I'm finished with Windows!
- Thread starter Lawrence
- Start date
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
COOL!!!!! I've often thought I'd like a conversation with someone who is familiar with the apple products, here's hoping you can keep us posted.
I purchased a new lap top last fall so I could send my old one to the desert with my son, it has windows vista and so far I'm not impressed.
I purchased a new lap top last fall so I could send my old one to the desert with my son, it has windows vista and so far I'm not impressed.
Have you considered converting your current machine to Linux? The operating system costs, oh yeah, free. Most apps are available free as well. It's an open source system so your geek squad could tweak it as they chose as well. Certainly Apples are nice machines but you could set up a dual boot system with Linux and test the waters at no cost and then go back to Windows or stay Linux or if neither appealed then spend money. Good luck whichever way.
arrbsthw
Expert Expediter
I got an Apple Macbook for Christmas. So far its working great. It is
much faster than our old laptop. It is a little confusing at the start. I am getting used to it. Surfs much faster than IE and firefox.
Also got a new USB 720 wireless card too. What is really cool, although I didn't get one is MacBook Pro.. the keyboard lights up so you can see how to type at night riding down the road.
much faster than our old laptop. It is a little confusing at the start. I am getting used to it. Surfs much faster than IE and firefox.
Also got a new USB 720 wireless card too. What is really cool, although I didn't get one is MacBook Pro.. the keyboard lights up so you can see how to type at night riding down the road.
I like Macs but I don't believe they run the navigation software that's out there. When I get my next computer it very well may be a Mac though. Until then I may experiment with Linux some. I installed the Ubuntu distibution on this computer but it doesn't like something and won't boot. I haven't gotten enough incentive to go back and mess with it since it was done on a whim. I'm getting adequate performance with Vista, due to a hot processor, good ram, fast hd and bus speed. Still, I like that other options are available.
Vista sux. I'm still using Windows, XP, but I don't use the things that bog it down so, like Outlook, MSIE, Real Player, lots of things. I also don't use the "pretty" settings, and instead have it configured for performance rather than for appearance.
My son just got an Apple. It's pretty cool, but at $2600 I think I'm going to stick with a PC.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Star,
You can get 'em way cheaper than that - I think the lowend MacBook (not Pro) is around $1100.
I've been using primarily Macs since I bought a Mac Plus back in '87 (in a former life I did computer graphics and animation and the Mac was a good fit - easy to use and it just "worked") ...... although I do have a dual PIII system running W2K here that I built down in the studio ..... I turn it on occassionaly to blow the dust out of it.
I'm typing this on a 500 mhz 2000 PowerBook G3 Pismo - yeah I paid almost 3 grand for it at the time - but it's an 8 year-old machine that has been used daily and runs the most current Apple OS just fine. Not something that's as likely to happen on the dark side ....
By the way L ..... smart move
You can get 'em way cheaper than that - I think the lowend MacBook (not Pro) is around $1100.
I've been using primarily Macs since I bought a Mac Plus back in '87 (in a former life I did computer graphics and animation and the Mac was a good fit - easy to use and it just "worked") ...... although I do have a dual PIII system running W2K here that I built down in the studio ..... I turn it on occassionaly to blow the dust out of it.
I'm typing this on a 500 mhz 2000 PowerBook G3 Pismo - yeah I paid almost 3 grand for it at the time - but it's an 8 year-old machine that has been used daily and runs the most current Apple OS just fine. Not something that's as likely to happen on the dark side ....
By the way L ..... smart move
I was impressed with the quick bootup and the speed in general. I'm gonna run this one for another year and then do something. The PC suits me as a casual user. I'm the kind that knows just enough to do what I have to do and I'm glad one of my kids can help me when I need it. But, he says he'll win me over to Apple.
I'm quitting Microsoft too. Two recent events and one trend moved me off Microsoft products and onto a gradual migration path to Linux and open source products.
Event one was the purchase of a new laptop computer that came with Windows Vista installed. Talk about bloatware! The operating system is over ten gigabytes large. With Windows 2000 Professional and XP, the OS came on disks. I could carry them in the truck and easily reinstall the OS if needed. No way am I going to mess around with a 10-gig-plus OS. No way at all.
The second event was Microsoft's decision to terminate the Microsoft FrontPage product and eventually (if not already) support for it. Once again, Microsoft expects me to abandon a product that does what I need it to do and buy and learn something new simply because Microsoft marches on. Never again will I be led down that path.
FrontPage was never a good product to begin with, but that is another story.
I finally bit the bullet and left familiar ground. Instead of buying the successor Microsoft product, I bought and am now learning Adobe Dreamweaver. While more effort is required to learn and use DW, I am finding this standard's based product to be far superior. It is nice to learn industry standards instead of Microsoft standards. I can invest my time learning something that is likely to be still useful five years from now.
The trend that helped move me off Microsoft products and onto others is the ongoing development of Linux and open source programs. All are available free of charge and they now have features sufficient to meet my needs.
Microsoft's bloatware approach works when you are the only game in town. But with advances made by the free software movement, server based program development (as in Google Docs vs. Microsoft programs that are desktop based) and advances that make Linux more user friendly, I am pleased to say goodbye to Microsoft products that I have, over the years, found to be consistently expensive, overly complex and unreliable.
I don't need an application installed on my computer that meets the needs of Microsoft by trying to also meet the needs of 10 million other users. I only need applications that meet my needs. So, it is goodbye Microsoft, and hello Linux and other open-source friends.
Event one was the purchase of a new laptop computer that came with Windows Vista installed. Talk about bloatware! The operating system is over ten gigabytes large. With Windows 2000 Professional and XP, the OS came on disks. I could carry them in the truck and easily reinstall the OS if needed. No way am I going to mess around with a 10-gig-plus OS. No way at all.
