either or... "He clearly frustrated, but STILL not thinking straight. Either that or can't get past his bigotry...not a unique problem." —mgpalma

Congratulations on making a statement so incredibly stupid that I can't resist replying even though I know it may have been written specifically for the purpose of provoking an indignant response.

re: alansky

It seems to me that mgpalma is dead-on... there is no denying that omitting any reference to OS X in this discussion is, well, just exactly what mg said. Talking about the car industry in general and comparing one brand to another and then, not mentioning Chrysler, would be absurd--- la même chose !!!

My understanding is that Microsoft actually considered leasing the Mac OS X operating system back in 2000, I guess they made a mistake when they decided not to, as the Mac OS X system (and all new Mac's with the Intel chips) now run not only OS X, but can run Windows XP or Vista via the free Boot Camp that comes with the Mac. And if you get the $99 "Parallels" software (which is only $9.99 in some Mac bundles) you can simultaneously run the Mac OS X, as well as your choice of Windows, I think you can run Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista, (and possibly even 3.11 if you really feel nostalgic!) Why buy one computer when you can buy a Mac and run anything on it?

that has written several columns on how great Vista is "but..." then lists problem after problem. clearly he wanted to love it and went out of his way to praise it in spite of months of problems only to conclude in the end that, well, darn it, he's been praising c***.

this is also the guy that says one of the top 3 reasons he won't own a mac is because of the "users". that's right, he's basing this on the few obnoxious loud mac people that have commented on his forum over the years. how many? couple dozen? couple hundred tops? millions of us and because of those few he won't own a mac. real mature dude here.

love to know what other products he's considering not buying because of the client base.

these pc mag people are thin skinned butholes. dvorak, lance, the lot of them. dvorak admits using os x for the first time in years only recently! how many columns has the man written on a subject he's never used?

immature butholes, the lot of them.

he'll be more frustrated with linux unless he is a coder or really good with the terminal. It really depends on what he uses linux for i guess.

riiiight… now I remember him. I'm sure he know that OSX is based on Unix. I think he has a secret crush on OSX but doesn't know how to move over. He obviously was a PC bigot, and if he comes over to mac we'll have another mac bigot. Maybe it's better he sticks to linux, they need more bigots there.

But it's nice to see a "name" in the PC world who sees Vista for the piece of s*** that it is...and isn't afraid to tell the world.

A "name" would be someone like Dvorak (ha! talk about a credibility problem!) or Bill Gates. Some editor nobody ever heard of at some PC magazine is not a "name". And someone speaking up AFTER he "quits" his job is not riding the "I'm not afraid of the world!", its more "I'm no longer being paid by people where my opinion might be considered bad, so now I'll talk". That's not exactly standing tall.

Funny he doesn't even mention Mac OS X -- oh, wait, that would be admitting he may have been wrong.

Or, he doesn't want to go out and spend another $2000 to buy a computer to run OS X. Then spend another $150 when Leopard is released.

And he's not even saying he's going to Linux. He just says he "might" go to Linux, IF Microsoft can't work out the kinks.

He clearly frustrated, but STILL not thinking straight. Either that or can't get past his bigotry...not a unique problem.

Right, nothing like stereotyping someone because he doesn't say OS X is the best OS out there and he's switching to that. Maybe he's already tried it and found the lack of hardware drivers (for the limited supported hardware), lack of choice in computer models, the lack of choice in options, and the lack of choice in software to be all the same drawbacks as in Vista or Linux.

Or, again, maybe he's looking to install a new OS on his current computer, which leads him to exclude OS X on that point alone.

