F*** PC IM GETTING A MAC. Maybe.

[shaydeeadi]

OSX is just as usable as Win7 when you give it more than 5 minutes of your time, could you also explain the 'folders first' please Soldant? Since I have never had an issue with this as the folders have always been first on the list for me, and am actually quite fond of the new filmstrip method they implemented with Lion. The only niggle I had was having to break the terminal out to view hidden folders, which took 30 seconds of my precious time.

Also, performance of Source engine games is really quite comparable (as in 5% maximum difference) between both operating systems in my experience, Deathspank actually runs better under OSX than 7 (probably because the engine is written in Obj-C.) There aren't many other examples of games I could cite since I haven't tried games above my spec too much, Dungeon Defenders ran quite well under OSX? Since Epic have native support for it now with UE3.

[soldant]

OSX is just as usable as Win7 when you give it more than 5 minutes of your time, could you also explain the 'folders first' please Soldant?

Folders First means that folders always appear at the top of the directory tree. Pretty much every OS these days does that; folders are displayed first in alphabetical order (for example) with files following afterwards. The Finder and Apple fanboys seem to insist that folders be treated no differently to files, so that they'll mix in with the files. Under a Folders First system, no matter what the sorting method folders appear before files... which makes sense because files are subordinate to folders. I don't know if it's been a recent patch but I last used OS X Lion shortly after its release and folders did not sort first under all organisation methods... or indeed any of them if I recall correctly. Again, OS X is the only OS I know of at the moment (save for maybe some obscure Linux build?) that doesn't do this in a GUI environment.

Also, performance of Source engine games is really quite comparable...

I'd be surprised, because most people tend to dual boot because games run faster under Windows 7. Fact is Win7's native support for DirectX and superior GPU drivers (particularly with respect to OpenGL) makes it the far superior gaming platform. The benchmarks reflect that.

[shaydeeadi]

Folders First...

Fair enough, I immediately set all my folders to arrange by kind anyway as soon as I got it so I didn't notice or get the irritation out of it, since all the folders are at the top. But I can see what you mean after juggling them all about. That is pretty wack now I look at it from your perspective.

I'd be surprised, because most people tend to dual boot because games run faster under Windows 7. Fact is Win7's native support for DirectX and superior GPU drivers (particularly with respect to OpenGL) makes it the far superior gaming platform. The benchmarks reflect that.

Very true, I had to upgrade the HD in mine recently so I could dual boot. But the gulf isn't that huge, it's enabled me to enjoy games on it so it's fine by me and I wasn't especially blown away by the difference when I got round to it. I hope in the future OpenGL and drivers for it get better, they have been recently but still not enough. And Apple really do need to do something about the GPU situation in them, with the way AMD/Nvidia are lowering temperatures it may get better in the future but wether they are willing to do it or not is another thing.

[Bhazor]

No the source games run like ass on iOS.

http://themacgamer.com/2010/05/28/ha...nce-mac-vs-pc/

Macs are not made for games. They're made for companies that want secure, non moddable closed PCs. So its ironic that Mac markets itself as the trendy, free wheeling hipster choice when I'm pretty confident most of them are used in offices.

[shaydeeadi]

That article is 2 years old in which time Mac has improved their support for OpenGL and their drivers in general a whole plenty, as well as updates that have improved the engine for Mac. It is noticeably better now even though Windows 7 is still better for pretty much any game, but it isn't particularly ass at all.

[soldant]

When I last tried out Source games they ran better than when I first tried them under OS X... but not by much. Windows has entrenched itself as the superior gaming platform. Apple aren't interested. Which sucks for Mac gamers I guess, but given that in terms of base hardware a Mac and a PC are the same thing, it hardly matters.

[Kadayi]

Mac has no gaemz? Bootcamped instalation of windows I say.

Macs make great workstations (I'm on a mac pro at this very moment), but if you intend to use it for gaming then I'd say you're better of sticking with PC simply from the perspective of hardware flexibility in terms of swapping out GPUs, or throwing in a new HDD.

Bootcamping means you're effectively half a hard drive down, whether your in OSX or Win 7. Given games are only going to get bigger (May Payne 3 will seem like a minnow in a couple of years when the next console generation is fully BluRay), hard drive space is going to become ever more important.

Macs for business, PC for games.

[Bhazor]

It doesn't matter what drivers apple sends out because their graphics hardware is still crap considering how much you're paying.

[QuantaCat]

Macs for business, PC for games.

Not even for business anymore, since they killed Final Cut.

[Shane]

Macs make great workstations

Care to elaborate?

[Kamikaze-X]

oh yeah, aren't the majority of GPUs in Macs AMD cards? he same brand you are trying to get away from?

[Chaz]

Macs aren't reliable you say? Shit hot customer service they do, no waiting weeks for an RMA.

Actually back when I was a computer support engineer I had to deal with quite a few macs, and my experience has always been that it takes them forever to turn around repair jobs etc. Also even if you know what the problem is, ie faulty DVD drive or failed video card, you still have to send in the whole machine, you can't just send them the failed component for replacement. Also if you're out of warranty then getting replacements like a mainboard for instance can be a major pain. Remember it's not like a PC where if your mainboard goes some years later you can just easily get a new one from a different manufacturer. With a mac you have to get the specific one that fits your model. Now imagine the mainboard fails in 3-5 years time when your mac is now an old model, getting a replacement board suddenly becomes a major pain. In the past I've been in the position where I've had macs out at repair centers for over 3 weeks waiting for replacement parts to arrive. With a PC you'd just go online order a new compatable board and stick it on next day delivery.

That's the problem with Macs, whatever ever hardware you buy at the time, you are more or less locked into for the life time of the machine.

[soldant]

oh yeah, aren't the majority of GPUs in Macs AMD cards? he same brand you are trying to get away from?

They are today, but Apple seem to swap and change between AMD and nVidia for reasons only known to them.

[verticuous]

They are today, but Apple seem to swap and change between AMD and nVidia for reasons only known to them.

The new MacBook Pros that are coming out are likely to have nVidia cards - mostly likely the mobile version of Kepler, if we can be optimistic.

CPUs are expected to be Ivy Bridge, and the refresh of the laptops is expected to to be in June (WWDC) time.

[QuantaCat]

Just build your own facking PC, for a third of the price. If something breaks, replace it yourself. YAY PC.

Or whatever.

[Kadayi]

Care to elaborate?

Because most people are idiots when it comes to technology and macs are relatively idiot proof. Useful in an office environment where not everyone is a computer guru.

[Shane]

Ah. Well, that seems ingenious or is this the norm?

[soldant]

I'd somewhat agree with Kadayi that OS X probably works okay for people who have zero experience with computers, because OS X progressively hides more and more of the underlying OS with each release. Problem is, it's also fairly opaque with its operation; to dig into the system you have to work harder than for Windows.

Also I find it incredibly ironic that Apple ran those advertisements laughing about UAC in Vista when OSX effectively includes the same thing, as does Linux with its sudo command.

[Patrick Swayze]

Well guys I think some of you have put me off for now but to be making it clear I was talking about a desktop or imac not a laptop.

Though there seems to be a lot of unnecessary Mac hate going off.

P.S to the haters: I've been building my own PC's for the better part of two decades, fancied something different.

[Chaz]

The grass always looks greener on the otherside.