kevmac10

True enough, Macs account for somewhere between 4-6 percent of the total US sales of PC's, but the share is on the rise - we will have to wait for IDC to report on the last half of 2005, when Mac sales spiked considerably. But I'm not sure what market share has to do with support? If you mean manufacturer support, then you must be aware that Dell, the number 1 online retailer of personal computers, gets a dismal support rating - while Apple, the number 2 online retailer, gets stellar ratings. If you mean user support, like this forum, there are quite a few Mac tech sites and user groups where the discussion gets every bit as deep and technical as the Windows groups do. If you mean 3rd party hardware support, the reason there isn't a Fry's warehouse full of Mac peripherals is that, for most users, the machine comes already equipped with everything you need. If you mean software support, how many Solitaire titles does one really need to choose from? Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, DreamWeaver and Photoshop - those are the 3rd party apps I use 95% of the time, and they all provide great Mac support. Hardcore gamers are the only group with a legitimate reason to stick with the Windows platform, and as I said before, that is about to change. I don't want to start a battle here. I just get annoyed when long-time Windows users buy into the common myths and misconceptions about Macs when most of them haven't even touched one since they used an Apple 2 in grammar school, let alone really evaluated them as a viable alternative - all the while passively accepting the endless flow of security patches, OS re-installs and complicated bios adjustments as the way things are. The Mac is a better machine with an even better OS, and it isn't going away.

I'm not sure why more Mac guys aren't seen here - after all, this site is mainly devoted to ISP's, high-speed connectivity, networking, etc. and those problems aren't exclusive to Windows users (well except for networking, maybe...) At any rate, I just need to poke a friendly hole or two in your common misconceptions about Macs: Price & Upgradability: As an example, I just bought a G5 iMac. Here is what it came equipped with (standard, no upgrading): *1.9 GHz G5 Power PC processor (the clock speed vs. MIPS vs. benchmark performance debate rages on, but that is a whole other topic) * 160 Gig hard drive * 8x DVD burner *17 inch LCD 1440 x 900 pixels *Radeon X600 Pro PCI Express Graphics card * 3 USB 2.0 ports (plus 2 more USB 1.1 on the keyboard) * 2 FireWire 400 ports * VGA, S-Video and Composite video outputs * Optical audio out, plus built-in microphone, stereo speakers, and audio line level input and headphone output * Built-in (quality!) webcam * Gigabit Ethernet connectivity * 802.11g wireless AND Bluetooth built in * Software: iLife suite (which includes word processing, video editing, photo management and of course the ubiquitous iTunes), plus a slew of useful stuff including video chat, calendar, address book, internet browser and much more. Total price for ALL of the above: $1299 and the only upgrade the vast majority of users would even need to consider is RAM capacity. How much would it cost you to buy an equivalent quality Windows system after you take into account all of the peripherals and add-ons you would need? Just curious. I will concede your point about gaming, though system price and performance is not the reason - it is because game developers have (for the most part) been reluctant to spend what it takes to port their titles to Mac (even though the Unix API's are much more conducive to coding intensive graphics routines). I think you will see a major turnaround in this area very soon, and as an Apple watcher I might even venture to predict some important annoucements in the very near future. As for the "wat not" applications - there really isn't anything a Windows machine can do that a Mac can't, and there is plenty of cross-platform compatibility for sharing documents, video, photos, etc. Unless the video was tied to Microsoft's ill-advised DRM, in which case those porn files your friends paid for and downloaded probably won't play on the Mac.

55 seconds on my G4 1.33 GHz Powerbook. Out of the box it was more like 85 seconds - I added 1 Gig SDRAM about a year ago and that helped a lot, then OS 10.4 shaved it down to under 1 minute. Curiously, I just bought my son a G5 iMac, but it doesn't cold start any faster than the G4. Sweet computer, though! I do have to comment here that I am amused by all the patches, workarounds, overclocking techniques, hardware mods, etc. that you Windows folks put yourselves through. Will the long-awaited release of Longhorn/Vista really be the answer to all of your prayers? Mac OS X was already shipping before Microsoft had even started the first of many Longhorn delays. Now we are at 10.4x, we love the Unix architecture and the Mac product line, and we will be watching the Steve Jobs keynote on Jan. 10 to get a glimpse at how Apple will be even further ahead with the introduction of the first Intel Macs, seamless integration to home media centers (Tivo rumors, anybody?), and SJ's infamous "Just one more thing...". OK, enough holier-than-thou bragging. I'm sure you all have excellent reasons for putting up with Microsoft after all these years. Happy New Year.