dragoneggs
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Congrats, sixdogs... you will should be very happy with it for a good long while. What did you end up with?
Apple computers
- Thread starter sixdogs
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Grumpycat
Veteran Member
Unix.
The one most have heard of is called Linux, and there are a dozen different "distributions" of Linux. However MacOS is also Unix, now.
macOS migrated to Unix circa 2000 with MacOS X. Apple "borrowed" much of the free Unix known as FreeBSD. Hired many of FreeBSD's developers. Man pages in MacOS (now macOS) bore the FreeBSD tags for many years. FreeBSD has always been far more traditional and professional than Linux. While FreeBSD strives to be the best operating system, Linux strives to be Microsoft.
Unix is just that which is under the graphics. Unix doesn't define a user interface. There are several Unix "shells" available, text command line interfaces.
Unix was a development of Bell Labs. Back in the bad old days when Bell was heavily government regulated they were forbidden to sell operating systems. The legal department at Bell had a lot of document processing which existing computers didn't do well and noticed the work of some of their researchers. Some funding was provided to further document processing. Helped they could purchase a computer such as PDP-8, PDP-11, or later VAX, without operating system and save money. This is why Unix today comes standard with utilities such as grep, sed, and troff for document processing.
Note that Unix was not bound to a single hardware platform. Binary programs are rarely portable between different hardware but Unix was written in a new language developed at the same time known as "C". With a little care one program in C would compile and run on any Unix machine no matter the hardware underneath. In no small part because Unix is written in C.
Not being allowed to sell operating systems someone realized they could give the source code to universities. Berkeley really jumped on this for their Computer Science department and before long the Berkeley Software Distribution of Unix became a mainstay among institutes of higher learning. BSD Unix. Universities could save a lot of money buying computer hardware without having to buy software.
Then along came DARPA with the idea to tie computers together on a network. Universities with BSD Unix had the source code to their systems making research and development possible.
ultrarunner
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Here I thought a former Vice President fathered the Internet?
Thank you for the evolutionary story... always like to know the back story.
Thank you for the evolutionary story... always like to know the back story.
dragoneggs
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Ha ha... yes and a great durable and easy to tote laptop. You do pay a premium for Macs but I have never been disappointed. Can't say that for windows machines. Also Macs are much friendlier to folks that don't use computers much IMO. Enjoy learning to use it. One thing is that they are very hard to mess up.
jaydee325
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Years ago, my daughter had her Windows laptop stolen at college. Fortunately, it was insured. She opted for a Mac laptop to replace the Windows laptop.
We had the Mac shipped to our house since she was concerned it might get stolen upon delivery to her appartment. I called her when it arrived. She asked if I would set it up. I said no, she should set it up.
She picked it up and drove back to school. Shortly I get a phone call. She says, "Dad, I just set up my Mac and it was the easiest computer I've ever used. Never going back to Windows!"
We had the Mac shipped to our house since she was concerned it might get stolen upon delivery to her appartment. I called her when it arrived. She asked if I would set it up. I said no, she should set it up.
She picked it up and drove back to school. Shortly I get a phone call. She says, "Dad, I just set up my Mac and it was the easiest computer I've ever used. Never going back to Windows!"
Alien
Elite Member
I found the last Android phone I got to be a real pain to set up compared to a iPhone. Every time I turn it on it tells me to d'load this or I need to do that before something will work.
I bought it mainly for the camera because people raved about it but even that gave me problems with refusing to focus etc until I factory re-set it all. (Huawei P30)
I bought it mainly for the camera because people raved about it but even that gave me problems with refusing to focus etc until I factory re-set it all. (Huawei P30)
Rustyiron
Super Member
"Folks that don't use computers much" that would be me. Web browsing and forums along with pics and tunes is all I use them for. My old p/c got that blue screen Lock up, I had heard that macs were more "intuitive" :laughing: not for this knuckle head. One is speaking Chinese and the other Klingon.
I did finally get a "smartphone" a year ago, $80 Samsung at Walmart and found it surprisingly simple to pick up but that may just be a result of having it in my pocket all the time and forced "seat time" whereas sitting inside, at a desk where the computer is, is not something I do during the daylight hours. I'm an "outside dog".
hayden
Veteran Member
When I retired 12 years ago, I had to go get myself a laptop. I had fussed with macs on an off starting with the Lisa when I worked at Bell Labs many many years ago. But all work stuff was totally windows focused, Microsoft exchange, outlook, blah blah blah. For my personal email, I even paid for Microsoft Exchange service through a service provider, and had all my email on it.
