Mac Life 4

I run both Macs and PCs. Not really a technical user since I do mostly graphic design on my machine. I just like things to run fast, so an easy to use GUI that is simple to understand is the only real requirement I have. My PC is more or less one big hardrive.

I use PC at home and Mac at work... although the Mac at work is Mac OS 8.9 to 9.6 for some of the computers. We're still using first gen iMacs and some G3s. Heck the Mac I use for my main job is a PowerMac 2000. We're moving to another section in the office building so hopefully we'll get upgrades too. I'd love to use that new iMac.

Funny how you call the article "Mac Life 4" when you have 4 Macs on your desk XD

I use PCs at home and Macs at school for work. I've become quite comfortable with using Macs and think they've got some really great features, but I'm not willing to take the plunge and convert my home work environment to Macs just yet. Perhaps once Macs become as affordable as PCs (or I get a sudden infusion of cash) I'll think about it some more.

As much as i love to switch to MAC. At the moment i really can't given the hard nature of MACs in the Philippines aka Clovisland since you could say that there is like a handful of users of it here plus getting it serviced like warranty and stuff are pretty big of a hassle here.
Plus the price itself is too much here compared to when you buy them online or outside the country.

But entirely i love mac and will definitely change next year or mid this year.

I use both Mac and PC. Switched to Mac after I finished my uni studies and was working freelance at the time. Still use PC at work nowadays as well as the occasion download.

The new launched Mac range were actually more expensive here in Australia. I think they said because our dollar isn't as strong as it used to be against the USD.

Had the worst experience with technology when I first got my MBP. It kernel paniced (the screen you showed) every 5 minutes or more! Drove me insane. Never really got an explanation as to what caused it but the tech guy reckons it was the incorrect installation of the extra memory I requested from the store. Got a replacement MBP after 48 hours.

My waifu so far can't be converted to the Mac since she thinks it's too complicated (her words, not mine). Will use more Jedi mind powers to convince her otherwise in the future.

I've used a mac before since my high school only had macs, dunno what's so special about it (besides having less virus for the OS) + had a lot of trouble getting use to it when I was working on my school's yearbook, WINDOWS FOREVER

Mac at work in the future, I guess..

Very cool Danny. Love you set up with all of you Macs.

I might get a Mac nesxt year or so (when money is right)

Did you purposely choose the smaller keyboard? 'cause you got a choice you know.

Macs4lifeYo.

I used to use Macs when I was schooling, it's expensive tho, everytime my machine died and if I wanted to replace it with a mac I drain all my savings ^^; Sucks big time for a student :P eventually I switched to PC but needed to harass my programmer friends to help me install em lol! Currently I use a PC, but either way they're just tools to me, I can just adapt whether or not I am given a Mac or PC ;)

I'm currently a god of PCs LOL, but owned a second-hand iBook G4 last week (46.000 yen). Owned a dvd of Leopard too (the iBook comes with Panther).

Everything on the iBook goes fine, but seems a little turtle... Want to buy a second-hand MacBook (84.000 yen), and sell my iBook.

BTW, love Mac ^o^

Never knew about teleport, that's an awesome app. Now I need to find a way to utilize it myself, nice find.

lol its a possibility but macs are expensive, unless Danny would accept payments on a old one of his ^^;

Nice article Danny. The new iMac looks very interesting, tempting me even more to switch which I may do so next time I need new hardware or need to upgrade. ^^

Is such a keyboard without keypad really handy? I actually use the keypad a lot.

On my Akari-chan I'm currently using Mandriva 2009 Linux (Gnome version) with Compiz enabled, Compiz has a similar function as Expose, very handy, adore and use it often. And it's indeed more efficient than Windows Flip3D which is just a fancier way to alt-tab in Windows.

I'm wondering if my Akari-chan's Psile case would fit a MacMini's internals... are the heatsinks on the MacMini's CPU and chipset removable to allow another cooling to be installed? Because I'd like to transfer over my watercooling blocks. (Have a silent, passive watercooling solution.)

If I ever I'll buy a Mac, I'll use it with my PC x_x

i use both mac and pc. before i was a hardcore PC buffd, then when i got my intel core 2 duo with a dp35dp i decided to try a hackintosh because i heard you need a intel processor and an intel chipset. i've been using OSX on my main system ever since. the expose works really well and the dashboard is good as well. i have a razer diamondback 3g so with a push of a mouse button i have expose and dashboard which make it much easier to navigate when i'm short 1 hand.

in the end i dont know if i'll ever buy a mac because the hardware never really is worth the money. but the software i'll always have a up to date version and pumped on my system.

I have several sources here trying to push for a conversion to mac. I resist.

that's alot of screens too look at!

Frankly I'm still a Window user but I'm looking forward to make a switch into Mac. A lot of people have said that Mac are very efficient and fast so that convince me to change in the future.

But for entertainment I think i will stick to my window. But for work Mac are the best.

The G5 is a gorgeous machine! Beautiful outside and beast inside.

I been wanting to try a Mac for a while, but Apple's prices don't make it easy to get one just for that. May be I should use my student discount and get a cheap mini or something.

Oh so it's called "Expose" in MacOS. In Gnome/Linux there's "compiz" that does the same thing but with more options. I've used both without really thinking about it. Especially since my favorite is ALT+TAB and even windows has that(winflip). ALT+TAB is one of those nice cross platform shortcuts.

Really Danny, I think you would like Linux if you gave it a shot. I think MacOS is even Unix based now. You'll need a PC though I think...

I think running both windows and mac next time might be kinda fun. I remember the worst experience with mac was that restart screen... Was doing some important work at school when it suddenly appeared, but its fun to use though.

Kernel panics a couple of times a month!? I would right away your machine is faulty (RAM, video chip or whatever) except that you have so many of them and so I assume you mean it is not always the same machine. But my experience has been the same in an all Mac office of ~30 computers of several generations and architectures (all running 10.4 or 10.5, though).

I get it like once a year, yep, on the computers I use full time for work and not work. That does not mean there are other times I will not have to force shut the thing, but not because kernel panics (eternal beach balls and such things).

still PC users but my brother use MAC
just know that danny desk full of cabble and that "mini" servers

At first, I was thinking that mac looks very inconvenient. But after reading your "mac is gorgeous" posts.. I've decided to buy the new mac mini *.* And being a regretful Sony Vaio fangirl, after mac mini, I'm gonna switch to MacBook, too.

heh @ teleport, rather insane.
but yeah, Macs are nice but too expensive.

