5

8/16/2006 3:08:44 PM

Quote :

""where as there isn't as much Mac software" Therein Lies The Rub"

With the exception of some specialized markets (mostly on the engineering side of things unfortunately), you can pretty much find most software you need, of high quality.

8/16/2006 4:29:19 PM

Yea, basically, CAD, and Matlab type programs are hard to come by on a mac. But if you REALLY have to, you can run windows on the mac and use them.

Not sure how fast they would be though.

8/17/2006 9:15:10 AM

Quote :

"1) you might start feeling superior to other people when you pull it out at the coffee shop, 2) you will be dissapointed that it will never be as pretty as it was the day you pulled it out of the box"

.........

8/17/2006 11:00:04 AM

Matlab runs well under X11/Unix on OS X. But it's the ugly, clunky Unix version. It's kind of a pain to use, but the results are the same.

As for using them under Windows, if you use the Boot Camp method, they will run at 100% full speed relative to a comparable PC. Using Parallels will result in a performance hit, though.

8/17/2006 11:21:43 AM

Quote :

""1) you might start feeling superior to other people when you pull it out at the coffee shop, 2) you will be dissapointed that it will never be as pretty as it was the day you pulled it out of the box""

Re: 1) depends on the person, not the computer, i don't even like coffee lol
Re: 2) pertains to basically all computers

8/17/2006 2:07:41 PM

The software that has been, is, and will be commercially developed for any given platform is a function of market share.

8/17/2006 8:45:22 PM

mac got cad.. no soilidworkds i believe but we got cad

8/17/2006 10:21:39 PM

here's a disadvantage...


you get your macbook on thursday, by the next tuesday you find out it's got a nice high pitch buzzing noise when the cpu is idling, and you have to wait a week to get it repaired under warranty (and they definantly try to sell you a $100 package that lets them fix it overnight in-store)

8/18/2006 11:42:19 AM

it won't take a week. I've had my powerbook repaired twice. if i called before 5pm on monday, the box was at my door at 8am tuesday. If I drop it off at DHL before 3pm, they get it that night/next morning, repair it, and is back to my place by 8am thursday.

not bad at all

8/18/2006 11:59:03 AM

When I killed my Powerbook's HD, I took it in on Monday to that Apple Authorized Repair place near campus, and they had it back to me on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure a mobo swap would have taken longer, but it would only have been time to mail+1 day.

8/18/2006 1:47:18 PM

Lots of answers. The short answer is, if you want to be able to game... a mac is not for you. All the emulators in the world and even windows working on a max does not mean the game will work. Nuff said.

If you are not an avid gamer, macs rock. I just don't like the environment myself. Personal choice and the desire to play games and easily fix my computer should hardware fail.

8/18/2006 3:54:32 PM

When you boot the Mac in to Windows, it's just like Windows. If a game happens to not work, it's not the Mac's fault, it's the game's fault.

And, the only thing that you really can't replace on a Mac Pro yourself is the motherboard and I think the PSU. Other than that, RAM, HDs, processors, GPUs, and fans can all be bought after market if you want.

8/19/2006 1:48:31 AM

Quote :

"it won't take a week. I've had my powerbook repaired twice."

i've had 4 toshibas, all 75% the cost of the comparable mac at the time (including one i just bought), and i've never had to have a single one sent in for repairs

8/19/2006 2:08:31 AM

purchase plenty from apple.

as they make money

I make money

8/19/2006 5:05:48 AM

http://flickr.com/photos/kohara/249708889/

9/27/2006 11:54:18 AM

I got the Macbook

[Edited on December 21, 2006 at 9:40 PM. Reason : and so far its great]

12/21/2006 9:39:49 PM

I <3 my Macbook Pro. I wish i could afford a Mac Pro though that would be awesome.

12/21/2006 9:55:43 PM

they tend to cost a little more, but generally are worth it

12/22/2006 7:43:43 PM

i want one

12/23/2006 1:21:52 AM

This thing is gonna give me 2nd degree burns on my legs.

12/23/2006 1:15:57 PM

Put on pants?

12/23/2006 3:05:37 PM

So is there anyway to keep a MB Pro from going to sleep when you close the lid? Seems like an option that should be hiding in the energy saving preferences, but its just not there.

12/24/2006 1:36:16 PM

if you're running 10.4.7 or earlier, try this:
http://semaja2.net/insomniaxinfo/

however, it seems to me that as warm as the palm rest gets, that the heat could potentially damage the screen. I have no real evidence of this other than a passing thought, but figured i'd at least mention it and you and determine if there's any weight to that thought.

12/24/2006 1:46:20 PM

nah, it came pre-installed with 10.4.8

12/24/2006 1:49:10 PM

So far, every program that I've ever used on a PC, I've found a Mac equivalent. It works just as good if not better. However I will break down and buy Mac Office.

12/29/2006 11:56:23 AM

I love iLife. Its so practical and simple...when i go on trips i don't have to waste time designing and resizing photos to upload to share with my family....i just point and click.

iMovie HD is pretty sweet too.

12/29/2006 12:18:06 PM

^^Try NeoOffice before you pony up for the real deal:

http://www.neooffice.com/

[Edited on December 29, 2006 at 12:21 PM. Reason : ]

12/29/2006 12:21:07 PM

^^^

yeah, the only one i have no equivalent for is Visio, which i use nearly every day.

