I'm getting an iMac! :D

[TheNerdAL]

Well, I'm saving up the money for it.

Don't worry. I'll still run Ubuntu on older computers. I just wanted a new computer because I Want to be a designer and stuff like that and Macs are great for designing. I don't want to go back to Windows! D: I dislike Windows. <.<

So I just wanted to know how many of you have a Mac?

[smellyman]

Macs are really good.

The reason I am into Linux now is because I bought a macbook and realized how much better another os could be.

not going back to windows now

[Warpnow]

If you are running ubuntu, there is no advantage to having a Mac for graphics editting whatsoever. You may, in fact, face a disadvantage given the lack of upgrade capabilities to stronger CPU and Graphics cards. Macs tend to be consistently behind the curve.

[Elfy]

moved to recurring

[cascade9]

'Macs are better for designing than windows or linux' is pretty much a myth these days. Sure, lots of people use them, but they arent the be-all and end-all.


If you are running ubuntu, there is no advantage to having a Mac for graphics editting whatsoever. You may, in fact, face a disadvantage given the lack of upgrade capabilities to stronger CPU and Graphics cards. Macs tend to be consistently behind the curve.

+1.

[derekeverett]

I can't speak to designing really.. but I feel like throwing my 2 cents in about video editing..

I've used several video editors on many platforms...

There is nothing that can compete with Final Cut on the mac. Not even close in my opinion.

Final Cut can't seem to export as flash to save it's life, but other than that it gets my top grades.

[aklo]

I don't understand why mac are for designers.

Photoshop runs on windows too so windows are for designers?

Personally i think mac are just over priced computers...

I can get faster comp than a mac at a cheaper price.

[TheNerdAL]

I don't understand why mac are for designers.

Photoshop runs on windows too so windows are for designers?

Personally i think mac are just over priced computers...

I can get faster comp than a mac at a cheaper price.

Not really..

[P4man]

The obvious argument for getting a mac is that you can run OS-X and the apps that run on OS-X. Some of them pretty damn good, or so I heard. If you intend not to use OS-X at all, I have to agree with anyone saying its just an overpriced PC that looks rather pretty and comes with absolutely crappy mice and keyboard ;)

[NightwishFan]

I was using the Macs at Best Buy today while picking up Avatar. They seem pretty cool. I can see much influence both ways between it and Gnome. I like pretty much everything except some windows pick their own size, and I see no use of the dashboard, but hey at least it is an option for those who do like it.

[blueshiftoverwatch]

My parents have a Mac (after I convinced them to get one) and it seems like the OS is really easy to use as far as doing basic stuff, like networking printers and such. But when it comes to doing anything that involves working with it's Unix core, it's a lot more difficult than Linux. I remember spending a lot more time trying to get things (like Tor and GPG) setup on OSX that were relatively easy to work with and setup on Linux and Windows.

Why is it that developers seem to have a harder time porting cross platform apps from Linux to OSX than from say Linux to Windows? Is it Apple's GUI that's hard to design for?

[Dayofswords]

Why is it that developers seem to have a harder time porting cross platform apps from Linux to OSX than from say Linux to Windows? Is it Apple's GUI that's hard to design for?
i cant program anything, but i do hear it is.

personally i'll choose windows to macs any day to use, i just dont like the ways macs do things.

i do like the speech thingy, always fun to fiddle with

[HoboJ]

I've only had some experience with the macbooks. They were well built but ultimately overpriced. Tbh you're paying mostly for the brand and not the hardware. Definitely not something I'd ever consider purchasing unless I came into more money than I knew what to do with.

<snip>

[cgroza]

I wish one of those thin shiny Macs. :)

[NMFTM]

you're paying mostly for the brand and not the hardware.
Macs have always been over priced. But at least back in the days of PowerPC you were paying more, but you were also getting a superior architecture. Today the insides of a Mac are exactly the same as the insides of a Dell or HP.

[chrisxuk]

Blimey. Mac's aren't overpriced. They just use top of the range hardware which does make the price go up, but if you built your own PC with the same spec the price would be similar.

People think they are overpriced without doing any research whatsoever and just assume by looking at the price tag.

[NightwishFan]

I agree there is more to it than just numbers. Not specifically with Mac hardware, but bigger is not always better.

[AlanR8]

Bought a 21.5 inch iMac for my wife at Christmas. Very nice bit of kit and its quick. I have my Linux laptops skinned with Mac4Lin and there's loads of similarities! (No surprises there).

