Yes, here we go. I wasn't sure if I could actually restore completely to a fresh hard drive from Time Machine, so I looked it up. I ended up on a site and decided to scroll down to read user comments, see if there were any tips. There were, but also the usual flame wars.
I've heard the three major sides to the story. I've experienced much of it, too. Note that I'm aware that "macs" should really be "OS X" and "PCs" should really be "Windows." I am also aware that Linux has more flavors than Ben & Jerry's. I only use the usual terminology because it's so common.
General Opinion #1: Macs are easier to use than PCs, are easier to back up, and don't get viruses/are less likely to get viruses.
General Opinion #2: Mac users spend a lot of money to be told what to do and how they're gonna do it. They don't know anything about computers. You can get a brand new PC for way less than the cost of a new mac and it'll perform better and isn't limited by compatibility.
General Opinion #3: Both PC and Mac users are idiots and Linux is the only real OS out there.
I am so sick of this crap. Here is what I think about it all.
1. Easier? No. It really comes down to personal preference and how you tend to work/play. Personally, I like Time Machine better than Acronis, Ghost, BESR, and Mozy, and it comes with all macs out of the box. I didn't have to read twenty screenfuls of information to get it going or to restore from it. Note /I/ didn't have to. It may be harder for someone else to use. Oh, and Macs DO get malware. Mine did just yesterday, which is why I was double-checking what I thought Time Machine could do.
2. It depends on what you intend to use something for and what you're comparing. I think the laptop line is generally comparable price-wise and so are the all-in-ones. I could never justify buying a mac pro... If I go with a nonportable computer, I'm building!! However, when I bought my macbook pro, I found exactly what I wanted and then compared prices with similar laptops on the Windows side. The pricing was similar. I wanted iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, Time Machine, MS Office [for Windows], Windows 7, and to play with Linux and a few dumb games from time to time that only run in Windows. I also intended to surf the net. I opted to drop an extra grand into my new macbook to turn it into my dream computer... I maxed out the RAM. I replaced the original hard drive with a 240GB SSD and the optical with a 750GB hybrid. Then I bought Windows 7 Home and a copy of Fusion, downloaded my favourite Linux flavours, and I was off to the races. Plus, now I have an external optical drive because I bought a kit to shove the macbook's optical drive into, which turned it into a USB connected drive. It works with any computer that has USB. I could have bought a windows laptop for the same price and that would have gotten me the one thing I'm lacking on this one: Major gaming. But, I am not a major gamer, I like building boxes, and I like having spare computers in case my primary is otherwise occupied. So that gave me an excuse to have a cheapish gaming rig. With a few used parts, I built a mid level rig for a few hundred less than my macbook. And all I use it for is gaming, surfing, and... yeah, that's it. By the way, I don't see how Apple told me to do anything I didn't want to. They shoved a slow little drive in an otherwise beautifully sculpted work of art, and I tore it and the optical drive out to make things nicer for me. I can run seven virtual machines simultaneously while using every native application plus photoshop elements and a few other odds and ends and some of the clunkier VMs simply slow down a bit. Apple didn't tell me what to do at all. And I have everything I wanted. Except the gaming piece, but only if you want to be a doofus about it.
3. I've used several flavours of Linux but it's simply not my thing. I grew up with DOS and Windows. I shifted over to Mac at home but still use Windows a LOT - both at work and at home. I still play around with Linux from time to time and it's gotten some reallllllly sweet distros now... but I just can't really appreciate the time investment required because I have less and less time to invest. I particularly like Ubuntu because - get this - it reminds me of OS X and actually works on most platforms I've shoved it on, unlike several others I tried in the past. I also like Knoppix and other bootable versions and keep a Knoppix VM around that does exactly that. Why? Sometimes it's nice to surf the web without worrying about getting hit with something. Yeah, should have been doing that yesterday morning... Oh, and why are mac and pc users automatically idiots? I don't know, probably because I'm an idiot for not ONLY using Linux. Darwin is technically a 'nix, but it doesn't count because it hides behind a mac. I think people who say such things have issues with the logic centers in their brains. Which is ironic considering they're smarter than us mac and pc weenies.
Computers are like religions. Every side seems to think theirs is better when in reality they're all just a bit different. Why are they different? Because we are.
Rant over. I gotta go check a backup. ;)
~w
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