Why do people like Apple computers?

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So I am sitting here at an Apple MacBook Pro, with several terminal windows open.

I have Vim running in one where I am editing a Python script and I am running that script in another. I have some docs open in others.
I have R using the rgl libraries plot3d function to create a 3d scatter plot in a X-window (using XQuartz).

I have windows 7 running in a virtual box through VMware.

It seems to me that I can pretty much do whatever the heck I want with this hardware. Only the desire and ability to learn how limits me.

Except maybe reading a optical disk, and running Higan_BSNES Accuracy at 60FPS because processors cores in laptop are too slow for that.

Edit: Can it run Crysis by the way?

Elitism. A lot of Mac users perceive themselves as superior in intelligence and more cultured then Windows users.
Perception that Mac's just work and Windows' users log on to a blue screen of death nearly all the time and spend the majority of the time trying to debug their machines.
Apple has had a brand loyalty that no other company has come close to matching, EVER

I have a five year old machine that can run Higan/BSNES Accuracy at full speed without any problems. It's not even anything spectacular either, just an overclocked Pentium Dual Core with a few gigs of ram and a cheap graphics card. Why do people keep insisting that it's a hard emulator to run? I'm sure even a Core i3 would be more than adequate.



I've seen much the same sort of Elitism among Linux users, though for some reason I don't have as much of a problem with it. I think it's because Linux isn't a corporate product, and people who actually use it tend to have the technical expertise to back up their claims, wheras a lot of Mac users are like "MY COMPUTER IS BETTER BECAUSE IT IS TEH SHINEY!11!!" I'm not saying all Mac users are like this, because there are plenty of intelligent people who use them and prefer them for various reasons. I am OK with this. What I am not okay with is people mindlessly devoting themselves to some corporate status symbol just because it makes them look cool.

Linux fanboys are just as bad, IMHO. It's funny when they speak of FreeBSD and Windows when they know next to nothing about them. It's extra hillarious when they rip on FreeBSD because "it has too little software", "it has too crappy drivers", "it's too monolithic", "it's not modular enough", etc., without having tried it (and without knowing how a kernel actually works)--or when they think they're experts just because they know how to install Ubuntu.

I can and do read optical disks. There are these things known as I/O ports and I have them on both sides of the case, both Apple's proprietary and irritating "lightning" ports and industry standard USB ports.

Fair enough, I have no interest in this, so I will take your word that it's something this hardware can't do. That doesn't really have anything to do with Mac OS, though, does it? The 2.6gGhz Core i7 seems to handle the demands I put on it quite adequately.

Yes. It can boot into Windows quite nicely.

It would be nice to have better graphics, but it's a laptop.

I am a fan of Linux, Mac OS and can tolerate Windows. Horses for courses. Attacking one or the other seems silly to me. You use the best system you can for the job at hand.

I'll admit, I know very little about FreeBSD, other than that it's a more "hardcore" Unix variant that I'd probably have a hard time getting my head around, though I wouldn't be surprised if it is in fact superior to Linux in terms of performance and stability. I have played around a bit with OpenBSD, but it just went waaaay over my head. I've been using Windows for years, and I know a bit about Linux as well. I'm not entirely sure which I prefer, because Windows offers better compatibility and gaming performance, while Linux offers better day-to-day performance and overall security. Neither are that great in terms of stability, however. That said, lately I've been preferring Linux as my main OS, because XP is getting a bit long in the tooth, and none of the newer versions of Windows really appeal to me.

They've also stopped updating Windows XP. Which is kinda shooting themselves in the foot. But okay.

What's wrong with Windows 7, though? When ( or if ? ) I install Windows again, it would be Windows 7.

FreeBSD is better at more specific tasks, when you need push the maximum out of your hardware (the Playstation consoles run a FreeBSD derived OS), or when you need a server OS that can handle a very high workload (the Netflix servers, for instance). For low-level programming, everyday tasks, and ease of use, it still loses to Arch Linux and Slackware, though. Linux is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. That's where FreeBSD comes in handy.

Under the bonnet, FreeBSD and Linux are actually quite different, even though you can install extensions to FreeBSD that will allow you to get the look and feel of a Linux distro.

They should have had a whole new operating system underneath, but kept the interface, commands etc exactly like XP.

I'm not an expert, but, from what I've heard...

Macs are more reliable and keep their value longer than PC's. You don't have to buy a new laptop as often.

Macs don't get viruses as much as PC's.


I'm not a Mac user. I've only used a Mac a few times; I doubt it's any easier than a PC. Maybe it used to be.