I've about run the course with my 7 year old version of Windows XP Pro. I say run the course, because it's not what the legal world would call, legit. I have to make sure nothing contacts microsoft's website to update anything, otherwise it's pop-up hell to replace it. I'd like to go Mac, but not willing to make that kind of investment to replace the infrastructure I have already. So, was thinking about buying a full version of (no upgrading possible) Windows 7 Pro. Anyone have any experience with it yet?

No experience with that version yet, but I can assure you that in true Windows fashion, as soon as you purchase and install it there will be a newer, "better" version realeased.

Never again will I be the "first" to buy/install a new operating system!

Windows ME was a complete joke. . . .

XP Pro was pretty good

Vista. . . A downgraded version of XP-Pro/ incompatible with most of my software!!!

Windows 7? I'll Wait to Get Windows 7 SP2

Modern Macs (so-called “Intel” Macs) can run both the Windows and Mac operating systems.

Switch to a Mac, install whatever new or old Microsoft crap you wish on it, use the built in Mac software for web surfing, email, iTunes, video & multimedia fun etc.... and evolve over to the Mac version of Office when it's convenient. (Or, just go with the free OpenOffice Office clone right out of the gate and leave Microsoft behind, forever.)

Macs cost less in the long run. There's a lot more to cost of ownership than initial hardware investment. —Ted E.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted E.:
install whatever new or old Microsoft crap —Ted E.

Was this your opinion or fact? Was this comment approved by the moderator prior to posting?

Thanks guys & gals! Ted, all I can about the Mac idea is: The heart wants what the heart wants, but the wallet keeps getting in the way!

I'm not willing to make the $2k investment to replace what I've got now, or the time required to get on the learning curve to get to the same comfort level with Mac as I am with PC. Plus, I just upgraded my pc last winter with the latest and greatest motherboard/processor/memory. Not quite ready to walk from that investment, yet. Will be in about two years though.

I've asked this question on another forum I participate in as well. The responses have been overwhelmingly positive for Windows 7. Including one response from a Mac guy who has been running 7 beta for the past several months. Said it has features that he wished the Mac side had. Said he hasn't had a single problem with it either.

As noted in the fine print at the top of each GEBB page, “The comments posted on this message board represent the individual opinions of their respective posters only...”

But, as a trained professional with over 30 years of experience in the computer and allied fields, and as one who taught computer stuff on Windows-based and other PCs at Fairfield University(Connecticut), CoD and IIT for over ten years, and who then came home each night to hug his Mac, I will claim “Expert” status and, in that context, offer my “opinion” as Fact. —Ted E.

quote:

Said it has features that he wished the Mac side had. Said he hasn't had a single problem with it either.

That's just not possible. Mac is way better. At everything. Always. That snazzy guy on the commercials says so. And that PC guy is such a square.

Lol @ Ted and MI87.

Nc, you said you'd be ready to walk away from that investment in an estimated 2 years....but at what cost? By then, you will probably have invested hundreds more into your PC and not want to walk away from that investment.

The move to MAC over PC is not an easy decision, but as Ted said it's less of an investment over time. With all of the "necessary" upgrades, downloads, and headaches of a PC, it doesn't take long for a MAC to financially even out with a PC. Plus, it has far superior graphics.

And no, I do not own a MAC. I've only been blessed with the opportunity to use them at my old job and at school. Familiarizing yourself with them is much easier than you may think.

I hear ya'. But $150 and 2 hours to install vs. $2,000 and what I know will consume me and my interests, just doesn't jive right now. Especially with tax season looming over the horizon. This year, thanks to the move, all the expense reimbursements, and other positive adjustments, I'm bumped up a bracket. Granted, I'm not complaining, infact just the opposite. But i'm not so sure that $3,000 diaper deduction running around my house is going to make a bit of difference. Infact, I'm not so sure his daddy might not be stealing a few of his diapers for himself, come April. No big ticket items for the moment, just maintaining the status. Remember, it's all about self control..

21 years in I.T.

Our Macs are 1/20th of our inventory, of over 500 PCs +100 servers that I oversee. When we do the final costs of operation for the year and budgeting for the next, Mac's cost us 27% more for a 3 year life span than a PC. I would post our year ends, but...

I have PC's that are 8 years old still running with no downtime, have not upgraded hardware, and have been cost free for the entire length of use. All our virus and spyware free as well.

You see, Mac's and PC's are the same thing INSIDE. Intel Chips, Kingston RAM, Seagate Hard drives, Sony DVD's, etc... it is the same thing inside, really. I know, I have had my hands in both like a heart surgeon has had his hands in a open chest. All that similar equipment works and fails in the same way on both platforms. Honestly, they do. Now, outside, nothing beats a Mac, they are very pretty.

Vista was the worst OS I have ever worked with in said 21 years. worse than Windows ME! Microsoft forgot what an OS is supposed to do: run the software and hardware a user needs to be at their most efficient. Buying a computer for the OS is like buying a car because of the tires it has on it. I don't use the OS to get my work done, I use software to do that. Microsoft forgot that.

