Messing around on a G5 (OS X)

Hey guys..

a meaningless thread perhaps but now im at least one step closer to buying a Mac .. this machine is sweet, and the OS X is awesome compared to the 9.X ive worked my ass through ..

anyway, theres still small things that keep me from doing this, so i guess ill start with an Ipod soon, at laest they are compaitable with PC ^_^ ...

The G5's are indeed sweet! Did you try one of the duals? OSX is indeed much nicer than OS9. I was never really interested in Macs until OSX came out. I helped a friend setup a dualboot OS9/OSX system, and when he was in OS9 to use ProTools (audio application... some of the effects add-ons aren't OSX compatible yet so he has to use OS9 still), I just kept thinking how much more I liked OSX.

What else is keeping you from going with a Mac?

no, i wasn't a dual. It was a pure 1.8, but thats still sweet considering its a mac, and not a PC..

What keeps me from going the mac-way? Well, mostly games i guess. Im not a hardcore gamer, nor am i addicted to it, i just like playing games once in a while. Like when Splinter Cell, Vietcong or some other cool game got out, i would probably bite the dust thinking that i'd love to play that game..

And I think thats it. Im planning in buying a Ipod soon enough, I love the feautures of a mac as well. But also, the price is pretty ... what shall we call it, spicey? .. I dont have that kind of money right now, and frankly i wouldnt have anything to use my PC for anymore besides gaming. So yes, i could sell the PC, but what about when i get the lust to drive away in my new uber-tuned Skyline in Need For Speed Underground, or dodge bullets the cool way? .. Actually, when thinking about it, i would HAVE to sell the PC if i ever got a mac, having both would be stupid?

Anyway, another thing i love about the mac is the Isync. *drool* ^_^



*** EDIT - Give me all your MAC loving .. convince me, damn you!

Well the thing the PC guys are always saying is that you can build a Windows machine for pocket change you find in the couch apparently, so you could always keep a decent Windows machine around for games if you are into it that much. MBB just built a pretty decent system for $500, which he outlined in the computer forum. It could easily play most of the latest games.

I won't try to say that Macs are great for games as well. If you're really into them, the Mac is not the way to go. Not for speed performance issues, just availability of titles. As you are well aware only the best PC games come to the Mac, and even then it's usually 6 months to a year or more after they have come out on Windows. The G5 would have no trouble performance wise with any of the latest games though. You can get nice video cards and everything for the G5 just like you can a Windows machine.

The consumer level machines are of course not upgradable as far as the video card, so that wouldn't be the best idea if you are planning to game on the Mac. I've played Halo on my eMac quite a bit... I get pretty decent framerates, but I have all of the details turned down all the way. But the eMac only has 32mb Video memory and 256mb RAM, so I don't expect any more than that out of it.

Another option is to of course just buy a game console to get your gaming fix with. Pickup a Gamecube for less than half the price of just a good video card on the PC, or even a PS2 or Xbox for just a little more than that.

I've actually played more games on my Macs than I have on the PC in a long time though. Age of Mythology, Halo, as well as a bunch of fun little shareware type games that are available on the Mac. One thing I've really noticed about the Mac is that the shareware apps are generally extremely good. Whether they are games, utilities, whatever. Shareware on Windows generally always equals crap, but all of the little apps available for OSX are top notch quality in most cases.

iSync is really good, like you have mentioned. Here's a little personal experience I had with it the other day: http://www.onethreeone.com/blog/archives/000232.php

If you get a .Mac account iSync is really powerful for syncing all of your stuff between computers, or just accessing your address book and calendar from any compuer with internet access at any time, automatically. You also get a ton of free software with the .Mac membership. And of course if you have a compatible Cell Phone or PDA iSync really starts to get powerful.

You've probably read the other threads about iLife, which is really starting to turn into an absolutely incredible suite of applications. My wife, who has never enjoyed computers for more than emailing/web browsing, now sits there for hours editing movies in iMovie. She figured most of it out herself except for a few little features, and now probably knows the program better than I do. There is just so much you can do and create on the Mac right out of the box it's incredible. I haven't used my Windows machine once since I got my Mac, except that we watch DVD's on it sometimes because it is in the other bedroom where it is more comfortable to sit.

Really you will probably be too busy making stuff on the Mac to play games... That's the way it's been with me so far. Like I said, I occasionally play a simple little shareware game or something but most of the time I'm doing something else on it instead.

This is a good little writeup of why the Mac appeals to some people: http://www.7nights.com/asterisk/archives/why_apple.php I totally agree with what he said...

Anyway it's really up to you if you think games are important enough to keep using Windows, or if you would be satisfied with the games on the Mac, or maybe buying a console or cheap Windows machine.

that's a great article you linked to - deker. I can't imagine how a PC fan could argue it. But, they always do ;) *raises hands* I'm not picking fights!

I'm surrounded by G5's - home and work. Believe me, I've been a mac dork since waaay back, and everything dek says about OSX is true. Life is easy. Panther, especially (OSX 10.3) makes life alot easier. Not huge differences from 10.2 (Jaguar) - but enough to make me notice that my workflow at work on Panther is smoother compared to home, Jaguar, if only by a little.

OS 9 (classic) is easier to troubleshoot, but that might be because I grew up with it and needed the occasional fix. Also, because OSX just doesn't crash like 9 did, so you don't troubleshoot. (at least not yet - knock on wood)

bottom line: figure out what you want your computer to do for you, then decide if you're a platform switcher.

expose makes working on panther SO much more effeciently.

Yes Expose' rocks! Especially on my little Powerbook screen where there isn't much room to spare. I can easily switch between apps that are stacked on top of each other and hidden, without having to minimize other apps, or click on icons in the dock.

i just used about 1½ hour renaming/moving files after Itunes for PC screwed them up very, very heavily.. wtf is that all about ..

it ruined my stucture in my mp3 fold completely.. made maps with every artist, and in that it made folders for every album and one everytime for the ones not having a album in the ID3 tag. Futhermore it just threw a bunch of random mp3s in a folder called "unknown artist" ... omg ... this was sick.. -____-

Redeye, you hit the nail on the head right there. Expose is so wonderful. We have a small App on our G4's to emulate the old hide program feature like in the Classic version, but with Expose, there is absolutely no need. Such a fantastic idea.

Casual, that's a feature in iTunes to keep your MP3's organized... I happen to think it's one of its best features, just drop an MP3 on iTunes and it sorts it into artist/album automatically.

If your ID3 tags are screwed up or non-existant it will put them in unknown artist.

To turn it off, go to preferences, and uncheck "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" or something like that under the advanced tab, and it will leave your MP3's where they are.