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Tiger's Out This Week. No Bull.
Newsweek ^ | 04/25/2006 | Steven Levy

Posted on 04/25/2005 8:18:50 AM PDT by r5boston

It's Steve Jobs's plan to make this the Week of the Tiger. But Bill Gates and his minions at Microsoft are crying bull—specifically, a Longhorn steer. Despite the zoological bent, this dust-up is not about animals, but operating systems; Apple and Microsoft just happen to have named each of their major system upgrades after beasts of the realm. This Monday, Bill shows off the future of Windows, a.k.a. Longhorn, at a developers' conference. The oohs and aahs may be tempered by the fact that the hundreds of millions of Windows users won't get their hands on it until holiday season, 2006. (Unless it's even later.) On Friday, Jobs proudly presents the latest Macintosh OS X upgrade, named after that big striped cat that he always seems to have by the tail. When can the 25 million Mac users get their hands on Tiger? This year. This month. That day. Growwwl.

That's a big point for Apple in the latest matchup in high tech's equivalent to the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Both companies seem to understand what's really necessary and really cool for the next stop in desktop computing: support for the powerful new generation of 64-bit chips that are coming online; search capabilities built in, so you can mine your own documents as smoothly as Google scans the Web; a suite of persistent, constantly updated tiny applications that keep track of stuff like weather and stock quotes. A way to take advantage of the hot RSS technology that lets you "subscribe" to Web sites instead of visiting them every day or two. And a sleek appearance that relegates the traditional file-and-folder metaphor to the antique shop. Both new systems go a long ways toward making that big step.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; longhorn; lowqualitycrap; mcw; microsoft; poisoningthewell; tiger
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To: general_re
Did you actually read this thread? Perhaps you'd care to revise your in light of the first real comment here, post #5. For crying out loud, the first post out of the gate was a MacMoonie slamming on someone else

Therein lies the problem. You see you candyasses get a little "chiding," and you immediately go straight to "demeaning." If you call #5 slamming, I suppose calling you a candyass is attempted murder.

121 posted on 04/26/2005 8:24:25 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: papertyger
If you call #5 slamming, I suppose calling you a candyass is attempted murder.

No, but it does sort of put to the lie this notion that you guys have unscented s***, doesn't it? There's plenty of that stuff to go around, on all sides, so I don't really care if you indulge or not, but I don't feel like giving free passes to anyone pretending to be on the side of the angels. There is no such thing around here. Deal with it.

122 posted on 04/26/2005 8:31:20 AM PDT by general_re ("Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith, but in doubt." - Reinhold Niebuhr)
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To: avenir
I dispute this because one has to be thoroughly steeped in the Apple mythos to believe that the Mac offers an essentially "other" computer experience, on the level of exhilaration. Apple has a better corporate identity shell, but they aren't offering quantum leaps in user experience analogous to an M3 vs. Intrepid.

You simply don't know what you are talking about. The exhilaration comes from the protracted computing experience without any episodes of BLIND PANIC because Joe Six-Pack doesn't know .dll means "driver." When a Mac throws up a dialog box, it actually tells you what the problem is.

123 posted on 04/26/2005 8:39:49 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: general_re

LOL. Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up Glue Sniffing...


124 posted on 04/26/2005 8:41:28 AM PDT by rlmorel
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To: Joe Bonforte
I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were aiming for the "Curmudgeon of the Week" award. ... Good luck in the contest.

Piffle! I own elmer ;o)

125 posted on 04/26/2005 8:53:36 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: newgeezer
Okay (as long as you're that "original commentator").

PeeWee Herman "I know you are, but what am I" alert!

126 posted on 04/26/2005 8:57:03 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: papertyger
but these windows bastards

Sounds like someone has some real deep seated emotional issues that he/she should address before being allowed in a public forum.

127 posted on 04/26/2005 8:58:52 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: rlmorel

"He's coming right at us!!!!"


