[Solitary1]

You won't be able to tell the difference if Microsoft keeps stealing UI ideas from Apple.

Utility wise, they all get the job done. Everyone has preferences of one app over another. Transmission is pretty bare-bones compared to even utorrent, I like Bits on Wheels for quick, short torrents. I agree that Azureus is a resource hog (on both platforms).

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JarodL1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What is best for torrent downloading, ripping music, etc. I don't care about playing music since I will use my DAP for that.

If your DAP is an iPod, Mac is the best. Nothing can beat the integration of iTunes and the iPod on a Mac. If it isn't an iPod either one will work.

See ya
Steve

 

[003]

Windows for games and audio... osx for pretty much anything else.

 

[Trippytiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by error401 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Linux.

Seconded! The apps you need are all easily available on Linux. I run Ubuntu 6.10 on my laptop, and use Grip as a front end for cdparanoia to rip and LAME to encode, and Ktorrent to download (because it seems there are no good BT clients for Gnome, alas). They both work like a charm.

And although you claim you won't be playing music on your computer, I think there's a chance that Amarok may change your mind, as it is an absolutely incredible player. It's full of features that I didn't even realize I couldn't live without until I tried it a week ago. IMO, it's Linux's killer app.

And one of the best parts of all of this is that it's FREE!

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by error401 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Linux. I can't stand the OSX UI and Apple's attitude of 'our way or the highway' alongside 'no, what you want is wrong, do it our way'. Their UI widgets are ugly, I find the interface inconvenient to use and bloated, and disagree with most of their software's design choices (ie. iTunes). But that's all personal preference. Concrete reasons: the hardware is expensive for what you get (though it admittedly is very well designed), the software is expensive in that they charge for minor version upgrades (ack, I hate paying for bugfixes...), and the repertoire of free (native) software is rather small, forcing you to pay Apple their exorbitant fees for iLife and the like. In recent years I've really grown to dislike Apple. Either OS will probably serve your needs just fine, but the Windows solution is cheaper and more flexible. Linux more so on both counts.

except that you can compare prices directly across from a reputable pc manufacturer like dell and then to apple and find either apple is cheaper or same price. as well, as for paying for bug fixes, buy all osx (5 versions) or buy the pro xp and the top vista and you pay more for two os (vista and xp) than for the entire 5 osx.

what expense? you can do linux on an apple computer, maybe cheaper too than your dell. that said, i have neither but many pc converts recently going to mac since they can still pay ludicrous prices for windows os on pc and a little less on the hardware for the apple notebook or whatever.

linux is great, but... it is cumbersome at least in most mainly distributed versions, much slower for many tasks. admittedly, many of the great new features debut in it rather than for osx or xp.

everyone has its flaws and its peaks... but hate has no place anymore as the world of pc is getting more and more blurred... even apple is playing cheaper and fairer now

 

[Twitchy_one]

I too, am in the using PC but would like OS X camp. The costs are about
the same. Right now, if you have the clams, you can buy an 8-cpu Mac workstation (around $4k). Also OS X runs Unix underneath & any fan of Linux can easily appreciate the foundation upon which OS X is built. Further, OS X gives you the development tools to build whatever you want on their system.
All we need is more ports of open-source projects to OS X, although I'm sure there are many. Eventually I'm going to pull the trigger on an OS X..just not sure when...I'll probably start with a laptop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif except that you can compare prices directly across from a reputable pc manufacturer like dell and then to apple and find either apple is cheaper or same price. as well, as for paying for bug fixes, buy all osx (5 versions) or buy the pro xp and the top vista and you pay more for two os (vista and xp) than for the entire 5 osx. what expense? you can do linux on an apple computer, maybe cheaper too than your dell. that said, i have neither but many pc converts recently going to mac since they can still pay ludicrous prices for windows os on pc and a little less on the hardware for the apple notebook or whatever. linux is great, but... it is cumbersome at least in most mainly distributed versions, much slower for many tasks. admittedly, many of the great new features debut in it rather than for osx or xp. everyone has its flaws and its peaks... but hate has no place anymore as the world of pc is getting more and more blurred... even apple is playing cheaper and fairer now

 

[error401]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif except that you can compare prices directly across from a reputable pc manufacturer like dell and then to apple and find either apple is cheaper or same price. as well, as for paying for bug fixes, buy all osx (5 versions) or buy the pro xp and the top vista and you pay more for two os (vista and xp) than for the entire 5 osx.

I was assuming the purchase of a new computer, which would include the cost of the OS license. With OSX you'll be paying for the next point-release a year later, and then a year later, and a year after that whereas MS's release schedule is a lot slower and all minor upgrades are included for 5+ years.

