i might be like ellen feiss, but without the marijuana

July 25, 2005 under Computers, Software

When people ask me for recomendations on purchasing a new computer, and this occurs almost daily, I’ve been replying with “get a Mac and Bob’s your uncle” for the last year or so. I do so mainly because I usually have to help those same people remove the malware from their Windows computers and it’s become a repetative and thankless chore. I have a spiel to quell any potential questions I receive. It centres around explaining why they should use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, which P2P file sharing apps don’t contain spyware (no matter the user’s computer knowledge, they all want to download music), how to set antivirus software to check for updates on a daily basis as well as automatic Microsoft Updates (formerly Windows Update) and other basic Windows maintenance tasks. The Internet is so hostile nowadays and Windows hasn’t kept pace with this trend. I used to recommend Windows to average computer users for its simplicity and ease of use. Nowadays, I firmly believe that you have to be a power user with a fair amount of technical ability just to keep Windows running and not bogged down by malware. Other operating systems like FreeBSD are solid and don’t have non-stop malware threats, but they’re still suited for powers users and servers; definitely too difficult to be used by average and new computer users. But OS X blends reliability and ease of use and it’s based on FreeBSD.

Now I personally don’t own a Mac; not yet anyway. I’ve had no problems running Windows for all of these years. It’s done everything I needed and I know my way around it extremely well. I’ve toyed with Linux in the past and continue to do so today, but I always find myself coming back to Windows, much like this guy, and for the same reasons. Now should I be able to afford a new computer for day-to-day use (web browsing, email, IM, etc) for Dena and I, it would probably be a Mac. All of the apps that I’d use on a daily basis are available for OS X. I’d only keep a Windows computer for any Windows-specific programming that I do and gaming. Mind you, I’d be very keen on coding OS X apps as a new experience, and there’s also Mono since I’m enjoying C# and .NET thus far. Will Vista be able to reel my interests back?

Note: For those who don’t understand the “ellen feiss” reference, watch this commerical from a couple of years ago and read this Wired article to get the scoop.

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comments: 5 »

5 Responses to "i might be like ellen feiss, but without the marijuana"

  • As an avid apple fan Ive stopped preaching the ways of OS X… to each his own OS. However, if theres any person in the world that drives me looney other than windows users without a clue, is apple users that think theyre cool. The unfortunate thing about os X users are, there is a base of users from the OS 9 days that know nothing about what makes os x wicked…..

  • Chris says:

    I’ll probably use whichever o/s suits me at the time. Up to now, Windows has done the job but I’m becoming disappointed with it. Maybe OS X will suit me better. Maybe Apple’s head will then get too big for its hat and I’ll switch back to Windows or something else. Ideally, if I had the cash, I’d have multiple computers with different operating systems and reap the benefits of each one while at the same time doing my darndest to make them co-exist peacefully on the same network by giving Samba a hardcore workout 😉 But as far as the average non-power computer user goes, I think OS X is the best choice at the moment.

  • Of course you could always emulate os x on a pc using pear pc to figure out if its right for you….http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

    Im not too sure how I feel about pear tho, i think the mac os and the hardware go hand it hand…. the ‘feel’ just wouldnt be there.

    Then of course there the perversion of the bsd kernel. I have a few bsd friends that love apple and a few that hate it bececause of the adaptation apple made to the kernel. Altho, i think now there is a way to install osx with a pure bsd kernel as of panther.

  • oh and samba is built seamlessly into tiger quite beautifully, zero config.



Pings responses :

  • […] Last summer, I posted a couple of entries relating to the upcoming Windows Vista that were a brief daydream from a developer’s point of view and musings on the possible inclusion of a more-verstile command-line interface. Then I tore it all down by espousing Mac OX X. Finally, we’re getting more and more details about Vista everyday and I’m actually pleased with what I’m reading/hearing/seeing. […]

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