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  • Anonymous - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link

    I'm not saying "switch." Keep your Microsoft Windows box, but put a $499 Mini alongside it. The Mini is a low risk way to compare operating systems and to get your feet wet in the world of OS X and UNIX.

    I will glady if you donate a mini to me. Make no mistake OS X's use of BSD is commendable but lets be honest. It is not UNIX. Using the term UNIX to substantiate OS X is lame. Have you used a version of UNIX before? HP-UX? Solaris? I would think as an OS X fan you'd make every effort to separate your OS from UNIX.

    The user experience of UNIX is an entirely different world than the Mac OS and one I would not like to reference to. Apple does not gear OS X to companies in markets that rely specifically on UNIX. In fact, none of my UNIX contemporaries see OS X as a potential platform to replace their existing UNIX infrastructure.
  • Anonymous - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link

    "In general, there's a feeling of camaraderie with Mac that I don't get with Windows. With Apple you have the sense that they are somehow "with you", whereas Microsoft is more like "we'll do it for you". Do you know what I mean? I get a much greater sense of big brother with MS. Maybe this is a false sense, but it's significant."

    No doubt, there is a lot of camaraderie in 2% market share. Thats because you want to hug the next person you find who uses a Mac. LOL! Apple is your only pusher for both the OS and hardware. Where else would you go? Linux? I hear that Yellow Dog Linux distro for the Mac is killer. ;P

    We don't know how Apple would respond as a company if they were as big as Microsoft. Considering their most recent success was with a consumer electronic product rather than their OS/Computer Hardware they need to devote resources to keep the real market share they do have. I must say that they're in the best position they've ever been to reach out to the pagans of the PC world and preach them the Mac Gospel. I hope it works.
  • doggy - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    enjoyed the mac articles. like the mac itself, these articles are lively which reminded me of the first few years of anandtech (admittedly i stopped following AT when it felt like each article dropped out of the same template).

    as a PB owner, the best portability feature is how well the sleep mode works in OS X. close the cover and in 1-2 seconds it sleeps, and off you go. sit down, open the screen - everything up and continues within a couple seconds! works every time. hardly reboot my laptop.
  • James - Sunday, January 30, 2005 - link

    Have you driven a Macintosh ... lately?

    That's what I say to colleagues who still think of the Macintosh in 1987 terms: the little one-bit/eight-inch screen, 20mb hard drive, 2mb of RAM. The Mac under OS X has come a LONG way. It's truly worth a look.

    I'm not saying "switch." Keep your Microsoft Windows box, but put a $499 Mini alongside it. The Mini is a low risk way to compare operating systems and to get your feet wet in the world of OS X and UNIX.
  • Switcher - Saturday, January 29, 2005 - link

    "Basically did not want another XP system in the house. I spend too much time updating XP, zonealarm, adaware, spybot etc etc etc etc on the 3 existing PCs. Then checking no nasties have sneaked past. Simply did not want a forth system to hassle me.

    I did consider a cheap laptop with Linux but the windows tax put me off. Also from playing with employers laptops and linux I know that not everything works - like power management - without tinkering. I know how to fix that kind of thing but did not want to have to, if that makes sense.

    For my wife I wanted a simple appliance. Zero admin overhead. The iBook fitted the bill. All I can say is that it is fantastic. Its only the 12inch lowest spec (with a 60Gb drive.) Not even put extra memory in it yet. But its plenty fast enough for everyday use. Battery life is amazing. The iLife programs are a lot of fun. No registry. Whole apps are single files. Not files spewed all over the system. Mac OS has proper multi-user with fine user privilege controls. So no worries about the kids accidently resetting the wep key - even if they are using an admin account (it prompts to re-enter passwd.) Lots of interesting and useful features that are so easy to find. I felt at home with Mac OS immediately. I was pleasantly surprised to find there is no shortage of software out there - for example, I found a great DVD ripper within 5mins of looking. I love it. Now we fight over who gets to use the iBook! I did not expect to be even using it."
  • Shakespeare - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link

    #30 Laptop Battery Life

    You are going to use an extra battery to get 5 hours out of a PC and you say the G4 doesn't cut it because one battery can't compare with two?

    Macs have had better battery life than PCs for years... recently Intel has improved things with the Mobile Pentiums... but Macs are still generally better than PCs despite being lighter & thinner than full spec desktop replacement PCs.

