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Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

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Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#21

Post by rickd »

Retric wrote: post #19
rickd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Connect360 ( http://www.nullriver.com/products/connect360 ) for OSX->360 and I couldn't be happier. The only annoyance is that it won't stream drm'd content from the itunes store. I think that SUCKS. Otherwise, it couldn't be easier to use and it's quick and clean. No connection to them other than I'm a happy customer ;)

Yep, it almost works but that just means it's only slightly broken.

My response has simply been: don't buy DRM'd content. Works 100% of the time ;)

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#22

Post by Hexstream »

raganwald wrote: post #20
Hexstream wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perceived security? How many hundred thousand new pieces of malware for the mac this year again?

An astronomer, a physicist and a mathematician are on a train in Scotland. The astronomer looks out of the window, sees a black sheep standing in a field, and remarks, "How odd. Scottish sheep are black." "No, no, no!" says the physicist. "Only some Scottish sheep are black." The mathematician rolls his eyes at his companions' muddled thinking and says, "In Scotland, there is at least one field, containing at least o…

I was referencing effective security (what your chances are of contracting something bad), not theoretical security (how inherently secure the system is or isn't). You're effectively safer on a mac than Windows regardless of the design and architecture. It's just a fact that you have orders of magnitude less malware on the mac.

So saying macs have "perceivably" better (effective) security than Windows is a bit like saying white is perceivably brighter than black. Technically true, but it sounds a tad dishonest to me (or maybe he was just talking about theoretical security).

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#23

Post by ensignavenger »

rickd wrote: post #16
Retric wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows seems to work better as a media center PC. Streaming video to an 360 or a PS3 is really easy to setup with Windows and getting the hardware / codec's to work is simple. Note: I have heard that Linux is getting better for this stuff but windows is cheep enough that I don't really care.

I use Connect360 ( http://www.nullriver.com/products/connect360 ) for OSX->360 and I couldn't be happier. The only annoyance is that it won't stream drm'd content from the itunes store. I think that SUCKS. Otherwise, it couldn't be easier to use and it's quick and clean. No connection to them other than I'm a happy customer ;)

I have a solution- Don't buy DRM'd content. Ever. And if you do, pirate a usable copy. I still prefer not buying it in the first place, as I don't want to support the notion of DRM.

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#25

Post by ensignavenger »

Hexstream wrote: post #22
raganwald wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An astronomer, a physicist and a mathematician are on a train in Scotland. The astronomer looks out of the window, sees a black sheep standing in a field, and remarks, "How odd. Scottish sheep are black." "No, no, no!" says the physicist. "Only some Scottish sheep are black." The mathematician rolls his eyes at his companions' muddled thinking and says, "In Scotland, there is at least one field, containing at least o…

I was referencing effective security (what your chances are of contracting something bad ), not theoretical security (how inherently secure the system is or isn't). You're effectively safer on a mac than Windows regardless of the design and architecture. It's just a fact that you have orders of magnitude less malware on the mac. So saying macs have "perceivably" better (effective) security than Windows is a bit like…

Yes, but you should still take the SAME basic security precautions on both platforms. And if you do so, you are probably just as safe on Vista, and maybe safer. The biggest security risk on the MAC is a false sense of security. I don't know how many people have told me, "I have a Mac, I can't possibly get anything bad!"

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#26

Post by netcan »

makecheck wrote: post #4

Even if the Internet is the "killer app", it still matters how you get there. Is your preferred client available on the platform? Does it work well on that platform? My web browser, E-mail client and terminal of choice, for instance, are not available on Windows; and no, I'm not using Apple's Safari or Terminal. So when I pull up these applications, I'm seeing what is (to me) a superior Internet experience. Even Fire…

That is by definition a very niche problem.

Apart from running each other's proprietary browsers, there is no reason not to make any browser with enough of a following to determine machine choice, available on any platform.

Normally, the reason an 'app of choice' wouldn't be available is obscurity. The point here is that the only app that matters now is the browser & maybe another handful.

Fewer chances for an obscure killer app to kill the sale because all your obscure apps are online. If all you need to do is make sure that all important browsers are available on your platform, it's doable even if it's chasing down browsers with less then .01% of users.

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#27

Post by niels_olson »

cstejerean wrote: post #7
richtaur wrote: post #6

It totally matters. Just ask any Mac or Linux diehard. Personally, I use all three of the primary operating systems: Windows XP, Mac OSX and Linux (Ubuntu in this case). I have separate uses for each and can't imagine getting rid of any of them.

I'm curious what you use Windows for. The only things I can imagine myself using Windows for are gaming or testing in IE.

I have a Mac Book, an iBook, two Dell laptops running Ubuntu (one is our media center and my wife uses the other for work), two dell towers (one I bought 5 years ago which still has XP; the other is a 10 year old 900MHz P3 which is my file server, running SuSE 11 and Compiz), and I have two OLPC XOs (two kids; one was a gift). That's 8 computers in the house plus a server I admin that's running CentOS.

The one Dell running Windows has 1) an HP scanjet 4470c that isn't supported in OS X or SANE and 2) MS Money with 10 years of data. GNU Cash is on my todo list and I found an epson scanner on craigslist for $40 that I'm going to get tomorrow. Once I resolve those two issues I will happily abandon my Creative Suite 2 and never use Windows again.

Meanwhile, people at Starbucks ask me how to get on the internet and while I help them with their HPAcerVaioToshibaGateway $500 special, I advise them to use Ubuntu instead of Vista. I give them the link to Ubuntu and I know they won't use it. One guy was so happy he bought me a coffee, even though I'm sure he will never follow that link. They use what ships with the computer.

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#29

Post by Retric »

rickd wrote: post #21
Retric wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it almost works but that just means it's only slightly broken.

My response has simply been: don't buy DRM'd content. Works 100% of the time ;)

Are there any legal options to buy non DRM'd Blu-ray content? I mean new 1080p movies?

Re: Mac vs PC: Does it matter anymore?

#30

Post by timc »

rather than get my pc with xp out of my briefcase, i picked up my wifes mac air and with outlook web access i can grab email and with mionews.com i can read friendfeed and news. biggest difference left is instant on...and of course IM which requires a thick client to be good.
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