She does a lot of music editing, in Doze she used Adobe Audition and can do all she needs to do in Audacity. She also does masses of video editing and again the native iVideo (?) does the job.

She's having a problem burning the results on to DVDs that can be read in a plain vanilla TV DVD box though. The machine will burn data DVDs (using Liquid CD) but as often as not a video DVD is just not recognised.

Any thoughts?

[mickie.kext]

I agree many Windows haters are just like that

And windows fanboys are _always_ like that.



Why is it that developers seem to have a harder time porting cross platform apps from Linux to OSX than from say Linux to Windows? Is it Apple's GUI that's hard to design for?

That is because Steve Jobs require all the GUIs to be written in Apple-only API, either Cocoa(Objective-C) or Carbon(C++). Much like Microsoft with win32 (and .NET), they did that so that developer have to pick: either support their platform alone, or go through hell with porting. Their way, or the highway. Just Apple APIs are little better than Microsoft's.

AFAIK, Carbon is not going to be extended to 64-bits, so Snow Leopard will be last version supporting it. After that, it will be Cocoa all the way.

There is a easier way to port Linux apps (without rewriting the GUI in Obj-C) to OS X with using X11.app, the apple's x server implementation. But apps do not look natively when ported like that, and do not have their controls on top panel like other Mac apps.

[NMFTM]

There is a easier way to port Linux apps (without rewriting the GUI in Obj-C) to OS X with using X11.app, the apple's x server implementation. But apps do not look natively when ported like that, and do not have their controls on top panel like other Mac apps.
Yeah, I used to use that to run OpenOffice before they made a native port. Eventually I switched to NeoOffice for better integration. But switched back to OpenOffice after they got those issues sorted out. Still run GIMP that way though.

[drreed]

It really says a lot about the Ubuntu community when a fellow citizen can make such an absurd announcement, and get encouraging "wish I was there" comments .

This is like the surveillance video of people on a train platform, just standing there while a drunk staggers about (you know whats going to happen)

Anyone who has ever tried to get Itunes off a PC should know better.
People who use Macs are weird. This could cost you friends IRL. Your desktop will look like it was designed for Teletubbies, and the shell will have one command - takeme2yourldr.
Get a rack mount quad Xeon instead.

:guitar:

[Roasted]

Not really..

Actually, yeah. Really.

[LMP900]

Well, I'm saving up the money for it.

Don't worry. I'll still run Ubuntu on older computers. I just wanted a new computer because I Want to be a designer and stuff like that and Macs are great for designing. I don't want to go back to Windows! D: I dislike Windows. <.<

So I just wanted to know how many of you have a Mac?

I have two iMacs (a 17" G5 and 21.5") and they're great computers. I do agree with many here that a Mac is not a requirement for designers. However, they are a joy to use if you value simplicity. Nothing will blow you away about OS X, but as with Ubuntu, it's the combination of little things that make it a pleasant experience. Also, you'll find that Apple software like Safari, iTunes, and Quicktime function properly on Mac OS X unlike the versions written for Windows (Apple, please fix this, kthx).

Have fun with your (future) iMac and be sure to install Ubuntu in a virtual machine. ;)

[kaldor]

People who use Macs are weird. This could cost you friends IRL. Your desktop will look like it was designed for Teletubbies, and the shell will have one command - takeme2yourldr.
Get a rack mount quad Xeon instead.

:guitar:

Immaturity at its finest :)

Why an iMac though? Yeah, they're great computers, just asking. You *could* just get a Mac Mini and plug in your monitor/keyboard/mouse to that.

[kaldor]

Also, you'll find that Apple software like Safari, iTunes, and Quicktime function properly on Mac OS X unlike the versions written for Windows (Apple, please fix this, kthx);)

VERY true! I absolutely HATED Quicktime, iTunes and Safari when using them on Windows or when I need to help out friends who use Windows. I didn't even bother using them on OS X until a while later. Safari is now my default browser on OS X because it's simply perfect; no problems at all, and loads up in half a second. Quicktime is wonderful as well and has a very clean UI. iTunes is still iTunes though; not overly fond of it. I still use VLC on OS X.

[themarker0]

Well, I'm saving up the money for it.

