David M. Ensteness writes: >Is this an honest question or a troll?
Mac OS Anything vs. any version of Windows (or *nix for that matter) is a troll and specifically declared off topic on this list. This list is for supporting Mac users on the Mac OS, either classic or X. >I say that because Mac OS X has been out for two years and every review >of 10.2 says that it is incredible. MacWorld, MacAddict, PC World, PC >Magazine, TechTV, heck its hard to find someone who doesn't think its >the most incredible OS there is. I haven't migrated to Jaguar yet -- Apple wants too much money for a single copy, and the five-user license is currently out of the budget. I'm running OS X 10.1.5 on a 400 MHz TiBook with a 5400 rpm 20 GB IBM TravelStar drive and 512 MB of RAM, but more often than not I'm running Mac OS 9.2.2 on it. OS X may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and Jaguar would be the butter-topped version of that bread, but the OS is only part of the equation. My computer handles OS 9 beautifully. 400 MHz is plenty of speed. The new drive and half gig of memory helps with OS X, but it's still sluggish. I hate to imagine using it on a stock WallStreet, Lombard, Pismo, or sub-600 MHz iBook. But my hardware is adequate, so that's not the reason I stick with 9. Mac OS X is pretty much bulletproof. One crash this year. Almost no need to ever restart the computer -- except for all those damned OS updates and software installers that require you to do so. What's up with that? All of my peripherals works with OS X -- but I can't choose paper trays in my HP LaserJet 2100TN. That's a problem when you have letterhead in one drawer and plain paper in another. SOFTWARE iTunes 3 blows iTunes 2 into the weeds. I boot into X specifically so I can rip my CDs in iTunes 3 and organize things. It's also much better for burning CDs. One point for OS X. I want to use Mail under Jaguar, but not until then. It may replace Claris Emailer and PowerMail. I hope so, but won't know until I try. Future point for OS X 10.2. AppleWorks is very nice under X. No real drawbacks vs. classic version. Call this a draw. Most classic applications run just as well under classic mode as they do natively in OS 9. But Claris Home Page, which is my main productivity application, doesn't. Uploading changes takes 2-4x longer in classic mode. Sure, I can move that to the background and work in a 10-native application during uploads, but that doesn't change the fact that it's slow. One point against OS X. I use CopyAgent to intelligently copy files between my working partition and a backup folder on another partition. It's smart enough to only copy files that are different. And if I really make a mess of things, I can recover the old version of a file by trashing the messed up one and synchronizing my main and backup folders. I don't know of a way to do this in X, so one more strike against. I absolutely love Default Folder and don't relish the prospect of paying for a new version. Maybe a half-point against here. Ditto for upgrading to QuicKeys for OS X. It's the cost. And I'll also have to upgrade my Retrospect backup software and client licenses. Cost is a big factor, especially for low-end Mac users. Finally, although OS X is as stable as you can imagine, OS X applications aren't. Believe it or not -- and it surprised me -- Internet Exploder 5.1.x is more stable under OS 9.x than IE 5.2.x is under OS X. Ditto for iCab. These two applications, both of which I use daily, work better under the classic Mac OS than under 10. I want to like OS X more. I want to switch. I toy with the idea of using it for a week, then a day, then give up and go back to what's more productive for me: booting in OS 9. This isn't a matter of religion or preference. I am measurably more productive in 9. Until I can find a nice sync utility, until Internet Explorer stops exploding, until Home Page runs better (maybe under Jaguar?) or can be replaced by a comparable X-native app, I'm sticking with 9 as my work environment. Once those obstacles are out of the way, however, I intend to adopt X as my full-time OS. It has a lot going for it, but my applications get in the way of it being the best OS for me at the present time. -- Dan Knight, president, Cobweb Publishing, Inc. <http://cobwebpublishing.com> <http://lowendmac.com> <http://digital-views.com> <http://digigraphica.com> <http://lowendpc.com> <http://reformed.net> "You can't brew a premium lager with a kool-aid mentality." -- The Red Green Show -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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