I wanna try out the Mac computers. been using Windows all my life and i'm good at working with it. But I wanna see how well Mac works. can't buy an Apple right now though... >_<

I probably would have already bought a Mac, if I didnt live in a dumbass country like South Africa. Macs are about 30% more expensive here than in the US, and there is NO service here if something goes wrong with the Mac, because it is only sold by third party resellers, not Apple.

Ah, the joys of living in a third world country.

Congratulations on the purchase of the iMac. I own 24" 3.6 Ghz one. Really loved the article.

wow mac life indeed. Never owned an apple product here. My dislike of the early macs made me biased against macs.

For electicity getting transfered wirelessly, there are proprosed commercial uses from what I last read in a magazine; but really, not sure how safe it is have stuff like that zapped through the air.

I am both a Mac user and PC user. But I have decided when I can, I am going back to being strictly Mac and might use the hybrid format to my advantage.

Mostly because I am like irem. I use a Sony Vaio laptop as well (my Mac is an iMac G4) but not entirely happy... especially since it was a custom order. Dead pixels in one spot, bad mouse pad, and issues with with the programs.

But yeah... I definitely want a new iMac and may even go MacBook down the line as well. :3

The old Apple G-series computers were very well-made machines that were also unique in the desktop market because of their IBM processors. Its too bad that Apple switched to Intel processors, because now the only things differentiating them from other manufacturer's and custom built machines is the logo, OS, and exorbitant price. I would have liked to see Apple stick to IBM processors and produce machines using POWER6 and the upcoming POWER7 architectures, or perhaps even Cell.

Although I would never buy an Apple now, I did have an old PowerPC-based Mac when I was young, and I had fond memories of playing the Marathon series (made by Bungie, makers of Halo). It was one of the few Mac-exclusive games, and probably one of the best first person shooters in terms of storytelling and gameplay alike. Beyond that though, I never used it for much, and when I built my first PC after that, I never looked back at Apple (you can say I'm a rare Apple-to-Windows convert, or a switch-backer :P).

I really don't like Macs at all~ grew up with PCs and that's how I'd like to keep it. I'll stick with what I know.
Used macs at my old college but in all the others schools I've been to they favor PCs.

Hmm i never found the difference between Finder and Explorer that bad, worked with both just fine. ^^;
Though nowdays i virtualize a lot of my machines for their tasks, so geting a NAS or even SAN with a server that just provides the calculating power for the virtual machines is my personal way to go.
It's more power efficent, compact and depending on your hardware (server hardware most likely is anyhow) very redunant.
Of course virtualizing Mac OSX doesn't quiet work that well and actually Apple does forbid on doing so, i got a virtual Mac OSX anyhow but just to toy with it.
But there are plenty of other OSs out there who provide every kind of service you could wish on a Mac too. ;)

Switch to Mac early this year, no complains so far. Am glad. =)

ORZ iMac... sry but I just hate their "new" design. The iMac G4 design was cool but the new ones are just.. DO NOT WANT! + They don't have much harddrive space and only dualcore CPUs, and I would like to use my screens and other peripherals not the Apple stuff. Isn't 20" a little bit small btw?

I'm a PC user since years, but I tried OSX a few months back and I would really like to switch to Mac. The only problem is: They are so expensive! The only option would be the new 8core Mac Pro cause the Mini has not very much power and space and I mentioned my personal problem with the iMac above.

I would love to switch back to a MAC I had one of the ibooks a while ago and loved it I think if your not a gamer then there is no difference in what you can do between a MAC and a PC the MAC just seem much nicer to use, so yes as soon as I can I'll be going back to a MAC the only thing stopping me is the price they are damm expensive

Design looks really slim and nice but I just can't get attached to Mac at all ~_~

Never used to like macs (could never tell which button was close and which was minimise XD) but have been using them a quite bit recently at uni. They are pretty nice compared to about 5 years ago and would consider buying one. A bit expensive though...

I would love to switch to Mac since years ago. But because my PC is still running well, I don't really need Mac now. Will switch to Mac once my PC start having serious problems.

i dunno if this is my brand loyalty speaking or not,but being able to work a PC well makes me feels more,how should i say,sophisticated........not that im saying anything against mac user let alone danny

Ahh, Love Macs.
Im sure there is an article on Gizmodo of a dissected Mac Mini.

Well if macs had games. :) I understand why macs are much easier as work machines thought. Danny, how about linux mac as server?

I won't change to a Mac as long as apple continues with their policy of expensive stuff that makes the same thing as a laptop or mp3 player. A while ago I tested a laptop and a mac (can't remember which one cause it was some time ago) and their performance was almost exactly the same, the final difference...the price, so no thanks I don't want a Mac

Wanting to convert my parents into using Macs as well. Saw a second-hand Macbook Pro at Sim Lim the other day.. tempting, or I could get one of the new Mac Minis ^^;

Never got the blue screen of death on my Mac except when I was on my Hackintosh. Does the Mac Mini heat up very quickly?

im sticking to linux and windows - for now

I do like how everything is intergrated and it all 'just works', but the only thing holding me back is (and always will be) just the price.

I'll also have to buy one in the near future since a lot of my friends are using them and i still have to do tech assist/help for them - I only work from a command prompt when that does happen since i still fail at the interface.

Funny though, try walking into a room of fanboys and start calling it a 'Macintosh'. Emphasise and drag 'sssh' sound at the end too. It's like the 1980s all over again!

I'm a PC user wanting to get a mac just scared of having to learn a completely new system I'm so used to Windows but hoping to make the big leap in the next 4-5 weeks :D

Re controlling your iMac when connected via external cable network, there is an article in the Feb 2009 issue of MacLife about controlling your home Mac from a PC at work. Surely similar principles/software could be applied to get Mac to Mac working?

