“So I sold my 17-inch widescreen iMac to a friend (for a smoking deal) this week… What now? Part of me honestly considered bagging Apple altogether: I’ve switched from the iPod to the superior Dell DJ anyway, and I’ve stopped purchasing songs from Apple’s iTunes Music Store. I’ve been unimpressed with the performance of the Macs I’ve owned (and have no desire to spend $3000 or more on a new Mac) and have been equally unimpressed with the quality of Mac OS X, which yes, is beautiful, and in some ways quite capable, but still lags XP in key areas,” Paul Thurrott writes for Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus.
“So if you have a second, and are interesting in doing more than just dump on me for being a Windows shill or whatever warped thing it is you think I am, I’m really looking for some advice. I figure I can spend about $2000 on a portable Mac without raising too many red flags with my accountant/wife. But I have questions. I also have requirements,” Thurrott writes.
– It has to burn DVDs.
– Should I get the 14-inch iBook G4?
– Or is the 12-inch PowerBook a better deal?
– Should I wait for the WWDC? (Inevitably, Apple will introduce faster machines the second I buy mine).
Thurrott asks, “Am I missing anything? One thing I can promise is that, whatever it is, I’ll likely return to bringing this device with me on business trips, which I can assure you, causes no end of discussion in the Microsoft-oriented world which I frequently ply in my day job. I’m happy to keep covering Apple–I figure this machine should last two years, or less than the iBook did–but it’s pretty clear that won’t happen regularly from my home office. Is this the right thing to do?”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If you’d like to tell Paul what to do, where to go, or something else entirely, have at it. “Superior Dell DJ?” Paul’s a laugh riot, huh? And in which “key areas” does Mac OS X lag behind Windows XP? We’ve identified a few after much use of both systems.
Key areas where Mac OS X lags behind Windows XP:
– Ugliness
– Unusability
– Worm and virus plagues
– Inability to sleep and wake up instantly
– Nag screens
– Baked-in Microsoft-related advertising
– Device non-recognition
– Adware and spyware availability
– Bundled bad copies of Apple iLife applications
– Bloatedness
– Invoking hatred and/or fear of your personal computer
If you have additions to this list, please feel free to add them below.
Related MacDailyNews article:
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
People, we’re sounding like the Republicans here. We need to quit bordering on fascism and relax. It’s really not the Mac way or the highway. If Windows was as awful as we all preach, wouldn’t the world have come to a crashing end already? Sure we love our Macs, which makes it great for us. If someone switches or wants to, embrace them without the edge of “thank god you finally clued in” – treating people like former complete idiots.
The author may or may not be sold on the whole Mac culture, some people just aren’t. I guess I can’t see how a person can’t get it, but for some people it’s just really not about that, and that’s okay for them.
He likes the Dell DJ … great for him. We don’t have to spent our breath screaming that he’s an idiot or clueless, or in bed with Dell… that’s making us look worse.
Anyone who writes about computer technology, and has owned a Mac and a PC, that can actually question if a PowerBook or iBook is really a better way to go than a PC portable, just doesn’t “get it”. Now understand I don’t mean he’s stupid, or clueless or a moron, a sell-out… he just doesn’t see the whole “mac thing”. Okay – probably because you’re not an enthusiast, or maybe Apple’s way isn’t congruent with your way.
Maybe he has applications that he uses every day that we don’t have. Guess what? They still exist and are more common than we want to admit.
Let it be okay. If you freak out by reading his article, drink some hippy tea, take a breath, hug your mac, and do something else.
– Bill
Jack A,
It was in Penny Arcade. Here’s the link.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-03-12
Dear Paul,
[url=http://www.apple.com]http://www.apple.com[/url]
It’s called research Paul. Try it for once in your life.
AudioBoy:
<quote>wouldn’t the world have come to a crashing end already?</quote>
Perhaps the whole world hasn’t came to an end (yet), but there are plenty of cracks.
Ask the UK Coast Guard about their problems a couple of weeks ago, and didn’t a bank in Europe recently close ALL it’s branches because of a worm outbreak?
Please sign…
http://www.petitiononline.com/muapt1/petition.html
Of course hell get a Mac he loves using it. But he also knows bad mouthing Mac’s will draw hit to his site which also allows him to sell advertisement. Question why would you sell your friend a computer that you despised (what a friend Paul is) also I’m sure he has a dell dj that was given to him and don’t tell people but Paul still uses his iPod.
First time I visited his website. Well he’s a blogger and anti-mac. I really begin to share the suspicion about the “get-hits” conspiracy. MDN: keep true to your name: NEWS. Or we’re outta here.
Russell: There is this thing on the bottom of your screen called a dock you can put apps/docs/folders in it, works nicely. If you change your pic directory to column view it auto generates the preview to the right. Just a thought.
Oh and one more thing.. MDN has ALWAYS put Thurott in the name of the article, why do you people keep clicking on it, it’s you people who get people like Howard Stern in trouble .. if you don’t like it change the damn channel, sheesh.
Never ceases to amaze me how PT gets everyone reading MDN so riled up. LOL. I love the colorful commentary.
I can’t believe this turt-head will stub this low trying to get attention. If he has so much problem with the Mac and criticizes it all the time, why doesn’t this s#%t head just go suck up M$ ? But instead, he tries to pretend to want advice on what to get for his Mac!!! Give me a break!!!
MDN, keep doing this and I am out of here too!!!!
jonathan monahan: sure, keep Thurrot mentioning in the name of the article, but please add:
Thurror (no news): article title.
We should rejoice, a 17 inch i Mac is going to a good home and no longer has to be poked about to induce a Kernel panic screenshot for Paul to put on his website.
