Now that Apple is Windows-compatible, to switch or not to switch to Mac?

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by SGladwell

Yes. The vast majority of those Intel chips not sold to the majors go to the minors (i.e. store house brand computers, the "white box" computers that dominate much of the international market, and so on) with hobbyists accounting for basically nothing. Keep in mind that most of those "loose" chips that are sold in the USA end up getting exported to someplace like India, South Africa, or Poland and turned into white box computers for their domestic markets. The majors have almost no presence outside of the West, and even then their position in the US is far stronger than it is in Europe. The world's largest one-day volume of computer turnover in history (about a quarter million machines in one German workday, or about 35 minutes

) was a bunch of white boxes sold by the supermarket chain Aldi in 2001 or 2002. It may seem like a large number to you, because perhaps lots of people in your circles do that sort of thing. And on an absolute scale 0.2% of chips produced is a pretty large number. But that is not representative of the population at large by any means.
I would like to see some hard data on this if you can find some. I worked in the PC sales industry for a year or two and have never heard of such obscene numbers. I doubt one good day in Germany is enough to account for it. (there are only about 28 Million computers in Germany BTW, according to the International Telecommunications Union) 60% of the desktop/server chips Intel sold in 2005 would come to about eleven and a half billion dollars. I have a hard time believing that the U.S. with the second highest percentage of computers per capita in the world (San Marino is the highest) and BY FAR the most amount of PC's in the world (161 million +, Japan is second with 40 million) is sending MOST of its Intel processors overseas. We are by far the largest computer market in the world. China is gaining speed, but not really that close, Japan is closer, but isn't gaining much ground due to saturation and personal space issues. So Where do we send that eleven and a half billion dollars worth of CPU's?

 

[SGladwell]

Originally Posted by ATM

Wasn't it determined that the pedals were closer together than in other cars which caused some people to put their foot on the gas instead of (or in addition to) the brake when shifting from park to drive?

No. To be more specific, the pedal spacing in the Audi 5000 was only closer than that of inferior cars, which is to say American boats designed from the ground up to be crippled with slushboxes rather than good cars designed to have three pedals on the floor. The contemporary Honda Civic had pedal size and relative placement almost identical to the 5000's.

Even though that 60 Minutes story was probably one of the worst in American journalistic history that did not lead to a war - see "Sinking of the Maine" or "WMD in Iraq" for truly serious examples of American journalistic failure - my own thoughts are that anyone who bought a slushbox Audi 5000 deserved to suffer anyway.

 

[mussel]

Another free program, Parallels, let you run both Windows and OS X. What's different from Boot Camp is that this one let you run both simulteously. The beta program is free while the final version is not.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by mussel

Another free program, Parallels, let you run both Windows and OS X. What's different from Boot Camp is that this one let you run both simulteously. The beta program is free while the final version is not.

This is what Apple should have introduced. I really don't understand the big deal everyone seems to have made about Boot Camp --- rebooting is ridiculous, not to mention the fact that you can't even share data between Windows and OS X with Boot Camp. VMware has been doing virtualized OSes for a while on Pentiums, and the Pentium chips have had hardware assistance for virtualization since, arguably, forever.

--Andre

 

[Manny Calavera]

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

This is what Apple should have introduced. I really don't understand the big deal everyone seems to have made about Boot Camp --- rebooting is ridiculous, not to mention the fact that you can't even share data between Windows and OS X with Boot Camp. VMware has been doing virtualized OSes for a while on Pentiums, and the Pentium chips have had hardware assistance for virtualization since, arguably, forever.

--Andre

BUT. But, does Parallels let you triple boot to include Linux?

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I wandered into my local Apple store today... and I still don't like them much. Just to update people. In case you were wondering. There were hippies working there. Not that there's anything wrong with that. One of them gave me a peace sign on my way out the door. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

The iMac's screens still look too small for my personal preference. They look smaller than they should for being (supposedly) the size they are. Maybe it has something to do with the chunky white plastic surround. Who knows. Not my cup of tea. The other thing I noticed about them is that since there is no tower or seperate computer box for the cables to hide behind, they look sort of messy on the desktop. Granted the back of my PC looks like a squid orgy, but when I sit in front of my computer, I don't see any of it.

I couldn't really say for sure, but the 23" Cinema display looked pretty dim and less vibrant or colorful compared to my Dell 2405FPS. The 30" seems pretty nice, though I'd have to sell my car to afford it.

I've determined that the Mighty Mouse doesn't feel right in my hand. Its not very ergonomic, though lightyears more useful and practical than any other Apple mouse.