128 posted on 04/26/2005 8:59:20 AM PDT by general_re ("Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith, but in doubt." - Reinhold Niebuhr)
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To: softwarecreator; Joe Bonforte; MeekOneGOP; PhilDragoo; Happy2BMe; potlatch; ntnychik; Smartass






powered by MSNTV

- no viruses - no popups - no problemos -


129 posted on 04/26/2005 9:06:55 AM PDT by devolve (My WWII Tribute: http://pro.lookingat.us/WhiteCliffsOfDover.html - more traffic than DU-Koz-LDot -)
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To: antiRepublicrat
The difference is that you learned to bend your behavior and train your brain to deal with Windows.

How do you know what I adapted to?  I'm sorry ... have we met?  Do you know me personally or are you just generalizing?

Actually, if you read my earlier posts, I started off in Apple and upgraded myself to windows. And yes, I PERSONALLY consider it an upgrade, I could care less what computer you think I should use.

I am very happy using windows and if that make me a knuckle-dragging Troglodyte, then so be it.

130 posted on 04/26/2005 9:07:47 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: devolve

That's pretty cool!


131 posted on 04/26/2005 9:09:46 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: papertyger
PeeWee Herman "I know you are, but what am I" alert!

Hmm.

Honestly, I included the parenthetical qualifier because, as far as I can see, the statement of mine which you quoted was unquestionably relevant to the previous post; thus, it could not be termed a non sequitur.

Therefore, if the "original commentator" was not me, that left only you.

The obfuscation grows ever deeper.

132 posted on 04/26/2005 9:13:01 AM PDT by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary. You have the right to be wrong.)
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To: frgoff
Now see, that's the way to make a point.  Very legible, no name calling and intelligently thought-out.

Your statements I read all the way through and agree with most of them.  Once someone starts the name-calling and getting all ugly, I stop reading and move on.

Thanks for the information, it's something I will think about next time I decide to add another computer to my office.

133 posted on 04/26/2005 9:22:20 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: softwarecreator
Sounds like someone has some real deep seated emotional issues that he/she should address before being allowed in a public forum.

Actually, I'm addressing them IN the public forum. Have you ever recommended a windows box to a noobie, and KNEW it was a completely discretionary expense? Did you offer them open ended support if they followed that advice?

If you answer yes to the first question, and no to the second you fit the profile.

Why would a anyone recommend a tool that doesn't fit the users needs, particularly when there's no financial gain involved?

134 posted on 04/26/2005 9:24:00 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: Joe Bonforte
Again, same thing.  You brought up some very good and accurate points without resorting to ranting and raving.

People like you and frgoff (post #103) are the type that will make Windows users stop and listen to what you have to say.  No one is going to listen to someone screaming at them as they turn purple with anger  Who can take that person seriously?

135 posted on 04/26/2005 9:28:54 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: Joe Bonforte
Those are good points, though I believe a few of them are no longer the exclusive province of Macs. For example, my laptop has been utterly reliable on hibernation,

This isn't hibernation, where the contents are dumped to disk (which can take a LOT longer than 7 or 8 seconds on a 1 GB RAM system). This is sleep, or in PC parlance, standby. A feature that I have never seen work reliably on the PC side of the fence.

Run an application with full handwriting recognition (TabletPC) that actually works

Inkwell. It's slick. Uses the Newton handwriting recognition software that has been improved over the years. Plug in a graphics tablet, and the technology is enabled.

(I think this factor may drive Macs out of education at the college level.

I doubt it. Handwriting is a horrible input method. Slow and inefficient. It has its specialized applications.

- Create a professional, data-driven web site with user authentication, caching, sophisticated themes and menus, etc. - in less than an hour (ASP.NET 1.0 is pretty good, but 2.0 is amazing - you won't believe what can you do until you try it)

Not my field, so I'll have to pass on comment, though Web Objects is supposed to be pretty amazing.

- Easily develop smart client programs that can run on a large majority of the desktops out there with a high degree of usability, yet get their data via Web Services from anywhere on the Internet. This enables highly distributed systems to function with the almost all the usability of local systems.

