Are Mac's worth the price premium?

[Josh220]

What? Macs have the same buttons in the corner, they're just on the left instead of the right. Close, minimize, maximize, it's all there. Always has been.

 

[Natalie]

I was being facetious.

 

[Josh66]

What? Macs have the same buttons in the corner, they're just on the left instead of the right. Close, minimize, maximize, it's all there. Always has been.

That always bugged me - I could never get used to them being on that side...

That's what I like about linux, lol - you can change stuff like that. You can basically make it look just like Mac, just like Windows, or different than both.


Try this... Not sure if it will work (pretty sure it won't work on Windows, but it should on Mac). Create a new custom keyboard shortcut called XKill. Make the command xkill. Mine is set to Ctrl+Alt+X. It turns the cursor into an X, which kills the first thing you click on. Very nice for unresponsive programs.

(You can also just type xkill in the terminal, but having a keyboard shortcut is cooler, lol.)

 

[digital flower]

I think I am gonna start me one of dem Nikon vs. Canon threads

 

[Vipor]

Between the dashboard, mission control, exposé and launchpad (assuming you're running Lion, the current Mac OS), the Apple user experience is significantly more streamlined than anything Windows can offer right now. The increased productivity that provides me is most certainly worth a few hundred dollars over the lifespan of the device.

I have lots of friends who use Macs, and when I try to use their computers, all those things you mentioned just make using the computer difficult and frustrating, especially when I'm in a hurry. It seems like all the time I hit the wrong button or click in the wrong place and some app comes up that I don't need and didn't even know was there. When I try to minimize the web browser, instead of going to the bottom of the screen it just disappears (I still haven't figured out where it goes or how to get it back, so I have to open up a new window). There was also something at the bottom (from what I remember, maybe it was just the older OS) that slides around/moves when you just put your mouse over it, which is thoroughly annoying. It might be streamlined for someone who's used to all that stuff going on, but it's definitely not intuitive.

With my laptop running Windows 7, everything is efficient and easily accessible... The only applications I have open are the ones I'm using at the time. It doesn't get any easier than this:

View attachment 4328

Oh, are you in for a surprise. Wait till you see Win8. It's gonna drive you up the wall within seconds. :lmao:

 

[rpm]

Hahahahahaha I too wonder just how bad windows 8 might feel in my hands

 

[bhop]

I have lots of friends who use Macs, and when I try to use their computers, all those things you mentioned just make using the computer difficult and frustrating, especially when I'm in a hurry. It seems like all the time I hit the wrong button or click in the wrong place and some app comes up that I don't need and didn't even know was there. When I try to minimize the web browser, instead of going to the bottom of the screen it just disappears (I still haven't figured out where it goes or how to get it back, so I have to open up a new window). There was also something at the bottom (from what I remember, maybe it was just the older OS) that slides around/moves when you just put your mouse over it, which is thoroughly annoying. It might be streamlined for someone who's used to all that stuff going on, but it's definitely not intuitive.

With my laptop running Windows 7, everything is efficient and easily accessible... The only applications I have open are the ones I'm using at the time. It doesn't get any easier than this:

View attachment 4328

Funny.. change all of your 'macs' to 'windows' and I have the exact same issue. The first time an IT guy asked me to shut down a PC, they laughed when I couldn't figure out how.. the 'start' button.. that makes a lot of sense.

For future reference, there are three buttons at the top of all the windows in osx, the middle one minimizes it to the dock.

 

[usayit]

this is common...

Usually with a new user of MaC OSX combined with the notion that eveything should behave just like windows and not necessarily open to an alternate way of working. Wife was the same way... I let her be and have her Windows machine. When VIsta arrived after a history of problems, she was more open to the idea. I got her a used MaC MiNi as a gift not wanting to be too invested in something that she might not like. That was two years ago.... she has been happy and figures things out now on her own.

I personally found it easier to transition to Mac OSX. I never did like windows.... finding its use too limiting yet not intuitive. From UX standpoint often they are mutually exclusive. Easy to use interfaces tend to be limiting because they abstract out more complex or confusing operations. Interfaces that are very flexibile tend to be less intuitive.... Somehow Windows acheives both.... go figure. That experience plus my heavy Unix background tended to sway me towards Linux thus the easier transition to MAC OSX.


The thing on the bottom you dismissed as annoying before actually LOOKing at it is the Dock. It manages running applications as well as applications that are used most often. If the animation bothers you, you can customize it to not expand. People set it up to expand when moused over to better make use of desktop real estate. The issue here is that if you actally looked at it you would have found the window you are looking for. Learning a new environment on a friends machine is best done while not in a hurry.

Win 7 at work is a bit better than previous gens.... but boy is that thing a resource hog. I streamlined and minimized win 7 on my new laptop as much as possible and run Linux on it in Virtual Box. So between my Mac G5 at work and the vitual Linux box, the Win 7 environment is used for sharepoint and email. It keeps the IT folks happy and off my back too....

 

[gerardo2068]

Why you want a short cut of 3 key to "kill" something? LOL in Mac I just hit 2 key and do the same

This is the never ending story

I tell you right away, I don't care what anybody think. I will stick with my Apple products.

My friend was just calling costumer support about an Apple TV-like device, Is not compatible with his dell even thought is made for windows. My Apple Tv work flawlessly out of the box.

Never ever I've had a virus or some crazy stuff in my Macs (there's 4 around the house) since I've been using them, 2006

Most importantly every Apple device is mean to complement each other AND out of the box.

Don't talk about customization, codes and all those crazy stuff I don't want to do in first place, That's why I buy Apple.

