I has Windows 7

[Sky]

It's funny that we can't discuss windows without it becoming a thread about Apple. I'd say they're doing just fine.

[Big Gulp]

20 years ago nobody would have complained that AmigaOS wouldn't run on an Atari ST so why is this an issue at all?

Because the only difference between an ST and an Amiga wasn't an EFI chip?

About Apple being a hardware company, have you checked out where their profits are coming from nowadays?  It ain't the computer side of the house, it's the handheld gadget side of things.  Again, though, we come down to the control freakiness of that company.  Can't let third party vendors just create drivers for our stuff, that'd be anarchy!

You fuckers remind me of the softest, pussiest, most needy people looking for the government to solve all their problems.  You've got no problem getting soaked with 100% margins and having virtually no choice as long as you don't have to make any decisions for yourself, because after all, Steve is a nice enough guy that he'll make all your decisions for you.  Weak, weak, weak.

[Tebonas]

While I share your anger that I can't get a MacOS at reasonable prices for the hardware, its up to Apple to decide how they want to (or not want to) earn their money.

If they don't want to sell us their software without forcing us to buy their overprized hardware, we are out of luck. Thats the exact opposite of what you claim, thats Capitalism. They know they wouldn't sell their computers otherwise at those prices, and they milk it for what its worth.

[Big Gulp]

While I share your rage that I can't get a MacOS at reasonable prices for the hardware, its up to Apple to decide how they want to (or not want to) earn their money.

If they don't want to sell us their software without forcing us to buy their overprized hardware, we are out of luck. Thats the exact opposite of what you claim, thats Capitalism. They know they wouldn't sell their computers otherwise at those prices, and they milk it for what its worth.

I have no problem with capitalism, and Apple can make it's money how it sees fit.  That doesn't mean that they've got some form of criticism immunity, however.  Part of the whole "freedom" thing is that I can call them out for what they are; a litigious shitty company who limits their customers choices and soaks them hard for every dime they've got.  It also means that I have the freedom to call their cultists fucking idiots for putting up with this bullshit.

In a utopian capitalist environment (ie, where consumers are actually rational) these fuckers would have failed long ago.

[Sky]

You fuckers remind me of the softest, pussiest, most needy people

You're turned on, aren't you?

 

[Tebonas]

Thats one of the rare occasions I agree with you, Gulp.

Except I have more money than sense and will continue to buy Apple Computers once in a while because I like them, overprized as they are. I don't smoke or drink, everybody needs to burn money on something useless  

[Engels]

Not to make this thread about me, but just a quick note that my belief that Apple would quickly gain market share if they opened up their software to 2nd party hardware by no means suggests that I actually think Apple is better software than Windows.

It used to be that there was the tacit assumption that Apples ran so well simply because they had proprietary CPUs like the G4. Now this is entirely not the case. The Macs out there seem to have identical hardware to every other computer on the market. Maybe with slightly better components than the average. The only difference is the software.

In other words, their selling point -is- their software. It appeals to people, probably in large part because they have a good art department and because of the aformentioned magical aura that surrounded them for decades, they somehow have a better reputation.

[Hutch]

Windows 7 Wallpapers vs. Snow Leopard Wallpapers (download links for images included in articles)

Ready, set, fight!

Dammit. Now I'm thinking about how cool it would be if Blizzard had put Dalaran on the back of a giant flying turtle.

If I could pick one set, I'd rather have the Snow Leopard at work. The W7 set is a little too flashy for my work desktop, IMO.

[Brogarn]

Nicely put, Big Gulp.

[Sky]

In other words, their selling point -is- their software. It appeals to people, probably in large part because they have a good art department and because of the aformentioned magical aura that surrounded them for decades, they somehow have a better reputation.

Unix underpinnings, no registry, no activation, application bundles, just off the top of my head. It's a fucking great OS.

I just wish both companies would release earlier in the year. I have two projects with a 2009 deadline that are sitting around waiting for the new OS to release so we can buy hardware that ships with it.

[schild]

If I could pick one set, I'd rather have the Snow Leopard at work. The W7 set is a little too flashy for my work desktop, IMO.

What's it like working at boring town where you can't have an attention-grabbing desktop?

[Hutch]

If I could pick one set, I'd rather have the Snow Leopard at work. The W7 set is a little too flashy for my work desktop, IMO.

What's it like working at boring town where you can't have an attention-grabbing desktop?

Oh you scamp, you have so brightened my day with your wit!

There are times when I wish that I, too, had chosen to hop from one entry-level job to another! Ah, to have no one who cares what I do with my computer! Also, to have no mortgage, no medical coverage, and eat macaroni and cheese five times a week! That is true freedom, my friends!

[Sky]

There are times when I wish that I, too, had chosen to hop from one entry-level job to another! Ah, to have no one who cares what I do with my computer! Also, to have no mortgage, no medical coverage, and eat macaroni and cheese five times a week! That is true freedom, my friends!

Livin' the dream!

[Engels]

Unix underpinnings, no registry, no activation, application bundles, just off the top of my head. It's a fucking great OS.

