microsoft dropping windows xp

[Master Yoda]

What problems have you got with Mountain Lion? We've got several machines running that, zero problems. By far the best OS I've ever used.

The main one I had to deal with was display issues with the Retina Display. The zooming is lethargic, some parts of the text fields did not refresh in Safari, the cursors sometimes disappear, animated GIFs get garbled frequently, and there were video issues with Quicktime.

I have heard of various others issues as well, but only had the one Mac to deal with.

Well for Apple it is about iTunes and digital downloads. Blu Ray is a piece of plastic that will ultimately become unavailable, as will the players, and you will be left with a collection of drink coasters.

I do not think Blu Ray is going anywhere for quite some time. The simple reality is that streaming an uncompressed blu-ray requires about 25-35 mbs. Sure you can compress the signal and get under that, but you will take a quality hit to do so. Downloading is a possibility, but it will take a good deal of room. Your average movie on blu-ray is in the 20-22 GB range. Add bonus material and you can easily be in the 30-40 GB range or more. That would put a movie collection of just 200 movies at about 5-6 TB. Doable but not common. Storage will catch up, but so will 4k resolution and them we are right back were we started.

 

[NowInc]

My concern with both Windows AND OSX is that they are pushing forward with "Tablet Interfaces". OSX is already shifting towards an iOS look (in fact developers from OSX have been re-allocated to iOS..which I can't blame them as its the cash cow), and we all saw what windows 8 looks like. As part of my job I use both platforms in tandem all day (PC for my 3D Suites as well as the Adobe suite...which runs FAR faster on PC than on the MAC platform), and my MAC for Keynote (Use it once and you'll never go back to powerpoint) for client pitches, and for Logic. ALL the applications I use do NOT benefit from a "touch" interface, and I fear that in the future I won't have a choice. I don't mind "the cloud" so much (using Carbonite, Dropbox, And Google Drive), but I do not see that the world is ready to ditch physical media (90% of my clients deliver us assets via DVD/Bluray, very few have adapted to online methods).

Honestly..and this may sound REALLY out there to some of you, They should really start investing in a true *nix system...they can code their own software cheaper than they realize. As I side project I have been working with a Raspberry pi (a cheap ($50~) credit card sized linux ARM PC), and the power that thing has is impressive...AND its super easy to work with. I know they aren't about to re-do an entire network (and I don't blame them), but moving forward it would be nice if they could plan future additions around a more stable sysetem (both Windows and OSX are resource monsters and thus instabilities)

 

[DocMcHulk]

Apple would like us to think that CD's, DVD's and Blu-ray discs are legacy technology and that all media should now be downloaded. The fallacy in that thinking is that the downloaded media is generally much more expensive. Since I still have optical drives, I can shop for my media and find the least expensive version. If a download is cheaper, I'll buy it.

It has been my experience that physical media is still king and much less expensive. For example, iTunes has the 1951 Disney classic Alice In Wonderland to download for $14.99. Yet, I'm sure you know, the same title is readily available as a DVD for $9.99 (including shipping). Used DVD. CD and Blu-ray disks are dirt cheap on eBay and other sources.

Why should I pay a higher price for a download when I can purchase a DVD, CD or a Blu-ray and burn it to disk myself?

Plus, the digital downloads are VERY DRM restricted. Bought it on iTunes... yep, cant use it on your Android or Windows phone. I refer to have the DVD, rip it to a plain MP4 and I can pu ti ton anything. I'll never publicly share it. It's not meant for redistribution. It's for my own personal use.

 

[wdwmagic]

The main one I had to deal with was display issues with the Retina Display. The zooming is lethargic, some parts of the text fields did not refresh in Safari, the cursors sometimes disappear, animated GIFs get garbled frequently, and there were video issues with Quicktime.

