system shock
Sep. 9th, 2010 04:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishI've been considering a number of lifestyleish changes for awhile now. I blame the hat. I've never thought of myself as a guy who wears a hat, and yet now I have one. (A black paper/straw trilby. I'm told it looks pretty decent.) The concept of wearing a hat is starting to grow on me.
Anyway, once I got a hat, other things started popping into my head. Some of them I'd been considering for awhile, some of them are brand-new. One was kind of shocking, honestly:
I'm thinking of going Mac.
Hear me out. There are a lot of things about Windows systems that I like but they mostly boil down to "I know how to get things done on Windows." My fingers know the keyboard shortcuts intuitively. When something goes wrong, I can find what I need to do to fix it; when something needs tweaking, I have a pretty good idea of where to look to tweak. Like with QWERTY, I accept that there's some inherent inefficiency in the system, but I'm not willing to switch because learning to overcome that inefficiency will take more time than the inefficiency itself.
But my next computer (coming in probably another year) is likely to be running Windows 7, with its ridiculous ribbon bars and general revamping of the user interface. Now, I've not actually used Win7, or Vista, for any length of time: just long enough to grumble at not being able to do things with the speed and finesse I'm used to. So I don't really know how much additional learning time there'll be, but there will definitely be some.
I don't game much anymore. Every so often I get inspired to pick up something oldish (Moonbase Commander is currently taunting me again), but mostly I satisfy my gaming urges elsewhere. For me the computer's for netsurfing and writing, in that order.
I know for a fact there are things that will minorly irritate me ("War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Backspace is delete.") and things that will irk me no end (learning the difference between option and apple, trying to right-click on things for a context menu). I understand that the interface, once you fully grok it, is an aesthetic triumph of form/function melding.
So tell me, o converts, and you who never knew another system: is this way for me? Or will it end in me throwing a thousand-dollar laptop through a window and rooting through sketchy websites for a copy of Windows XP?
(Things I am specifically not looking for: lengthy paeans to the awesomeness of the Way of Mac; diatribes about the horribilitude of Apple or Windows; exhortations to try Linux or any other OS.)
Anyway, once I got a hat, other things started popping into my head. Some of them I'd been considering for awhile, some of them are brand-new. One was kind of shocking, honestly:
I'm thinking of going Mac.
Hear me out. There are a lot of things about Windows systems that I like but they mostly boil down to "I know how to get things done on Windows." My fingers know the keyboard shortcuts intuitively. When something goes wrong, I can find what I need to do to fix it; when something needs tweaking, I have a pretty good idea of where to look to tweak. Like with QWERTY, I accept that there's some inherent inefficiency in the system, but I'm not willing to switch because learning to overcome that inefficiency will take more time than the inefficiency itself.
But my next computer (coming in probably another year) is likely to be running Windows 7, with its ridiculous ribbon bars and general revamping of the user interface. Now, I've not actually used Win7, or Vista, for any length of time: just long enough to grumble at not being able to do things with the speed and finesse I'm used to. So I don't really know how much additional learning time there'll be, but there will definitely be some.
I don't game much anymore. Every so often I get inspired to pick up something oldish (Moonbase Commander is currently taunting me again), but mostly I satisfy my gaming urges elsewhere. For me the computer's for netsurfing and writing, in that order.
I know for a fact there are things that will minorly irritate me ("War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Backspace is delete.") and things that will irk me no end (learning the difference between option and apple, trying to right-click on things for a context menu). I understand that the interface, once you fully grok it, is an aesthetic triumph of form/function melding.
So tell me, o converts, and you who never knew another system: is this way for me? Or will it end in me throwing a thousand-dollar laptop through a window and rooting through sketchy websites for a copy of Windows XP?
(Things I am specifically not looking for: lengthy paeans to the awesomeness of the Way of Mac; diatribes about the horribilitude of Apple or Windows; exhortations to try Linux or any other OS.)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 03:40 am (UTC)1. I hatehatehate the trackpad == mouse button of the current MBPros.
2. I've had really lousy luck with Apple batteries - 4 MBPros in my care; 4 flat out dead (as in bulging, completely failed) batteries plus one negligible charge one. To their credit, they covered 3 of them with the extended warranty (unlike Dell), but the fact they're no longer user servicable means you're without your computer for several days).
3. I have a hard time switching between OS X quirks and Windows/Linux GUIs (that are close enough together to be the same to me at this point, at least compared to OS X). Because I _must_ work with Windows for work, I find it easiest to stick to that standard. If I could go 100% OS X, I might acclimate to it, but that's not an option.
4. OS X performance sucks compared to Windows or Linux. From what I gather, a lot of it has to do with memory management. What I do know is that I spend an awful lot of time staring a spinning beach balls or unresponsive systems doing the same thing that W2K shrugged off on similar hardware.
5. I don't need Steve Jobs to tell me how I WILL use my computer.
6. I like cheap - the computer I'm typing this on is 12.1 inches, lightweight, runs Windows 7, dual core, and cost me $340. That leaves me with more money for travel and lenses.
YMMV.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-13 05:00 am (UTC)#3's a relevant point, since I'm pretty much stuck using Windows for work as well.
#4 isn't such a problem because a) I'm unlikely to do anything that requires anywhere near the full capabilities of a machine, and b) my current machine was trailing-edge when I bought it three years ago so anything new will seem blazingly fast.
And currently money is less of an object than it might be. Which is nice and I have no idea how long it'll last...