Apple G5 Powermac now improved!

[Miliux]

I know this has no direct link to D70 but what a heck. Macs are best machines when it comes to PC department. They zooms well with Photoshop CS2.

http://www.apple.com.au/store

!!! 20" displays are now 1 grand (educational price).

Anyone else considering to take jump into the mac bandwagon? I'm seriously considering getting the 2.0Ghz Powermac and 20" mac screen. Windows has done too much damage to me - security holes and viruses.

Just a question: Nikon Capture does have a OSX version, right?

[beetleboy]

A quick warning: you don't wanna start a Mac vs PC debate! Trust me!

Second note..NC does run in OS X (I have it) but I don't use it cos it's just as slow as the PC version!

Liam =]

[SoCal Steve]

OS X Tiger started arriving by mail yesterday in the US. A friend installed his copy last evening.

Only problem - some programs will need updates or upgrades in order to play nice with it. So keep that in mind! But hey, that's life.

[Nnnnsic]

Macs are best machines when it comes to PC department.

Aside for that I'm not going to allow another Mac vs PC debate... that comment makes no sense.

[Miliux]

Hmph. PC as in just normal computers, not non-Mac PCs.

Okay, sorry. Won't start a 'PC' vs Mac debate. Wasn't my attention.

Can anyone confirm what's the colour collaboration profile (default) for Macs?

[rokkstar]

They are also planning an upgrade to the speed of the iMacs. I thinik the top end is going to be pushed to 2ghz.

I might get one of those when they do.
I would love the dual 2.5ghz Powermac, with a 30"" cinema display. It would be unreal. But its just so damm expensive.

I'm also fed up with PC's - I'm definately making the switch for person work, photos, music etc. Thats why I'm thinking the iMac. I still have to use a PC for all my professional work but trying to convince clients to move away from the Microsoft/ASP route of web development so I can spend more time on the mac.

[robboh]

I'm also fed up with PC's - I'm definately making the switch for person work, photos, music etc. Thats why I'm thinking the iMac.

You arent wrong about the expense bit, they aint cheap in the Antipodes!!

Im in IT as well (network engineer) and was sick to death of admining my PC's at home, as well as dual-booting between XP and Gentoo on my main w/s. Got my PM 1.8 single proc as an EOL model (cheaper !!) and havent looked back since.

The Significant Other far prefers using the Mac. She even used the coolpix to take a pic of the mutt, printed it out and had it framed for my birthday without help. No way she could have done it without help on the XP box.

Ive spent VERY little time on system admin since I got it 18 months ago (like about 1/2 a day max over that time period) and actually look forward to coming home to use it!! The PC used to get ignored since I was so sick of computers in general. The Mac seems to make it fun again.

The 'it just works' is true. No rebuilding kernels to add new h/w or hunting the net every month for new driver updates etc. I still find Im probably 'faster' on XP due to familiarity (long work hours), but I feel more happier in front of the Mac. The built-in spell checking in cocoa apps (eg web browser) is fantastic.

It generally seems to multitask better than XP on the PC and while the user interface isnt quite as 'snappy' on an unloaded system, its STAYS at that speed even when you are driving it hard; XP just gets glacial! Panther and Tiger have both also given me speed improvements on the same system. Have had NO kernel panics and have had Finder mess itself to the point of a hard reset a grand total of twice (could swap apps etc and save all docs, just couldnt start new ones or shutdown). Uptime is basically time between updates and wake from sleep is instantaneous.

So, for what you are proposing to use it for, I reckon go for it!! Do take into account that its NOT Windows and will require a few new things to learn.

Cheers
Rob.

[gstark]

One of my favourite thoughts about the Mac is that, if it's so easy to use, why are there so many books and magazines that tell you how to use it?

These days there's little difference between them, but as a person woking in the business software development industry, there's very little money to be made in developing mac software.

[sirhc55]

Excuse me Gary - go into any newsagent and look at PC/Mac magazines and see if you can easily find a Mac magazine.

Go into HotLine Books and look at the one shelf for mac and the forty others for PC.  PS - I know that HotLine Books has now disappeared from Sydney

[robboh]

One of my favourite thoughts about the Mac is that, if it's so easy to use, why are there so many books and magazines that tell you how to use it?

Coming from a PC background, in some ways they aren't as easy to use. Sometimes I dont think OS X is as intuitive in some of its paradigms, but then every system has its quirks. I also found that I tended to approach things how I would in Windows and try to second-guess how the developer would have approached a task. It usually turned out that there was a far simpler way to do it that hadn't occurred to me because it was 'too easy'. That in itself was quite disconcerting.

There are also a lot of 'how to' books for Windows, Linux and every other OS out there. Windows is just so ubiquitous now-days that most people have had contact with it to some extent and at least know the very basics or knows someone who can show them how to do something.

These days there's little difference between them, but as a person woking in the business software development industry, there's very little money to be made in developing mac software.

Agreed that there is little difference in general, just different approaches. I find OS X keeps out of the way more (XP irritates me in its 'helpfulness' and focus-stealing). Windows is a little more 'keyboard accessible' in some ways and there is more share/free-ware out there for Windows. On the other hand, the shareware in the Mac world generally seems of a higher quality. The biggest irritation for me in the s/w side of things is with interfacing to other devices, like my dive computer. Most of these style of devices are only supported with Windows s/w and often only serial interfaces.

