It says in order to install new drivers I need to uninstall the old ones. This was never the case before now (I’ve sucessfully updated drivers without having to uninstall old ones) but what the heck, I’ll do as told.
So I’ve uninstalled the old drivers and rebooted.
Now it’s asking me if I want to install plug-n-play device blah blah. I say no so i can do this manually.
I install manually and reboot.
On reboot there appears to be no drivers at all installed. my 16:9 resolutions are unavailable (so everything is squashed) and the display is sluggish.
<40 minutes of trying everything>
I give in and e-mail the pc manufacturers with my predicament. why is nothing ever straightforward with these f*****g things!
Having finally formatted my computer today, I have to say, here here. Computers enjoy nothing more than being a pain for the person who’s using them. I think my personal favorite was the driver which crashed my computer upon installation. It did install, but I had to restart my computer afterwards because it totally froze up. (Though I suppose that’s what I get for buying a device from China).
Oh, shit, I have to reinstall that too.
Hope you get everything figured out eventually though.
Loopydude
I have said MANY times in the past year on the SDMB that my next computer will NOT be a Winblows™ Microsuck™ system. I haven’t bought a Mac yet only because I’m going to run this one into the ground.
Anyway, here’s one of my favorite examples of “user-hostile” computers:
Up until quite recently at work we had to use an impact printer due to multi-part forms that had to be used. That was not the problem. The problem was that the page setup values would never save. And at the start of a new run, if you didn’t enter the page settings you needed what was its default? The default was a 1cm by 1 cm page size!!! So, if you forgot to input the settings, you had to run like Hell to the printer because that printer would go nuts printing a few characters per multi-part form. What a waste !!! What cretin could possibly think that someone would ever need to print anything on a 1 cm by a cm page? Oh maybe I’m being too particular, but I’d like a default to be something relatively normal like letter size ???
I never have problems with my Wintel, either. But I know many who do, and I know many people whose Macs are horrific bug machines. Data isn’t the plural of anecdote.
I have gotten lucky with my current computer, but the fact remains that home computers are simply not well designed machines for the end user, and never have been. They’re a lot better now than they used to be but they’re still absurdly complex in some ways, and are probably (on average) the least reliable device any homeowner will ever purchase.
I find it fun to open email attachments from complete strangers with no fear of damage whatsoever! And I don’t need to dick around with firewalls or antivirus or anti-spyware programs and all that crap!
It’s okay, Windows users don’t get iLife, so it all evens out.
The problem is… is that there are about a million hardware vendors, in which a million software vendors try to make it all compatible. This is why a Mac works for a lot of people. I myself would like a G5 for music production, but I can build a PC that is much more powerful for about $700 dollars. A G5 just isn’t worth $3000, IMO. But it may be for those who can do without all the different software complexities, and compatibility garbage that’s out there for PC’s. PC’s work, but it’s all about getting everything to behave, which I think is getting better. So I’ll stick with PC’s for now, they’re not that bad.
I tend to agree, but my Dad, for instance, has a Dell desktop, totally standard issue, and it has never worked reliably for him. He basically can’t put new software on it. Every time he tries, something breaks. He didn’t build his own PC, he gpt a major-brand tower that is purportedly assembled out of parts that are known to work together. My mom’s Toshiba laptop has had the hard drive wiped four times, because it eventually becomes unusable. I honestly don’t know how hit happens, but every time I go home, my folks are begging me for tech support, and usually I simply can’t help them. I built my own PC myself, so I know enough about the Windows platform to get by; yet not even Dell tech support can help my Dad install certain apps. without causing major conflicts. My Mom relies on her Palm and her laptop working together for her job, and they simply don’t. There’s nothing wrong with their approach, so far as I can tell. They’re running very basic hardware, they’ve both got XP Home addition, they’re both simply trying to use the machines and peripherals as advertised. They follow the directions and that’s just not good enough. For the first time in his life, my Dad is thinking of getting a new iMac. He runs his own business, and the lost productivity would easily have been paid for many times over if he’d bitten the bullet and made a higher initial investment on his computer. It may be that if he shelled out more money for a better PC, he’d be in just as good shape as with a Mac, and still come out ahead financiall; but if Dell is considered the best PC manufacturer in terms of reliability, I don’t see how he could count on it.
Given that we live in a more-or-less free market society, how do you account for the fact that Mac has less than 5% of the PC market share? What is it about Macs that make people stay away from them in droves, and buy an inferior product (in your opinion) 19 times out of 20?
The reason why people in general buy PC’s? For me it was primarily the price, and secondarily compatibility (as most work places use Windows). Also, I used to play lots of games.
However, I recently bought an iBook that costs just as much as a Windows notebook and is just as powerful (to my uninformed perception). For general word processing/web browsing needs it is perfect, and things run much more smoothly than they do at a Windows XP notebook of the same price.
I still use both systems on different computers, and I’ve used windows for over ten years, but I’m seriously considering just dumping it completely for Mac OS X and/or Linux. Don’t need it much for games anymore; I hold the user friendliness of the Mac at a much greater value.
