Macs for Pirates... if you know what I mean.

So I finally decided to get a MBP. I'm having a couple of reservations though and was wondering if you guys could help me out.

Main topic:
1) After having spent a lifetime in windows, which i really have no problem with, I've gotten pretty use to getting pretty much everything i need. Do any of you mac users who go beyond work, e-mailing, music and movies have a hard time finding what you need without stealing it in any way? Is everything available?

Also:
2) Everyone says that there are comparable products for macs and there are for windows but do you ever find that they have the same function but may not do it as well or are not as "powerful"?

 

1)against rules and all the things you can "find" can't be discussed.

2) most of the comparable products are on par or better.

 

Well you can always use crossover...or parallel. I think WINE is developing a version for mac users so you can install windows programs through WINE on macs.

 

That's what i'm trying to figure out since all the products i'm looking at work the exact same, ie all the adobe products that i've used thus far. There's also the group of products that don't seem to be as good, ie Office and it's other comparable. So i guess i'm also wondering beyond OSX what commonly used software is better/more powerful besides being prettier?

 

I use CS3 and it's really fast on my MBP. And you can get Microsoft Office for Mac anyway...

Apples software is really good (Aperture, Logic, iLife, Final Cut).

 

That would be pretty awesome and would definitely seal the deal... but also open up another one full of spyware and viruses haha.


Besides small widgets what programs have more functionality on macs than on windows?
Do you guys ever feel limited by your options?

 

If it's the same program... they should have the same functionality.

 

well you would think but aren't there a couple of threads about office not having the same functionality and in windows? Plus entourage isn't as powerful as outlook. I'm sure there are more examples but that's really why i'm asking questions now rather than finding out later.

 

Well it's not the same office. Microsoft probably just wanted to make money off the Mac community and screw them over at the same time... but other companies are USUALLY very fair when making their things multiplatform. However if you're dealing with older software that was optimized for PowerPC Macs then you'll get a bit of a performance hit on Intels.

 

My biggest concern when I was contemplating the switch to mac was finding native mac applications that accomplish what my programs did in Windows. And although I have 10 licences of Vista Ultimate from my MSDN membership and beta testing, I refuse to put any MSFT product on my MBP.

I have to say that I have been able to find every single application I was looking for to do the things I want. Most applications I found were even better in the mac variety.

The only one that isn't is MSN Messenger. MSFT gimped the mac version (I wonder why... ) and the alternatives aren't great.

 

There's a rich catalogue of perfectly competent open source software on the Mac.

For the basic needs of most people, a new Mac comes with the necessary software bundled anyhow.

 

Don't touch them ! Windows 4 life

 

Adium?

There's things that you can do in OS X for free that you will have a very hard time doing in Windows. Unless you're a power-torrent user(ala, microTorrent), or power office user, there's nothing to miss about Windows.

The benefit of using Terminal and 90% of linux software in addition to all the OS X specific software out there is enough for me.

 

Open Source is your friend

 

utorrent works perfectly in wine. wine is een on the supported platform list lol.

 

Description Of OS X on Google for the op:

As of now, OS X is the latest release of the Mac OS. It is commonly used by less-educated people, generally people that are gullible enough to believe the lies and slander that Apple says in their desperation to sell Macs. Here's some real facts:

Speed: The G5 Processor (what OS X runs on) is what Apple claims to be the fastest processor in the world. They released several irrelevant and suspicious benchmark tests that supposedly "proved" that this was true. However, Apple's policy to lie about their performance still stands. ACTUAL benchmarks have proven that Mac OS X running on a G5 is not only NOT the fastest operating system in the world -- it's slower than a Dell Pentium running Windows NT 4! If you want proof about this, just conduct a google search for "Apple lies G5", and you'll see what I mean.

Security: Mac OS X (and previous versions of the Mac OS) have generally been virus-free. However, this proves nothing about Apple's capabilities of creating a secure operating system. Nobody bothers to write viruses for the Mac. Why would they? Over 90% of people that use computers use PC's running Windows. Virus writers want to infect the most amount of computers in the world, so they attack Windows instead. Nobody wants to infect a Mac because hardly anybody uses them.