I am very new to Mac, with a 2nd hand June 2007 model iMac in my possession for about a month. Never going back to PC now that I have seen the light ;)

Aoi-chan and Saber-chan are going to get jealous of the new monitors, since you will be looking at them more now Danny! The lights under the glass top table are something I never really noticed it before but it does work really well with your pictures. For me, the only Macs I got came from McDee's :D, also don't know about the FON deal I avoid all wireless. Can't even use my wireless cameras without someone tagging in on those now either. That really is an amazingly nice setup you have there.

Danny Choo ~ Macs Inside ^_^

New Mac member iMac joined the Mac Army on the desk~~~~

You new desk look much cooler with all the Mac machines~~~~

I wanted to buy a MBP 17" but the time of waiting it in M;sia took too long, so I invested in a Quad Core mobile workstation.

I'd love having a mac as second system.
Anyone knows if macbooks will again ever be available with a non-glare display?

I am one of the guys who wants to switch! Windows is losing the battle it seems. All my friends are switching onw by one and they are extremely happy with it. The only problem I have now is financial. T.T

Anyway, Danny while I was reading through, I found this line :
"I converted my wife to Mac too".

>.< Converted your wife to Mac!? >.<

1/ WOW LUCKY YOU !!! Apple should definitely name you Brand Ambassador in Japan !!!

2/ I am also thinking of buying a Mini and change pieces myself but i'm really afraid of opening it (is it risky ???, was it easy???)

3/ hihi, small piece of advices for your million cables under the desk, you should go to Ikea, they are selling stuff to hide and tidy up your cables
it"s really cheap, just got one
they have some for wooden desk, you just have to put 2 screws
and they also have models for other desks

Ikea + Apple + figma/nendo = perfect desk :)

I tried an iMac G5 and really missed right clicking. I was using the Mac for Web and productivity activities and my PC for gaming. I was getting familiar with the UI but still preferred Windows and never saw what all the hype was from Mac fanatics.

The killer for me was that after a little more than a year, the fan in the G5 started sounding like a lawnmower on my desk so I abandoned it.

I use a macbook unybody and a little server running ubuntu server. ;)
Nice stuff !

By the way, I built my last PC. I got to choose my components, it performs better than most Macs, it is cheaper than all but the Mini, and since I got to choose the case it looks better too.

Mac Mac Mac Mac!!
Converted last year (partly influence from DC.com) and have never regretted since!

Haven't met the Mac BSOD yet.
Do have occasional probs with the iSight, Airport though.

The other day, Airport "uninstalled" itself. Scared the hell outta me. But all was well with a restart.

Welcoming an iPod touch next week (: WHEE!!

Am currently only running PCs at my place but I am thinking about replacing my laptop with a Macbook (would love to play around with the Macbook Air once) since that little bugger tends to give me headaches. I just want a Laptop that runs. One of my comrades is a Mac user because he is also a professional sports photographer. My desktop will probably always be a PC. I am a gamer after all.

so danny you planning to convert the whole neighborhood to mac?

I started out with a TRS-80, later I went to an apple then an amiga then to power macs then I built my first pc which was followed by 6 more. Now I have a box built because it was cheaper than building my own plus my wife has one and I have a dead imac first gen and a second gen imac thats collecting dust because osx 10.4 is a royal pain so most likely I will be installing ubuntu on it soon for my own learning purposes.

I love macs because they work so much better than pc's with windows on them and the games tend to be considerably better in all aspects. What I hate about macs is the cost per unit and the lack of second and third party hardware out there which has made the cost so high.

That new iMac looks cool. Thin and no bulky system unit to worry about. Then again, Macs have always been aesthetically good looking and you pay the price for it ^^;

PCs aren't far behind in the aesthetics department these days but, I think I still prefer the big bulky custom built machine because, I can recycle parts when I need more power and capacity while keeping the costs down at the same time. There's such a wide range of parts. You can choose the cheapest or the best of components and it's easier to replace faulty parts yourself too.

On the other hand, those flat key keyboards would really be welcome to save catching all the dirt and what nots!

I think the wireless idea is great too because it's probably more effective than having the chain stores like McDonalds running access points. I'm not too sure about having everyone connected to the same network security wise though...

My first PC was an Apple ][ clone, been a Mac head since '93. To tell you the truth, I saw Windows 3.1 before my first encounters with Macs and thought that it was OK. Wrong.

Of course I have to use DOS and Windows too, so I know the best and worst of both worlds. Thus I think I made an informed choice.

There's a mushroom growing underneath the desk. Will switch to mac when I get to work, right now I don't have enough money.

will switch to Macs but I don't know which one of the Macs is better, I think all of it are better its just that I'm so hesitate when comes to choosing.

As a PC user I do envy Mac user, their system are much more stable, less wire and don't have to deal much with proprietary software. Maybe the word that Mac can save PC gaming may come true.

Macs are too expensive for me; especially with the ridiculous price premium - paying extra for older hardware and not having current hardware like Blu-Ray drives. The updates to the Mini should have had Blu-Ray drives. Steve Jobs complaining about the licensing requirements when Apple's lawyers regularly deal with labyrinthine legal requirements for iTunes was a cheap cop out.

I have high hopes for the rumored Apple Netbook, though. Any new computer I get will be used mainly for watching streaming video and accessing the 'nets, perfect for a netbook. That may very well be the first Mac I buy.

Danny, I had the same issue of public/private network myself, when using another app. Before we went to a VPN, my solution was to use ssh to forward the proper port from the client machine, through the firewall, to the server--the firewall allowed just my IP through to make the ssh connection, and from there the easiest way was to run 'ssh -L port:localhost:port remotehost' from the client machine, then tell the app to connect to the localhost--I even did that across several machines, hopping repeatedly. Of course, firewalls can forward any port without the need for ssh, but that isn't secure at all. ^^;

I hesitate to say I'm a Mac user. I'm a Linux user first, but the Macbook Pro is my desktop machine of choice now! I still far, far prefer Linux on my servers, though.

I've always been a Mac user. Our first computer back in 1994 was a Mac, and we've stayed with Apple ever since. I'm proud to say that I've never owned a PC in my life. And never will.

I run PCs. I wouldn't mind getting a Mac. They just tend to run outside my price range.

I'm offended that you don't have linux in the poll. Linux is all the 'fun' of osx (command line wise), but none of apple's crappy ideology.

Try installing linux on that g5 and see if it crashes.