What retina machine have you got?
At work here we have a 15" MacBook Pro Retina and a 13" Macbook Pro Retina. (the 15" is my daily work machine). Both absolutely gorgeous displays - miles ahead of any Windows or Mac display I have ever seen. The only issue I have seen with scrolling is if you use the onboard Intel GPU rather than the dedicated GPU. It is a selectable option, so I am guessing that you might have yours set to the integrated GPU. For me the 15" Retina MacBook Pro is the best computer out there. The combination of that hardware with Mountain Lion is basically my ideal machine - I really struggle to fault it. The points above are non-issues.

 

[Master Yoda]

My concern with both Windows AND OSX is that they are pushing forward with "Tablet Interfaces". OSX is already shifting towards an iOS look (in fact developers from OSX have been re-allocated to iOS..which I can't blame them as its the cash cow), and we all saw what windows 8 looks like. As part of my job I use both platforms in tandem all day (PC for my 3D Suites as well as the Adobe suite...which runs FAR faster on PC than on the MAC platform), and my MAC for Keynote (Use it once and you'll never go back to powerpoint) for client pitches, and for Logic. ALL the applications I use do NOT benefit from a "touch" interface, and I fear that in the future I won't have a choice. I don't mind "the cloud" so much (using Carbonite, Dropbox, And Google Drive), but I do not see that the world is ready to ditch physical media (90% of my clients deliver us assets via DVD/Bluray, very few have adapted to online methods).

Honestly..and this may sound REALLY out there to some of you, They should really start investing in a true *nix system...they can code their own software cheaper than they realize. As I side project I have been working with a Raspberry pi (a cheap ($50~) credit card sized linux ARM PC), and the power that thing has is impressive...AND its super easy to work with. I know they aren't about to re-do an entire network (and I don't blame them), but moving forward it would be nice if they could plan future additions around a more stable sysetem (both Windows and OSX are resource monsters and thus instabilities)

I am somewhat starting to understand the gripe my mother had regarding GUI. She came from the command driven age of computers and hated using a mouse. Ditching the human interface devices seems to be the way things are going.

 

[luv]

I have had exactly two problems with Apple...and both are iPad issues.

1. No flash. This was a big problem when they first came out, but hasn't been an issue for me in quite a while.
2. No smilies on WDWMagic. This is a major annoyance, but I'm living with it because it beats the alternative.

That's it. The words "uninstall and reinstall" have never come up.

 

[Master Yoda]

What retina machine have you got?
At work here we have a 15" MacBook Pro Retina and a 13" Macbook Pro Retina. (the 15" is my daily work machine). Both absolutely gorgeous displays - miles ahead of any Windows or Mac display I have ever seen. The only issue I have seen with scrolling is if you use the onboard Intel GPU rather than the dedicated GPU. It is a selectable option, so I am guessing that you might have yours set to the integrated GPU. For me the 15" Retina MacBook Pro is the best computer out there. The combination of that hardware with Mountain Lion is basically my ideal machine - I really struggle to fault it. The points above are non-issues.

If I am not mistaken it was a maxed out 15" MacBook Pro that one of my salesman had for his personal computer. Fortunately I do not have to deal with them on a day to day basis. Trying the remember the eccentricities of about 6 different versions of windows is enough for me.

The screen resolution is an off thing. For what ever reason, manufacturers just stopped producing monitors that went past 1920x1080. Even my last CRT that I had would do 2048x1536. 4ks are starting to hit the market. With any luck, it will not be long before that is the standard for computer monitors.

 

[Master Yoda]

I have had exactly two problems with Apple...and both are iPad issues.

1. No flash. This was a big problem when they first came out, but hasn't been an issue for me in quite a while.
2. No smilies on WDWMagic. This is a major annoyance, but I'm living with it because it beats the alternative.

That's it. The words "uninstall and reinstall" have never come up.

What is this "uninstall and reinstall" problem you keep bringing up? I have 5 PC's at the house and another 6 at the office and about the only time I have to uninstall and re-install anything is on the rare occasion that I get a bad driver or a piece of outdated software.

 

[wdwmagic]

If I am not mistaken it was a maxed out 15" MacBook Pro that one of my salesman had for his personal computer. Fortunately I do not have to deal with them on a day to day basis. Trying the remember the eccentricities of about 6 different versions of windows is enough for me.

