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Posted

It's fantastic, you'll never go back, life will be mostly roses and champagne! Just do it!

 While you're there, buy an external USB or Firewire hard disk for Time Machine (that's the OSX built-in automatic backup program), twice the size of the buit-in drive. I don't recomment the Apple-made Time Capsule.

 

(Listening to a recent 'cast)

 

Posted

You must clearly be a masochist.   Who else would discuss such unpopular topics, invite public scorn, all while using a Windows machine?  

You could just punch yourself in the crotch and be done with it all.

;-)

Posted

 

After my Windows 8 "upgrade" experience, I'm sorry, sorely tempted.

 

Ugh, you couldn't pay me to "upgrade" to Windows 8.  With the way Microsoft is going, if I ever decide to switch from Windows 7 it will be to some flavor of Linux (i.e. Ubuntu).

Posted

I have both.. Oooh the pleasure... and the pain.. [8-|]

On an aside it is funny seeing MS's attempt to be more 'mac like' with changing paradigms. They decide to change the start menu making it easier for the relatively smaller tablet device market, rather than for the ubiquitous mouse and keyboard. At least when Apple removed the floppy and CD drives there were some fairly well acknowledged alternatives to this hardware. Even more ludicrous when MS decision is software based and therefore easily adaptable for all devices.

Posted

I couldn't see any clear benefit upgrading to Win8 for a desktop over Win7. Stick to Win7. I'm skipping this Win update like WinMe or Vista. The next Win version should be the one to watch out for, especially since large desktop touch-screens should hopefully be available and cheap by then.

Macs aren't that great for desktop power-users. Apple's top-end desktop range is overpriced, underspec-ed and infrequently updated lately. Laptops is a different matter.

Linux is fine but it depends on which software packages you rely on (which might mean you'll have to run them in a virtual machine). You'll also have to be ready to spend more time tinkering with it.

 

Posted

A great thing about linux is that it's trivially easy to set up a dual-boot configuration alongside an existing windows installation.  You don't ever need to go cold turkey -- you just gradually find yourself booting to linux more and more until you have complete and total contempt for the windows installation.

And, of course, there's all that stuff about being *free* (along with huge repositories of free software) and never having to think about viruses again.

 

Posted

 

A great thing about linux is that it's
trivially easy to set up a dual-boot configuration alongside an existing
windows installation.  You don't ever need to go cold turkey -- you
just gradually find yourself booting to linux more and more until you
have complete and total contempt for the windows installation.

And, of course, there's all that stuff about being *free* (along with
huge repositories of free software) and never having to think about
viruses again.

 

That sums it up quite well. I still have the dualboot because my pc is a bit sluggish for much VM use and I do need to use proprietary software at times; however, I spend the majority of time running Linux.

It still does take a bit of a tinker to becoming a Linux power-user, but it takes much less time than it used to in order to achieve competency.

@emptyblessing: Great pic and so true. DIY personal computers are easy enough to build at home. Failing that, there are plenty of almost-cheap websites that will send you a mediocre build without too much of a mark-up. Even most of the upper eschelon of name-brand pc manufactures don't charge the apple premium. It's just amazing how anyone could justify that cost with a strait face.

And no, to anyone who would insist, their laptops are not an exception. Their heat problems are notorious and cannot out-perfom even lesser-spec'd counterparts due to the fact they'll simply burn out. The mobile devices (iphone, ipad) are about the only reasonable place they have an edge, but frankly the android competition is better for all but a narrow niche of applications.

Posted

 

 

A great thing about linux is that it's
trivially easy to set up a dual-boot configuration alongside an existing
windows installation.  You don't ever need to go cold turkey -- you
just gradually find yourself booting to linux more and more until you
have complete and total contempt for the windows installation.

And, of course, there's all that stuff about being *free* (along with
huge repositories of free software) and never having to think about
viruses again.

 

That sums it up quite well. I still have the dualboot because my pc is a bit sluggish for much VM use and I do need to use proprietary software at times; however, I spend the majority of time running Linux.

It still does take a bit of a tinker to becoming a Linux power-user, but it takes much less time than it used to in order to achieve competency.

@emptyblessing: Great pic and so true. DIY personal computers are easy enough to build at home. Failing that, there are plenty of almost-cheap websites that will send you a mediocre build without too much of a mark-up. Even most of the upper eschelon of name-brand pc manufactures don't charge the apple premium. It's just amazing how anyone could justify that cost with a strait face.

And no, to anyone who would insist, their laptops are not an exception. Their heat problems are notorious and cannot out-perfom even lesser-spec'd counterparts due to the fact they'll simply burn out. The mobile devices (iphone, ipad) are about the only reasonable place they have an edge, but frankly the android competition is better for all but a narrow niche of applications.

 

Posted Image

Posted

I've been a Mac user for 8 years.  I had a PC from 1998-2004 and I was using Windows 98.  I didn't like the other versions of Windows after Windows 98.  I'm glad I made the switch.

  • 1 month later...
Guest darkskyabove
Posted

Some things to ponder:

Microsoft's latest entrenchment is to require "secure boot" on all Windows 8 certified computers. There is much criticism concerning the pros/cons and it's worth investigating if you run, or are planning to run Windows 8, or if you are looking to buy new hardware, as the secure boot feature will most likely become standard due to MS clout in the market. Additionally, support for Windows XP ends in 2014. No more bug fixes, patches, or security updates. [dazed]

The secure boot feature requires a cryptographic key-signing process. Microsoft is the sole provider of these keys. The Linux community has some workarounds, but nothing solid across all distros. A major concern is that dual-booting a Windows 8 machine appears to be impossible without disabling secure-boot; which I understand can be done. I haven't checked, but assume Apple will simply comply and buy into Microsoft's monopoly of the keys.

The thing that screams out to me is that, with Microsoft's history concerning computer security, this knee-jerk to claim better security simply opens the door for a new avenue of exploit experimentation for all the bored, little script-kiddies tired of hacking Window's Swiss cheese code. Now they can work on hacking the firmware of your hardware devices, supposedly protected with "secure boot".

I would recommend Linux, but there is a learning curve. Less than of old, to be sure. Anyone considering switching should check out Fedora. It provides a modern desktop (actually, you can choose from about 6), and usually installs and runs without all the techie requirements Linux is known for. And it's FREE!!!

Some key Linux advantages are: 1. Very high protection against malware; 2. The update process does not require rebooting (unless you install a new kernel), and has the ability to download only the differences in a software package, rather than downloading an entire new package, thus decreasing size, substantially, and speeding up download times, dramatically; and 3. It is maintained by a community of computer experts who VOLUNTEER. No hidden gun promoting their product.

 

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