FON looks interesting...ahhh free wifi ^_^

Drool over the Video explanation....Would want a Mac to try out...

Mac is so cheap in Japan! ;o;

Me is a PC user who would like to try out Mac.

soon, you are going to have to move to a bigger office since the space in your room is running out...I still wonder how you can use 4 Macs at the same time+2 Mac Mini...??

Yupp, used to be a PC user and become fed up with all the problem. I switched to MAC last September, and while there is some weird little quirks I find it is much less frustrating that fighting with the PC. Yay Apple!

PC Foeva! ^^b I'd like to try a mac one of these days. Love their keyboards so nice and slim.

Been using Macs since OS X first arrived and I have yet to see the kernel panic screen. ^_^ Sucker!

I've been using Apple hardware since mid-2006. I never switched, just needed to coexist with both PC and Mac around, but I really like the simplicity and beauty of the OS X GUI. Also, hardware and software are tightly integrated, since Apple does it all.

But then you have the cons: their hardware is ridiculously overpriced. The upgrades are stupidly expensive except for very few exceptions, and the accessories are the most flagrant example of this. The Cinema displays are crappy and really expensive. For the price of one of those, you can get a true color monitor from HP (around 2k USD). I'm talking about a professional-grade monitor, 14-bit color channel depth, and all that...

They just started to realize this. For a slightly similar price, I have my 17" Sony Vaio VGN-AR71 with 500G disk (SATA2), 4G RAM, HDMI output at 1080p (with the same graphics card than the top line Macbook Pros) and bunch other extras (Bluray, etc). It's a roughly 1900 EUR machine back when I bought it (http://sp.sony-europe.com/media/53/26456). For about 500USD, I've got my 24" HP w2448hc with better color quality, sleek design and a great sliding engine (up/down and portrait mode).

If I could sell the Vaio for a decent price, I would likely be getting one of the new Macbook Pros, but I'm sure I will be doing the 'upgrades' at home, screwdriver on hand and so on ;)

Regarding the iMac... with all due respect, a computer built-in with a display is a recipe for fail. The day you start having trouble with the screen, you will be swearing at Apple almost immediately. I used them at work and I think it's great to avoid office clutter, but sorry, the idea still remains pretty bad. I don't know why you bought it to use as HTTP server, it's a waste of energy, resources and there goes money too. Just because we've got well paid jobs doesn't mean we have to waste the cash away on every shiny piece of technojunk released by Apple.

My .02$ cents.

Pc 4 life. Just a personal preference.

Have both a PC and a Mac but currently using PC more. If I get more business, I'll switch to Mac, no problem. ^^

I've used a PC for about 8 years now, I'm currently 18, and will be switching to a Mac after I graduate. I've heard they're supposed to be great for students going into art, which I am.

I don't mind both...love Macs for their slick designs...but kinda breaks down when i use them for some reason...would go back to it if i really need it for work...

PC FOREVER! If I swapped to anything from windows it would be linux

I used to be a diehard Windows user until about 3 years ago. When Apple introduced Boot Camp, I decided to try a Mac (gaming was one of the big reasons why I never used a Mac). Took about 2 weeks to get used to everything but now I'm never going back XD

I recently put a Mac Mini next to the PC at work to try some iPhone development. Sharing keyboard/mouse/clipboard data by a program called Synergy. The iPhone is nice but a tad expensive so I might look towards a iPod Touch or something.
Nice to see you're sharing internet with FON. Installed the add-ons yet? :)

damn figures and macs... you're a lucky guy danny

This post explains exactly why I stick to Windows or Linux, and why I will never switch to mac.

The Mac BSOD happens a few times a month? Last time I got a BSOD on Windows (Excluding the crappy computers at my school, which BSOD every 5 minutes) was almost 6 years ago. I've also found PCs to last significantly longer, as I still have that machine that BSOD'd 6 years ago and with a few updates, it runs perfectly. If they do break, it's easy enough to fix them on your own, or fairly cheap to replace entirely. The integrated screen LOOKS nice, but it's a recipe for disaster when you have to replace an entire computer because the moniter goes funky.

PC forever I'm afraid. As pretty as Mac's are, I have no reason, nor want to change to a foreign OS system. Everytime I have to use a Mac Book I'm like 'waaaa?? only one button??' And the fact the closey-minimizy buttons are on the other side is just wrong...

Vista might be a pain in the butt sometimes... but its our pain in the butt.

And :squeeeeeeeeeeeee: the colored mirai dakimakura looks sooooooooooo awesome!!

Wow. Apple should pay you for posting this article, really

Kernal panics a couple of times a month? I only get them a couple of times a year at most!

I was brought up in a Mac-only household, so I've been using them since I was quite young, and I'd never switch to Windows. I use it when I have to, but I wouldn't want to buy one or use one regularly. I've had my current iMac for exactly three years today, it still runs just fine, and I've never had any especially serious problems with it. The speed could be better, but it's still very reasonable, and I'm getting a laptop in a few months, so I don't mind. I don't want to play PC video games, and the art software I own runs great on my iMac, so I have no reason to use anything other than Mac.

My next purchase will probably be mac. For now though, it is money saving time.

I started using Macs around 2005 as well. I still have a PC but I hardly ever turn it on anymore. I am thinking about getting a new iMac to replace it. I have a Macbook Pro right now.

I'm using a 2yr. old Macbook Pro w/Leopard and boot-camped Win. XP Both work really great. At work I'm using an antiquated Compac w/NT2000 *Suxxorz* I do Powerpoint Presentations on My MacBook 'n 'Flashdrive them to the office comp....

Off topic...but I spotted a new Mirai design for the Dakimura in full colour there O_o

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3651/3355918610_6814de838b_o.jpg

Typing this on a 2,5 year old MacBook, first Mac to end up in my greedy paws. Been using it since then to manage my contacts and media files and programming on WinXP through Bootcamp. Since I got the iPhone in august I've completely switched to Mac including the programming. I even got IE6 (using darwine) for testing so I almost never have to switch to XP unless there are some windows specific errors on my productions.

I'm going to get the new iMac (20" or 24"? decisions, decisions...) later this year and retire my linux box which houses the anime. I've never had a Mac BSOD myself, but I've seen it repeatedly on Macs from a graphics designer I know...

