Macintosh
Just before my graduation, joshuak happened to be visiting to catch my project presentation. I happened to grumble about how disillusioned I am with Linux, and how I wanted to get a Mac. This had sort of become a habit. My four year old Dell laptop was becoming so unusable that it would be easier to list the parts that aren't broken than the ones that are. I thought about replacing it with another cheap Dell, or even a Thinkpad, but I was really reluctant to deal with another Linux laptop. I used to be such a Linux fanboy, but at some point I realized that it's a pain in the ass to use. Getting stuff like power management, 3D acceleration, and advanced wireless LAN security to work requires a lot of research and work. I used to be excited about learning how everything works and mastering it, but recently I've tired of this and I just want things to work, especially on a laptop. It's true that there are distributions that solve a lot of these problems, but I'm not a fan of them. They still have a lot of problems, and the GUI and user experience they have to offer is pretty poor compared to other operating systems. I suppose I should mention that I despise Windows and wouldn't consider it an option. I'm not going to get started on that. This left Mac OS X. I was an ardent Mac user for my entire childhood, but I completely ignored OS X when it came out because I was so attached to Linux. Now that I'm having second thoughts, it seemed like a good idea to check it out, particularly on a laptop where things need to Just Work.
Anyway, joshuak told me I would probably get large monetary gifts for my graduation that I could use to purchase a MacBook. I originally sort of dismissed the idea, since I wasn't really sure I wanted to get a Mac yet, but the next day my grandmother asked me at dinner what I wanted as a graduation present. I replied sincerely that I didn't want anything because I'm lucky enough to have everything I really need, but my dad, who thinks I'm a masochist because I run Linux, suggested that she get me a Macintosh. Remembering the conversation with joshuak, I gave in. (You know, I think I might have gone with that anyway, but I'm going to blame getting a Mac on joshuak because I think that will annoy him).
I ended up ordering a low-end MacBook. Some people said the MacBook Pro was a better bet, but I didn't see how it could possibly be worth the extra money. I thought the large screen would have been nice, but now that I have the MacBook, I'm very happy with the size. I think a MacBook Pro would have been too large and actually a bit awkward. The MacBook was a surprisingly good deal for an Apple product: Core 2 Duo, 1GB ram, 80GB hard drive, free iPod nano for $1000 after the educational discount.
I told some of my friends that I was getting a Mac and they warned me that I was making a grave mistake. I asked them what they disliked about Mac OS X, and they mostly brought up nerdy technical issues and deficiencies in the UNIX side of things. I retorted that if I tried to use a Mac like a typical Mac user would, none of that would be a problem. I think I was right. Since I've had the machine, I've been very happy with the OS in general and the applications, but whenever I've made the mistake of trying to do something serious in the shell, I soon regret it. It's actually nice to have a UNIX backend even if it has problems, and I use the Terminal a fair amount. However, I try to use Mac-like GUI apps for things other than email and IRC. I've found a lot of great applications - even some of the stock ones are really cool. I'm irrationally obsessed with Safari and I'm excited that its engine is being ported to Linux. I'm also a fan of Adium and LaunchBar, among other apps. VMWare is cool, and I used it to install Linux in a virtual machine so I can have the best of both worlds (but so far I've never had any reason to use the Linux install).
There are some things I *don't* like. The first that comes to mind is iTunes. This is the de-facto standard music player for Mac OS X, and everyone seems to take it for granted. I can't stand it though - the interface is awful, it's bloated, and it doesn't handle FLAC and OGG formats correctly, even with the right QuickTime plugins. I searched extensively and found two other real music players. Even Linux has dozens. The alternatives I found aren't really any better than iTunes! I think I might end up switching to cmus, a non-graphical music player I use on Linux, and using more non-GUI apps would be a shame. I also wish the OS infastructure on OS X was better. Its kernel is poor in many ways compared to Linux, and by using it I'm giving up some performance and perks like a robust filesystem. This doesn't matter so much on my laptop, but if I ever switch on my desktop it might be a bigger deal.
And I would like to switch on my desktop! This laptop thing was partially an experiment to find out how well I got along with OS X. I don't end up using it a lot because I spend so much time at home and I'd rather use my desktop with two 20" monitors and a real mouse (but I'm using it to write this, of course, in Xjournal). I seem to prefer running OS X, so it's too bad that I only end up using it when I leave home. The problem is that I'd be forced to use Apple hardware (well, if I want something that's stable enough to use), and Apple's product line has severe gaps. The three desktop models are the Mac Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro. The first two are basically toys that don't meet my needs - they wouldn't even support my dual monitor setup. The Mac Pro is a monster that starts at $2500. I feel neglected by Apple's marketing department. :(
By the way, I should note that some of this is pretty irrational. I'm putting up with a lot of stuff on OS X that I wouldn't tolerate on Linux because it's a new system and I'm being more open-minded. For example, I almost immediately upgraded my RAM to 2GB. Stuff on OS X uses a hell of a lot of RAM, and if I encountered Linux this bloated I would more than likely complain about it until my friends tell me to shut up, and revert back to a less resource-intensive caveman's setup. I also care about software freedom on Linux, and rarely use applications that aren't open source. On Mac OS X, it would be bizarre to care. Possibly most significantly of all, I'm using all the GUI stuff the Mac has to offer, but on Linux I prefer the shell over file managers or desktop environments. It's partially because they all suck on Linux, but also because that's how I'm used to doing things. Irrational as it may be, if I need a new OS to break my bad habits and challenge my preconceived notions, then so be it.