This sounds like marketing speak for thin clients. We'll see. Bandwidth is a bear with these sorts of solutions.

Plug in just about anything that one can buy at CompUSA or Office Max, and know that the device drivers are available for XP, and it will almost certainly run right out of the box.

I'll throw all of your usability points away to save the experience of trying to buy and install peripherals from a much smaller set of options. In my long microcomputer experience, working with peripherals has easily been the source of the most frustrating episodes.

Because you use Windows. You sort of contradicted yourself, here, and the driver implementation on Windows stinks.

I plug in a USB mouse on my Mac and it works immediately. I unplug it and plug it into a different port, and it works immediately. I plug in a second mouse, or a different mouse, and it works immediately.

I plug in a mouse in WinXP, and I have to wait while a wizard launches and runs through the whole searching for drivers for your new hardware device wizard. Yeah, it runs automatically, but I'm twiddling my thumbs while the process goes on.

Unplug my mouse and plug it into a different USB port, and guess what? It does it again.

Plug in a different mouse and it does it again.

I bought an external USB 2.0 hard drive for my Mac. It came with a Windows driver disk. A driver for an external hard drive?!?! Sure enough, it wouldn't recognize until I ran and installed the driver.

There is one area where the Mac is clearly ahead, and it is of major consequence. You are quite correct to emphasize the ease of installation of software on Macs. Dependence on COM in Windows

And that Spawn of Satan known as the Registry.

The objective conclusion here is that the Mac user experience is overall superior to the Windows experience. There may be specialized markets where Windows is required, but if you ask most people why they use Windows you'll get one of the following answers (your arguments are on this list)

  1. Everyone else uses it.
  2. The IT deparment has mandated it, because everyone else uses it.
  3. Because I use one at work because IT mandated it because everyone else uses it.
  4. I use my computer for games.
  5. I require a piece of hardware or software that is only available for Windows (The least cited, but most legitimate reason).

    Personally, I'm happy to be off the Windows juggernaut, and have no desire to go back, but to each their own.


136 posted on 04/26/2005 9:32:30 AM PDT by frgoff
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To: frgoff
Sounds like you've never actually used a Tablet PC.

"Plug in a graphics tablet, and the technology is enabled."

Kind of hard to tote around a graphics tablet to class or to patient's rooms.

Handwriting is a horrible input method. Slow and inefficient. It has its specialized applications.

For notes, handwriting is the best input method that's ever been developed. I've now stopped using paper notebooks, and always keep notes on the Tablet. They are searchable, easy to back up, easy to email to anyone who needs to see them...

I've conceded advantages to the Mac for certain things. You need to do the same for the areas Windows is clearly ahead. And programs with a handwriting interface is clearly one of them.

137 posted on 04/26/2005 9:37:01 AM PDT by Joe Bonforte
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To: papertyger
Why would a anyone recommend a tool that doesn't fit the users needs, particularly when there's no financial gain involved?

Because it is all part of a BIG conspiracy.  We are all out to get you non-windows users.  We have meetings every Tuesday where Billy G gives us a map of Apple homes and we go door-to-door and preach the benefits of Microsoft.  We are very effective, as you can see by our market-share.

Give in, resistance is futile.

We'll stay at your house until you give in ... many days, if needed.

I had a Salesman come to the door last week and once my conversion started ... he bought a PC from me.

We are the only ones who could make a Jehova's Witness say "Well, I gotta get going now ..."

138 posted on 04/26/2005 9:37:29 AM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: softwarecreator
We are the only ones who could make a Jehova's Witness say "Well, I gotta get going now ..."

I bow before greatness.

;o)

139 posted on 04/26/2005 9:53:41 AM PDT by papertyger
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To: softwarecreator; potlatch; MeekOneGOP; PhilDragoo; ntnychik; Happy2BMe; Smartass



 


- Javascript not included -

140 posted on 04/26/2005 9:58:09 AM PDT by devolve (My WWII Tribute: http://pro.lookingat.us/WhiteCliffsOfDover.html - more traffic than DU-Koz-LDot -)
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