Don't worry. I'll still run Ubuntu on older computers. I just wanted a new computer because I Want to be a designer and stuff like that and Macs are great for designing. I don't want to go back to Windows! D: I dislike Windows. <.<

So I just wanted to know how many of you have a Mac?

The only thing i like macs for is garageband. The rest you can do on linux.

[Roasted]

The only thing i like macs for is garageband. The rest you can do on linux.

This is a very valid point.

[Chrysantine]

The only thing i like macs for is garageband. The rest you can do on linux.
The question is not whether you can DO something, it's about how easy and seamless it is.

Computers are tools, the faster you get the job done - the better.

[Warpnow]

I can't speak to designing really.. but I feel like throwing my 2 cents in about video editing..

I've used several video editors on many platforms...

There is nothing that can compete with Final Cut on the mac. Not even close in my opinion.

Final Cut can't seem to export as flash to save it's life, but other than that it gets my top grades.

Final Cut is basically only used by amateurs. Its a little above Sony Vegas on the level of Adobe Premiere. There are alot of programs that kick Final Cut's ***, such as Avid.

[Roasted]

The question is not whether you can DO something, it's about how easy and seamless it is.

Computers are tools, the faster you get the job done - the better.

I agree. That's why my Mac tends to sit in the corner while I have variants of Linux on all of my systems.

Just my 2 cents.

[KiwiNZ]

I have an iMac 24'' , a MacbookPro and in a month I shall have a MacPro.

After building machines ( for a living ) and having owned Dells,HP's , IBM,s, Acers, Compaqs,Sun and various others over many years in the IT Industry I can say that Apple are the best products I have owned and used...period.

[Roasted]

I have an iMac 24'' , a MacbookPro and in a month I shall have a MacPro.

After building machines ( for a living ) and having owned Dells,HP's , IBM,s, Acers, Compaqs,Sun and various others over many years in the IT Industry I can say that Apple are the best products I have owned and used...period.

They sure do run Linux nicely. I'll give 'em that.

[TheNerdAL]

I have an iMac 24'' , a MacbookPro and in a month I shall have a MacPro.

After building machines ( for a living ) and having owned Dells,HP's , IBM,s, Acers, Compaqs,Sun and various others over many years in the IT Industry I can say that Apple are the best products I have owned and used...period.

Coming from an Admin. :O

And I decided to go for a Mac Pro. :P

[chris200x9]

Not really..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220699 slightly lower speed cpu, better graphics card, and bigger harddrive than the $1,799.00 base 15 inch macbook pro.

[yester64]

I don't understand why mac are for designers.

Photoshop runs on windows too so windows are for designers?

Personally i think mac are just over priced computers...

I can get faster comp than a mac at a cheaper price.


How many times i read this statement. 1000 or more.
It does not grasp the point of buying a mac really.
The whole point is to have a better OS and hardware which is designed with the OS in mind. Plus a nicer case.
Mac's never were intended to be upgraded, you simply have to buy a new one. In the pre imac time there were however upgrade cpu's available.
I can understand however if you simply count the dollars, but thats like comparing a ford to a lexus.
I can totally understand to have an imac. There is nothing close to the design and appeal from anyone else out there.
Windows can do a lot of things that OSX can do, but under the hood its still windows.

So, if you want to save money buy a PC.

I still having a PC though.

[LMP900]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220699 slightly lower speed cpu, better graphics card, and bigger harddrive than the $1,799.00 base 15 inch macbook pro.

You're assuming the value lies entirely on the technical specifications. People pay more for the thin, lightweight metal unibody; Mac OS X and iLife; large glass trackpad with multitouch and inertial scrolling; the ability to fit 12.5mm 1TB hard drive; and an 8-hour battery.

Compare MacBook Pros to ThinkPads, not plastic laptops. You'll find that they are quite competitive. Not everyone is a spec-chaser.

[chris200x9]

You're assuming the value lies entirely on the technical specifications. People pay more for the thin, lightweight metal unibody; Mac OS X and iLife; large glass trackpad with multitouch and inertial scrolling; the ability to fit 12.5mm 1TB hard drive; and an 8-hour battery.

Compare MacBook Pros to ThinkPads, not plastic laptops. You'll find that they are quite competitive. Not everyone is a spec-chaser.

You are contradicting yourself, you tell me value lies not in specs but in features, like mac os x and ilife, these not reproduced in any pc, so why would I go compare a macbook pro to a think pad? It would be equally skewed. I see your point though, however in my opinion those things are not worth more than double the price.

