Well, my sister wants a Mac. Her husband is a firm no. He says that it would be too much hassle.

So, I have some questions.

How different is the interface? What do you think of OSX? How intuitive do you find the interface? Do you have problems with compatability for documents?

We are dealing with a network that currently has two computers with Win2k on them and a Win98 machine. One of the w2k machines is connected to broadband and shares the connection with internet connection sharing. Would it be possible share that connection with an Apple computer? Can an Apple share files on a Windows network?

Thanks for any input.

I'm an Avid mac user.

I love OS X - it's really elegant and just won't crash. Very much like Unix/Linux - so I can run a website on it with PHP and MySQL and develop locally.

If you have the same software (for example word or excel) you can use the files on either machine interchangably.

I also can use the file sharing and share files between my PC and My Mac.

Since OSX is based on BSD I would say that that gives it a few bonus points in the Operating System category. Intuitive? From what I understand Apple is still a notch or two above Windows as far as GUI's go. (graphical user interface)

I believe that only other windows systems can use the windows internet connection sharing feature but I could be wrong. If others can connect through I have to question the dependability of such a network. (just haven't heard anything good about multiple versions of windows connecting to each other)

The best bet there is to purchase a router and connect the computers to the router and the router to the broad band connection (cable modem, dsl modem).

Purchase an Apple?

I'm cheap... so I would purchase a clone and save a grand or two.

(this is on my list of things to get so I can quit bugging Josh to tell me how things look on a Mac) LoL

[]JoshPet said:
I'm an Avid mac user.

I love OS X - it's really elegant and just won't crash. Very much like Unix/Linux - so I can run a website on it with PHP and MySQL and develop locally.

If you have the same software (for example word or excel) you can use the files on either machine interchangably.

I also can use the file sharing and share files between my PC and My Mac. [/]

Are you saying that Windows programs(like MS Word) work on OSX or would that require OS specefic versions of any sw that I desired to run?

I didn't even realize that there were Apple clones.(Next thing you know there will be sheep clones...oh, nevermind)

There are specific versions of microsoft applications that run on a mac.

Yeah, buy the Mac version of the same programs and you can share data files.

I imagine those versions weren't available until MS bought a chunk of Apple though, right.

I dunno. Word, Excell, IE, Outlook etc... and such has been around since I remember.

Now the question is...How long can you remember?

OSX is great. If they would let me go Mac at work, believe me, I would in a heartbeat. I have a 17" iMac and a 12" PowerBook, and both are great machines. My only complaint about the PB is it runs pretty hot, but then again, so does my Dell

I have Office for Mac installed on both machines, which allows me to use Word/Excel/PowerPoint docs between PC/Mac. The only minor differences may depend on what fonts you use.

I have mine connected to a wireless router (the way to go), and have our PC's and TiVo connected to the network as well.

OSX is rock solid. The iApps are great (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD).

I don't use Outlook or Entourage, opting instead for Mail and iCal.

I use Windows at work because I have to, I use OSX at home because I like to

I can remember pretty far back. I think I started using Macs in the Late 80's. The first one I used was their second model - the "Mac Plus".

Probably the microsoft apps came on the scene in the early 90's when the macs got fairly popular. But even on that first machine, we used to use PC WordPerfect files on the Mac.

I was in charge of our schools newspaper - and everyone would type their articles on the PC (because we had a whole PC lab). The school only had one Mac - but we would transfer all the text fixes so that we could make the type "look purty" (typeset look - full justification) which wasn't possible at the time on the PCs we had.

I've never seen much difference between the fonts. Some are a little easier on the eyes, but I usually just use the default font. I all looks pretty much the same to me. I look at what is actually being said. My brother-in-law does alot of graphic design stuff. I don't see much change from the begining to the end. I'm like, it still says pretty much the same thing. Maybe thats just me though. TV commercials are more likely to influence me to not buy something(like Old Navy) than they are to make me buy something. Maybe there is a correlation there, maybe not.

Hmmm...I would be tempted to put together one of thos CoreCribs...but I'm not sure where to put it I need another desk

Just hang it from the cieling(sp?) like a hanging plant.

I think I kind of went of on tangent about the fonts, then went on a tangent from that. I'm missing the final tangent that brings it back together. Hmmmm.

allow me...

