These are hard times to make The Switch

are you tired of this? then return to latest posts

These are hard times to make The Switch

posted by André Luís
posted on wed, 25 jan 2006 18:00

The Switch Oh boy. I've been watching this whole Apple Hype as a bystander, but I've been seriously considering switching to the Mac world for a good while now. The biggest reason is MacOS X, followed by the outstanding design of their hardware. Despite that, I'm far more interested on what's inside than what's outside.

What impresses me the most about MacOS is the stability and high quality of the applications. Even the smallest app seems to be much more usable than the most engineered Win application. My main interests reside in programming (C/C++, Java, PHP, Ruby...), image editing (photoshop), common everyday use (safari, netnewswire, etc.) and also in presentations (Ă lĂˇ Powerpoint), but that's mostly for my brother.

I have a dream... and that dream speaks of a machine so powerful and "open-minded" that it will be able to run all three main Operating Systems: Windows, Linux and MacOS. I am aware, though, that this won't happen anytime soon. At least for me, since I'm sitting on a rock at the south-western tip of the European country where Intel Macs will take their time to become available. And it's not really clear at the moment if the new macs will be able to boot WinXP, after all...

But before going into the actual reason of this post, let me just go over what's been going on in the past few weeks in the Apple World.

January 10th
Steve Jobs announces the MacBook Pro at MacWorld (engadget)

The new iMac was announced as well as the fully equipped MacBook Pro 15". It's a hell of a laptop, but too much for my needs.
January 11th
XP Won't run on Intel Macbook Pro, iMac (digg)

What?! :O
January 13th
Intel Macs may boot Windows Xp after all (digg)

Oh, that's better. But they still didn't assure us that they will run Windows XP. It appears that no one knows for sure until these new Macs are available to the public.
January 22nd
Contest to dual-boot WinXP and MacOS on an Intel Mac

This can be interpreted as a sign that Intel Macs will eventually dual-boot WinXP and MacOS, but we won't know until they start reaching the general public. On the other hand, this indicates it might not be as walk-around-the-park-easy as I imagined at first when I heard Steve Jobs announcing the Intel Macs last year.

Decision

That said, let me just say I need a laptop ASAP. The exams are coming to an end and I wanted to have a laptop by the beginning of the second term. If I switch to a Mac, I need some time to put it to run and adapt myself to the new environment.

This is where it gets complicated. The Mac laptop I'm considering is an iBook 12" for many a reason. I like how small it is, 12" sounds perfect for a portable piece of hardware. I don't want to carry around a 17"! I don't need a super fast laptop and those specs are quite enough for me. I might lose my mind and put an extra 512MB, totalling 1GB of RAM, but since I've never owned a Mac, I'm not sure if I'll need the extra power.

What bothers me is the fact that this model will surely get new Intel processors during the course of the present year (2006), so what I'm really buying is a laptop with a death sentence. Is it worth it? I don't know. You tell me. Do you think it makes sense buying a PowerPC-based iBook 12" now, specially if the alternative includes buying a regular PC laptop? I've been thinking in giving OSx86 project a try, but I feel dirty running a pirated MacOS on a PC. I really want to Switch, but this is not the right time to do it. The rational half of me tells me to buy a PC, but the passionate geek within myself tells me to go Apple. Help?

Apple iBook 12" ~â‚¬1,100 (+info)

I guess I'm not the only one in doubt. Sluggish iMac sales suggest early Intel transition challenges (via). I have a feeling it would all be different if they started switching to Intel from the other end of the scale. Intel based iBooks would be selling by the bucketloads, if they had already been released, I venture to say.

tagged with apple laptops

↓ Comments

meechwings on wed, 25 jan 2006 22:28

I say wait. Here's my reasoning:

1) From what I've heard from the initial annoucements, the new Intel powered systems are going to cost the same as the old ones. So you'd be paying the same price for old technology, at least if you buy now.
2) Not only that, in a year or so your new iBook won't be able to run the latest software, because it's slow (new ones are up to 5x faster than the old ones) and the newest software is built for a different architecture.
3) It's more than likely someone's going to hack Windows so that you can install it on a Mac. And the geek's dream of a Windows/Mac hybrid will be true! And if not, you could just use an emulator, which while not ideal, will probably run somewhat faster on Intel (since the architectures will probably be closer) than on the current iBooks.

