66 replies to this topic

[Stone]

First, what is the Mac alternative to Quicken?

But on a grander scale, what does Mac do that is so much better than windows? I've used both, and I really don't see any significant benefit in Mac. Adding a printer to a Mac didn't seem any easier. I don't remember having any problems loading programs onto PCs. MS Word sucks on both. What is it about windows that sucks?

[mongo_jones]

keeping in mind that i have not used vista:

setting up a network, especially wireless, without having to fiddle endlessly to get every machine to see every other machine.

not crashing. not slowing down dramatically if too many windows are open or if the system has been running too long. not asking me to install 1784 crucial updates every time i shut down. not giving me random usb device errors even though the usb devices haven't failed. not needing to defrag.

the one area in which the windows interface is far superior: you can maximize a window so it fills the entire screen, so that you don't accidentally click on a screen below when you want to scroll. this annoys me at least seven times a day with my powerbook.

[Orik]

Ok, this is easy for me because I've been using both unix in its many variations and windows for many years.

MacOS X is a unix system. This means it is more stable than windows, more secure than windows (not just because there aren't as many users, etc., it's just less buggy that way), and at least in theory more lightweight than windows.

It has an advantage over other unix based systems (e.g. Ubuntu, RedHat, Solaris) in that someone:

1. Took a lot of time and effort to make the user interface nice, and to make various consumer apps like iTunes, Office, etc. work on it.

2. Is selling it on closed architectures where all the device drivers work correctly and where someone can concentrate their QA efforts on the system as a whole instead of dealing with a bazillion different pieces of hardware on which it might end up running.

Of course the latter is also a disadvantage - you can only buy OSX to run on hardware that is usually overpriced between "a little" (20%) and a lot (people who have built high end hackintoshes report price markups of 200% or more, I don't know how real that is)

Windows has the advantages that:

1. It has more (and better) business applications.
2. It has video-game-console class games.
3. It runs on an open architecture so if you need a really awesome graphics card, or if you want to run on some garbage netbook that costs $100 to build you can do it.

But the disadvantages mongo mentioned.

Vista in particular is horrible. It's sluggish, takes up a huge amount of resources, is designed to keep taking more of them with time (as it keeps on installing new "shared" libraries with each application) and in general doesn't give you a better user experience than XP did. Windows 7 is much better but still seems to be slowing down over time.

So I'd say what sucks about windows is that it keeps slowing down, that it is less secure (you will get viruses or trojans eventually), and that it runs on a huge number of hardware combos meaning it wasn't really tested on yours so occasionally it'll crash or just do something weird. If you're running Vista then about six months into it you find yourself waiting for windows to finish doing something or another in the background and killing your machine even though you've got 16 GB ram and eight CPU cores.

Personally I use Linux + Windows. I think most people just want a web browser, media player, and office software so they feel better about a machine that just lets them run those things successfully every day (and of course they feel a mysterious urge to pay Apple some money)

[Sneakeater]

Vista in particular is horrible. It's sluggish, takes up a huge amount of resources, is designed to keep taking more of them with time (as it keeps on installing new "shared" libraries with each application) and in general doesn't give you a better user experience than XP did. Windows 7 is much better but still seems to be slowing down over time.

I still have XP, but I can't tell you how much I hate this. I am ready to throw my computer out the window. I am infuriated.

[Orik]

Vista in particular is horrible. It's sluggish, takes up a huge amount of resources, is designed to keep taking more of them with time (as it keeps on installing new "shared" libraries with each application) and in general doesn't give you a better user experience than XP did. Windows 7 is much better but still seems to be slowing down over time.

I still have XP, but I can't tell you how much I hate this. I am ready to throw my computer out the window. I am infuriated.

You've saved yourself a lot of stress by skipping Vista.

[Peter Creasey]

Windows XP Pro and Windows 64-bit Home Premium are both superb.

[Lippy]

I went from XP to 7, skipping over Vista. I can report that 7 is much better than XP -- faster and more stable. I've had this computer since January and haven't had any crashes or any sign of slowing down. It opens right away and shuts down without incident. [Yes, I know that Mac is better.]

[Sneakeater]

But the accrued slowness over time . . . . It's driving me crazy.

If Macs don't do that (and if Citrix is finally compatible with Macs), I'm getting one.

[Sneakeater]

It is taking me nearly an hour to download the new version of iTunes. I don't have time for this.

[Sneakeater]

But I don't WANT to buy a new computer . . . .

[Sneakeater]

I WANT MY LIFE BACK.

[Stone]

Stop drinking wine.

Citrix works fine on Mac.

Why do computers slow down? Theyre just x's and o's.

[bigbear]

I WANT MY LIFE BACK.

Sneak, when was the last time you did some maintenance?

MS tips

[prasantrin]

IME, when my computer runs slowly, it usually means I've got a virus or some other malware.

[Peter Creasey]

Why do computers slow down?

Stone, It is debatable whether they do or don't.

I have never observed any slowdown on any of the numerous Windows PCs I have had. Windows experts I have confidence in say the slow down knock on Windows is hooey.

Computers need ongoing maintenance so they can stay efficient.