To PC ... or not to PC?

[P. G. Tipps]

Such as?
Lots of folks say this but can you give me an example?

(I mostly use Macs but don't really use Apple software)

Then you will know a lot more about Macs than I do, so I defer to your greater knowledge.

However, according to How-To-Geek one needs to use a virtual machine on the Mac, or use Mac Wine (if Linux is anything to go by not always successful), or something called Boot Camp which generously allows the installation of a whole Windows OS alongside OS X.

Wow!

PS ... I see Dave got in first!

[P. G. Tipps]

I thought you were anti-PC?

Not at all ... my local bobby is a lovely lady.

[french frank]

I have one program which I have to use, as in I've GOT to use it, and there isn't a Mac version. So I unearthed my old laptop (Vista) and am battling to relearn all the laborious procedures that became redundant with a Mac (perhaps there are shortcuts, but I haven't time to learn them all when I only use the laptop to use one program). I am now thinking I might go down to my second-hand Mac supplier who has a refurbished Windows laptop with whatever the latest OS is (he has a Compaq for about £249).

I got as far as downloading Ubuntu a few years back only to discover that it wasn't compatible with my router so quietly ditched it.

[P. G. Tipps]

I got as far as downloading Ubuntu a few years back only to discover that it wasn't compatible with my router so quietly ditched it.

Ah, a common frustration with Linux OS's 'a few years back'. Getting on the internet, surely the most essential prerequisite of any worthwhile OS, was certainly a major challenge in earlier days.

However, I'd be astounded if you had the same problem now, though admittedly I rarely cease to be astounded!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Not at all ... my local bobby is a lovely lady.

[Dave2002]

I have one program which I have to use, as in I've GOT to use it, and there isn't a Mac version. So I unearthed my old laptop (Vista) and am battling to relearn all the laborious procedures that became redundant with a Mac (perhaps there are shortcuts, but I haven't time to learn them all when I only use the laptop to use one program). I am now thinking I might go down to my second-hand Mac supplier who has a refurbished Windows laptop with whatever the latest OS is (he has a Compaq for about £249).

I got as far as downloading Ubuntu a few years back only to discover that it wasn't compatible with my router so quietly ditched it.

If your program doesn't need any fancy hardware which might prove tricky, as per mr gg's post #15, then maybe you could try Parallels or Bootcamp. Bootcamp is, I think, free - but you'd need a copy of Windows to run on your Mac OS system - with enough disc space and memory to make it all go. If you tried Parallels you'd also have to buy the Parallels program - http://www.parallels.com/uk/products...utm_medium=cpc If you get in quickly you can get a one time purchase for £64.99 - otherwise it looks as though that's another wretched company that wants to try to screw a similar amount ouf of you every year! [Can you guess that I hate this forced movement by developers to subscription pricing ....]

I don't know which version of Windows you'd get to run on Parallels, or how much that would cost. Similarly for Bootcamp. If your Mac machine is powerful enough those options may be better than trying to get a second hand PC.

Is your program a particularly rare and exotic one?

[Bryn]

Having upgraded to Windows 10 on my little HP Pavilion dm1 and a couple of other laptops a month or so ago, I have now got round to installing it on this, my main machine. It would not accept the automated download (a common problem with some Acer machines, it seems). However, it was happy to install the update downloaded independent of the automated 'service'. After the frustrations of Vista, 8 and to a lesser extent, 8.1 I am finding Windows 10 a breath of fresh air. So far I have no regrets at leaving Windows 7 in the background. However, there is one niggle. I still have XP as the OS on an old laptop. I make occasional use of Audio DVD Creator, and it will not run smoothly on any version of Windows beyond XP. That machine only ever goes online for the occasional update to virus definitions.

My one Macbook was relegated to the bottom of a wardrobe within a month or so of purchase. There the horrible device will remain. It would not even read DVDs written to on other devices.

[Dave2002]

So far I have no regrets at leaving Windows 7 in the background. However, there is one niggle. I still have XP as the OS on an old laptop. I make occasional use of Audio DVD Creator, and it will not run smoothly on any version of Windows beyond XP. That machine only ever goes online for the occasional update to virus definitions.

My one Macbook was relegated to the bottom of a wardrobe within a month or so of purchase. There the horrible device will remain. It would not even read DVDs written to on other devices.

I can remember when Win 7 was supposed to be an improvement over Vista, and also Win 8! I still have two machines with XP - one is currently in use - right now, the other is an Asus netbook, which is so underpowered that it functions as a doorstop - metaphorically at least.

How old was the Macbook you had? If it is more than a decade old, then very probably it was, at least for you, as bad as you said it was. Newer ones are a lot better.

The other big difference between Macs and PCs is if you have to use them in a work environment. I have used both, in such environments. Personally I still preferred the Macs, but the tech support was much better for the PCs, and quite well organised. Thus if there was a problem, hand it over to Tech support and use another machine. OTOH having PCs at home was always a nightmare, as the only Tech support was me - and most people had problems most of the time, so I felt my life was being ruined by having to struggle to keep them going. PCs are quite good on networks where everyone is doing more or less the same (perhaps rather boring) thing, and the TS people can optimise things. They can even restore a system, or simply run a user machine via the network in a very short time - options which few home users have. However, step outside the rather constrained range of software which many businesses "require" their staff to use, this work model breaks down.

Mac TS in modest sized organisations often tends to be limited to just one technical person (if that) so users may just do their own thing.

[richardfinegold]

In 2013 they could quite happily run Windows on a Mac thus eliminating the problem.

We tried that with Paralells. It worked great for about 6 months, and then it crashed. It took almost a week to figure out that the problem was with Parallels, and almost put me out of business (winter 2012). I scrapped the Macs and ran the program on Windows from there.

[MrGongGong]

We tried that with Paralells. It worked great for about 6 months, and then it crashed. It took almost a week to figure out that the problem was with Parallels, and almost put me out of business (winter 2012). I scrapped the Macs and ran the program on Windows from there.

You could have run Windows without an emulation using Bootcamp which would have been much more stable than the PC.
The reason why I (somewhat reluctantly) gave up on the PC was that it was inherently an unstable platform for the audio processing and editing that I do.
Constantly having to defragment, update drivers etc etc wasted so much time and led to sleepless nights and hassle.

[Anastasius]

...
My one Macbook was relegated to the bottom of a wardrobe within a month or so of purchase. There the horrible device will remain. It would not even read DVDs written to on other devices.

Can I please have it ?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Can I please have it ?

Move aside, Anastasius. I want it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have a huge iMac, which is amazing and a laptop with Windows 8, which remains a nightmare - an operating system written by a committee of amateurs.

I use my old Acorn for DTP work, vector graphics work and for the best version of Sibelius.

[P. G. Tipps]

Move aside, Anastasius. I want it.

Isn't that a bit greedy, EA? You already have a 'huge iMac, which is amazing ... '

I don't have any Apple products and if this one is being given away free I humbly request to be considered as the most deserving beneficiary, on the grounds of both simple compassion and socially-desirable equality.

[MrGongGong]

and for the best version of Sibelius.

?
V6?