Chile Forum

Since Linux has been mentioned and so has XP, I thought I would start a topic about OSX here in the lobby.

Maybe a poll too. Like which operating system do you use when you are on the web visiting the forum: XP, Vista, Linux (any distro), Solaris, OSX.


A topic near and dear to my heart are good applications (free and not so free) that are available for OSX. Since I am still tied to Windows due to the many applications that I have already bought in the past and still use, the first application that comes up is VMware Fusion. This allows me to run XP inside of OSX. While I could have used bootcamp to boot XP on the Mac, Fusion allows me to run XP while still running OSX. While there is another product called Parallels which can do the same thing, since I have had a lot more experience with VMware products that is what I went with.

A neat free application call Books is available from http://books.aetherial.net/wordpress/ . It is an open-source book cataloging application. I have quite a few books so this application is helpful. Type in the ISBN and it will get the rest of the information about the book for your collection.

ProVoc is another free application. ProVoc is a free and easy-to-use vocabulary trainer. Is available from http://www.arizona-software.ch/provoc/ . This application looks promising and it has a number of downloads for vocabulary words in Spanish.

The Chile Mac Users group (only castellano):
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BRIGADA MAC CHILE: http://www.BrigadaMac.org
Mac Users Group (MUG) Chileno reconocido por Apple Inc.
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Salir y entrar: http://edo.org/mailman/listinfo/maclist
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I use Windows XP Home Edition in my lenovo 3000 V100, never experienced a problem with virus, spyware or hangup. I think that, provided a good hardware, good use of applications and enough RAM Windows XP is pretty stable. Unlike most of people I like a lot the concept of design of the Windows series, the legacy support and many other design criterias are the explanation why is the most widely used OS

tombrad2 wrote:I like a lot the concept of design of the Windows series, the legacy support and many other design criterias are the explanation why is the most widely used OS

I mostly agree. I've gotten a lot out of WIndows. I don't feel like I have to take a shower after using it. But, I wouldn't attribute its dominance entirely to its ease of use, etc. Microsoft has engaged in predatory practices in the US. Such as licensing with computer manufacturers that they must sell a copy of Windows with every computer (whether you want it or not).

Mark

I am a very happy mac user... One of the problems I find with having a Mac in Chile is that 90% (perhaps more) are not even aware that any other operating system exists outside of Vista/XP.. and hence there arent many places to get the Mac Merchandise (I dont know if Temuco has any authorised sellers).. Here in Concepcion we have a MacOnline store that has been convenient when I couldn't be bothered waiting for something like a Mini-DVI to Video Adapter to arrive from back home.. was expensive (about 50% more) than back home.. but i didnt have to wait 2 weeks and we're only talking $10 more.. also no one to fix any problem i am too incompetent to fix myself.. so far haven't had the need for such services.. but i am sure one day I will... there are many things i do not understand about computers.. but thing i do know, I LOVE my MacBook! (would never ever use Winduds again!)

tonyakaserg, most of the problem that you describe is the logical consequence of the MAC design who bundle the OSX with propietary hardware, very expensive hardware may I add, It is just like Windows operating only in some kind of expensive "Microsoft computers" instead of generic PCs

In my view there are few predatory practices from MS, nobody forbids to pc manufactureres to sell with Linux or any other OS, if they don´t do it is just because is not a good business, there has been many attempt to sell linux only based computers, and the commercial fail is more due market tendency than some evil behavior from Microsoft

tombrad2 wrote:nobody forbids to pc manufactureres to sell with Linux or any other OS,

That wasn't true 10 years ago. Computer manufacturers (in the US) were required to enter into agreements with MS (if they wanted to be competitive) to sell a license with every computer sold. Apple advocates could say this limited Apple's ability to gain market share.

I believe this changed a few years ago with the antitrust lawsuit.

Mark

There was a place in Temuco that was suppose to be an Apple authorized dealer. I found it through a link on the Apple site. I contacted them and got a reply back before I came to Chile. I tried to contact them again, but wasn't able to get a reply back. Not sure.

TomB, I don't agree with your assessment of Microsoft's limited predatory practices. Maybe Charles can put his 2 cents in here, but if I remember correctly, in the past it didn't matter if the OEM vendor sold a copy of windows or not with his machines, Microsoft would still collect money. It is kind of hard to over come a snowball of dough like that.

I think it is just that Chile (like other countries) is a Windows world, so Macs aren't as common here. As far as saying OSX being just like Windows, while that's true to a point, the fact is that OSX is a *NIX OS and Windows isn't.

I am not a die hard Mac person, I wasn't really interested in it until Apple acquired NeXT and merged OpenStep into the OS to ultimately create OSX. I liked my NeXT machine. Ahead of its time.

Yeah, you have a lot of hardware choices with Windows, but you can go through a lot of trouble with drivers in Windows.

Macs might be more expensive, but as I see it, it is like houses here in Chile. The house with better insulation is more expensive (OSX), while the house without the better insulation (Windows) is the one everyone builds here.

mlightheart wrote:Macs might be more expensive,

Personally, I don't see a lot of difference between Gates and Jobs. Jobs seems to be just as "closed" and predatory as Gates. He just wasn't as successful at it. If the shoe were on the other foot, I believe Jobs would have engaged in the same as Gates. Maybe even worse. (You have to give Gates credit for at least trying to work on any hardware, not just what he sells. Heck. He didn't even try to sell hardware.).

Mark

I can agree with you on that point, the two being similar. Yes Gates has been able to get the better end of his deals. Look at the deal with IBM in the beginning. Sure Jobs could have been worse or he could have been better.

Nah, don't have to give Gates credit for trying to work on any and every hardware. Microsoft didn't write all those drivers themselves. They might have published (NDA) the specs for the OS, but the other companies who wanted to sell their hardware with Windows, usually wrote the drivers. They were the only game in town, until Linux came around.

In my view both Jobs and Gates are genius, Gates invented many key concepts that most of people consider now as "normal" but his money is not consequence of good luck or a sort of evil behavior, if it where so easy the world would be crowded with zillionaries. Bill Gates was a genius of engineering (not being an engineer himself) and Steve Jobs is a genius of marketing, both of them take care of their own business as good as they can. There are many things that young people ignore and consider as "normal" or "natural" but it represented copernican changes in their time. I was in the Casio Computer labs in 1983 and met almost all staff of developers of OS for Casio computers, it make me laugh when I read about Gates as a mere "copier", folks, the japanese at those time was the master on copying and they was not even imagine the key concepts of modern computing as guide lined by Gates at some point. Gates sucess was not at detailed engineering but in strategic engineering development.

Many of those assumptions that Microsoft earn money with every PC sold are nonsense: most of PCs produced in the world has been built in China, Taiwan and countries not paying one single dime to nobody, with no OS included and most of Windows OS in the world are ilegally copied, USA is not the world

mlightheart wrote:Nah, don't have to give Gates credit for trying to work on any and every hardware.

I don't see how you can say that. If Jobs were in Gates's shoes, he wouldn't have gone that far. Even if Gates wasn't entirely open (required non-disclosure agreements to allow other hardware to participate), that's still a heck of a lot more than Jobs does -- even as an underdog playing catchup. I can't imagine what Jobs would have done if he owned 95% of the market.

Mark