Pros: Photo real icons, dock bar, smb sharing, multitask, more stable than OS9
Cons: Some hacking involved, puny SMB features, not many progs, poor support. Overrated.
The Bottom Line: Not ready for prime time but getting there. Not better than XP by any stretch. Light years ahead of OS9 in multitask and stability. No freagin programs.
dougmjones's Full Review: Apple Mac OS 10 Full Version (M7686LL/A)
I am one of the first adopters of OSX 10.0 in April 2001 and was sold the operating system by Apple sales person at Apple inc with the impression that OSX was much more evolved than it was. There were some insanely stupid bugs like clicking the finder once before the dock bar would work and some really beta style bugs you would expect in a free beta version of windows98 and not a 129.00 dollar retail operating system from Apple.
I basically suffered 7-8 months until Apple finally released 10.1 and required all of us to purchase it via paper fax with a credit card and get it in the mail for 30.00 dollars. This in my opinion was the first real version that should have been released to the public. This process was a total pain in the neck and Apple should be scolded for the entire ordeal and claiming superiority to XP the whole time.
The added SMB sharing in 10.1 was a joke in every way. Myself and other customers on the Apple forum finally figured out the undocumented syntax and usage of the product. The knowledge base article and apple support was basically pitiful. They did fix many issues like the cd tray opening with the keyboard key and some other things driving OSX users crazy.
Apple's news and updates to customers were non existent and we were made to feel very out of touch until we finally saw the updates on the web. The same style of non warm and fuzzy customer communication also happened with the iDVD2 update and we all also had to pay 30.00 bucks to get it too but at least this time we were able to order iDVD2 through the Apple store. No amount of Apple Care support or preregistration provides you any updates or convenience in this process as a customer.
So the cost of OSX is really about 190 dollars NOT 129.00. Another thing they leave out in the magazine showdowns between OSX and XP.
Half of the world recieved a buggy IDVD2 and immediately started wasting blank DVDs at 6-10 dollars a pop with buffer underrun errors and finally myself and many other customers raised such a fit we got media coverage and Apple responded. We updated with the version 2.05 update and seems to help with the buffer underrun errors and constant DVD coasters but that problem is still being resolved for many customers and the case is not closed yet. Apple of course claims it knew nothing of the problems yet mysteriously had an update in the wings. They also closed my elevation case without my knowledge and I had to call and reopen the iDVD2 elevation case# and they are are giving me more help now after raising alot of fuss with mgt.
The OSX version of Imovie and iDVD2 multitask, operate smoother than in OS9 and also background encode with many other neat new features. OSX seems to be slowly rising from the muck and evolving into something. But thats the problem, it's too slow. Since Apple doesn't project release dates and otherwise communicate with it's customers you are left in the dark until the product is out there.
Apple claims there are over 10,000 apps for OSX but I ordered some of them from the Apple Store itself and they are not OSX fully compatable yet. This was practically a scandle and I made the inaccuracy of their Apple web pages well known. Apple and the mfg apologized and promised me OSX updates later for free for those programs. The Apple web pages have loads of misinformation and Apple twists the meanings and syntax to their own meanings as convenient and dont always match from one Apple rep to the next.
The bottom line is that I still cant get a version of Antivirus like Norton that runs autoprotect and advanced features. All the disk tools have to be ran from a booted cdrom or OS9 to work. There is a Final Cut Pro 3 released but no DVD Studio Pro for OSX to go with it. OSX is just a mishy mashy fuzzy matrix of what works and what does not. Even though the list of programs for OSX seems impressive at first glance it is only a grain of sand on the beach compared to windows program support. For example if you need a specific type of program for OSX on your Apple you may only have 1 or 2 good choices from that OSX list. Where on windows you not only pay less for the program usually but you can choose from a dozen or more brands.
There is also a sneaky little bug with file associations or resource forks with OSX. I almost find it impossible to believe this bug made it out the door. When you try to import a file into a program it appears greyed out and the program cant open it. An example is a mov, mp3 or aif file importing into Imovie and it appears greyed out and you cant import it. You have to download a free program called Changior from versiontracker.com and use it to fix all the files you ever import into a program in OSX. Or reboot to OS9 and use Resedit, how stupid can this get ? Now OSX people say this is not an issue and that OSX allow you to change this or some say rebooting to OS9 is not an inconvenience or booting to classic. This only proves they dont undertstand their own problem and are clueless. You cant even import AIF files from the OSX system library so the excuse that the files were not created on a Mac is groundless and stupid.
The good things are that OSX looks good, is smooth, and has many good imporvements over OS9 as a operating system but has none of the programs and offerings that are needed to truly be mainstream or used in a corp network. I have OSX running but I still have to reboot to OS9 to do disk maintenance, some disk burning, and many other special tasks I cant do in OSX yet.
