<p>nspeds,</p>
<p>not true. NYU is a top school in the performing arts, so be careful about saying "any" ranking! ;-)</p>
<p>honestly, though, it all depends what you want to do with the computer and waht your preferences are.</p>
<p>additionally, the rank of the school <em>should</em> have no bearing on its ability to provide a recommendation of what kind of computer you need! lol...
...although it will because of group dynamics and social influence...</p>
<p>what exactly about mac OS is better than windows?</p>
<p>Let's a take a look at several areas of interest...</p>
<p>Stability and resource usage:</p>
<p>-Vista is a resource hog, requiring a computer w/ a gigabyte of memory and a min. 1 GHz processor, and a minimum of 15 GB hard disk space!
-Mac OS X 10.4 requires a Power PC G3 (it can run on a system 4-5 years old!) with 3 GB hard disk space and 256 MB ram
-Overall, OS X simply places less strain on the processor, so it runs both more quickly AND with more stability!</p>
<p>Ease of use:</p>
<p>-Vista tends to give unnecessary information (i.e., "Logic Tech USB Mouse Plugged In") as well as provide excessive dialogue boxes for network errors
-Mac OS X gives information when necessary but avoids supplying endless streams of dialogue boxes</p>
<p>-Vista is attempting to make progress toward a unified interface; however, it still has not reached the level of unification of all menus that OS X has had for years!
-For this reason, one must learn Windows programs individually, whereas Apple has strict protocols placed on Mac programs requiring that common menu options (such as "save", "preferences", "help", and the "about" options) appear in specified places in all programs, making people more productive with OS X--AND OS X programs actually adhere to these standards!</p>
<p>-You mentioned that "OS X had not changed much"--one reason you might think this is because Apple keeps its changes functional instead of doing things like changing the color of the START button to green and adding additional "themes" to Windows 2000 and renaming it Windows XP a year later! (You DO realize that's most of what XP was, right?!) By not doing this, Apple has maintained much better consistency of the interface (increasing productivity) and been far more innovative and introducing new (functional) features into its OS.</p>
<p>*Interesting features *</p>
<p>-While Vista still requires use of directories or the standard Start|Search functionality to find files, OS X allows one to use "Spotlight"--a blue circle w/ a magnifying glass in the upper right hand of the screen that allows one to type in a file name or contents of a file which have been continuously indexed in the background by OS X and instantly the file(s) you need are brought up</p>
<p>-Vista introduces a "new" feature Microsoft is quite excited about known as Gadgets...too bad it's been in OS X for the last 2 years!</p>
<p>-OS X includes Garage Band--basically a stripped-down version of the professional industry standard music notation and audio recording/editing suite Logic Pro ($1000)--Windows includes... Microsoft Sound Recorder?</p>
<p>-OS X includes iMovie (a video editing package), Vista includes...oh wait....nevermind.</p>
<p>-OS X also includes such programs as Photo Booth</p>
<p>-OS X natively supports such free alternative applications to expensive applications as Open Office (a fully compatible alternative to Microsoft Office), Gimp (a free, pro-level alternative to Adobe Photo Shop) and many others (including a desktop publishing suite and a 3D graphics modeling suite)</p>
<p>Security: "User Access Control"</p>
<p>-One of Vista's biggest highlights is its "User Access Control" (UAC) security, in which it prevents changes to system-critical files and settings without the user's approval. The idea behind this is to match OS X and some Linux distros' feature of authenticating the user before making system critical changes. Unfortunately, Microsoft forgot that to fully protect the system through "authentication" it needs to ask a password! For this reason, the OS X model is still far more effective as it prompts the user for their password, which reminds them that this is NOT just another "happy clicking" dialogue (in other words, that they actually need to read the message before entering their password)!</p>
<p>-Additionally, Vista's UAC tends to give general warnings like "This program may alter system files, are you sure you would like to continue?" whereas OS X gives some important pieces of information--the program requesting the action (i.e., is it Internet Explorer or System Preferences or some random game that wants to open that file?) and the actual name of the right/priviledge (i.e., System Preferences: Wireless Card: IP Address)--whereas, in Vista, the information given is simply a criptic string of numbers (a GID).</p>
<p>-When Vista gives a UAC dialogue box, the system is locked down until you confirm or deny access, so if Internet Explorer needs access to something while you're taking notes in class, you will be unable to take any more notes until you've decided whether to give it access! In the OS X version, this is not an issue, as OS X will allow you to continue working in any program other than the one requesting permission.</p>
<p>** Security **</p>
<p>-Vista is based on an NT security model and still tends to fall quite sure due to this model</p>
<p>-As it is ultimately based on a UNIX model OS, OS X has the upper hand when it comes to security</p>
<p>-Vista systems use the (potentially quite dangerous) Administrator account by default</p>
<p>-OS X <em>disables</em> the root (equivalent to the Administrator) account by default--and intentionally makes it fairly difficult to reenable (unless you are a UNIX buff--in which case, you know the potential problems you could cause as root!)</p>
