OT question about computers....

H

hounddogs

Cathlete
The kid's gone off to college and is no longer here to fix our computer problems. The likelihood of me really learning how to deal with my PC is about as good as the likelihood of me learning to fix my car.

There are some reasons for getting away from Microsoft. My question is would it be worth it to switch to a Mac of some kind? Is life that much easier? Will I spend significantly less time staring at the screen wondering what I've done this time?

All I use the computer for is word-processing, some minor graphics stuff for personal use only, some photo storage, foreign language programs, and internet. Any opinions will be much appreciated. Thanks from a computer ostrich,

--Ann
 
Well.... I don't think so.

Macs may be better, but the people who own them are in the minority. I think you are better off having what everyone else has. Which means a godawful Microsoft operating system. They're no good, no doubt, but most of us have them and there are alot of geeks out there who you can call on who know how to deal with them. You can go to your local newspaper and probably find ads for local geek types who can come over and help you at a reasonable hourly rate. (If you're in New York, I'll send my stepson over. He's a whiz).

-Nancy
 
Microsoft offers the same Office package (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) for the Mac as they do for Windows. There are advantages to the Mac. Major one is that this operating system isn't the target of hackers. You mentioned graphics. Graphics packages are superior for the Mac than they are for Windows. I know many people who would trade in their Windows operating system for a Mac. I also know others who exclusively use their Mac in offices where the majority use the Windows operating systems. No interoperability problems at all.

So, I would say, go for the Mac. They are more reliable and don't crash as often as the Windows operating systems.

Hope this helps,
Lorrayne
 
Hi Ann,

I work in IT in higher ed. Based on what you want to do with a computer, I would suggest looking into a Mac. If there's an Apple store near you, you could go there and check them out.
 
My SO bought a MAC and, honestly, I hate it. I am a software engineer by day, though, so maybe it is my years of working with Windows-based PCs and Unix systems that makes me somewhat suspicious of a computer that has a single mouse button.

Whenever I try to do anything online -- none of the web pages look correct (spacing is typically off) and so I cannot buy anything online using the MAC. That may be some sort of setting that I need to check or something...but, hey, isn't it supposed to be EASY. I've never had to do any special tweaking on my PC to make web pages look right. Also, the browser has crashed several times (seems to be associated with pages that have popups). So there are some sites that I cannot view at all.

It is cute though.

Shonie
 
Shonie,

I sent your problem to my best friend who prefers the Mac over her PC. Here is her response:

Version 10.3.x is the most recent OS and I just loaded it and I love it! I run MS IE, Netscape and Safari and haven't had a problem. If I run across a page that won't render in one, there's always one that will. I have that same issue on my PC, too, though. I default to Netscape and sometimes have to switch to IE on my PC to get some pages to work. Now, THAT'S annoying!! :)

Also, I bought a trackball with multiple buttons, so I don't have a problem with right-click menus. The standard Apple mouse is pretty sucky, and they've always come with a single button. You can get around it, but since I'm a trackball user, it was never an issue.

I suspect that her web browser is configured to be most secure so that could explain why she can't see websites correctly. If she is familiar with Unix, she should be able to get into the logs to figure out what's happening. OS X is built on BSD, so it's easy to use if you are Unix-inclined.... But I didn't have any problem with MacOS9 either. Just thinking out loud, her SO might have set her up to be a regular user and not a Power User, so that could explain her unhappiness about being able to configure it. A user on a Mac has more options for controlling her environment than on a PC, so i know that causes some Windows users some problems when first getting used to a Mac.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks Lorrayne!

I'll print this out and take it home to see what I can do with the darned thing (actually, I just ordered a Dell laptop so I probably won't have to deal with the MAC anymore).

The mouse thing is a good idea!

Thanks again!!!

Shonie
 
Shonie,

Hope that the information helps you. Also, the Dell laptop has been rated the highest for value from Consumer Reports.

Lorrayne
 
I would say no, don't get a Mac. Mac's are more for computer graphics. Microsoft is actually an excellent product. What kind of problems are you having?

Geesh - I just looked through every other post. Am I the only one who likes MS?
 
The problems I'm having are nothing really terrible, just annoying. About half the time when I start up I get a message telling me I didn't shut down properly (never true) so it takes forever to get going; I'm paranoid about viruses; I'm not a Bill Gates fan; it freezes a lot; the size of the print on the screen varies at whim and my son can't figure out what that's all about-it makes some web pages impossible to read; I don't really trust the guy that comes and works on it; other little stuff like that. When I type it out it all seems quite trivial, and I certainly don't want to contribute my hardware to the landfill, so I'm undecided.

Thanks so much for all your input. It gives me more to chew on.

--Ann
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top