Mac vs Windows TCO shootout...
- Thread starter octane
- Start date
applewhore
Registered
It's not that bad!!! The guy's just a major "sitter-on of fences"!
I only take issue with "The services of Windows technicians are less expensive than Apple technicians, because there are so many more Windows technicians than Apple technicians. An Apple technician may cost twice as much, but he comes to see you half as often."
My Apple computers simply DON'T break down!!! Let alone half as much as my Windows machines used to...
I only take issue with "The services of Windows technicians are less expensive than Apple technicians, because there are so many more Windows technicians than Apple technicians. An Apple technician may cost twice as much, but he comes to see you half as often."
My Apple computers simply DON'T break down!!! Let alone half as much as my Windows machines used to...
octane
I have issues, OK!
applewhore said:
Some mac users I know get _very_, erm .. distressed when the subject of TCO is broached in conversation.
I must admit, I've been known to turn into a 10-foot kickoffasuarus when some pc user starts droning on about how they only paid three-hundred quid for their anonymous beige crate they bump their right knee on every day when they slide under their desk.
I'm more of a mac-on-the-desk-next-to-the-monitor type of guy!..
I would actually disagree that Apple computers break down half as often. The issue that make Apple have a cheaper TCO is that I can do everything myself in terms of setting things up. The other thing that makes the mac low cost is the fact that I have yet to see or hear about a virus for OS X.
Joshua
Joshua
octane
I have issues, OK!
Well personally, I've had only one hardware-related problem, and it was known problem with the Quicksilver G4 models; the thing was DOA by way of a dud power supply.
But we've all read the recent problems with blotchy PowerBook screens, dodgy iBook motherboards and lackluster iPod battery life.
Apple aren't immune to these kinds of things, but they are less likely to fall fowl in the first place.
The main stumbling block for the average pc user is the ensuing: 'it's not the software, it's the hardware .. no, it's not the hardware, it's definitely the software...' in the much more likely even that something goes horribly wrong.
So you have the fun of working your way through both Microsoft and which ever hardware supplier you choose to figure the problem out.
With Apple, it's just one call to one company .. OK, I know someone's going to come wading in now with their sorry support tale, but you get the gist, right?
My college had no mac IT personnel, while the ranks of pc's were serviced by a rabid army of over-worked technicians...
But we've all read the recent problems with blotchy PowerBook screens, dodgy iBook motherboards and lackluster iPod battery life.
Apple aren't immune to these kinds of things, but they are less likely to fall fowl in the first place.
The main stumbling block for the average pc user is the ensuing: 'it's not the software, it's the hardware .. no, it's not the hardware, it's definitely the software...' in the much more likely even that something goes horribly wrong.
So you have the fun of working your way through both Microsoft and which ever hardware supplier you choose to figure the problem out.
With Apple, it's just one call to one company .. OK, I know someone's going to come wading in now with their sorry support tale, but you get the gist, right?
My college had no mac IT personnel, while the ranks of pc's were serviced by a rabid army of over-worked technicians...
MacMuppet
Registered
Well really Macs aren't infallible (takes cover) but the other issue is that many problems are fixable by a non-technical person. There are plenty of how-tos etc on the web and in books and mags. Of course there are also plenty for PCs, but with PCs there are just too many variables.
You can follow instructions to the letter on a PC how-to and it can still just not work, because they can't possibly take into account all the possible hardware and software combinations a michine could have. Any number of "If your machine is part of a VPN" type of intructions, and allowing for possibilities, and you can still be clueless.
Take OS9 - components! Something doesnt work, trash the preferances and restart the program, bingo. Simple instructions to give someone over the phone.
With a PC, empty your temporary and recent items caches, check all software settings, try again, uninstall, reinstall try again blah blah kill me now....
You can follow instructions to the letter on a PC how-to and it can still just not work, because they can't possibly take into account all the possible hardware and software combinations a michine could have. Any number of "If your machine is part of a VPN" type of intructions, and allowing for possibilities, and you can still be clueless.
Take OS9 - components! Something doesnt work, trash the preferances and restart the program, bingo. Simple instructions to give someone over the phone.
With a PC, empty your temporary and recent items caches, check all software settings, try again, uninstall, reinstall try again blah blah kill me now....
octane
I have issues, OK!
OS9 was ruthlessly simple at times. But with that simplicity came lack of humph!
OS X is by far more sophisticated than OS9, and as a result, is more complex to fix should it go wrong.
Apple have done an excellent job of shielding the hapless user from the mechanical gubbins of OS X.
That said, I can't tell you the number of people I've read in various support mailing lists who said something like: 'I booted back into OS9 and I saw all of these silly little folders and files; mach, bin, dev et cetera. I've deleted them all now because they made my hard disk look untidy. It won't hurt anything, will it?'
Or: 'I gave them all nice little icons...'
OS X is by far more sophisticated than OS9, and as a result, is more complex to fix should it go wrong.
Apple have done an excellent job of shielding the hapless user from the mechanical gubbins of OS X.
That said, I can't tell you the number of people I've read in various support mailing lists who said something like: 'I booted back into OS9 and I saw all of these silly little folders and files; mach, bin, dev et cetera. I've deleted them all now because they made my hard disk look untidy. It won't hurt anything, will it?'
Or: 'I gave them all nice little icons...'
Satcomer
In Geostationary Orbit
Apple could save a lot of novice Mac users headaches, by including a Repair Permissions script part of software installers. A vast majority of everyday fixes for OS X problems can be fixed with Repair Permissions. IMHO launching Disk Utility->Repair Permissions once a week and after software installs can drastically cut down on Mac OS X problems.
WeeZer51402
Registered
What apple should do is create some sort of system optimization pref pane that allows for repair permissions, indexing and other sorts of optimization stuff, btw i have been using the same perfoma 637CD since 1994, not one problem
octane
I have issues, OK!
Satcomer said:
I run it _before_ any installation.
Yes, repairing permissions can have a pretty dramatic effect on the stability of your mac.
Now, with the new journalized system, repairing the disk _should_ be a thing of the past. Let's hope so.
Some old OS9 tricks still apply; the Finder quits unexpectedly, or you get a cascade of application crashes, restart immediately!..
Satcomer
In Geostationary Orbit
octane said:Some old OS9 tricks still apply; the Finder quits unexpectedly, or you get a cascade of application crashes, restart immediately!..
I once too had these same exact problems. Then I remembered cron. Any good Unix system needs those files turned over. I let my computer sleep so a quick trip to a download site and there is enough freeware programs to run run cron jobs. Most of the Finder stability came back after that. I run the three crons at least once a week.