LebGeeks

rolf

Member

Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

We (the office) just acquired a gorgeous 20" new iMac G5.
I can tell you, that computer is a work of art, and for the first time of my life, I thought that a mac was maybe worth the price difference.
It is simply a real pleasure to work on. I cant get tired of all the effect and fancy features, like there is this button on the mouse that would show you all open windows one near another (in a small size) to switch between them.

Anyway windows vista I have read will implement most of the features of the OSX, but knowing microsoft's bad taste... I know it definitely progress from XP, but there is something about microsoft's "art" or should I say "copyart" that makes me sick.

The mac is not all about appearances only. When working on PC, how many times a day do I have to bring up the ctrl-alt-delete box while cursing and fumbling, then wait about half a minute for the damn thing to pop up...
Why didn't microsoft just give the damn task manager the highest priority? It's not rocket science you know.
How many time did an application make your PC crawl on it's knees by using 99% cpu?

Well I have noticed that such things never happen on the mac. To illustrate, here's a test I made: I took a 5 mb xml file and opened it in internet explorer. The internet explore windows went ugly blank, and all the system became terribly slow. You could count several seconds between clicking on start and the menu showing up and then watch the items display one by one.
Now I opened the same file on mac in safari (the mac browser). The safari window appearance did not change during loading, but you could not click in it during loading and the busy mouse pointer would show over the window. Yet you could do any other work during loading, there was not the slightest hint of slowing down in the rest of the system...
The mustitasking on apple is great, I'm guessin that non-active windows automatically get very low priorities. As said before it's not rocket science, but not implemented in windows. No matter how powerful your PC is, a bad app can make it sluggish.

The mac is superior in all aspects, and I can go on and on. Bottom line is microsoft will have to pull off much more then a better user interface to persuade me, especially since, as a PC tech I have had my share of Windows OS and software periodically becoming corrupted for no reason and causing hair loss and extra hours.
I think it's high time we move away from windows so that I can get more sleep.

The guy in the accounting department will not get more sleep, though.

mir

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

Well nice review on MAC ...

I can tell you, that computer is a work of art, and for the first time of my life, I thought that a mac was maybe worth the price difference.

well how much is the price difference ?
will see if i can get something from the guy at the end of the street (3ammo touma  )
about the sleep thing.. i think u will be having less sleep hours testing the new kewl features

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

oh well, can't wait to install both oses on the same platform  I've used and love both ;)

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

Well nice review on MAC ...

I can tell you, that computer is a work of art, and for the first time of my life, I thought that a mac was maybe worth the price difference.

well how much is the price difference ?
will see if i can get something from the guy at the end of the street (3ammo touma  )
about the sleep thing.. i think u will be having less sleep hours testing the new kewl features

The price difference is huge actually, almost double.
for example a 20" dual core intel 2.0 ghz mac with 512mb ram and 250GB hd and  ATI Radeon X1600 costs $1600 minimum!
The 17" 1.8 ghz version is about $1300
Note that this computer is fully loaded with bluetooth, integrated webcam, firewire, wireless etc...
The one we have is 20" powerpc 2 ghz cpu,  2.5gb ram (or so I have been told, I should check :) ) 250gb hd.
I should try to get the mac OS to work on PC hardware, there are a lot of hacks on the net on how to do that...

oh well, can't wait to install both oses on the same platform  I've used and love both ;)

You are unlikely to see windows boot on mac hardware because microsoft do not plan to support the bios technology used on mac platforms. -- EDIT: I was wrong, it does actually work, see below --

Last edited by rolf (April 6 2006)

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

no worries, it will work eventually

battikh

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

it has already been done. Someone has booted Vista on his core duo Mac, there was a contest about that.
and now, mac has made it possible without having to use hacks by downloading "bootcamp". check it here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

for booting Mac on a PC, there is a hacked version of Mac OSX call Mac OSx86, u download the ISO, burn it on a cd, and install it. I have'nt tried it yet, but i'm looking forward to give it a shot...
check this site for mac osx86:
http://www.osx86project.org
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index … ion_Guides

Last edited by battikh (April 5 2006)

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

It doesn't get much more clever. You've flog consumers an expensive Intel PC, with OS X, and then let them pay for the privilege of running Windows XP on it. Welcome to 21st century Apple, and say hello to their latest software offering called Boot Camp.

“ Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware now that we use Intel processors,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “ We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch.”

Despite the sickening smugness, Schiller is right. Apple's boxes amazingly seem to run Windows rather fast, making it a very attractive choice for end users. The software makes Microsoft, and frankly, its OEM PC partners, look decidedly dated - as their product page attests. " Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries."

Boot Camp will simplify what has hitherto been a rather difficult and risky process of installing Windows, by creating a partition and creating a driver disk to make sure everything works. Previous efforts had been community driven, and involved raising a significant prize fund eventually won by two coders. But it's not just about making life easier for these users. It's about making the switch decision a lot easier. With Vista delayed, the much hyped Apple re-birth as more than just an iPod maker seems clear and solid.

Boot Camp will be fully available in the next version of OS X, code named 'Leopard', but a beta is available online now. It requires 10GB of free space on your hard drive, and a copy of Windows XP with SP2. Note that Apple makes it very clear it does not support users who install Windows XP on their Intel Macs. Just encourages it, and enjoys it.

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

Link - http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

Read the funny comments like

EFI and BIOS

Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries.

Word to the Wise

Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes.

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

More features I have discovered on the mac:
- The "spotlight" search will search even within applications: example if you type "ip address" it will find for you, among other matches, the IP settings page in the system preferences.
- I have connected the mac to the MS active directory, it goes very easily and now it's 100% integrated in the windows network. you can login on the mac with the domain admin account and will have administrative rights on the mac.

I confirm, the machine does have 2.5 GB of ram memory. I wonder what the hell they'd need that for. Maybe it helps for fast user switching, you can have more than 1 user logged in and switch between them, and the swtich itself is pretty cool, the screen changes from 1 user to the other like a rotating cube.

We have to thank linux for offering all most of the technologies, such as the kernel and samba for windows networking, and the core of the browser... and apple for the great user interface and for ironing out all the bugs.

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

I really need to put some effort to get OSX working on my home PC, that would be cool.
Thanks for the links battikh. Did you get it to work yourself?

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

k guys, i have discovered my first bug on the mac

mir

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

k guys, i have discovered my first bug on the mac big_smile

Hehehe.. nothing is bug free..
what was the bug.. how serious .. yalla tell us about it

We have to thank linux for offering all most of the technologies, such as the kernel and samba for windows networking, and the core of the browser.

Hehehe so u thank linux and use Mac .. ummm

Well i also wonder 2.5GB of ram.. that can make anything work like a charm
how much does mac use ?
ano can u give some statistics like time to boot. system processes ..w heik stuff
w yalla share some print screens

battikh

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

rolf, i still haven't tried it yet, but i'm downloading a copy from a torrent....but it's taking a loooooong time, i guess it will take me more than a week
I probably should go buy a copy, it would be easier...

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

k guys, i have discovered my first bug on the mac big_smile

Hehehe.. nothing is bug free..
what was the bug.. how serious .. yalla tell us about it

Well there is this great feature called "spotlight" it's an indexed search system that i mentionned before, it will give you search results in realtime and search in PDF, mails, .... music and even applications. It't just an icon in the upper right of the screen, you click on it and get a text field, you type your search and get a list of results under it in a couple of seconds, almost real time.
This is a new feature in mac OSX, and I have realized that it just doesnt work when I'm logged in as a microsoft domain user, not a local user. I type but get no results, it must be a proble with permissions, they'll probably fix it in the next releases.

We have to thank linux for offering all most of the technologies, such as the kernel and samba for windows networking, and the core of the browser.

