.

[poomshanka]

Comes down to a "when in Rome" issue for me. I make my living pushing pixels, and the entire process is centered around Macs. Nice that it's my platform of preference, but that might also have something to do with the fact that I've worked on Macs for the last ten years. It's what I'm used to at this point.

As to the stability issue, I did have some problems with the first round of G5s (the single 1.8 GHz processor), and now have two machines networked here at home (G4 1.25 GHz DP and a G5 2.5 GHz DP). Both have a boatload of RAM installed, and I routinely work with Photoshop files that open up at 8 - 10 GB. Big horses to push around, yes, but I can't remember when the last time was I crashed.

Pretty stable platform for my money, especially under some extreme processing loads.

...Dave

[tjonp]

I wish Apple would start producing two-button mice. The whole one-button mouse thing made sense in the 80's, when computers were still intimidating and simplicity was highly valued, but I think we're past that point. Of course, mac users know that pretty much any USB mouse will work with their computer (and they're fairly cheap these days), but as long as Apple keeps packaging their computers with one-buttons, people will ignorantly assume that's their only choice with the mac. It seems with all of the innovative ideas Apple comes up with, they could devise a new kind of mouse that would wow everybody. Unfornately, the company seems content to ignore the issue.

That said, I'll always buy mac.

[Doug@GT]

And I feel stiffled buy only have 2 usable button on a Windoze box. Why doesn't Microsoft use the middle button for something usefull? Not that the wheel for scrolling is usefull, but what about the button?

I use a Microsoft Wireless Optical mouse. It's got left and right buttons, wheel, wheel button, and two thumb buttons.

Most work I do on the computer revolves around the internet and word processing. So my mouse is set up to make this painless. The wheel button is set for "copy", the rear thumb button for "paste", and the front thumb button for "back." People are amazed at how fast I can copy and past information. Pressing the wheel button while turning the wheel enlarges the text size in Firefox, and does other interesting things in other programs.

A good mouse should have software that lets you set the buttons.

Also, I've got a rare gem on my keyboard. On the number keypad, the button that would normally be the number lock key is a tab key. Data entry in excel has never been easier.

Until I find another keyboard with this feature (which is not yet), I won't be buying a new one.

Doug "yeah, I use Windows"

[MaryAnn]

Odd. I've used several slot loading CDs, from a 4 disc changer 6 years ago,to all the car units, and even the 50+1 home unit from Pioneer. Never noticed them being noisy. Perhaps a bad drive? Even Apple gets a lemon ocasionally. It should be a warranty repair.

I'm on my third CD drive. They all acted and sounded the same. Apple will not admit they have a design flaw. Like I said, piece of junk. they DID say that the computer is not designed to work with any CDs except the ones it came with. Really, they said that, sniffingly, on the fone when I started making noises about design flaw. I repeat: ripped off; and I reapeat: hunk of junk.

MA

[MaryAnn]

My quick tips:

Like on the Mac you have to use a stoopid drop-down menu for everything you'd use a right click on a PC.

If you want, you can get any ol' 2-button USB mouse and plug it in. The menu in Excel for Mac when you click the right button should be the same one if you highlight something and "Control-Click". (i.e. hold the control button while clicking the mouse)

AND the slot-loading CD drive makes a sound like a buzz saw when it is in use. Just try listening to a CD with your zillion dollar computer speakers when the drive is making that kind of noise.

To avoid any CD noise: import the CD into iTunes. Then your music will be there without having to even bother with the physical CD at all.

(I have nearly all of my CDs - at least the ones I listen to regularly - imported into iTunes, and not a jewel case cluttering the desk.)

I have a USB mouse that I will try; I had assumed that the mac would not "understand" a two-button mouse but will give it a try. I don't expect the menus to appear as they would on the PC though...I'd have to go by feel rather than sight.

I don't want to put my CDs on the hard drive; I have other things I need to use it for. And I shouldn't have to fill up my hard drive with stuff I already have on CDs because Apple can't fix a design flaw. We older folks don't store all our music on our computers, s'far as I know; we usually still use the CD player. My CD player has way better speakers anyway.