Well, I’m happily posting this from Microsoft Tech-Ed 2004 in San Diego, on my 17″ Powerbook. The Powerbook has been the center of attention in a sea of Dells, Toshibas, and other forgettable hardware. While everyone else in running out of battery power in the conference sessions, I’m able to instantly sleep and wake the machine to type in notes, like an appliance.
With all the positive feedback, Apple should have an exhibit here!!!
Chris
Everyone knows that Paul’s a troll –
“So the fact that I’m not towing the company line makes me … Less valuable?
Odd. I prefer to remain outside of Apple’s back pocket, unlike the
“journalists” you no doubt follow avidly.
I’m sorry you don’t agree with me, but I’m more freaked out that you would
try to silence a dissenting opinion. So much for “think different,” eh?
Paul”
No one said anything about silencing a dissenting opinion Paul – (he’s been watching too many Stalag Luft 113B Films) – but somewhere someone has a bullet with your name on it I’m sure.
I suggest Paul really “think different” and get himself a Newton … then he can bitch about how crap it is compared to what’s available today.
Paul should not be a journalist nor a columnist. He should try to find some job where he can make happy meals. That way he wouldn’t get to be so mentally disturbing. Is he “special”?
Thanks Al. The man needs to do his homework for a change!
…built in ability to view photographs in a Browser window without having to import them all into iPhoto to get a good look.
Heard of Quicktime Picture Viewer? I keep an alias on the desktop, and drag images onto it that I want to view quickly. I doubt that Windows has anything as cool.
Why does my “name” disappear when I preview?
Apparently he’s so well educated he can’t spell:
“So the fact that I’m not towing (sic) the company line makes me … Less valuable?
And deriding a 2001 model iBook since he is a so-called “Power User”:
Meanwhile, my aged 2001 iBook (a 500 MHz G3 model with a DVD drive) is
barely acceptable for anything more than casual Web browsing,minutes;
… snip …
A G3 is no kind of machine for a power user, period.
I doubt if he knows what a “power user”, unlike others who use their machines for seriously demanding tasks (CPU/Disk intensive) not just Web browsing or writing in-shallow-depth columns.
I have a Powerbook Firewire (Pismo) G3 400mhz/512MB/40GB and I use it for seriously demanding tasks: software development (for supercomputers), video creation, visualisation, etc .. usually multitasking many applications. I’ve had over 25 years of programming experience and I think I probably (on most good days) can lay claim to being a Power User. I lust after the next serious speed increase in laptops (a factor of 5 or more) as I like to get a good 5 year usage out of each machine. A G5 laptop late next year might be good …
One might argue the lack of speed of a 400Mhz G3 processor doesn’t put me in the Power User class but it is actually more what you do efficiently with the power you have; and also the Pismo makes a good front end machine to most supercomputers (where my real crunching gets done) …
Paul, with his (low) level of knowledge, doesn’t strike me as a real Power User …
Apparently he’s so well educated he can’t spell:
“So the fact that I’m not towing (sic) the company line makes me … Less valuable?
And deriding a 2001 model iBook since he is a so-called “Power User”:
Meanwhile, my aged 2001 iBook (a 500 MHz G3 model with a DVD drive) is
barely acceptable for anything more than casual Web browsing,minutes;
… snip …
A G3 is no kind of machine for a power user, period.
I doubt if he knows what a “power user”, unlike others who use their machines for seriously demanding tasks (CPU/Disk intensive) not just Web browsing or writing in-shallow-depth columns.
I have a Powerbook Firewire (Pismo) G3 400mhz/512MB/40GB and I use it for seriously demanding tasks: software development (for supercomputers), video creation, visualisation, etc .. usually multitasking many applications. I’ve had over 25 years of programming experience and I think I probably (on most good days) can lay claim to being a Power User. I lust after the next serious speed increase in laptops (a factor of 5 or more) as I like to get a good 5 year usage out of each machine. A G5 laptop late next year might be good …
One might argue the lack of speed of a 400Mhz G3 processor doesn’t put me in the Power User class but it is actually more what you do efficiently with the power you have; and also the Pismo makes a good front end machine to most supercomputers (where my real crunching gets done) …
Paul, with his (low) level of knowledge, doesn’t strike me as a real Power User …
I must disagree with some of what Russell had as points for XP. Not because I don’t believe that he likes them but because Apple provides similar interfaces.
>>>Personally, I loved the Start Menu: All my programs were in one nicely compact list<<<
I don’t know about your Start Menu but most I have seen are far from compact! More to the point, you can simply move the applications folder into the dock and get the same sort of “compact list”
>>>I loved Windows XP’s better thumbnailing<<<
OS X supports more an larger thumbnails that XP???
>>>built in ability to view photographs in a Browser window<<<
Have you never used multi-column view? This gives a nice preview without any other application (although I don’t understand your resistance to simply import all phots into iPhoto)
As for the actual point here. Simply give Paul a thoughful recomendation on a Mac laptop and wait to see his response.
The most ridiculous thing about the start menu is getting to Windows Explorer. A finder window is one click away. Such a basic common task is three levels deep in the start menu. Ridiculous.
Christopher, nice one. It’s always good when the MCSEs of the Corporate World have all their preconcieved ideas about today’s Macs (normally based on someone else’s opinion of OS8.1) blown out the water. Even if just one of those IT guys now buys a PowerBook as their own laptop, you have probably saved a bunch of corporate Mac users a lot of grief. Well done.
Paul needs to be hanged from his balls on a tall tree on a gusty day!
Are you sure this guy even has testicles?
I think you should get your facts straight.
Paul T.,
. .. …
– – – – –
Regarding pic preview – QuickImageCM.plugin. Try it you’ll like it!!