Stability: Mac OS X has a FreeBSD/UNIX kernel (core). Having used BSD myself, I have to admit that it is a good, stable operating system. However, it's evident that Apple managed to cripple the BSD kernel before they used it to base OS X. I've used OS X myself and it crashes a lot more than my eMachines running Windows 2000.

Support: Ha! Apple's idea of support is a bunch of pages telling you how great all their products are. After filling out a form and submitting your problem, THEN you are told that you won't get a personal response. Thanks a lot, Apple.

Also, the fact that Mac's can now run Windows is pitiful. All Apple is saying is that their own capabilities of creating an operating system suck so badly that they have to make computers capable of running Windows. Mac users have been bashing Windows for years, and now they want to use it?

 

Mac users have been bashing Windows for years and now they want to use it? And by "pitiful" you mean "not being limited by both OS, because they both do have limitations" then ok. Personally I switched to Mac because of school about 4 months ago. It's really a great OS and I like the fact that I can have both on 1 system so I can game. I don't hate windows, but OS X, in my opinion, because no matter what your benchmarks are that's all it comes down to, is a better OS. It just doesn't have enough games for me

I would hardly say that most Mac users bash Windows... because they don't. I find a lot more people love to bash OS X even though they never used it in their life. And let us not forget all the desperate failed attempts to get OS X running smoothly on a standard PC, and all the mods to try to get Windows to look like OS X

 

troll much?

 

Have you given some thought to running Windows virtually on your Mac? Lots of people have gotten around the problem of some apps only available on Windows by using it virtually. Granted, this means it'll use up valuable memory just to run Windows virtually but if you max out the memory to 4GB it's not that big of an issue. Memory is very cheap these days.

 

I didn’t write it: it’s for the op!

 

The author has no idea what he's talking about. As far as stability goes: mine, and every other Mac I have used has NEVER crashed on me, except for one in my class, which is obviously just f'd up lol. And for support: you get phone support with a technician, usually with NO hold time. I just wish it was open 24/7, and they offered onsite repair for something other than desktops.

 

It doesn't matter where the information came from, but posting incorrect or false information in such a manner is trolling.

It's okay to have opinions on OS X/Linux/Windows, but stating false or very old information is really a bad thing to do.

I know, I used to be a MAJOR mac hater. I mean... wow. I'd rather have pulled my teeth out than use another g4. Not sure why, but using OS X on a friends MBP changed my whole opinion.

 

KK

 

I was the same. Was pretty anti-Mac. In fact we had an old eMac in our photog classroom in high school, and whenever someone didn't know why a certain thing wouldn't open, I'd always just say "well it's because you're trying to USE a Mac. It's only meant to sit there and look pretty "

 

lol yeah. I still feel that way about non-intel macs. I remember my ex was a huge mac fan. She bought one of those crappy iMacs that didn't have a floppy... and man, was apple way too early on that. She cursed so much because there was no way to do work on it and bring it to the labs...

A lot of the g4's I've used had a ton of problems. Some would just reboot every 15-20 minutes, others would randomly beach ball for 30 minutes. These were probably under 10.1 though. Apple's made some great strides in hardware and software.

 

my concerns (as the OP) aren't really with whether OSX is any good. Personally i don't mind either OS and am not considering switching because i dislike windows. My only concern was whether i could easily get all the programs i want on OSX, whether they run the same, better or worse, and whether the "equivalents" are truly equivalent.

I'm kinda hoping that people can be critical of OSX's software and not defensive about it. (Same with windows). Apple and the companies who produce software for them aren't perfect and being critical can really only help improve things and inform people.

 

I find that line especially funny since Windows 2000 and its server equivalent had such bad memory leaks in its core that a reboot was required every few weeks or so to keep the server running. Things have since improved in the windows world.

I'm not bashing Windows either. Each OS has its strengths and weaknesses. Its pretty much down to taste nowadays.