lexington says:

I feel even better about Linux now.

Ron says:

I really enjoy your blog. (I’ll have to disagree as gracefully as possible with your views on politics, however). I actually happened upon your résumé blog post which I found most entertaining and insightful. I thoroughly enjoy your writing style, and *most* of the content you conjure up on your blog. ;)

In regards to your vista woes, have you ever REALLY considered a Mac? I mean, you can do everything you can do on a pc, but much more elegantly. Now, it’s not to say that OS X is perfect. But when you’re comparing the two, it’s really no contest. Besides, now that you can run either platform on your mac, (or better - both), not many people have a good excuse to not switch. Prices are dropping constantly, quality is abounding as ever it has, and technology - now that Apple is once again taking hold in the marketplace - is finally marching forward once again.

Supporting Apple is not only good for Apple, or for you, but it’s good for the market. Microsoft is a slothful, monopolistic, megalomaniacal company who feeds off absolute power. Have you ever once gotten the impression that they care about you personally?

Sorry this became a rant. Back to the point, I use OS X and Parallels side by side on a Macbook Pro Core 2 Duo. I enjoy an extremely stable experience, and windows runs nearly every bit as quickly as it did in boot camp (which ran faster than my friends’ pc laptops). Since I’m a full time web designer/developer, I need to test my sites cross-platform/cross-browser. Works like a charm!

Andrew says:

Hey, Ron –

I’m sorry your politics are wrong, but heck, so are a lot of folks’. ;-)

> …have you ever REALLY considered a Mac?

The short answer is not only yes, but also that I’d probably prefer using one in a lot of ways. I’d love a Mac. But there’s more to it than that. First of all, there’s the added expense. For me, the cost of a PC is zero (I already own one), whereas a mid-range Mac would set me back a couple of grand at least, not including the software I’d need to replace (notably Photoshop).

So it’s more than a question of whether a Mac is better; it’s a question of whether it’s worth it to me to spend two or three grand because of it. (If someone said to me, “For $2,000, I’ll wave a magic wand and your Vista woes will disappear, I would say No.)

Then there’s my 20 years of PC experience. I know PCs inside and out. If there’s some obscure thing I want to tweak, I can do it (or understand the instructions someone else gives me). Starting with a Mac would mean starting from scratch. Sure, now there’s Google and the ability to find answers in a flash, but that’s not the same as walking over to a computer and saying, “Oh, you just need to tweak this.”

Finally — and this is a minor point — I usually don’t mind tweaking things. I think of it as working on a ‘69 Camaro; sometimes it’s OK when something goes wrong. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty because I like the satisfaction of solving the problem. (Admittedly, this is becoming less and less of a plus as I get older. :)

So, bottom line: I’d love a Mac. If the choice was between a roughly-equivalent $1500 Vista PC and $1500 OSX Mac, I would lean toward the Mac. But when it’s between a $600 PC and a $2000 Mac, the scales tip differently.

I stick to my tired old analogy: The Mac may be like a Rolls Royce. No question it’s better than what I’m driving, but is that quality worth the extra money?

Ron says:

I guess the best thing I can say in response to your thoughts is this: whenever I talk to a Windows user who hasn’t switched and isn’t leaning toward a switch, they give reasons, facts, and even excuses why it’s too expensive. However, whenever I talk with a Windows user who has made the switch, I hear nothing but glowing reviews, oohs, aahs, and I even learn things that I didn’t know about OS X, and that’s rare for me, an OS X user from almost the day it was released.

So, as objectively as possible, I’d like to say that I think your reasons listed above would evaporate like water on the Sun if you were actually a self-motivated switcher. But that’s ok. One day you may become curious/eager enough to take the plunge, and the likelihood is that you’ll consider it one of the better decisions you’ve ever made. Once again, this is just my experience in listening to other “switchers”.

Cindy says:

Just a quick note to Ron…

>> whenever I talk to a Windows user who hasn’t switched and isn’t leaning toward a switch, they give reasons, facts, and even excuses why it’s too expensive. >> I’d like to say that I think your reasons listed above would evaporate like water on the Sun if you were actually a self-motivated switcher.

Well now, if someone expresses that they can’t afford to do this financially, why on earth would you dog them anyway? Not everyone on this planet has the obvious never-empty wallet you seem to have… and it is an insult to those of us who make only $300 a week and are stuck with what we have. I can’t even afford a car, but now I am just coming up with lame excuses because I can’t afford a Mac??? Well, where is your money to buy these for us?

You should be a bit more considerate when dealing with others who are not as wealthy as you. Telling people their reasons would ‘evaporate’ if they were motivated… that’s just being mean and condescending!!

ole Hansen says:

I have tried your command for font control in vista
takeown /f c:\windows\fonts /r /d y
but then i get the meassage that the value y is not allowed
Hope you can help
WKR Ole Hansen