The screen resolution is an off thing. For what ever reason, manufacturers just stopped producing monitors that went past 1920x1080. Even my last CRT that I had would do 2048x1536. 4ks are starting to hit the market. With any luck, it will not be long before that is the standard for computer monitors.

He had some issues with his setup - that experience is not a representation of that machine. The 15" retina MacBook Pro is an absolute power house. I can run Final Cut Pro with four uncompressed 1080p videos on screen at the same, and do real time editing on all 4 clips. It is absolutely incredible that you can do this on a laptop.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

My main machine is a 2006 Mac Pro (which granted, I've upgraded a little over the years) and it's still doing a bang-up job. Though I do believe I'll be upgrading it this year once the new ones are announced. Not that I have to, but I want to.

My other workhorse is a 2008 17" MBP - which I've upgraded as much as possible with both SSD and 6GB of RAM (all it can take). It has the hi-rez screen (1980x1200) option. Not the most portable laptop, but all things considered it's very sweet. Shame they dropped the 17" model.

I guess my point is, you get your money's worth out of Apple products. If you can resist the desire to upgrade, a machine will serve you for a long, long time. Somehow with Windows, you always had to upgrade every couple of years for Windows to feel anything sort of "snappy."

 

[NowInc]

I have had exactly two problems with Apple...and both are iPad issues.

1. No flash. This was a big problem when they first came out, but hasn't been an issue for me in quite a while.
2. No smilies on WDWMagic. This is a major annoyance, but I'm living with it because it beats the alternative.

That's it. The words "uninstall and reinstall" have never come up.

Flash on a mobile platform is not just an apple (ipad) only thing...its no longer supported on Android either. Its old (buggy) technology thats quickly being replaced by HTML5...thankfully.

 

[Master Yoda]

He had some issues with his setup - that experience is not a representation of that machine. The 15" retina MacBook Pro is an absolute power house. I can run Final Cut Pro with four uncompressed 1080p videos on screen at the same, and do real time editing on all 4 clips. It is absolutely incredible that you can do this on a laptop.

It was apparently a common problem with the Mountain Lion upgrade. As with most computer problems. Mac, PC, whatever, the first step in solving it is googling it and seeing what others have done.

The hardware in a MacBook Pro is impressive, but it can be matched save for the Retina Display for less.

My main machine is a 2006 Mac Pro (which granted, I've upgraded a little over the years) and it's still doing a bang-up job. Though I do believe I'll be upgrading it this year once the new ones are announced. Not that I have to, but I want to.

My other workhorse is a 2008 17" MBP - which I've upgraded as much as possible with both SSD and 6GB of RAM (all it can take). It has the hi-rez screen (1980x1200) option. Not the most portable laptop, but all things considered it's very sweet. Shame they dropped the 17" model.

I guess my point is, you get your money's worth out of Apple products. If you can resist the desire to upgrade, a machine will serve you for a long, long time. Somehow with Windows, you always had to upgrade every couple of years for Windows to feel anything sort of "snappy."

You can do the same with PC products. The laptop my wife runs is right at 10 years old. I was able to upgrade the RAM and HD and it runs Win 7 just fine. I will not be producing blu-rays or playing Battlefield 4 on it anything soon, but it still works great for your everyday internet, email, office stuff.

In the end it comes down to the user. I can not tell you how many machines I run into that are just full to the brim with crap. Many are brought back to life with a format and reinstall of the OS. I do that on my own computers about every 18-24 months almost as a matter of house keeping.

 

[NowInc]

My main machine is a 2006 Mac Pro (which granted, I've upgraded a little over the years) and it's still doing a bang-up job. Though I do believe I'll be upgrading it this year once the new ones are announced. Not that I have to, but I want to.

My other workhorse is a 2008 17" MBP - which I've upgraded as much as possible with both SSD and 6GB of RAM (all it can take). It has the hi-rez screen (1980x1200) option. Not the most portable laptop, but all things considered it's very sweet. Shame they dropped the 17" model.

