or FTP indexes (of which good ones contain a community and therefore hurd virus protection.)
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Communities which work together to ensure that uploads and torrents are correctly labelled and indexed as well, no more anime pr0n when one was expecting something else.
 
Looks like I'm getting a Macbook Pro, I've never owned a Mac before so this is going to be really weird. Any Mac owners have tips? The new school I'm going to requires them for all students, and the price of the Macbook is included in tuition, so I figured why not. I'm pretty excited about it, but it's going to be extremely weird at the same time.
 
Bob Maxey said:
Toshiba Laptop + Windows 7 = All the software freedom I need so who cares.
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There is no freedom in Win7, it's integrated into the cost of the machine you purchased. I'd prefer to buy a laptop of my choice without Windows thereby lowering the price. What would be the harm in that?
 
B2L said:
Looks like I'm getting a Macbook Pro, I've never owned a Mac before so this is going to be really weird. Any Mac owners have tips? The new school I'm going to requires them for all students, and the price of the Macbook is included in tuition, so I figured why not. I'm pretty excited about it, but it's going to be extremely weird at the same time.
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No offence, Big Smiley, but why so much excitment? Apparently, your school is forcing you to purchase a Mac. Or am I missing something?

mikedt said:
Oh those crazy viruses are very real, try using a Windows computer in China. Put it this way, I do NOT do any online banking or anything which involves personal information on any computer but my own, which have never left my sight.
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VERY GOOD APPROACH!

I simply assume that everything I pen, every account number I use Online, everything I do, and I mean everything, will end up being used against me at some point.

I just naturally assume this.
 
Bob Maxey said:
No offence, Big Smiley, but why so much excitment? Apparently, your school is forcing you to purchase a Mac. Or am I missing something?
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Yes forcing me to upgrade, but that's not always a bad thing. The current laptop I've been using is terrible, and extremely outdated. I'm pretty tired of it, so switching to something with a much better processor, and better battery life has me excited. Hell, I could be buying a cheap laptop that's slightly better than this one and be excited.

Who doesn't love having new tech? I know I do. :)
 
B2L said:
Looks like I'm getting a Macbook Pro, I've never owned a Mac before so this is going to be really weird. Any Mac owners have tips? The new school I'm going to requires them for all students, and the price of the Macbook is included in tuition, so I figured why not. I'm pretty excited about it, but it's going to be extremely weird at the same time.
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Won't be weird at all. After using Windows your whole life, you will be sitting there for at least 2 days going whoa cool, why doesnt Windows work this well. Everything you need is near and it's very user friendly. I know tons of windows users who have switched to Mac and loved it never looking back, how many Mac users switch to windows and can say the same?
 
psychotron said:
Won't be weird at all. After using Windows your whole life, you will be sitting there for at least 2 days going whoa cool, why doesnt Windows work this well. Everything you need is near and it's very user friendly. I know tons of windows users who have switched to Mac and loved it never looking back, how many Mac users switch to windows and can say the same?
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No way to know, really. Is there? Until you can provide some numbers to prop up your idea about how many Mac users switching to Winders are or are or are not happier, moot I say.

I think the Windows users sitting in front of their Mac for 2 days are simply confused. Smiley. Or pleased that they could finally afford a Mac; their kids can skip two meals a week to pay for it.

regardless of whether or not you are going from Mac to Windows or Windows to Mac, there is a learning curve and the bottom line is things work about the same way either way you go.
 
I just got done working on a Mac. I'm a Windows user and I do IT for a living so I know my away around a Windows computer like the back of my hand. This user had a new external hard drive and wanted to format it to work in OS X. I spent at least 15-20 minutes trying to figure out how in the world I could do that. To say I was puzzled would be an understatement.
 
Something I don't like about mac is that in order to make things more "user friendly", they often limit the uses of particular utilities.

And B2L, I can see being excited for a new computer. Hell, I'd be excited if I was getting a macbook too, though I'm not. So, I'm not excited.

What kind of school are you going to? I know that a lot of art schools require macs...
 
A.Nonymous said:
I just got done working on a Mac. I'm a Windows user and I do IT for a living so I know my away around a Windows computer like the back of my hand. This user had a new external hard drive and wanted to format it to work in OS X. I spent at least 15-20 minutes trying to figure out how in the world I could do that. To say I was puzzled would be an understatement.
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I know with Windows though, it's extremely easy to format a HDD. In fact I think it's too easy. Plug a Mac or Linux formatted drive into a Windows system, and Windows goes something like "This drive appears to be blank, do you wish to format it? YES or NO" Press the YES button and it's bye bye to any data that might have been on that drive. At least Macs can read Windows formatted drives in both NTFS and FAT32. Linux is even better, because it can read both Mac and Windows formatted drives.
 
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