More about Mac Users

I’m more convinced than ever that too many Mac users — unlike Windows or Linux users — are a bunch of putzes. (Chief among them are the writers and editors at Mac Daily News.)

Here’s why.

In my USA Today column of September 3, I wrote about the Virginia Tech supercomputer, which happens to be composed of high-end Macintosh computers linked together.

The Mac community got itself into a tizzy — not unlike the temper tantrum of a two year old — for the following unforgiveable sins:

1. Even though it was a column about a supercomputer, I failed to play up the role of the Macintoshes to their satisfaction.

2. I said the computers used at VT were not available to the general public — the “Little People” as I called us. At the time it was built, they weren’t. Today they are.

3. I said the computers were running at 2.3 GHz. They actually run at 2.5 GHz.

CORRECTION: I was right in the first place. The Macs do, in fact, run at 2.3 GHz. The Mac Daily News people were — shockingly — wrong.

For those unpardonable sins, the Mac users screamed, stomped their feed, and sent me letters full of curses. (No, I’m not exaggerating.) They wrote to my boss and my editor (who found the whole thing funny).

How pathetic.

Now the new information:

There were a few mature letters in the bunch, but many of them suggested that users of any operating system would be just as vehement as the Mac people.

Oh yeah?

Last week I wrote about Linux, the open-source operating system that’s an alternative to Windows. In it I discussed what I thought were Linux’s weak spots and explained that I didn’t use it.

The reaction from Linux users? Friendliness, thanks, and polite suggestions — e.g., “Nice piece. I found that such-and-such works really well, so you may want to check that out next time you try Linux.”

Some of them disagreed with some of my points, but, unlike Mac users, they didn’t send me lines of curses and screaming, incoherant diatribes.

What a difference.

All of which firmed my belief that the Mac may be a great computer, but it’s primarily for children.