The second event was Microsoft's decision to terminate the Microsoft FrontPage product and eventually (if not already) support for it. Once again, Microsoft expects me to abandon a product that does what I need it to do and buy and learn something new simply because Microsoft marches on. Never again will I be led down that path.
FrontPage was never a good product to begin with, but that is another story.
I finally bit the bullet and left familiar ground. Instead of buying the successor Microsoft product, I bought and am now learning Adobe Dreamweaver. While more effort is required to learn and use DW, I am finding this standard's based product to be far superior. It is nice to learn industry standards instead of Microsoft standards. I can invest my time learning something that is likely to be still useful five years from now.
The trend that helped move me off Microsoft products and onto others is the ongoing development of Linux and open source programs. All are available free of charge and they now have features sufficient to meet my needs.
Microsoft's bloatware approach works when you are the only game in town. But with advances made by the free software movement, server based program development (as in Google Docs vs. Microsoft programs that are desktop based) and advances that make Linux more user friendly, I am pleased to say goodbye to Microsoft products that I have, over the years, found to be consistently expensive, overly complex and unreliable.
I don't need an application installed on my computer that meets the needs of Microsoft by trying to also meet the needs of 10 million other users. I only need applications that meet my needs. So, it is goodbye Microsoft, and hello Linux and other open-source friends.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
OK here is one thing that apple and Linux seems to be lacking - mapping software.
I have yet found mapping software that can be used in our profession and of reasonable standards for Linux based machines.
Anyone using MS S&T with Wine?
I would like to know if it really works well because I just got my MS software package for this year in the mail Friday which includes map point (S&T's bigger brother) and want to see if Office 2007 will work under Linux. I know why not use open office, well the software is free for me, so why go somewhere else for the same thing?
Oh Phil, you know there are free upgrade floating around with MS expression web studio for registered MS FP owners?
I didn't think it was that bad, many first time users who never built a web page or knew what HTML was didn't seem to mind. H*ll for that matter, many people who bought front page became web page experts because of it.
I have yet found mapping software that can be used in our profession and of reasonable standards for Linux based machines.
Anyone using MS S&T with Wine?
I would like to know if it really works well because I just got my MS software package for this year in the mail Friday which includes map point (S&T's bigger brother) and want to see if Office 2007 will work under Linux. I know why not use open office, well the software is free for me, so why go somewhere else for the same thing?
Oh Phil, you know there are free upgrade floating around with MS expression web studio for registered MS FP owners?
I didn't think it was that bad, many first time users who never built a web page or knew what HTML was didn't seem to mind. H*ll for that matter, many people who bought front page became web page experts because of it.
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mrgoodtude
Not a Member
I dual boot Ubuntu and Vista on the work laptop ( Alienware Aurora M9700 ). Vista is hugely bloated, but it does run Street Atlas with the GPS just fine. We drive a B unit so SA is fine for us.
On my personal desktop I also run Ubuntu and a virtual install of XP. The virtual machines available in Linux are good and getting better all the time. Most of them can run anything windows can run just fine. I simply find Linux much more useful overall. I can host sites, run a server whatever I wanna do with it.
On my personal desktop I also run Ubuntu and a virtual install of XP. The virtual machines available in Linux are good and getting better all the time. Most of them can run anything windows can run just fine. I simply find Linux much more useful overall. I can host sites, run a server whatever I wanna do with it.
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
what do you expect when every os from ms is still based on ms-dos? when you build on a weak foundation you never get a strong fortress.
From Information Week:
"Last month, Dell shipped a pair of systems loaded with the latest version of Linux available from Ubuntu. The Inspiron 530 N desktop and the 1420 N notebook feature Ubuntu 7.10 and a built-in software DVD player.
"Demand for Linux systems is such that some retailers are selling out. Last year, for instance, Wal-Mart for a time couldn't fulfill orders for Everex's $199 gPC.
"What's behind the growing interest in open source computing, long the preserve of self-styled computer geeks? Linux's increasing popularity among mainstream PC users may in part reflect a backlash against Microsoft. The company's new Windows Vista OS has failed to capture users' hearts and minds, let alone their wallets."
Full story
For those who don't know about Ubuntu (yes, another geek word), here is a brief explaination from the Dell web site:
"Ubuntu is one of the world’s most popular open source operating systems. Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system that is community developed, updated regularly and offered for free. Designed to be user friendly, the Ubuntu OS comes with built-in software for office productivity (i.e., word processor, spreadsheets and presentation applications), e-mail, calendar, chat, web browsing, photos, and more."
Linux-based operating systems come in several flavors. Ubuntu is one.
"Last month, Dell shipped a pair of systems loaded with the latest version of Linux available from Ubuntu. The Inspiron 530 N desktop and the 1420 N notebook feature Ubuntu 7.10 and a built-in software DVD player.
"Demand for Linux systems is such that some retailers are selling out. Last year, for instance, Wal-Mart for a time couldn't fulfill orders for Everex's $199 gPC.
"What's behind the growing interest in open source computing, long the preserve of self-styled computer geeks? Linux's increasing popularity among mainstream PC users may in part reflect a backlash against Microsoft. The company's new Windows Vista OS has failed to capture users' hearts and minds, let alone their wallets."
Full story
For those who don't know about Ubuntu (yes, another geek word), here is a brief explaination from the Dell web site:
"Ubuntu is one of the world’s most popular open source operating systems. Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system that is community developed, updated regularly and offered for free. Designed to be user friendly, the Ubuntu OS comes with built-in software for office productivity (i.e., word processor, spreadsheets and presentation applications), e-mail, calendar, chat, web browsing, photos, and more."
Linux-based operating systems come in several flavors. Ubuntu is one.
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