Megahertz Myth...

That's what I feel too. My powerbook G4 400 (Which i just sold to help me get the 17 inch powerbook in March) is WAY slower than my PC.

If anyone remembers, I bought a $600 PC (with hookups / deals) which is a 1.8 ghz Celeron with GeForce 4 Ti 4200 64 MB card, and 684 MB of RAM.) I use this PC to view flash sites, test web sites on PC, and play Counterstrike (plus other games), which are the only 3 things I can't do on mac.

However, I don't care about that. There's only ONE REAL way that the PC is better than my mac. It's WAY faster / snappier.

Opening windows (especially the layer effects window in photoshop) is ALWAYS instantaneous on the PC.

On the mac, it takes like 2 - 3 seconds to open that window. (And several other areas in several programs where the mac is always slower)

However, I still get more done on the mac. It's just easier to use. And on top of that, the extreme snappiness of the OS in windows screws me up all the time. Like I'll click a close button and if I release the mouse to fast, the close button will depress and un-depress, but the window won't close. And a jerky movement can always happen and close the wrong window, and stuff. That stuff NEVER happens on mac os x.

Rootless windows rule on mac os x. (If you don't know what that is, do a search or something.) It's basically where: you can see the desktop behind photoshop, if your in photoshop.

And there's nothing like column view on the PC. Column view is the ONE thing Apple came up with that truly beats the PC. It's the one thing the PC has in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM. Maybe there's a 3rd party app that lets you do something similar on PC, but that means millions of people just don't know about it.

And the OS is just so much more beatiful. Everything's so smooth, and I NEVER see redraw problems on mac. On PC, if an application is going slow, like an explorer window, you'll see the desktop behind it INSIDE the window while it waits to redraw the window. That kind of stuff never happens on mac. Everything's so smooth and silky on mac, windows can't TOUCH it. Especially the dock.

And Mac os X handles application crashes better. An app is stuck thinking or crashed? just move the mouse anywhere else, like click on the desktop, and your INSTANTLY back to work, every time. Windows 2000 is only that good like 60% of the time. Sometimes an "End Task" message in windows can make the WHOLE system wait for a while. This NEVER happens on OS X.

Basically mac os x wins because of:
- Column view
- Extreme smoothness / silkiness
- Dock
- rock hard stability
- smoother and more consistent user interface (although slower, as used on a 400 mhz G4, probably the 1 Ghz is WAY better, with quartz extreme enabled!)
- no jerkiness / redraw problems
- better hardware (expect of course CPU speed, PC has that these days.)
- Mulititasking is much better. Music will never skip if I'm doing a photoshop filter, and 5 other things, all at the same time, for example. On Win2000, it probably will skip....

also, optical mice are smoother on OS X!! I can use the SAME optical USB Microsoft mouse on my OS X and on my windows 2000. I'm using it on a grainy wood desk, with many grain patterns.

On windows 2000, I HAVE to use a solid colored mouse pad, or the mouse movement will be SUPER squirrelly and jerky, like UNUSABLE. On mac os x, I don't need a mouse pad. The wood grain works just fine. Amazing, huh???

So I do need my PC. Flash player works 20 x better on PC, and it has lots of good games these days, and it is faster hardware so if a encode a DivX or something like that it's useful), and the OS is much faster (but harder to use).

Soon the mac will have the same library of games as the PC, the OS will be just as fast (almsot is already, if you have a new mac with quartz extreme), the search feature now works faster in Jaguar than the PC, and hopefully macromedia keeps improving flash player for mac.

At that point, PCs will have absolutely no use to me. I'll just get Virtual PC for mac to test web sites on PC.
 
"And Mac os X handles application crashes better. An app is stuck thinking or crashed? just move the mouse anywhere else, like click on the desktop, and your INSTANTLY back to work, every time. Windows 2000 is only that good like 60% of the time. Sometimes an "End Task" message in windows can make the WHOLE system wait for a while. This NEVER happens on OS X."

I was deleting the other day some files (2-3 GBs total) in an Athlon XP 2000, Windows 2000 Pro, 1GB ram, 2x60GB 7200 hard disks, Yamaha 44x CD-RW, SB Live, GeForce 4MX, etc, and for some seconds after the delete action the particular window I had open it freezed!!! I tried to hit the Start button and other areas of the screen but nothing! And this happened for at least 10 seconds... After that the system came back to life and opened the Start menu and other things that I clicked on and a window hell got loose :D After, I closed them and continue to delete other files as well... The same thing happened but this time the Start button opened and THEN the system freezed ;) for many seconds again...

"Mulititasking is much better. Music will never skip if I'm doing a photoshop filter, and 5 other things, all at the same time, for example. On Win2000, it probably will skip...."

Yep, it will skip and if not it will freeze for some seconds :D

"So I do need my PC. Flash player works 20 x better on PC, and it has lots of good games these days, and it is faster hardware so if a encode a DivX or something like that it's useful), and the OS is much faster (but harder to use)."

