I will clarify a few things before I close the comments though:

@Ron,
“One thing about Linux too, you can compile from source, write your own drivers, use all sorts of different hardware, but with a Mac, you *MUST* use a specific set of hardware.”

This is only half right. You can use OSX on many different hardware, Google for “hackintosh”. Actually, I have personally had some fun with this. I run a REALLY old printer, but there were never any drivers made for it other than for Windows. However, it seems that a Linux community got it working under Linux. Since they are both unix based I tried the linux drivers and it worked like a charm. As for limited hardware, back in my “how i finally got macs” article I wrote that this is the advantage of Macs, not its downfall. You cannot look at a Mac with a PC mind. I did it for years and I was a Mac hater. The Mac stereotype fans also pissed me off pretty badly

But I had to use them since I landed some massive clients (about 500 seperate families) and many of them used Macs. I used them for a bit, stepped out of my PC tech mind and finally got it.

Im seeing Macs more and more. I seem to have gotten a reputation as a Mac tech amonst this group and I get recommended to even more people. Most of this work was really basic so I havent had any trouble with it but I am sure I’ll get some really hard Mac stuff coming my way so I thought I better buy myself one and get into it. Besides, I wouldnt be much of a writer if I didnt know both sides of the fence.

you also apparently enjoy flames. Get over yourself man. If you can’t be helpful shut up. We don’t care that you think you know everything there is about Macs, or what they are good at. Remember opinions are like a**holes, everyone’s got one. So agree to disagree, shut up and move on. We understand your opinion, and thank you for it.

I say OS X is a refined Linux because its based off of Unix. You still have the power of the terminal yet you don’t have to do a terminal hack to install software.

By better I mean more user friendly, less likely to get infected, more efficient. You know, that kind of better.

By PC I mean a system not running OS X and not made by apple.

Macs are gaining in popularity by the day. By this I mean after Vista came out their sales shot up by over 37%.

Also FYI bootcamp is not VM its running the OS natively on the computer. As for Linux I’m running that on my Mac also.

Ron “You assumed I hate Macs, which I don’t.”

I assume you are a prick because all you do is pick fights with people. Then make yourself look ignorant. This is not the first time you have done this.

“So why don’t you do the same and admit you don’t know much about Macs and drop the pissing match with me?”

“I’m so sick of every Apple hating person bringing up this stereotype I could scream.”

You assumed I hate Macs, which I don’t. You also pissed, I didn’t. I am not personally vested in, nor polarized to any given OS or hardware. To me, computers are merely tools and it’s up to each person to decide which one is best for which job they need done. One could use a Ferrari to get groceries with, but it’s not what it was designed for. Same goes for Macs. They were designed for audio, video and graphics.

I mentioned graphics, video and audio for Macs because historically that is what they were geared for. When the Mac first came out in 1984 with the 68000 Motorola processor, there was something (I forget the details exactly because this is over 20 years ago) about Apples/Macs not being used for recording, which they ended up being used for. That’s why the name of one of the sound files on early Macs was “sosumi” or “So Sue Me”.

I in fact used Macs extensively and almost exclusively from 1984-1995, so while I am not 100% up to speed on them, I am far from a stranger to them or a hater of them as you assumed incorrectly.

“Running an OS as a VM isn’t the same as running the OS on the Machine itself. So running Windows in a VM on a Mac doesn’t really count as running that particular OS on a Mac.”

This is what I originally said:

“What about Windows on Apple hardware? I have several customers that run Windows on a Mac through virtual machine or boot camp and in every case the Mac runs Windows MUCH better than on a Windows machine.”

In case you don’t know what “bootcamp” is, That IS Windows running on its own partition on the machine itself. Hell, if you wanted you could delete the Mac partition all together and run only Windows once you set up the bootcamp partition. I said virtual machine or bootcamp because most of the time through virtual machine with any OS, performance is degraded. But in the case of Windows running through Parallels or VMWare Fusion, Windows runs great in every case.

I’ll admit I don’t know much about Linux so I’m not going to get involved in a pissing match with you over it. So why don’t you do the same and admit you don’t know much about Macs and drop the pissing match with me? The article is merely about servicing Macs. You said you prefer not to. That’s your choice and we all respect that.

Running an OS as a VM isn’t the same as running the OS on the Machine itself. So running Windows in a VM on a Mac doesn’t really count as running that particular OS on a Mac. As for Linux on a Mac, yes, it can be done, but why? It doesn’t directly interface as much as the custom BSD does.

As for the stereotype, it’s not one. Photoshop existed on Mac long before it did on Windows. If you open the same Photoshop file on a Window machine and hten open it on a Mac, it looks better and the color os more accurate on a Mac. (Yes, I have done this and seen it first hand.)

As for recording, any decent recording studio uses ProTools, which while it exists for Windows, does not compare to ProTools on a Mac.

Macs are great for graphics and audio, and yes, they can do other things as ell, but that is what they were designed to do. Video, Audio, Graphics, etc.

“Along with that, you are limited on your choices of software. Mac software, even though it is running a a Unix-like BSD flavor of an OS, wouldn’t run quite as well on a Linux system, and vice versa.”

What about Windows on Apple hardware? I have several customers that run Windows on a Mac through virtual machine or boot camp and in every case the Mac runs Windows MUCH better than on a Windows machine. I’ve seen Linux run super solid on Macs, I just don’t see it often like I do with Windows.

“Macs are GREAT for recording and graphics, and yes, you can do other things on them as well, but those are the Mac’s forte’.”

I’m so sick of every Apple hating person bringing up this stereotype I could scream.