As for hardware, Apple is completely out of the low-end market (and understandably so). Right now the cheapest Dell on the front page of their site (and I'm sure you can do cheaper from less reputable brands) is $369. The mini starts at $599. That's a 60% hike in price for a 'basic' barebones machine. Pretty insignificant eh? A similar discrepancy in laptops, with a MacBook weighing in at $1099 and an Inspiron at $599. Yes, if you compare part-for-part they're fairly competitive, and I can understand them not giving you many choices (that's core to the way they do business anyway), but there's no way you can get a usable Apple for the price of a usable PC - without even considering that OSX requires beefier hardware to run well than XP. I don't think they're a bad deal by any stretch, as I said, they're exceedingly well designed and if I were in the market for a new laptop I'd seriously consider the MacBook. If it weren't for the sub-par video I would probably buy one today (and promptly install Linux on it, of course).

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif linux is great, but... it is cumbersome at least in most mainly distributed versions, much slower for many tasks. admittedly, many of the great new features debut in it rather than for osx or xp.

Aside from proprietary video hardware possibly making the installation a fair bit more complicated, I'd beg to differ. Try out Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS or Mepis. They're all extremely usable out of the box, and I'd argue more usable than Windows or OSX (the Gnome distros anyway, the HIG are very tight, well designed and must be adhered-to for included apps).

Not trying to provoke the ever-popular OS war or anything, I think all are reasonable options today (couldn't say that about any of them 4 years ago). Your needs will dictate your choice, I just don't personally see any present need to justify the additional perceived cost to move to OSX for a Windows user.

 

[Trippytiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif except that you can compare prices directly across from a reputable pc manufacturer like dell and then to apple and find either apple is cheaper or same price.

Hmm... except for the fact that I could go and pick up a new laptop from Dell right now for $650 CAD less than I would pay for Apple's cheapest Macbook. And it can do pretty much everything that the Apple can. In fact, it's probably a better deal - last time I specced out a Macbook, you had to pay a good bit extra to get an 80 GB hard drive and a DVD burner.

The problem with Apple is that they offer no basic hardware - it's all midrange and up, and most of the time, that's not really necessary, particularly not when you want to run a nice Linux distro.

 

[ojnihs]

easy: Mac

 

[ozz]

i also like the fact that i save money now every year not having to subscribe
to virus program and some sort of spysweeper and a registry tool on the mac
so now i put the money saved on that towards new cans.

 

[Trippytiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozz /img/forum/go_quote.gif i also like the fact that i save money now every year not having to subscribe to virus program and some sort of spysweeper and a registry tool on the mac so now i put the money saved on that towards new cans.

I can honestly say that I have never once spent a dime on antivirus or anti-malware software. And I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with viruses or worms or hackers, and only a few minor issues with adware.

The best stuff is free.

 

[ozz]

i don't anymore i don't open email or go online with the pc thats when
the mac takes over but of late i just quit using my pc altogether.

 

[dogday]

I've used PC's+Windows since 1991. Been regularly annoyed by them since then (chronologically: IRQ errors, driver problems, registry *****ups). Got a Mac in November, and now that I know that a computer can "just work" I've gone from being irritated by my PC to loathing it. Still use it for gaming though.

(It's not that I can't get it to work, it's just that I've grown tired with constantly fixing, patching and repairing my computer and its OS. There are more fun/productive things to do. Still, I think I owe Windows a lot of my problem solving skills - which, on the other hand, I don't need since switching.)

And even if Windows works great most of the days, it's still nowhere near as graceful (in both looks and operation) as OS X.

 

[hYdrociTy]

bose or audio technica?

 

[Trippytiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogday /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've used PC's+Windows since 1991. Been regularly annoyed by them since then (chronologically: IRQ errors, driver problems, registry *****ups). Got a Mac in November, and now that I know that a computer can "just work" I've gone from being irritated by my PC to loathing it. Still use it for gaming though.

I have to say, my experience with Macs has been quite the opposite. I steered my sister towards getting a Macbook because I thought that even though I can't stand the OS myself, I wouldn't have to deal with it because Macs "just work," right?

Apparently not. Networking with that thing has been a hassle, as it doesn't want to play well with the other computers on the network and from time to time it randomly loses wireless capability and need to be rebooted. Printing with that thing has been a nightmare, as Apple apparently didn't see fit to include drivers for printers that even Ubuntu has. Getting it to play DivX has been and continues to be a very frustrating experience, because new problems keep popping up. And it runs painfully slow - I don't know what my sister did to it to make it like that, but I've seen OSX go faster on 400 MHz G3.

That's a very brief summary of some of the problems I've had with that machine. Overall, I can't say that OSX has been any easier to set up or maintain than Windows XP or Ubuntu, and it irritates the hell out of me when I see people pushing that "just works" claim.