Why I hate Apple and Windows

[picsfor]

Started out with CECIL when at school and ten moved onto Basic and Fortran.
Went in to machine code with ZX81 and then the C64 took it new levels - almost everything required peeking and poking the registry somewhere.
Onto the Amiga and various versions of Basic plus an intro to C
Finally onto the PC where i played with C, C++, Basic, VB, Pascal, Delphi (Pascal by another name, i know), HTML, CSS.

Whilst studying with the OU coded an ATM machine in full machine code - that was real fun, and then they moved me onto the object orientated muck and i just gave up.

I enjoyed creating and modifying databases in MS Access and the supplied VB and is probably the only thing i miss from MS Windows.
Maybe i'll just have to get back into C++ or Basic - who knows... i might just leave it with re-learning HTML and CSS with  drop of SQL.

Of course, i've just remembered the days when you had to "program" your modem to dial into BBs'. Handshakes and all that - the buzz you got out of a successful connection and paying the enormous fees for being able to access a bulletin board at baud rate of 9.6k  . Ah, "Hello World" had nothing on that fun! Almost as joyful as backing up to cassette and re-loaidng it another day!

[hevans]

Of course, i've just remembered the days when you had to "program" your modem to dial into BBs'. Handshakes and all that - the buzz you got out of a successful connection and paying the enormous fees for being able to access a bulletin board at baud rate of 9.6k  . Ah, "Hello World" had nothing on that fun! Almost as joyful as backing up to cassette and re-loaidng it another day!

Ah, the good old days. Kids today are pampered.  I remember logging in with a 300 baud modem. It was "fun" to watch the characters appear one by one and scroll across the screen, just like in the movies (remember "Wargames"?).

Anyone remembering trying to download programs off the TV onto the BBC micro via a little white flashing pixel.

Yup, kids today have no idea how easy they have it. 

H.

[chris@seary.com]

I'm afraid I hate the whole Mac thing. Here's why.

Apple Mac and Windows both run on Intel processors. So a Mac is actually a PC.

Enterprise level server facilities don't really exist for Macs. If you're using a Mac in a large organisation, it's getting it's IP address from a Windows or Linux server. And most other stuff.

The Mac OS will only run on a limited range of computers ie. the ones that Mac produce. Windows and Linux will run on a huge range of hardware. It has been pointed out that this means that testing and coding are easier. So how come there were all the quality issues with Macs late 2005/early 2006? Everyone I knew had to send their Mac back to the shop.

So how come, with limited functionality, limited compatibility, and less testing and development, the Mac is so expensive?

I know the new version of the OS is very cheap. Is it OS Snow Tiger Leopard Pixie or something? I should bloody well hope so - It's just a tweak of the Berkeley Standard Distribution of Unix. Which is free.

I know that Mac service is excellent. So are Tesco's - they replaced my Acer when it went wrong.

Security. Mac owners are aware that there is a 'new threat' now which may actually have some implications for Macs. However, it's only when you install something dodgy from a web site. No sh*t, Sherlock. That's how we get viruses. If we run our PC as root and install anything, then we get what we deserve.

I'm an IT security consultant. I'm:
CISSP,
CLAS,
PCI DSS certified

and others. I've never ever ever ever heard a security decision or, or a security risk, being raised in all the projects I've worked on based on which of the current operating systems is used. Never. Ever. If you think your system's secure just by choosing a certain operating system, then you're way off the mark. Look at how you dispose of discs and your HR procedures first. And a hundred other things.

And the smugness. I'm jealous of the smugness. Very jealous. I'll never be smug about owning a PC. I admit it.

I've thought about adding a brushed aluminium casing to my Acer. But I know better than to try it.

[hevans]

 

[picsfor]

I'm guessing then, Chris, that you'll not be getting a Mac any time soon? 

[Graham]

   The more I learn about computers , the less I want to know...But I did enjoy your post chris.
                 Graham.

[Oldboy]

Bring back Gem! 

[picsfor]

'Bring back Gem!' - they don't call you oldboy for nothing!