...an aparently more people are doing it too ( just look at the facts)

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

All I know is for the 2 1/2 years I've had my MacBook Pro it's virtually identical in performance, battery life and overall condition than when it was new... Granted my hard drive is almost full... I've got every route with a PC laptop. Fujitsu, Toshiba, HP... All crapped out somehow in under 2 years. I'm not very nice to my laptops, they have to put up with a lot. I hate dicking around with computers, I don't have time for that crap. I just want them to work. I whip out my MAC, turn it on and go to town. It just works.

The funny thing is, if I was trying to accomplish a task with Windows and didn't know how to do it, I'd have to go to the help menu. With any new OS my first guess on how it should be done is usually the right one...

 

[Josh66]

Why you want a short cut of 3 key to "kill" something? LOL in Mac I just hit 2 key and do the same

I could make it 1 key if I wanted to. I just liked the Ctrl+Alt+X combination. Make it whatever you want, or don't bother at all.

I never said to make it a 3 key combination - I just said what the command was, and which keys I used for it. Use whatever you want.

 

[Derrel]

I'd like to steer this back to USABILITY and CONVENIENCE for photography use. Is there any Windows operating system, or Linux system, that allows the photographer to color-code or "label" his or her files? Is this possible under Windows or Linux? Can the user of any Windows or Linux system COLOR-CODE or LABEL files, and arrange them by color or label, or search for them by color or label?

I just searched for "Images" labeled "Orange", and searched 5,287 image files, and came up with 270 images I have labeled as "Orange", or essential, exceptional, or first-rate.

I just searched for "Images" labeled "red", and searched 5,287 image files, and came up with 548 images I have labeled as "red", which means A-list images.

I just searched "Images" labeled "Blue", and searched 5,287 image files and came up with 327 images labeled as "Blue", which means Backed up to another drive or copied to removable media.

I just searched "Images" labeled "Green", and searched 5,287 image files and came up with 462 images labeled as "Green", which represent RAW .CR2 or .NEF files that need to be processed into "Red-quality" images.

Of course, the above color-coding is all of MY OWN creatiuon, and applies only to image files. Music files follow a similar color-coding, but are of course searchable separately, if desired.

Under Mac OS X, when I open a folder full of say 1,000 .CR2 files, I can visually SEE, by color code, which are the better images, without having to see any thumbnails...just by the color-code I can tell which files are the best, second-level, or backed up, and even which are CRAP...I can also look at files that are Blue and KNOW for SURE that they have been copied to another disk, or backed up to removable media. When I open a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM disc and see BLUE-colored folders, I KNOW for SURE, that is not the original back-up disc, but is a SECOND COPY of my back-up or offload disc, and not the "original" disc.

Does Windows or Linux support this functionality?

Anybody care to reply? Can Win-doze or Linux do anything like this?????

 

[gerardo2068]

All I know is for the 2 1/2 years I've had my MacBook Pro it's virtually identical in performance, battery life and overall condition than when it was new... Granted my hard drive is almost full... I've got every route with a PC laptop. Fujitsu, Toshiba, HP... All crapped out somehow in under 2 years. I'm not very nice to my laptops, they have to put up with a lot. I hate dicking around with computers, I don't have time for that crap. I just want them to work. I whip out my MAC, turn it on and go to town. It just works.

Yes, That one of the reasons I never went back to anything else.

 

[chuasam]

Is a beautiful girlfriend worth the premium or would you rather have a butt ugly girlfriend who can't cook and who you ask to walk a few steps away lest someone mistakenly think that she's with you?

 

[Josh66]

I'd like to steer this back to USABILITY and CONVENIENCE for photography use. Is there any Windows operating system, or Linux system, that allows the photographer to color-code or "label" his or her files? Is this possible under Windows or Linux? Can the user of any Windows or Linux system COLOR-CODE or LABEL files, and arrange them by color or label, or search for them by color or label?

I just searched for "Images" labeled "Orange", and searched 5,287 image files, and came up with 270 images I have labeled as "Orange", or essential, exceptional, or first-rate.

I just searched for "Images" labeled "red", and searched 5,287 image files, and came up with 548 images I have labeled as "red", which means A-list images.

I just searched "Images" labeled "Blue", and searched 5,287 image files and came up with 327 images labeled as "Blue", which means Backed up to another drive or copied to removable media.

I just searched "Images" labeled "Green", and searched 5,287 image files and came up with 462 images labeled as "Green", which represent RAW .CR2 or .NEF files that need to be processed into "Red-quality" images.

Of course, the above color-coding is all of MY OWN creatiuon, and applies only to image files. Music files follow a similar color-coding, but are of course searchable separately, if desired.

Under Mac OS X, when I open a folder full of say 1,000 .CR2 files, I can visually SEE, by color code, which are the better images, without having to see any thumbnails...just by the color-code I can tell which files are the best, second-level, or backed up, and even which are CRAP...I can also look at files that are Blue and KNOW for SURE that they have been copied to another disk, or backed up to removable media. When I open a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM disc and see BLUE-colored folders, I KNOW for SURE, that is not the original back-up disc, but is a SECOND COPY of my back-up or offload disc, and not the "original" disc.

Does Windows or Linux support this functionality?

Anybody care to reply? Can Win-doze or Linux do anything like this?????

I don't know if you can do that in Linux because I have never tried... Honestly, I don't think it would be a feature I would use, so I'm not going to waste a lot of time finding out how to do it...

I delete the 'crap' photos, so I would never have a need to find them all later on. I guess If you just put everything in one big folder, color coding everything would make sense. I don't do that though. I create different folders for different things...


Sounds like a nice feature, but one that I would never use...