Mac Vs. PC

[wakawaka]

Originally posted by: Th:thumbsdown:in Lizzy
Gaming was never intended for the Mac.

What kind of statement is that?

I guess you better tell all those folks porting games over to the platform then...They seem to be a bit out of the loop

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: wakawaka

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
Gaming was never intended for the Mac.

What kind of statement is that?

I guess you better tell all those folks porting games over to the platform then...They seem to be a bit out of the loop

It's a true statement. Gaming was never really intended for the Mac. Most Mac users would agree.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: wakawaka

Originally posted by: Th:thumbsdown:in Lizzy
Gaming was never intended for the Mac.

What kind of statement is that?

I guess you better tell all those folks porting games over to the platform then...They seem to be a bit out of the loop

I think he meant that gaming was not a major focus for Mac OS X.

 

[wakawaka]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
It's a true statement. Gaming was never really intended for the Mac. Most Mac users would agree.

This may have been true a looong time ago, but Steve Jobs has since aimed to change that:

Steve Jobs: Simply put, games are fun and lots of people want to have fun with their Macs. When I returned to Apple a few years ago, games were viewed as something which would paint the Mac as a less-than-serious business tool, so game development was discouraged. We feel quite differently, and actively try to nurture our game developers.

http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/view.php?ID=105

Apparently that statement is no longer true

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I thought you weren't buying a new computer.

Eh, that was yesterday. I've been craving one all day. I'm also craving another trip to LV, a new car, lots of crap I can't afford.


My (limited) experiences with modern Apples wasn't very positive. An ex girlfriend bought a lame G4 last year. Then she told me the price. Whatever it was, way too much, even with a student dicount. Her purchase decision was based entirely on the fact that she used higher-end Macs in her video production classes, and she never had a PC. This thing can't get out of it's own way. I didn't like the UI, but 2 pc users I know tried it and says they'll switch. Both got their feet wet with used Powerbooks. I think that's much better than a Mac mini, at least it's portable (same G4 guts).

So I'm in the mall a couple weeks ago, and there's a shiny new Apple store. You should have seen the feeding frenzy. I kicked back and observed what seemed to be a genuine cult-like mentality at work. And this is coming from a Deadhead.

Worst Product of the Year:
Ipod Shuffle
Hands-down the dumbest thing in the store, maybe the whole mall.

Ya know, if the big Ipods supported FLAC, I might buy it. They seem to be a quality, but very pricey, product.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: wakawaka

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
It's a true statement. Gaming was never really intended for the Mac. Most Mac users would agree.

This may have been true a looong time ago, but Steve Jobs has since aimed to change that:

Steve Jobs: Simply put, games are fun and lots of people want to have fun with their Macs. When I returned to Apple a few years ago, games were viewed as something which would paint the Mac as a less-than-serious business tool, so game development was discouraged. We feel quite differently, and actively try to nurture our game developers.

http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/view.php?ID=105

Apparently that statement is no longer true

How does that make Gaming intended for the Mac? If gaming was really intended for the Mac platform, then there would probably be more games available.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Where's the default compiler in Windows? Grep? I didn't pay $xxx for this OS to _not_ get a copy of a major program like grep did I?

This "cmd" shell is pretty weak, where's ksh?

I think I got a defective disc, there's no perl installed.

This XP sp2 firewall is pretty weak, it doesn't support any real advanced features.

ew! A registry! Kill it quick!

U:\>cvs
'cvs' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

SSH is missing too.

WTF are you talking about?
If I cared about coding, I would run Linux. On an x86 machine

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

I thought you weren't buying a new computer.

Eh, that was yesterday. I've been craving one all day. I'm also craving another trip to LV, a new car, lots of crap I can't afford.

I'd love to go back to LV, but not just yet. Although, all I need are a couple of plane tickets, I've already got a place to stay.

My (limited) experiences with modern Apples wasn't very positive. An ex girlfriend bought a lame G4 last year. Then she told me the price. Whatever it was, way too much, even with a student dicount. Her purchase decision was based entirely on the fact that she used higher-end Macs in her video production classes, and she never had a PC. This thing can't get out of it's own way. I didn't like the UI, but 2 pc users I know tried it and says they'll switch. Both got their feet wet with used Powerbooks. I think that's much better than a Mac mini, at least it's portable (same G4 guts).

So I'm in the mall a couple weeks ago, and there's a shiny new Apple store. You should have seen the feeding frenzy. I kicked back and observed what seemed to be a genuine cult-like mentality at work. And this is coming from a Deadhead.

And the nerds drooling over $500 nVidia whizbang4000s aren't freaks?

Worst Product of the Year:
Ipod Shuffle
Hands-down the dumbest thing in the store, maybe the whole mall.

I like them, but I have a USB flash memory thingy fetish.

Ya know, if the big Ipods supported FLAC, I might buy it. They seem to be a quality, but very pricey, product.

If they had oog support they'd be nicer to me, but I don't have a need for one. The ability to use it as a hard drive is the best part, and it's too expensive for that.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Where's the default compiler in Windows? Grep? I didn't pay $xxx for this OS to _not_ get a copy of a major program like grep did I?

This "cmd" shell is pretty weak, where's ksh?

I think I got a defective disc, there's no perl installed.

This XP sp2 firewall is pretty weak, it doesn't support any real advanced features.

ew! A registry! Kill it quick!

U:\>cvs
'cvs' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

SSH is missing too.

WTF are you talking about?
If I cared about coding, I would run Linux. On an x86 machine

I'm saying that there isn't one solution that's better, for everyone.