About half the apps I use work on Linux and the other half only work on the Mac. Mac OS X and Linux both have their strengths and weaknesses. I can't wait until I get an Intel Mac, so I can run both on the same hardware. I don't see a need for rivalry between the 2 OSes. They both are vastly superior to Windows although in very different ways. It is good that people have more options that work correctly when they switch from Windows.

testudo:

PC Magazine may not have the credibility it once enjoyed but it's still one of the leading computer publications out there. It has some clout whether you agree or not.

you continuously berate the lack of options/features of Macs and OS X and yet you yourself own a G5 (as you mentioned before). just out of curiousity, what OS does your G5 run? and if so, perhaps you can tell us the reasons why you picked such OS? better yet, despite your constant put-downs on Macs, why do you even own a Mac? inquiring minds want to know.

you're the lone voice of reason in these forums. i'm sure many of us will learn a lot from what you would have to say about your experiences with your G5 and whatever OS it's running.

...testudo is a near-constant contrarian. he probably is the PC-bashing guys on windows forums as well. probably also talks about how cool cats are on the dog forums.

i find the best response is childish ridicule. otherwise you end up in one of those endless illogical loops with him. he excels at this and you will not beat him.

but take heart, chicks don't dig him.

Frankly this person needs to understand that life is not an operating system. Go outside, meet some people, have some fun, direct his passion in another direction, but for gods sake, chill out. There is something that this guys definately needs quicly.

You say that the guy needs to get a life because he cares about his OS, but you need to understand that a computers OS is the single most important piece of software that you run on your machine.

If the OS is unstable, insecure or badly designed, then it affects EVERYTHING you do on your machine.

Thats why its so important. And thats why i love Mac OS X.

testudo:

PC Magazine may not have the credibility it once enjoyed but it's still one of the leading computer publications out there. It has some clout whether you agree or not.

The magazine may have 'clout', that doesn't mean its editor has clout.

you continuously berate the lack of options/features of Macs and OS X and yet you yourself own a G5 (as you mentioned before). just out of curiousity, what OS does your G5 run? and if so, perhaps you can tell us the reasons why you picked such OS? better yet, despite your constant put-downs on Macs, why do you even own a Mac? inquiring minds want to know. I picked a mac because I've always used macs. Maybe I use it because everyone else I know has a PC, and I'm just a contrarian.

But just because I own one doesn't mean that makes it the perfect machine, or Apple the perfect company. The G5 tower I own replaced a Beige G3 that ran long past its useful life (I don't care what people say, newer versions of OS X did NOT make it more usable and faster). I wanted a computer that I could increase the internal storage in, which limited me to one completely overpriced model. (Its the biggest and heaviest computer you'll find out there, and yet there's only room for TWO internal drives?)

But why did I wait so long? Because Apple did not offer a computer to replace it sooner at a reasonable level. I have a 19" CRT and a 20" LCD. I could not justify throwing away a monitor or two to buy a computer with its own internal monitor which, even if the monitor is still working perfectly, has to be relegated to the dust bin if I want to upgrade the computer. To me, an integrated desktop computer (i.e. the iMac) offers no advantages and plenty of disadvantages.

But I would've upgraded sooner (and probably would do so no problem tomorrow) if Apple started selling a decent-priced and featured mid-range tower.

Just because I own products from Apple (and I've owned many over the many many years - h***, like I said, I bought a Beige G3 when Apple was in classic "they're going out of business" free fall), that doesn't mean I think they're a perfect company. They could do a lot better to serve their customers. But they don't. They're computer options are extremely limited (2 notebook models, 3 desktops, all priced so none crossover the others). They don't do enough to push for more software (Intuit's CEO is on Apple's Board, and yet their Mac support sucks, go figure). They don't tell customers anything (exactly what type of support will 10.3 and 10.4 have once 10.5 is released? No one knows, since no one has been told what type of support 10.3 has).

But, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that, because you buy a product from a company, it means you give up all right to complain about said company.

...testudo is a near-constant contrarian. he probably is the PC-bashing guys on windows forums as well. probably also talks about how cool cats are on the dog forums.

i find the best response is childish ridicule. otherwise you end up in one of those endless illogical loops with him. he excels at this and you will not beat him.

Right, childish comments. All that does is prove you have the mentality of a 5 year old.