I'd love to switch to Mac, Danny - but it's still too expensive for me ^^;

Thank you for sharing so many tutorials, although I'm a Windows user, I am interested in playing with an airbook, and these helpful posts let me have enough background on apple products in general to make a decision.

I've only ever used PCs...would love to try Macs...if I had the money ^^;
Gasp! Mac has a version of the Blue Screen of Death? Impossible! >o<''

I like to be able to play games on my computers and since Mac's have problems with high graphics games... They're a no-go for me.

I've i could have a computer JUST to work though, i guess i'd try one out.

Mac user for over ten years, main mac is a 13" macbook and then I still use my old G4 to run old programs, also have a performa and a PowerMac sitting around for no apparent reason. I wuv my Macs!

Completely forgot to add that I still have a power mac G3 beige box that I need to do something with.

I have never used Macs. Unfortunately all the CAD packages I use for work run on PC's or originally on UNIX. I would love to have a computer with Xwindows running HPux with a windows emulator and Cocreate's Solidesigner, but nobody supports that anymore. That's what happens when you get old.

I use the PC (Windows). I'm an experience PC and Mac user though.

My computer 'career' actually started out with Macintosh in the 90's, I enjoyed the system and I can't recall having to many problems with it - keep in mind I didn't use it for much.
Around the end of the millenium, I got into using Windows 95 and 98, and later went on to use Windows 2000 and finally Windows XP. I have sticked to using XP since then. Despite switching over to PC in the 2000's, I have very well tasted everything in the later Apple world from the first iMac to iPod, to the latest OSX on a high-end machine.

I have never really liked this whole "i" franchise, starting with a disliking for the first iPod (I have never really had anything against the first iMac's). I find that most of it tend to focus a bit too much on appearance and similar while according to me too little on compability, customizability, good pricing, comfort and universality. The PC isn't perfect either - the PC's operative systems are mostly unstable if kept unaltered and it takes quite some experience to run a PC system smoothly and to also utilize its full power. I might also add that the Windows interfaces that they've tried to make good-looking are pretty much failures, but I'm not so bothered about appearances myself. Besides, I can alter the looks of Windows XP to make it look good and stylish without taking any performance power from the system, so I'm overall satisfied on that end.

I tell you what I think - the PC's and Macintosh are the best operative systems available that I know of - both have their strenghts and weaknesses. I prefer the PC (Windows), but I know why many thinks otherwise.

PC serves me well. Having your computer going crazy a couple times a month is pretty bad, although you're probably doing much more work on it then normal peope.

"The Mac version of the Blue Screen Of Death. Happens a couple of times a month"
Isn't that a little too ofter? You sure that you don't have a hardware problem? Or maybe there is some program at fault...
I have 3.5 years old Fujitsu-Siemens laptop with Vista SP1 and I haven't gotten BSOF in many months now.

I wouldn't get the iMac, but I would rather get the MacBook Pro. It looks like an efficent traveling notebook.

Need to have a Linux option up there. While I currently use Windows Vista 75% the time for games and other windows only apps, I love Linux.

I also like Mac as it is a version of linux just dont like how proprietary it is on hardware.

I've thought about getting a Mac a number of times. Unfortunately the combination of the price range for most new Macs and the fact that they aren't horribly gaming friendly is rather keeping me from buying one. Though I've had my eye on possibly getting a Mac mini or an iMac when I relocate in the summer. My current machine's a Vista 64-bit Gateway FX laptop, which is absolutely awesome for gaming. (Can play Crysis with a 1900x1200 resolution ^_^)

Apple machines are so damn expensive.

Will get a D(H)ELL mini...and install MAC OS X on it.

Never was a MAC user although my roommates in Japan were. What's great was one of them never had any problems with his macbook while the other could never get his to work.

Is that Saber with only a sweater and black pantsu O_O...I use to PC so it'd be a while if I were to use a Mac...now if you'll excuse I got blood to wipe off the keyboard...

I'm a mac person though I do use my home pc for sd cards and stuff.

Probably PC forever for me since I'm a PC gamer. I need the best bang for buck when it comes to power and since Macs only get a small amount of games, I'd end upinstalling Windows on it anyway. If games were taken out of the equation I'd probably just use Linux since I love messing around with it.

Macs FTW! used to have a white macbook, but sold that on criagslist last october and bought the new unibody macbook pro! running that currently with external monitor out with 24" monitor... not an Apple product because Apple stuff seriously is way overpriced... $1000~ for a 24" monitor that barely has any inputs other than strictly for apple use! i've upgraded my ram from 2 gigs to 3 gigs recently... through 3rd party ram; apple ram is too expensive as well... budget is a huge problem being a mac fan... sigh

You should try out the new Windows 7 beta, Danny. It's about a 1000% improvement over XP, which was great in itself.

To be honest, I haven't tried to Mac OS yet, will be doing so with my own hackintosh. ^^ As far as my experience goes, though, Windows 7 improves efficiency a LOT.

I just recently bought the new 17 inch macbook pro and I'm really happy with the purchase. I've been a pc user for a long time and only dealt with them in college and some at work. After reading articles and forums about macs I decided to get one which I'm really impressed with it.

Honestly, the only reason I'm still using a PC is the amount of exclusive PC-games. =/

I was thinking of getting a mac as my next machine. They just seem a lot more portable than most laptops to me for some reason.
I despise pre-owned stuff. It's mainly games but most things I don't like that other people have owned. What I don't understand is the condition pre-owned stuff is like. Most of the time it's like the people left the disc on the table to use as a coaster.

Boot Camp did it for me. ^^; I run a Macbook Pro with Tiger and Vista. Haven't bothered to upgrade to Leopard since nothing I use on Mac really needs it.

I second your complaints with the Mac file/folder interface. Windows Explorer is leaps and bounds ahead of it in that area in my opinion - it's the main reason why I actually run Vista more often than OSX on my Mac. ^^; I don't generally boot in OSX until I need to work with video.

Macs and Windows at work. Macs by preference at home.

I'm running 2 laptops and a desktop/server on windows and 1 laptop where I installed a Leopard OS/x.

Thinking of getting a Mac Mini to hook up to the LCD TV to serve as sort of a media center.