Definitely not an Apple fan-boy and I think Apple have some major improvements to make. I make my living with Windows / *nix and MS has some major advantages in some arena's, though their embrace-and-extend approach makes life really hard at times in heterogeneous environments! Apple also makes me nervous in that its a one-stop-shop and is relatively secretive by nature.

Having built every PC Ive owned, I find the relative lack of h/w configurability / availability highly disgruntling, especially with video cards. Id love a 20" iMac but the AIO nature of the beast makes me feel like I lose too many upgrade options when it comes to extending the life of the machine.

I also agree that there is less opportunity doing Mac s/w development, though the guys at Delicious Monster (and a number of other small developers) are apparently doing quite well for themselves. The danger there is Apple shafting them. I do a little bit of dev as a hobby and Im quite looking forward to exploring some of the new bits in Tiger such as CoreData. Its the donkey-work that always lets me down (I lose interest) and some of the new functionality looks like it should do a lot more of that donkey-work for me, letting me concentrate on the interesting bits.

I have tried / used / supported a lot of PC OS's over the years. OS X is by no means perfect, but its the only other viable real-world option I have come across as an alternative to Windows for both me and others that have to use the system.

Finally, I like the fact that I can come home and use an OS that is stable, easy to use, has a UNIX core and reasonable security, that I can still natively access work documents (Office) and that I enjoy using. I dont tinker, I dont have to admin, I dont have to help the SO much, I just use it. And I find I USE it to DO things more than I ever did in Windows.

I know it probably sounds a little weird and its not particularly tangible. It reminds me of the Canon v's Nikon debate in a way. The D70 just feels right in my hands, so does the Mac.

[r2160]

I have been using Macs and PC's at work for almost 18 years.

If I sit somebody down in front of a mac and in front of a pc, the mac still feels more intuitive than XP does. Even OSX has a nicer feel about it, even though I still cant figure out why Adobe, quark and apple still felt the need to change the keyboard shortcuts for some unknown reason!

OSX to me has a significantly smoother feel than XP, although we have found that OSX requires SIGNIFICANTLY more memory than ever before. On a dual 1.8 G5 (bearing in mind we are running photoshop, illustrator quark etc) below 1Ghz of RAM was just a waste of time. The more memory we threw at it, the better it ran! and Faster!

I think in general microsoft still has a way to go before they can latch onto the user interface that apple still has.

As far as market goes, just remember on a world wide basis, apple still has around 20% of the total market, makes for a lot of machines doesnt it!

Glenn

[beetleboy]

One of my favourite thoughts about the Mac is that, if it's so easy to use, why are there so many books and magazines that tell you how to use it?

Have you ever read any of those books Gary? Generally they are 200 pages that say "Turn on the computer, now use it..is it working? Good."!!!

On the flipside, you need a masters degree and many cans of Coke to understand the books about Microsloth products!

Just my 0.014 cents (current US rates!)

Liam =]

[gstark]

There are also a lot of 'how to' books for Windows, Linux and every other OS out there.

Windows has never had the "easy to use" claims made about it that the Mac claims.

And Chris, I'll take up that challenge.

[Nnnnsic]

Great... now this is turning into a Windows vs Mac OS argument as opposed to a Mac vs PC debate... fan-bloody-tastic...

[sirhc55]

Let’s face it - there will always be a debate between PC and Mac as to which is the better. Just like the debate between Sydney and Melbourne, Nikon and Canon ad nauseum.

But in the end, each and everything that has debate has no winners

[rokkstar]

Sydney
Nikon
Mac

There you go, sorted.



(just sh*ts and giggles guys)

[gstark]

Let’s face it - there will always be a debate between PC and Mac as to which is the better. Just like the debate between Sydney and Melbourne, Nikon and Canon ad nauseum.

But in the end, each and everything that has debate has no winners

Wouldn't you just hate to be a Canon owning Mac user in Melbourne?

[genji]

at least mac computers/laptops are not as expensive as they used to be.

[Nnnnsic]

at least mac computers/laptops are not as expensive as they used to be.

Yes, but by that same token, neither are PC's.

[genji]

oops, i take my comment back, just had a look at the apple and ibm site..and really u cant compare, unlike cameras. but for some reason mac look more affordable.

[beetleboy]

You're right genji, Mac prices have come down big time over the past 10 years.

As a guide, my dad paid around $5-6k for a Mac Plus in 1989-ish! And his Laserwriter was about $8k! And those were the days when a dollar could buy you a whole bag of mixed lollies!!

The old fella bought a second hand iMac for $50 at a garage sale the other day, what a bargain!

Liam =]

[Mal]

Let’s face it - there will always be a debate between PC and Mac as to which is the better. Just like the debate between Sydney and Melbourne, Nikon and Canon ad nauseum.

But in the end, each and everything that has debate has no winners

Wouldn't you just hate to be a Canon owning Mac user in Melbourne?

I am a fence sitter.

Mac and PC both notebooks
Born in Melbourne but live in Sydney
BUT ONLY USE NIKON
Well 1 out 3 an't bad.

[sirhc55]

Here are 2 comparisons of products I have bought:

1987: 2x MacPlus at $6k each, Apple Laserwriter $12K, 20Mb H/D $3,500

2000: Nikon D1 $10,000 (without lens)

Just look at what you can get today for a lot less. PS: Add to the above a CD writer that cost me $2,500 when they first came down in price from the $30,000 level

[pippin88]

So when do the D2x and 200-400 arrive Chris?