MA

[MaryAnn]

Over the years, I've trained myself to use the mouse left-handed, rather than right as a way to alleviate CT syndrome after I had several bad occurrences of it, even changing to trackball, touch pad and foot ball devices.

I still hate the mouse and most GUIs. Period.

I trained myself to be left-moused too, because of tendonitis. I have a suggestion for the CT though, based on what I've seen with people typing.

I play piano; piano has been played for a few hundred years or so. When people play piano, they basically have their arms straight at the wrist, not wrists bent like they teach in typing school. Typing hasn't been around as long as piano playing, and I think the pianists have the better technique. If I bent my wrists I imagine that I'd sooner or later have some kind of CT type problem, but I keep them straight. My desk chair is low enough that my shoulders are just a few inches above table height, the table that my keyboard is on. And the keyboard itself is way out as far as I can get it, bumping into the monitor.

So my arms are pretty much straight as I type. I type day in and day out (not as much as a "typist" would but quite a bit since I stare at the cyclops all day.) Then when I see someone being treated for CT....gee golly whillikers they've got their wrist in a gizmo that keeps it from bending!! Wowza!! So I keep offering this solution to people but haven't had anyone take me up on it yet. People who aren't as short as I am have trouble envisioning themselves with their chair low enough (or their desk high enough) to have their arms straight. Actually if you just have your elbows resting on the desk that should be sufficient.

MA

[poomshanka]

I have a USB mouse that I will try; I had assumed that the mac would not "understand" a two-button mouse but will give it a try. I don't expect the menus to appear as they would on the PC though...I'd have to go by feel rather than sight.

I've run through several different aftermarket USB mice, and have found that for my personal tastes, the Macally wins hands-down. It comes with software you install that allows you to customize button functionality on a system level, as well as for individual programs. I don't like the wireless versions, as the batteries make the mouse feel like a brick under my hand. The iOptiNet is light, and slides very smoothly on desktop surfaces:

http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/input_d ... e_003.html

$17 on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

Your Mac *should* recognize, in some fashion, the second button on any 2-button USB mouse. Having said that, however, you might also want to try downloading the drivers for the Macally mice from their site and see if they work with your mouse. You can always un-install the driver if it doesn't work:

http://www.macally.com/techsupport/drivers.html

[Leland]

I wish Apple would start producing two-button mice. The whole one-button mouse thing made sense in the 80's, when computers were still intimidating and simplicity was highly valued, but I think we're past that point.

Oh man, I remember seeing this "one button vs. more buttons" debate get ugly in many other forums...

Apple's idea is to get developers to simplify their applications' interfaces so that everything can be accessed with one button.

It's also much easier for people new to computers (yes, they still exist) if they don't have to worry about which mouse button to press.

"Okay, dear, now do I push the left button again?"
"Right, mom."
"Oh, you mean the button on the right, then?"
"No, no no no...."

I've worked with some Windows applications that had a right-click-gone-wrong interface, where some actions were ONLY available through a right-click menu. I shouldn't need to spend that much time hunting through icons & menus to figure out how to get the job done.

[Chuck(G)]

US software giant Bill Gates has high praise for China, which he says has created a brand-new form of capitalism that benefits consumers more than anything has in the past.

"It is a brand-new form of capitalism, and as a consumer it's the best thing that ever happened," Gates told an informal meeting late Friday at the World Economic Forum in this ski resort.

He characterized the Chinese model in terms of "willingness to work hard and not having quite the same medical overhead or legal overhead."

[ThomasDodd]

I'm on my third CD drive. They all acted and sounded the same. Apple will not admit they have a design flaw. Like I said, piece of junk. they DID say that the computer is not designed to work with any CDs except the ones it came with.

Hmmm... You may be right, or very sensitive to the sounds.

Odd that more aren't complaining, but most Mac owners are zelots anyway (Jobs can do no wrong).