I use a PC, mostly because I can game on it.
I would love a Mac for FCP, and other artsy fartsy programs, but they are too expensive.
Though I love Apple's product designs, I hate how they overprice everything....

I really enjoyed your Mac article and came away with a good tip too. I need to give teleport a try. I use ARD, but if another Mac is on the same desk, teleport may be faster solution.

I have seen the Mac 'Blue Screen of Death' on my Mac Mini. I have the first version that came out with a PowerPC processor. Back then my Mini was having issues. Though I did not know it, my Mini was overheating. It damaged my hard drive over a short period. I replaced the hard drive and it was fine for a while until the "Spinning Beach" or Kernel Alerts resulted.

I noticed the cooling fan was running more than usual. I decided to leave off the cover. It is so much of a hassle to remove the cover. As a result, the Mini ran without issues. As of today it remains sans cover.

never really liked macs at first, we had to use really old ones in our music class.

after a lot of your articles im starting to see how cool macs are.

really used to using PCs though, but i will get a mac in the future since they look so nice. will probably be running pc and mac

is hackintosh user.

Love XP because I use it at school and most of my computers at home are XP. I hate Vista which I am currently using on my HP TX2000 notebook. I love the computer but hate the OS. I fiddled around with a Mac and I love them. I want one of the Macbook Pros that you have or a new aluminum Macbook.

I dislike the Mac OS. I haven't worked with the newest (OS X) but I have disliked every Mac I have used before. And killed about half of them. That could be the software I used to use (AutoCAD and other drafting software, oder FORTRAN coding programs) but I found that PCs are more robust. And cheaper to build/maintain. I am not against trying a Mac with the newest OS on it, but expense also keeps me from using it. Now, if someone wants to give me a free MacBook Pro, that has enough RAM for me to run Windows 7 under a virtual machine.....

My mum used to/kind of still does practise Feng Shui. I have to admit, some of it has rubbed off on me, but only some of the things that make sense. Like not having your back face the door in an office or having the foot of your bed face the door. (I hate people tickling my feet.) I quite like windchimes as well, so an excuse to put loads of them up is great.

I wish electricity could be transmitted wirelessly as well. It'd make carrying a laptop around so much easier and you wouldn't have to worry about finding a plug.

That's a lot of dust in that Mac Mini though. I hope you cleaned that out while you were replacing the drive.
Looking at that new iMac almost makes me want to get one. Almost. I'm not sure I could handle the OS shock if I switched over. Especially since I'm sure the problem would be compounded by the fact I've learnt all these Windows shortcuts for PhotoShop which, while similar to the Apple shortcuts, are not the same.
Strangely though, once I've fiddled with the Mac file browser for about five minutes, I become used to it. Except I can see it's no good for people who like to create directories within directories ad infinitum.

WOW so awesome having all those MACS

Had the chance to interact with my friend's Mac whenever there was project work. Controls and stuff akes time getting used to, but that's about it.

'Tis a pity almost all PC games are made for Windows. :/

I still use PCs although I'd switch to a Mac if they weren't so darn expensive -_- I probably would have picked up one of the new mac book pros if they came out 4 months earlier when I was shopping around for a laptop. There are quite a few Mac users around here at my university - don't think I've had a professor yet who had a PC instead of a Mac ^^

I've been using macs all my life. It's great to see that you use macs and you have converted other people to mac. Keep up the good work lol.

Mac素晴らしいデザインだってLinuxの方が好きです。

I've been a Mac person forever, and just recently acquired a Lenovo S10 netbook. I've set it up to dual-boot (OSX and WinXP). I love it. Now I can do all kinds of stuff that I felt I was missing out on with just Macs. I'm keeping my older Mini for backup purposes.

Oh, and I love that first picture, by the way. Awesome.

When I migrated to Mac initially from Linux (immediately after Leopard came out, Mac OS X was unusable before that), it came as a shock that it crashed frequently (read, many times a day).
I used good instructions here http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2004/tn2118.html to capture kernel crashdumps and submit them to apple (bugreport.apple.com). Surprisingly, in just a week (long by my standards, but still not all that bad) I got a fixed kernel that stopped crashes I was experiencing.
Then with next update, different kind of crashes started to happen every time I use usb headset to make calls on skype. Again, captured a crashdump, and got a fix with next update.
So it might be worth trying, if it nags you.

I now only see infrequent crashes in smbfs module sometimes when I move my Mac somewhere with samba resource mounted where this resource is no longer available,
unfortunately that also means I cannot capture the dump then as well, and apple does not have a way to store the dump locally, only should be done via network (worse than that, only wired works, not even wifi).

I glad to have the chance to use both platforms before. I like both, just to say that most of the time im more exposed to windows pc in school and at home, and that im more inclined towards using pc.

Gosh I've been a Mac person for as long as I can remember. Guess it was my Parents that got me into them. My dad actually owns the first original Macintosh. I've been thinking about getting a PC lately, but I for surely will always be a Mac person.

I feel like I should mention that the new Explorer in 7 has a lot of improvements over the previous version. Mainly the Libraries concept. Instead of one dedicated folder of type, you can group folders to fit a label.

I probably won't "switch" to Mac actively since I run with more PC experience. That and games. I would love to learn how to set up a linux server for whatever they're good for.

We are more of a Mac family. We have a MacBook, iMac, iPod Touch and an iPhone. I do have a PC but only because some things are PC only >.<

I'm thinking of getting a iMac to replace my old P4 at home. can't use Macs at work though. since most of the programs I work on won't run on it.

I'm between an iMac 24" and a mac mini+led cinema display combo.

Have lil experience but wanna give it a try.
But I am not planning to switch since I like gaming and macs aren't a great deal for it.

It'd be like: pc for games and mac for everything else... I guess.

Danny you can transmit electricity over long distances thou the air just look at some of the work of Nikola Tesla, and nature does it every day it's called lighting. ;-)

The downside to going very large scale (ie get rid of power line to peoples house) with wireless electricity is interference. Basically you would lose all radio, television, cell phones, ect.

Danny, what camera are you using? I guess you could always photoshop the images if you're lazy to do the prep work :P

I will use PC as long as it will be possible: I don't like pre-assembled computer so I can't use a Mac. At least, I will install MacOS on a my PC when (and if) Apple will modify the EULA.

