I own an early Mini with a G-4 processor, not a new Intel machine. I run Tiger on it. I also own an old ( almost 4 years… ) Titanium Powerbook G4.
There are three PC’s in the house. I am STILL troubleshooting one or the other on a more or less weekly basis. My Mac’s almost never crash ( I mean, once a year. Maybe ). They turn on, do what I want them to do, and turn off when they are told.
I fought this switch for months, and there are threads back there somewhere to prove it but the truth is that there are SO few bugs out there for Mac OS and the machines and OS work so well, that I cannot imagine using any other platform.
When the TiBook dies, I will remove a newly cloned 80 GIg HD and place it into another used TiBook. They’re cheap enough and last very nicely.
Once a month I run Disk Warrior. ( Which, oddly, I just started doing NOW as I write this ). That piece of software does so much to contribute to overall health of a Mac.
You are buying a Mini? Buy Disk Warrior the same day.
Do you still need to hold down the mouse button while you scroll through a menu? Man, that’s INFURIATING!
Yes, sometimes it’s the little things that can turn you off to an interface. I use Autocad at work and had to bring in my own, antique, three-button mouse because, at least as far as the version I use (R2002) is concerned, the center button is VITALLY important. I assume Autodesk hasn’t changed it because their HQ would probably be torched if Acad R2007 didn’t let you use the center button to call up the snap menu. And yes, I have a spare Logitech 3-button for when that one wears out. I think I’m good until retirement.
However, since Wife and Kids mostly just use a word processor and a browser, I’m not worried about the crappy choice of software. If I find both that don’t result in tearful calls at work I’m happy. “Deal with it! It’s just a freakin’ computer!” is not the desired answer, I’ve found. Since the Hot! New! laptop I have on order is a Tandy 1100FD (one 720k floppy and MS-DOS 3 in ROM, “Yeah, Steve, no battery is okay because I think I have one laying around the house.”) I tend to dismiss griping as something babies do.
I was at the local junior college today. They let homeless people hang there if they’re no trouble–I think they use them as additional eyes for Security–and I learned that my county is so affluent that the freakin’ BUMS! have better laptops and cell phones than I do.
I’d hold off for a bit, if possible. The mini is due for replacement soon–I’d guess it’ll be the same form factor but more powerful.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see new minis released at the same time as Apple TV (Tuesday is looking likely), Adobe’s new creative suite (March 27) or during their April 15 event (likely the launch of a new 8 core Pro system).
The a $399 special PC is pretty much all you need. Make a drive image once everything is set up the way you like it. Small separate partition for document preservation/backup image. When the kids download every virus on the books you are about 30 min from totally fixed reloading the image.
I was just in a mac shop a few days ago, I spend alot of time shopping competing stores of various flavors. The 3 mac shops in town charge $115, $105, and $140 per hour. The average PC shop in town charges about half of that. The least expensive machine in stock was $949.
That makes the PC cheaper to service if and only if it spends less than twice as much time being repaired. In my experience, this is not the case: A Mac will need maintenance less often, and when it does, it usually takes less time.
As for the software issue, some software is easier to find for a PC, some is equally easy to find for either, and some is actually easier to find for a Mac. If your primary uses are e-mail, word procesing, and web browsing, then most of your software needs will be in the second category. The first category is mostly games, and many technical applications are easier to find for a Mac (due to the Unix heritage).
Yeah, just try compiling X11 applications on Windows. Even when they do work, they don’t work terribly well. (And don’t speak to me of XCygwin, which works well enough to act as a remote X server for a real *nix machine, but not good enough for anything else.) On OS X, you just install X11 for Darwin and run rootless, and it works like a dream.
Of course, this only applies to a small contingent of technical and applications oriented folk (scientists, engineers, animators, Unix sys admins), and in general there is vastly more software available for Windows, but aside from games, very little of it can’t be replicated or emulated on OS X, and of course with the advent of Intel-based Macs you can run Windows natively.