It is probably a standars IDE drive. You could loog for a slot loading drive that works, or just get a USB drive with a tray. I'm guessing a case mod for a tray loading drive is a bit much?

I know, it's new, and you shouldn't have to do this. But, you have a few grand in a computer already. You will not get that money back. I say spend $30 - $100 to get it usable. Then in 2-3 years you can get a new system.

[ThomasDodd]

Apple's idea is to get developers to simplify their applications' interfaces so that everything can be accessed with one button.

Yeah. good start. but stiffeling later. Then again I prefer keyboard shortcut to the mouse.

Come to think of it, I don't use a mouse on my personal machines any more. Too many broke cables and too little desk space (too much clutter?) led me to use trackballs. Problem now is I have 2 PS2 trackballs, and the ports are starting to dissappear. Noone makes the style I like anymore (index finger on the ball, thumb=left button, middle finger=middle button, ring finger= left button).

So much easier to move a finger than the whole arm. Compare trombone and WW playing:!:
Ever try those frilly runs on a trombone?

[tubacdk]

I used PCs for a long time and when I got a free mac a couple years ago from the surplus computers at Biola U I gave it a try cuz it was free. What I ended up having at home was an older Compaq Pentium II 400+MHz which I had had for a while and this old PowerMac G3 with a 233MHz processor. The G3 was running the older OS 9.2.2 but was actually a quicker computer than the Compaq. I used them both for a little while but the Compaq ended up taking a dive and I just sold it for parts, kept the G3.

Not long after that I bought a used G3 iBook, 600MHz. It came with OS 10.2, which I also installed on the PowerMac. I was really surprised that the older 233MHz computer ran quicker using OS 10.2 than it had on 9.2.2. And to boot, when tried doing a couple things on my 600MHz iBook next to my P4 1.7GHz PC (WinXP SP2) at work, the iBook was just as fast. So one of my mac vs pc questions was put to rest, that just because Wintel processors are faster doesn't mean the computers are faster. Apple created a much more efficient OS which is also more stable and way cooler.

Basically what it boils down to for me is this: Windoze can get the job done, but there's a lot of hassle along the way. Macs are easier to use and can do just as much with significantly less effort. And Macs are way more stylish and fun to use. They're more expensive, but I'd rather buy a one-year-old iBook than a brand new PC laptop anyway. not to mention that the operating system comes with the machine, is cheaper to upgrade, and more applications come with the OS. And with Apple's switch to Unix AND open source software with the switch to OSX, freeware apps are coming out for Mac all the time.

Okay, I suppose I've used enough keystrokes on this subject. Back to work.

-ck

[tubacdk]

o ya, and on the one button mouse issue, you can get a three button mouse, and also you can either control-click or hold down the mouse on anything to get the same results as a right click.

-ck

[dtemp]

I had been using PCs since middle school. My parent's first computer was a PC (remember Packard Bell?), so was their second and third one. My first computer in college was a Dell laptop. Then, I got a PowerBook for a portable recording studio I was setting up. ProTools ran perfectly on it with only one problem ever, a buffer setting I forgot to change. I got to know Macs and fell in love right away. Since then, I have sold my PC desktop and bought an iMac G5. I now use that for my recording studio. It's plenty portable enough. My PowerBook has been converted to my main school / personal machine. All the programs I need for school are available for Mac. I am a web designer for my school's housing dept. and they have all Dells, so I still have to use PC for work, but I've done some work on my PowerBook just fine when my work PC was being fixed (go figure). I use a two-button mouse when I need to and am looking at getting one of those sweet pen / tablet combos for Photoshop / Flash work. Bottom line: My Macs have never crashed, my PCs have. Yes my Mac was more expensive, but made up for it in the amount of asprin I don't have to buy.

[Chuck(G)]

I had been using PCs since middle school. My parent's first computer was a PC (remember Packard Bell?)

Young whippersnapper, I remember when Packard Bell was a real US Company (not a front for a Taiwanese outfit) that made real computers, like the PB 250: