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[StarWarsGirl]

So far Chrome is winning by a landslide...

 

[sweetpee_1993]

No offense, but I hate Macs. Just don't like the overall feel. I know some who will fight me to the death otherwise, though. Okay, that might be extreme... you get the idea!

Go PC!

No reason to debate. I had standard laptops that were Windows-based and cost much less than my MacBook Pro. Nothing but performance & security problems...both were pretty much crap. I'm not a tech-gal so I have no loyalty to PC...no real training or knowledge, just basic abilities to do what I wanted to. After my beloved pink Vaio bit it I was determined to take my time buying something new. I shopped a lot of PCs but always came back to wondering how long it would last. A year? Two, maybe? I already had 2 older iPods, an iPod touch, and an iPhone. So when I saw the Mac display at Best Buy I stopped to look. I found the Mac iOS much more logical, streamlined, and easy for me to "get". Plus, hey, I'm a girl. Appearance does factor in and at the time the MacBooks were like super sleek and attractive. The MacBook Pro cost me more than 3x's what I paid for my pink Vaio but I was willing to take a risk on something different. There definitely was a transition period; I think of it like learning a new language. Everything is fairly easy to figure out if you look at it a bit. I could imagine someone more extensively experienced or trained in standard PC/Windows to be thrown off by the differences in operation more than someone who didn't know much to begin with. For the PC-stupid (me) switching over to something I didn't need instruction or training to utilize was a great fit. And I love my MacBook. Had it for almost 2 years now. Runs like a champ. Haven't had the plague of problems I did before. It's been quite nice. So, yeah, Mac isn't for everyone but for some its a Godsend. My only concern is the future of Mac, what kind of over-thinking the tech gurus will throw at it without SJ to keep it simple, sleek, and designed for the user.

So, no debate out of me. Enjoy your PC. I'll enjoy my Mac.

Go Mac!

 

[englanddg]

No reason to debate. I had standard laptops that were Windows-based and cost much less than my MacBook Pro. Nothing but performance & security problems...both were pretty much crap. I'm not a tech-gal so I have no loyalty to PC...no real training or knowledge, just basic abilities to do what I wanted to. After my beloved pink Vaio bit it I was determined to take my time buying something new. I shopped a lot of PCs but always came back to wondering how long it would last. A year? Two, maybe? I already had 2 older iPods, an iPod touch, and an iPhone. So when I saw the Mac display at Best Buy I stopped to look. I found the Mac iOS much more logical, streamlined, and easy for me to "get". Plus, hey, I'm a girl. Appearance does factor in and at the time the MacBooks were like super sleek and attractive. The MacBook Pro cost me more than 3x's what I paid for my pink Vaio but I was willing to take a risk on something different. There definitely was a transition period; I think of it like learning a new language. Everything is fairly easy to figure out if you look at it a bit. I could imagine someone more extensively experienced or trained in standard PC/Windows to be thrown off by the differences in operation more than someone who didn't know much to begin with. For the PC-stupid (me) switching over to something I didn't need instruction or training to utilize was a great fit. And I love my MacBook. Had it for almost 2 years now. Runs like a champ. Haven't had the plague of problems I did before. It's been quite nice. So, yeah, Mac isn't for everyone but for some its a Godsend. My only concern is the future of Mac, what kind of over-thinking the tech gurus will throw at it without SJ to keep it simple, sleek, and designed for the user.

So, no debate out of me. Enjoy your PC. I'll enjoy my Mac.

Go Mac!

When your mac finally kicks the bucket (at 2 years, I'd give it another 2 - 3 max), when shopping, take a peek at the Chromebooks.

If ease of use and reliability are what you seek, for a good price, I think you'll find them extremely interesting (not now, in about 2 - 3 years).

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm getting tired of my iPod Touch. It's so slow with the internet, and the only thing I use it for is music in the car. Again, I just don't like the layout on Apple products. Just boring overall, IMO.

Conversely, I look at Windows/PC and its a total "?!" Then I go find my sweet, candy pink shelled Mac and I can breathe again.

 

[englanddg]

Yep, I called it with my Rap video posting.

/me grabs some popcorn

 

[sweetpee_1993]

When your mac finally kicks the bucket (at 2 years, I'd give it another 2 - 3 max), when shopping, take a peek at the Chromebooks.

If ease of use and reliability are what you seek, for a good price, I think you'll find them extremely interesting (not now, in about 2 - 3 years).

If my Mac hangs in for 2-3 years the lifespan will be double or more what I got out of Gateway, HP, Dell, or Sony.

 

[englanddg]

If my Mac hangs in for 2-3 years the lifespan will be double or more what I got out of Gateway, HP, Dell, or Sony.

Well, you just seem to attract crashing hardware!