If you just can't wait one more semester, I'd say get a PC laptop for now; it's cheaper that way and it won't be [as] obsolite in a year.
I've always wanted to do that MacOS to PC hack anyway, I just haven't had the spare parts to do it :P.
JM on thu, 26 jan 2006 02:17

Just buy a pc laptop, it costs you as much as an iBook, and you'll get a faster machine. It won't look as good, but it'll be faster, iBooks are slow if you don't juice them up with a lot of RAM, even in standart apps like Word.
Ivo Gomes on thu, 26 jan 2006 04:51

I have a 14'' iBook G4 with 768MB RAM and it isn't slow! It's faster than most PCs out there. And the las time I booted it was 16 days ago :)

If I had to buy a new computer, I'd buy a Mac, but not right now. Let's wait for the new Intel Macs to arrive (I would't buy the first versions either). Wait until the first users test the new machines and then I'm sure that the release of new versions of the Intel Macs will be cheaper and more reliable than the first versions.
andr3 on thu, 26 jan 2006 09:14

Thank you all for your input so far. I appreciate it. :)

Hehe I don't want this to become a win vs mac discussion. I don't think iBooks are that slow, but I agree with Wings. I'll pay the same for an old model as I would for a new one. But yes, I can't wait any more. I've been postponing this decision since before Christmas. I did so because of the speculation about what would be announced at MacWorld in January.

It wasn't what I expected (iBook with Intel), so I'm going to have to postpone the switch, I guess. I think I'll try to put MacOS running on a PC, no matter how dirty I'll feel about it. Maybe later in the year I'll buy a desktop Intel Mac instead of a laptop. Even if it's a mini. ;)

And Ivo, buying the MacBook pro is out of the question. I'm not going to shell out 2,000 euros for a laptop, even if it's worth it. I don't need such a beast. ;)

I'm considering the Samsung X20, with Pentium M 1.8Ghz 1GB ram 80gb, yada yada. Nothing fancy. I think I can get a good price on it. I know a guy...;)

I'd still like to hear some more points of view, so don't be shy and let me know what you think.
Ivo Gomes on thu, 26 jan 2006 10:40

I understand your point. I wouldn't buy the MacBook Pro either because I don't need that much. An iBook would be just fine but since there still aren't any reasonably cheap Intel Macs right now and you're in a hurry, then the PC is the best option... but it's ugly ;) and it doesn't run MacOS X (natively) :)

PS: The comments preview isn't working.
andr3 on thu, 26 jan 2006 13:12

Really? It's a popup, not a live preview. (shame on me, i know) Maybe the new window got blocked by your popup blocker? It looks fine from my end... but thanks, nonetheless. :) What browser were you using?

There are some "cute" laptop PCs. I like those Sony Vaios and this X20 [images.google.com] isn't too ugly himself. ;) I'm quite set on a PC, all your thoughts really made me rethink the apple thingy. It wouldn't be rational, at the moment. I'm not going to lay down my arms and give up, though. If all else fails, I'll get me a Mac Mini when the Intel models come out. :) lol
cameroncaindesign on fri, 27 jan 2006 02:03

Hey Andre,

Have you considered that with a Mac Book Pro you may not need a desktop? Since getting my 15" Powerbook, I only use my wintel box for the odd 'Swish' animation when it's faster or easier than using Flash. Seriously, the 15" Mac Book Pro could be all you need so long as it dual boots (here's praying).

PS. I tagged you, so get your meme hat on please... :D
andr3 on sun, 29 jan 2006 14:34

Damn, I thought I had already replied. Guess I haven't. ;)

That's a good point Steve, thanks. I agree that Macbook Pro is capable of taking over the desktop, but in my case it's not that simple. The laptop will have to be shared with my brother, so it won't be available 24/7. Also, I'm not looking for a desktop computer right now, so it doesn't pay off. It's a bit overpriced for my taste and needs.

I really wanted to switch, but I guess I'll have to wait.
Comments have been disabled

Sorry about that.

Feel free to engage with me via twitter.

Tweet to @andr3

↑ top

an ordinary blog — andr3.net