DAMM YOU DANNY!! lol After work today I'll be going to buy one of the new Macbooks o/ a guy at work just got one and there so damm nice very sleek and sexy :D

Have a custom XP installation (powertoys + stardock stuff, as well as other goodies) on an ancient toshiba laptop. hoping to get a desktop soon, which will most likely be running Vista Basic + Kubuntu dual boot.

I want to use both.

Learn so much stuff and all.

The FON thing is kinda cool. Wish we had that kind of thing here

I've never used a Mac before and they're so expensive, so I'm probably a PC forever person.

woar. that is really ...wow O.O.. i want so many pcs, too. >.<

i love my mac. although i think i need to upgrade soon since i bought the sencond gen macbook pro and can only upgrade my ram to 2gb and only have 3gb/80gb of memory left on my hard drive ...which i cant replace unless i want to void my warranty :(

but in my opinion OSX is far superior to windows. windows gave me and my family when i lived with them so many problems and headaches... which is why i got my mom an imac for xmas. she loves it.

I'm a PC Nazi. Strange that I seem to be only few who bothered to use Google to find solutions to all the problems I had with XP and Vista without any need to cry a river about it. Needless to say, PC works fine with me, because I can fix everything with my cold, dead hands.

I will get a new iMac this summer. I suggest you look at the wide keyboard that is available for the new iMacs.
They are free, you just have to tell Apple to order it for you. It has a keypad, and while you may not use a keypad much, it does have a "Home" key and and Page up and Page down keys which I like to use.
What kind of mouse are you using? I use a Logitech curved mouse as I don't like Apple's Mighty Mouse.

Cool looking set-up but really have no idea what nit all about. Guess cause i don't need to use a computer for work and not that much in my spare-time.

Makes me scratch my head like a monkey.

Cool looking set-up but really have no idea what nit all about. Guess cause i don't need to use a computer for work and not that much in my spare-time.

Makes me scratch my head like a monkey.

I have a MacBook for college, but other than that, I'm a PC guy.

I have been using a White Macbook for 3 years and have never got hung. The only problem the comon cracks caused by the heat in some parts of the case.

no mac for me. doesn't suit my needs and I can't justify to myself paying the apple tax. don't mind recommending them to my non-computer savvy relatives though. sometimes ease of use is worth the extra money.

Have always used PC, but I'd really love to switch to Mac, for something different.

Now posting on my new macbook yay tiss great :D just so much nicer to use and thats only after a few hours playing with it

Got a Macbook Pro about a month ago. Really loving OS X so far, and only occasionally use XP for gaming. Not being able to hide the main menu bar or go into full screen in Firefox is slightly annoying though.

FON looks pretty interesting, however I would be worried about letting people use my connection for whatever they want; what prevents someone from using your connection to download things they shouldn't be downloading (and you getting the blame for it)? Does FON provide some sort of VPN that people have to connect through?

I really wish I can switch over to a Mac (or two), but right now I can't even afford it. Am I missing out?

Big time gamer and a customizer, so I use PCs.

Apple. Who would have thought you could cut a couple of hundred dollars off the price by making the keyboard smaller.

I'd rather watch the Woz dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoiGJMZjs0o

I've been wondering, you run all the site from regular Macs only? Nothing dedicated?

Don't think I'll ever switch to Mac, I actually enjoy building PC's and tweaking them. Though I must say, Apple has been doing a heck of a job recently.

doesn't it ever get dusty there? i have to dust off my comp and miruku-chan every 2-3 days

Danny, how do you prevent your ipod from flipping over? As fas as I can see you don't use a stand for it but when I try to set it up for the awesome flipclock it keeps on slipping... :(

I run pc, but I will get a mac later.....---> except going to be running Ms windows =P...so I dunno what you will call that....

I have friends and relatives who keep telling me to go get a mac... they annoy me... a LOT. So much that I won't even consider getting a mac in the future.

My cousin payed more than twice what I payed for his mac than what I did for my laptop. The only difference in specs was that his had a bigger screen and his HD was a 320 while mine was 250. In order to convert me to mac-ism, he actually challenged me to a stand off using our laptops. To put it simply: anything his mac could do, my PC could do the same. In fact there were a lot of things I could do with my PC that he couldn't do with his mac. The only thing mine can't do is that windows emulation but I have no need for that.

I'm running vista business and it runs perfectly since it's just a simple matter of tweaking things to suit the programs. I'd rather have something that I can customize to meet my every demand rather than something that's hyped and overpriced.

If there's something I'm missing here, something that I can't do anything about that makes a mac better than a PC, please enlighten me. Seriously, is there a really good reason why mac is superior? They're both the same thing underneath so why does the overpriced one gets so much praise?

This is a good sharing, I like it!!

hmmm, these new iMacs are pretty tempting. Maybe I'll reconsider making my desktop into a hackintosh and just shell out the cash for one of the higher end iMacs. Since I'll be using this comp for development work I'd like it to be reliable (for reduced downtime, I'm not convinced that hackintoshs are really reliable).

Wauw the new imacs are sexy.

La Fonera in kana makes me giggle.
I was thinking about buying a popular third party keyobard by a company called Moshi.
but the stock apple keyboards are good, unlike their mouse.

Wireless energy is here http://www.ecoupled.com/index.html although I'm very cautious about it.I'd have to see for myself if it really achieves the efficiency stated and if there are any problems with nearby metallic objects.Wireless energy seems a bit too good to be true to me >_<

Wow...The FON thing just got my interest...shall look into that more...
Nice Falcon wallpaper btw! I've been trying to find it but the ones I've found always has the Bloody Monday logo at the bottom!! Where did you get the plain version?

Ah, the G5s. My roommate's got a G5 iMac, and it too is very noisy compared to my own Intel model. The G5s run extremely hot compared to the Intels at least--in fact, I suspect that's part of why Apple decided to switch to the Intels in the first place. An extra fan or a watercooling system might have quieted down that tower, but since you've already returned it, well, it's kind of a moot point.

It's weird that you get kernel panics so frequently when I don't think I've gotten a single one since I got mine two and a half years ago. The only time I've gotten one was on one of my school's Macs, but that's not terribly surprising--due to the fact that the lazy IT guys are the only ones with the password to run any maintenance on those things, they haven't seen so much as a disc permission fix since they were purchased.