Hehehe so u thank linux and use Mac .. ummm

Well the mac GUI and the machine itself looks so much better then linux, and you actually dont have to use the command line in mac at all. In linux i always en up using the command line even if i have X. And another big problem is the software that is unavalable on Linux.
What is good in linux is the kernel and the internals and that's what mac has stolen. It's not fair :)
But I think that linux will get better and one day will become as good as mac for the GUI.

Well i also wonder 2.5GB of ram.. that can make anything work like a charm
how much does mac use ?
ano can u give some statistics like time to boot. system processes ..w heik stuff

The mac itself actually works like a charm, I guess even with 1gb and less. It is designed in a different way than windows, it is designed not to make the user wait, and if it has to make him wait it makes it in a very elegant fashion bidoun te2tish or anything like that. In fact the system never slows down for the user, wherever you click automatically gets superior priority and the rest goes to background.

Well in normal operation using small programs such as itunes and the browser, even with 2 users logged in, the memory usage was about 25%. The rest was blank :) nothing... zilch.

That's a lot of memory , but I think it would be mostly useful for professional quality video editing and 3D work moslty. Maybe also for working on satellite pictures and very high-res scanned photos.
We dont do a lot of these, but ince we work in graphic design, one way to eat up the memory is having one user log, open several big apps (photoshop + illustrator + indesigh + corel draw ) with several big images open in each one, then another user comes and logs in without logging off the 1st user, then opens the same amound of programs and huge files, then a 3rd user comes and does the same... at that point, thanks to the 2.5 gb mem, the users would be able to switch between profiles and apps and files as much as they want withouth any slowdown.

Ok, we know that this will seldom happen, but you never know with graphic designers. We know 90% of graphic designers, after studying 4 years for their degree, do not have the slightest idea how their tool of work, be it PC or Mac works, then they do stuff like upen 10 files of 1 gb each then call tech support "yiiii my computer is slooooow... please fix it for me...".

So since memory prices are so low why not take advantage of it.

w yalla share some print screens

I wanted to but I have some issues, first the screen res is something like 1600x something , and then I cant find no damt printscreen button so I'll have to figure out how that is done.

:)

Last edited by rolf (April 7 2006)

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

rolf press the f11 and f10 buttons, that should be some fun for you

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

rolf press the f11 and f10 buttons, that should be some fun for you

Thanks yeah i already figured those a long time ago
I think there is one to show the desktop, and one to show the to bring up that thing with the calculator and the calendar and other widgets - uh the dashbar. You can reprogram these to buttons on your mouse or to edges on your screen.

all desktop changes are soo cool, with sliding effects and all sorts of really good animations, the sort you'd never dream of on windows.

mahdoum

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

i know, i used an imac for 2 years in school, I have actually crashed it once lol. I love it when you got a lot of macs connected together within a network, the admins access allows you to see and even control each desktop one by one. My teacher used to mess around with me when I was typing a document, he'd start typing in random stuff lol

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

My teacher used to mess around with me when I was typing a document, he'd start typing in random stuff lol

Mmmmh that's a nice thing to do at work when I'm bored.
Good idea...

mir

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

My teacher used to mess around with me when I was typing a document, he'd start typing in random stuff lol

bad guys.. u no good...tho it is fun to do lool
u had a nice teacher!

i used an imac for 2 years in school, I have actually crashed it once lol

Once .. bass.. u weren't trying hard

I wanted to but I have some issues, first the screen res is something like 1600x something big_smile, and then I cant find no damt printscreen button so I'll have to figure out how that is done.

Haven't figured it out yet .. lool
well never mind... there are 100s screenshot on the internet lol

about the 2GB memory.. i think it can be useful for the rendering stuff w 3D mainly

rolf

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

rolf, i still haven't tried it yet, but i'm downloading a copy from a torrent....but it's taking a loooooong time, i guess it will take me more than a week
I probably should go buy a copy, it would be easier...

Any news about that download? Where did you get?

battikh

Member

Re: Mac OSX vs Windows Vista

i'm still at 0.9%
i have'nt been downloading it as i needed my bandwidth for other things teh past few days