Apple

Chris Maunder

Researcher cracks Mac in 10 seconds at PWN2OWN, wins $5K[^] But aside from that (and the Win7 crack that article mentions) you need to work out who will be using the machine and why. I have a Mac and it's the last one I'm ever getting. Others find it far more intuitive than Windows but personally I find it infuriating: It uses the 'it's so obvious we don't need to provide help' system of providing help. And sometimes it really isn't obvious. And the docking bar always getting in the way of trying to resize a window because you can only resize from the bottom right hand corner thing kills me. But iPhoto, iDvd etc work great (though Picasso from Google is pretty damn good too) and Macs can run Windows, so you get a nice looking laptop (with the odd keyboard) to run your Windows apps and have a test bed for when testing against Mac. The thing that kills me though is the cost of the things. Compared to what you can get for your money elsewhere they are simply not good value for money.

cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

Stuart Dootson

Well, I don't give a rats ass if I do come over as an Apple fanboy, so here we go.

rastaVnuce wrote:

Are Macs worth the extra money?

That's very subjective - it all depends what you're looking for from your computer. I originally got a Mac (a G4 iBook) because I had a specific opportunity that let me get it for a good price. It was slow (a 1.42GHz G4 PowerPC is like a Celeron, only slower), but it worked, it didn't crash (the only time it did was when the motherboard went a bit wacko), various things that irritated me when using Windows (wi-fi, for one) didn't irritate me on OS X (to use the oft-quoted phrase, it just worked!). And yes, it's nicely designed, with clean lines etc. But anyway - the combination of hardware and OS (especially the OS) suited what I wanted from the computer - I pretty soon decided there was no way I was going back to Windows full time outside of work. The only thing I wanted was more power...which I got when I bought my MacBook Pro. Expensive...yes. Worth it? For me, yes. Even though it doesn't match my curtains - I don't (yet?) have aluminium furnishings :-) And, of course, I can now run Windows on my Mac if I need to, as I have an Intel Mac. I've just completed three days of training on a Windows software package using Windows 7 on VMWare Fusion on my MBP. Issues? None.

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p

Paul Watson

All I'll say is go try one out before buying one. Same with any computer/camera/car/girlfriend. (I use a MacBook and really like it. But, as Chris says, it is not for everyone. Also, I don't do Windows dev.)

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

ToddHileHoffer

Because of the metric system? :)

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ToddHileHoffer

rastaVnuce wrote:

I don't need Windows. Currently I'm using Linux. It's purpose (besides Code Project) would be C++ development. No Windows, no MS tools needed.

You are hard core... Why don't you wait for Windows 7 and give that a whirl?

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ToddHileHoffer

Do Apple computer's still come with a mouse with only one button?

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Tom Deketelaere

Paul Watson wrote:

/girlfriend.

:-D

Todd Smith

The new Dell Adamo[^] looks like a nice alternative to Apple if you don't need/want OSX.

Todd Smith

PTJA

African or European swallow? :-)

-- Jarek Andrzejewski

Paul Watson

Actually, they have no buttons now.

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

Paul Watson

Always try a girlfriend out before buying a fiance.

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

Paul Watson

The Adamo is lovely to look at but it is a MacBook Air competitor and pretty pricey at that. I guess if you need it that thin then go for it, otherwise a 13" MacBook does well.

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

realJSOP

ToddHileHoffer wrote:

Why don't you wait for Windows 7 and give that a whirl?

Because that would be like buying Expression Blend... paying more money for something that is just a little less crappy than what you spent money on previously.

"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

hairy_hats

So you can just push the mouse around but not use it to click on anything? Handy. Edit for the humour-impaired univoter: It was a joke. Or did you seriously believe that I thought that Apple invented a mouse that you couldn't click with? :rolleyes:

Last modified: 17mins after originally posted --

ToddHileHoffer

John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

Because that would be like buying Expression Blend... paying more money for something that is just a little less crappy than what you spent money on previously.

The OP hasn't spent any money yet. He is using Linux.

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Paul Watson

Yes, that is exactly it. Well done.

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

ToddHileHoffer

Seriously? How the heck does that work?

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hairy_hats

IIRC pushing down on it makes it click.

Paul Watson

On the laptops the trackpad is one big button, press near the bottom and it depresses a bit with a nice click sound (physical, not out of the speakers.) You can see a video of it here[^]. Sounds odd but it works very well in practice, I can't bear going back even to older MacBooks with the physically separate buttons. With the Mighty Mouse the whole chassis leans forward for a click. Tilt left for a left click, tilt right for a right click.

cheers, Paul M. Watson.

ToddHileHoffer

That is just weird.

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