Great Western Coffee Shop

You appall me!  ;) :P

From the Guardian: Charlie Brooker - I hate Macs (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/feb/05/comment.media). One of the best columns he's ever written in my opinion! ;)  :P

Here's me thinking that Btline was referring to FA sitting in front of a Police Constable. The mind boggled!!

BTW, welcome back Btline. Have you been on holiday the past few weeks?

At the risk of starting a debate re: PCs versus Macs, I'm firmly in the PC camp. My latter education utilised them and they were a natural progression from my earlier school computers; the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro. My first home computer was one (a 286 with Compuserve as my ISP), and as I now upgrade by building my own system I'm sticking with them. Can't build a Mac from the ground up and I'm just plain confused when one is put in front of me.... to much style over substance. Oh.... and don't get me started on the iPhone - pile of (expensive) pants!

Charle Brooker was right: "Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work; computers for people who earnestly believe in feng shui."

I was sitting in front of a mac

I'm sorry - I use language that is understandable by the non enlightened amongst us

Phew.

And I don't want to start a major debate, but I'll say this: I absolutely HATED Macs (just like Charlie Brooker - I used to agree with much of that article), and I had to use them every day; I had a PC at home. Then I got a Mac, and now I don't look back. Everything works, no annoying pop up in the bottom right telling me my computer "may" be at risk, no millions of updates every day, faster, better software for media, Microsoft Office for Mac is better than the PC version, NO NEED to put a CD in every time I add printers/cameras - Macs have all drivers pre-installed, everything works out of the box, etc.....

I guarantee that if you owned one for yourselves, you'd be converted! I was used to and liked XP but now I don't miss Windows at all.

Seriously, every time I have to use a PC now (rarely, thank goodness) my blood pressure goes up, and I cry out for all the functions that I use on my Mac to make everything easier and quicker. I also cry at the time spent booting up and logging in!

Comand plus F4

I think thats it - finally arrived in windows 7

10 years after os X

Makes writing training documents so much easier

I had to use a Mac at work for six months. Everyone told me that it's take me a few weeks but then I'd be converted and never look back. To cut a long story short, six months later I still hated the b*st*rd thing with an absolute passion. Fortunately I got lucky, since in January some computers were being replaced and I successfully managed to beg my boss to get me a PC and cascade my (new, shiny and very pretty but entirely hated!) Mac to someone who would appreciate it...!

PS If it's thought appropriate I can separate off the Pc/Mac debate into a separate thread... No problem with chatting around random subjects (the board is called "Introductions and Chat", after all) but this part of the thread has ended up waaaaaaaay off topic!

Yeah split away - sorry, didn't mean to cause this!

The Mac you were using wasn't yours. Perhaps it was linked to a server or network - remember, I used Macs for years before I got one for my own. I hated it.

Btline, what you describe sounds like any modern version of Windows, I've currently got Vista SP2 and don't have any problems. However I should be on Windows 7 by Monday so it will be interesting to see how much improved it is. I can't really justify the price of a Mac, especially considering I'd need a copy of XP installed on it to run everything I want.

I've just upgraded to Windows 7 from XP. Skipped Vista because that was a dog's breakfast of an OS.

I also run a Linux OS on a partition.

Really?

I thought that way as well

Except for quickbooks (my accounting software) have not found a jot needing windows

Wind doze gets more like a poor mans os x with every release

i must be the only person in the world that likes vista and has never had a problem

It seems to have broken your shift key. The spell-checker has improved, though...

Through necessity (corporate policy & the fact my team works alongside Microsoft staff) I use a combination of XP and Windows 7 in my day job (XP on the network for day to day stuff, Windows 7 & Office 10 on a development system). Outside of work I ran a magazine for 20 years so it's been Mac all the way. I think at home at the moment between us we've got a G4, a small Macbook, a 21" iMac and the machine I'm talking to you from now, a 24" intel iMac (the one with the white surround - I'm not keen on the look of the newer brushed steel ones).

The only thing I often wish I had on a Mac is a printscreen button - although having said that, the cmd-shift-4 function on a Mac is far more versatile than print screen anyway.

I'm a big fan of Coffee Cup software ( html, Flash, webby stuff available from http://www.coffeecup.com/) and unfortunately this isn't available at present for the Mac, but there's plenty of alternatives. Just not always free or as well designed.

