Buying a computer, should I get a Mac?

[Bryan Morgan]

Hehe now you guys are arguing about the mouses...

We use our Mac Pros and PC's on USB KVMs with Logitech mouses and Dell keyboards and everything works fine on both systems... all the buttons and scrolls work just fine... leftrightupdownsidewaysenterF1F2etcetcetc People enjoyed smashing the Apple pill mouses as they were hated by all, though not as bad as the worthless pucks they used to come with.

[John Hemenway]

OSX, Snow Leopard. There is the body, scroll button and two squeeze bottoms on each side. The mouse configuration indicates there is only one button plus the scroll and squeeze buttons. No right click button.

Does the mouse system preference look like the attached?
Screen shot 2011-06-14 at 9.38.25 PM.png

Does the mouse look like the one pictured? White with little grey sphere for the button (here labeled 'Button 3')?

If the picture matches and there is no right button option (here labeled 'Secondary Button') you either have a defective mouse or there is some other USB pointing device driver installed that is causing a conflict.

And yes we are getting just a little bit off topic! I've never seen that happen before.

[Ken Peluso]

simple answer: Yes, buy a Mac. as stated somewhere back on page one or two, its a PC on the inside, just a superbly well-made pc. Im using one now, running windows 7. sometimes I boot into OSX and it runs that extremely well too. Just one recommendation, buy the AppleCare plan for the extra $250 to get the extended warranty, its well worht the investment and if you dont have the extra $250 to drop today, you can buy it at any time before your one year warranty expires.

[Scott Shepherd]

No free ipods this year with a purchase

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/cam...ts2011-0526-14

$100 gift card to the app store, so you can buy music or apps or whatever.

[Joel Goodman]

I switched to a Mac when I went to an iPhone as it all works together pretty smoothly. I also have Mac at work. But if your PC is really slowing down and you have the patience (and the discs) to reinstall all your software (and drivers) and make a BU of your files to reinstall them, you might try formatting the hard drive (or just replacing it if you want a larger drive). That will give you a clean install on everything. It's also an occasion to lose a lot of outdated crap. It's a PITA but sometimes works wonders. YMMV.

[Kevin W Johnson]

MOST ALL the problems that people face with PC's are a user problem. Most users are computer illiterate, have bad usage habits that allow viruses to infect their computers, have no idea how to secure themselves, scan and remove aquired nasties, etc. People also seem to think that since they have antivirus software, they have a free pass to do whatever.

I once spent 20 minutes explaining to a retired college prefessor that he needed to reinstall Word so he could open his Word documents after a hard drive replacement due do a failed drive. I think he seemed to think that because he saw the documents .doc extension, that Word was installed, or that his documents were Word, although i cant be sure what he thought because he couldnt explain it. After 20 minutes, he still didn't have a clue and i gave up.


WHEN viruses become prevalent for Mac, it will be a huge issue, because most Mac users believe they dont need antivirus software. The only thing slowing that down is the yet relatively small user base for Mac, the virus writers just dont waste their time, as havoc is their goal. No real havoc to create with such a small user base.

My favorite Mac joke has always been.... "Macs are for people that can't use a PC"

[Brian Ashton]

WHEN viruses become prevalent for Mac, it will be a huge issue, because most Mac users believe they dont need antivirus software. The only thing slowing that down is the yet relatively small user base for Mac, the virus writers just dont waste their time, as havoc is their goal. No real havoc to create with such a small user base.

I suspect the virus and malware issues plaguing PCs will be much smaller in the Mac world simply because Apple takes far more control of what and who can gain access to their products. The PC world is a total free for all from total incompetence to genius; only the genius products get bought up and left to slowly decay by Microsoft.