    Apple rates 12" iBook battery life at up to 6 hours on a single battery charge. You'd have to turn down the brightness and do nothing other than Word Processing to achieve that, however, I regularly get 4.5 hours - so that's 9 hours if you buy a second battery and compare like with like versus the 2 battery PCs.

    Now you may feel that the battery must be bolted onto the laptop to "qualify" but I don't understand why you would want to carry the weight all the time. The old G3 Powerbooks would accept a second battery in place of the optical drive... that is no longer an option on any Macs.
  • Tom Durkin - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link

    Jimbo (#30), about how only Intel offers 5-hour battery life on a 12-inch notebook...

    I get almost 5 hours on my 12-inch Powerbook (current model, 1.33GHz G4 with 768MB). I turn the display brightness all the way down (Its still quite readable if you stay away from direct sunlight), turn off airport (wifi) except for the minutes when I actually need it, don't use the CD/DVD drive, and set the energy saver settings all the way. My understanding is that the 12-inch iBook has even better battery life.

    I hope this helps.
  • XIII - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link

    Wow, just the type of article I was looking for as a potential switcher myself.
    Excellent coverage, I love the depth of the article(s).
  • bshell - Thursday, January 27, 2005 - link

    In general, there's a feeling of camaraderie with Mac that I don't get with Windows. With Apple you have the sense that they are somehow "with you", whereas Microsoft is more like "we'll do it for you". Do you know what I mean? I get a much greater sense of big brother with MS. Maybe this is a false sense, but it's significant.
  • Jimbo - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link

    I am really enjoying these articles on macs. I've been a pc user my whole life, and as of late I have been somewhat intrigued by apple (as I have an IPOD). At any rate I am really curious to find out if macs are as awesome as everyone says they are (in terms of ease of use etc etc etc). It has been INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT to find NON BIASED articles on the net. You have the PC guys who are like "Macs suck" and then the mac dudes who are like "Pcs suck". It's refreshing and extremely HELPFUL to find a real article with real comparison.

    At any rate one thing bothers me as of now. The fact that the G4 doesn't compare to a pentium M/the centrino platform. I want an 12 inch laptop when I graduate college (something with atleast 5 hours of battery life) and the only option for excessive battery life is a centrino based laptop. Granted I would have to get the extra battery attached to the back of the laptop for that. But yeah that is my primary concern - G4 is a weak processor, and doesnt get great battery life. 2-3 hours is not gonna cut it for me.
  • Denis - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link

    I use Yadal and/or Namely as application launcher.

    I use DoubleCommand to map Shift-Backspace to Delete and add a right-hand Alt key (DoubleCommand.pref contains 16388)

    These are free applications, many more are available to enhance your Mac experience. See VersionTracker for a list of freeware and shareware:

    http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx
  • Sam Samaha - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link

    Great Article Anand..

    I grew up in the time of systems like the IBM 370 and Unix mainframes, but the sadly gotand lost in the windows world for years, first with DOS of course..

    With the advent of OS X, the Mac has taken on a whole new life for me, and it's not longer that simple computer for art students and photographers, but now it's a power user system with full unix control and a "windows" shell that can't be touched.

    Glad to have found OS X, as I'm sure you are Anand.

    Can't wait for Tiger, and true 64 bit desktop computing.
  • mklein - Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - link

    An important security feature is FileVault. When chosen, it encrypts the entire Home folder during use, on the fly, all in the background with no performance hit.

    So if the laptop is lost, there is Password protection AND the HD is unreadable as well.

    Interesting that it comes with military security for such a user-friendly interface.
  • Ed Garcia - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    The launcher I use is HimmelBar. Free and customizable. It's much better than putting the Applications folder in the dock.
  • W. Andrew Loe III - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    still think you are missing out on the complete mac experience by not using a launcher application.

    I run Butler (http://www.petermaurer.de/nasi.php?thema=butler&am... but there are many more: LaunchBar (http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html)... QS as mentioned earlier, just do a search on versiontracker.com.

