Five12 Numerology

[Peter Korsten]

Op 31-12-2010 16:22, James R. Coplin schreef:

> Sorry for the coming rant but since you asked! :)
>
> [rant]

Interesting. Windows used to be not very stable on me, but this was in 
the time of 16-bits Windows. Apple was still running OS <= 9 then, which 
would crash if you looked at it in a funny way. Apart from such 
trivialities as pre-emptive multi-tasking, dynamic memory management, 
etc., which Windows 95 did, but Mac OS 9 didn't.

As soon as I had the chance, I ran NT 4.0, later 2000, but from XP 
onwards it's been rock stable. Actually, Windows 7 seems a trifle less 
stable, but this only happens when a game grabs the whole computer and 
refuses to let go. Also, there are mysterious freezes in Firefox, which 
last some tens of seconds, and then it continues.

So... I don't really see the stability argument for Windows. BUT: my 
hardware ain't cheap. Supermicro motherboard, before that a Tyan. 
Graphics card and peripherals are all well-known brands that take driver 
updates seriously.

As for Mac: I can't be bothered to pay more for a system that looks more 
fashionable, with a GUI that I don't particularly like, and which 
doesn't run most of the software that I do like. (Mostly games. Valve 
have ported most of their games to the Mac and I applaud them for it, 
but it's not an enticement for me to switch.)

I've been using computers from the time that 64 KB memory seemed 
excessive, mass storage was a compact cassette, and a network was 
something to do with fences. I hardly think I'm going to change, and 
with having used Windows 95 and its successors for the last 15 years, 
I've gotten used to it. If I need Unix, I just start a virtual machine.

But hey, to each his own. If the Mac works for you, so much the better.

- Peter