The Night Of The Panther. A Macintosh Primer In Loathing.

The BBQ Pit
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This Friday night is the Night Of The Panther. Apple says so, and so it must be so. They’re the digital Charleton Heston, issuing edicts from on hight. So it is written, so it shall be done.

When purchasing a Mac for the first time 18 months ago, I was told it was OS-X. Mac with a bulletproof, crashproof, brilliantly coded Linux-Based OS. It could do no wrong. It was the best thing to come out since the Mini Cooper.

It crashes. It’s twitchy. It’s buggy. Are we told this? Of course not. What’s the solution? Oh gosh you fool, that was just Release 10.1 ! ( and, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, etc…you get the idea ).

If ya REAAAAAAAAAAALLLY wanted to solve all of those silly bugs and problems that you suffer from Mac OS-X, why the only smart and clever and brilliant thing to do…is buy…Jaguar ! Yes, by god. THAT’LL fix all yer problems. It’s crashproof. It’s bulletproof. It’s brilliant and Linux-Based. ( Tell me if this sounds familiar…)

That was summer, 2002. Here we are. October, 2003. Tired of problems with Jaguar? Tired of not being able to run any apps not written by Apple, because nothing is Jaguar-compatible? Oh gosh, you fool, that was only Jaguar.

You want to REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLY solve all of those inane incompatibility problems and be able to do videoconferencing using a web cam ( like this is new? -yawn- ), and basically let go of that awful twitchy buggy Jaguar? Buy Panther !!! Yes, that’s the only cool-beans way to go. Panther !!! Yay !

Who’s the schmuck? The people re-writing perfection every 6 months, of the person dumb enough to be suckered into this cycle of obscurity? This post was written on a home-assembed PC using an Intel Pentium II- 233 chip. It was written using the Windows 98 Second Edition operating system. Guess what? It doesn’t crash. It doesn’t have incompatibility problems. It works, and works, and works…and works.

So, now that I’m committed to a system that is almost entirely based on smoke and mirrors, and obviously cannot seem to stay stable long enough for ANYBODY to write software to match it…um…I wonder what I can get for my TiBook on eBay. I cannot even buy Disk Warrior for Jaguar now, because Panther is coming out, and the Jaguar software platform will no longer be supported by Apple for very long- this was the case with OS-X 10.1. When 10.2 ( Jaguar ) came out, 10.1 was obsolete. Now, I pity people who made a good living using the huge cornucopia of software written for Mac OS-9. THEY’RE really screwed. Apple has publicly stated that it will no longer support OS-9.

Arrogance, buttered with hubris and a sprinkling of granola and fine Nothern California pot. What a load of crapola. IMHO, this is the single most atrocious scam pulled on the computer-literate public. Ever. Period.

:mad:

Cartooniverse

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_The downside is that the release of Windows 98 set new records for the most technical support calls in a single day. Windows 98 was released with more than 10,000 known bugs and is so bug-filled that it crashed during Microsoft’s official televised introduction. Many individuals and businesses have found it so trouble-filled that they have given up on attempts to install it and returned to Windows 95. These widespread reliability problems have spawned humor, such as the error list shown below.
Either I’m a fucking genius, or you’re a fucking idiot. Which one is it ?

How come I have rarely had any problems at all with my system, in the many years that I have used it ? I have had the occasional minor problem, just like everybody else who uses computers, but nothing major. Even if I had something major, all of my stuff is backed up on a regular basis (cds & dvds & external drives), and it would take me a few minutes to get things back up & running again.

Are you using a different OS than I am ? (no)

Are you saying that updates are bad ? Should companies only release updates once every 5 years ?

If companies only released software after it was %100 stable, there would be absolutely nothing available for purchase for just about any platform. This applies to both mac, windoze etc. As for the OS9 stuff, I rely heavily on OS9, though I do use OSX for certain things. OS9 works great now, and it will continue to work fine 10 years from now, so what was the problem exactly with OS9 ? That they are no longer releasing updates for it ? Oh wait, that was what you were ranting about regarding OSX (that there are too many updates). :rolleyes: So which is it genius ?