Not sure what you mean by activation? Do you mean the fact that their OS can't run on anything other than Mac hardware, thereby not really requiring you to prove you own the OS in the first place, since you have the hardware to run it?

Not sure what you mean by application bundles. Like, Microsoft Office? Sorry, don't mean to be obtuse here, but you're sounding very much like a died-in-the-wool Mac devotee, which is fine, but I'm getting lost in the verbiage.

Finally, Macs have a registry, called .plist files, stored in various places.

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences - Prefs unique to your login - like HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

/Library/Preferences - Global prefs - like HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

For example. You can't nuke these without horking  your machine's applications pretty badly.

[Big Gulp]

There are times when I wish that I, too, had chosen to hop from one entry-level job to another! Ah, to have no one who cares what I do with my computer! Also, to have no mortgage, no medical coverage, and eat macaroni and cheese five times a week! That is true freedom, my friends!

I'm with Schild.  Not to spoiler the movie for you, but at the end you die.

Why be a fucking slave at something you hate doing?  Spend less money, suck a dick or something.  Just don't waste your life at some boring, soulless, dreaded activity.

[Kitsune]

You fuckers remind me of the softest, pussiest, most needy people looking for the government to solve all their problems.  You've got no problem getting soaked with 100% margins and having virtually no choice as long as you don't have to make any decisions for yourself, because after all, Steve is a nice enough guy that he'll make all your decisions for you.  Weak, weak, weak.

Don't worry, BG, I for one am sticking it to the man by installing Apple OS on my $300 netbook.  I polish my computer with your tears, Apple!

And for once, Microsoft is really kicking the crap out of Apple in desktop backgrounds.  The Snow Leopard wallpapers really look phoned in; the pictures are boring, the art is merely okay.  7 has magnificent wallpaper; every photograph is beautiful, and the art is wildly creative.  They also have extra country-specific wallpapers up for free downloading from the theme control panel.

[schild]

It's true. The 7 wallpaper set is ASTOUNDING.

[Engels]

Really? I prefer the Leopard art myself. I like both, but there's something a bit more subtle and classy about the Leopard wallpaper.

Then again, its not worth starting nerd fights over, since really, just find a picture on the internets you want and set that as your wall paper.

I do like the rotating wallpapers in Windows 7, tho. The EMP one in particular. Does Leopard have rotating pictures?

[Sky]

Engles, what do you mean rotating? Changing the picture every x minutes? That's been in OSX for years. The W7 set was ok, too heavy on the cheesy illustrations for my taste, but I can see why some would like that. I like the 10.6 set much better, I would actually use that set for a while before loading my custom sets up.

[Big Gulp]

how BG and schild are role models for living life properly? Kthx.[/spoiler]

This has inspired me...

Eric, what do you think of a joint business partnership?

E&S Life Coaching!

[schild]

Can we stick to W7 in this thread, start a 10.6 thread if you want to rage on about how evil Apple is and how BG and schild are role models for living life properly?

Oh, eat me, hippie.

[Lantyssa]

The Win7 nature shots were far better in my opinion.  Even the stuff I would never use was better quality.  Apple is losing its touch.

[Sky]

Oh, eat me, hippie.

The lolz, you deliver.

[Surlyboi]

Man, I love it when people that don't understand the big picture talk about shit. Gives me the warm fuzzies.

[Ozzu]

Not sure what you mean by activation? Do you mean the fact that their OS can't run on anything other than Mac hardware, thereby not really requiring you to prove you own the OS in the first place, since you have the hardware to run it?

It's actually not that difficult anymore to run OS X on your PC if you actually want to. I do it. It literally was as easy as putting in an install disc and hitting next a few times. I just had to select my hardware in the customize list of the install. It's not supported of course, but I don't need their support. 

[stray]

Unix underpinnings, no registry, no activation, application bundles, just off the top of my head. It's a fucking great OS.

Not sure what you mean by activation? Do you mean the fact that their OS can't run on anything other than Mac hardware, thereby not really requiring you to prove you own the OS in the first place, since you have the hardware to run it?

Not sure what you mean by application bundles. Like, Microsoft Office? Sorry, don't mean to be obtuse here, but you're sounding very much like a died-in-the-wool Mac devotee, which is fine, but I'm getting lost in the verbiage.

Finally, Macs have a registry, called .plist files, stored in various places.

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences - Prefs unique to your login - like HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

/Library/Preferences - Global prefs - like HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

For example. You can't nuke these without horking  your machine's applications pretty badly.

Individual property list files are not a registry. Their very names are kind of the whole point on why they're not the same. "Registry". "Preference files". The registry is one big single point of __fill in the blank__ . Also, preference files aren't all processed at once on boot like they are with the registry either. It also makes it a bit more difficult to move around apps and user preferences from one machine to the next.

[Yegolev]

I don't know anything about OSX but plist files don't sound like a registry.  As if the registry is evil incarnate.  I do prefer text files, though.

Wallpapers?

I'm reading this whole thread and wondering why I would pick OSX over Ubuntu.