Well, for me it was a simple reason. I had an amiga, but living in the ass end of nowhere, at the beginning of the internet, the BBS age, I could call in to exactly 2 BBS that were local, and the only service that originally had numbers in connecticut and served amiga was genie, and it would have cost me per minute to dial in on my screechingly fast 2800 baud modem, then pay by the block for time spent online. I didnt feel that I was doing anything that earthshattering online, I used it primarily for putting together newsletters, some graphic work and games. So I never had the internet programming. 2 years later, the internet is actually worth playing on for fun [and usenet groups] but I donthave the internet programs, and the only place to really get them was online, and i couldnt get online because i didnt have the programs [see where this is going? =)] And I was working in an office, and using M$ Office, and decided to go for a custom build used 386 with windows 3.1 and office, and AOL until I got more proficient in the internet and changed over to a local ISP.
I use my windoze machine to keep proficient in the M$ programs that are used in business today. Most businesses use PC based machines, and M$ and Lotus are the 2 top suites that I have run into in the past 10 years. I have never worked in an office that used Macs.
I would love to have a linux box, and if WoW can be played on SuSe & WinE I might just turn my main game machine into a linux box and internet machine=)
Do they also have all updates installed and a firewall? If not, it’s about as excusable as driving across the country without checking your oil. “Oh, but nobody told me that I needed to ever open the hood!!!”
Windows has huge security holes, but they’re easily plugged. The issues I have with problematic GUIs etc. are not simply solved by switching to Linux, and I’m simply not prepared to pay for a Mac.
And as another point, having been fielding job-application-enquiries recently - I’m saying to people “Yes, we would like you to have a good familiarity with Windows-based systems”. No problem. But even though it would be little different for either them or us, asking for Mac experience, let alone Linux, would stop many of these (probably competent) people from applying.
I’m not geeky enough to dispute your numbers, but I’ll just give you the benefit of the doubt on them and say that if this is the case, it is a good enough reason for an individual to choose PCs: It’s not worth it for them to change.
The problem I find when these kinds of discussions start (and I am in no way pointing to you, ParentalAdvisory) is when people start citing their reasons and thinking that they should apply to everyone else. Now, in ParentalAdvisory’s case, he’s just given his own reasons for sticking with a particular platform, which is fine. It drives me absolutely batty when this same line of reasoning is used as an argument against Mac users (or Linux users, or whatever). As in, “But for the money you spend on a Mac, you could get a PC for so much less!” Yes, people know that. They know that, but for them, for their particular needs, it is worth it to get a Mac, or whatever. People do usually know what they want, and what they prefer. And they put their money where their mouth is and buy that computer, even if it costs more.
For me, I’ve got both systems and while I consider my Mac my primary machine, I still use my PC regularly (almost daily these days). It’s been working pretty well, but then again, I stick to using it for a specific thing, so I don’t do a whole lot of casual surfing on it or dicking around. And all my email is on the Mac. If I need to pick up email on the PC, I do it through web mail. No email client is used on the PC. Works for me!
I know you’re not pointing at me… But for the record, the $3000 quote was for a version of the G5 that I would be comfortable with for my music stuff (the “I want” factors in too :)). The cheapest G5 they have is a single 1.8 CPU, with 256mb RAM for $1400. Ick. But hey, I used to dislike Macs, but these days if someone came up to me and their only needs consisted of word processing, audio, and the internet; I would suggest they go with a Mac if they can afford it. If you’re into games, or are looking for a multi-tracking audio recording computer, a cheap, but not a cheap solution is definitely a PC. But I’m not saying that this should be the way it’s done, as either would be suitable. Remember, I do want that G5, but I cannot justify it’s worth for my needs. And none of this is really directed to yosemite, just thought I get it out to anyone who would think I was saying a PC is the best and cheapest option, as that’s not always the case.
Updating Adaware and Norton gets to be a pain in the ass, even if it is automated. I’m beginning to think that these companys are the ones actually creating Spyware and Viruses, just to stay in business for PC users.
Also one must factor in the user preference: some people will always prefer the Mac OS (or the Windows OS) no matter what, even if it is more expensive or perhaps not quite as suitable for their specific needs. Either because they can’t stand the other OS, or simply are more comfortable with the one they currently use.
This is also a good enough reason, I think, but when talking to some people, it seems like it flies right over their head. They think that Windows/Mac is better, so can’t you see? Huh? Huh? How can you not see that it makes more sense to go with Windows/Mac? They seem to dismiss the protestations of, “But I don’t like USING it.” or “But I like this OS BETTER.” When these reasons are ignored, it is really annoying. A computer user should use whichever platform they prefer, even if it doesn’t make the most logical sense to others. (And I am assuming you would not disagree—just making that point while I’m here!)
They certainly have firewalls. Their home calbe hookup has a hardware firewall in the modem, and my Dad also has a Norton suite (which has caused him no end of headache, I might add) with a software firewall (Norton Personal Firewall, I’m pretty sure). It think it’s overkill, but XP firewall is activated as well (his ISP walked him through that). I think he’s got SP1 installed, but not SP2. He read about all the issues and headaches people were having with that and decided against downloading it.
My mom primarily uses her laptop at work, but I assume their internet connection has far more robust security. I believe her employer also eshewed SP2 because it had known conflicts with some-or-other software suite they’d licensed.