But having to RDP into an XP box is still worth having a Mac that is not controlled by IT.

12/29/2006 12:34:16 PM

^ omnigraffle? (not that i know even half of what visio does, though...)

12/29/2006 12:49:34 PM

my favorite videogame is Photoshop

can't wait for CS3

WOOHOOOO

12/29/2006 1:06:48 PM

^^yeah, it's a good flowchart tool, but there's really nothing out there that can create/manipulate a network diagram like Visio.

I liked it better before MS bought them. ah well.

[Edited on December 29, 2006 at 1:08 PM. Reason : MARKO]

12/29/2006 1:07:52 PM

Omnigraffle is awesome for flowcharts. Visio has more stencils.

Visio is a hell of a lot more complex though, you'd be amazed how far you can within it

12/29/2006 3:10:39 PM

I am trying to open .rar files on my mac. What is the equivalent to winrar?

1/9/2007 10:21:27 PM

StuffIt? 7-zip?

disadvantages of buying an apple product? scratches, and always looking to get stolen.

1/9/2007 10:30:18 PM

^^ unrarX.app

1/9/2007 10:33:16 PM

What do Mac users here do to maintain their Mac's. I'm talking regular maintenance. On my PC I would defrag. and every few months back up all my files and re-install my OS. Any suggestions.

1/23/2007 9:18:15 AM

I empty the trash bin once in a while.

oh, and use screen wipes.


that's about it.

1/23/2007 10:03:03 AM

So, no need to clear caches, repair disk permissions , all that jive

1/23/2007 10:26:11 AM

not really. supposedly the mac file system (HFS+) and the unix underpinnings take care of all the stuff for you. I've been running my Mini for nearly 2 years now with no drive maintenance, no antivirus or spyware programs, and no OS reinstall (haven't even put my OS X disc in the drive yet), and it's still doing fine.

I do use http://www.appzapper.com/ , though, to uninstall programs. It searches your HDD for all traces of a program, like in all the Library folders, instead of just deleting the .app file/folder from the Applications folder.

1/23/2007 10:32:25 AM

If you don't leave your computer running overnight, you may also want to consider every once in a while running the maintenance scripts in /etc. They're maintenance scripts held over from the UNIX underpinnings of the system. Normaly they would run at night when the user load on a system would be at it's minimum. Since most home users turn off their machines though, they don't always get run. It really won't hurt anything not to run them, but once in a while you can just open up a terminal and type:

sudo sh /etc/daily

and then replace daily with weekly or monthly after the previous finishes to run them manualy.

Little apps like tinkertool will also let you run them manualy and also reschedule them to run during the day if you want.

1/23/2007 11:00:23 AM

this is just to have a third post in a row with the phrase "unix underpinnings."

1/23/2007 11:07:21 AM

I have an Intel Mac, and every new application I install gets run through TrimTheFat to strip the non-native binary, and YoupiOptimizer to get rid of foreign localization resources. It usually cuts the size of the app in half. Performance-wise, it probably does nothing, but psychologically, it makes me feel like my apps are lean and mean. Both are freeware and have never screwed anything up to my knowledge. Running DiskWarrior or Onyx through TrimTheFat have been my only issues, but it makes a copy of the universal binary and appends a -U, so you can always try the trimmed app out first and then revert if you have problems.

http://homepage.mac.com/gweston/macware/TrimTheFat.zip
http://phupe.club.fr/download/YoupiOptimizer201.dmg

I even went as far as to "trim the fat" and de-localize the two apps themselves.

[Edited on January 23, 2007 at 10:03 PM. Reason : BTW, they function by taking full advantage of the Unix underpinnings!]

1/23/2007 10:02:18 PM

You can't fit your 14 inch penis in to normal pants.

1/23/2007 10:53:24 PM

It's true.

1/23/2007 11:17:48 PM

I do precisely nothing for the upkeep of my Mac. Never reinstalled any form of OS X since I've had this machine (5 years?). I've done all the normal upgrades just in regular upgrade fashion. Never once de-fragged.

I have used OnyX before (search on Versiontracker.com -- it's really a good app) to clear out the caches a time or two, but I really noticed no difference in anything after doing so.





and UNIX underpinnings.

1/23/2007 11:51:04 PM

I let my Macbook battery go completely dead two nights ago. I've charged it over 10 hours (with it shut down) and it will not stay charged. I know these batteries do not like to be drained all the way empty, but what's the deal?

2/15/2007 5:55:03 AM

what does it do when you try to charge it now? my wife did the same thing last week - her batter went all the way down. Then when she plugged it in, it was like there wasn't a battery at all - the icon in the menubar showed "x", like it didn't recognize the battery.
i took it to the apple store last weekend and they just gave me a new battery.
.... if you're nearing then end of your 1 year warranty with the macbook, sounds like that might be a good way to get a new battery for free

2/15/2007 7:05:09 AM

I left my computer on, with it plugged into the wall. It continued to lose power as if it was not even plugged into the wall. It shutdown by itself. I turned it on once again and started charging it, with the computer on. Now its charging and is at 50%. My only concern is that after its fully charged, it will no longer hold a 2+ hour charge like it used to.

I'm also curious as to why it would not charge wth the computer powered down, I'd imagine it would charge quicker that way.

2/15/2007 7:11:45 AM

my dell's doing something like that too

2/15/2007 9:14:37 AM