Even though I’m a mac user, I’m not here to try to convince you to keep your mac.

Used macs fetch decent prices in the second hand market.

Sell yours as quick as possible.

OSX is a good operating system, and Panther even makes it faster, quicker etc., while offering many improvements. (and probably a minor bug or two). Such is the computer business.

:smiley:

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I’ve used macs and peecees for years. I have never had a problem with my mac. I’ve had to reformat my peecees 6-7 times. I’ve never had spyware of adware on my mac. I’ve had a bunch on my pc. I’ve never had a virus on my mac. I got them occasionally on my peecees. My peecees used to crash all the time. My mac has never crashed.

Anecdotel evidence swings both ways. Despite your issues, macs have a much better reputation for secuity and stability than windows.

You don’t have to upgrade to Panther if you don’t want. Apple has not indicated removing support for 10.2. In fact, they just released a free update (10.2.8) a few weeks ago.

Further, I’d rather have a computer where they upgrade their OS every year instead of every 5 years. WindowsXP came out in 2001. Longhorn (their next OS) isn’t slated until 2006 (and it could get pushed back until 2007). Why would I want an OS that gets upgraded, on average, every 4, years?

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Well, this post was written on a store-bought iMac using an IBM 600MHz Power PC chip. It was written using the Mac OS Jaguar 10.2.8 operating system. Guess what? It doesn’t crash. It doesn’t have incompatibility problems. It works, and works, and works…and works.

And hell, cmason’s also right. Before this iMac, I was using an eleven year old Mac IIsi, System 7.5- 9 MB RAM, 40 MB HD.

Try a few tweaks on your system, check for known bugs and conflicts. It ain’t that bad. And, I could be wrong, but I think OS X more Unix-based than Linux-based.

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Troy McClure SF, you are quite correct, it’s unix based and the flavour is BSD not unix.

I have not had many problems at all, but then I tend to use the unix end of things much more than the pretty GUI stuff.

is there still much software for OS9? I heard pepoel were waiting for a few apps before upgrading, but that was a while back. I never used it back then, I had a linux box. And by Og I do so love the mac’s plug’n’playability after that.

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It’s odd when someone tries to extrapolate an individual experience into a comprehensive norm.

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Ever heard of Service Packs? Windows users get bug fixes and new features free for several years, rather than having to pay $119 every year for an incremental OS revision.

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Can I be the asshole who comes in and says “Get a Mac?”

Oh, wait…

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This post is written on a Power Mac G4 533 MHz. It’s given me few problems. OS X is far more stable (for me) than Windows 98 or Windows XP. (And I really don’t mind XP at all. But it ain’t as stable as OS X.) Windows 98, on the other hand, is the spawn of the Devil. Just my personal perspective.

And regarding “service packs.” Well, of course Windows has to keep giving out bug fixes and service packs. Because Windows users (including my sister) are getting barraged with security risks and Blaster worms. Oh joy.

But OS X also gets updates as well. Jaguar is up to 10.2.8 right now.

Cartoon, if I remember correctly, you got a dud in your Powerbook. Some Powerbooks (and some G4s, and some G3s, some G5s, some Pentium IIIs, some Athlons, etc) are duds. That doesn’t mean that all Pentiums and all G4s, etc., are duds. You were just unlucky to get one that was a dud. For that, I am truly sorry.

On the other hand, I’ve never had a “dud” Mac. And I have had quite a few of them over the years. I have, however, had a few “dud” PCs. But I never blamed all of Windows-dom for the fact that I had a few dud PCs. They were duds, that’s all. Every product out there is going to produce a few duds.

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The equivalent of a service pack would be the free upgrades that Jaguar includes (i.e 10.2.1 through 10.2.8). Jaguar gets upgrades and new software, too (and it doesn’t cost money, either).

And let’s not get into a discussion about bug fixes, because MS undoubtedly has more thousands of more bugs, security holes, spyware, adware, and viruses than OS X. There are over 71,000 known computer viruses. Less than 100 affect macs (and only a fraction of those affect OS X).

