- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: Texas Ben
What if, instead of windows PCs, Macs were the major type of computer?
That isn't the case so I buy windows. If Mac were more common then I would buy Mac. The entire point of an operating system is to run other software. Since windows is more common it has more compatible software.
If Mac were to keep up their current quality, you would have PCs that:
* Are easier to use
* Don't crash at least once a week
* Actually run faster after installing updates
* Software *much* easier to program because mac's hardware is very uniform compared to that of PCs.
* User-friendly... much more so than windows
Are easier is obviously a subjective test. Mac would be harder for me to use because I haven't had a lot of experience with it. If you use Mac most of the time then it would make sense that you would find macs easier to use.
Crashing once a week is probably intentional hyperbole on your part, but my system doesn't crash. The last time my system actually just up and crashed was when I ran a CPU monitoring program that I didn't read all the requirments for. It was for another CPU type and when it tried to go and do low level manipulation it crashed. It was flat out user error. I run my PC pretty much 24 hours a day. I run a distributed computing project from a laser inferometer all day. In between I run computationally intensive programs like 3ds max, photoshop, and video games. Because I take care of my computer, it doesn't crash. If you aren't downloading trash onto your computer and install active x controls from untrustworthy sources your computer won't crash.
The more uniform software is a tradeoff. Making hardware more uniform limits the creativity of the people who create it but makes it easier to develop for. What if there was a law saying that all car engines have to be the same. It would easier for mechanics to fix them because they are all the same, but at the same time it would limit the developement of new technology. The user friendliness is covered by the easier to use section of my argument.
See, Microsoft is so big right now because the sucess of it's earlier operating systems gives it considerable leverage--
A market share earned by creating a superior product perhaps?
[quote] Kind of like what's making most of you here buy the 360... despite the fact that it will most likely be far inferior to the PS3, you want to stick with the brand you like, despite it's inferior product.
What makes a console a superior product is what software it can run much like an OS. Guess what the superior software is. That's right Bungie games. I wonder what console they will be developing for. From the specs I have read the PS3 has a slight advantage in CPU power. If there is one thing I have learned from PC's its that processor power has little to do with gaming ability when it is compared with the power of the GPU. I bought a computer with a 3.4 GHz HT pentium for with a GB of dual channel ram. I went cheap on the graphics card. I popped in Halo PC and it would only run at low resolution. I had to go buy another card and after installing it noticed an immediate improvement. I haven't read anything too detailed on the video cards of the consoles mainly because I'm too lazy.
[quote]The same thing goes for OS/hardware. Most people don't want to learn a new operating system, so, they don't.
I just don't want to learn an OS that I won't have a use for. I'm in a C++ programming class right now. I guess I'm going to be learning Unix. I have a purpose for that. I have no purpose in learning mac right now because everything I would want to do with a mac I can do with a
[Edited on 9/1/2005]