Over half the people on here have never even heard of it, and some are doubtless not even old enough to remember it.

I miss punch cards - at least you know what you'd coded and submitted to the mainframe for batch processing 

[alan1572]

Of course, i've just remembered the days when you had to "program" your modem to dial into BBs'. Handshakes and all that - the buzz you got out of a successful connection and paying the enormous fees for being able to access a bulletin board at baud rate of 9.6k  . Ah, "Hello World" had nothing on that fun! Almost as joyful as backing up to cassette and re-loaidng it another day!

Ah, the good old days. Kids today are pampered.  I remember logging in with a 300 baud modem. It was "fun" to watch the characters appear one by one and scroll across the screen, just like in the movies (remember "Wargames"?).

Anyone remembering trying to download programs off the TV onto the BBC micro via a little white flashing pixel.

Yup, kids today have no idea how easy they have it. 

H.

i even remember as far back as the ist ipod!!!old or what?

[anglefire]

Whilst I have a lot of sympathy and, to be fair, agreement in much of what Chris says, my next desktop will probably be a MAC.

Many reasons are exactly the same as Chris has used for using PC's!

Over the years I have built, upgraded and generally used PC's. Nearly everyone has had a problem at sometime with something not agreeing with something else. Upgrading the version of Windows has nearly always meant the machine slowed down and needed more hard drive space. So meant another upgrade!

The latest experience with my Dad's PC and Windows 7 has really nailed the coffin on the PC for me.

Yes MAC's are more expensive (Not as much as they used to be!), yes they too have quirks, but as they are built with the same bits, there are less issues with compatibility. Indeed the upgrade of my MACbook to Snow Leopard went without a hitch and virtually no input once I hit the go button. And its quicker than before.

Oh, and the first PC I used was a Commadore Pet. Followed by BBC Master and then I forget what was next!

[stevebedder]

but as they are built with the same bits, there are less issues with compatibility.

I've been dealing with someone recently who wanted to upgrade the graphics card that came with his PowerMac to a better one becasue he couldn't get the performance required. He has had a shed load of problems getting one that is compatible and gives the performance he expects\wants.

There's pro's and con's for both.....

As I put in the Windows 7 thread, I installed Windows 7 on my laptop and workstation this week, both took about 15 minutes with minimal input required and both are performing faster that they previously were.

Mac products generally do look the business though, much better designed 

Steve

[spinner]

I miss punch cards - at least you know what you'd coded and submitted to the mainframe for batch processing 

You're joking. I remember spending 5 or 6 hrs. at night and all day Sat. & Sun. at university trying to get programs to run without success.
Putting a stack of cards a foot tall through the computer only to get 'error' at the other end. No indication what caused the error either. Hated them with a passion.

[Oldboy]

'Bring back Gem!' - they don't call you oldboy for nothing!

Over half the people on here have never even heard of it, and some are doubtless not even old enough to remember it.

I miss punch cards - at least you know what you'd coded and submitted to the mainframe for batch processing 

Yes, and IBM PC's with drive A and B but no C. 

[picsfor]

Putting a stack of cards a foot tall through the computer only to get 'error' at the other end. No indication what caused the error either.

When i got an error message, i always got a line number to indicate where the processing had failed. Also, the cards would be returned with the card containing the errant code arranged with its corner tab reversed for easy location so i could check for typo as well as coding errors.

I new much more abut what i was coding that, and i new my programs inside out. Thinks were simpler then, and i'm sure they could be a lot simpler now...

[chris@seary.com]

And another thing.......

I forgot to mention how annoyed I am when Mac users state that Apple were responsible for the modern graphical user interface (pointer, mouse, icons, drag and drop etc).

Wrong! It was invented by Rank Xerox at their Palo Alto Research Centre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_PARC

Apple simply wrote an implementation of it for their computers.

When they tried to take Microsoft to court over the 'look and feel' thing, make no mistake about it, this was a large corporate trying to stifle competition by using litigation. If they'd got their way, they'd have made sure that no-one else could build a WYSIWYG interface or the software to go with it without their control. That would have meant no Photoshop for you lot!