Thinking about ditching my PC for a Mac

[Tajmaster]

What exactly are you expecting from a Mac that the PC doesn't give you? It could be your hardware letting you down, not the platform.

Well my system runs with no problems, but I think I have outgrown Windows and maybe the PC in general. Thats why I have just formatted my hard drive and installed Zorin OS.

I have to admit its a lot better even if i don't get to play those fancy games, but then again I never really got into them in a big way. I am more of an old skool person and at the very max I play on the Wii and thats as new as they get for me.

Also for emulation I have my classic xbox hacked up to the nines so that area is covered well.

Have you tried OSs like QNX, ReactOS or Haiku? I think you might like tinkering with these, Haiku is kind of a continuation of BeOS I believe, have a look here:

http://haiku-os.org/

 

[commodorejohn]

Well my system runs with no problems, but I think I have outgrown Windows and maybe the PC in general. Thats why I have just formatted my hard drive and installed Zorin OS.

I have to admit its a lot better even if i don't get to play those fancy games, but then again I never really got into them in a big way. I am more of an old skool person and at the very max I play on the Wii and thats as new as they get for me.

I'm with you on not needing a mega-gaming rig (the best new stuff out there today, IMO, is the retro-style independent productions, which are usually plenty happy on anything north of a P4 and Intel GMA video; often even on less.) But I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "outgrown Windows." Is there something you want it to do that it's not doing? Is there something it used to do for you that it doesn't anymore?

Have you tried OSs like QNX, ReactOS or Haiku? I think you might like tinkering with these, Haiku is kind of a continuation of BeOS I believe, have a look here:

http://haiku-os.org/

I've been tinkering with Haiku a little. I like what I see, but it is definitely still a work in progress; I'm not sure I'd recommend it for daily use yet.

 

[morcar]

I think the problem for me is that I dont like windows and never have but its like if they are forcing you to use it for all the best stuff.

Back when I had my AMD K6-2 500Mhz and my voodoo 2 3dfx card I loved playing games and using my PC even if it was on windows (always a pain in the ass back then)

I really dont know why I am feeling like this to be honest.

As for a certain side on what i want to do I do most things in windows like make music, art, html and such.

I have a feeling that I am just bored with Windows and trying out all these other OS's may do the trick.

I know for a fact React OS does not work on my PC due to the multi cores I have. I cant remember I also have open bsd disc here too which i tried and its a great little OS but very little it out for it just yet.

Well once i get bored with Zorin OS I guess I can look at other Os's and see what i can make them do. Maybe this is what i need.

 

[tokyoracer]

What exactly are you expecting from a Mac that the PC doesn't give you? It could be your hardware letting you down, not the platform.

Well my system runs with no problems, but I think I have outgrown Windows and maybe the PC in general. Thats why I have just formatted my hard drive and installed Zorin OS.

Outgrown? I can't say I understand lol but if you fancy shelling out some cash for a Mac then give it a go but if you want more of anything then you may be disappointed that's all i'm saying...

 

[morcar]

Well I cant rate Zorin OS highly enough. Its quick very smooth even with only the generic video drivers. So imagine when I installed my Radeon 6850 driver into it.

I just bought the humble bundle too and there are some very nice games on it although I have only tried 2 so far, but what i did play I was very impressed.

 

[Hell_Labs]

I've got two words for not moving into Mac: gaming rig.

Yeah, let's all spend ££££ on big graphics cards and crap like that for the latest PC exclusives like:

Whatever the case, gaming isn't something you will be enjoying too much on any Mac whatever system you get. Unless that is you like last decades releases that are only just coming out for them lol.

The old Apple slogan used to be "It does more, it costs less. It's that simple". So ironic today it's almost poetry. :roll:

While we are on the topic, have you have seen the price difference for GFX cards on each platform? Bare in mind the only difference 99% of the time is that they have just flashed the EEPROM at the factory. Oh and that little Mac face logo on the box that is often a sticker.

That's not the point.

Macs have games the PC had a few years earlier.