Then again, IT is what I do for a living, so...I have all sorts of old machines laying around the house doing pretty much nothing outside of acting as media center extenders or servers, but still wholly functional.

Laptops, different story. I replace those every 2 years on average.

For the record 3 - 4 years is what a desktop should last you, on average.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Yep, I called it with my Rap video posting.

/me grabs some popcorn

Nah. It's as simple as Apple interfaces don't appeal to some and some find the other side of the coin perplexing, over-complicated, and impossible to understand. It's like if you had 2 people who didn't speak the same language. Nothing wrong with either of them. They're different. One isn't better than the other. It's not a debate, only a contrast of differences. An Apple fan has their reasons for not preferring PC just as PC fans have their reasons for not liking Apple interfaces. It's all good.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Well, you just seem to attract crashing hardware!

Then again, IT is what I do for a living, so...I have all sorts of old machines laying around the house doing pretty much nothing outside of acting as media center extenders or servers, but still wholly functional.

Laptops, different story. I replace those every 2 years on average.

For the record 3 - 4 years is what a desktop should last you, on average.

My husband has a Dell XPS desktop he paid a small fortune for in 2008 to push his flight sims. It's still running pretty darned good for 5 years old. BTW, when I have to touch his desktop I use Chrome. He hates Chrome. I hate using his computer at all even with the giganto monitor. Since Microsoft sold off Flight Sim (to Boeing or something I think he said but I wasn't paying the best attention) he's worried his virtual flying will slowly fade away. So sad. He loves to fly & the flight sims are so much more accessible and affordable than actually flying planes (which he's done, too). I would say he'll be in the market for another performance machine but he refuses to make anymore big investments until he knows it'll be for a good reason. 5 years with the XPS, I know its been in the shop for issues 3 times.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Well, you just seem to attract crashing hardware!

It's probably me destroying the things! Seriously. I'll be the first to admit it. My first laptop probably was fixable before I became infuriated with its refusal to work right when I was pinched for time and I beat the keypad to pieces and shattered the screen. LOL! My problem is how crazy complicated everything is to me. You can't just open a program, even one you've never used before and just go. Feels like you need training for every little thing. I don't have the interest or the time. If I can't figure it out in 5 minutes or less, I'm done. I'll shut it off and leave it. It's highly probable that the problems with the old laptops were the idiot operator. I can own that. But, if a person like me can find a better alternative that facilitates accomplishing things without that defeated "I'm the only in the world who can't do this crap" feeling then wouldn't that be a good thing, too?

 

[englanddg]

My husband has a Dell XPS desktop he paid a small fortune for in 2008 to push his flight sims. It's still running pretty darned good for 5 years old. BTW, when I have to touch his desktop I use Chrome. He hates Chrome. I hate using his computer at all even with the giganto monitor. Since Microsoft sold off Flight Sim (to Boeing or something I think he said but I wasn't paying the best attention) he's worried his virtual flying will slowly fade away. So sad. He loves to fly & the flight sims are so much more accessible and affordable than actually flying planes (which he's done, too). I would say he'll be in the market for another performance machine but he refuses to make anymore big investments until he knows it'll be for a good reason. 5 years with the XPS, I know its been in the shop for issues 3 times.

I still have machines running (doing various things, mostly storage or media sharing) in the house that are 10+ years old and still work fine. What I meant by the 3 - 4 year comment is that about every 3 - 4 years there is a major leap in hardware that would induce an upgrade. For client machine replacement metrics, 3 - 4 years is what you should plan for (if you get more, great!).

It has nothing to do with running older applications, or even the life of the hardware per se. It has to do with how the hardware can handle new software releases and updates, and the cost of working hardware actually going up once it's out of major circulation for a period of time.

Then again, many of my buys have been on an enterprise level...personal use is much different.

Oh, and if he's into flight simulators (as am I), if he's bummed about the loss of MS Flight Sim, have him check out this!

http://www.flightgear.org/

It's fantastic! And it's FREE!

 

[englanddg]

It's probably me destroying the things! Seriously. I'll be the first to admit it. My first laptop probably was fixable before I became infuriated with its refusal to work right when I was pinched for time and I beat the keypad to pieces and shattered the screen. LOL! My problem is how crazy complicated everything is to me. You can't just open a program, even one you've never used before and just go. Feels like you need training for every little thing. I don't have the interest or the time. If I can't figure it out in 5 minutes or less, I'm done. I'll shut it off and leave it. It's highly probable that the problems with the old laptops were the idiot operator. I can own that. But, if a person like me can find a better alternative that facilitates accomplishing things without that defeated "I'm the only in the world who can't do this crap" feeling then wouldn't that be a good thing, too?

