OCBen

I think that might have been the case over 15 yrs ago with Windows 3.1, when most of the independent software developers that already had DOS versions were trying to convert them over to this latest version of Windows that finally showed potential. There was this one company by the name of Samna that came out with a word processing application called Ami Pro which was built from the ground up to run on Windows 3.1 and made full use of the common Windows functions. Lotus, which had their successful popular 123 spreadsheet DOS program, made a half hearted attempt at converting over to Windows (they were too big and successful and weren't really banking on the success of Windows) and didn't make full use of the common Windows functions, if I recall correctly. (As a historical footnote, Lotus eventually bought out Samna and renamed Ami Pro to Word Pro so that they could bundle a suite of office applications.)

But for more than 10 yrs now, since Windows 95, all Windows applications make full use of the common functions.

ronmart

I saw a guy who had a Acer Ferrari laptop and his didn't have silver - it had black carbon fiber with the red and the Ferrari logo in the center. The laptop itself is crap (because Acer sucks) but the case looked kick ***.

I'm on a Dell Inspiron 9200 with a widescreen 17" display (1920x1200) an a secondary 20" widescreen monitor (1650x1050) connected to it (dual monitor configuration).

texas911

I use the Porsche of computers, Macintosh. G5 desktop at home and work. Thinking about a Macbook Pro but don't want to upgrade all my apps to intel.

boolala

texas911: You can use Rosetta or upgrade to a universal binary.

I speced out a nice Sony dual core and it was the same price as the new Mac Book Pro about 2 K. Think I would rather have the latter at that price point. Maybe in the near future we will be able to dual boot these Intel Macs for the occasional wintel only application.

Raptor

texas 911: Rosetta is fundamentally automatic. I've had only minor issues and have found that most developers are scurrying to adapt to the new platform. New mouse is cool, also.

boolala: This Fall!

OCBen

I'm really surprised by the large number of Mac users here. Worldwide market share the percentage is less than 5%. But here, in this non-scientific poll, the 27% is quite surprising!

Coochas

Fast and slick crowd wants the same from their computers!!!! Once you go Mac, you NEVER go back. It's calling you Ben,...but I can tell you're going to be a hard convert. We'll give you time.
Been using Macs since 1985.

Raptor

OCBen: Really not surprising at all. Intellectual level often correlates to affluence and bright folks recognize the merits of a Mac. For an individual not caught up in coding it is a good ride - attractive and powerful. While it may not haul big loads and not get great milegae, there is a reason that so many of us have been using a Mac for 20 years - namely, it is fun to drive! And parked in its garage it is very attractive. MY06 will approach the SUV market and allow those who are interested to haul windows around. Check back in 6 months with an open mind.

BTW, assuming that using a mouse instead of a command-line user interface is dumbing down is about as intelligent as assuming paddle shifts are dumbing down. (You do recall the first commercial mouse vendor - with all due credit to PARC.))

Raptor

OCBen: That last post was meant to be a friendly tweek - I don't want to get caught up in another Klasse type imbroglio. Your contributions are universally respected.

OCBen

Whoaaa. Normally I just ignore such posts as an expression of personal opinion, which everyone is entitled to. But since you're falsely accusing me of saying something I never said, well, you leave me no choice but to defend my honor against such false accusations. I wouldn’t want others to think I acquiesce in your statements, you know.

Unfortunately your disclaimer won't get you off the hook either – nice try though. Only a full retraction would, which you didn't provide, and which leads me to believe that you stand by what you said. Hence my rebuttal.

For one thing, I never said that using a mouse instead of a command-line interface was an instance of dumbing down. If anything I implied that having a 1 button mouse instead of a multi-button mouse is an instance of dumbing down and staying dumbed down. You know, as in more than one button might confuse a typical mac user, so instead of relying on user intelligence to remember the different button functions lets keep it simple for the stupid ones (i.e. your typical mac user) and leave well enough alone with just 1 button. Now that might be something you could have inferred from my comments, though I never expressed.

And what was that about intellectual level and bright folks? ... Ah yes, I couldn't hear above the din of cash registers ringing up sales to corporate customers. Any wonder why few (if any) successful companies use Apple computers exclusively in their network of business machines? I suppose, if I'm to believe you, it would have something to do with their not being very intelligent or bright.

And another thing, PARC was a strictly R&D branch of Xerox, who had the responsibility of commercializing PARC's innovations including the Graphical User Interface (GUI) but failed to do so successfully. Stanford Research Institute (SRI) – not affiliated with PARC – patented the mouse, which was invented by a researcher by the name of Engelbart.

Just wanted to set the record straight.

That's the bottom line fact of the matter.

PV

Actually I use both, Mac and PC, and am waiting for the dual core Intel PowerPC, or whatever they will call it.

boolala

Have no personal experience with Acer but I checked out the reviews of the Ferrari 4000 series on newegg. It uses a 64 bit AMD chip, has a gig of RAM, supports bluetooth, IR and all sorts of compact flash cards
and the case is carbon fiber! Quite a few reviews and almost all uniformly good. People repoprt being able to play games on it (which I don't do anyway but that's a true torture test for a laptop). Also people report accidently dropping this thing without damage.

S4to911

At home, 4 Dells running Window XP, networked wirelessly as well as with powerline networking for some dead spots (yes, it really works, I use the Netgear plug and play, no BS).

For traveling, Dell Inspiron X1 (small, 2.4 lbs, enough power and speed to do everything I want).

I'm old enough to remember my first Mac in 1985 (what was the RAM memory, 32 KB?) and I still remember the looks on people's faces in 1986 when the computer started talking with some rudimentary DNA sequence reading text to speech program. I also remember the late 80's when some of us were playing with our Macs and hyperlinking (remember Hyperlink? Owl?).

I also remember when Netscape was promoting its IPO on the dial-up internet (4800 baud, anyone?)in 1994.

Macs served me well through graduate school, medical school, residency, and fellowship. However, about 10 years ago I moved to PCs and I haven't looked back. I think Steve Jobs has done a great job resurrecting Apple, and I love the machines. But I like playing with my boxes and Windows is still more open to tweaking and modifications for a non-programmer like me.

Just my off topic $0.02--this subject just made me reminisce...

wross996tt

Now ask how many of us have iPods? More than 1? How many surf the net on their Blackberrys (or other PDA)?

rotthaus

HP nx9600 (wide-screen) running xp at work. (I typed this on it.)
Apple G4 dual 1.25 OS 10.4.5 at work. I support the Macs, so I figured I needed one.
P4 tower running 2k at home.
P233mmx tower running 95 OSR2 at home for the kids to beat on so they stay the heck off my computers.

I like the macs and have grudgingly converted to an OSX fan. I never jumped completely on the Mac bandwagon due to the lack of gaming support.

No iPods. I do run iTunes on the HP and the G4. I keep an old iTunes v2 OS9 box around for ripping because it just doesn’t care what you feed it. No Blackberrys or PDA’s and no interest.