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Worst Thing about Macs


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I found this article at ExtremeTech, I found it really interesting.

And TOTALLY true.

 

I think most people on this forum act this way, too.

Quite unfortunate, but true.

 

The Worst Thing About Macs

By Jason Cross

 

I'm sure some irate Mac fans have already fired off angry emails, based upon the deck for this editorial alone, but hopefully the rest of you will at least get through this background stuff first.

 

In April of last year, I bought a Macbook Pro as my new notebook. Note that this is hardly my first Apple computer. I grew up on Apple IIs, back in the days when you had to add an 80-column card to 'em! I was one of the few holdouts using an Apple IIgs when the rest of the world had gone to DOS and Windows PCs. Even after I got my first 286 PC, I frequently used the Macs my mother had in her home (she was a teacher at an elementary school that was Apple-based). So I'm no Apple noob-—this was just the first one I had bought for myself, for frequent use, in a long time. Recently, a reader named David e-mailed me, saying he found the article from my guide on how to replace the hard drive in a Macbook Pro. He asked, simply, "A year later, what do you think?" Fundamentally, I stand by my initial impressions: There are plenty of things OS X does very well, and better than any version of Windows. There are also some really boneheaded things. But honestly, the thing I hate most about using a Mac are the Apple fans. The old song and dance about the Steve Jobs worshipping, sycophantic, "thank you sir may I have another", na-ture of the Cult of Apple is true. And while it certainly does not represent all Mac users, there are enough bad apples (pardon the pun) to spoil the bunch.

 

 

 

 

 

I could probably write 15,000 words about how Apple fans drive me nuts, but that won't do anything but make my inbox fill up faster. Let me break it down to a few base observations. Again, these don't represent every Mac user—just the loudest, most obnoxious ones. Unfortunately, they're prevalent enough to paint all Mac users in the same light.

 

1. "Microsoft Just Copies Everyone and Buys Everything." This common belief held by Mac users is not only factually incorrect, it turns a blind eye to the many ways in which Apple fails to, ahem, "Think Different." The way Dashboard in OS X rips off Konfabulator and other widget engines predating it, Spaces knocks off many prior Virtual Desktop features, or how that fancy CoverFlow stuff was purchased from third-party developer Steel Skies. Many popular Apple ads are knock-offs. The "Hello" iPhone ad blatantly rips off Christian Marclay's film short "Telephones." Lugs actually issued a cease and desist order to get Apple to stop the iPod ad that was nearly identical to their Eminem ad. Their ad boasting the new Intel chips clones the music video for "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service.

 

 

 

2. Every time someone mentions a competitor to something Apple does well, the Mac cultists flood message boards and inboxes with snickering messages to the effect of "why do they even try?" Take, for example, Zune. Microsoft announces the new Zunes, which on an objective level offer a very competitive feature set to comparably-priced iPods, and which haven't been judged on a subjective level yet because they aren't released until mid-November and no independent reviewer has actually used them for any length of time. I got plenty of mail from the Mac faithful claiming that iPod reigns supreme, is obviously superior (none of them have used Zunes, old or new), and that Microsoft shouldn't even try to compete. Excuse me? Shouldn't even try to compete? Are we actually arguing against healthy market competition here? The healthy response should be, "well maybe this will give Apple some competition to push them toward offering a subscription store, WiFi on all models, and WiFi syncing." Instead, the competition that can end in nothing but better products for consumers of either product is met with childish derision.

 

3. Apple fans have an attitude where, when Apple does something bad, it's okay, or at least understandable. When other companies, especially arch-rival Microsoft, does the same exact thing, it's a travesty and obviously clear evidence of why the courts should take them down. When Microsoft bundles its own software with Windows, it's time for antitrust litigation. When Apple does the same with Mac computer or OS X, they're not shutting out competitors—they're adding value. Open source rules, and Windows is bad for being closed, except of course for how OS X is closed, because that's okay. And nobody gives credit to Microsoft for having a smartphone platform that allows for real 3rd party applications, instead celebrating the clever ways in which hackers have managed to get around Apple's "not on my phone" policy to do the same. Until they update the phone and brick it, of course. You know, AT&T refusing to provide unlock codes for iPhones is against federal regulations, right? Where's the outrage?

 

I could go on, but you get the point. Hell, I lost most of the real Mac cultists on the first page. They've already snorted at my experiences with, well, them and have fired off an angry "you're a biased shill that obviously doesn't get it" email to me. Ironically, this only proved my point. Yeah, I like working in OS X. I'm looking forward to Leopard. And yes, I find myself using Boot Camp a lot, spending half my time in Vista on my Macbook Pro. Both OSes have merits. Apple deserves plenty of credit for a lot of what they do, and genuinely puts out some great products. Hell, there's nothing even close to the value, functionality, and elegance of iLife on Windows. But the more time I spend on the Mac, the more I end up interacting with a group of people who obviously and transparently treat their favorite company by a different set of rules than everyone else. And worse, don't realize it or won't admit it. To all you Mac users that are calm, rational, objective, and fair: god bless you. Now, could you please give the Cult members a hard kick in the ass? They're making you look bad.