I hope this doesn't come out wrong, but for severely non-technical users I support (and I have many, mostly investors and their families where "personal support" is assumed as part of my position), I try as hard as I can to shove them onto macs and Apple products.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I hope this doesn't come out wrong, but for severely non-technical users I support (and I have many, mostly investors and their families where "personal support" is assumed as part of my position), I try as hard as I can to shove them onto macs and Apple products.

Not taken wrong at all. It's nice that there's something to fit everyone. I live a less-stressed existence because something is made for people like me. I'm definitely not meant to be an IT gal. God bless those of you who are IT peeps because you have to deal with the clueless like me. I'm much happier to do only simple things with computers then go sew or create something fun. As totally silly as people who say they can't sew or can't use a sewing machine sound to me, I imagine that's how computer-challenged people like me sound to you.

 

[englanddg]

Not taken wrong at all. It's nice that there's something to fit everyone. I live a less-stressed existence because something is made for people like me. I'm definitely not meant to be an IT gal. God bless those of you who are IT peeps because you have to deal with the clueless like me. I'm much happier to do only simple things with computers then go sew or create something fun. As totally silly as people who say they can't sew or can't use a sewing machine sound to me, I imagine that's how computer-challenged people like me sound to you.

Well, I can sew too, and also have worked on sewing machines that are highly computerized (embroidery units)...

However, I think you are completely right. Had I not had a great-aunt who lived with my grandparents in FL when I went to live with them for the summers as a teen (hence all the Disney trips, where my grandfather would drop me off as a teen with my annual pass and something like 10 bucks in my pocket for lunch and snacks while he taught college in Orlando)...off track...had I not had a great-aunt who first taught me to cross stitch when I was 7 or so, and then later how to use a machine, I would find it infinintly confusing. My sister (who didn't have these experiences), still finds even sewing on a button difficult.

 

[trr1]

it depends on what I want to do
chrome crashes a lot and has no support
IE wont play some facebook games
fire fox is slow but it doesn't crash
if i could take the best from all three that would be an amazing browser

 

[StarWarsGirl]

it depends on what I want to do
chrome crashes a lot and has no support
IE wont play some facebook games
fire fox is slow but it doesn't crash
if i could take the best from all three that would be an amazing browser

Odd, I rarely have issues with Chrome crashing...not since I last updated it. If I could combine Chrome and Firefox, it would be perfect.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Unkadung? Love the new name. I am going to have to remember that one.

Mostly IE with my work laptop. Home I use Chrome and occasionally IE. Firefox to me is a little slow.

As for 2 - 3 years for the life of a PC, I think times have changed over the past 5 - 7 years. Back in the 90's PC technology was moving like the speed of light. You could spend big bucks on a top of the line PC and in 1 year it was slow and out of date. Like @sweetpee_1993 's husband I bought a Dell XPS PC about 6 years ago and it is more than capable of running most everything today. A video card bump is all it needs. For work we run Dell and my last one was retired after 5 years and I just passed 2 with this one and there is still more than enough HP under the hood.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Unkadung? Love the new name. I am going to have to remember that one.

Mostly IE with my work laptop. Home I use Chrome and occasionally IE. Firefox to me is a little slow.

As for 2 - 3 years for the life of a PC, I think times have changed over the past 5 - 7 years. Back in the 90's PC technology was moving like the speed of light. You could spend big bucks on a top of the line PC and in 1 year it was slow and out of date. Like @sweetpee_1993 's husband I bought a Dell XPS PC about 6 years ago and it is more than capable of running most everything today. A video card bump is all it needs. For work we run Dell and my last one was retired after 5 years and I just passed 2 with this one and there is still more than enough HP under the hood.

We kept our computer for ten years before finally replacing it. It was time. We recently bought a Dell laptop and an HP laptop. I definitely prefer HP. A smoother computer IMO. We use Dells at school. It was nice when they finally replaced the old dying Macs.

 

[PhilharMagician]

We kept our computer for ten years before finally replacing it. It was time. We recently bought a Dell laptop and an HP laptop. I definitely prefer HP. A smoother computer IMO. We use Dells at school. It was nice when they finally replaced the old dying Macs.

Biggest problem I have had with Dell is there they do something to screw up serial communications which has to be in their motherboard design. I know the serial port is not being used much these days, but Dell must have had a design patent on a non-communicable serial port. Buy a $20 USB to serial convertor and you can go back to work.

 

[wdwmagic]

On OSX there is very little to choose between Safari, Chrome, Firefox. My personal preference is Safari, as it has the best gesture and retina display support, and also integrates nicely with Cloud tabs.

On Windows, my preference is Chrome or Firefox. Unfortunately IE has just become so riddled with security issues and rendering issues, I can't stand it. IE10 is a significant improvement however.