I guess my point is, you get your money's worth out of Apple products. If you can resist the desire to upgrade, a machine will serve you for a long, long time. Somehow with Windows, you always had to upgrade every couple of years for Windows to feel anything sort of "snappy."

Ehhh..My work macbook (which I love..don't get me wrong) was VERY overpriced (I even got it as a refurb to save some money) out of box. I upgraded it myself (doing it via apple would have been insanity), and end of the day..it cost me double what my PC laptop (which is actually very powerful as well) cost me.

Apple makes fine hardware, which costs WAY too much. The whole "It just works" mentality is also a bit wrong. If macs were so flawless and built to last, there wouldn't be long wait times at the Genius bar. In fact every time we have had to get one of our apple machines serviced, we have to go 3rd party authorized in order to get it done fast enough (The appointments for the Apple Stores here in South Florida..especially Miami, are booked up for over a week).

ALSO keep in mind that Apple went and changed their architecture from powerPC to Intel which sort of forced people to upgrade a few years ago..and rumor has it they are going to be switching again (IF they do, it would be the single dumbest move a tech company has made in history...in my opinion at least). I am not a fan of their "support" ("Oh, this is broken...well..let me show you this new model instead that you should buy"), nor am I someone who agrees with the "Apple Tax" philosophy ("I'll pay more because it guarantees it works!").

 

[BoarderPhreak]

^ I guess I'm not the mainstream. I've never been to a Genius Bar, and in fact do ALL of my own service (unless it's warranty work).

I don't mind paying more for Apple products because they're built well and look good which I'm sorry, most commodity "PC stuff" does not. Adding your own upgrades (drives, memory, etc.) is definitely the way to go!

I do recall Apple switching platforms from PowerPC to Intel. My last tower was a 2001 G4 "Quicksilver" model. Still have it! The rumor of switching to ARM is just that. iOS devices are ARM-based.

 

[NowInc]

^ I guess I'm not the mainstream. I've never been to a Genius Bar, and in fact do ALL of my own service (unless it's warranty work).

I don't mind paying more for Apple products because they're built well and look good which I'm sorry, most commodity "PC stuff" does not. Adding your own upgrades (drives, memory, etc.) is definitely the way to go!

I do recall Apple switching platforms from PowerPC to Intel. My last tower was a 2001 G4 "Quicksilver" model. Still have it! The rumor of switching to ARM is just that. iOS devices are ARM-based.

Ah but see...you and I are not like most users...we are able to perform our own upgrades. Apple aims to people who like things to be done for them..and what they charge to do even a simple ram upgrade (not going to mention the gross upcharge they put on the actual hardware component)..is just unbelievable.

I also hope its just rumors on changing the architecture. A BIG selling point for Mac (Macbooks especially) to most I know are the fact that It can also run Windows (even better usage in tandem with Parallels)..and if they switch off intel..that just won't work anymore. I'm also curious to see if they are going to be doing the long overdue updates to the MacPro line..as our main Mac guy here uses one and its starting to run a bit sluggish.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Ah but see...you and I are not like most users...we are able to perform our own upgrades. Apple aims to people who like things to be done for them..and what they charge to do even a simple ram upgrade (not going to mention the gross upcharge they put on the actual hardware component)..is just unbelievable.

I also hope its just rumors on changing the architecture. A BIG selling point for Mac (Macbooks especially) to most I know are the fact that It can also run Windows (even better usage in tandem with Parallels)..and if they switch off intel..that just won't work anymore. I'm also curious to see if they are going to be doing the long overdue updates to the MacPro line..as our main Mac guy here uses one and its starting to run a bit sluggish.

True, true. That's where they really make their money. They can't price the initial hardware too high (and risk being completely non-competitive), so they get you big time on the add-ons.