Microsoft started to realize this with Windows 7. Been using it for 7 months now. It is still bloatware like Vista, but it can be stripped down much more than Vista could. I am still using XP for my main machine, but Windows 7 workable unlike Vista.

Oh and Microsoft will be supporting XP until 2012. You can buy a netbook that has XP on it for cheaper than buying Windows 7 on it's own. so you can get legal that way and have a cool little netbook as well.

Windows 7 is good, but wait 8 months for the bugs to get worked out.

27% is a small price to pay to keep PCs out of your house when you own a couple of children.

Children and PCs = Bad Combination.

quote:

Originally posted by bry:
be supporting XP until 2012.

The Mayans say we won't need to worry about anything after that anyway.

bry, you bring up some good points. Maybe I'll just wait until my desktop is somehow detected by microsoft again, which always requires a software rebuild. It's usually about 8 months or so. I had to ditch Norton because I couldn't figure out to get it to stop looking at Microsoft for security updates. Went with something else that seems to be working fine. I'm up to SP2 on it, thanks to a friend with an extra disc.

I've got one of those Acer netbooks actually. Got it last Christmas. Set up a wireless network that made the desktop act as the slave to the netbook, which allowed me to utilize the cdrom to install additional software onto the netbook. We actually use it 99% of the time over the desktop. They're awesome little gadgets! Not new to the market though, as evidenced by my former (1998) Sony laptop that is still smaller then the Acer, and better built too!

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Herbold:

quote:

Originally posted by bry:
be supporting XP until 2012.

The Mayans say we won't need to worry about anything after that anyway.

um, aren't THEY extinct already? Guess they didn't see that one coming...

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
27% is a small price to pay to keep PCs out of your house when you own a couple of children.

Children and PCs = Bad Combination.

hmmm, what I see at work, the parents are worse. Much worse.

"I think my son was using my machine last night. Really, I have no idea how that got there."

Um, no, never lie to an I.T. guy, because everything you do on a computer can be tracked, and we will find it. Easily.

I got ya' on that self-control thing, nc. Hence my 10 year old pc that is in desparate need of a memory upgrade :s

Lol @ Clam and Rob.

Bry, you're SO right about that parents being worse thing. I don't know how many children I had to talk to when doing phone tech support because the parents "thought" they knew what they were talking about

$2000? I don't know what you want your next computer to do, but iMacs start at $1200. (Or, better yet, go to the online Apple Store / Education and select the College of DuPage discount [you are an owner].)

As mentioned earlier, it is true that the innards (memory, hard drives etc.) of Macs and PCs are pretty much the same... sort of... but Apple brand hardware standards can be higher than those for low-end PCs. You'll get a quality brand-name hard drive in a Mac or a high-end PC, but if you're shopping for only a lowball PC price... not so much.

In any case, the old PC add-ons you already have may well be transferable to your next computer, be it PC or Mac. Certainly, all your accessories — monitors, printer(s), scanner, external hard drives etc. — will work just fine.

So, yes, the only real difference between Macs and PCs (other than possible hardware quality) is the Operating System.

It's often hard to say why so many people who use both Macs and PCs like Macs better... it's often axpressed in fuzzy terms such as, “Oh, I don't know... it just seems to work better. I can't really tell you why...”

Here's just one little example of the non-obvious differences... one of hundreds. When you click in something in Windows (a link, icon, whatever) the OS responds instantly on the down-click. No chance to correct for errors.

With a Mac, it acts on the up-click... when you lift your finger off the button. Meaning... you can put your mouse over a link, click down, say, “oops... that isn't what I meant to do” and revise your selection on-the-fly. Then “up-click,“ and off you go. Very subtle difference.

Can I put a dollar value on that? No. Has it save me many hours of swearing, backing up, deleting, whatever? Yes. Would I have even missed it if I never used a Mac? Of course not.

But again, that's just one of hundreds of little human-engineered touches that make Macs so user-friendly.

A personal aside: When I lost much of my eyesight a couple of years ago, the Dieke (now Spectros) Low Vision Center in Wheaton showed me all the low-vision computer enhancements that were available. For only $2,500 I could buy a black box that would reverse the screen (making it an easier-to-read white-on-black), make the minimum font size on all applications 36 point (or whatever I needed), speak highlighted on-screen text to me, react to voice commands, etc.

I said, “But that's for a PC. I have a Mac!” They said, “Oh, nevermind. That's all built into a Mac. You already have everything you need.” (I thought I knew everything about my Mac, but even I learned something that day about the hidden wonders of the Operating System, even though I had been using it for over 20 years. May you never need these features.)

I don't want to beat up on Windows 7 (yet), because I do not know what features may now be built into it that have been a part of the Mac OS for years. (e.g., ease of building one-key do-a-lot-of steps Macros, Save (anything) as a .pdf, automagically spell-check everything (including outgoing email and text in text-entry entry boxes on web sites... a free built-in feature obviously not available to most GEBBers).

But I understand why Windows users want to stay with what they're used to. You can't miss what you never had. —Ted E.