Judging by Apple's track record on maintaining control, dedication to quality and being visionary I'd say they have significant works in the pipe to deal with the eventual attacks that do come, it's extremely clear that Apple is in this for the long haul. For the most part Apple is an advantageous position as they can learn from the PC world (and you can bet they have a section of people studying the issues) and what is taking place now and looking at future trends. If anything I would suspect that Apple hasn't gone too hard at present to counter malware and viruses because they don't want to play their cards early and give way any of their strategies (you don't open up on an enemy until they're in the kill zone unless you want to give way your position and get flanked); you can bet they'll be comprehensive and evolving. Apple has always been at the forefront and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[Scott Shepherd]

MOST ALL the problems that people face with PC's are a user problem. Most users are computer illiterate, have bad usage habits that allow viruses to infect their computers, have no idea how to secure themselves, scan and remove aquired nasties, etc. People also seem to think that since they have antivirus software, they have a free pass to do whatever.

I almost spit out my drink from laughing at that comment. Yeah, let's blame all these problems on the users instead of thinking a computer software maker should make it so all these issues can't or won't happen.

Yeah, it's all those stupid people out there giving MS products a bad name Too funny!

Thanks for the morning chuckle.

[Curt Harms]

I suspect there's a limit to how much vendors can protect users from themselves. If using Windows, don't run all the time as administrator. Run a restricted user account and if something says it needs administrator privileges, ask yourself why that piece of software needs elevated privileges. Linux is the same deal, I use a desktop account except when installing updates. The difference with Linux and I suspect Apple-doesn't Apple use SUDO?-is that even in an administrator account you still have to enter a SUDO (Super User DO) password to install anything outside the user space. If an emailed picture attachment says it needs SUDO privileges to "install the viewer" and you give it, oh well.

[Chuck Gallup]

The only thing I hate about my Macs is algor is on Apple's board.
If you employ people to be creative and results oriented....Mac is the only way.
If you choose to be creative and results oriented Go Mac.
The things a Mac won't do that a PC will are worth any frustrations.
PC should be slaves to one task and chained and fenced to prevent contact with the outside world.

[Phil Thien]

I almost spit out my drink from laughing at that comment. Yeah, let's blame all these problems on the users instead of thinking a computer software maker should make it so all these issues can't or won't happen.

Yeah, it's all those stupid people out there giving MS products a bad name Too funny!

Thanks for the morning chuckle.

Actually, his remarks were spot-on.

In the 20+ years I've owned a computer services business, and especially in the last few years with the increasing risk of malware, I've noticed that some people experience the same problems over and over.

Problems like lost data due to empty file being saved over the top of a good file. Or, causing weird problems because they ALWAYS double click, even when a single click is all that is required, etc. And now with the threat of malware, these "types" are ALWAYS infected. We see the same people with the same problem. It is deja vu all over again!

And there is little you can do to protect themselves from, well, themselves. I've set many of them up with limited user accounts and a separate administrator account. They are instructed only to use the administrator account for making system changes (adding/removing software, etc.). But NOOOO. They show up with the administrator account infected because they were using it for browsing. I've even printed instructions saying "NEVER USE THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT FOR BROWSING." I've had people actually tell me just weeks later that they thought it said "ONLY USE THE ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT FOR BROWSING."

I've had other customers where they use the administrator account because they want to look at porn. You see, I use the Family Shield settings from Open DNS, which prevents looking at porn. I really don't give a crap if a guy wants to look at porn, but so many of them have overwhelming desires to look at the crap that they will click on ANYTHING, run ANY APP, to get something that promises a glimpse of something they've never seen before. Soon thereafter, the computer that the wife uses to talk to family out of state, and that the kids use for homework, is infected and unusable. All because they went into the administrator account to defeat the Open DNS Family Shield settings to look at their porn.

And these same guys that do it will do it multiple times. I've had to have frank conversations with women about why the computer keeps getting infected. The husband will stand right in front of me and deny everything to the wife. They are often stunned when I can say "the machine was infected at about 11:45pm on New Year's Eve. Who was using it then? And the wife will look back at her husband and say "that was you."

I've had to set administrator passwords that I don't tell the wife or husband (at their own request).