A little hijack, but I actually had to install openoffice on my computer at my last job because the dipshits hadn’t thought to check if there was a word processing program installed. It worked for 99% of the stuff I had to do, the other 1% I just traded computers with my cubicle mate. Her computer was slow as molasses, but it did have Office. I was fine with OpenOffice, but about a month before I left, they decided to ramp up their computer security which apparently included installing office on my computer. I’m using Neo Office on my mac right now, and Open Office on my PC. My parents have Open Office, but I don’t know if they know that.
-Lil
This cracks me up that you can buy a PC and have virtually no trouble with it, as long as before you use it you make sure to make drive images and partition the drives and make sure everyone in the household knows where to store their documents.
Oh, and when it comes time to reload the OS because it’s so virus infested (as the OP mentions will happen), make sure you actually have the disk, since the bargain PCs don’t usually come with them.
Oh, and make sure to delete all the trial software that came preloaded, since it will surely slow down your system and annoy and confuse you.
Or you could save yourself a ton of headaches and spend the extra $200 on a superior machine you’ll have no problems with that will work within 30 seconds of taking it out of the box. Cheapest is $949? Uh, minis cost $599.
Apple’s new mouse has a built-in wheel with vertical and horizontal scrolling, and you can use any peripheral device with trackballs, multi-buttons, etc…
Quoting service rates: har! I have had Macs since my SE-30 in 1989 (which still boots up and runs fine). I think I had one in the shop once on a warranty repair (my newest G5 iMac, but otherwise I have never needed service on any one of my machines in almost 20 years.
Currently have an old G3 iBook, orig TiBook (runs very hot), G5 iMac at home, and at work I have aG4 iMac, and an old G4 running as a server. Run software update regularly and upgrade all the patches that are listed and you will be fine. One of the wonderful benefits of a Mac is that the OS is constantly being updated… you don’t have to wait 5-7 years.
As for WP, I am so used to Office that it is second nature, but it remains a bloated mess of a program. Never tried NeoOffice but have fond memories of Claris Works which I believe is now Apple Works.
Good luck with the switch! You will find lots of us out there who still bleed the Apple rainbow.
The Mac that had the longest life as my primary computer was my WallStreet PowerBook.
I replaced the PRAM battery when it went dead. I replaced the keyboard when one of the keys became unresponsive after a coffee-spill. I also upgraded the RAM several times, the internal hard disk several times, the processor twice, added a second internal hard drive (dual 60s at 7200 RPM, man!), replaced the screen hinge with a more robust replacement part, replaced the CardBus card carrier, and at one point late in its career built a frankenstein second WallStreet from the discarded parts plus a couple of elements scored off eBay.
Software-wise, I migrated viable copies of the OS from drive to drive over and over again, did several dozen minor upgrades and did major upgrades from MacOS 8.1 through MacOS X 10.3 while preserving the older OS’s in bootable form in partitions as I went.
So what-all is it that you’ve done in the way of fixing your PC? Did you keep it running and viably able to run modern stuff over the course of 8 years? Replaced errant hardware, have you? Do you still have your original (not reinstalled) Windows98 installation ported to your latest hard disk? Added USB, FireWire, WiFi, CD burner, DVD player, ethernet, to your vintage PC, did you? How many screens can you run from it now, did you add cards for additional displays? How about removable media drives, have you added any? How about scanners?
Now what kind of can’t-fix-it-yourself task did you have in mind with regards to Macs?
That mouse looks pretty good on the desk, but I bet it’s a bitch to use. Mouse ergonomics have come a long, long way, and the Apple mice hasn’t come along with it.
In addition, Apple’s resistance to a two button mouse is an impressive piece of institutional stubbornness. Even when it gets to the point where they have to institute the functionality of a two button mouse, they still refuse to put two buttons on their mouse.
Actually, the Mighty Mouse is a two-button mouse. It kind of rocks ever so slightly to one side or another when you click it.
I love my Bluetooth Mighty Mouse! That little ball on top just glides ever so gently under your finger, very quickly scrolling in both directions. It’s a class act.
If anything, it’s a little light in fancy extra buttons – it only sports two extra controls: pressing down on the roller ball and squeezing its sides.
It’s great that I can pop open my MacBook and slap down the Mighty Mouse with no other action and no wires/dongles and get to work.