Well, I got my new laptop (HP, I think), set it up, and tried to connect to my exchange service. This was Exchange 2007 and Outlook 2007 trying to talk to each other. I messed with it for 2 days, and even called both HP & Microsoft support to no avail. It simply wouldn't work, so I decided to return the laptop because the most basic function didn't work. I got a lot of argument from Best Buy about returning it, but in the end they took it back.
On the way out, I stopped at the Apple booth in Best Buy, and just to be a jerk I rhetorically asked the guy how I could run Autocad on that Mac he had on display. His answer was VMWare Fusion. Duh? I has just spend the past 5 years selling storage products to people running VMWare and knew it quite well, but never considered running it on a Mac to solve the windows application problem.
So I bought a Mac. Turned it on, and within about 5 minutes was connected to my Microsoft Exchange Server and all my email was downloading. So my mac worked with Microsoft where Microsoft couldn't work with itself. WTF, I tell you. WTF? Done. slam dunk, game over, or whatever annihilation metaphor you want to use. Windows was dead to me and I never turned back. To this day I keep a virtual Windows XP machine, and a Windows 7 machine on my mac for those sad apps that only run on windows. And I scrapped my last PC probably 10 years ago.
Macs cost more money, but are worth every penny. They serve you, where windows is an instrument of torture. Windows machines are cheaper, sometimes much cheaper, but who wants a bargain buying yourself tortured.
Well, I got my new laptop (HP, I think), set it up, and tried to connect to my exchange service. This was Exchange 2007 and Outlook 2007 trying to talk to each other. I messed with it for 2 days, and even called both HP & Microsoft support to no avail. It simply wouldn't work, so I decided to return the laptop because the most basic function didn't work. I got a lot of argument from Best Buy about returning it, but in the end they took it back.
On the way out, I stopped at the Apple booth in Best Buy, and just to be a jerk I rhetorically asked the guy how I could run Autocad on that Mac he had on display. His answer was VMWare Fusion. Duh? I has just spend the past 5 years selling storage products to people running VMWare and knew it quite well, but never considered running it on a Mac to solve the windows application problem.
So I bought a Mac. Turned it on, and within about 5 minutes was connected to my Microsoft Exchange Server and all my email was downloading. So my mac worked with Microsoft where Microsoft couldn't work with itself. WTF, I tell you. WTF? Done. slam dunk, game over, or whatever annihilation metaphor you want to use. Windows was dead to me and I never turned back. To this day I keep a virtual Windows XP machine, and a Windows 7 machine on my mac for those sad apps that only run on windows. And I scrapped my last PC probably 10 years ago.
Macs cost more money, but are worth every penny. They serve you, where windows is an instrument of torture. Windows machines are cheaper, sometimes much cheaper, but who wants a bargain buying yourself tortured.
MossRoad
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Kinda interesting that Macs aren't recommended to Purdue faculty and staff. And they won't run a lot of the programs that engineering and biology students have to use every day. Yes, they could purchase VMware, and purchase a windows license, and run a virtual PC on a Mac. You have to add those costs into the purchase price of the Mac as well, which a lot of folks don't mention. My kid has $2500 wrapped up in a Mac that an $800 Windows laptop would have done. For that matter, when this kid finishes their degree in the spring, they're going to get a windows based laptop for internship and PHD program; their words, not mine.
Don't get me wrong. I like my iPhone. I like my iPad. They are super easy to use. But I have had just as many hardware issues with Apple products as I have with other products. 30 years in I.T. The percentage of hardware related issues were the same as PCs. And Apples are more expensive to repair if out of warranty. Our content production departments used to be all Mac based for probably 15 years. They switched to PCs due to costs and compatibility issues with software used in the industry.
Don't get me wrong. I like my iPhone. I like my iPad. They are super easy to use. But I have had just as many hardware issues with Apple products as I have with other products. 30 years in I.T. The percentage of hardware related issues were the same as PCs. And Apples are more expensive to repair if out of warranty. Our content production departments used to be all Mac based for probably 15 years. They switched to PCs due to costs and compatibility issues with software used in the industry.
