Anomaly

You use another OS other than XP. A couple actually so you are in agreement with me and don't even realize it Why did you learn Linux? Why did you up grade to Windows 7. Why didn't you continue to use a 10 year old OS and spend your spare time on forums trying to learn every little hack and tweak for that 10 year old system? You learned something new that's why.

I don't think it's a A verses B thing. The thread is about an update to an OS and I commented on the unwillingness of many XP users to learn anything new in operating systems. That's what most of it has been about not one OS is better than another. Doesn't matter if you like Windows, Mac, or Linux just learn something else besides a 10 year old relic called XP,

Than why not learn a one of the many Linux distro available for free. They can increase their computer skill level while waiting for their financial picture to brighten. They have nothing to loose and everything to gain. I find it hard to believe that all the hangers on still using XP are financially strapped. No doubt there are some but for many it's just complacency. I think one of the problems is the very large gap between releases from XP to Windows 7. Yes Vista was in there but it was not worth the effort and even the gap between XP and Vista was large. This is unusual for an OS. Ubuntu is on a 6 month cycle and Mac is good for one every couple years. XP is going on a decade old and that is nuts in the computer world. Mac does not support 10 year old systems and neither does anybody else. Those OS are but out to pasture and they move on to better things as they should be. Now Microsoft has finally released something worth upgrading to and people are stuck in a rut. They have had more time to spend with the same OS than they should have and have become too set. If you look at the differences in Linux and Mac OS from 10 years ago until today the changes have been dramatic. During all the change and improvement MS has been spinning it's wheels and going no where and so has it's users.

MS Office is much more than I will ever need. I find it bloated and loaded with things I will never use. I prefer Google Docs and Zoho to MS Office. If I need a installed suite I like Open Office and I would use the portable version of it. I would never say MS Office is junk like most of the other MS software but that is the one exception and it should be since it's their bread and butter. The fact that you could only give MS office as an example just proves the lack of quality in MS apps.

Yes you are wrong. As I said I noticed a speed increase when shutting off the cache. When using a portable browser from a thumbdrive they recommend setting the cache to zero so that the browser isn't writing to the thumbdrive and is forced to use RAM instead which is always faster than writing to disk/thumbdrive. It made sense than that this would apply to a normal install as well so I tried it and in fact my browser is faster than when the cache is used. With Google Chrome being the pig it is it can have a cache in the GB in size. This will result in a fragmented disk and the need for frequent defragging. I have notice huge disk activity when using Chrome and would love to disable the pig from using cache but there is no way to do that as of now that I know of.

First I challenge you to prove me wrong. My opinion is in fact completely objective. I have no personal stake in any program or software company. I gain nothing by supporting one over the other.When I decide on one it's objective and I pick the better one. It begins and ends there. Secondly, there are hundreds of lists out there of best free ware and there is a reason for that. Most if not all of the MS apps are not very good. Thats why there are so many of these lists. There is a large list right on this forum and it's rare to see a MS app recommended as the best for anything in it or any other list. WHY IS THAT? I eagerly await your response objective one.

I use Pidgin Portable and the everything is one folder. No one has access to my machines but me so that petty problem you pointed out is of no concern to me. For every piece of Microsoft software there is a better alternative out there and 99.9% of the time it's free.

There is an endless list of replacements/alternatives to the garbage Microsoft puts out.

All the more ridiculous for staying with XP. Of course it's their right to do what they want. No one questions their right. You can question why they would want to do it though and I haven't heard a single legit reason yet. Just excuses by people in denial.

I hear nothing but lame ass excuses for staying with XP. The bottom line is some people just reach a point where their knowledge tops out and they stagnate from that point on and are content to do so. Some of the reasons for not learning a new OS are just laughable. There are three major platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux.) Restricting yourself to one of them and an out dated version of it no less is just nonsensical. These people will get passed by and before they know it they will be computer illiterate because what they know will be obsolete. They don't care right now because they are among like minded people using the same relic of an OS but that will change.

What ever. That sounds like you have some kind of personal or political thing against Mac and that has nothing to do with weather it's a good OS or not. As for how could a billion people be wrong? Just check out the pathetic track record of human history and you will see just how wrong billions of people can be about everything. As for paying you to own a Mac if you were given one you would take and use it and you know it.

No one said stop using the old OS. Why does it have to be one or the other? Just expand your computer knowledge and learn another OS. I would think a person would be bored stupid using the same OS year after year. Maybe it's just me but I would feel very limited if I was only knowledgeable on one OS. Besides it's fun to me learn the different OS.