[aysiu]

You're assuming the value lies entirely on the technical specifications. People pay more for the thin, lightweight metal unibody; Mac OS X and iLife; large glass trackpad with multitouch and inertial scrolling; the ability to fit 12.5mm 1TB hard drive; and an 8-hour battery.

Compare MacBook Pros to ThinkPads, not plastic laptops. You'll find that they are quite competitive. Not everyone is a spec-chaser.
Don't forget the magnetic power cord. That's a necessity for klutzes like me.

[TheNerdAL]

You're assuming the value lies entirely on the technical specifications. People pay more for the thin, lightweight metal unibody; Mac OS X and iLife; large glass trackpad with multitouch and inertial scrolling; the ability to fit 12.5mm 1TB hard drive; and an 8-hour battery.

Compare MacBook Pros to ThinkPads, not plastic laptops. You'll find that they are quite competitive. Not everyone is a spec-chaser.

I am a spec chaser, lol.

[cascade9]

I am a spec chaser, lol.

Then you might want to rethink your mac pro then....you can get something with better specs for less.

[TheNerdAL]

Then you might want to rethink your mac pro then....you can get something with better specs for less.

But I want a Mac.

[KiwiNZ]

Don't forget the magnetic power cord. That's a necessity for klutzes like me.

The magnetic power connector saved mine when I accidentally nudged the forward lever on my electric wheel chair when I had my macbook on table thingy. They disconnect so fast it stopped the macbook going flying. They are a great idea.

[LMP900]

You are contradicting yourself, you tell me value lies not in specs but in features, like mac os x and ilife, these not reproduced in any pc, so why would I go compare a macbook pro to a think pad? It would be equally skewed. I see your point though, however in my opinion those things are not worth more than double the price.

Like MacBook Pros, ThinkPads offer more than just a fast processor and loads of RAM. They have metal bodies, a rollcage, spill-resistant keyboard, pointing stick, and at one point, IPS panels on select models. My point was to compare MacBook Pros to laptops that are more than the typical plastic consumer laptops with terrible trackpads and short battery life.


Don't forget the magnetic power cord. That's a necessity for klutzes like me.

Ah yes! No worries with MagSafe.


I am a spec chaser, lol.

I hope you have deep pockets. ;) You're gonna be mad when Uncle Steve does things like release a "professional" laptop with a Core 2 Duo in 2010...

[TheNerdAL]

Lol, I am going to get old computers, upgrade them and install Linux and Windows 7 in a Partition and sell them!

[cascade9]

Heh...old computers with windows 7? :lolflag:
Its not as bad as vista, but win7 does like some nice hardware.

I'd avoid the whole win7 thing totally myself, eats into your margin too much. Unless you want to use the 'pirate' edition win7, but then you are just asking for trouble.

[TheNerdAL]

Heh...old computers with windows 7? :lolflag:
Its not as bad as vista, but win7 does like some nice hardware.

I'd avoid the whole win7 thing totally myself, eats into your margin too much. Unless you want to use the 'pirate' edition win7, but then you are just asking for trouble.

I'm just going to use it for gaming and sell it to someone and then if it doesn't work for them, they can contact Microsoft. :D

[cascade9]

I'm just going to use it for gaming and sell it to someone and then if it doesn't work for them, they can contact Microsoft. :D

Excellent customer service there. :|

[renkinjutsu]

Don't you need some sort of license to redistribute computers with Windows on it? Don't get yourself into trouble


also, you said you're a spec chaser, but you want a mac?
I can't think of any option that would get you the best of both worlds.. too bad Pystar has been sued by apple

[TheNerdAL]

Don't you need some sort of license to redistribute computers with Windows on it? Don't get yourself into trouble


also, you said you're a spec chaser, but you want a mac?
I can't think of any option that would get you the best of both worlds.. too bad Pystar has been sued by apple

I need a license to sell a computer? O.o How about if I buy the Windows 7 CD and install it there and sell it for 100 bucks more?

[madjr]

hmm i never see anyone saying: "I'm getting an sys76! :D"

sad sad :confused:

i wonder how users at the apple forum react when you say you're getting a Dell or asus

probably cant log in the morning lol

[Dr. C]

At one point a few years back I actually considered getting a Mac. Now I avoid anything Apple like the plague. This is a company that uses DRM to censor the Dalai Lama and a Pulitzer Prize winning author among others. Enough said.

