Why I hate Apple and Windows

[Jonathan]

Simply the availability of applications - it is the de facto world standard. End of story.

Hmm....I've done this before and it never seems to take off.  Name me something you can do on a PC that you can't do on a Mac.  There are several apps that are only written for one platform but then nobody complains you can't run Final Cut on a PC - they just go buy a Mac.  I think we're pretty good for most stuff.

I use an XP emulator to run
1. IE6 - my bank officially supports Mac browsers but trust me they don't work with their site properly
2. A very exotic piece of s/w my Kids' lab custom wrote that they see no need to rewrite for a different OS.

Other than that, it's all good.

[hevans]

I use an XP emulator to run
1. IE6 - my bank officially supports Mac browsers but trust me they don't work with their site properly
2. A very exotic piece of s/w my Kids' lab custom wrote that they see no need to rewrite for a different OS.

And therein lies the problem. You have to load an emulator because you NEED to emulate....what, and why? THis is the reason most of us stick with windows, that and we're old and can't be arsed to learn a new interface/look & feel/set of hot keys/etc.

and point #2 is the crux of the problem. Until the Mac market share has reached a critical limit, you won't find huge numbers of cross-over applications.

Windows got this years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE&feature=related 

Mac, instead, likes to keep this aspect under considerable more control. Which has the advantages of ensuring a quality control level, and a lack of more dangerous applications (but security is an issue everyone should deal with more rigorously). But does stymie the odd informal developer's activities and the availability/porting of apps.

H.

[Jonathan]

Um, no.  Web browsers work on Macs.  99.9% of websites that work at all work on Macs.  Abbey Business banking website works on Macs.  It's just there's a bug in their money transfer option that makes it fail in any browser.  In IE it happens that the failure is handled in a way that the money gets transferred, in all other browsers it doesn't.  They only tested it in one browser and can't be bothered to fix it.  Given they are a banking system this makes the clowns at PR look good - at least they aren't trusted with anything important.  Arguably IE's behaviour is incorrect but, you know....

As for the other app...AFAIK it's used by fewer than 2 dozen people in the world.  At least 2 of these use it on a Mac.  It could be ported but what's the point?

Other esoteric apps I use are written in Java which runs equally happily on Mac, PC or (probably) Linux.

But apart from those and a couple of apps designed to stop me listening to music I've paid for I haven't found anything lacking in the last couple of years.

[Hinfrance]

First thing I looked at today: checked the firmware updates for my Metz flashgun - windows only.

[Jonathan]

A flashgun with firmware upgrades?

Oh yeah, the SB900 has those.  But it can be programmed via the hotshoe using a D3

But Windoze only upgrades from Metz are just bizarre.  Especially as it's probably only a short code loader and the real code runs on the flashgun.

[Hinfrance]

Programmed via a hotshoe? How primitive 

[anglefire]

I've been skim reading this thread for a few days and will add this.

I have a desktop with Vista 64, CS4 Office 2007 etc - works well and I like it - my first Pc was in 1990 ish, Windows 3.0 or 3.1.
I then considered Mac's to be expensive, but good if you were into graphics and stuff.

One of my work mates bought a Mac some 5 or 6 years ago to learn a new OS and be different. Still has a Mac
One of my mates from Poly went the Linux route - and uses virtual machines to play with Windows when needed. He loves it!!

I bought a MAC laptop the other month - and I do like it - a lot- and I would consider a desktop next time around - but I think there are some things that I can't do on a MAC - one is Office for MAC (2008?) which doesn't support Visual Basic and I do play with that at times.

There do seem to be a lot of programmers that just work with Windows - I think they are just lazy on the whole and come the revolution they will all be put.............. sorrry off on one again.

[Jonathan]

Programmed via a hotshoe? How primitive 

Um not really.  I thought it was pretty cool.  To use an SB900 you need an SB900, a camera and a compact flash card.  So those are the 3 things you need to upgrade it.  Better than most computer related ideas Nikon have.

one is Office for MAC (2008?) which doesn't support Visual Basic and I do play with that at times.

