Apple vs. IBM
 

Been thinking of switching from IBM to Apple lately. Any reasons why I shouldn't? Never liked Microsoft, but stuck with them because they were "normal" and so easy to justify.

But I now get the feeling that there's starting to be a shift toward Linux, etc. Apple stuff seems to work so seamlessly.....

I do website stuff on Adobe GoLive/LiveMotion and print stuff on QuarkXPress/Photoshop.

Anybody else switch? Any concerns?

If you switch, it shouldn't be for Microsoft reasons, as most of the programs used on an Apple are made by Microsoft (e.g., word, excel, etc.). Matter of fact, Microsoft owns part of Apple. I switched from IBM to Apple and back. My problem was that there are still a lot of programs that are not compatible with Apple, even if one uses Virtual PC. Some software manufacturers do not think it is cost effective to cater to the Apple format. If your line of work does not present this problem, then consider the Apple, it is a great computer.

I've been MSFT-free at home for 6 months. I've got a Dell box running Linux and a PowerBook. I use the PowerBook for productivity. My scanner works fine, my printer works fine, etc. etc. etc. I use OpenOffice on the Mac when I have writing or spreadsheet-type stuff to do. It's not perfect but it works for me.

Granted the Linux box was more painful to set up, but I mostly use that machine for mass storage anyway.

The only thing I miss are games. Big deal, I spend too much time in front of the computer anyway...

I use a new Dell with Windows XP pro at work. At home I use Macs. I have a wireless network at home running both Macs and a Windows machine. For creativity tasks like managing digital photos, video editing and music files the Mac is so far superior it is just silly. Networking is simple, peripherals are plug-n-play.

Unfortunately, some of the work I do requires connection to a Windows only secure server. If not for that catch I'd be Mac only. WinXP is a vast improvement over previous operating systems, but it still can't compare to Macs OSX.

Have to admit, though....I was editing some clips Tuesday in iMovie to create a full video, and iMovie just "beachballed" on me and lost all the work I had done. :-(

Fortunately the hard work was figuring out how I wanted to lay everything out and set up titling etc. So recovery was simply a matter of re-doing all of the mechanical tasks.

We are Mac-only at home, and I've been very happy. My old PC sits gathering dust. I do need to set up Linux, to make an older machine usable, and am looking forward to learning about that. But for 98% of our home PC work, we'll be on Mac.

Im 300% more productive on my Mac than I ever was on a PC. Seriously, I do more work in less time with less frustration on a Mac than I ever did on a PC. I've been using them for 3 years now and I'll never, ever, go back to the PC world. No virus's, stable and consistent applications... it doesn't get any better.

Stick with a PC. 140,000 viruses can't be wrong.

Not to be too nitpicky, but using the terms IBM and IBM-compatible to mean "the platform that's not Apple" is pretty out of date. IBM is now primarily a hardware maker for Unix, Linux and OS X (yes, they make lots and lots of apple chips, my ibook has an IBM chip in it). IBM does make windows hardware, but it's not the bulk of their business.

As far as program compatibility, it's not really a problem. There are enough people using Macs these days that there's a program out there that does what you need - unless its really obscure. For home use, there's no problem.

Wow, one simple question and all the Mac-heads come out of the woodwork, huh?

David

Well, there's nothing that compares to NFS:PU on Mac. :(

Parts of the real estate industry uses something called "Winforms" and as the name implies, they are not Mac-compatible.

Lots of other vertical industry software doesn't work on Macs, but in many cases there are other, better programs that do. While AutoCAD abandoned the Mac in the 90s, Ashlar Vellum is a highly regarded program in the 3D CAD category, as an example.

I was actually thinking of posting something like this yesterday.

I am a UNIX/Network Security Administrator. I do a Looooot of UNIX work so at work I had them get an iBook for my use. I also have an XP Pro Desktop with VMware running various different OS's. THAT setup alone makes it unnessasary for me to have that iBook and the fact is that it is slow as all get out compared to other laptops I've seen.