Don't even get me started on relatives. If they have dropped-by, or are staying with you for a few days, they will do things on your computer that they'd NEVER do on their own.

Kids, too. Some kids are great, responsible, mature, etc. Others, not so much.

My point is, in the 20+ years I've been doing this, I've come to the following conclusion: I'm surprised that about 75% of the population can survive. I think we've built a social safety net that is too wide, and too strong. I think we've made it too easy for too many people to stay dumb and grow old.

We are breeeding common sense out of the species.

[Scott Shepherd]

In my 35 years of using computers, I am still amazed how computer geeks just don't understand that not everyone wants or needs to be a computer geek. Setting up accounts, restricting accounts, having to understand that the email coming from your brother that says "Family photos" is really a virus by something that spoofed his email account and sent you a virus, knowing what the term spoofing is, etc, etc, etc.

Why can't you have a computer that you walk up to, turn on, browse what you want, click on google searches that you want without fear, open emails from anyone you want without worry whether it's real or not? Why is that too much to ask as a user? 98% of the population with computers aren't geeks. Oh wait, you can do that............on a Mac or Linux.

When you search "anti-virus software" on google and the links brought up in the google ads and the top 20 searches are actually links to malware infected sites. How the heck is a 65 year old wood worker that got his first computer at age 60 supposed to know that? There simply is no way for them to know what they don't know.

It astounds me that somehow a woodworker clicking on a link in google and getting infected is HIS fault, when all he was doing is searching for some cabinet hardware.

How some people think that's acceptable is beyond me. We, as a people, should DEMAND a better solution from these software manufacturers.

As for me, regardless of some industry publication that says "It's coming, one day, some time in the future....", I open what I want, I click on what I want, and I go where I want, on the Mac. Call me when you can do that on a PC.

[Greg Peterson]

In my experience, most users have no understanding of basic file management. Apple may be arguably better at this than MS, but in the grand scheme of things there is really no difference. How the OS enables the user to accomplish various tasks is mostly a matter of personal preference or taste. You say tomato, I say tomotto.

If I want a deer in the headlights look all I have to do is ask the user "where did you save the file to?". Apple, Windows, doesn't matter. This confuses the average user.

I have spent hours with my mother trying to explain to her that the computer is little more than fancy whiz bang filing cabinet. She is a highly educated, intelligent and accomplished retired professional, but the light bulb hasn't gone on when it comes interfacing with the computing environment otherwise known as the PC.

I considered recommending an Apple, but aside from the out of the box experience, she would still struggle with basic file management. And the members of the genealogy group to which she belongs also use Windows machines. If she has a question it is likely someone within the group has an answer.

I suspect the virus and malware issues plaguing PCs will be much smaller in the Mac world simply because Apple takes far more control of what and who can gain access to their products. The PC world is a total free for all from total incompetence to genius; only the genius products get bought up and left to slowly decay by Microsoft. - Brian Ashton

I would not put it past Apple to innovate their way around the virus/malware matter. Apple is an extraordinarily ambitious and innovative company. Quite the opposite of MS. Apple wants to change the world, MS wants to own the world. But again, in the end, when it comes to computing platforms, the average user is woefully ignorant of file management and neither platform do an adequate job of addressing this matter.

[Phil Thien]

I would not put it past Apple to innovate their way around the virus/malware matter. Apple is an extraordinarily ambitious and innovative company. Quite the opposite of MS. Apple wants to change the world, MS wants to own the world. But again, in the end, when it comes to computing platforms, the average user is woefully ignorant of file management and neither platform do an adequate job of addressing this matter.

Funny (but true) answer: If Apple does figure it out, Microsoft will copy it. Rim-shot please.

Not-so-funny answer: Now that the Apple O/S has been hacked and people have it running on low-cost Intel hardware from Dell, etc., more and more "hackers" from the parts of the world where they couldn't previously afford a Mac will now write Malware for the Apple platform.

And some of these guys are SMART. They will find new methods of attack that will probably surprise most.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

The nail in the coffin:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...os_x_lion.html