Graphics Cards...

[dauer]

You completely ignored my statement that: " contrary to popular belief, don't all have to be bought through apple." It's not hard to by a more basic package, by the other stuff 3rd-party, install yourself and save a lot of money. The base model is cheaper than a comparable pc.

Re: those ads. The music issue isn't a mac thing. It's an itunes store thing. And it's very easy to get around if shopping at the itunes store by creating a music cd and then uploading the music from the cd. The other ads don't really seem to say anything about the computers. Macs can do the "boring stuff" too. They just do the multimedia better and dominate the desktop publishing and music production markets.

Iphoto meets all of the needs of the basic user including some basic touch-ups and is integrated into the apple software package which means it can work directly with other programs designed to handle different tasks on a mac. Of course it doesn't compete with photoshop and it's not meant to. That's why professional mac users use photoshop. And I don't really know how you can say freeware is so terrible. Look at some of the cross-platform freeware applications like gimp and blender which may not be as nice as photoshop or maya but are still very handy. Just because it's free doesn't mean it's crap.

For a balanced review of the pro read: Digital Arts

[17th Angel]

I ignored it? lol so?

Install yourself? I was told by a mac user, that you cannot get into a mac to mess around with it? This isn't true?

I don't pay for mp3's... It's just not done.... So I am guessing if you had a mac, you couldn't use things such as torrents to download (non compatable)software/movies/games/music/whatever? That is a major minus for me.... As that is the main priority my computer has.

I hate gimp..... :/ Not something that I get on with.... I guess blindsided or whatever, but if it don't say Abobe on it, I don't want it.... (in Photo editing and design) Well... Not all design, Macromedia is also a must... Flash/Dreamweaver and so on.

Anyway... No matter what, PC is better than Mac, You will never get that changed in my head lol.. Indeed you can sit there and tell me that mac is now capable of using most hardware that a PC can use, so that the main difference between the two is simply it's OS system... But, meh PC is still better

[dauer]

Install yourself? I was told by a mac user, that you cannot get into a mac to mess around with it? This isn't true?

I'm a mac user and I've never had any problems. And the pro is more accessible than the older laptop I have now.

I don't pay for mp3's... It's just not done.... So I am guessing if you had a mac, you couldn't use things such as torrents to download (non compatable)software/movies/games/music/whatever? That is a major minus for me.... As that is the main priority my computer has.

The best file-sharing software that I know of is exclusively for mac:

Acquisition. Innovative Mac P2P.

I don't file share anymore and I deleted all of my previously illegally acquired music files but the mac if anything shines in that area. And the intels can run windows native. Right now it's a little buggy but when the new OS is released in October that will address the bugs. Movies and music are by nature going to be compatible even with a non-intel mac. The only difficulty you're going to run into on a non-intel that I've come across as far as compatibility is the .exe files which rarely ever comes up for me.

I hate gimp..... :/ Not something that I get on with.... I guess blindsided or whatever, but if it don't say Abobe on it, I don't want it.... (in Photo editing and design) Well... Not all design, Macromedia is also a must... Flash/Dreamweaver and so on.

I don't like gimp either. Photoshop is a much easier app to work with. But it's still an excellent program for the cost. My father's in desktop publishing and they recently dropped quark xpress in favor of the adobe app. Just easier for it all to work together with a reasonably familiar ui.

Anyway... No matter what, PC is better than Mac, You will never get that changed in my head lol.. Indeed you can sit there and tell me that mac is now capable of using most hardware that a PC can use, so that the main difference between the two is simply it's OS system... But, meh PC is still better

Not trying to convince you the mac is better than pc, just providing a case for instead of against the mac so that your derogatory statements don't stand on the forum without some factual data. Speaking of that and of the OS, this comparison suggests the mac os is superior to vista on many levels, but I doubt at this initial stage of its development you'd try to make a case for vista anyway. I had high hopes for that os and I'm left feeling very disappointed. And the new mac OS is just around the corner:

Review: Mac OS X Shines In Comparison With Windows Vista -- OS X vs. Vista -- InformationWeek

[17th Angel]

Oh no don't get me wrong, I would agree without even knowing that much about Mac's OS, X is better than Vista, I hate vista (currently) But can only wait..... For something better, Such as linux ;/ But the OS isn't what does it for me, and the virus issue means nothing.... There are the small things about macs.. Such as right click? Also that it is an apple mac.... It's a bit like the "oh wow look at the new skodas!!! how amazing!" How are they? They are skodas......

(If you are not familiar with the skoda, the skoda is a car that was a pile of crap on wheels.) It still is no matter what.... Ferrari could buy skoda.... It's still a skoda...

[dauer]

Such as right click?

Right-click works perfectly fine on mac, as well as scroll wheels. The standard mouse by apple, however, is one button. There's also their new mighty mouse which has multiple buttons but is designed differently than the standard multi-button mouse. And 3rd party mice work fine. I'd get a 3-rd party mouse but with a 12" laptop I'm rarely ever at a desk or table.

Also that it is an apple mac.... It's a bit like the "oh wow look at the new skodas!!! how amazing!" How are they? They are skodas......

See I'd be more one to compare the mac to a ferrari. It comes with more features and has been ahead of the pack in gui and hardware design for a long time. A skoda sounds more like the dells to me. In this case unfortunately skoda (dell) bought ferrari (alienware.)

There are issues with the mac, no doubt. Sometimes it can be a couple months before the newest software is released in a version that's compatible with the mac os. That's not such a problem on the intels but as a powerpc user it's still an issue. They're also, despite their image, less environmentally friendly than the average computer:

Greenpeace

And the other big problem with apple is their abolishment of the mac-compatible program they started a while ago, which means that for the most part they control the market. There are people who sell refurbs and apple lists all of the websites for the locations and sites they can be bought from, and there are plenty of 3rd party suppliers and manufacturers of things like ram and video cards, additional hard drives, but that's still not quite the same as having other people developing macs.

A lot of it really comes down to preference though. For the basic user I'd say mac wins hands down because usability is key. For the advanced user it really depends on one's preference.

Dauer