PCs have games the Xbox 360 had a few years earlier.

Neither are a logical choice for gaming. Go pick up a used 360. They're much cheaper than a gaming PC and play all the same stuff. Anything PC exclusive worth playing is old enough to run on gran's emachines.

Oh and you don't need the mac version of graphics cards. The only bonus to them is you don't have to install a driver.

 

[Powerpie5000]

Neither are a logical choice for gaming. Go pick up a used 360. They're much cheaper than a gaming PC and play all the same stuff. Anything PC exclusive worth playing is old enough to run on gran's emachines.

I find my PC to be much better than my Xbox 360 and PS3, but all 3 are still better for gaming than a Mac

 

[80sFREAK]

I keep hearing you yanks saying "pick up a free Mac at the local recycle centre" and such but they dont come by for free often in the UK that Ive seen Im afraid :roll: Unless someone here can point us all to a good source??

Herein Canada, (well here in Edmonton) it is illegal to TAKE anything FROM the recycling center, so all the computers and such are grinded up and the metals separated from them. Same with the dump/landfill. the sad thing is that at the local dump there are rows of pallets at least 8 feet tall and about a hundred feet long FULL of old computers, and you have to drive by them to get to the dumping center. It just breaks my heart each time we take a load in.

(sorry for off-topic)
looks like someone big enough lobbied this to force people buy "brand new". Here is kinda similar law about appliances(dump "made in Japan", buy "made in China"), but, lucky, recyclers don't follow this very strictly. And if
they will stop sell anything to individuals, i will just start "recycling research company".

As about topic. IMO i can not call something, contains "Intel inside" Mac.

Have you tried OSs like QNX

Looks like someone have own nuclear power plant

 

[Harrison]

Have you tried OSs like QNX, ReactOS or Haiku? I think you might like tinkering with these, Haiku is kind of a continuation of BeOS I believe, have a look here:

http://haiku-os.org/

I hadn't seen haiku until now. Really must try this. Thanks for the link.

It is compatible with original BeOS software?

I was a big fan of BeOS when it was originally in development. I followed the development of the BeBox and BeOS at all the Computer trade shows, and it was heavily shown at all the bigger Design shows/seminars at the time.. mainly to promote Maxon's Cinema 4D running on it. As a very impressive OS at the time, and a real shame they didn't have the money or backing to really promote and sell it.

 

[Hell_Labs]

Neither are a logical choice for gaming. Go pick up a used 360. They're much cheaper than a gaming PC and play all the same stuff. Anything PC exclusive worth playing is old enough to run on gran's emachines.

I find my PC to be much better than my Xbox 360 and PS3, but all 3 are still better for gaming than a Mac

...Why?

Do bad ports make your willy tingle?

 

[commodorejohn]

I find my PC to be much better than my Xbox 360 and PS3, but all 3 are still better for gaming than a Mac

...Why?

Do bad ports make your willy tingle?

Well, for one, it offers the perverse satisfaction of making people scream at you because using a mouse and keyboard is somehow cheating...

 

[Harrison]

Console FPS via gamepads is really horrible it is so true. Keyboard and mouse is the only way to play this style of game without having to fight the controls for accurate shooting and movement. You shouldn't have to feel compromised in a game, so for me it is the same. The PC is the best platform for this style of game.

Same is true of Strategy and RTS where a mouse is best.

And don't forget a lot of games are developed specifically for the PC, and not ported from consoles. Equally games ported from the 360 normally maintain the controller support, so with a 360 pad connected to the PC you can play the games exactly as designed originally for the console, but with nicer looking visuals.

Consoles and the PC both have their place in gaming, and both see some great releases.

The only one really missing out is the Mac. It has the same hardware as PCs so isn't lacking in the hardware to run it. It's just developers avoiding porting to Mac OSX. Maybe something to do with Apple's over restrictive development rules and licensing?

 

[Hell_Labs]

And don't forget a lot of games are developed specifically for the PC, and not ported from consoles.

Really? Which ones?