<p>-Since OS X disables root by default, it has "Administrator"-level accounts that can "SUDO" into the root account by entering their password when they need to make system changes that are protected from standard users</p>
<p>-When logged in as an Administrator in Vista, you are capable of destroying the system with just the wrong click; additionally, this means a virus unleashed via a Vista Administrator account has full access to the system--whereas, the "SuDo-Root" model of OS X means even a virus unleashed via an OS X Administrator account still does not have full access to the system! (The lack of asking for a password in the UAC dialogue of Vista means a malicious program could still bypass the Windows UAC system fairly easily)</p>
<p>** Some new features for OS X 10.5 Leopard -- due out this year **</p>
<p>-iChat--Apple's Chat software (compatible with a number of protocols, including AOL Instant Messenger) supports screen sharing over IM as well as the ability to have "video backdrops"--allowing you to make yourself look like you're chatting on a roller coaster</p>
<p>-Time Machine--roll back ANY file (i.e., documents, etc.) on your computer to ANY date</p>
<p>-Spaces--multiple desktops (in case you have too many windows open at once and need to clear stuff out--less clutter!)--for example, you could use this for multi-tasking (i.e., have one desktop for gaming, another for notes, and another for the paper you have to get done!)</p>
<p>-iCal will now have full support for keeping track of all your friends' calendars as well as your own, making it far easier to schedule things hang out times, mentoring sessions, meetings with your profs, etc.</p>
<p>if Mac is so much better than Vista, why don't macbooks have right click buttons? (No need to press CTRL)</p>
<p>Because more isn't always better. And OS X was designed for the one-button mouse.</p>
<p>and why do macs only have 5% of the computer market share? OOH!</p>
<p>this seems to be getting quite ridiculous. i'm not a mac user (i just like being complicated with Windows) but it seems fairly obvious that you (paulfoerster) have no intention in getting a macbook and interest in using/learning the Mac OS X. Get your Thinkpad and move on. It's only a freaking computer.</p>
<p>And other people in this thread should be ashamed. Why are you even feeding info to this guy. It's obvious he has no intention of getting a macbook or converting to Macs.</p>
<p>^Please answer the question... I wanted to be persuaded into getting a mac</p>
<p>probably a troll, lol.</p>
<p>you want an answer, google it.</p>
<p>just about everything you've gotten in this thread could have easily been googled. i'll make it even easier for you. go to wikipedia and just search for Mac OS X and Windows Vista. That should just about do it for you. And if you really want to know why Apple only has 5% market share look up Microsoft's monopolistic practices.</p>
<p>and don't feed me this BS that you want to be persuaded. you have absolutely no intention of getting a Macbook. the quicker you can admit that to yourself the quicker you can move on and buy your thinkpad, that is if you have any intention of even getting a laptop at all.....troll.</p>
<p>and whats the deal with macbooks having discoloration on the palm area?</p>
<p>You don't need a right click on the mac because the OS is built in such a way that you're not required to have one to perform simple tasks - nearly everything can be done with a simple mouse click, without having to hold down any keys or anything.</p>
<p>Which is not to say that right-click isn't useful! Using a two-button mouse on a Mac is not only possible, but far more useful than it is on windows - if you're a "power user" you can find the number of things you can do with a single click (left or right) extraordinary.</p>
<p>Besides, even with a single button trackpad, ctrl-clicking is never needed. Simply tapping with two fingers instead of one on the trackpad right clicks instead of single clicks.</p>
<p>BTW, the palmrest discoloration was a problem on the early macbooks, that was repaired under warranty - and newer macbooks don't suffer the same problem.</p>
<p>The reason Mac doesn't control market share is business.</p>
<p>It's not that OS X isn't productive.</p>
<p>It's the hardware. Most large companies, that deal with ANY semi-confidential information don't allow web cams, or cameras. That's why blackberries don't have cameras, barring the consumer oriented pearl.</p>
<p>If OS X was released for all computers, it'd take a large portion of the market.</p>
<p>Barring that, the choice is largely personal preference. Security on both systems is commonsense. No matter what anyone says, that's all it is. Don't click every "Would you like to run activex command" when you visit pron sites. Don't run programs that aren't coming from large sites. Seriously. It's not hard to avoid the majority (95%) of viruses, by using a firewall and a good antivirus like Avast! I've had 0 viruses on my Toshiba and have been using it since August. </p>
<p>*Questions or complaints? Want to flame me? Feel free to PM. I'm bored.</p>
<p>gone2gofish,</p>
<p>Some worms can invade a system even if the person does nothing but join a network. Sasser comes to mind...</p>
<p>Agreed UCLAri. However, that's nothing we can do anything about. I meant viruses such as the ones people get from accessing sites that contain cracks for pirated software or porn or such.</p>
<p>I've owned a T40 and a T43 (now an X60) and a Macbook (albiet briefly), and I can say you'd be happy with either one. They have totally opposite functions though so it's comparing apples and oranges. The one + IBM/Lenovo has is the customer service.</p>
<p>Totally opposite functions? How so? </p>
<p>I do the same stuff on my Mac that I did on my Wintel...</p>