I got Mac'd!!!

[Wodgy]

There's really no need for any of these maintenance utilities. The main thing they were originally created to solve -- that certain automatic scripts wouldn't run if your machine was off -- disappeared with OS X 10.4 Tiger (specifically the introduction of Launchd). OS X also automatically defragments files beyond a certain size threshold.

Switchers sometimes have the impulse that somehow they need to do "maintenance" on their system. I understand that impulse, since it's very true on Windows, but it's not necessary on OS X. The concept of users having to do system-level maintenance is a prehistoric concept, and it's one of the nice things one gets by moving to a modern operating system.

[Redo]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

Switchers sometimes have the impulse that somehow they need to do "maintenance" on their system. I understand that impulse, since it's very true on Windows, but it's not necessary on OS X. The concept of users having to do system-level maintenance is a prehistoric concept, and it's one of the nice things one gets by moving to a modern operating system.

You've confused me, a whole lot. Simply put the more you load on your computer, the more programs you run at once, the more conflicts occur. No matter what operating system you're running, there are problems that can come to be. Fixing these problems is real maintenance, not letting problems rule your computer usage.

Running bloated software to tell you it did something while it really did nothing important is the misconception (eg anything Norton). In fact, these "maintenance" programs are the biggest problem with peoples complaints of Windows based systems. They slow your system down and cause lots of conflicts. Macs fortunately don't come loaded with all the bloatware like what Dell or HP does. At least not right now.

[Nospam]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

There's really no need for any of these maintenance utilities. The main thing they were originally created to solve -- that certain automatic scripts wouldn't run if your machine was off -- disappeared with OS X 10.4 Tiger (specifically the introduction of Launchd). OS X also automatically defragments files beyond a certain size threshold...

I agree, with a few caveats.
1) Make sure you leave plenty of free space on your hard drive. OS X needs plenty of free space (I'd suggest 5-10GB) for swap files. Also, if you don't have much free space, file defragmentation can get pretty bad, and the built-in defragmentation won't be very effective. This can lead to other potential problems.

2) As far as I know, the built-in defragmentation only works on the boot drive/partition.

3) There are times when you may want/need to clear caches and what-not, and these maintenance utilities allow for non-tech-savvy users to do that easily. They also allow users to screw up things too, so use with caution.

Disk repair utilities, however, (such as DiskWarrior, TechTool Pro, and Drive Genius) are still useful to have around. My sister just ran into a problem last week where Apple's Disk Utility detected directory damage but couldn't fix it. Although Apple's implementation of file system journaling has eliminated the majority of directory error problems I used to run into, it can still happen sometimes.

[philodox]

My Wife has been really enjoying her new iMac now that she has gotten over the minor learning curve. I am also enjoying that fact that I have been 'allowed' to reclaim my PC and breathe some new life into it. Spent some time using nLite to create a streamlined WinXP install with ZERO networking capability for gaming [Oblivion] and now run Ubuntu as my main OS.

When you disable everything in WinXP it sure runs/boots fast... even with loading the kernel into memory I have less than 100MB of standard usage. Ubuntu is an absolute dream. I would say personally that it is even easier than OSX in terms of getting it running smoothly and acquiring new software... and when I feel like indulging my geek and tweaking it I have that option.

[Wodgy]

Originally Posted by Redo

You've confused me, a whole lot. Simply put the more you load on your computer, the more programs you run at once, the more conflicts occur. No matter what operating system you're running, there are problems that can come to be. Fixing these problems is real maintenance, not letting problems rule your computer usage.

You're talking about a different problem here, essentially the phenomenon known as DLL Hell (it's called that inside Microsoft too, btw), though of course it can include various types of conflicts, such as registry conflicts, etc.

For the most part, this is not a problem in OS X. Programs don't have installers or uninstallers. To install, you drag an icon to your hard drive. To uninstall, you drag that icon to the trash. Files don't get strewn around your system. There is no monolithic binary registry. On Windows machines, the more programs you install, over time, the slower your system gets due to cruft. When I still used Windows regularly, I had started using VMWare images to trial install software before installing it on my main system, because I hated the 6-month routine of reinstalling the OS and my key apps so everything would be fast again. This doesn't happen on OS X, which is one of the things that makes it fun. You can try out new software and get rid of it without having your system slow down. Again, I've never reinstalled the OS on either of my OS X machines, I've tried hundreds of programs, and my systems are still clean and fast.