As for ARM, yeah... That would be a huge mistake for exactly the reason you gave. I run Linux and Solaris in VMs (which admittedly could be done regardless of architecture). I like being all native... It lessens the "issues" usually involved with drivers, performance, etc. Though with the continued 'iOS-ificiation" of OS X, who knows... I refuse to install Mountain Lion. For one, it would fragment the devices in my house. At least now they're all on the same OS (Lion). I still haven't installed iOS 6.x for the same reason. We're at a crossroads...

That's why I'm looking to upgrade mine. It still does what I need, but I'm a "power user" (using the aforementioned OSes and also Photoshop heavily) and it's getting a bit sluggish. They NEED to get a new Mac Pro out this year (which is the understanding). Though truth be told I may just centralize my storage with a NAS and go the iMac route. 'Dunno.

 

[Clever Name]

Well for Apple it is about iTunes and digital downloads. Blu Ray is a piece of plastic that will ultimately become unavailable, as will the players, and you will be left with a collection of drink coasters.

But I've transferred the content of all those drink coasters to hard disk. Optical media will die just as Zip Drives and floppies. Hard disks will die as solid state devices take over. However right now, those drink coaster disks are still the best bargain in town.

Just the other day I decided that I wanted to get a copy of the John Wayne movie "The Searchers". It's prominently shown in the preshow of The Great Movie Ride. iTunes wanted $9.99 for a DVD download. Yet, it was easy for me to find a new Blu-ray copy of the movie for $4.99. My home network isn't fast enough to stream 1080p high definition content so I ripped the movie to a portable hard drive that plugs into my home entertainment media center.

Apple's well known proprietary control of their product keeps prices artificially high. I'm just looking for the highest quality at the lowest price

 

[lazyboy97o]

But I've transferred the content of all those drink coasters to hard disk. Optical media will die just as Zip Drives and floppies. Hard disks will die as solid state devices take over. However right now, those drink coaster disks are still the best bargain in town.

Just the other day I decided that I wanted to get a copy of the John Wayne movie "The Searchers". It's prominently shown in the preshow of The Great Movie Ride. iTunes wanted $9.99 for a DVD download. Yet, it was easy for me to find a new Blu-ray copy of the movie for $4.99. My home network isn't fast enough to stream 1080p high definition content so I ripped the movie to a portable hard drive that plugs into my home entertainment media center.

Apple's well known proprietary control of their product keeps prices artificially high. I'm just looking for the highest quality at the lowest price

That still all sounds more convoluted than just having a Blu-ray player.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

But I've transferred the content of all those drink coasters to hard disk. Optical media will die just as Zip Drives and floppies. Hard disks will die as solid state devices take over. However right now, those drink coaster disks are still the best bargain in town.

Just the other day I decided that I wanted to get a copy of the John Wayne movie "The Searchers". It's prominently shown in the preshow of The Great Movie Ride. iTunes wanted $9.99 for a DVD download. Yet, it was easy for me to find a new Blu-ray copy of the movie for $4.99. My home network isn't fast enough to stream 1080p high definition content so I ripped the movie to a portable hard drive that plugs into my home entertainment media center.

Apple's well known proprietary control of their product keeps prices artificially high. I'm just looking for the highest quality at the lowest price

iTunes can be either really great or a rip off. I usually get my music from there because it's cheaper than buying a CD, but about two weeks ago, I decided I wanted the Les Mis CD and ended up finding it at Target for $10. iTunes was $15. Same deal with a Kelly Clarkson CD. Guess you just have to look around.

The Searchers is a great movie, by the way.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

That still all sounds more convoluted than just having a Blu-ray player.

Well, yes... But there's a) the cost of the player and cables (HDMI at least), and b) having another component (and remote). Investing in a player and media is a losing battle. For example... You buy the latest VHS player and buy 20 movies. Great. But now DVDs come out. Start over. Wait, now it's Blu-ray time... Buy a new TV *and* a player. Oh, and all your media. AGAIN. No thanks!

That having been said, I did drink the Blu-ray Cool-Aide with my last home theater rebuild. Still, I think a HTPC is the way to go. Media and formats are a losing proposition.