Tiger 4.6 vs Vista Enterprise intstall & inital review

**EDIT

For starters I'm a new-ish mac user. I have an old Powerbook Ti (400mhz) that I used a few years ago with OS X 10.1 I believe. I've loved OS X ever since that time but was financially unable to switch. I just recently sold my Lenovo laptop (the worst laptop I've ever had) and I should be ordering a MBP in a few hours or days (still debating 2.16 vs 2.33).

Also I'm sure most know, but just in case ( I didn't know until last week) here's how to get discounts on MBP if you're a student.

1. Enroll in ADC ($99 for one year)

This gives you the latest version of OS X at every release (I just received Tiger 10.4.6 and also Leopard when it's release. Not to mention the ADC developers kit)


You get a one-time hardware purchase discount:

MBP 2.16 C2D ($1599) vs student ($1799)

MBP 2.33 C2D ($1999) vs student ($2299)

I installed Tiger on my Powerbook 400 mhz and everything ran smoothly (no searching for drivers et cetera). Although it runs slow but hey at least I don't have to buy new hardware to upgrade my OS like Vista.

Then I installed Vista Enterprise onto my nephews desktop. The fresh install surprisingly only took about 15 mins. But then just as I expected I had to go search for drivers for his dlink wireless card. Vista also froze once while switching users. But what surprise me the most was that Vista was basically a copy of OS X (more like a slightly ugly cousin of). It even had the same gadgets (widgets) like the picture puzzle for example. Also the wallpaper offered by Vista were pathetically ugly versions of those found on OS X. It had the black & white pics, the abstract, and also one of the rocks and pebbles. Geez. I'm so glad I'm getting the MBP!


**EDIT

 

Cool, hope you enjoy it.

For what it's worth, I tried out both the 2.16 and 2.33 versions, and they are both quite good. I'd say that unless you absolutely need the faster CPU or the extra VRAM, the 2.16 will be more than fine. Although the 2GB RAM standard in the 2.33 version does at least safe the hassle of having to buy the RAM separately. If the price difference isn't a huge issue, the 2.33 isn't a bad bet to go (and that extra VRAM supposedly will come in handy even with OS-level features in Mac OS X 10.5, like the Spaces virtual desktop stuff).

 

Vista installed fine on my Acer, at least after I upgraded my BIOS which is hardly Windows' fault.

The operating system identifies itself as Windows NT 6.0 - XP was 5.1. And that's the most accurate short description I could think of. It's the same old thing with more bling - I don't really know where all the hype came from but it's clearly no more than hot air. Lots of stuff is exactly 1:1 the same as XP, a few things have been changed around but not made better, and the user interface looks like a cheap version of OS X. That's it.

Real improvements that I found apart from the prettier UI - the sounds are much nicer than they used to be. Come to think of it, they sound a lot more like OS X now. Argh.

PS: Don't get me wrong, a cheap version of OS X is still a great improvement over Win XP. But .. 6 years in development?

 

I would love to see a truly robust, secure, and reliable version of Windows. I really don't mind the "old" UI.

I also hope Vista is it (its gotta be close to two years late for SOME reason). Unfortunately given what I have seen of the beta and "final" I expect rather than spending that time re-architecting and building a solid foundation that is intrinsically more stable and secure, they are still using the same architecture and the quicksand foundations, and just spend that time fixing a lot of old and new features. Thats good for the OS but still does not solve the stability and security issues once you add third party software back in.

 

BTW, you don't get discounts on any upgrades or warranties with the ADC. When I priced my MBP with only the HDD being upgraded, it came to be the same price as with the ADC discount (vs. student discount). The warranty made it cheaper.

 

On my order I upgraded the memory to 2g for $140. The $140 was added to the adc price ($1599). There were no ADC discounts for applecare, but the student discount is substantial ($249 i think). I ordered over the weekend so I have to wait till the begin of the week to see how the order gets processed. I hope they don't tax me, I'm in LA 9% tax!