And I hate Linux. If I see one more stupid brain dead kernel module I'm going to toss these 4 LCDs through the window (into the hallway ).

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

I thought you weren't buying a new computer.

Eh, that was yesterday. I've been craving one all day. I'm also craving another trip to LV, a new car, lots of crap I can't afford.


My (limited) experiences with modern Apples wasn't very positive. An ex girlfriend bought a lame G4 last year. Then she told me the price. Whatever it was, way too much, even with a student dicount. Her purchase decision was based entirely on the fact that she used higher-end Macs in her video production classes, and she never had a PC. This thing can't get out of it's own way. I didn't like the UI, but 2 pc users I know tried it and says they'll switch. Both got their feet wet with used Powerbooks. I think that's much better than a Mac mini, at least it's portable (same G4 guts).

So I'm in the mall a couple weeks ago, and there's a shiny new Apple store. You should have seen the feeding frenzy. I kicked back and observed what seemed to be a genuine cult-like mentality at work. And this is coming from a Deadhead.

Worst Product of the Year:
Ipod Shuffle
Hands-down the dumbest thing in the store, maybe the whole mall.

Ya know, if the big Ipods supported FLAC, I might buy it. They seem to be a quality, but very pricey, product.

I wouldn't call the G4 lame. Hell, my film studies class uses a G4 466mhz and works great with editing movies. I am typing this up on a G4 400mhz, which we also use for Final Cut Express, and it works great.

I wouldn't call those Apple users cult like. You PC zealots are almost a cult yourselves.

 

[wakawaka]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
How does that make Gaming intended for the Mac? If gaming was really intended for the Mac platform, then there would probably be more games available.

Wrong, its the same reason there are more games on ps2 than xbox. Market share.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: wakawaka

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
How does that make Gaming intended for the Mac? If gaming was really intended for the Mac platform, then there would probably be more games available.

Wrong, its the same reason there are more games on ps2 than xbox. Market share.

No. It's because the ps2 is a decent product.

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler

Worst Product of the Year:
Ipod Shuffle
Hands-down the dumbest thing in the store, maybe the whole mall.

Ya know, if the big Ipods supported FLAC, I might buy it. They seem to be a quality, but very pricey, product.

You know, the Shuffle is supposed to have this really nice push-pull output circuit that gives it really nice bass reproduction (you can't really tell with the stock buds, but with a pair of Sennheiser PX100s or something similar you can tell the Shuffle has nice bass). From the reviews that I have read, in terms of sound quality it is actually better than the other iPods (although the new version of the Mini is pretty close now that they have put a decent output circuit on it and have give it some low frequency response finally). $100 for the 512MB version doesn't seem that bad of a deal to me if you just need something for your workout. The 1GB seems a waste at $149, since the 4GB Mini is only $50 more expensive.

 

[wakawaka]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: wakawaka

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
How does that make Gaming intended for the Mac? If gaming was really intended for the Mac platform, then there would probably be more games available.

Wrong, its the same reason there are more games on ps2 than xbox. Market share.

No. It's because the ps2 is a decent product.

aww, an attempt to be funny

 

[The Boston Dangler]

No. It's because the ps2 is a decent product.

I gotta disagree withyou there. I know, big surprise. I think the PS2 was a big disappointment, hardware and software. PSP and Xbox don't do it for me, either.

PS2 may lead the Xbox, but it's because it was first to market. Microsoft wants the Xbox360 out ASAP, for the same reason.


There's nothing really limiting games from being good on a Mac, other than developers don't do it. Unix based OS's can run any program you throw at them, if it's coded well. Not that Windows programs are (bloat, bloat, error, error, bloat). The hardware can support the latest games, now anyway.

If there's a market for good games on Mac, why the hell doesn't someone fill the void and make big bucks? Is Apple giving it the thumbs down? Maybe afraid of direct competition?

 

[hippotautamus]

Well, to take full advantage of most cards, Macs would have to license DirectX from Microsoft...and what are the odds of Microsoft giving up the biggest advantage it has over Mac?

Then again, Microsoft IS the largest retailer of mac software (ehehe irony), so you never know. Who, if anyone, owns the license on OpenGL?

EDIT: For all I know, Macs can already use DirectX. I don't know anything about this for sure, this is just my guess as to why game developers don't write for Mac

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: hippotautamus
Well, to take full advantage of most cards, Macs would have to license DirectX from Microsoft...and what are the odds of Microsoft giving up the biggest advantage it has over Mac?

Then again, Microsoft IS the largest retailer of mac software (ehehe irony), so you never know. Who, if anyone, owns the license on OpenGL?

EDIT: For all I know, Macs can already use DirectX. I don't know anything about this for sure, this is just my guess as to why game developers don't write for Mac

OpenGL is a freebie.

 

[hippotautamus]

Is that what Mac uses to interface with graphics cards, or do they have a proprietary rip of DirectX?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Screw it ... I want a behemoth cluster of 486's. Enough of them to take on the fastest quad processer box around!!!

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: hippotautamus
Is that what Mac uses to interface with graphics cards, or do they have a proprietary rip of DirectX?

DirectX is a Microsoft product and does not work or run in any fashion on a Mac. The Mac games (say, 3D games) typically run in OpenGL.

Porting from DirectX to OpenGL isn't easy. Welcome to the world of proprietary technology.

Another reason few games come out for the Mac is the overall quantity of hardware that can run modern games is fairly low. Even in the PC market it's fairly low, but the net numbers are still massive. On the Mac, the net numbers are small.