It's an iBook G4 ~933Mhz (or something like that) with a 40GB HDD and 256 MB RAM, DVD/CDRW Combo and for the most part it works for me. It has failed completely due to hardware twice and been replaced by apple care. The OS works well and is very UNIX friendly to use - building packages on it has not been much of a problem. I certainly care for it more than I do redhat but I still think Solaris is better.

My problem is that it's failed on my twice and resulted in replacement - I'm quite tired of restoring it to what I need. If it were a windows laptop running some variety of linux in VMware I could restore it by copying one file to the machine.

If it breaks once more - it's gone.

I also want to try to dual boot linux on it but I haven't found a distro that will install on this thing yet.

Another point to consider: Apples customer support is the best in the industry and has outranked Dells "award winning support" year after year.

Macintosh OSX is far and away better than Windows XP. I've been using both since 1984 and still use both today. For 99% of the things you need a computer for, Mac is far superior. Most people point to the fact that Macs are more expensive than PCs. Which is true. But, if you updgrade (replace) every 18-24 months, you'll find that your used Mac will still command a good price on eBay. I usually buy a new high-end machine every 18 months for about $2,000 (CPU only), then end up selling my old one for around $800. So, it really isn't that bad at all. Plus, Apple's industrial design for its products make them a joy to use. I have an Apple 23" Cinema Display on the G5 and a 22" Cinema Display on my Dell P4. The displays are pricey, but hey, you look at them all day... they should be good!

Mikester: http://www.penguinppc.org/ Also, for some reason iBooks have more reported h/w problems than PowerBooks. They are cheaper, so I guess that's one excuse.

I'm microsoft free at home, and mostly free at work. I'm using Linux, and I teach an "intro to various operating systems" course at a local CC.

If you are considering Switching, I'd say keep your cheap hardware, check it against the various HCLs available for Linux, and put Fedora, Mandrake, or SuSE on instead of windows. Heck, just try one of the many bootable CDs that boot the full operating system, without even touching your harddrive. Mandrake and SuSE both offer a live cd, and there is Knoppix (one of the first/best) and all of its variations.

Just last month installed Gentoo on the x86...not a whole lot of fun. On the other hand, it works better than MDK 9.1 did. At least it doesn't periodically drop my IP connection.

i work for a commercial printer in the prepress dept. we have one PC and 12 macs. i think that is a strong statement about the graphics industry's preference to computers.

there are a few places where Mac is shut out (most law firms are PC-only), but the creative side is still mostly Mac (print, music, video). In fact a friend of mine that has been staunchly anti-mac for many years is finally going to get one to do music becuase he's had so many headaches over the years with his DAW setups on the PC.

I find that there are a small number of programs that are PC only that I would like to run (Grokker is one, but they should have v2 for the Mac out soon), but that number is incredibly small and for me, insignificant.

As for hardware, I've had mostly excellent results. My powerbook has been running every single day for the past 2 years with nary a hiccup (knock on silicon). And I beat hard on this machine...and even use it for location multi track recording on occasion.

A computer is a tool for me. I don’t have an attachment to any specific brand or OS. Honestly, I don’t have any experience with the Mac stuff. All I know is that they look neat and are expensive. I’ve heard they are the cat’s ass for music, video, and graphics. I’ve never heard anyone endorse them outside of these 3 things.

We are looking at the possibility if ditching most of our Microsoft products in the future at my work. It’s more of an effort to cut costs (software licenses) than anything else. The current thinking is that Linux and Open Office and Mozilla can do 90% of what we need to do.

We run our distributed web based HR/Payroll system on NT servers using a Microsoft SQL server back end. This is something that we do not think we can change. UNIX/Oracle is the closest thing to a reasonable alternative for the app we are running this system on and we don’t have the resources to go this route.

I’m asking this because I honestly don’t know. How practical is a Mac based system for distributing a web based application that runs on a large database? Is the server technology available on a Mac to run a 250 seat network where the client machines are distributed between RAS connections, VPNs, and other remote sites throughout the country?