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Originally Posted by Greg  I plan on using it for work applications mostly (Word, Excel) but I would like to use the computer for music as well.
Is the heavy premium worth OS X or should I try Vista? |
For Word and Excel it doesn't really matter what OS you use, but OS X probably has an advantage for music software. Also, from what I've seen, Macs aren't as overpriced as most people tend to think. I've compared the hardware specs of an iMac with a roughly equivalent Dell PC and found that the iMac is only about $100-200 more expensive than the Dell, all things considered. You have to keep in mind that the hardware Apple uses is top of the line, while companies like Dell offer cheap but outdated PCs in addition to new, expensive ones. Plus with an iMac you're getting a computer that fits inside the monitor.. So that in itself should be worth the extra money.
I haven't used OS X yet, but I do have Vista installed on an old testbed PC. My own opinion is that of a software developer so it's probably different from what an average user would say, but I think Vista is pretty bad in terms of usability. They made the interface more confusing, and added security warnings for just about anything you do. Other than that, Vista is pretty much Windows XP with a lot of visual effects thrown in. It incorporates all the security and anti-spyware components that you can get for XP individually. For instance, the Windows firewall is available for XP with the latest service pack, and Windows Defender (anti spyware) is available as a separate download.
Also, Vista is an incredible memory hog. My install of Vista Business edition uses about 300 mb of RAM with no programs running (more RAM is used if the Aero Glass interface is turned on). That's in stark contrast to Windows 2000 (which is XP without a flashy interface), a fresh install of which uses 80 MB of RAM with no programs running. So Vista is a huge, resource wasting operating system, both in terms of CPU usage and RAM just to manage all the visual effects it does. This of course means less resources for your programs.
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Originally Posted by Greg Yeah, I was looking at Ubuntu and it looks pretty nice. I don't have too much experience with Linux as my main OS though - from what I've been told, it's more work than its worth. Your thoughts? |
I have Ubuntu installed on my new computer, and I think it's a very good OS. It comes with a very large library of software you can install automatically and is very easy to use. Linux on a laptop is a bit more complicated though, and as far as I know you need to get a special version of a Linux distribution that was customized for your laptop. If anyone knows better feel free to correct me.
You may also have issues with hardware compatibility, and setting up WiFi networking can be a problem if you want to use security. In Ubuntu it's currently not possible to set up WPA without editing a text file (WEP is easy to set up, but is useless as far as security goes). Also, many devices don't have drivers or support for Linux, although these days a lot of them do. Printers, scanners and webcams for instance are an issue. When buying something you have to do research to make sure that the device works with Linux. Other than that, it's a very good OS.