Macs are good

Yep - they keep you dry if it rains

[]Ian_W said:
Yep - they keep you dry if it rains [/]

So, I guess Ian isn't a Mac fan.

No they are okay - I am a Apple Authorized Engineer - got the certifivate somewhere

But if it rains the first thing one would do is to put on mac grab an unberella, and go out into the rain.

Mac's look pretty in your living room or as a high-tech email terminal, but that is about it

I managed a 25 mac computer lab for a few years, and managed two 20 PC computer labs. Became very familiar with both, but believe it or not, the mac lab with OS 9.2 was down much more than the PC labs running Win2k. When I suggested to switch to OS X, I figured it would help. But unfortunately they ended up being slower due to lack of ram, and since the department couldn't afford new ram, we had to stick with 9.

So from an admin standpoint, give me windows or give me death

OS X is a big improvement, as are the OS X applications

[]Ian_W said:
But if it rains the first thing one would do is to put on mac grab an unberella, and go out into the rain. [/]

I don't get it. I must be missing something.

Macintosh
---------

Waterproof outer coat or raincoat. The fabric used for a macintosh was made waterproof by cementing two layers of it together with rubber dissolved in a coal-tar naphtha solution. Charles Macintosh patented his fabric in 1823. The word macintosh has become a general term for any raincoat. The method was originally invented by the Scottish surgeon James Syme.

While a student of chemistry at Edinburgh, James Syme discovered a method for dissolving rubber (caoutchouc) in a solvent and using it for making a fabric into waterproof laminates. His solvent consisted of rubber dissolved in a coal-tar naphtha solution. Syme submitted his discovery to the editor of the Annals of Philosophy, but for various reasons publication was delayed. During the interim, Charles Macintosh learned of the method, elaborated on it, developed it further, and patented it for commercial purposes. As a result, the Macintosh raincoat was born and Syme, who took little interest in commercial matters, lost an inestimable fortune.

Yep. I was missing a big something. Thanks for the info.

Jeremy, what about a linux lab.

[]slayer60 said:
Jeremy, what about a linux lab. [/]

Well, the best part about linux labs is if a computer idiot gets on one, they have no clue how to even mess something up if they tried The only people using a *nix machine are people who know how to use them, so literally no maintinence is necessary

I haven't even touched a Mac since junior high, so I have no clue about Macs. I should go play with a display model.

Macs can pretty much be considered *nix machines as well.

Rumours have it that the new IBM PowerPC 970 64-bit chip will make its debut later this month at the worldwide developers conference, in addition to a preview of Panther (10.3), the next major OS release. The 970 has been speculated about for some time now, and should be available in single and multiple chip configs. This should narrow the performance gap between the Macs and the PC's.

Anyone who is tempted to buy a Mac today, might want to hold off for a little bit and see whether the new (pro) machines hit the market soon, and whether prices will drop on the G4's

I had read that OS X was based on the bsd kernal. I thought that would help with some of the stability problems I had heard about before.

I've never had the OS crash (I've had apps freeze/crash, but not the OS). My iMac has been up continuously since August, except for the occasional installation restart, and when I had to turn it off because I moved

http://www.apple.com/macosx/

Like Josh, I have been working Macs since the 'plus' days

The current system is as solid as a rock.

The speeds knock spots off pc's (flame me if ya like! )

They look pretty.

They don't use Microshite (unless you have to).

The ONLY downside for internet power users is the lack of some utilities. . . search engine submission progs (only one available) . . . and a hack code utility (anyone know of one?)

my 2p

What, no built in power plant for moves?

Thats cool. I've got two win2k machine that I'm happy if they make a week. I'm pretty hard on them though. Got some beta stuff on them. I should upgrade to trillian pro 1.0.

I often have 30 applications running at a time.... loads of windows.

Sometimes applications crash. Some buggy javascript ad at some websites I visit are famous for killing my safari. Just kill it and bring it back up - it opens in a few seconds. Back in business.

I also run it locally as a webserver and mysql server to develop stuff locally. I can test stuff locally off of it on either my laptop or on my PC.

Cool. It sounds like OS X didn't make the mistake of trying to load everything into the kernel.