A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 8, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
Games
I knew very well going into this that I would not be able to truly game on the Mac, but even the few games that were released on both Mac and PC platforms, which I wanted to play, did leave me with a sour taste of Mac gaming. It wasn't the games themselves - no, those were just fine - textured and filtered polygons look the same regardless of what side of the fence you're on; instead, it was actually getting the games.For example, the first Unreal Tournament 2003 demo was released while I was doing this little experiment and while all PC users were able to download the demo as soon as it was live, there was hardly any mention of it anywhere for Macs. I couldn't even find a download link off of Epic's website once the Mac version was available. Instead, I had to Google it and found a link off of a discussion board. This was well before an official link or even a mention of a Mac version ever appeared anywhere outside of a small circle of websites.
Then there's Doom 3. The game was released for the PC, and as everyone (me included) went out to buy a copy of the game, all Mac users were left with was a promise for a Mac demo and no solid release date for the Mac version. I surely wasn't going to wait and play it on the Mac when it came out. Nope - instead, I found myself playing even the games that were developed for the Mac on my PC as well.
The Mac is far from a gaming platform, and regardless of how positive a spin you put on it, the Mac gaming environment today is not much better than it was several years ago. I remember when Wolfenstein finally made it to the Mac. I would always make fun of my Mac friend because he was playing Wolfenstein while I was playing Doom - it doesn't seem like that much has changed.
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dmr9748 - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
You again failed to provide proof. The first site is a bunch of pictures. I have been to that campus and have met some of the people in those pictures. This is how funding works, if someone gives you money and says that you can only spend it on x, are you going to give up that funding? NONow, let's take a look at comparing 2 exact same items. They will never perform the same. Do you know why? There is about a billion reasons why. The mos striaght and to the point example is the movie "Timeline." Look at post #97.
The only one that came close to proving me wrong was the linuxsinder.com post. Problem is, he doesnt tell me what vendor he is going to except for dell and the things is I just did a price comparison on both those items. I have given the direct links to the vendors.
With some of the last links you posted, go back to post #112.
rxmz - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
Azkman has already answered #112 very well, but just a quick look at the Dell shows it only has 2 HD bays, neither front accessible nor hot swappable. It's not 64-bit, and doesn't have a 1GHz front-side bus. I'd guess there are other reasons it's not in the same comparison class as the Xserve G5, but I think that's plenty already.azkman - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
Hard evidence for #112 (none from pro-apple sources):http://www.tcf.vt.edu/systemX.html
http://www.colsa.com/cover_page/news_front/news_de...
http://www.top500.org/list/2003/11/
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/36120.html
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/36964.html
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke%5C6133.html
http://www.pcmag.com/review/0%2C2491%2Cs%3D1564&am...
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1369037,00.as...
Specs do not equal performance. I haven't heard of any Dell supercomputers being built at breakthrough prices. I'd believe the jugdement and results of VT and the US Army over an arbitrary price comparison any day.
dmr9748 - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
I just did a price comparison of my own between an xserve and a dell server.Here is the xserve for $2898.99
http://www.ctistore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Scr...
I priced a rackmount server with the same specs on dell.com for $2021
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx...
#95 Don't post an article that explains one system and then say it is more cost effective for what you get compared to another system when the article doesn't even mention a price for the system they are describing. Do not attack my post unless you have some hard evidence.
kmmatney - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
reading all these comments from (most) the mac users that have posted makes me want a mac less and less.-- I second that one. $2500 for a computer with no monitor and a crap video card. That's the "uncomfortable" part to me.
victorpanlilio - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
#109 dextrous wrote: reading all these comments from (most) the mac users that have posted makes me want a mac less and less.Care to elaborate? Using this same sort of reasoning, then all of the positive comments a people might happen to make about their own country should dissuade foreign tourists from visiting. And of course, such people should not object if their country is portrayed in a bad light by foreigners who know little or nothing about the country. What's more, the foreigners are afraid that a learning experience might actually force them to rethink their prejudices. To bring this discussion back on topic, what Anand has done is the equivalent of visiting a foreign country, sampling its cuisine, experiencing something of its culture, and so on. His "travelogue" describes his impressions. The forum participants chime in with their own dispatches from the field -- and those who have visited and perhaps lived in the foreign country for some time are in a better position to comment knowledgeably.
dextrous - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
reading all these comments from (most) the mac users that have posted makes me want a mac less and less.victorpanlilio - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
In #107 topcat903 wrote: "Basically, this article describes the "uncomfortable" feeling we get when we switch to something we are not used to."And if that's all it was, then the remedy is simple -- learn. But in the article, as well as in the comments, uncalled-for remarks about price etc. detract from the overall message that it is quite possible for a diehard but open-minded Windows PC user to discover genuinely superior things about MacOS X even without delving into applications that make best use of the platform.
topcat903 - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
I don't think this article was to compare which system (hardware or software wise) is better. It was written to describe the "experience" one would feel when switching to another OS (heck, the same thing could be said about switching girlfriends or boyfriends).I started my computing days using the Apple IIe, then the first Mac...eventually I switched to the Windows platform, and recently since my wife got an iBook, I had to switch back to OS X.
Basically, this article describles the "uncomfortable" feeling we get when we switch to something we are not used to...A feeling I experienced many times over. All the speed, power, and storage of a system could mean nothing to me if I don't know all the ins and outs of what I'm using to get what I needed done.
Overall, the article was a good and interesting read...just wish there was more on the audio/video apps (where Apple truly excel), however I assume it's not what the author's primary use of the G5...but hopefully a start towards many more articles.
rxmz - Saturday, October 9, 2004 - link
A quick FYI semi-related to Mac OS X scroll speed. Clicking in the empty area of a scroll bar jumps by a page, but clicking while holding down the "option" key jumps straight to that point (reversible via a system preference). This comes in very handy for long documents (or file listings), when you know about where you're trying to go.As an aside, the only app I have seen where this does NOT work is MS Word....