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Very nice, GM. Shoot it to the pit. This post comes to the SDMB from my workhorse 6500, although the imac to its right (running OSX jag) has never crashed. EVER. I had some problems upgrading (thanks very much to all who posted in my thread about that), but the info I needed was already out there and I never lost a shred of data.

I also love those .exe virus emails! They’re so cute - I download them and check out the code.

My macs don’t know what an .exe file is.

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Aw, shit. This IS the pit, isn’t it. Mea culpa, carry on. Nothing to see here. SLAPS his head as he leaves…

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My point was that I don’t have to spend $119 every year.

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Neither does anyone else. Panther isn’t mandatory; it’s an optional upgrade for mac users who want it. At least mac users have that option. Windows users have to wait until 2006, when they’ll get their palladium system.

Palladium is going to suck hardcore for windows users. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost.

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      • Heh, I am still happily running Win98SE, too… tried XP. It sucked (slow, lousy/useless features, DRM).
  • MS and Apple both suck: eventually, Linux on an AMD chip is going to be the way to go.
  • People worry about MS eventually deciding what hardware and software they can use; I say that Apple is already farther down that road than MS is, just because of the lack of market support for Macs. Adobe has already said that the next version of Premier won’t be tested on the Mac, because Apple already bundles their full-featured movie software with it, so it’s not worth Adobe’s time to update their own for it. You can argue about the reasons, but in the end that’s less choice.
  • Macs cost too much. I can go online and put together a brand-new low-end PC for $300, maybe $400 and put Linux on it for free. Where is the $400 Apple? Oh that’s right, there isn’t one.
  • In fact, I have read somewhere how Apple is sitting on a HUGE pile of corporate profits, something like $4 billion in cash. If they wanted more customers they could probably drop their prices, but they do not. Instead, they maintain a small user base willing to pay inflated prices, and willing to put up with whatever problems their products have. …We could even theorize that Apples do in fact have more problems than MS, because Apple refuses to do all they can to attract new customers. Could it be that they feel they cannot afford more customers? More customers would mean more tech support, which would cost more, and mean less profits…
    ?
    ~
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How do bugfixes work (I’m asking; I don’t know)? For example, if a 10.1 bug pops up four years from, will Apple still patch it, or will they tell you to just pony up the cash for a newer version?

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DougC, your post is so ridiculous I don’t even know where to begin.

Linux is not a viable alternative for the majority of users. Linux still has a long way to go before the average user can use it easily. Further, linux programs are nowhere near as intuitive as mac applications.

You can’t just slap together a $400 pc box and claim it’s as good as a mac. Not only do macs have better software, but they have better hardware as well. You’re not going to get the same features in a $400 box that you would in a mac (and your box doens’t have a monitor, either).

Apple has more problems because they refuse to go after new customers? What does that mean? I suppose all those ipod ads and iTMS for windows is to not attract new customers. I suppose those new Apple retail stores are to scare people away. I suppose their G5 ads are to keep people away from apple products.

“More customers would mean more tech support, which would cost more, and mean less profits…”

Uh, more customers means more profit. And since apple users already pay, according to you, “inflated prices” wouldn’t those increased profits pay for additional tech support?

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Yes. They offer updates and bug fixes for the OSes. (The latest update for Jaguar was just released a few weeks ago). Further, macs just don’t have as many security holes and so they don’t have to patch them as often as MS.

As for how they work, you just run a weekly software update (or whenever you want) and it checks for security patches, updates to software, and new software.

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Heh heh- you do that too, huh? I remember telling my friends, “Send me iloveyou! I wanna see what all the fuss is about!”

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Well, I’m typing this post on my Casio 41-function calculator watch because it’s the only freaking “computer” I’ve ever used in more than 25 years of computing that did not repeatedly and consistently crash - and this includes Macs, Linux boxes, Solaris X86, Next machines, VAX-VMS, HP Apollos, and so forth.

Note that I feel that the OP has the right to be upset, and I’m not rebutting him in any way.