Computer went and got it's self dead

Computer got blown all to hell when I decided to kill it! Sick of Windows and all the problems so I exploded it! Gonna buy a Mac as soon as I have money to do so.

I guess it just all added up with all the stress in my life and then the craptasic windows vista always messing up, I tell ya It did feel good to kill windows. I Feel a little better mentally now.

Cheers

Glad you got it off your chest. Sometimes talking about it helps.

[Volt]

I neither a fanboy either way, but if you think Macs are problem free..... Well good luck.

[AD720]

You can try out Ubuntu in the mean time. Nice solid OS that should run really fast on a Vista machine.

[Smokin Gator]

If you have a monitor laying around the Mac Mini is a heck of a buy IMO!!

[stitch]

I know the feeling ... Several years ago I took a computer out and emptied a
.45 into it ....Maaan did that ever feel good!
"Take Thaaaat you POS!"

[goalie204]

Used a mac and a pc both for well over 15 years, love both. Both can be problem free, depends on the user. Macs are less likely to have problems, good choice.

Mac are awesome, go ahead and call me a fanboy, but windows has allot of problems.

[King James]

Mac should serve you well

[ashtonlady]

I have worked with both. When my daughter told me she wanted a computer I told her to get a Mac.

Originally Posted by stitch

I know the feeling ... Several years ago I took a computer out and emptied a
.45 into it ....Maaan did that ever feel good!
"Take Thaaaat you POS!"

Why does this not surprise me?

[Raralith]

Honestly, I feel most of the times it is the user and not the software. If you are installing a ton of junk and not bothering with antivirus or spyware, it wouldn't matter if you used a OSX or Windows. Personally though, I find it very hard to swallow paying a bit of a premium for hardware that I can't upgrade. If you game a lot though, you basicly have to run Windows.

[TripleF]

sumbich computer wudn't no good anyhow....

[357]

I hope you have the money, macs usually are twice the price for the same performance. I'm a Windows server admin so I'm a little biased but please hear me out.

Usually the solution is education. You have to learn how to protect your computer from malicious websites/code. Usually you can do it for free. Windows XP/Vista has a software firewall, enable it. Make sure your PC is not plugged directly into your cable modem. Put a router in between to act as a physical firewall. Download Windows Defender (native in Vista or free download for XP). It protects you from spyware/malware. Also use a good AntiVirus app like AVG (which is free). Keep those tools and Windows patches up to date and you won't have too many problems. If you stay off the adult websites and off of myspace/facebook you'll rarely ever have trouble.

I know a lot of folks like myspace/facebook, but people sign up for pages there and fill it with malicious code to take advantage of the site's users.

Malicious code is not isolated to only Windows based OS. Mac/Linux/Unix all have malicious code written for them.

[Whee]

Originally Posted by 357

I hope you have the money, macs usually are twice the price for the same performance. I'm a Windows server admin so I'm a little biased but please hear me out.

Usually the solution is education. You have to learn how to protect your computer from malicious websites/code. Usually you can do it for free. Windows XP/Vista has a software firewall, enable it. Make sure your PC is not plugged directly into your cable modem. Put a router in between to act as a physical firewall. Download Windows Defender (native in Vista or free download for XP). It protects you from spyware/malware. Also use a good AntiVirus app like AVG (which is free). Keep those tools and Windows patches up to date and you won't have too many problems. If you stay off the adult websites and off of myspace/facebook you'll rarely ever have trouble.

I know a lot of folks like myspace/facebook, but people sign up for pages there and fill it with malicious code to take advantage of the site's users.

Malicious code is not isolated to only Windows based OS. Mac/Linux/Unix all have malicious code written for them.

Well damn, there goes my Friday nights!

I tend to be way overprotective. I run different 4 or 5 AV and spyware programs because I've noticed they each catch different things. Fighting with my daughter's machine right now. Can't seem to get rid of whatever has a hold of it. She has no concept of pop up ads, fake virus protection etc.

[stitch]

Originally Posted by TripleF

sumbich computer wudn't no good anyhow....

Yuuuuup

[357]

Originally Posted by illinoishoosier

Well damn, there goes my Friday nights!

I tend to be way overprotective. I run different 4 or 5 AV and spyware programs because I've noticed they each catch different things. Fighting with my daughter's machine right now. Can't seem to get rid of whatever has a hold of it. She has no concept of pop up ads, fake virus protection etc.

Best thing to do for kids is give them a different username and password than the parents use. Then you can restrict their account so they can't install/remove software etc. This is simple, create their account and take them out of the "Administrators" group. Then they will be limited in what they can intentionally or unintentionally do.

