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PC World: Bluetooth on Mac is better

updated 11:00 am EST, Fri March 26, 2004

Bluetooth on Mac better


After comparing Bluetooth experiences on a Windows XP system and on a Mac, PCWorld.com senior editor Rebecca Freed concludes that the . With its built-in Bluetooth support and straightforward setup managers, Bluetooth on the Mac is "quick and painless," whereas "there are still too many seams showing in Bluetooth on Windows."


by MacNN Staff

TAGS :

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Comments

  1. iomatic

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

    0

    W E L L . . .

    Duh!

    ...
    ...
    ...

  1. fats277

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Jun 2000

    0

    what I want to see

    is bluetooth ipods that can talk to my cel phone. when I'm walking around, and someone calls and I don't notice it, Ipod would pause, make a ring sound, and then I can retrieve the phone and take the call.

    Yeah Geeky. Helpful too.

  1. trevc

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2000

    0

    Who cares?

    Windows users will continue to use Windows
    Mac users will STILL know their OS is superior in many ways.

    Developers will mimic Mac software on the Windows and continually improve it so Windows users don't care about 'switching!'!!!

  1. klinux

    Senior User

    Joined: Jul 2002

    0

    Man...

    Can the comments ever be on topic??

    In any case, BT works well on Mac because OS X supports a limited # of BT devices and support them well. Windows have to supoort all the BT devices out there. In addition, BT was never really iplemented well (by itself) to begin with - with its profiles, etc.

  1. phillymjs

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2000

    0

    So it's a trade-off

    > Windows users will continue to use Windows
    > Mac users will STILL know their OS is superior in many ways.
    >Developers will mimic Mac software on the Windows and continually improve it so Windows users don't care about 'switching!'!!!

    Let's see. We eventually get the hot games that Windows users enjoy first, and they eventually get the usable operating system features that we enjoy first.

    I'd say Mac users get the better deal. We can always buy some cheap sh*t PC if we *really need* to play the hot new games now, now now. Windows users are stuck with.. well, Windows.

  1. loudgazelle

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2001

    0

    fed up

    that's it. I'm switching to windows. I'm sick of this apple c***.

  1. DaedalusDX

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Jan 2002

    0

    BT is well supported

    I disagree with the poster that said that Apple supports fewer bluetooth devices than Windows. So long as a device adheres to bluetooth standards, it should work fine. My friend uses his Sony Ericsson bluetooth headset with his mac, and it works fine with iChat AV.

    Also, I'm surprised that this article did not mention the greatness that is Salling Clicker. Use a variety of Bluetooth phones and PDAs as proximity sensing remote controls for your Mac. The technology to do that type of thing on a PC is still many years away because many of the frameworks that Apple has set up in Mac OS X for bluetooth and scripting have no functional equivalent in Windows XP.

  1. klinux

    Senior User

    Joined: Jul 2002

    0

    Bluetooth standard??

    Is there such a thing? :)

    Even among bluetooh peripherals, forget MS and Apple for a second, there were complications between those adhering to 1.0 or 1.1 or have different implementations of 1.0/1.

    So yes, I do believe BT works better on Macs but I also know more BT peripherals work on PC than they do on Macs.

    Funny thing is MS also just published this today:
    "Support for Bluetooth wireless technology is included in Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. This support was not previously available directly from Microsoft. It is included now because customers requested that this technology be added to the core Windows operating system.

    Some of the features that are included in this release are support for PAN (personal area networking using Internet Protocol over Bluetooth), Hard Copy Replacement Profile (HCRP) for printing, dial-up networking, Host Interface Device (HID), object push, and virtual COM ports. Support for selective suspend and boot-mode keyboards (based on specifically configured hardware) is also included.

    If no Bluetooth transceiver is present on the system, there is no change to the system's behavior. When a Bluetooth device that is approved by the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) is present, Bluetooth support is enabled. When Bluetooth support is enabled, you can find changes in the Network Connections section in Control Pane"

  1. outZider

    Junior Member

    Joined: Sep 1999

    0

    Fewer devices?

    h***, I've plugged transceivers into my Mac that wouldn't bother on XP without a boatload of headaches. My headset works fine, my phone syncs great, and Apple constantly updates it. My a**, has to support everything. Bluetooth is too new to slap Microsoft's 'we have to support all legacy shite' argument on it.

  1. slider

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

    0

    re: Man

    Apple follows BT protocals. BT device manufactures write drivers to support those devices on the PC and not on the Mac. If a devices BT is to specs it will run on the Mac given they write the necessary drivers for it to run, like anything else. The issue with other divice is not Apple's, it's drivers and BT protocals, which is the responsibilty of the manufacturers.

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