    What these applications enable you to do is virtualy elimate the need for CMD+tab switching, using the dock, or using the Applications folder to launch things. Basically press CMD + Space (as I have it setup, you can go with whatever key combo you want!) and then type what you want - you can even teach them anacronyms for commonly used applications. For example if I do CMD+Space then type PS and hit enter it opens photoshop, or switches to it if its already open. The applications are infinitely configurable, I've got a shortcut for blog which runs an apple script that then pops open MarsEdit and opens a new post window for my blog (which is WordPress powered, MarsEdit contacts it via XML-RPC). Butler also has a built in dictonary, and multiple other widgets. Check it out.

    I 2nd the suggestion on using sidetrack. I bought my PB (1st mac) in march last year and this was one of the first things that I had to have - makes it so much nicer.
  • hopejr - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    #13, #17, #21, Anand has been sick and is still catching up with reviews (this one was supposed to be released around Christmas). So stop you're complaining!
  • Michael2k - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    #21: Valve hasn't released HL2 yet for the Mac, so no HL2 testing was done.
  • Patrick - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Excellent article! I love reading your perspective of the Mac platform. I am really looking forward to the Mac Mini article. Good luck.
  • Anonymous - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    I should second #13, what happened to the HL2 CPU article?
  • badtz - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Very well balanced and unbiased article! I was previously a PC user and switched to the Apple/PowerPC platform 3 years ago, and I feel the same way as you! You pointed out all of the strong points of Apple (good OS, GUI design, quality, etc.), while mentioning it's "so-so" features like gaming.

    Well written article! And for those PC/Windows users who are seriously even 'considering' OS X, you should really read the article thoroughly, and also watch the video clips!

    :)
  • Commodus - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    The blank space on the 17" is a bit disconcerting, but then the standardized keyboard size also helps with economies of scale and with repair. Apple probably couldn't have three different sizes of PowerBook, especially not with the fairly rapid decrease in prices, if it didn't have a common foundation for the design.
  • araemo - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    About the build quality/etc of the powerbooks..
    Keeping the 'full size' keyboard on the 12" model IS nice..

    But the 17" model has inches of blank aluminum beside the keyboard/speakers.. I would be more tempted by the 17" if they used all that extra space to put in a truly "full size" keyboard, and/or a numpad. ;P

    Personally, I'm quite happy with my Compaq X1000, another 15" widescreen that I, annoyingly enough, paid almost as much for. ;P

    I can definately back up your opinion that 256MB is not enough ram for a smooth OS X experience. My main OS X usage is on a 733 mhz G4 w/ 256 MB and a geforce # mx. No expose for me with 10.2, but a decent enough system anyways.
  • Michael2k - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    What about the Half Life 2 CPU Scaling Article? What does have to do with OS X, a PowerBook, or a month with a Mac II?
  • Commodus - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Thanks for the review. Not so much for myself - I already have a PowerBook - but because you obviously care about addressing things fairly, which is important for a new user. I imagine that the videos in particular would be EXTREMELY useful for someone who doesn't know what, say, Exposé is and why it's so useful in the notebook environment.

    My PowerBook, by the way, is currently a 12" model (though I'm looking at a 15" if/when the G5 comes in the summer) and I can attest to the value of having a decent-sized keyboard on an otherwise small laptop. I rarely find myself hitting the wrong key while typing, which is rather important given that the 12" PowerBook is most likely to be used for typing-dependent apps.
  • Mephisto - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    An excellent Mac article - one of the best I've read on any site.

    As mentioned above: machine code BIOS isn't the same thing as Forth based Open Firmware:

    http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1061.htm...

    Right-clicking is a non-issue for most regular Mac users... I never find the need to hunt contextual menus that are inconsistent across apps (even in Windows) and may or may not contain what you are looking for. Once one comes across the single button way to do things it usually turns out to be easier.

    I must say, though, that it was a rare delight to read a Mac review on a PC site that didn't descend into a gratuitously ill informed, spittle drenched, mockery. I hope that you don't get too much hate mail from disappointed fanbois. I notice #13's not taken his lithium this morning.

