XP,Vista, or Mac, which do you have?

I had windows XP and my SO got me a new laptop for my birthday and it has Windows Vista.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but I like it a lot.

depends on which machine i am sitting at note some are dual boot.
xp,xp pro, vista(still having some driver issues with games), linux, and server 2003

i have 2 older servers with unix and another with VMS

as with mike the answer is, can i pick all the above

PS you really dont want to know how many different computers there are in my house. Just for fun i started to buy a mac pro, but it was about 3000 dollars

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

I'd be interested to hear your comparative assessment of them, Mike.

For me, XP at home, and Windows 2000 in the office.

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Okie dokie

The iMac is my workhorse. Living 30 miles from a town with a population of 30,000, and over 90 miles from anything larger, I do everything from home. Shopping, banking, bill pay. I have a firewall on my router and with it and the IPFW on the iMac, I feel pretty secure. And, I love the way iPhoto keeps track of my pictures. I like Mac's Safari browser, but I got spoiled to the add-ons for Firefox, so I have Firefox installed. Apples mouse takes some getting used to. I've gotten to where I have actually programmed all the buttons on my mouse to perform a function, and going from that to Apples one-button mouse almost feels disabling. So, I invested in the Logitech wireless keyboard-mouse for Mac, which still has the option and control keys from the Mac, but also has a 5 button mouse.

The Acer I bought almost as an afterthought, it was on clearance at Office Depot, and I'd not tried Vista yet, and it was less than $300 USD(270'ish), so I bought it. Vista SHINES as part of my home entertainment center. Media center is some awesome stuff and vista is pretty! Plus at the moment, NetFlix's "Watch Instantly" streaming movies only works on Windows. The PC worked just great, but I decided it could only be better, so dug into the closet and found 2 more GB of DDR2 to max the memory out at 4 GB, and installed a 2nd HDD for a total of 750 GB of Hard drive. It's all hooked into a Panasonic sound system and the Display is a 42" Magnavox LCD HDTV.

I totally love Linux, but it does have it's drawbacks. Because Linux doesn't pay for licenses for proprietary software or codecs, they are not included in the Linux releases, or distro. You have to find the codecs and install them yourself. But, there are a few distros that come packaged with codecs, such as Linux Mint, but there are some questions about how legal that is Linux is very solid and reliable, but on the older laptop I have it installed, it doesn't recognize the modem. I have DSL, but keep a low priced dialup ISP for a backup. But, with the other computers, that doesn't amount to much.
Note: I downloaded the newest release of Ubuntu, which will be 8.10, and it DOES recognize the modem, but it's only in Alpha release, and I'm not cutting edge enough to work with that

All in all, I'm happy with any or all of them, but I believe the iMac is my favorite, more for personal reasons that technical ones. Because it's completely self contained, (1 power cord, that's it), I can pick it up off the desk and carry it out to the picnic table, or set it on a coffee table. The laptops hardly seem to get any use at home, except for the one from work, which I do my "homework" on.

Windows XP.

I have always had windows pc's and the latest and greatest of their OS's. I think, however, that next time I have to purchase a computer....it is going to be a MacBook.

I want a Mac ! WAHAAAA

You lucky Mac owners. Guess what I am using. Here is a hint, Its the one that likes to change my settings/preferences for no reason, and I have to tell it to do every little thing in 3 different ways before it does it.

If those using Windows at this time don't like it you can do something about it and it won't cost you a single dime...

Windows XP here

Have XP

Wish I had Mac

Will probably get stuck with Vista

Originally Posted by strange_wings

If those using Windows at this time don't like it you can do something about it and it won't cost you a single dime...

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If you can make do with generic applications. I have several must-use apps that only run on Windows. My alternative would cost me many, many dimes (Mac w/ Windows VMWare)

My main PC is running Vista but I also have an older one using XP. Personally, I absolutely hate Vista . It's the worst OS ever released IMO. When I get a laptop, it's definitely going to be a Mac.

Originally Posted by coaster

If you can make do with generic applications. I have several must-use apps that only run on Windows. My alternative would cost me many, many dimes (Mac w/ Windows VMWare)

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Wait... you've realized you can use VMWare on Macs, but not that you can run it on other unix-like OS'es too?

Indeed you can. I use MS Money and Photoshop in VMWare on an Acer 1100 Running LinuxMint 5.0 and Kubuntu 8.04 in dual boot. It works just dandy, though sometimes it seems to be a tiny bit slow. But, compared to Linux, pretty much anything Windows is a little slower

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Wait... you've realized you can use VMWare on Macs, but not that you can run it on other unix-like OS'es too?

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Hmmmm....no.....didn't know. Really? Hey, I'm going to have to look into that. Are the unix Windows emulators open-source freebies, too? Do they work as well as the Mac emulators? Man.....this could be cool. I need a new computer and I've been hesitating because I don't want Vista, and Macs cost too much. Strange_wings, can you give me some links so I can get up to speed on what I need to know?

Originally Posted by coaster

If you can make do with generic applications. I have several must-use apps that only run on Windows. My alternative would cost me many, many dimes (Mac w/ Windows VMWare)

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I have a MacBook Pro which dual boots into Windows for those pesky Windows only programs. Ok, so it's still not cheap compared to other options, but everything runs so well, and I've been very happy with it.

Originally Posted by coaster

Are the unix Windows emulators open-source freebies, too?

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I use VirtualBox, which has an open source edition.

coaster - Just know that nothing is perfect, especially if it's constantly being improved. There'll be bugs, but then again I think everyone is used to dealing with them.

With all the live distros out there to choose from, have fun. The 'buntus are popular now and do have a good support forum. Depending on what you're running stat wise you could also look for something streamlined down and aimed more at getting the most out of a slightly older pc.

My reasons for wanting a Mac have much to do with the pleasure of working with the Mac OS. If I were to go the Linux/VMWare route, what advantage would that be to me over just installing Windows XP on a new Intel box?

^ Not having to deal with XP for the most part. Remember, you were complaining about XP and Vista.

So far the only Windows app I miss is Foobar. A nice little music player and tagger. No other player on any OS is even remotely as useful.

What I don't get... is why not have multiple PCs? It's always best to have more then one - especially if you need one to order parts for the computer that broke. (been there, done that a couple times) If they still boot in some form or another I don't through them out, I can always use them for something. Of course, DH and I have separate computers too... I don't share very well.