All the PC developers left for consoles yeaaaars ago. All that's left is stupid miniclip.com *cough* sorry indie games.

Maybe something to do with Apple's over restrictive development rules and licensing?

What?

You want to develop something, anything, for OSX, you can. There's no "licensing" here. Even if you don't want to use Apple's tools you can just open terminal, crack open your favorite autism crib toy like emacs or vim, and get to work.

Yet there's barely any OSX native games.

You want to develop something for iOS? You jump though hoops.

But all the iOS systems are dripping with games.

 

[Harrison]

One recent game as an example: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Others for release this year alone to prove a point, exclusive to the PC include: Diablo III, ArmA III, Blacklight: Retribution, Cobalt, Dota 2, End of Nations, Firefall, Gettysburg: Armoured Warfare, Guild Wars 2, Hawken, Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, King Arthur II, MechWarrior Online, Microsoft Flight, Neverwinter, Path of Exile, Planetside 2, Salem, Scrolls, Smite, Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Tera, The Secret World, Torchlight II, Total War: shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai, Tribes: Ascend, Wakfu, WoW: Mists of Pandaria, World of Warplanes...

Need I go on? And that is just a pick of the 2012 exclusive PC releases. I could list a lot more from 2011.

But, even when a console is the lead platform, the PC versions benefit from a much better graphics engine and dev kits, and in addition racing games inherit the 360's control systems, which is a good thing.

 

[commodorejohn]

The only one really missing out is the Mac. It has the same hardware as PCs so isn't lacking in the hardware to run it. It's just developers avoiding porting to Mac OSX. Maybe something to do with Apple's over restrictive development rules and licensing?

Actually, Apple's OSX tooling has been damn solid for a long time, and they've been shipping the whole basic development suite right on the install disc at least since 10.4. Licensing and approval is a pain in the ass for iPhone developers, but there's nothing preventing people from building OSX software and distributing it however they want (though there have been ominous rumblings with the "Mac Store" lately.)

I suspect the smaller amount of attention paid to OSX development is just proportional to its market share; it's not that much less well-supported than Linux, and even that's mostly because the Linux userbase consists primarily of zealot programmers.

 

[specialK]

@morcar...so, after 6 pages of advice...are you aready for the switch ?

 

[Justin]

or run mac os on your PC?

http://oreilly.com/windows/archive/PearPC.html

http://www.windows7hacker.com/index...c-os-x-lion-virtual-machine-inside-windows-7/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOKCkNz9Hi0

 

[djos]

One recent game as an example: Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Others for release this year alone to prove a point, exclusive to the PC include: Diablo III, ArmA III, Blacklight: Retribution, Cobalt, Dota 2, End of Nations, Firefall, Gettysburg: Armoured Warfare, Guild Wars 2, Hawken, Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, King Arthur II, MechWarrior Online, Microsoft Flight, Neverwinter, Path of Exile, Planetside 2, Salem, Scrolls, Smite, Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Tera, The Secret World, Torchlight II, Total War: shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai, Tribes: Ascend, Wakfu, WoW: Mists of Pandaria, World of Warplanes...

Need I go on? And that is just a pick of the 2012 exclusive PC releases. I could list a lot more from 2011.

But, even when a console is the lead platform, the PC versions benefit from a much better graphics engine and dev kits, and in addition racing games inherit the 360's control systems, which is a good thing.

So Still buy a mac but run BootCamp and use Windows just for gaming - problem solved!

 

[Buzzfuzz]

Won't matter, cause my Logitech Momo Racing Force takes over :-D

Racing is done with a real steering wheel, I'd like to get a more professional one, but I just lack time to play, so investing a lot of money in that is probably a waste, the Momo still does a great job.

and in addition racing games inherit the 360's control systems, which is a good thing.

 

[mjnurney]

Hackinthosh on PCs doesn't really work properly- almost.. many features are missing or poorly implemented. i have tried most of the distro's in the past and used them on modern Pcs.

lots of issues so i wiped it and bought a mac. best thing i ever did.