Thinking about the big switch? You probably need a little reassurance. We had a conversation about it a few weeks ago on an open thread. So, when we saw a podcast with some recent PC-to-Mac switchers over at Download Squad, we thought hearing some real people chat about it would help anyone in limbo. Seems that the overwhelming consensus is...they hated Vista so much that they ran for the hills over to the other side. Wow, we haven't looked at it yet...is it really that bad?
And...if a switch to linux is more to your liking, they've also had a discussion from moving to Ubuntu from Windows here.
Ubuntu isn't the only or the best Linux - that's a religious discussion. ;->
My personal favorite is Open SuSE...
As to switching to a Mac, they'd have to pay me. As much as I dislike Microsoft, Apple is much worse when it comes to monopolistic tendencies, in my opinion.
view boomer's profile
I just got a Macbook after using only Windows for over a decade and I love it! (btw, I work for a major tech corp that makes PCs and I still made the switch) It takes a bit of getting used to of course, but I love how easy it is to personalize the look and functionality. I adore the dock and dashboard. The interface is really easy and logical. Quick boot and wake speeds compared to a pc. It runs Parallels so it offers the most flexibility in my opinion. Best of all is the plethora of fun, cool, useful, and FREE apps available.
view dorothy's profile
I run Windows XP and I've either gotten used to or can work around its warts. I've used Vista on a few computers, and was not impressed. It asks you for verification constantly, it moves config applets into illogical places and runs like an absolute dog.
At the moment, I can't find a horse to back. I like the Mac quite a bit. I have two problems: One, I'm a gamer and I'm not going to bounce my machine, play a game and bounce it again to get back to what I was doing. Two, for me a Mac would be more expensive. I'd need a Mac Pro-class machine and I can build an acceptable PC for much less than the Pro would cost me. Plus, the dock is a UI nightmare, but it's livable with Expose. Parallels is nice and I find it's much faster to use a PC version of Photoshop than the PPC Photoshop CS2. :D
I really do like Ubuntu. I've been running it on my Sony TR laptop for almost 2 years and it's highly functional. Beryl blows away Aero on hardware that Aero won't even run on. Cedega looks great for gaming. Setting up Ubuntu was a bitch though. Getting the resolution correct, getting hibernate to work and getting WPA to work (until Dapper) were not simple or straightforward for someone without a good background in the nuts and bolts of Linux. Bluetooth still doesn't work properly for me. On the other hand, it's rock-stable and the support forums have been very friendly and helpful. I can't use a laptop on a regular basis without a BT connection to my phone, so I don't use it on the road.
And I end up back at XP.
view Ondrej's profile
I think they just announced a new version of Parallels that supports 3D graphics, Ondrej. If it works that might be one option.
view sunspot42's profile
Thanks, but I know. I have a copy running on my Mac mini. That only supports DirectX 8.1 at the moment. Most games I play these days are DirectX 9. Besides, it's still running in a VM and the hardware is still technically emulated and run through another O/S. I havn't seen any benchmarks, but I'm going to bet that the performance doesn't match a native XP install with game-optimized (ie. native Windows) video drivers.
view Ondrej's profile
Not knocking Ubuntu (I run the live CD at work from time to time) but Open SuSE 10.2 has hibernate working by default, at least on my system.
As to games, I run Unreal Tornament 2003 natively on Linux. On my old 2.4 GHx Pentium4 with 512 MB RAM (a dinosaur, I know), it runs UT2003 better in Linux than it does in Windows. I dual boot just for games.
And paying bills. I only do online bill paying in Linux. I don't trust Windows even with all the firewalls and virus checkers and etc.
I agree that Linux isn't "virus Proof" (Macs and the latest Open Office virus are proof of that). It's just not as big of a target. Yet.
Besides, in Linux, nobody with any brains runs as root, where in Windows the defulat is for everybody to run as admin, and it's damn near impossible to do much in Widows *unless* you're admin.
view boomer's profile
I made the conversion from a pc to my MacBook Pro about a year ago, and have no regrets. I will admit that it hasn't been the cheapest venture, but the higher cost was mostly due to my needing to store 40,000 images and having a double back up system. Most users would not have to go through that experience.
I don't miss windows.
view Devyn's profile