I thought a month ago too that the PC had the Mac in DivX but guess what? With Mencoder and FFmpeg the Mac after all may be better!!! In a PowerMac G4/933 I created many Divx files with bitrates at least 1600 and MP3 quality above 160, with movies as long as 2+ hours in 4 hours ONLY (including subtitles and everything :eek: ) Give those apps a shot ;)

"Soon the mac will have the same library of games as the PC, the OS will be just as fast (almsot is already, if you have a new mac with quartz extreme), the search feature now works faster in Jaguar than the PC, and hopefully macromedia keeps improving flash player for mac."

Believe me: a GHz G4 is a BIG difference :D

"At that point, PCs will have absolutely no use to me. I'll just get Virtual PC for mac to test web sites on PC."

No way! PCs will always have a use for something... Be it recycling, making jokes, calming you down (by beating the box or something), solitaire, crash dummy (I insisted in my friends at Fiat to use Wintels at crash sites for the cars :D ), upgrading always to a faster exploding bomb device...

You know what guys? When a possible customer comes to buy a computer I show them a Mac... They like it a lot. But they love it when they see a PC next to it! Even the ones that they know Wintels inside out!!! I said before and I will say it again... A Mac makes the Wintels guys make faces that I never thought were possible for our human race! :D
 
Solrac wrote:
Basically mac os x wins because of:
- Column view
- Extreme smoothness / silkiness
- Dock
- rock hard stability
- smoother and more consistent user interface (although slower, as used on a 400 mhz G4, probably the 1 Ghz is WAY better, with quartz extreme enabled!)
- no jerkiness / redraw problems
- better hardware (expect of course CPU speed, PC has that these days.)
- Mulititasking is much better. Music will never skip if I'm doing a photoshop filter, and 5 other things, all at the same time, for example. On Win2000, it probably will skip....
You forgot the Terminal! Unix Underneath! ;)

Don't tell me ... WinXP has DOS emulation? :D:D:D LOL

Ooops, this thread is turning into a Mac OS / Windoze debate again ...

Fryke wrote:
The PC could come for free and have an 8 GHz processor, and I would take it and use it for DivX and Games (although I don't play games, but what the heck, if it's free...), but I'd still replace my PowerBook with a PowerBook.
You can say that again! ... Wait I just did it for you! :D

Jeb1138 wrote:
$1467 is definitely close enough to the $1699 for the dual 867 to make me get the dual 867. I mean, all factors included -- like the dual 867 is a Mac and runs OS X -- I would definitely go for the Mac.
That quite settles it IMO. Let's say the Mac and the Dell play even (hardwarewise), but we (as Mac supporters) think the Mac has gotten a moral victory because of the OS. ;)
 
Yes, of course... on top of EVERYTHING I said, add that OS X is a UNIX system and can run UNIX apps. And now with Apple's X11 beta (www.apple.com/macosx/x11), it's now even easier and more optimized to use X11 UNIX apps on mac os x. Before, I never had enough time to figure out how to install xfree86, and I could never run GIMP and GRASS, and OpenOffice.org, and all those UNIX programs, but now with Apple's X11 beta its super easy, and I have all those apps running.

By embracing open standards and using winning technology (UNIX), and adding to it good graphics, interface, and software, Apple has finally made a genius move.

While not licensing Mac OS to OEM computer manufacturers in the early 90s may be the worst technology decision in history, made by Apple, moving to a completely brand new OS run by UNIX may be the smartest technology move ever.

Mac OS X is worth a lot more than $130. If you figure the more expensive Apple hardware into the cost of OS X, then, even calling OS X a $400 or $500 additional cost it is still well worth it.

But there is one thing better about PCs still. They get all the new drivers faster. Like cell phone connectivity. You can use cell phones to connect a computer to the internet, but Mac can't really do it. Sprint, Motorola, AT&T, etc. haven't really released any drivers for os x to do this stuff, for example.

So whenever new technology comes out, mac might not have a way.... this is the only reason one of my friends won't get mac. And then I tell him "I'm sure there's a way to get a cell phone connecting a mac to the Internet... you just gotta look for it", but he doesn't have enough time for all that.
 
But there is one thing better about PCs still. They get all the new drivers faster.
That is indeed the case, but (considering drivers) it's not really something the peecees have intrinsically as bonus (hardwarewise), but mainly due to the marketshare of ~95% that windoze has. Same argument for games. It is OS related, not hardware related.

However, there are ways in this particular case, which you could suggest to your friend:

http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=17852

Moreover, very very often it is just the Mac who innovates, leaving other hardware developers lagging behind. With some innovations Apple is simply lonely at the top for some time, while others catch up. That is both an advantage and a disadvantage, which comes with every innovation: you're the first, but also the only one.
 
