macintosh

I used to hate Macs especially because of their OS. It was old, unstable and Mac users had to wait ages for updates which they had to pay to get.

Well, MacOS X, is by far the most complete and beautifully engineered OS out there (at least on a commercial basis). It is based on NeXT (using the Mach ker.nel) and BSD -- a feature which offers a lot to someone coming from a UNIX platform -- and clearly the best GUI out there.

Some may argue that it is not as polished as it could, but, hey, what is? Windows or Linux? Besides, Apple is releasing free *until now* revisions for download every couple of months and it has improved a lot since 10.0. (the current version at the time of writing is 10.1.2). Release 10.2 is rumoured to have great new features old Mac users requested as well as more language packs and a speedier Quartz. (the graphics engine)

I recommend this to anyone open-minded enough to leave windows behind him/her.

I'm a small business owner and have hesitated upgrading to OS X from "Classic 9.x" until I felt that it would help me in my business, rather then create a lot of work in trying to debug things.

OS X 10.1 seems to have reached this level. I run it now constantly on my G4 Cube and it is THE most stable OS I have ever used (either from Apple or other MS or Unix-based systems). The system stays up 99.99+% of the time, running MS Entourage and some other Classic applications in the background, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

I even run our Windows-only QuickBooks Pro accounting software through Virtual PC's excellent emulation software, native on X! This is one giant step forward for computing needs at work or at home. Plugging in a digital camera through USB or Firewire works flawless and automatic. The interface is beautiful and intuitive and you can feel the power of the Unix engine underlying the software without having to know anything about it.

I just upgraded all our office iMacs and iBooks with memory (cheap these days!) and will network OS X exclusively in the near future.

I've been using OSX for over a year and have gone through all the upgrades. I currently have it installed on an upgraded and accelerated iMac g3 running at 466 mhz, as well as a 500mhz iBook.

I find the system stable, workable, and user friendly, although quite a bit different in feel from OS9. You have a stricter file hierarchy, that rewards putting the right folder in the right place, and retrieving your folders and applications in the same manner.

I also find the system a bit slow. I have seen it at work on new Imacs and I don't find the right speed-to-system ratio until you get up to the 800 mhz, 100 mhz bus level (that means the newer G4 equipped Macs.) It is usable on G3 machines, but I have used a lot of options to turn off various graphic bells and whisltes that slow system X down.

That said, hardware will become faster and cheaper (it's Moore's law), and the underlying flexibility and stability of System X make it a good bet for the long haul. It's especially impressive when hooking up third party peripherals like digital cameras. iPhoto and iTunes live up to the hype. Overall, I will keep using it and look forward to future Macs.