Linked by David Adams on Mon 15th Oct 2001 02:23 UTC
OS News' review of Mac OS X last week certainly stirred up controversy, partially because some die hard Mac fans perceived that it was improper for an outsider (someone who is not an everyday Mac user) to me making broad criticisms after only a superficial introduction to the New operating system. Well, folks, that's why they call it a review. We thought that Apple's major new OS also deserved a road test, and there were two very important events in Mac OS X history just a few days ago that toppled the last major obstacle to making it ready for millions of Mac users to start using it as their everyday OS: the 10.1 release and the release of Microsoft Office X. Last week, I made the switch and started using Mac OS X as my everyday OS. Here's how it went:
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Apple is hardly irrelevant. It still owns the desktop publishing and digital art markets. And we're not the ones who recently had to merge to keep from getting sucked under like HP and Compaq. On a Mac you can still write a book (Microsoft Word), design a website (Adobe GoLive, Adobe PageMill, or even the reprehensible Microsoft FrontPage), set up a server with OSX Server and a good G4, and program to your hearts content. I don't appreciate the implication that Mac users aren't real people; minorities matter, and if you don't believe me ask a Holocaust survivor or someone who fought for civil rights in the South. Now, your point about slapping a GUI ontop of BSD is well taken, but to say that Apple doesn't give credit is blatantly false. Apple's website does an excellent job of showing how BSD lies underneath MacOS X, albeit a flavor of BSD modified by Apple and dubbed "Darwin." The breakthrough is that this is the first time Linux has been brought to the masses by an established and time tested computer company rather than some startup that doesn't exist a year later. You know you'll be able to get support for it down the road, so Linux has now become a more accessible alternative to Windows. As for Apple hardware, it does tend to cost more, but to call it inferior is just uninformed. The PowerPC G4 chip at 867 Mhz beat a Pentium 4 at 1.7 Ghz in benchmark speed tests (http://www.apple.com/g4/myth). The PowerBook G4, while only an inch think, has a 15 inch flat screen and slot-loading DVD drive. The iBook has the option of a combination DVD/CD-RW drive. The PowerMac G4 has the option for the so-called "SuperDrive" which plays and burns both CD's and DVD's, not to mention the option of dual 800 Mhz processors. Apple also recently won an Emmy of all things for pioneering the FireWire standard. Hardly the marks of an inferior hardware company. If Apple should have died years ago, it would have. Instead, it has beat all the analysts predictions of doom to remain one of the most innovative and stable computer companies in the world.