And if there is an illogical loop, you have to take have the blame for it, since you're illogic must be on the other side.

but take heart, chicks don't dig him.

Assuming I'm a man, I guess. But, I don't know, you're girlfriend digged me last night.

...have a girlfriend. i'm happily married. (so is she)

you should have gone for the URMOM approach. works in all scenarios, even if she's dead. live and learn.

Linux is not now, nor will it EVER, be a desktop OS for the masses. Period. End of THAT story. Its invaluable use is restricted to IT professionals and their colleagues . . . so it's either XP for Mr. Louderback or nothing. Clearly, his tunnel-visioned bigotry will not even ALLOW him to consider the obvious alternative.

What a pathetically infantile tech "expert"!

...have a girlfriend. i'm happily married. (so is she)

Damn! So close! Went with the gf instead of the wife.

And the URMOM approach usually is just "ewww" in so many different ways (esp. if they're dead or older).

Linux is not now, nor will it EVER, be a desktop OS for the masses. Period. End of THAT story. Its invaluable use is restricted to IT professionals and their colleagues . . . so it's either XP for Mr. Louderback or nothing. Clearly, his tunnel-visioned bigotry will not even ALLOW him to consider the obvious alternative.

What a pathetically infantile tech "expert"!

Or, again, he's an expert who doesn't want to have to go out and buy a whole new computer to switch to a different OS. Maybe if Apple made OS X for installation on generic PCs, but we know that'd never happen (mainly because Apple's a hardware company, and it'd be stupid, just like spending $2000 on a new desktop computer because you wanted to throw out the OS).

Not to be too picky/pedantic, but you didn't answer the main question:

"...despite your constant put-downs on Macs, why do you even own a Mac?"

You said: "To me, an integrated desktop computer (i.e. the iMac) offers no advantages and plenty of disadvantages."

and

"...lack of hardware drivers (for the limited supported hardware), lack of choice in computer models, the lack of choice in options, and the lack of choice in software"

and

"I wanted a computer that I could increase the internal storage in, which limited me to one completely overpriced model."

They why buy a Mac at all? Why not pick up one of Dell's $299 Weekly Blue Plate Specials? Or do a roll-your-own tower out of the best (and least expensive) parts you can lay your hands on?

after the GOP got their asses handed to them last November, Rush came out after the election and said, "I'm not carrying their water anymore...", basically admitting that in the weeks before the election he had been lying out his a** (more than the usual) to pimp for the GOP when he knew they deserved to lose.

Same thing here. Now that he no longer is getting paid to toe the Microsoft party line, he can speak the truth about Vista.

But why won't he just switch to a Mac? There's this strange reluctance among PC users to admit that they made a poor choice of platforms... they secretly (or not-so-secretly) wish they were Mac users but often refuse to make the switch out of pride.

I swear, it's almost like trying to get someone to admit they're really g**! (no I am not suggesting that there is something effeminate or lez-butch about Mac users!)

"It is impossible to make a man understand a proposition when his salary depends upon him not understanding it."

The real problem with American publishing is that these magazines are all dependent on the advertising revenue from the companies that they are supposedly critiquing. It is a blatant conflict of interest. This guy pushed Vista, and convinced himself that it had potential, because he knew his job depended on Microsoft's ad revenue. Now that he is retiring, he knows he can now speak the truth and he is. He should be commended for at least having that little bit of integrity. Sadly, he doesn't have enough experience to get past past learned prejudices and bigotries; concerns about drivers will not be solved by moving to Linux. Hopefully, SJ will gift him an iMac as a retirement present.

well, I don't think it's likely that magazines can survive without advertising, and it's not exactly unique to American publishing that magazines which write about a particular industry depend on ad revenue from that industry. I'm fairly sure that MacWorld isn't exactly an unbiased source of information either.

The trick is that editors have to establish standards, which are made clear to advertisers, that there is editorial independence and the magazine is not going to be simply an extension of Company X's PR department.