Anyways, I wasn't forcibly ejected from the store or anything, even though they could tell that I was not "one of them"... I DID keep having fantasies about smashing through the white plastic displays in a hulk-like rage, however.

 

[Tck13]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

I wandered into my local Apple store today... and I still don't like them much. Just to update people. In case you were wondering. There were hippies working there. Not that there's anything wrong with that. One of them gave me a peace sign on my way out the door. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

The iMac's screens still look too small for my personal preference. They look smaller than they should for being (supposedly) the size they are. Maybe it has something to do with the chunky white plastic surround. Who knows. Not my cup of tea. The other thing I noticed about them is that since there is no tower or seperate computer box for the cables to hide behind, they look sort of messy on the desktop. Granted the back of my PC looks like a squid orgy, but when I sit in front of my computer, I don't see any of it.

I couldn't really say for sure, but the 23" Cinema display looked pretty dim and less vibrant or colorful compared to my Dell 2405FPS. The 30" seems pretty nice, though I'd have to sell my car to afford it.

I've determined that the Mighty Mouse doesn't feel right in my hand. Its not very ergonomic, though lightyears more useful and practical than any other Apple mouse.

Anyways, I wasn't forcibly ejected from the store or anything, even though they could tell that I was not "one of them"... I DID keep having fantasies about smashing through the white plastic displays in a hulk-like rage, however.

I knew I felt a disturbance in the force.

Your foray into the Apple store, sans violence, sounds like a very big step. Your restraint is admirable.

Although, I wouldn't have blamed you if you would've done a Bill Romanowski on the hippies finger. That would've been kinda funny.

As a Mac user, I agree with what you said about some of the moniters. I am having difficulty getting myself to really like the all in one moniter (iMac). Very plain, chunky, and kinda nice but there is something about it. I wonder if they will continue with that or change it again.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by Tck13

I knew I felt a disturbance in the force.

Your foray into the Apple store, sans violence, sounds like a very big step. Your restraint is admirable.

Although, I wouldn't have blamed you if you would've done a Bill Romanowski on the hippies finger. That would've been kinda funny.

As a Mac user, I agree with what you said about some of the moniters. I am having difficulty getting myself to really like the all in one moniter (iMac). Very plain, chunky, and kinda nice but there is something about it. I wonder if they will continue with that or change it again.


Oh, I can't avoid Apple, being sometimes enrolled in video editing courses, I am forced to use the G5 towers somewhat regularly, though I haven't been to classes in a little over a year.

I really do think that a purpose built editing rig like the Canopus NLE's would be more my style. When and if I end up in the NLE field.

Here's hoping that they change the iMac, though until I see one, I still have never seen an all-in-one that I like. Sony's included. Ugly bastard that it is.

Maybe the iMac is as good as it gets styling-wise, which would be pretty depressing. I like to change my monitors around too much for anything one peice to be practical.

 

[mussel]

Originally Posted by jonglover

BUT. But, does Parallels let you triple boot to include Linux?

Yes, according to the NYT article.

 

[von Rothbart]

Apple opens Fifth Avenue Flagship:

This evening, Apple is opening a showcase store in Manhattan that will burnish the company's reputation for clever design. The entrance to the store, on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets, is a glass cube, 32 feet on each side, with a suspended Apple logo inside. Customers walk down a circular staircase "” or take a cylindrical glass elevator "” to the 10,000-square-foot store below. The store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week "” a first for Apple and an acknowledgment of New York's status as a round-the-clock city.

 

[imageWIS]

This is so at 3 am on a Wednesday you feel like checking out a case for your iPod, Apple will be open and you can grab some kosher Chinese as long as you’re at it.

Jon.

 

[Brian SD]

Wow. That building looks very Japanese. Very interesting concept. It's amazing how well-defined Apple's image has been come. They've got some of the best branding I've ever seen.

 

[BoilerRoom]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

, Norton and Macafee are garbage. They help propagate the viruses so that they can stay in business. As a matter of fact they used to sell windows code to the Chinese govt when they had a virus writing and electronic sabotage program. A firewall and some discretion is all I use.

Does the government listen in on your conversations? Are they monitoring this message board?

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by BoilerRoom

Does the government listen in on your conversations? Are they monitoring this message board?

Holy necro post!

Not to the best of my knowledge. But you never really know.

 

[Cleav]

I use the http://www.apple.com/macpro/

with the 23 inch Mac Cinema screen.

Been a Mac man for years and would advise on making the switch.