Wednesday, May 17, 2006

 

The move is complete.....

May 16, 2006


Well, the move to Intel for Apple is complete.

The new MacBook series announced yesterday by Apple replaces the venerable iBook series. Granted, the new laptops series is very tempting, with the Intel Core D series as the CPU, 60Gb HD, sexy black cover option, and the tantalizing prospect of running Windows XP Home or XP Pro SP2 as a dual boot setup on the MacBooks.

So.. the question begins to roam around in your mind, should I jump in and buy a MacBook?

My take is.... It depends.

On what?

1. Are you already using a Apple system you got in the last 3-4 years...

If you are, and are happy with your present setup, Why Change!!!
Don't forget that OS X just works!!!!!
You are already familiar with the ins and outs of the hardware and OS X. Sure it took time and effort to get to that level, but, you will agree that it was worth the blood, sweat and tears.
I read on the net that OS X for Intel is a closed system. I don't know it that story is true, but, for Windows 3.x, 9x, NT, 2000,(Pro, Server,) Xp(Home & Pro) 2003(Server, DataCenter)Microsoft allows very little leeway in allowing their OSes be modified by a regular end user(if you are a big corporate customer, it's a different story) The Mac OS X for the PowerPC chip is open to reconfiguring the base operating system which is based on BSD in order to have the only the necessary components for a particular hardware configuration to run, without unneeded services and components slowing the overall OS.

2. Your Apple system is older that 5 years...

Yes, but, move to the PowerPC machine you can afford, be it a laptop or desktop. Only go to the Intel based Macs after you do a careful and detailed evaluation of your current setup and a complete analysis of your future needs. Why?
The Mac OS X and the applications is mature, stable, and full featured, Your applications, and content you created will play better with OS X for PowerPC than with OS X for Intel. Don't forget that not all of the applications for the PowerPC will be ported to the OS X for Intel, which use Apple's Rosetta to allow applications made for the PowerPC chip to run on the Intel chip. Doing this will affect the apparent response of the OS and hardware to you, the user as you perform your daily tasks.

3. Casual/Intermediate Windows User....

If you are a Windows user, and had always been curious about the Mac and OS X, the time to try it is now, while the iBook is still avaiable. No, Apple will not have a clearance sale on the remaing iBooks, but they will be cheaper that the MacBooks by at least $100.00. Why the PowerPC iBook? My wife bought this model, and it didn't take long for her to get used to it. I took longer to get comfortable with OS X, because, I go back and forth between Linux and Windows on a daily basis, and needed more time to build the mental processes to switch between the different OSes.

4. Power Windows User.......

If you fall in this category, the pain versus the gain question is very cloudy and murky.

If your expertise is in the hardware side, let's face it the choices available for the Windows world surpasses the choices for the Mac OS X. Stick with Windows.

If Software is your expertise, do a little research on your area of expertise.

The Mac OS X is as strong as, if not better that Windows in the graphics world, with very strong video, and audio, content creation , and editing tools.

In the world of software development for end users, the WWW Web, and for corporations, you should stick with what you are comfortable with using, effective in producing the the project results, you and your clients, employers expects from you, irregardless if you use the Mac OS X world or the Windows world. Don't change unless there is a clear and compelling reason(s) for the switch(ask for 4 times the normal amount of time needed for the changeover to just be safe, but, ask for 2 times more after the first part has gone by, if things are not going well.)

After all, you gotta pay the bills!!!

like I said for power users of Windows, the pain versus gain is very cloudy and murky, only you and your team can make the decision to switch or not.

If you are wondering why I have these opinions, don't worry, the goal of this post is to give a clear and neutral process to evaluate whether or not to switch to the MAC OS X world from the world of Windows.

For the users and support of Linux, the message is still the same, but, with some added twists and gotcha's.

I'll detail the twists and gotcha's in my next post........

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