What are the real elements that separate a MAC from a PC? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I'm fine with that. Gives 'em more time to refine it and make sure it's ready for primetime. Tiger's been working well enough for me for the time being. It'll make Ron's investment feel a bit better as he won't immediately be springing for an OS upgrade too.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Agreed I'm happy to hear that having just got my MacBookPro

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

That ARS Technica article lifts an unsourced quote directly from a Mac rumor site. Hardly what I'd consider "official." I still expect Leopard to be released prior to WWDC, although I doubt anytime before April...heck, they haven't even made a peep about the "secret" features that they hinted at last August when they showed it off for the first time. The longer they wait, the better as far as I'm concerned, since I think the code still has bugs to be worked out.

 

[DaveF]

You're right -- it's an unsubstantiated rumor. But after a MacWorld devoid of useful product news, rumors are all I've got as I wait to buy Leopard for my wife, and hopefully a new iMac for myself.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

no, he won't be springing for a MAC os upgrade immediately he said he will buy vista.

CJ

 

[Steve Tannehill]

A downgrade, to be sure.

- Steve

 

[MarkHastings]

Hell, I've been using Panther and see no reason to upgrade anytime soon.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah I started w/ Tiger, but I hear it wasn't hugely different from Panther.

Leopard has a few things that will get me to immediately upgrade:
Time machine
iChat (tab functionality)
DVD Player improvements (rumored)
Spaces (not sure how I'll use this, but looks like it could be useful)

Couple that with the fact that I get academic pricing (so I think the OS is in the $70 range) then there's really no reason for me not to upgrade.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Actually Tiger was a big improvement over Panther...not quite the huge leap that it was from 10.1 to 10.2, but 10.4 offered major improvements. The best article I saw written on it was at ARS Technica. Here's the conclusion of the reviewer from which the entire review can be accessed.

 

[MarkHastings]

Question: For work purposes, is Tiger really an improvement over Panther? The reason I never asked my boss for an upgrade is beacuse the improvements all seemed to be more 'consumer' based (i.e. widgets and iChat improvements, Eye-Candy type stuff, etc.) You know, all the stuff that you don't really use when you're doing graphics stuff at work.
??

EDIT: I see from the articel that it might be iffy whether Panther users could really use the update. About 90% of my Panther use is for Photoshop and web browsing.

 

[Ken Chan]

Spotlight can be very handy, depending on how disorganized you are For work purposes, Automator might be able to save a lot of time and effort.

Leopard has new APIs like Core Animation and some developers that have been supporting Panther and maybe even Jaguar are now going to skip Tiger and require Leopard with the next versions of their apps.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Spotlight is extremely handy, especially since several other applications leverage it to provide features such as Smart Mailboxes in Mail.app and Smart Groups and Smart Lists in Address Book and Remote Desktop, respectively.

Still, anyone that has held off on buying Tiger up until now is probably better off waiting for Leopard to come out. No sense in paying twice for an upgrade.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Question - What exactly does Outlook do that makes it for "business use."

Sorry, but this comment was funny considering all the "business" people I know who use Macs.

I saw a reference to "stationary" and "fonts." I'm at a loss.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Allow me to step in and answer that question as I am the
perfect candidate for this...

Having just switched to a Mac the biggest loss I experienced
was not having OUTLOOK available.

While the email and address book that comes with OS X do
an admirable job of integrating with each other, it comes nowhere
close to the full package that you get with OUTLOOK 2007.

With Outlook 2007, your calendar, contacts and calendar are
all integrated on one single template that can easily be switched
to and from using tabs.

For me, the the biggest problem I have with macintosh email
as a business user is the inability to create and use the HTF logo
in my email messages as a header. Though I have been able to
import the logo to email messages, I have had an awful time saving
the template, complete with a footer, for future use. Even the
sizing of the logo is a bit of a problem. I can save it in its proper
size, but once I bring it back up as a SIGNATURE file, it is out of
proportion.

Also, macintosh email and calendar does not integrate well
with my Pocket PC. I actually had to buy a third party software
to transfer everything between my mac and Pocket PC.

And Entourage? Don't even get me started. It is such a
watered down version of OUTLOOK that it's not even worth
using for anyone who needs to include logos and customize
fonts within their email messages.

There is hope. I understand that Office 2008 for Mac, due
later this year, will actually come very close to the features of
OUTLOOK.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I gotcha. I wouldn't say that's a business need however. That's more a specialized need.

You might want to check out MailTemplate for Apple Mail
http://mailtemplate.mactank.com/

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

With Leopard due for release sometime in the next few months, I found this story posted today about Redmond's infatuation with Tiger back in 2004 to be quite amusing. In particular, I love the quote from Microsoft's director of platform marketing, "I've had no crashes in 5 hours!", as though this is some major accomplishment.

 

[DaveF]

I avoid templates, fonts, colors, backgrounds and images in my emails. Outlook is still a fantastic email program for work. For, as Ron said, it integrates the calendar and email together. In a multi-user office, all the calendars are integrated, enabling meetings to be scheduling according to a person's availability. Existing meetings, or an absence, shows a conflict; free time is available, and it quickly becomes possible to find the one free hour that all 14 people can make it. Conference rooms can also be added to the calendar, so you can book a room and know it will be free -- and show as occupied for others trying to reserve rooms after you. I don't know how Mac mail works, but Outlook email really is an excellent tool.

As for why to upgrade to Leopard: Time Machine (I hope). I hope this will be a user-friendly, integrated backup system. If so, it alone justifies the upgrade to me. And is why I'm waiting for the announcement before I buy a new computer.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah, I have no love for MS or Outlook, but in my workplace, the calendar integration for Outlook is irreplaceable.