Switch?

[DADINK13]

I can tell a lot of us out there are Windows users. I myself am running WinXP Pro SP1. But, for some of the things I'm gonna be doing in the future, a Power Mac is looking real enticing simply because they're virtually crash-proof. I have caused plenty of lock-ups on my machine due to compiling massive multitrack sessions in my digital audio editing software. So since I was thinking about this, maybe it was about time I asked the rest of the community: If you had the choice, would you switch to a Mac and why?

[fuuucckkers]

I would if they had better gaming and software choices. I mean, why would I switch to a MAC to play games, but have to wait about 6 months to a year for a PC game to get ported to MAC. More games with the same release date as the PC games, not 6 months later. And I would be all for it.
And the ONE major thing that would absolutely make me switch, is if MAC became an open standard. By that meaning a non-proprietary system. I like to play with the hardware, upgrade as I see fit, I dont want to be limited to only MAC standards. But yep..thats my 2-cents

[Matt]

there is a program that you can put on your mac to run win programs...i dunno how powerful this is or not (gaming wise), but i do know it exists...

the main reason that i am not a mac user is that it costs a lot to get one. if they were cheap (or if i were rich), then i would switch in a heartbeat...as would anyone that i know...

[DADINK13]

there is a program that you can put on your mac to run win programs...i dunno how powerful this is or not (gaming wise), but i do know it exists...

A friend of mine has something like that on his iMac running OS X. It's slow though--I belive it runs at the equivalent of a <gasp> 486/66!!

the main reason that i am not a mac user is that it costs a lot to get one. if they were cheap (or if i were rich), then i would switch in a heartbeat...as would anyone that i know...

They are expensive, that is the main problem. I guess you could look at a Mac the same way you would look at, say, a German car. They're both expensive. They're both worth the money in the long run--provided you have the money.

I've been doing lots of research into Macs lately, and what I've been reading is astonding. Performace-wise, they blow any Windows PC out of the water--even the lowest-end PowerBook G4. That little laptop will run circles around my custom-built P4 1.7.

And the ONE major thing that would absolutely make me switch, is if MAC became an open standard. By that meaning a non-proprietary system.

Right there is your reason why Macs are ultra-stable. Since they are NOT an open standard, the writers of the OS can create an ultra-stable platform since Apple not only builds the machine, but writes the OS as well.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not advertising Macs. I love my PC more than anything. But sometimes you gotta break away from the masses.

[Matt]

the main reason that i am not a mac user is that it costs a lot to get one. if they were cheap (or if i were rich), then i would switch in a heartbeat...as would anyone that i know...

They are expensive, that is the main problem. I guess you could look at a Mac the same way you would look at, say, a German car. They're both expensive. They're both worth the money in the long run--provided you have the money.

i dunno about you, but i'd perfer a german car over a mac...just because they are totally cool...but so are macs...so i guess its a win-win situation

[tone]

i love windows, and plus windows is very popular....i think macs are weird just my opinon

[DADINK13]

i love windows, and plus windows is very popular....i think macs are weird just my opinon

Well, my first computer was running MS-DOS 3 I belive it was. Didn't have Windows, so I was used to typing all my commands in the little C:\ prompt (btw, how many people out there still know what "C:\WINDOWS>cd\apps\word5" means?). When we got a new computer, it came with Windows 3.11 AND IBM OS/2 Warp preinstalled. Both were weird to me simply because I was so used to having to use the DOS commands for everything.
You can say the same about Macs--they're different, but they still do the same thing in essence. You just gotta have the desire to learn it I suppose.

[Master Jedi]

"C:\WINDOWS>cd\apps\word5"

Nothing as far as I know. I know the > is to send the output to a file.

ping www.big-o-software.com > c:\ping.txt

will put the results of a ping in a text file called ping.txt

[DADINK13]

Nothing as far as I know. I know the > is to send the output to a file.

First of all, no that's not what it means.
Okay here we go:

C:\WINDOWS> that's the active directory you'll see at the prompt
CD\APPS\WORD5 that's a command to change your active directory to APPS\WORD5

Basically, this is what you'll see as you type:
C:\WINDOWS>cd\apps\word5 (hit enter)
C:\APPS\WORD5> see how it changed?

Give it a try one day. bring up the run box, and type in "command" for Win95, Win98, and WinMe users, or type "cmd" for WinNT, Win2k, or WinXP users. And have fun!

[Matt]

you are both right...

dadink-you confused me when you had the '>' mark in the middle there...but yeah, i did know that it changed directorys like that...just wasn't used to your terminology...maybe a space after the > could have cleared it up...but i dunno

idejsecrofkrad-thats absolutely right

EDITED 272 times to add some corrections...lol

[Master Jedi]

Nothing as far as I know. I know the > is to send the output to a file.

First of all, no that's not what it means.
Okay here we go:

C:\WINDOWS> that's the active directory you'll see at the prompt
CD\APPS\WORD5 that's a command to change your active directory to APPS\WORD5

Basically, this is what you'll see as you type:
C:\WINDOWS>cd\apps\word5 (hit enter)
C:\APPS\WORD5> see how it changed?

Give it a try one day. bring up the run box, and type in "command" for Win95, Win98, and WinMe users, or type "cmd" for WinNT, Win2k, or WinXP users. And have fun!

Geez! I'm not an idiot! I've been using DOS for 10+ years. I just didn't realize that was intended to be the prompt. I thought that was some kind of command.

[DADINK13]

Geez! I'm not an idiot! I've been using DOS for 10+ years. I just didn't realize that was intended to be the prompt. I thought that was some kind of command.

Heheheh, ok--we all make mistakes!

[Master Jedi]

Geez! I'm not an idiot! I've been using DOS for 10+ years. I just didn't realize that was intended to be the prompt. I thought that was some kind of command.

Heheheh, ok--we all make mistakes!

Yep we do.

[DADINK13]

Well, judging from the poll, it appears that people would rather stick with Windows than become a Mac user. That's understandable seeing how Windows does basically rule the world. Even so, it surprises me how many people refuse to even look at a Mac simply because "they don't play games." If you want to play games, get a PC, plain and simple. I guess you could say that it takes a certain person to realize the true potential of a Macintosh to decide to make the switch. For those people out there who are heavy into graphic art, 3D art, and digital audio understand how having a fast, stable platform is just as important as being able to do your work. So I suppose you could say that the switch is pretty obvious. Now if Microsoft would do like what Apple has done with OS X and build it on top of UNIX than maybe I wouldnt think quite so much about getting a PowerMac....but the odds of that happening are pretty much slim to none.

[jester22c]

I would never choose a mac over a PC for the simple reason that I need my PC for many tasks that a mac would not suffice for. I would definately use in in addition to a PC if I had the money. They are powerful within their own spectrum but for most things a PC will still get the job done faster.


On a side note... command.com and cmd.exe both work on all win9X platforms.