 

The article is a wee bit old, but obsolete? Not at all.

Comments/Opinions?

 

I think this is totally true and applies to this forum.

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Well, Microsoft fans do the same, the fact is people dont love Zune like the ipod whether it's better or not. Microsoft are corporate lovers, they simply can't make cool products, xbox360 is a {censored} piece of engineering.

 

Apple are not perfect, but I dont see Microsoft bringing out revolutionary products for ordinary people that are fun to use and time spend on great design, all Microsoft want to do is keep the corporates happy with boring locked in products.

 

Welcome to the human race, this is how people are and will be and some person who may write the truth will never change that.

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xbox360 is a {censored} piece of engineering

 

Do you actually own an XBox 360? If so, what games have you played? The XBox 360 controller is among the most comfortable I've ever used. Xbox 360 specs are certainly not poor either so what exactly makes it a "{censored} piece of engineering"?.

 

but I dont see Microsoft bringing out revolutionary products for ordinary people that are fun to use and time spend on great design, all Microsoft want to do is keep the corporates happy with boring locked in products

 

This isn't about Microsoft, it's about the irrational behaviour and ignorance of a very prevalent population of Apple consumers, A.K.A. fanboys. Microsoft is bashed enough as it is. This is about Apple's shortcomings, which brings to light that it is not the near impeccable company the fanboys make it out to be.

 

Welcome to the human race, this is how people are and will be and some person who may write the truth will never change that.

 

This is a closed and pessimistic view of the world, and really only reflects the nature of the person upholding this view.

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Apple fans have an attitude where, when Apple does something bad, it's okay, or at least understandable. When other companies, especially arch-rival Microsoft, does the same exact thing, it's a travesty and obviously clear evidence of why the courts should take them down. When Microsoft bundles its own software with Windows, it's time for antitrust litigation. When Apple does the same with Mac computer or OS X, they're not shutting out competitors—they're adding value. Open source rules, and Windows is bad for being closed, except of course for how OS X is closed, because that's okay. And nobody gives credit to Microsoft for having a smartphone platform that allows for real 3rd party applications, instead celebrating the clever ways in which hackers have managed to get around Apple's "not on my phone" policy to do the same. Until they update the phone and brick it, of course. You know, AT&T refusing to provide unlock codes for iPhones is against federal regulations, right? Where's the outrage?

 

 

Well, Microsoft fans do the same, the fact is people dont love Zune like the ipod whether it's better or not. Microsoft are corporate lovers, they simply can't make cool products, xbox360 is a {censored} piece of engineering.

 

Apple are not perfect, but I dont see Microsoft bringing out revolutionary products for ordinary people that are fun to use and time spend on great design, all Microsoft want to do is keep the corporates happy with boring locked in products.

 

{censored} engineering? Lets see you do better. They under-estimated the heat problems, and seemingly didn't long-term test. Doesn't mean it's {censored}.

 

Boring locked in products? Apple really has the most locked in products ever! The iPod/iTunes system is pretty locked down. The iPhone is very locked down. Even the OS itself. Show me a Microsoft product locked down more than those? You were also acting like a "bad" mac user over here http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=88723

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I think the worst things about macs is that:

 

There is no maximise function for windows so that you can't drag them around

 

Less programs run on it (and the ones that do, and are not by Apple, are sometimes {censored}). For example, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is simply {censored}. Sometimes, the order of windows gets messed up and active windows go behind inactive ones, and the windows jump from one Space to another, and sometimes the formatting palette becomes blank. Furthermore, Office 2008 doesn't work well with Expose. There are lots of alternatives to Microsoft Office, such as NeoOffice, OpenOffice, and iWork. However, all of them have compatibility issues when you work with formatting, tables, images, and equations. Windows Live Messenger doesn't have a Mac equal either, since Microsoft Messenger for Mac sucks (such as no contact groups, and serious compatibility issues with other Messengers when sending files), and Adium is out of the question because it doesn't support personal messages.

(OK, these program incompatibilities are not faults of Mac OS X, but it still gets me pretty pissed off).

 

Another bad thing about macs is that they can't write to NTFS disks, and that the dock takes up more space than the taskbar. Furthermore, it randomly freezes when I plug in my external harddrive or my dad's mp3 player.

 

However, I still love Mac OS X and think that it is a great system.

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xbox360 is a {censored} piece of engineering.

 

I couldn't disagree more. The Xbox 360 is an amazing product, probably the best thought out of any MS product on the market.

 

Xbox Live has to be the foundation of the 360's greatness; MS has built a large gaming community, and they've made it easy to connect to all these gamers. Take your pick of text, audio, or video; and they don't even have to be on a 360 with Live Messenger integration.

 

When your ready for entertainment, you can download a movie, tv show, music video from the Marketplace (which all houses game demos/videos among other things...). Or just stream content from a networked PC, you can even use the 360 as a media center extender.

 

The 360 has the best listing of games of all the systems out so far. And the 360 is powerful enough to allow seamless HD and surround sound. Add in the Xbox Live functionality, you have a great gaming experience.