On Windows "Registry cleaners" and programs like "Crap cleaner" don't solve the problem either; often they cause more problems than they solve. It's just a poorly thought out, ancient system. Windows would benefit from a bundle system like OS X uses.

Running bloated software to tell you it did something while it really did nothing important is the misconception (eg anything Norton). In fact, these "maintenance" programs are the biggest problem with peoples complaints of Windows based systems. They slow your system down and cause lots of conflicts. Macs fortunately don't come loaded with all the bloatware like what Dell or HP does. At least not right now.

Oh, I agree with you. Especially about Norton on Windows systems. I loved the recent article where they found that Norton Antivirus slowed Windows systems disk access for small files down by 10 times.

But you can't fault the users. The users are often trying to do what's right by buying this type of software. My father used to run *both* Norton SystemSuite and McAfee whatever suite because he wanted to be secure and protected from viruses and spyware. Of course the two systems conflicted, particularly the firewalls, and caused no end of slowdowns and problems. Users are generally well-intentioned, but it's dumb to expect everyone to have to understand how to maintain their system, any more than it would be smart to expect average car users to have to personally change the oil filter regularly.

But as long as Microsoft (and other companies) can make money selling subscriptions to services like Windows OneCare, there is very little incentive to improve this situation for the average user. Quite the opposite -- there is economic incentive for it to continue.

[Redo]

^^ Sounds all good to me, especially for most users. I like to put the people here in the Computer Audio section above the average user though. That's why when people are complaining about the constant instability problems on these forums, I usually think it's more exaggeration .

But for most average users not knee deep into computing, Windows can be a massive problem. Specifically the prebuilts, and the new Vista prebuilts are just horrendous!


For me personally, I reformat a few times a year. But that's just me =b

[kwekeugene]

Hey everyone!

I used my Grado SR225 connected straight to the Headphone jack of my Macbook. I noteiced hissing occuring on some tracks.

What solution would you recommend? Get an impedence adapater? A usb DAC ?

Thanks in advance!

*btw, another vote for Macs :P *

[devwild]

Originally Posted by Wodgy

For the most part, this is not a problem in OS X. Programs don't have installers or uninstallers. To install, you drag an icon to your hard drive. To uninstall, you drag that icon to the trash. Files don't get strewn around your system. There is no monolithic binary registry. On Windows machines, the more programs you install, over time, the slower your system gets due to cruft. When I still used Windows regularly, I had started using VMWare images to trial install software before installing it on my main system, because I hated the 6-month routine of reinstalling the OS and my key apps so everything would be fast again. This doesn't happen on OS X, which is one of the things that makes it fun. You can try out new software and get rid of it without having your system slow down. Again, I've never reinstalled the OS on either of my OS X machines, I've tried hundreds of programs, and my systems are still clean and fast.

For the most part - it still happens sometimes with conflicting frameworks and kexts (extensions). Also, if you use *nix apps on OSX, you are probably very familiar with the dependency chaos and shared libs, even when using managers like macports or fink. Most OSX apps get away from this by compiling static libraries inside the .app, but not all. Some do include installers and first-run scripts which splatter files all over, and due to the lack of a standard uninstall framework, sometimes it's difficult to clean up unless you know what to remove from /Library and such.

My experience has been that most mac users don't run into the same problems simply because they don't install as many shoddy "utilities" and toys on their machines (not that they don't exist, but there aren't as many on OSX, and they are not nearly as popular or pervasively linked from every ad on the net).

A good friend of mine and avid mac user just ran into such a conflict that led to him reloading OSX because it became completely unstable - and I haven't reloaded XP on my 600m in 4.5 years (which boots faster than my G5). Granted I have the formal sysadmin experience to maintain such installs, I'm just saying that it doesn't hurt to learn enough about your OS - regardless of which you use - to be able to maintain a clean system.

[devwild]

Originally Posted by Redo

For me personally, I reformat a few times a year. But that's just me =b

Boy, you sure have a fitting username