OT: M$ & hardware makers putting policeware in new computers...

[wickednick]

Unfortunately, Macs don't have as much support, same with Linux.

Macs actually have alot of support.Most of the main stream programs that are on windows also come out on mac.Also there is not such a rift in games that everyone thinks.Many of the games that are on windows are on the mac.

[JohnL]

>Windows servers are often cheaper, at least in the short run. It sounds silly, since
>Linux is free - but the linux administrators cost far more.

From what I've read, that cost isn't as bad as it seems because a single Linux server has to be replaced with like 3-5 Windows servers. Also, things like implementing changes, automating tasks etc. are easier with Linux because you can easily use scripting, whereas Windows is mostly all GUI based. Here's the memo I read;

Converting Hotmail

>Macs actually have alot of support.Most of the main stream programs that are on

Recently, in one of the newsgroups I follow, a Mac user wanted to start posting their videos. The accepted format in that group is to use Rar to create a multi-volume archive of the file and post the files individually. The only Rar archiver available for the Mac is a commandline version and for some reason, he couldn't get that to work. Then he decided to just split the files, so he had to find a splitter program for the Mac. The first one didn't work properly on all files. Unfortunately, there seems to be only 2-3 splitter programs for the Mac. I think it wast he last one he got working ok. It chopped off the filename extension though, so he needed an easy way to rename all the files at once. It took a while to find a program to do this. If he'd been using Windows, he'd have had a choice of 4-5 easily obtainable programs to do both.

>windows also come out on mac.Also there is not such a rift in games that
>everyone thinks.Many of the games that are on windows are on the mac.

I'll have to take your word for it since none of the multi-platform review sites that I checked, list Mac games.

[Andrew]

> >Windows servers are often cheaper, at least in the short run.
> It sounds silly, since
> >Linux is free - but the linux administrators cost far more.
>
> From what I've read, that cost isn't as bad as it seems because
> a single Linux server has to be replaced with like 3-5 Windows
> servers.

I often run into this argument.  However, an awful lot of the Windows "admins" I have met are total meatheads.  On the other hand, most of the Linux admins actually know their stuff.  I would rather see a good comparision based on years experience and what their job is.

If you need a help desk guy, pay for one - but never make a help desk guy into the network admin.

Good point on how one Linux box can do what several Windows boxen can do.  A few years back I helped to transition a place from Unix to Windows.  Where there were 2 Unix boxes before, suddenly it took 7 (or so) Windows computers to do the same job.  And the Unix machines were a few years old, the Windows ones were the newest, fastest ones available.

[JohnL]

>Good point on how one Linux box can do what several Windows boxen can do.
>A few years back I helped to transition a place from Unix to Windows.

Can you post WHY they wanted to make the switch?

>Where there were 2 Unix boxes before, suddenly it took 7 (or so) Windows
>computers to do the same job. And the Unix machines were a few years old, the
>Windows ones were the newest, fastest ones available.

But at least now, they won't be excluded from all the good stuff... worms, backdoors, etc.

[wickednick]

Recently, in one of the newsgroups I follow, a Mac user wanted to start posting their videos. The accepted format in that group is to use Rar to create a multi-volume archive of the file and post the files individually.
Why you guys are using Rar I don't undestand, when quicktime  is a far more widely used format, and gives you just as good quality. Quicktime also lets you create multi volume archives as well.

I'll have to take your word for it since none of the multi-platform review sites that I checked, list Mac game

As for the games, often macs are not listed as one of the platforms on review sites because most mac games are ported to the mac by other developers which just deal in mac games.

[JohnL]

>Why you guys are using Rar I don't undestand, when quicktime is a far more

I only unpack them myself, but others use it because it easily splits the file and includes an additional checksum to ensure that the unpacked file is ok.

>widely used format, and gives you just as good quality. Quicktime also lets you
>create multi volume archives as well.

Quicktime? The only Quicktime I know of is a video format. As for the format itself, the Quicktime player for Windows is horrible on lower-end systems. On mine, I can play VCD files at 30 frames a second in Media Player and others, but Quicktime averages around 7 frames a second on the same files. Native Quicktime files play just as badly.

>As for the games, often macs are not listed as one of the platforms on review
>sites because most mac games are ported to the mac by other developers
>which just deal in mac games.

Do you know of any sites that are good for telling if a game is available for the Mac? For example, Game Rankings is great for telling if a game is available for IBM clones, PSX, Xbox, etc. Just type in part of the name and search.