My loyalty falters...

[hm_murdock]

I'm doing what was, just a few months ago... unthinkable. I'm going to buy a friend's used PC.

I'm getting it with the intention of running Linux on it, but the scary part is... I'm actively looking at ways that I could make it my... main computer, displacing my beloved iMac.

Why, do you ask? While I love Macs, more and more, I find myself driven toward the Old World hardware (Beige G3, Wallstreet Powerbook and before) and find it to be better than current offerings. The older machines were simply better made, better designed, and IMHO, just better computers than what Apple makes now.

For the era they existed in, the old school Macs were the pinnacle of desktop or portable computing. Today, a Mac is just a novelty. I have an iMac, yay. I can run Mac OS X, which is great, but I could run Linux on a PC and get the same stability, more speed, and at a lower cost. I wanted an iBook, but I'm not paying $1500 to get an extra 200MHz, a DVD drive, a tiny screen, a relatively small HD, and pissing 128MB of RAM.

Well, it's been an interesting year or two as a "die-hard" Mac fan, but those days are numbered. I'll just finally become an uber-geek who has no true preference for anything... just gimme a damn computer, as long as it don't run Windows!

I'm not leaving you fellow Macheads, by any means. I'm just no longer crusading for only the Mac. I'm now crusading for UNIX. I just happen to think that OS X is THE BEST UNIX on the planet.

[davebrock]

i know what you mean about old world macs :-( I'm still runnin a quadra700 perfectly happily, the design and attention to detail just can't be equaled now from any OEM including Apple! But, I have recently got a G4, a Graphite one, and I have to say even these (those?)  days, Apple are far ahead in design and I'm not just talking about external hardware design, i mean design from the bottom up - the hardware the software, just the little things that count for SO much Basically I TRUST my computer every day and I know I will for many years to come!
But, these days knowing Apple, there's never a good time to buy because you know something bigger/better is just around the corner.... look at Xserve, you know they are going to incorporate more and more of that tech into the next PowerMacs.
I know, I am rambling But I love Apple computers, I HATE Apple CORP!
No change there
But of course anything non MS is f**kin good!

[hm_murdock]

I also hate Apple the company. since Steve came back, they've sucked. Even when Gil Amelio was CEO, they cared about their clientele. Old school Apple was known for making a dufus decision every now and then, but at least they didn't put the cart before the horse, as they do so much now.

Sure, they've got great stuff, but... they don't have any original stuff. Newton is gone. All the really badass features that they had (video I/O on the Quadra AV series and the Power Macs, integrated software with ROMs, et cetera, are gone. With the 8600/9600/Beige G3s, you weren't just getting a desktop powerhouse, you were buying a workstation-class machine.

It just ain't so anymore. That, and Apple seems to be pretty mean. They've become just another faceless corporation who we only know through the CEO. There used to be Mac heroes like Jef Raskin, and guys like that who made the classic Mac so great.

I just got into it all much too late!

[ravuya]

I agree. Apple the company as of late has really, really sucked. Used to be they'd actually let your warranty through even if you had installed your own RAM. No more, kids.

Linux is looking better and better, I'm sorry to say. When confronted with a $150 hostage fee to run new versions of programs that worked fine a month ago (hellooooooo 8.5), I'm not really willing to go with Steve and good grace on this one.

If Apple doesn't shape up soon, it looks like my next box might be an x86, which is the saddest thing I think I've ever said.  

[The Czar]

**slaps some sense into you** Come on guys! How can you turn your back on Apple? Sure they're having some problems, but what's the alternative? x86, and that's dominated by M$. Plus, x86 boxes aren't as elegant as Macs. Believe me, the cost is worth it when you've got to deal with IRQ, DMA and PCI settings. Not to mention kernel panics, processor overheats and massive electrical bills from running the machines. The Mac is a superior machine. You get what you pay for.

[Master of Reality]

You guys are gonna get it when the webmaster sees this.

[voidmain]

Now go to your room!

[rtgwbmsr]

m0r!

I am using a PBG3 now, but that's just cuz I'm too cheap to buy a newer one. I would GLADLY have bought a new iBook or PowerBook if I had the money.

Older Macs are great, and have lots of value. Mac hardware doesn't depreciate like PC hardware. PC hardware is worth shit in 18 months, and a Mac that old can get 3/4 to 2/3 the orig. price.

That's cuz there's no reason to go out and buy new hardware every 1.5 to 2 years. The Mac OS isn't getting more and more bloated like Winblows is.

Macs are the best out there right now in my opinion, and I have no plans to switch to all x86  any time soon.

[ravuya]

I don't think I'll move from the Mac for my primary machine anytime soon (my trusty 604 seems to keep pulling the wagon year after year), but for my secondary web-browsing and coding machines Linux looks really, really attractive.

I still think the Mac is a great platform. The best hardware and software out there. But the business behind it is really not impressing me in the least. They've gone from the friendly company that they used to be to a cold, hard, bitch like the dotcom-era Sun.

Sun got it in the end, and I'm afraid Apple might get the same treatment if they continue to put the bottom line before their customers like they have been as of late.

[ November 01, 2002: Message edited by: Ravuya ]

[slave]

quote: I also hate Apple the company. since Steve came back, they've sucked.  

Haw haw!  If I'd have posted such an opinion, I'd be hung by my toes, and X11 would proceed to post rants in the lounge about how he wants to rape and/or kill me.

I agree though.  Apple sucks.  Macs don't suck but they will if they don't drop the price OR improve the speed.

[ November 02, 2002: Message edited by: Windows XP User #5225982375 ]

[ravuya]

There's nothing wrong with the speed. As far as I can notice, my iMac seems to actually do things with a decent speed as compared to the glacial speed of XP.

[slave]

Don't lie, XP is faster than you can possibly imagine.

[ravuya]

"faster than I can possibly imagine" doesn't include the fact that I'm afraid of clicking on some files because Internet Explorer may load, and by the time it's finished and returned control of my computer to me, I've lost 3 or 4 minutes of my life to the damn thing.

[xyle_one]

I dont think xp is very fast. I use it evryday at work. It does some things I like, but all in all, I think it sucks, and I am very happy to come home to my mac. I like the macs, especially os10.2. Had I been an old school mac user (pre osX) I would probably feel differently. People dont like change, and apple certainly changed their style. Maybe the company sucks, but they build a very nice machine. And I think its worth the money.

If I had to go back to x86, I would probably use redhat 8.0. fuck a windows. fuck a xp.

ecsyle-one

[hm_murdock]

Let's just say I'd love to have a beige G3 and a middling AMD. That'd be the optimum duo for me!