Window's is quite irritating.

[blue moon]

MacBook pros are pretty cheap now a days

27" iMac for $1699.
No need for anything more, upgrade RAM so it is maxed out and you are set.
No need to mess with towers, cables and stuff like that. It comes with wireless keyboard and mice (New track pad is nice).
I hope to get it at the end of the year to replace my old iMac.
[/quote]

on a tangent a little, but the new Mac keyboards are garbage. The clear one was nice, but the new one, with the flat keys, it is so hard to type . . .

[Denis Kolar]

on a tangent a little, but the new Mac keyboards are garbage. The clear one was nice, but the new one, with the flat keys, it is so hard to type . . .

I love mine, no issues with typing, but then again, I do not know how to type

[ZooCity]

We bought a $350 best buy special for our POS machine as the software was intended for xp machines.  This one has windows 7 and yes, it's like the most half-assed attempt at copying the mac os you could imagine from my thankfully brief interactions with it.  It's incredible how much time you can lose doing very, very basic tasks with jankety products like this.  Windows popping up everywhere and hanging up just trying to save and print a pdf file.  My co-worker is kinda anti-mac but this machine just drove my point home that "they just work".   I don't have time or desire to spend hours cleaning up and tuning up somebody's idea of a sick joke just so I can get back to work.  Sometimes I think about how much time and energy the world has lost because of this singular product. 

But get this:  our wireless printer works fine with the macs but the windows 7 machine won't print to it.

Sign of the apocalypse. 

[tpitman]

I'm on the fence about a new keyboard for the mac. The one that came with the G5 was really nice, but I gave that away with the G5. I've got an old G3 one that I tried with my MacBook but some of the option/click keys don't work correctly in Illustrator and Photoshop, so I was looking to buy a new one, preferably wireless, maybe bluetooth. The new Mac keyboard is too much (if not identical) to the keys on my MacBook, so I'm not sold on getting one. I like to put my MacBook to the back of my desk so I've got a little more room at the front, and I liked having a simple keyboard for that, but not since I'm not re-keying "War and Peace" anytime soon, I think I'll pass.
I did buy a "magic mouse" and I like it. I've read some reviews of folks that don't.

[Sbrem]

on a tangent a little, but the new Mac keyboards are garbage. The clear one was nice, but the new one, with the flat keys, it is so hard to type . . .

I love mine, no issues with typing, but then again, I do not know how to type

I like mine too, and I do know how to type. But there are plenty of alternatives too. No mouse for me, Trackball only.

Steve

[DouglasGrigar]

on a tangent a little, but the new Mac keyboards are garbage. The clear one was nice, but the new one, with the flat keys, it is so hard to type . . .

I love mine, no issues with typing, but then again, I do not know how to type

I like mine too, and I do know how to type. But there are plenty of alternatives too. No mouse for me, Trackball only.

Steve

Anyone else use a pin tablet?

[shurloc]

You guys do know that Apple would have completely died in the late 90's if Microsoft had sneezed in the right direction... But to avoid anti-trust lawsuits (I know, that didn't work out too well did it...) they bailed out Apple with a $150 million stock purchase and a basic "we will share all our patents together" type setup...

"In 1997, five years after the lawsuit was decided, all lingering infringement questions against Microsoft regarding the Lisa and Macintosh GUI as well as Apple's "QuickTime piracy" lawsuit against Microsoft were settled in direct negotiations. Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer their default browser, to the detriment of Netscape. Microsoft agreed to continue developing Microsoft Office and other software for the Mac over the next five years. Microsoft also purchased $150 million of non-voting Apple stock, helping Apple in its financial struggles at the time. Both parties entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement."

 If you think WIN7 and OSX are getting close now - check out the changes coming in Windows 8...

http://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2011/06/Windows-8-start-menu.png

[squeezee]

I do like Macs, but... Fundamentally, before we disappear up Steve Jobs catheter, a MacBook costs about double what you can buy a similar spec'd Win7 laptop.  I reckon to use a laptop for 2-3 years before replacing it, an old MacBook will still be working but will be very, very slow.
I also run Ubuntu, which is free, runs on any box and will run faster than Macs or Windows.  It is also very secure.  If you have any old boxes you can give them another few years of life.

[tpitman]

My MacBook is 3 years old now and still going good. The only slow to launch things I have are InDesign and Firefox, which was raising hell with everything, so I've switched to Safari as my browser. Bought a "new" white and clear Mac keyboard off eBay to replace the one I gave away. Keys seemed to bind up a little, and it wasn't as pleasant to use as I'd recalled, so I sprung for the aluminum bluetooth one and I'm really pleased with it. The "feel" is like a laptop, but the things don't bind up and I'm surprised that, even with it's relatively diminutive size I can type quite comfortably.

[Command-Z]

I just got a new Mac Pro and it's awesome. I like this little flat keyboard. The old white ones were dust collecting trays. The wireless mouse is great too. Apple's design team is good, but I've NEVER liked their mouses till now. I've always had to go buy a third-party Windows-style mouse. This touch-sensitive scrolling is addictive.

To answer Doug, as an artist who is airbrush-trained, yes, a Wacom pen tablet is essential. I went all-out for the Cintiq 5 years ago and it was the best money I've ever spent. Any digital artist who uses raster programs more than 50% of the time should invest in one, seriously. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's VERY easy to scratch the screen. If your career is digital art-based, then the money thing shouldn't be any more of a problem than buying an automatic press is for a print shop. Mine paid for itself very quickly.

The other thing you shouldn't skimp on is a good, ergonomic chair.

As far as the whole Mac vs Windows thing, it really doesn't matter... whatever gets the job done for you is the best way to go. I just happen to like Apple's OS, and their machines (with the exception of their latest generation of Macbooks) are very easy to upgrade with RAM and extra drives. I, too, am wondering if Apple will survive without Steve Jobs.

If your OS is compatible, try Google Chrome for a web browser. I really like it.

[mk162]

Command I agree, they are all tools used to get the job done.  The craftsman matters more than the tools he uses.

We were talking about apple stock the other day.  I just don't think they are going to continue owning the markets like they have.  It's hard to keep that up and be on top, everybody is gunning for you.

[inkman996]

I just set up my GF's new Imac 27" and all I can say is wow! It is unbelievable absolutely no wires at all except for the power cord. Once I got it running I played around and was surprised how similar it is to windows in functions etc. $1700 is pricey but I just might buy myself an Christmas present this year with my bonus!

One bad thing tho i synced her apple laptop to the new Imac and for some reason we cannot access any of the files, it states that we do not have permission to access them. I am led to believe she made a mistake by naming the Imac the exact same as the Laptop I will find out after I talk to their support.

[tpitman]

I bought a medium Intuos 4 tablet through MacMall's eBay store for $319 new with free shipping, primarily to use for photo retouching. I had an old tablet long ago that I never really got much use out of and that hadn't the features of the new ones. Just waitin' for the mailman, now.