[Big Gulp]

I'm reading this whole thread and wondering why I would pick OSX over Ubuntu.

Third party apps that are worth a damn?

[stray]

Plus, you can run just about anything worth a damn on Ubuntu on OS X. Not as well in some cases though. :\

I don't know anything about OSX but plist files don't sound like a registry.  As if the registry is evil incarnate.  I do prefer text files, though.

That's all plist files are. No different than unix txt or xml or what have you. I think the direct windows correlation is .ini ... but umm, those weren't suited for multiuser machines, I think.

[Ozzu]

I don't know anything about OSX but plist files don't sound like a registry.  As if the registry is evil incarnate.  I do prefer text files, though.

Wallpapers?

I'm reading this whole thread and wondering why I would pick OSX over Ubuntu.

On the subject of text files and Linux, the best distro I've used as far as centralized configuration with text files is Arch Linux. It uses a BSD-like init system. It's easily my favorite distro.

OSX over Ubuntu? 3rd party apps, plus there's a level of polish on OSX that Ubuntu can't really touch at this point. They are definitely getting closer however.

[stray]

Not to derail too much, but the various linux distros (including Ubuntu Netbook) for netbooks are much cooler compared to their desktop distro counterparts. I'd probably get one if I cared about netbooks.. But the whole "Linux Desktop thing is coming soon now" is perpetually always going to be "coming soon". I've been hearing that for years. It almost doesn't even matter how well designed it's technological elements are or could be. Hell, someone could build the perfect Distro, and yet, it'll ultimately fail.. Simply because that distro is just a snapshot, and Linux as a whole is not a "platform" in the true sense of the word. It'll always be too decentralized for a lot of commercial developers to invest their time in because of this.. And the diehard Linux community prefers it this way themselves.. They prefer everything to be in flux, and to have a million forks of the same thing. And even if some distro gained a lot of marketshare (like Ubuntu now, and possibly Google later), they fucking fork that too. So basically, this is no place to port your shit too. At best, it'll be a suitable OS for typical workstation use or media playing. But the average consumer expects more.

[Big Gulp]

And even if some distro gained a lot of marketshare (like Ubuntu now, and possibly Google later), they fucking fork that too. So basically, this is no place to port your shit too. At best, it'll be a suitable OS for typical workstation use or media playing. But the average consumer expects more.

Ubuntu won't do it, but Google possibly has a shot.  And frankly, if the neckbeards want to hang out in their own little l33t subculture they can go for it, but if a corporation with some muscle and cachet (like Google) tried to jump into Linux in a serious way they could make it the de facto standard.

[stray]

I see Google easily taking over the netbook space at least (and other appliances), but beyond that, I don't think so. No one really wants anything other than a basic office/media playback experience on those type of devices, and Linux, especially in Google's hands, can deliver it in a headache free way. But apps that go beyond it are a different story. Secondly, they just might be a bit too myopic to concern themselves in all of the areas that Microsoft or Apple does. Just a guess. They're first and foremost an internet oriented company, and I bet that even if they do provide a coherent environment for people to develop on, it'll mostly be web based like the Google platform already is. I don't see them concerning themselves with robust gaming API's or trying to cater to pro audio or vid developers or asking Mattel to port the latest Barbie game.

[Big Gulp]

I don't see them concerning themselves with robust gaming API's or trying to cater to pro audio or vid developers or asking Mattel to port the latest Barbie game.

They don't really have to.  Apple doesn't concern themselves with robust gaming API's either, but WoW is on there, along with a bunch of other games.  So is Photoshop, MS Office, etc, etc, etc.  If your platform is popular enough people will develop for it, and I could easily see a Google branded Linux distribution at least equalling Apple's marketshare in the desktop/laptop arena.

The problem with Linux is that it's a moving target.  You have no idea what version of the kernel someone's running, what version of Glibc, etc.  That makes it a wee bit difficult to provide a simple installer for much of anything.  A somewhat stable platform though would remove that hurdle.  Developers would just have to abandon all the rinky dink non-consumer oriented Linux flavors and concentrate on the standard (GoogleOS).  Like I said before, the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the neckbeards would be tremendous, but they don't really matter anyway.

[stray]

Apple has more than enough in place to develop/target a game with.. the main complaint I think is that it isn't easy to port DirectX games to it.

Linux otoh has multiple choices of various subsystems that do the same thing, it isn't even funny. No one is going to come to it, even in a limited way, like with Apple. All of those neckbeards as you call them really fuck shit up, I think. It's because of them that Linux hasn't really evolved in a.. umm.. "vertical" way, I guess? It just spreads out instead. It's more or less the same system I had when I first installed linux in 96 or something - except with more pieces to play with (if I want to). Very few of those pieces have actually been so integral as to be stacked on top so as to have some standard behavior everyone can work with. You criticize the kernel, but I think that's the least of it's worries. At least you can depend on and predict how the kernel is going to work. OTOH, you can't even predict what GUI a person is using, or what audio system, or even a directory structure for fuck's sakes. Maybe you're right though. Maybe a big company like Google could help it. I'm just not sure that big company is Google.