[Frak]

Final Cut is basically only used by amateurs. Its a little above Sony Vegas on the level of Adobe Premiere. There are alot of programs that kick Final Cut's ***, such as Avid.

Comparing Apples to Oranges. They both satisfy your sweet tooth, it just depends on what you prefer. Though, I'd be a fool to say Final Cut Pro is an "amateurs" program. I've used FCP, and I've used AMC, and they'll both do whatever you need. It comes down to preference.


i cant program anything, but i do hear it is.

With X11 available as a separate application, porting to Mac is easy, just recompile.


I don't understand why mac are for designers.

Photoshop runs on windows too so windows are for designers?

Personally i think mac are just over priced computers...

I can get faster comp than a mac at a cheaper price.

Mac's are the defacto designing platform. The colors are always perfect, the built in apps aid in designing, the track speed on the mouse is very slow for those minute changes, and has built-in support for just about every Tablet known to man.

Mac's allow access to applications like TextMate, CSSEdit, iPhone SDK (not an app, but essential to me), and social apps such as Tweetie. You can develop for any major platform on a Mac. I can develop a Titanium application that targets Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry all in one fell swoop. I can run FCP (my personal favorite), Photoshop CS4 (will install CS5), and use TextMate to further develop my Web Empire.

Now, this comes from a professional designer, web developer, and illustrator. Your mileage may vary.

[jocheem67]

My girlfriend has a powerbook. Do I like it? Yeah, well, the casing, keyboard are all very nice. The overall feel of quality is very good. It's a bit slow though compared to my Arch driven laptop, with lower specs...
She didn't do any tweaks, and as a result the fontrendering isn't up to par with my Arch-install, which is moderately tweaked...

The "designer on apple" question is truly a fashion-thing. And if silverlight will be bigger and bigger ( not that I'm hoping this ) and adobe's power will diminish more and more, iMac's users will partly move to MS.

[Frak]

And if silverlight will be bigger and bigger ( not that I'm hoping this ) and adobe's power will diminish more and more, iMac's users will partly move to MS.

Why? Silverlight runs on Mac OS X. Adobe, also, isn't going anywhere soon.

[trig]

how is the loading speed , from off, too ready to use. My tower, !0.4, takes only a few seconds. My wife owns a old g3 I think. It is really pretty, but wont play youtube...lol

[mmalone21]

I have a pretty sweet PC on which I run CAD software, it was $3,600 total in January 2009. A geek squad friend of mine and a fellow Ubuntu user told me to ask one of the apple sales people to price a mac pro the had comparable specs. 2 Intel zeon 2.66ghz quad cores 3 gig ram (most cad programs i use don't like 64bit OS's) 2 nividia quadro 4500 graphics cards, and after adding all for the things to the rig on apple site and him telling me that I would have to Special order the graphics card because they were not available standard from Apple yet (I bought mine a year and a half ago) I quoted me $18,000 plus the graphics cards. I have not owned an Apple product since 1997 and I had a Mac and I am not gone back to Apple that is.

[Frak]

how is the loading speed , from off, too ready to use. My tower, !0.4, takes only a few seconds. My wife owns a old g3 I think. It is really pretty, but wont play youtube...lol
Mine, iMac 2009 27", boots in a little under 10 seconds.

[mmalone21]

I rarely ever shut down any of my Machines so boot time is rarely an issue.

[KiwiNZ]

Mine, iMac 2009 27", boots in a little under 10 seconds.

My iMac only gets rebooted about every 2 months, I only put it to sleep. I think it takes about 25 seconds to boot .

[Frak]

My iMac only gets rebooted about every 2 months, I only put it to sleep. I think it takes about 25 seconds to boot .
Mine takes about 20 seconds to boot off a normal 7200 SATA drive. My main drive is a 120GB SSD.

[Giant Speck]

I want a Mac. :(

[Roasted]

I want a Mac. :(

Me too. But I gotta eat.

[Frak]

I want a Mac. :(
I think you'd probably exploit it for all it's worth, knowing you.

[Chrysantine]

how is the loading speed , from off, too ready to use. My tower, !0.4, takes only a few seconds. My wife owns a old g3 I think. It is really pretty, but wont play youtube...lol
Mac Pro 2009 2x2.66 Xeon + Intel X-25G2, sub-10 seconds to no-disk-activity desktop.