Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Eclecticism
I've given up trying to do everything I want to on my Mac, and I've given up trying to show my wife that it's just as easy to do things as it is on a PC, because the truth is: it isn't. Mac OS X looks very nice, and does *some* things very well, but at other times it's just not as quick and easy as Windows XP. Expose is great, showing all open windows at the press of a button, but I'm rarely looking for window contents, just the application and document name. Windows already shows me that in the taskbar, so I can get to my window with a single click (OK 2 if it's in a group). and try as I might to regain my enthusiasm for Mac (I used to be a devout follower) I find that the single menu bar on the Mac is just silly. Each application should have its own menus, and its better when they stay associated with application windows. There are lots of other little things that bug me as well, like why on earth does the Mac Finder let you read from FTP servers but not write to them? the integrated FTP in Windows Explorer makes it easier. and despite everything they tell you, and my initial enthusiasm, there are still plenty of web pages that just don't work properly unless you're using Internet Explorer on a PC. true, this isn't how the web was supposed to be, but it is this way and I for one am sick of fighting it. I've got a PC at home now, and I find it better for day-to-day stuff like internet access, email, and word processing.
I admit that a significant factor in my switch back to PC is my current software development work in .NET - obviously you can't get that running on a Mac.
So I contemplated selling the Mac and upgrading my PC with the proceeds. My original spec for the Mac was that I wanted to do video editing with Firewire, DVD burning etc, so can I get my PC up to the required spec to do that. well, certainly I can buy the hardware. I can get a fast DVD burner and Firewire card and it should work fine. OK, what about software? this is where I start wandering back to the Mac. I've done some looking around, and it seems that unless I go for full professional products, I can't get the same elegant video editing and DVD authoring tools on my PC that I already have on my Mac. iMovie and iDVD offer flexibility and functionality that I just can't afford to pay for on the PC. hmmm. this suggests I might be better off hanging on to the Mac, at least for video editing.
so my set-up is now very eclectic: I use the best machine for the job. most days, I'm at the PC, but for video work, the Mac comes back. it's a shame. Mac OS X is certainly a lot prettier to look at than XP, but I really can't say it's any easier to use.
I've given up trying to do everything I want to on my Mac, and I've given up trying to show my wife that it's just as easy to do things as it is on a PC, because the truth is: it isn't. Mac OS X looks very nice, and does *some* things very well, but at other times it's just not as quick and easy as Windows XP. Expose is great, showing all open windows at the press of a button, but I'm rarely looking for window contents, just the application and document name. Windows already shows me that in the taskbar, so I can get to my window with a single click (OK 2 if it's in a group). and try as I might to regain my enthusiasm for Mac (I used to be a devout follower) I find that the single menu bar on the Mac is just silly. Each application should have its own menus, and its better when they stay associated with application windows. There are lots of other little things that bug me as well, like why on earth does the Mac Finder let you read from FTP servers but not write to them? the integrated FTP in Windows Explorer makes it easier. and despite everything they tell you, and my initial enthusiasm, there are still plenty of web pages that just don't work properly unless you're using Internet Explorer on a PC. true, this isn't how the web was supposed to be, but it is this way and I for one am sick of fighting it. I've got a PC at home now, and I find it better for day-to-day stuff like internet access, email, and word processing.
I admit that a significant factor in my switch back to PC is my current software development work in .NET - obviously you can't get that running on a Mac.
So I contemplated selling the Mac and upgrading my PC with the proceeds. My original spec for the Mac was that I wanted to do video editing with Firewire, DVD burning etc, so can I get my PC up to the required spec to do that. well, certainly I can buy the hardware. I can get a fast DVD burner and Firewire card and it should work fine. OK, what about software? this is where I start wandering back to the Mac. I've done some looking around, and it seems that unless I go for full professional products, I can't get the same elegant video editing and DVD authoring tools on my PC that I already have on my Mac. iMovie and iDVD offer flexibility and functionality that I just can't afford to pay for on the PC. hmmm. this suggests I might be better off hanging on to the Mac, at least for video editing.
so my set-up is now very eclectic: I use the best machine for the job. most days, I'm at the PC, but for video work, the Mac comes back. it's a shame. Mac OS X is certainly a lot prettier to look at than XP, but I really can't say it's any easier to use.
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(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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