XP SP2 crashes

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ALoLA\";p=\"63850)</div>

Although many may, indeed, have a choice, others simply don't. Over the years, I have invested in s/w that simply won't run on a Mac and for which there is no Mac version and probably never will be. Who do I see about that?

 

well i can only say that most people in the know that ive talked to say that Macs simply dont scale in a corporate environment.

that is how microsoft can make enough money to support other services. also the ms exposure at work just makes it that much easier to stick with the same at home.

you cant beat ms office... but at the same time you cant do better than a mac with firewire for video editing either. so both are around because they service a need.

that is why one wont surplant the other... they are not really competing. i guess microsoft can try (they have been for years) to cut into apple's video editing market, but lets face it... they are wasting their time.

what they should do is what they are doing and that is to get into the game segment as much as possible.

PIM software only needs to work on user interface and portability across platforms and medias... last thing we all need is another bell or whistle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA\";p=\"63857)</div>

True in my case. As a result of such exposure, the fact that MS Office is ubiquitous, and a few other factors, I wound up with PCs at home. Then, of course, in comes the "video dilemma".....pay a couple of grand for hardware or considerably less for PC s/w that works reasonably well.

 

microsoft pc's have caught up considerably in the video editing arena...but i have to think that a lot of that doesnt have to do with microsoft then it has to do with better 3rd party offerings and much much faster hardware.

 

Well, if you don't like to see your AV equipment, that's your choice Mine is fully visible and I like how it looks. You know, high quality AV equipment usually looks sexy. People buy plasma TV sets not because of their tecnnical data (which are inferior to CRT), but based on how it looks. They pay triple price premium compared to the same screen size CRT just for the look and symbol of status. Part of the success (IMHO) or '04 Prius is its distinctive look that does not remind of cheapo Echo econobox anymore.

And how exactly quiet your Dell at full load? Is it quiet when spinning CD? Are you enjoying fan hum during quiet music passages? :wink: 3.2GHz Dell I have at work reminds me of a helicopter. Yeah, I can build DIY quiet box (and I did at home), but for most people is it way too much hassle.

As for the price, you can get fanless WME box for $2500 or Mac Mini with the same configuration (512/80) for $774. Even just audio box from Hush will set you back for 1200 Euro.

OS is not important on the media machine unless you also use it as your primary PC.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tag\";p=\"63862)</div>

True in my case. As a result of such exposure, the fact that MS Office is ubiquitous, and a few other factors, I wound up with PCs at home.
[/b][/quote]

Oh, I'm the original Benedict Arnold of the Mac/PC Wars. Get this:

• : Unix user on mini-computers.
  
• 1984: First post-graduate job (embedded development, also Unix on mini-computers). But I see a Mac, and I fall in loooooove..... But: with these new "huge" paychecks, buy a car or buy a Mac 512K?
  
• 1985: Thank God for mass transit. And I get involved in co-founding a Mac user group (dBUG) in Seattle.
  
• 1985-1989: A golden age. Mac evangalizing -- seeing everyday folks (writers, grandmothers, artists, construction workers, prostitutes mrgreen) using computers. Writing Macintosh articles, giving talks, organizing User Group meetings. Good times.
  
• 1989: I start developing Windows software at work. Have moved up to a color Mac at home.
  
• 1990: By the end of the year, maintaining two different systems (and staying on top of them both) is getting tedious. One or the other...
  
  Buy a Gateway for home; Mac is sold to good family. dBUG members scream "traitor!" (and then laugh. Many, many friends from that period -- smart & good people.)
  • 
    [hr:dfbfa76f79]
    As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings in the PC vs. Mac argument -- I've been through it myself numerous times over the last 20 years.
    
    And now I'm finding myself in it again -- I'm going back to doing embedded SW development. This will probably mean familiarizing myself with Linux as a platform at work; but it also means that I'm no longer linked to needing a Windows PC at home for development purposes.
    
    So an OSX Mac is tempting -- I can have a GUI environment for everyday things, and Unix for development. (Though these days, an e-mail client and a web browser are about 75% of my computer use at home).
    
