Posted on 06/25/2008 9:56:55 AM PDT by HAL9000
Setting aside the value proposition of Mac software for a moment, I am certain that Apple equipment is more durable than Lenovo. I have an Apple computer that I bought in July 1978, nearly 30 years ago. It still works as good as new, even after it's banged-up condition from traveling around the world a couple of times. Your precious Chicom-owned Lenovo is basically a disposable computer, and it will be in the junk pile in the not-so-distant future, while older Macs will still have several years of useful life.
On your dual-boot complaint, it's baseless. With software like Parallels and VMWare, Macs can run both Mac OS X and Windows concurrently, and users can switch to either OS instantly. The main problem with running Windows on a Mac is the need to do a bunch of unnecessary crap like running anti-virus software and all of the other Windows nuisances that Mac users normally don't have to tolerate.
In a couple of instances where I had problems with Apple hardware, they've sent a free replacement - even though my equipment was out of warranty. That's not their normal policy, but they are generally reasonable about keeping their customers happy. I doubt that Lenovo would do that.
So you’ve had problems with your Mac. I’m terribly sorry to hear that. On the other hand, my sister’s out-of-warranty Thinkpad’s power supply stopped working and Lenovo overnighted her a free one.
I can’t compare your Cadillac story since I’m not dumb enough to put my laptop down where someone can run over it with a car.
Check out my new sig line.
:^)
Though I wasn’t happy when IBM sold their Thinkpad line to Lenovo, it makes very little difference since there aren’t any American made computers anymore.
So you still have an Apple II? You want to talk about my Thinkpad as a pile of junk? What do you do, turn it on and listen to the disc drive spin? I can see it now... HAL9000 turns on the Apple II, watches the green screen boot to a floppy disc, puts his hand on the disc drive to feel the vibration, and sighs deeply at its wonderfulness...just like Obama Girl staring at Obama.
Thinking that would miss what was unsaid...Gates had to bypass MS Customer Service to send that email directly to the relevant team leaders.
I have only one program I need Windows for. For that I have the dual-boot set up for long sessions where speed is necessary, or I use it in VMWare when convenience is more important. The rest of the programs I want to use are Mac. I have found equivalent or better (mostly better) for all of my old PC software.
That one program is Visual Studio, and I only need it to maintain my .NET software. On the flip side, I'd have no option for Mac development if I just had a PC.
Programs don't use drivers. Hardware uses drivers.
he can’t get the darn thing to even interface with a new HP printer.
He must be pretty dumb, or not have it plugged in. Besides, that's HP's problem, not Microsoft's problem.
I wish they’d port Visual Studio and the .NET Framework to Mac and Unix. I do development in both Java and C#. Visual Studio and the .NET Framework have moved light years ahead of Java and it’s various IDEs.
I'm a new Vista Computer owner. I've had it for two weeks, and I haven't installed any firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, anti-cold-and-flu ANYTHING.
I'm still waiting for that proverbial 10 seconds to virus thing. THis is a fascinating experiment.
I'll probably just run "HELLO WORLD" on it.
My old Apple II is probably worth more than your Lenovo. It's a collectors item, a rare, low-serial number, Rev. 0 model, part of the first batch made.
But you've missed the key point: Apple's equipment is generally more durable and designed better than the competition.
OTOH, the more I get into Objective C and XCode, the more I wish Windows could use that.
Yes, their marketing department is the best. They've certainly got you believing it! ;)
Apple has had some flops too, no question about that. But their current product line is stronger than ever. I try to base my opinions about Apple and other brands on experience rather than marketing.
Reply later ... have to reboot ;-)
I've never gotten around to checking gnustep, but it has a Windows installer. It hasn't really kept up with the advances in Cocoa, but the Objective-C and the basic framework should be usable on Windows. I don't know what it uses for an IDE.
Apple announced some interesting new developer tools at WWDC: the LLMV compiler to replace gcc, and the SproutCore JavaScript framework. They are open source projects, so they should be available on Windows too.
It's got one: ProjectCenter
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.