Originally posted by solrac
Basically mac os x wins because of:
- Column view
- Extreme smoothness / silkiness
- Dock
- rock hard stability
- smoother and more consistent user interface (although slower, as used on a 400 mhz G4, probably the 1 Ghz is WAY better, with quartz extreme enabled!)
- no jerkiness / redraw problems
- better hardware (expect of course CPU speed, PC has that these days.)
- Mulititasking is much better. Music will never skip if I'm doing a photoshop filter, and 5 other things, all at the same time, for example. On Win2000, it probably will skip....

also, optical mice are smoother on OS X!! I can use the SAME optical USB Microsoft mouse on my OS X and on my windows 2000. I'm using it on a grainy wood desk, with many grain patterns.
Sort of along the line of Column View, don't forget the ability (in icon view) for Icon names to have a subtitle of, for example, # of items in the folder; pixel dimensions of the picture; remaining and used space on the disc or drive; and others I think. Also, the most uncelebrated feature: Services!
 
Originally posted by sheepguy42
Also, the most uncelebrated feature: Services!

No one understands services, not even mac experts like me. Plus, I've never ever never ever used ONE service since day one of mac os x public beta........
 
Hmm... Might be because I've used Rhapsody for a while, but I love Services. I frequently use them to look up a selected URL (in a text file) and to define a selected word in OmniDictionary.

And what's there to understand? :)

Every application in /Applications propagates its services (if it wants to) in Services. It's mainly about selecting some text and handing the selection over to another application. Yes, you can also copy the selection, switch to the respective app, paste it and click 'do' (or whatever the app wants), but the Services menu and the Services' keyboard shortcuts are plain faster.
 
Like fryke, I've been using Services for a long time. But then again, I'm more likely to be using Cocoa apps which are more likely to support Services.

The point behind Services is that instead of having one application with tons of features that it may or may not specialize in, you could get a group of smaller apps that each have their own special feature that they share with other apps. I don't realy expect Apple to start to push Services until Carbon apps have an equal footing in this area in Mac OS X... hopefully that should be soon.
 
Originally posted by jeb1138
Any way to make the services menu appear in the right-click menus?

VERY interesting question! But then again I don't even have a mouse :D

Hmm.. I'll try and see what gives ;)

Also, on the subject of services, I think that also the Speech is one other thing that is extra cool... You can go across the room and have the app read the selected text for you! Awesome...

In general Services are great and I hate to see only the Cocoa apps using them :(

I like in general the stickies, textedit, speech, mail, open url, finder services but I never use the grab and summarize services... However, I use Services a lot, especially when I'm online :D
 
Great, thanks Hulkaros! Please let us know if you come up with anything! :) I think services would get a lot more use if they were right there in the right-click menu. I mean, when you select text and want to do something with it you often control-click to do stuff, right?

BTW -- you don't have a MOUSE?? :confused:
 
Originally posted by jeb1138
Great, thanks Hulkaros! Please let us know if you come up with anything! :) I think services would get a lot more use if they were right there in the right-click menu. I mean, when you select text and want to do something with it you often control-click to do stuff, right?

BTW -- you don't have a MOUSE?? :confused:

A new powerbook and I'm using the pad ;)

Anyways, we have at our company and I'll give a shot to the right-click thing ASAP :D
 
Originally posted by MacLegacy
How does the services menu work and what does it do? (I don't have OS X (yet))

...Services is an option that you find when you click next to the Apple menu where you find the application menu in OS X...

When you click at Services you get other options but take note: In order for those extra options to be enabled mostly you have to have a text selected first...

Example follows:
-I read something at www.macosx.com that I like. So I select the text that I like!
-I click at the Safari menu
-Select Services
-Select Mail
-Select Send Selection To
-Click there

Mail.app opens for me with the selected text, I type the person's email and then click Send...

So, without first selecting text then copying it then opening mail then compose then paste text then then then... With couple clicks my job is done via Services!

Also, I type at any app "applications" (for example) select it and then choose Finder then Open and the Applications folder opens up... I know not a great example but you get it! ;)

The same with other Services :D They let you do things the quick and easy way...

Unfortunately only a handful of Services are currently available... I hope with the next release of OS X that the Services will be richer :D
 
hulkaros... with the powerbook (or any mac), you can do a right-click by holding control down, then clicking.
 
Originally posted by solrac
hulkaros... with the powerbook (or any mac), you can do a right-click by holding control down, then clicking.

I know... What I wanted to say is that I'm not using a mouse! ;)

And also, I don't care THAT much about right clicking :D

I'm free from it even after so many years of right clicking with OS/2 and Win9x ;)
 
Originally posted by jeb1138
Great, thanks Hulkaros! Please let us know if you come up with anything! :) I think services would get a lot more use if they were right there in the right-click menu. I mean, when you select text and want to do something with it you often control-click to do stuff, right?

BTW -- you don't have a MOUSE?? :confused:

Browse here:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021022063820832

About how to access Services via context menus ;)

and here:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20010104231846176
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12595&db=mac

For some "extra" Services :D

If I'll find anything else, I will post it here ;)
 
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