The more I use Macs, the more I wonder why they’ve got such a reputation for being stable. It’s getting to the point where I hear people espouse the wonders of Mac OS and wonder if they’ve ever actually used one. Same goes for people who claim Windows crashes all the time.
I own and use a PC regularly. It’s a Dell laptop and it runs Windows Vista. What’s more, it runs Windows Vista without crashing. Amazing, isn’t it? Excuse the sarcasm, but I’ve been told a number of times that I’m a fool for using both a Dell and Windows, but I’ve never had any more problems than I had on any other brand of computer or version of Windows. Heh, I’ve actually had more problems using Macs. Anyone who says Macs don’t crash has never seen me use one. And no, it’s not because I’m an incompetent computer user who clearly doesn’t know how to use a Mac. Indeed, I get hung up on the command key (what, exactly, was wrong with the control key?) and I hate how closing a window doesn’t quit the program running it, but I know what I’m doing.
Continue reading ‘Mac vs. PC’
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I was planning on writing a how-to on installing a hacked version of Mac OS X on a PC, complete with “DO THIS AND YOU ARE DAMNED TO HELL YOU DIRTY PIRATE” disclaimer and everything.
Upon reflection, I decided not to bother with the how-to. There are already countless guides out there (like the in-depth one at Lifehacker), and it’s pretty much pointless to install Mac OS X on a PC. It most likely won’t work as well as Mac OS X on a real Mac, which makes such an installation good as a proof-of-concept thing, but not really good for much else. Believe me, you’re better off sticking with Windows or Linux, both of which are legal to install on PCs. If you want a Mac, go buy one. Or go find someone who actually had the decency to provide a how-to guide after tempting his readers with one. (On a related note, please don’t hunt me down and shoot me. I don’t think I’d appreciate it very much.)
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Web browsers are interesting things. Most people don’t even care which they use. If you have Windows, you use Internet Explorer. If you have a Mac, you use Safari. If you’re smart, you use Firefox. But the operating system barriers have been slowly breaking down. Internet Explorer can be installed on Mac OS, although the Mac version is outdated and fairly crappy. Now, however, you can install Safari, the formerly Mac-only browser, on Windows. Granted, it’s only a beta version (more like an alpha, as I’ll later explain), but you can still try it out if you so like.
Continue reading ‘A Safari for the rest of us’
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I used to like the Mac vs. PC ads on TV. They were funny at first. Now they just seem kind of…mean. Upgrade nightmares? Too many versions of Vista? Those are pretty low blows if you think about it.
For one thing, upgrading to any new operating system is painful. Newer OS’s require newer hardware. That’s a fact of life. I mean, it was the same way going from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. There are still many Mac users with OS 9 who couldn’t afford to upgrade to OS X due to–gasp!–hardware limitations. The funny thing is that if you lack the hardware necessary for Vista, you can simply buy new components and upgrade your existing PC. Can’t do that with a Mac. You’d have to buy a whole new one, and Macs aren’t exactly cheap.
The other bit about multiple versions of Vista is also kind of silly. The commercial for that one claims that Mac just has one version with everything. Windows does too: it’s called Ultimate. Of course, an upgrade version of Ultimate costs about $259 to the $129 OS X upgrade, which is quite a difference, but when you consider that you can install Vista Ultimate on any type of computer you want that has the hardware support (as opposed to OS X, which you can only install on those expensive Macs), as well as the extra features Ultimate packs (such as BitLocker hard drive encryption), I think it’s worth the extra cost.
Don’t get me wrong, Macs are good computers. But you can’t really compare them to PCs like Apple does. I could probably tear apart their points pretty easily, but that would be petty and I don’t want to waste my time. I’ll just suffice to say that my PC “just works” fine as it is. And it plays games. No such thing as a Mac gamer, is there? I rest my case.
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