 

The interface is beautifully designed too; on par with Apple, if not better. They've separated all features into panes that are easy to switch between. And for functions you want to use whether your in the dashboard, a game, or watching a movie, you're one button away from the guide.

 

I know there are some problems with the Red Ring of Death (probably not as widespread as some would claim), but MS has been very good about fixing them and I think anything made after June 2007 should be set because they added a second gpu heatsink. My first one (my bro has that one now) was a launch model and had to be sent it, but I got a second with the new Falcon motherboard that has the new 65-nm CPUs, so I should be set.

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For me i think i've try both OS and have learn to love one os for making things easy, and one that makes life harder, even when they have try copying and the resource ahem*money* to make things right.

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I agree with the article, Mac users are responsible for why they're so stereotyped.

Well, Microsoft fans do the same, the fact is people dont love Zune like the ipod whether it's better or not. Microsoft are corporate lovers, they simply can't make cool products, xbox360 is a {censored} piece of engineering.

 

Apple are not perfect, but I dont see Microsoft bringing out revolutionary products for ordinary people that are fun to use and time spend on great design, all Microsoft want to do is keep the corporates happy with boring locked in products.

An article about Apple fanboyism, and you cut on Microsoft in response. Typical fanboy behavior.

 

Also, like everyone said, the Xbox 360 is great and you can easily argue that it's the best console on the market.

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Two words: Nintendo Wii.

 

End Of Discussion.

 

Before anyone bashes me, I do own a Wii. The Wii might have been the better system if Nintendo would have given it more power. The graphics just aren't near what the 360 or PS3 has to offer. The internet community isn't as developed either. The controller is kinda cool though...I'll give it a close second.

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Before anyone bashes me, I do own a Wii. The Wii might have been the better system if Nintendo would have given it more power. The graphics just aren't near what the 360 or PS3 has to offer. The internet community isn't as developed either. The controller is kinda cool though...I'll give it a close second.

Here's the difference between us. I'm not that big on graphics. I think the Wii has just enough power. As long as the games have great gameplay, then it's the best system out there. As for the internet community, just wait for Mario Kart and Smash Brothers. Those are like the Halos of the Wii.

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I own a wii but all my friends have xbox 360s instead. The 360 is much much better for some types of games. A very nice controller, although I think live sucks. (paying for online!) The 360 is definitely a fun system and isn't crappy engineering. On the other hand a ps3 may be better...

 

I agree though that 50% of mac users are very arrogant people...

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Rather than respond to everyone who thinks xbox360 is a good piece of engineering, it has a 19% failure rate which is very poor indeed.

I agree with the article, Mac users are responsible for why they're so stereotyped. An article about Apple fanboyism, and you cut on Microsoft in response. Typical fanboy behavior.Also, like everyone said, the Xbox 360 is great and you can easily argue that it's the best console on the market.
Fanboy on what?, I dont own nothing from Apple, why use a console if it's crappy engineered, huge failure rate, the fact that it's got good games is besides the point and a failed separate HD-DVD drive. BTW I dont own a PS3 but it's far superior in design and better engineered the same way Macs are to PC's, PC's have not evolved at all since they are bigger and uglier then ever.

 

Please dont make out this forum has some sort of zen that makes it seem like we are all neutral, people on this forum calling Mac users fanboys is just funny, if they want to hate another platform let them, they more than lightly have good reason. hating another platform dont make you a fanboy, just like I dont like cheese and Windows leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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{censored} engineering? Lets see you do better. They under-estimated the heat problems, and seemingly didn't long-term test. Doesn't mean it's {censored}.

 

Boring locked in products? Apple really has the most locked in products ever! The iPod/iTunes system is pretty locked down. The iPhone is very locked down. Even the OS itself. Show me a Microsoft product locked down more than those? You were also acting like a "bad" mac user over here http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=88723

 

 

Well thats proprietary software for you but at least Apple lets people have the source to their kernel, I never said iTunes and iphone were some open wonderful world. I dont like Apple for some of the stuff they have done(I wouldn't buy from iTunes because of the DRM) but they are more open to listen to their users than Microsoft are. Like I said Apple are not perfect, they are proprietary after all.

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All I read was:
Blah Blah Blah I wanna cry about Apple because it's the cool thing to do.

Then you're not very good at reading. And the current 'cool thing' to do is praise Apple and buy Macs and iPhones (which both happen to be great, but flawed in terms of features to price).

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Then you're not very good at reading. And the current 'cool thing' to do is praise Apple and buy Macs and iPhones (which both happen to be great, but flawed in terms of features to price).

 

If cool gets you money then why not, it's not just Apple users that think this, any person that may think Apple productions are cool will.

 

I wish people would just get over the price thing, you should know buy now how Apple work, you know it's not going to be cheap with Apple, but like other manufactures you know they are not as well just like Nike and all the other brands that charge more. If you want a Apple product you pay for it all right so just live with that fact or dont bother at all.

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Then you're not very good at reading. And the current 'cool thing' to do is praise Apple and buy Macs and iPhones (which both happen to be great, but flawed in terms of features to price).

Do you think that the TV take 2 is overpriced(the hardware)?

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