[Volt]

Originally Posted by 357

Best thing to do for kids is give them a different username and password than the parents use. Then you can restrict their account so they can't install/remove software etc. This is simple, create their account and take them out of the "Administrators" group. Then they will be limited in what they can intentionally or unintentionally do.

I also am an IT admin... that is the only way I will work on anyone's computer at home. The reason I'm there in the first place is 90% due to the kids. Once all the programs are installed on the fresh load, a parent has to do the occasional game load once in a while... Besides it lets them stay up on what's being installed.

I am biased againt MAC in one area - I do not do propriety software or hardware. I never bought into Tandy, IBM, Packard Bell, etc or any of the rest. I'm not paying an inflated price for a name. I have to work with both, personally MAC has a slicker look, touch, but your boxed more into what they want than a PC. With the modern day malware and viruses, they aren't any safer than a PC anymore. YMMV.

[Whee]

Originally Posted by 357

Best thing to do for kids is give them a different username and password than the parents use. Then you can restrict their account so they can't install/remove software etc. This is simple, create their account and take them out of the "Administrators" group. Then they will be limited in what they can intentionally or unintentionally do.

When they lived with me, this is what I did. Worked very nice. Then they went to live with Mom and boyfriend deleted the software thinking it was preventing network communication...

Now I try to start some of the stuff I loaded there when i pick them up for visits. (sigh)

[AD720]

Originally Posted by Volt

I also am an IT admin... that is the only way I will work on anyone's computer at home. The reason I'm there in the first place is 90% due to the kids. Once all the programs are installed on the fresh load, a parent has to do the occasional game load once in a while... Besides it lets them stay up on what's being installed.

I am biased againt MAC in one area - I do not do propriety software or hardware. I never bought into Tandy, IBM, Packard Bell, etc or any of the rest. I'm not paying an inflated price for a name. I have to work with both, personally MAC has a slicker look, touch, but your boxed more into what they want than a PC. With the modern day malware and viruses, they aren't any safer than a PC anymore. YMMV.

I usually don't get into the whole Mac vs. PC jihad. I use both. I have a mac that runs 10.5 and XP, Vista, Win7 and Ubutu through virtualization. My (work) PC boots XP, Vista and 7. There are reasons to have a PC and reasons to have a Mac.

That being said do you have any information (articles, studies, etc) to back up that claim? I would be intersted to read it as the majority of what I have read is that while Macs are not as safe as some claim they are still siginifiacantly safer than an XP machine.

While there are more exploits and malware coded for Mac OS than there were even 2 years ago there are still not even close to as many as there are for Windows.

Also "PC" is a pretty broad term. Are we talking about XP - still the most widely used Windows OS? In which case I will disagree with you. If we are talking about Vista I will disagree with you slightly less but only if the end user hasn't disabled User Account Control. If the end user HAS disabbled U.A.C. and the other monitoring nag-ware then all bets are off.

What is the propritary hardware you are referring to? Since the days of Intel Macs the last real "propritary" peice of apple hardware was the Power PC processor. When you are talking about an off the shelf (not a custom made system) system buying a Mac is the same as buying a Dell. Plug in any USB mouse or keyboard. Any monitor. Any speakers. Any USB hard drive. Any USB flash drive. Any SATA or IDE hard drive. Any SATA or IDE DVD or CD burner. For the record I have a much easier time finding device software and drivers for my Apple than I do for my Vista machine -that is a nightmare.

The other elephant in the room is the price. Always the price. Yes an Apple is going to be more money. No one is disptuing that. Here is the reason, it's simple:

OS X 10.5.6 Retail Install Disc - $129.99
Microsoft Vista Ultamite - $319.95

Apple iWork '09 - $79.99
Microsoft Office 2007 Home/Student - $149.99 (up to $500 for the "Ultimate" version)



The last point I should make is personall experence. I'm sure you can understand the blessing (burden?) of being in IT. Everyone wants you to fix thier computers. Moms, Dads, friends, co-workers.

Windows Machines I've had to re-build or replace for my parents: 4
Times I've had to fix said computers (short of rebuilding/replacing): average 4 each

I got my parents to finally buy a Mac. I've not had to fix, replace, repair anything in over 2 years of running that Mac. Same with my fiance's parents, my fiance her self, my Unlce, my Aunt, several friends and even me. I've had 6 macs over the years and each was only replaced because I wanted a new one. Not because of becoming obsolete or hardware failure, although now that old blueberry G3 iMac would be a little pokey.

Number of viruses I've seen on any mac I've ever worked on: 0
Number of times I've had to rebuild a mac do to a virus or malware: 0

Both of those for PC's would be in the dozens and thats not counting work.


I've recommened PC's to several people for different reasons. But if someone (a casual user) is looking for an e-mail, light word processing, web surfing, music/web video/photo machine my recomendation is always a Mac.