Yet another reason to make the Switch...

[Marc P.]

Originally posted by Wetzel
Why make the switch?

Because Macs are easy and people are ignorant and to lazy to learn.

This is true in a sense, people are looking for something "easy to use." However, with OSX, the UNIX factor is thrown in. There is a console in OSX for hardcore Unix/BSD/Linux people out there to play with, and because of it's BSD roots/source, Linux people can have fun playing with differant GUI's, customizing kernels, etc. While on the surface it's easy for even a monkey to play with, the core of OSX is capable of providing fun for hardcore enthusiasts.

Lets run 3 copys of Kazaa at the same time, it will download faster!
Thats not a cupholder?
You mean I don't just flip the switch on the back to turn it off?
The worst and prolly most common:
Antivirus software? Whats that?

This is true as well, most people will do whatever they want and think "system resources? wtf is that? can i get those from a library?" I have seen people use CD-ROM's as cupholders (intentionally mind you, it was a non-functioning unit, and was actually pretty cool). I work for a computer service center, and 90% of the average users out there don't even know there is a switch on the back. If the computer freezes, they unplug it. As for Antivirus software, most people do know what that is. The problem is, they think "more is better." I once serviced a system that "freezes whenever you try to do anything." I turned on the computer, and saw the spashscreens for Norton Antivirus, Norton SystemWorks, McAfee Antivirus, and Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, all on the same machine, a K6-2 400mhz with 64 megs ram. Tell me why it's freezing? As far as viruses go, 95% of the viruses out there have no affect on Mac's at all. Most are win32 based, and therefore will have no bearing on any version of MacOS.

Win2k dosn't crash, until pain is infected upon it by the (l)user.

This is also true. Win2k is a great operating system, still my personal favorite of all the Windows OS's. Even though WinXP literally is the same kernel as Win2k, I feel Home Edition is just WinME with a new kernel, and while more stable, it's far from perfect. Pro is better, but still, for an older system (e.g. my laptop, with a 2.1 gig hard drive) 2 gigs is too much for an operating system to occupy. (In perspective my Win2k installtion of literally a year and a half now takes up a mere 750mb). However, a few issues: Windows can only run as stable as the machine it's on. If you have unreliable memory in the system, poom! Down goes windows. (In many cases Win2k or XP won't even boot with unreliable memory, just hang at a blue screen on startup). Also, it is possible to crash 2000 and XP. Maybe not running 3 kazaa's to "download faster," but chatting on AIM, while attempting to render a 3ds Max scene, while creating a new texture map in Photoshop, while running SolidWorks to create the 3d mechanism to import into 3ds Max. Combine this with one minor exception in any given program, and down goes windows, not because of the novice user trying to get more speed out of his 28.8k connection on kazaa, but a hardcore user trying to get work done.

Personally, I'm happy with my PC. It's been operational without a crash-related restart in over a week. (Prior to that it was a month or so, but I rebuilt my system with a new motherboard/CPU) But, I have very much respect for Mac, and in a few more paychecks, will look into a Powerbook G4, or just a G4 in general. Not to "make the switch," but to run 3 different O/S's, simultaneously, to make use of them for what each is generally meant for- Windows for general use/gaming, Linux for servers/fun, Mac for Video Editing/Graphic design.

/me is done ranting for now