    But there are still issues, and still trade-offs. I'll see.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA\";p=\"63864)</div>

I think that's spot on. I have to say, however, that I know some people that do it plus have read many, many accounts of others. The pattern that seems to have emerged (to me, anyway) is those who encounter problems are running an OS other than W2k or XP.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LazyBear\";p=\"63872)</div>

I have a home office that I sort of share with my sons. We have 3 (yes, three) Dells that are networked and all reside on the floor within a couple of feet of one another. In short, it's pretty much whisper quiet even with all 3 running. This despite the fact that I have installed a second HDD in two of them and top two drive bays on all three machines are filled with DVD-ROMs and DVD writers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LazyBear\";p=\"63872)</div>

Last Dell I bought was on sale.

2.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 120GB HDD, WME, ATI AIW card, DVD-ROM plus CDRW, etc., all for less than the price you stated for that Mac Mini.

 

No system is unbreakable. Put in enough garbage code, there is no way a general exception throw/catch will save your a**. Unless you are very careful with garbage collection in programming, you can expect issues with memory especially paging issues.

In the embedded world, say industrial sensors in critical process environments, the gadgets are so reliable due to the purposely small kernel. You don't find GUI or WMF in an ORP sensor. There are very carefully defined BSG/BSP's and the approved vendor shortlist is very short indeed.

By keeping this environment as small as possible while providing the bare minimum functionality, you avoid a lot of hardware/software issues. Since Apple decided to lock down the hardware and software, they had an early edge in product reliability. OX 10.x has had its fair share of teething problems though.

Since most folks expect a certain degree of functionality, it's all but impossible to lock down the OS. Unless you run a Draconian IT department and have absolute authority to make everybody's life a living h***.

Windows is a victim of its own success. Since the hardware end is fairly open, it seems everybody and their dog makes a generic beige box. Software development is even more open, something Microsoft supports. That drives the price down but can also open up nagging issues of hardware/software incompatibility.

Microsoft has gotten a lot better with patch compatibility, especially compared to the disastrous SP releases under NT 4.0 that broke domains and servers. They're not perfect, and I think an investment in something like Norton SystemWorks 2005 can go a long way to resolving issues you do have.

I still prefer Windows Server over the Apple variants in a large multiuser environment. And I really don't think anyone wants to return to the green screens of the IBM 3270 emulator anytime soon.

 

Did you buy one with a cheap nice person Centrino. If you are smart, you will know that a Centrino is a Pentium I. :lol:

 

Did you mean to say "Celeron"? The answer is still "no", regardless. :wink:

 

Whoops i meant celeron. Sorry 'bout that. :mrgreen:

 

Tag, you are comparing cheapo plastic PC with noisy fans to a nicely looking quiet machine whihc, btw, comes with additional software like iLife and Quicken. Please compare apples to apples. Find 2GHz Pentium base small and quite box and then compare prices. Otherwise you are saying "I have bought Kia for $10K" to someone showing you $30K car.

I am not Mac fan, but I do like good looking equipment and I hate fan noise.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LazyBear\";p=\"63971)</div>

First of all, I already stated I don't have a problem with fan noise. That's because (a) the fans aren't noisy and (B) the boxes are located on the floor, under the tops of the desks rather than right next to my ear.

Secondly, I don't know which version of Quicken is offered but I can buy Basic for $9.95 and Premier for $39.95. Regarding iLife, I'm not sure about its functionality but I have a copy of Nero for which I paid 8 bucks and I'll bet it has most, if not all, of the functionality of iLife.

 

actually celerons are built on the P2 core...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tag\";p=\"63855)</div>

Although many may, indeed, have a choice, others simply don't. Over the years, I have invested in s/w that simply won't run on a Mac and for which there is no Mac version and probably never will be. Who do I see about that?
[/b][/quote]

Microsoft. VirtualPC for the Mac, for those with legacy PC software with no Mac equivalent. Personally, I try to keep MS stuff off my Macs though.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman\";p=\"63947)</div>

Sigh. If only.

Well, a boy can dream, can't he?

 

hey!! thats where i work!@!