Noone seems to mention in the news that last month Apple posted an Itunes update that wiped out your harddrive but one security hole that already is fixed in XP made prime time news. The Apple answer was to send the customer to purchase Norton Disk Tools and pursue data recovery without Apple's help. I could not believe how this was swept under the carpet and none of the media or magazines even mentioned it. There is a double standard when it comes to treatment of Gates .vs. Apple and it is very obvious.
I am very positive about OSX as a future with my Apple and prefer it in many ways to OS9 but I dont even pretend that OSX can hold a candle to the features and abilites of Windows XP in almost all categories.
Unless you understand how a real mainframe and a real operating system such as OpenVMS works it is halarious to stand around talking about how OSX is a modern operating system and XP is not. OSX is based on unix and an Aqua gui interface. XP is based on the evolution of NT 3.x which came from OpenVMS. OpenVMS runs for 3-4 years at a time without rebooting for example. OSX is impressive but it is simply a highly polished unix with a nice desktop and a huge leap from OS9.
If Apple did not have Imovie, OSX, and iDVD2 , and maybe FCP and DVD Pro I would see absolutely no real reason to buy an Apple for my use.
The saving grace for Apple is the creative programs and movie editing. This is clearly the only area I think Apple exceeds my expectations. OSX gaming is horrible and slow due to game makers having some terrible problems with OSX and video after talking with THQ and some other game makers. Apple just seems to be a bad choice for gaming on OS9 and OSX. The same game screams on a PC with half the horsepower. If you have a PC buy games for it and keep them off the Apple box. I mean it is beyond pitiful comparing a PC gaming to Apple.
I could talk for days on the limits of features in OSX since none of them are new and in fact user control, sharing, control panels, disk tools, defragging and tons of other stuff are starving for features compared to XP/2000 but I think OSX is a breath of fresh air for the Apple and I think OS9 is dark, gloomy and has the worst multitasking abilities I have ever seen since windows 3.11.
My bottom line is that OSX is NOT taking over the world or drawing serious attention to Apple from corp users or the massive home market it is even getting some resistance from the OS9 users not wanting to upgrade. Apple on the other hand is forcing the users forward at great expense and labor. Also OSX is incompatable with countless new devices and many of those vendors and Apple are clearly stating no support will ever be planned for many of these products. These are brand new products !
A good example is that I just bought a 3com USB web cam that is not and never will be supported by Apple OSX. I also have a brand new HP 215 digital camera for christmas and Apple has informed me that it will NEVER support it and it will only be for PC. HP confirmed this. The Griffin Imic I use on my G4 is seen by OSX but cant really be fully utilized due to no specific drivers and has no controls under the OS. You see OSX doesnt have specific support for a mouse, usb device, it just sorta tries to support them in a generic manner. Such as my Logitech optical cordless scroll mouse, OSX sees it but barely supports it with no features. Windows XP literally had every specific driver I needed out of the box. OSX has none. It's just a crap shoot.
There is a big difference between the PC and Mac World but if you strictly use Apple G4 or Imac I think OSX is worth owning and waiting for all the kinks to work out. The installation of various software involves sometimes easy installations and sometimes requires editing files and settings manually and manually creating shortcut/aliases and othe manual tasks such as locating the correct folders and manually moving files into place. I cannot believe sometimes how non technical people claim Apple is easier.
By the time you buy all the software and fully outfit OSX you will be in the poor house and have alot of grey hair. The Apple Forum and others are the only place to get help. When you call Apple support they don't follow through and don't have any answers and the support in my opinion after 3-4 calls was very polite but technically incompetent.
I personally plan to use my Apple for only a video editing machine. The tiny keyboard with black keys and silly mouse controls and other factors make it impossible for me to recommend an Apple and OSX for anything more than a specialized graphic workstation. Don't sell your PC and buy an Apple, just buy a name brand PC for internet, home, games and office and buy an Apple if you do graphics and video. Sit them both on your desk and while video is processing and DVDs are burning you still have the PC ready to use. The PC will also multitask and download from the internet and burn disks at the same time without issues, unlike OSX.
Dont use OSX unless you also dual boot to OS9. Use OS9 for serious projects and real work. Use OSX to edit video and try to eventually migrate to it.
OSX not ready for prime time production and Apple support couldnt last a day in the real corp world. Apple has a serious over confidence problem and a little too much sales hype and is not listening to the customers like they claim. But thats normal for all companies in this marketing world. Welcome to the rat race. Unfortunately I think Apple will eventually shoot themselves in the foot with some brilliant bungle or start producing more buggy releases rushed to market and drive the few loyals crazy.
I wish I had one machine with all of the good in XP and OSX and none of the bad but it looks like that is not going to happen soon. Buy an Apple and a PC if you can and realize they are both imperfect. If you buy an Apple and OSX prepare to exercize patience at a new level.
Don't believe all you hear from these magazines and for goodness sakes dont go to the Apple Forum to get any unbiased opinions.
UPDATE NOV 2003 - I have since installed Jaguar and it does make my machine run much better and light years ahead of before. OSX is beginning to evolve and so are the programs. THANK GOODNESS !
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