You mean the language that opened up office documents to all kinds of nasty viruses etc?  Can't say I miss it TBH   This should keep you happy for a bit.  If you can't do it on a Vic20 with 3.5K of memory it's not worth doing.

[Jonathan]

BTW if you try that then remember that Commodore Basic uses all capitals............

[anglefire]

You mean the language that opened up office documents to all kinds of nasty viruses etc?  Can't say I miss it TBH  

Yeah thats the one - but as its code I write, its pretty safe! It automatically pulls a load of data off the net, formats it and then is used elsewhere. Can't say what for - I'd have to kill you! (But is legal!)

This should keep you happy for a bit.  If you can't do it on a Vic20 with 3.5K of memory it's not worth doing.

Now thats cool - I did a lot of basic programming on both Commadore Pets and BBC Masters.

[Jonathan]

It automatically pulls a load of data off the net, formats it and then is used elsewhere. Can't say what for - I'd have to kill you! (But is legal!)

Automator plus Apple Script (or any scripting language) could almost certainly do this.

[anglefire]

Yes you are right I'm sure - but two reasons for not doing it - 1. I've already done it and it works. 2. I've not learnt Apple script yet!

And I'm still going though my pictures from the holiday - and I'm learning FBD language for about 3 different manufactures controllers (All similar, all different!) and about to start to learn Ladder. My heads a shed at the moment!

[hevans]

And I'm still going though my pictures from the holiday - and I'm learning FBD language for about 3 different manufactures controllers (All similar, all different!) and about to start to learn Ladder. My heads a shed at the moment!

Hmm, yes, I know that feeling. Started with Basic (that apple I script/compiler looks amusing), Fortran, moved on to assembler, then Pascal, C, ADA, C++, perl (hideous language), java (one of the more enjoyable ones), javascript, PVWave, IDL, and now contemplating python or php. It seems that every year there is another "Must learn"/"silver bullet" language. In the end, you use one for a while, then it's recommended that you move to the next best one, or in some cases mandated by the need to support it.

Now, I tend to stick to Fortran (it's old but still great for simulations), C++ (CERN code requires that), IDL (a data analysis language, like matlab but better IMHO), the odd bit of scriptwriting in tcsh, and VisualBasic for integrating DLLs to Excel, etc.

In the end, it all ends up as a congealed mess in the mind where you can't remember the syntax of any of them and spend most of the time refreshing the memory...must be stored in DRAM.

H.

[Hybridphotog]

Hmm, yes, I know that feeling. Started with Basic (that apple I script/compiler looks amusing), Fortran, moved on to assembler, then Pascal, C, ADA, C++, perl (hideous language), java (one of the more enjoyable ones), javascript, PVWave, IDL, and now contemplating python or php. It seems that every year there is another "Must learn"/"silver bullet" language. In the end, you use one for a while, then it's recommended that you move to the next best one, or in some cases mandated by the need to support it.

Now, I tend to stick to Fortran (it's old but still great for simulations), C++ (CERN code requires that), IDL (a data analysis language, like matlab but better IMHO), the odd bit of scriptwriting in tcsh, and VisualBasic for integrating DLLs to Excel, etc.

After learning several variations of BASIC in my teenage years, and various attempts at learning machine code (the only real way to harness what power lay within a ZX-81), I attempted to master COBOL (RM COBOL-85, iirc). Moving on from that headache, I plumped for C++ and "night school", as I was deemed 'too dense to understand 'C'' (aka "I failed the C&G COBOL exam"). But, not even that could tempt me back into programming, as the lessons were all too strict and rigid. I couldn't skip subjects, regardless of the subject matter being irrelevant. Although I did plough through a VB class (which was fun, admittedly, as the tutor had to refer to myself a few times), but that only stirred the programmer within me once again.

Can't keep a good coder down... so I finally ended up with a good grasp of VB (3 and 4), PASCAL, HTML, CSS and PHP.

... some of which has been flexed recently...

[Oldboy]

I used VBA quite a bit with Access and Excel, and even have a full copy of VB6 and all the disks. I used to love DataEase and build many applications using that.