And as a side note--*dollfie oggling*

Mac gets my vote, they are just so damn versatile in terms of what you can produce on them. My MacBook Pro has a 500GB drive with 4GB of ram, OS 10.5.6 and XP SP3 for stuff like Microsoft Visio and a couple of XP Games. But I hardly use it, it's just good to have for school.

Really whatever OS you are on is just matter of what you can do, and wether or not it's you "flavor" some prefer chocolate some prefer vanilla :-)

woohoo, fon stuff! you should flash it with dd-wrt if you can, could with old models anyway.

and fwiw, you don't need a la fonera to run a fon hotspot (or get the benefits - money, worldwide access, etc). I spent a year putting together this guide:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/FON_Hotspot

I've only done it on a WRT54G running DD-WRT myself, but you could probably get it on anything that'll run chillispot and allow some basic scripts to run.

I've been using the new iMacs at school, and I still prefer PCs more.

"Also went and got a few new lights from Ikea which I fitted under the desk. Wonder how many years it will be until everything is wireless including electricity? At the moment, electricity can pass through the air but at very short ranges (millimeters). Me not an expert on the subject though ^^;"

Dan,

Check up on Tesla.

As you already know I'm thinking of getting a mac, but i have a few questions that need to be answered before i make the step i feel like a noob asking but I've only played around with a mac a few times before during visual arts class so here goes.

1: Does the mac need any anti virus programs installed on it or does it already have its own system running if not then which is the best anti virus program to purchase?

2: I have video files that are in a different format does the mac convert them into its own video files in any such way or is there a program available to do so (have rmvb, avi, mkv and mp4/mpeg4 files)?

3: What is the best media player on the mac for playing most if not all video files?

4: Is the iMac compatible with my modem (D-Link DSL-G604T) or is better for me to have an air port card installed to connect wireless to the network?

I have tons and tons of movies and anime on my current PC and wanting to know if i can play them on a mac because right now I'm using zoom player with the CCCP Codec to play and watch all my subtitled anime. And one last question does any of these programs run on a mac utorrent, flashget and limewire?

I wish that was how my room looked like.

Mac 4 Life!!!

i know that that a Mac is cool, but when charlie miller can hack a mac trough safari in less then 10sec. that gives me the chills to think how bad apple is to make software.

Still using PC... No money for a Mac... Yet...

Mac daddy...

great pics of all the macs and figurines on the right hand side. but why dont you try out boot camp for mac and then try out windows vista/xp on the mac and see what you think about it.

also where did you get the ryoko asakusa figure from plz tell me, coz i want one.

niice macs danny!! I just love the slimline keyboards!! my keyboard HUGGEEE -_- I'd love a mac, but need to get a dang job first...

Macs are great but i have a PC as well because there are barely a selection of games for mac. meanwhile id like to keep a mac for stuff like video editing or web design and photoshop stuff. (and like many ppl i cant do this cause i needz a JOB%2Pr

I would love to maybe use a Mac for everything but computer gaming as macs aren't very game friendly at least as far as I've seen anyways

I need a new mac...seeing people get new macs make me jealous!

Supposingly, owning a MacBook Air is always my wildest dream. I have strong feelings to get mac and well, I'm ok with iMac. Wishing for iphone too (I know I'm greedy :D)

down the journey of life i took the psp over the ipod. i still look back and wonder if anything would be different if took the ipod. in my house pc rules with a relentless fist. i had a hard time with my cousins mac trying to download stuff to my psp. took my forever. i knew i shouldn't have tried but i'm really stubborn (by the way this is my 3rd time typing this comment). all in all i love my psp i dropped it like a 100 times and it still works awsome! i don't think i'll ever get rid of it. wait does this have anything to do with macs and pcs because i think sonys with windows?

I've had my eye on macs for a while now, but never had the $$$. I really like the new 15" mac book pro, it looks really nice (^_^)

that's be strange to walk into your own building and randomly see a stormtrooper. i wish that would have happened to me. just like how i wanna be hugged by a one-armed dude someday. i wish i could be there. if i was able to, i would take my friends. oh, how they would KILL to spend time in Japan! especially for a year or two! i probably shouldn't get any ideas right now, but i can dream and fit your requirements! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

For gaming i need to build a PC with Windows 7 but i am also going buy a iMac in the future.

I've been PC all my life, but I've used Macs several times. They are incredibly sexy, and I plan on making the switch when I get enough funds (several years from now).

Something I've been wondering, how much space is in those helmets, enough perhaps for a small digital camera for POV shots? Or maybe to set up some ventilation and thats about it.
If you keep having problems with fogging I have a suggestion from a friend, use 409 or similar spray lubricant/cleaner to polish the inside of the visor sections, this left over oil should prevent any moisture from sticking to the lenses.

thats is definitely one of the best spreads ive seen in a long time. I never heard of this Fon! router. im gonna make it my lifes dream. well that and the annihilation of all Jonas Bros. music but its on the list :P

Very nice setup there Danny. Rightly deserve the title of pro IT otaku :p Only a PC user myself at the moment : (

PC Forever!! man i haven't been to Danny Choo's site for ages..

I have had my MAC for 9 years....not one problem...same hard drive and lcd screen. Same video card too.

you sir, have one badass setup

I love your office it's soo awesome!!

This is really a life~

Well it would be awesome if i have a Mac for leisure use because im more a gamer so PC i quite comfy for me at the moment

I'm personally not a mac user because the software packages I need to run have much older builds on the Mac Platform.
But I really do like their design and functionality choices ! That's a great looking office setup !

i would love to try out the mac ( saving up money to buy one ^^ )

I've been using a mac since the start of the year. So far, i haven't had any problem yet, except it hangs once so far, earlier today while i was viewing DC.. maybe my mac doesn't like DC. But i don't seem to have any problem and i havent seen the Mac Blue Screen of Doom. But.. my lack of $$ means that no windows means no eroge..ahem games.. and no upgrade to 10.6 .. I generally prefer mac to windows but i don't think i'll buy as many mac as you did O.O

I've mostly grown up with PCs, although I am considering purchasing a MAC.