xTc212 said:
Ok so the census is that while over priced it is easier to use for non technical people which lets face it, is the Majority also the OS is less buggy.
The looks department is kind of a hard one though as yes Macs do look better than 90%(random number) of computers there are still some nice cases and custom build that look class.
Can you install the Mac OS onto a PC? as I would love to see what the differences are.
Also is there different versions like Linux where its taste or new builds like Windows?
And finally while the OS is less buggy what level of freedom do you have with it is it completely open like Linux, or is it like Windows where it is open but there is alot of stuff that you can't change, or is it even more closed off?
Yes, Macs are touted to be 'much' easier to use, when, in reality, it's actually darn hard to get non-computer-savvy people that felt like throwing money at Apple to feel at home, as most of the little computer knowledge and practice they got is bound to have happened in merry Windows land. As a bit of a hardcore, tinkering and well under-the-hood kind of computer person, I have used Mac OS from 7.sumthin' to OS X 10.6.x - they just completely peed in my face and lost me with Lion, we're through. Four years of gradually losing basic functionality are enough for me to call it a relationship and move on.
As for one of your initial questions: OS X is pretty much a branded and heavily locked-down Linux/Unix kind of deal with a well thick layer of make-up on. In the beginning, that's about ten years back, the visual pizzazz was quite a stunner, but it was way above and beyond the power that standard graphics solutions could put up with for long periods of time without croaking... and that's another misconception: OS X does tend to have its quirks, it's just that they're not readily shared as the Windows Blue Screens of Death experiences.
Just rest assured that there's plenty of Apple Spinning Beach Ball of Death and similar issues.
In terms of 'openness' - well, if you know what you're doing, nothing comes even close to Linux when it comes to scalability/customization. You can hack large portions of Windows, but I still feel rather queasy about it. There's little need for modding/hacking beyond maybe some useful UI extensions (docks, visual task managers, screen managers, etc.) - With Windows 7, the OOTB experience offers quite some customization to your own personal demands/style, and with the task bar being so darn useful and the aero 'snap' features, one basically doesn't need anything to be able to be very efficient and productive with a Windows box. Too bad Microsoft is intent of mucking it up with that blasted Metro-that-is-not-to-called-Metro of Windows 8. It's a shame, really. Windows XP and Windows 7 are stable, reliable OS solutions for many scenarios, OSX has better looks, but I think over ten years is a bit long to eventually come up with proper, useful windows management. There are some superb and unique bits and pieces one can make good use of in OSX that aren't readily available in other OS, but they all come at a cost. The deal-breaker number one for me is the fact that Apple has a tendency of breaking things - accidentally or on purpose - between updates or major revisions, so software you rely on might just stop working eventually, for no logical or obvious reason. I just find that really hard to put up with.
Then there are more obscure little annoyances and deal breakers - did you know that, should your Apple battery croak, your computer will only run at, say, an average 50% speed? You really need to have a battery in at all times in pretty much all modern mobile Apple computers, or things will feel decidedly 2003, performance-wise. Oh, and someone mentioned that you can skip Apple's expensive proprietary RAM if you want - like removable batteries or optical drives, that's a thing of the past in Apple land: The new "Retina" mobiles have the RAM soldered right onto the motherboard, ahem, "Logic Board".
Yes, Apple computers put emphasis on clean looks, but that leads to many a questionable decision and solution should you ever dare to open up a modern Apple computer. Not all solutions are clean, efficient or acceptable, and some are rather problematic.
Good hardware design oftentimes leads to plenty of misconceptions, one of them was... well, say, when the "Titanium" Apple luggables first came out, people generally thought they had really sturdy workhorse-type computers. After all, the price said "PWHOARRRR!" and they certainly had the looks of shiny slabs of metal. Turned out that metal wasn't much harder to crack than your average eggshell. Some people learned back then that it must never be all about the looks. Some people refuse to accept this notion to this day.
According to Apple, you cannot/shall not/must not install OSX onto a non-Apple-branded computer. According to the rest of the world, you can, but it's pretty much an exercise in frustration and futility if you're not really keen and properly motivated to do so. But Apple says it ain't legal, so...
There are not different versions of OSX per se, but depending on what machine you run it on, you might have certain features of the set enabled or disabled. Up until recently, a lot of people considered the seemingly more thorough and more holistic approach from Apple to be a good thing, but then certain things happened... let's just say it easily gets a bit complicated when someone works hard to keep things simple for you, generally not allowing anyone else to update any part of system software or 'extensions' independently of Mothership Apple Central. It lead to severe lapses and massive security holes and widespread infections, which Apple cultists are still in denial about, even the ones that are running infected machines as we speak. It's quite a bit of an alternate reality drama.
R - PC's are just as reliable (if you take care of them), faster, more customizable, and in my opinion more intuitive, all for less money.