    Hail Anandtech! Long may this continue.
  • ksherman - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    One thing I think we really need is a slot reference guide... with PCI, PCI-X, PCIe and AGP floating around, some are apt to be confused (as i am when it comes to the differce between PCI-X and PCIe other thatn the physicsal interface)
  • Anonymous - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    WHAT ABOUT THE FREAKIN HALF-LIFE 2 CPU SCALING ARTICLE?
  • hopejr - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    #10, you know that's almost exactly how I had sidetrack set up on my iBook (except the back and forward were at the top and the rt-click was a the bottom). I don't use it anymore tho because I hate nag screens and don't have a credit or debit card to pay for it (but it's such a good tool!!)
  • OoTLink - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    And now Anand knows why I want a powerbook so badly :big grin:

    I dunno about him, or anyone else here, but one other nice thing about them is how the side ports are so clean, even though exposed. Even on dell's 700m, you see exposed metallic trim and sometimes HOT PINK parallel or whatever other PC(99?) spec colors you'd usually only see on a desktop.

    Thankfully, they made it look good :) Perhaps you'd be one of the crazed few to do a 7200.1 seagate momentus review when those come out.. if they ever come out *sigh*
  • Alex - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Hey to make the annoying one mouse button problem go away download a program called sidetrack. It allows you to set the far right of the touchpad to scroll like many pc laptops, you can also set the corners of the touchpad to do things as well. On my iBook i have the top right corner set to right click, and the bottom left and right corners as forward and back for my web browser.
  • Laylaa - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Hi
    I just read your article. I found the first one after trying to find PC perspectives on macs because I was trying to convince my sister an iBook was the way to go for her and she was fed up of reading "PCs suck, Macs sucks, Apple sucks, Microsoft sucks etc". And that article actually made her interested!

    And it reminded me of the things I liked about the mac and OS X when I had no choice but to use it for a month. And started making me want a Powerbook instead of what I was looking at. So thank you!

    And this one is has made the decision firmer, just which one!
  • tpmoney - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    A partial solution to your single mouse button issue. Raging Menace makes a control panel called "Side Track"

    http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/

    This is a new control panel for the trackpad which allows you to assign different features to your trackpad.

    i.e. you can make the actual button a left click, and a tap on the pad as a right click, or assign functions to the corners of the track pad like the 3 exposé functions and a right click. It also allows for scroll zones if you want them.
  • Jon - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    #4: I know what they are. They serve similar purposes but are hardly alike. As well mistaking OpenFirmware and BIOS is inexcusable for someone of Anand's expertise. And you are correct; he was referring to his G5 when he mentioned it.
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    ViRGE

    Normally you would've gotten me right, but remember I've already got the portability aspect down with the X505 - you can't beat 1.7lbs (I held a 12" PB after using my X505 and it felt like a ton of bricks). The one thing that didn't satisfy me with the X505 was my ability to get work done on it - the keyboard was cramped, and Photoshop was a pain on it. So I made the compromise and tried the 15", mainly because of the screen size and the faster CPU.

    Back to working on the mini...

    Take care,
    Anand
  • ViRGE - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Frankly, I would have taken you for a 12" PB user, but obviously I'm not as good at figuring you out as I'd like to be. Still, it's a good article, and I think you've set yourself up very well for the Mac Mini piece.
  • Rura - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Fascinating article Anand. I look forward to seeing a Mac Mini article soon. ;)

    #2, OpenFirmware *is* a BIOS in the "Basic Input Output System" sense of the term. And if you read more closely you'll notice he said he actually got a firmware update for his G5 (I got one on my Dual 2.5 awhile back as well. My SU history says November 17, 2004)
  • Chris - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Anand,

    Good article on the ALbook. Just one tip - if you put a folder in the dock (like the Applications folder, which I also do), and just click-hold on it for a second, you'll get the expanded access (just as you would when you right-click). I am guessing they did this with the laptops in mind.
  • Jon - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Anand, nice article, though a little on the light side for those of us already using a Mac. However, there was one issue I had. On page 7 you mention getting a BIOS update. First, Macs don't use BIOS, they use OpenFirmware. Secondly, as far as I know, there hasn't been any firmware updates for the latest generation of PowerBooks. So what the heck are you talking about?
  • jeffosx - Monday, January 24, 2005 - link

    Another great article. There is a site called macosxhints that publishes little helpful hints to use OSX that you may also like to browse one day or subscribe to the RSS feed...

    My wife really wanted to get a PB but she needs Windows for MS access and some GIS stuff and the 1Ghz G4 running XP was just a tad slow so hopefully a speedbump will let us get a new one. I do think that the PB lineup is in need of a refresh. Hopefully soon. The iBooks seems like better value unless you are looking at a big screen.

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