Anyway, joshuak told me I would probably get large monetary gifts for my graduation that I could use to purchase a MacBook. I originally sort of dismissed the idea, since I wasn't really sure I wanted to get a Mac yet, but the next day my grandmother asked me at dinner what I wanted as a graduation present. I replied sincerely that I didn't want anything because I'm lucky enough to have everything I really need, but my dad, who thinks I'm a masochist because I run Linux, suggested that she get me a Macintosh. Remembering the conversation with joshuak, I gave in. (You know, I think I might have gone with that anyway, but I'm going to blame getting a Mac on joshuak because I think that will annoy him).
I ended up ordering a low-end MacBook. Some people said the MacBook Pro was a better bet, but I didn't see how it could possibly be worth the extra money. I thought the large screen would have been nice, but now that I have the MacBook, I'm very happy with the size. I think a MacBook Pro would have been too large and actually a bit awkward. The MacBook was a surprisingly good deal for an Apple product: Core 2 Duo, 1GB ram, 80GB hard drive, free iPod nano for $1000 after the educational discount.
I told some of my friends that I was getting a Mac and they warned me that I was making a grave mistake. I asked them what they disliked about Mac OS X, and they mostly brought up nerdy technical issues and deficiencies in the UNIX side of things. I retorted that if I tried to use a Mac like a typical Mac user would, none of that would be a problem. I think I was right. Since I've had the machine, I've been very happy with the OS in general and the applications, but whenever I've made the mistake of trying to do something serious in the shell, I soon regret it. It's actually nice to have a UNIX backend even if it has problems, and I use the Terminal a fair amount. However, I try to use Mac-like GUI apps for things other than email and IRC. I've found a lot of great applications - even some of the stock ones are really cool. I'm irrationally obsessed with Safari and I'm excited that its engine is being ported to Linux. I'm also a fan of Adium and LaunchBar, among other apps. VMWare is cool, and I used it to install Linux in a virtual machine so I can have the best of both worlds (but so far I've never had any reason to use the Linux install).
There are some things I *don't* like. The first that comes to mind is iTunes. This is the de-facto standard music player for Mac OS X, and everyone seems to take it for granted. I can't stand it though - the interface is awful, it's bloated, and it doesn't handle FLAC and OGG formats correctly, even with the right QuickTime plugins. I searched extensively and found two other real music players. Even Linux has dozens. The alternatives I found aren't really any better than iTunes! I think I might end up switching to cmus, a non-graphical music player I use on Linux, and using more non-GUI apps would be a shame. I also wish the OS infastructure on OS X was better. Its kernel is poor in many ways compared to Linux, and by using it I'm giving up some performance and perks like a robust filesystem. This doesn't matter so much on my laptop, but if I ever switch on my desktop it might be a bigger deal.
And I would like to switch on my desktop! This laptop thing was partially an experiment to find out how well I got along with OS X. I don't end up using it a lot because I spend so much time at home and I'd rather use my desktop with two 20" monitors and a real mouse (but I'm using it to write this, of course, in Xjournal). I seem to prefer running OS X, so it's too bad that I only end up using it when I leave home. The problem is that I'd be forced to use Apple hardware (well, if I want something that's stable enough to use), and Apple's product line has severe gaps. The three desktop models are the Mac Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro. The first two are basically toys that don't meet my needs - they wouldn't even support my dual monitor setup. The Mac Pro is a monster that starts at $2500. I feel neglected by Apple's marketing department. :(
By the way, I should note that some of this is pretty irrational. I'm putting up with a lot of stuff on OS X that I wouldn't tolerate on Linux because it's a new system and I'm being more open-minded. For example, I almost immediately upgraded my RAM to 2GB. Stuff on OS X uses a hell of a lot of RAM, and if I encountered Linux this bloated I would more than likely complain about it until my friends tell me to shut up, and revert back to a less resource-intensive caveman's setup. I also care about software freedom on Linux, and rarely use applications that aren't open source. On Mac OS X, it would be bizarre to care. Possibly most significantly of all, I'm using all the GUI stuff the Mac has to offer, but on Linux I prefer the shell over file managers or desktop environments. It's partially because they all suck on Linux, but also because that's how I'm used to doing things. Irrational as it may be, if I need a new OS to break my bad habits and challenge my preconceived notions, then so be it.