I get that but Linux is free.

Just use the full screen mode and all the tool bars disappear and reappear when you move the mouse to the top of the screen. As I said I'm sure you will find things you don't like about Mac but what system won't you find things you don't like about it? An OS can't be all things to everybody.

I don't use that or many of the other iLife programs. Simply of no use to me.

Mac OS 10 is a front end for Unix. You don't need to ever mess with the Unix core when using a Mac. You can mess around with the Terminal which is the Mac equivalent to the Windows Run command but it's not any more complex than the Windows run command. I can Assure you I'm not some one that buys into hype. In fact if something is hyped I am very sceptical of it as I was with Mac. I put the hype and fan boy BS aside and determine for myself. I did that with Mac and made my own mind up. Understand here I'm not a Mac fanboy or Window hater. I use and always will use both. If Windows came out tomorrow with a superior OS I would be the first to say so. I couldn't care less about being on one side or the other. My opinions are not politically motivated as many obviously are here. I simply call it like I see it and right now Mac is far superior to Windows. I hope that changes soon because Macs are over priced and I hate Mac fanboys. They talk about Steve Jobs like he is a god and I personally can't stand the ass.

You obviously don't know what your talking about. The menu bar takes up no more space than on Windows. The difference is that all programs use the main Menu bar in Mac and it's options change for each program. When you launch Firefox it doesn't add another menu bar it uses Macs so there is only one menu bar and the same goes for all other programs. I don't know where you got your info but why are you commenting on a OS you clearly don't know anything about. You simple are not qualified to do so. Learn it and use it than make comments about how polished it is. Mac needs to learn about security? Windows doesn't?

I use both and like both. I don't get into the either or BS.

Ha Ha. My Macs are much faster than my Windows machines. Especially browsing. I use Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, and Camino on my Macs and they are all much faster than they are on Windows with the exception of Camino which doesn't have a Windows version. Yes they are expensive no argument there and the one button mouse is not one button so goes to show how mis informed you are. It in fact has a right click and left click in the options and side buttons as well. I don't use it any way I use my Logitech mouse no problem.

When was that last time you checked? Your going to judge how polished an OS is based on that? I don't have enough space to list the different reasons Mac OS X is more polished. They are too numerous. The major reason is that it is intuitive. I used XP for years like many here so I have solid Windows background. I learned Mac OS X from scratch faster and easier than it took me to go from XP to Windows 7. How the hell do you learn a whole new platform faster than it takes learn an upgrade like XP to Windows 7? Simple, the Mac OS is far more user friendly. If I took a person with zero computer knowledge and had to teach him to use a computer I could teach that person a Mac far faster than a Windows machine simply because it makes sense and is layed out brilliantly. One of the big things that Mac has over Windows is the portability of the OS. On Windows you make clones using Macrium Reflect or similar program so you have a complete backup in case the hard drive fails and you can just put the image back on a new hard drive and your back where you started. Macs blow Windows away at this. Using a cloning program like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper not only can you clone the hard drive but that clone is bootable. This means I can take the portable HD the clone is on a boot from it directly on any other Mac. The whole OS is portable. I can literally carry my set up with me and use it on any other Mac simply by booting off of the portable HD or thumbdrive what ever one I have it on. Try doing that with Windows. You can with Linux using a live CD but not Windows. Windows ties your ass to the machine your using. Try taking your Macrium image of your machine and restoring it to another machine. Won't work. I do it with Mac all the time. I could go on and on but there simply is no comparison. I'm sure you will find some things Windows does better but over all it's no contest Mac is much more polished.

Still why not learn and keep up on another platform? If for no other reason than being interested in computers. I agree Windows 7 is nice. Much better than XP and Vista. It's still not nearly as polished as Mac OS X though.

What XP theme is that and where did you get it?

Why "switch'? Use both. Than when your comfortable learn another and another. No need to be a one operating system person. I use three and will keep learning more. Good thing about Linux is the huge number of distros to choose from and there free so money is no excuse to stay is XP land. Linux Mint is probably the best bet for someone just learning Linux. Use the live CD or make a bootable thumb drive and run Linux from that to try it out and see how it runs on your machine without changing anything on your machine. Try doing that with a Windows OS.

Nice but I find too many people on this forum are stuck in XP land. This thread won't mean much to many here but I am very interested. I can't understand why people keep trying to learn more and more about XP when it's clearly obsolete. Put some of that effort into learning a new OS.