Re: [MLUG] Mac moving to Intel

[Jonathan King <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On 6/6/05, Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> >
> Lower cost, better stability, better security, faster, less resources
> wasted on UI fetishes?

Uh...sorry.  I've never had a Mac OS box rooted.  I can hardly say the
same about Linux.  The last time the OS (and not just an app)
unrecoverably crashed on me on a Mac was round about Mac OS X
10.0something.  Faster so obviously depends on what you're doing that
I consider it to be a throw away comment.  The "UI fetishes" you rave
about are, as usual, unspecified.  Show me another OS whose overall
imaging model is as clean as Mac OS X, and maybe we'll talk.

The one thing you do have right is the "lower cost" part...if the only
part of cost you are considering is the hardware.  I've spent more
time chasing down sTuPiD Linux quirks over the last 14 years than I
would ever care to admit.  No, I don't think that's all the fault of
Linux developers, but it's a cost you do pay for unless your time has
no value.

>  Sadly you're probably right. People are more
> interested in the shiny bright colored logos and toolbars that are
> hideously cheerful looking than in the quality of the software they're
> getting.

Bollocks.  Show me *any* PDF viewer better than Preview.  Show me any
photo software better than iPhoto.  Show me presentation software
better than Keynote.  Safari 2.0 is among the very best web browsers
on the planet.  (It does have one huge problem: the default PDF
handling they are touting as a feature absolutely sucks, and I haven't
found a way to turn it off yet.)

> On the other hand.. the people who would have used a Linux desktop
> anyway would probably still use a Linux desktop.

I've done both, and I'm not going back, at least not at this time.

> So I'd say this might
> impact the Linux market slightly but  I think it'll have a bigger impact
> on Windows. Especially if Apple has the brains to fund Wine or some
> similar project

What would Wine give them?  Mac OS X runs Office natively, and the
number of windows-only programs you really need on on OS X currently
that have no equal or superior replacement from Mac or open source
sources is really, really small.  If Apple has brains, they will make
sure that every single Open source program that currently runs on the
Mac is ready to go (and maybe improved) for the new hardware.

But, once again, the real problem Apple face is that the just EOLed
their current hardware without a concrete replacement date; I think
they'll survive this (unlike Osbourne Computer of yore), but it could
cost them billions.

jking

_______________________________________________
members mailing list
EMAIL:PROTECTED
http://mlug.missouri.edu/mailman/listinfo/members