The Second Coming of Apple

[Dinner]

Better for them to learn how to use the computers that industry will want them to know after they graduate.

[Agathon]

Better for them to learn how to use the computers that industry will want them to know after they graduate.

If that's graphic design, or video production or anything that is actually creative and not just punching numbers on a keyboard (which any monkey can do), then it looks like macs must become compulsory.

[Agathon]

For students, the eMac is a good computer.

I don't know. A portable would be better.

The emac is good for an office machine. It's a bit underpowered for anything else.

The imac G5 is a great machine for the home, though. It really is great.

[Tassadar500]

Macs are clearly the better computers for graphic design/video production.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You know that's futile, because Windows has fundamental design flaws. Some of the security vulnerabilities are never going to be fixed, even Microsoft openly acknowledges that. Until they completely redesign the OS from the ground up.

You always cite the Win32 "flaw" for this, and say it's a fundamental design flaw...yet no known program ever uses it that I know of (feel free to correct me).

Further, Win32 is going the way of the dodo in Windows Longhorn, replaced with WinFX.

To say they're never going to be fixed when they've been addressed and fixed is nothing less than FUD, my friend.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
That's not true. Many countries, including France, Germany, the UK, the PRC, Japan, and RoK, are switching or have switched to Linux.

Oh shush. First of all, the vast majority of countries you've mentioned there (with the exception of China), have Windows on the vast majority of their PCs.

Second of all, if you're arguing that governments somehow dictate PC trends, that's one hell of an argument I'd like to see you back up.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
ATI and nVidia are coming out with Linux drivers for their graphics cards. That should make it much easier to port games.

They are crap drivers, so quoting token drivers means nothing. ATI still doesn't have AMD64 drivers, while they've had AMD64 Windows drivers for quite a while.

ATI has also publically stated that the amount of funding for driver development is equal to that platform's marketshare.

That's why Linux drivers suck...

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Cheers. I always enjoy reading him. His article on OS X was really interesting.

Anand doesn't write most articles these days. He's too busy doing something useful in studying to become a computer engineer.

The "author" field in particular articles are usually an indicator of who the author was, in this case..."Kristopher Kubicki".

The article is fun though. 80fps in a Quake3-based game like RTCW:ET is hilarious, and about half of what you get in Windows.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You said MS Office was not a monopoly, I have just pointed out otherwise.

If it was a true monopoly, you'd have no alternatives.

AFAIK, OpenOffice, Lotus Office, Corel Office are all readily available, and MS isn't strongarming anyone into buying Office.

Feel free to bring facts to the table next time.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
Macs are clearly the better computers for graphic design/video production.

Why is that?

The vector units (Altivec) on the G4/G5 offer substantially less precision (32-bit instead of 64-bit in SSE2/SSE3), which result in worse quality.

Of course you could do this all with general 64-bit registers with the G5, but then the speed is pathetically slow.

To get the best quality with the best speed, dual Xeons and dual Opterons kick a PowerMac's ass.

Why do you think Steve Jobs' very own Pixar ordered Intel chips over G4/G5s?

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
Except the fact that Intel is releasing a 64-bit processor.

Eh, AMD already done so. It is called the Athlon-64.

There has been major changes for the PC in 2004 and 2005, Mr Nice Guy.

"For students, the eMac is a good computer."

Not it is not. For one, how can students have a fun time on a machine that has practically no games on it?

People, people, The Athlon 64 FX-55 CPU is the best on the market right now. I don't want to hear disputes about that. The G5 doesn't amount to crap.

[Asher]

The G5 is a good chip, but isn't competitive with the latest Intel and AMD processors.

I remember very well when Steve Jobs promised to an awestruck Mac fanatic crowd that the G5 would hit 3GHz by summer 2004.

It barely hit 2.5GHz, and that's with a complex water cooling system.

[Q Classic]

For students, the eMac is a good computer.

I work as a student employee of the uni's IT department. We refuse to buy eMacs for the following reasons:
1. space is a premium in the lab. emacs are fat and heavy.
2. they're underpowered. emacs choke if asked to do more than two things at once--they're just slightly more powerful than imac g3s.
3. their price-performance ratio is awful. even bought in bulk, what you pay for what you get, they don't match up.
4. difficulty in maintenance. you can't just pop it open, replace defective parts, and move on.

now, tell me, for a student, who wants something lasting 4 years, for whom space is a big factor, for whom price is important... how is an emac a good computer?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You said MS Office was not a monopoly, I have just pointed out otherwise.

...

It's a monopoly that has significant competitors.

Right.

[Agathon]

It's a monopoly.

Office compatibility is a network externality.