What to do with my Mac?

1. I'm not much of a Mac fan, but, being the curious person I am I purchased an older Powermac G5 to mess around with. It's a good computer, it's a good OS. However, before I set it up as a media computer, I found myself constantly going back to my Windows machines, even for more than just games. I felt more at home. So I'm curious, what keeps Mac fans going back to Mac?

   P.S. Not starting a flame thread, just talking about something more than the iPhone in the Mac thread.

   
   

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   alexajo89
   

   Reputation:79

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

2. Well, I think you're starting at a bit of a disadvantage using such an old mac. It will probably feel a bit slow, which won't help with intuitiveness.

   I think the first thing is to know what you want to use it for? What do you use your Windows machine for? What would you like to use it for that it isn't very good at? For me, there are two things that a mac is great for - unix style programming and admin and media. Unix admin and programming is my day and evening jobs and trying to use Windows is awful for these, but I doubt that is what your after. But the thing is, because I use a Mac for my work almost all day, it has become intuitive. I find Windows very unintuitive now. It feels like a hotch potch of half-broken functionality barley tacked together. But that's just unfamiliarity.

   I recently recommended to a relative who was looking for a new computer that they get an iMac instead of a PC. They were cynical, but rich enough to risk the mistake! Because most of what they do with a computer is browse the web, listen to music and store photos, the way the mac did all that so seamlessly meant that they quickly got over the minor UI changes like close button location, etc.

   Ok. I don't think any of that constitutes advice, but it might help.

   
   

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   masseyis
   

   Reputation:5

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

3. Maybe not advice, but it's what I'm looking for. The Mac I have is actually pretty damn beefy. The original owner upped it to 4gb of RAM, it's got dual processors, and it flies. It actually boots up as fast if not faster than my laptop which is only a year and a half old (running 7.) I guess my biggest gripe is what you were talking about with using Macs all day. I've used Windows my whole life, and even though the UI has changed quite a bit since 98, the tweaks have all been subtle enough (except 7 maybe) that it's only a week learning curve before I'm flying through it like I've been using it my whole life. That being said, I got used to the Mac OS pretty quickly, there's no denying that it is more intuitive than Windows. I think my other problem with Mac might be the fact that I like tweaking every aspect of my computer to fit my needs just so. Apple seems to have a lock down on what you can and can't do with the OS. Or maybe that's just my lack of experience with OSx talking? I also like my games.

   
   

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   alexajo89
   

   Reputation:79

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

4. No. That's not your inexperience, It's the Apple way, really. There are third party apps for customizing L&F, but they're not free and always seem a bit ropey to me. The bust utility for OS X to make using it super fast is QuickSilver. You set a shortcut (I use Crtl, Ctrl) and a kind of search box pops up. It can find and action almost anything, but even as just an application launcher, it's great.

   
   

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   masseyis
   

   Reputation:5

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

5. I think my other problem with Mac might be the fact that I like tweaking every aspect of my computer to fit my needs just so. Apple seems to have a lock down on what you can and can't do with the OS. Or maybe that's just my lack of experience with OSx talking?

   Speaking to this, there's tons you can do to tweak a mac. Just take a look at my desktop. As far as what to do with your Mac going forward, you're SOL for upgrading after a certain point, because 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is an intel-only OS, so your Power PC isn't compatible, no matter how powerful it may be. That being said, Leopard (or even Tiger) is a very competent OS that you should still be able to get quite a bit of use out of. I keep coming back to Macs because of the stability they offer and my own familiarity (and love for) the OS. It's all relative, so if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of an adjustment period, I'd say use it for whatever you want, it sounds like a good computer. Except for gaming - there's generally crap for games on Macs. (Current Valve rumors sound promising though...)

   
   

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   pixauth
   

   Reputation:12

   Posted 6 months ago

   
   

6. Current Valve rumors are apparently true, Valve is even releasing some nice wallpapers for it. Also, I ended up selling my G5. I used the cash to buy a Mini 10v and I hackintoshed it, turns out I missed OSx a bit.

   
   

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   alexajo89
   

   Reputation:79

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

7. Once you go Mac...

   Glad to hear you found a solution - hackintoshes are great and all, but I'm very partial to Mac hardware. Not because and of the components are anything unique, but because of the attention to design detail. I'm very much a design geek, and a sucker for aesthetics and the "ooooh shiny" factor. Couple that with industry-leading product quality and I'm hooked. I have even have a hard time running dual Acers on my Mac Pro when there are such beautiful Cinema Displays out there...what I wouldn't give for dual 24s or even a couple of the glorious 30s...*drool* Apple fanboy? Guilty as charged. Apple sees suckers like me coming a mile away...

   
   

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   pixauth
   

   Reputation:12

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

8. Well, as much as I like OSx on my Mini, I've gotta say I need 7 on my desktop. Not only have I grown up with Windows, but I like my games.

   
   

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   alexajo89
   

   Reputation:79

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

9. Just install FreeBSD on your computers ;)

   (Please just ignore this comment as I don't want to come across as a troll)

   
   

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   calebstein
   

   Reputation:7

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

10. I like my games.

    
    

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    alexajo89
    

    Reputation:79

    Posted 5 months ago