Oh, and finally the full functionality of Egg's online banking isn't available if you're not using IE on a PC which is a bit of a bummer, but I'm gradually changing to another card provider in any case.

Apart from those minor quibbles though from an ease of use and sheer common sense point of view, I'd personally much rather use Macs - and breath a sigh of relief every day when I get home from work and wake up my sleeping Mac. But I recognise it's a matter of choice and certainly wouldn't berate anyone for having a different point of view to myself.

the t , w, and indeed the @ keys still work :-)

As I may have posted before, I work in IT and specialise in Networks/Servers/Desktops. The company I work provide Windows, Linux & Mac systems, but we can also fix them too. Had a Data Recovery job on a dead MacBook Pro which was quite interesting, but I will admit we did outsource that to one of our contractors.

On my home/parents I'm an all Windows/Linux network, on which I run the following bits of kit:

Parents:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit on Parents PC with Office 2007 Enterprise
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit on Sisters PC again with Office 2007 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise on Server 1, which also runs a Virtual Ubuntu 9.10 Server in VMWare Server. Server 1 also runs Exchange 2010, Acts as a PDC, DHCP, DNS & WINS Server... I'm just starting to play with biometric authentication as that does impress my mum and sister ;D

Network Connectivity:

Linked together with 2 Belkin 5 port Gigabyte Switches >:( (I despise Belkin equipment, but that was all the budget could stretch to at the time when my beautiful HP Procurve had to be returned to work :(
Linksys WRV200 Router with VPN to my flat,
Internet = Cisco 2600 Router with ADSL WIC
Wireless a combination of NetGear DG834G's in Conservatory, Shed and Spare room in cluster/repeater mode.

My Flat:

Windows XP on my flat PC with no office suite - purely used for Facebook and work purposes
Server 3 Runs Server 2008 Standard x86 - Runs DHCP, DNS, WINS and is a BDC too!
Laptop Runs Windows 7 Ultimate with Office 2010 Pro Plus!

Network Connectivity is Linksys WRV210 with VPN to Parents house
Internet Access is Linksys AM200 in Bridge Mode
Also Draytek Vigor 2800G used as a Wireless AP and Switch!

All using legal licensing of course... courtesy of Microsoft's Worst Kept Secret... the wonderful MS Action Pack ;D

The maintanance on the system is low, the servers just sit there and do their thing... the only trouble i've had with it is the odd paper jam on the printers, or when a broadband line has gone down... All in all i'm proud of it, it took me long enough to get it to a state in which I am happy with and years of investment...! in all honesty it's still a work in progress, but now it's just little things like attempting to share the scanner (Proving difficult but possible with 2008 R2) and as I said earlier in the post, playing with biometric finger print authentication ;D

I know what your going to say, hidiously overspec'd LOL ;D

(http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/coffeescreen.gif) (http://www.millan.net)

Windows Vista and now Windows 7 are moves towards to Mac OSX. You'd be surprised the no of features they nicked, and how they are making user interface, searching, (I could go on) just like a Mac.

But as FA said, it's a poor brother to OSX. Windows are still miles behind.

Depends if you consider ^800 upwards value for money for a mediocre spec system!

Indeed d_m. My lastest all singing all dancing PC cost me a total of ^350 to build.

Ah ... I'm seated this morning at a Mac laptop; it gives me a Unix based web server on which I can run and maintain the development and testing version of our main web site (http://www.wellho.net/), an ability to run most of the software I teach people about, and much more.   Nice graphics, nice interface, projects well, robust to carry around, works easily with many odd things like the 3G dongle without being Windows based (which would mean my test server was less close to my live one than I would wish).  Not a cheap machine, but it makes me effective in my use of time, and it makes me happy which keeps me motivated and at the keyboard for long hours.

I was working with a Linux box earlier, and I'll be training with Windows systems tomorrow ... I'm the first to admit that Windows is my least favoured choice, but if pushed you'll find me admitting that part of that is that I know it far less well and get frustrated by what seem like interminable warning messages, security messages, updates automatically installed ... and the feeling that just as I get to know one version, there will be another to go our and buy!

end of the day they both do the job, its not asif one is significantly better than the other once you factor in cost, performance look or feel, the only differance is osx....everything else can be added to a pc which costs more which puts it in the same range as a mac so what price differance,.... guess it comes down to externally a mac looks better !