Page 3 of 3

Re: Alternate Mac Bitch

Posted: 2002-07-10 05:34pm
by phongn
John Clark wrote:Here's my bitch about the Mac. Any Mac. If it crashes... YOU can't fix it. It's "Pack it up and drag it to the store" time. Why? Because unlike (earlier versions of) Microsnot products, there's no non-graphical OS to root around in for the fix.
Yes, there is. Since the release of OS X, you've been able to muck around without the GUI layer. You can also use a boot CD to log in and try and fix stuff (at least with OS 9 and before, I'm not quite sure about OS X)
Now, notice the caveat. Microsnot has unfortunately followed in the footsteps of Macintosh by eliminating a true DOS, which means now MS systems have the same problem.
Use the W2K or WXP boot CD and log into the recovery console. It works fine, and I haven't missed DOS since I switched to Windows NT 4 years ago (though the NT CLI is good - much better than command.com)

Real-mode DOS should have died years ago.

Posted: 2002-07-10 05:41pm
by phongn
Durandal wrote: Untrue. Mac OS X is a FreeBSD-based OS,
Partially incorrect. OS X is based on OpenSTEP (ie the Mach microkernel) with a FreeBSD layer on top of that.
Microsoft started from a really shitty command line (MS-DOS) and then killed it.
Wrong. Microsoft has kept the command line and improved upon it. NT's cmd.exe is much superior to command.com.
Apple started with no command line and then, recognizing the value of *nix, made a new OS based on FreeBSD.
Not really. They did have a command line as far back as A/UX and their Workgroup Servers that run AIX. Furthermore, OS X is the son of NeXT, not FreeBSD. Copland and Raphsody were utter failures and I suppose that's why they bought NeXT.
As to the original Mac OS, I never once had to send in my computer to be fixed. It was always some extension conflict that was easily resolved.
Well, we never had to send in our PCs either. We also had quite a few Macs.
With Winblows, you have to mess around with that god-awful Registry, endless DLL files and 8-character system files with ~'s at the end.
For doing what??
At least with a Mac you can usually recover your data. Anything bad happens to Winblows, it's reformatting time.
That's just plain wrong. You can recover your data in Windows unless you have a total HD failure (or your FAT table died - and I've had HFS problems too).
Hell, I know people who reinstall Winblows regularly on a fresh drive because it's healthy for the OS!
It's not healthy. No-one should need to do that unless they completely screwed up their system.

Posted: 2002-07-10 07:34pm
by Durandal
Partially incorrect. OS X is based on OpenSTEP (ie the Mach microkernel) with a FreeBSD layer on top of that.
True, I probably should have said something about it being based on Darwin, instead. Oh well. It is a legitimate UNIX derivative, though.
Wrong. Microsoft has kept the command line and improved upon it. NT's cmd.exe is much superior to command.com.
As far as I know, Windows' command line is limited in its usefulness. You can't modify system settings or anything like that. I could be wrong, though.
Not really. They did have a command line as far back as A/UX and their Workgroup Servers that run AIX. Furthermore, OS X is the son of NeXT, not FreeBSD. Copland and Raphsody were utter failures and I suppose that's why they bought NeXT.
Come on, Phong, you know what I meant. I was referring to the original Mac OS, which had no command line. And, yes, OS X can survive without the BSD layer, but it is still a legitimate UNIX derivative.

Well, we never had to send in our PCs either. We also had quite a few Macs.
I didn't make any comments about PC's in that little blurb. I was simply dispelling the claim that Macs are unfixable by their users.

For doing what??
I have no idea.

That's just plain wrong. You can recover your data in Windows unless you have a total HD failure (or your FAT table died - and I've had HFS problems too).
Yes, but it's been my experience that you have to reformat a Windows drive more frequently than a Mac drive. If something goes wrong, there are a few troubleshooting steps, then it's time to whack the hard drive and reinstall Windows. And, data-recovery apps aren't always the most effective things in the world.

It's not healthy. No-one should need to do that unless they completely screwed up their system.
Which I have seen happen frequently. This is just my experience with Windows (mostly with 2000 and XP), and I've learned that computer experiences tend to vary across an extremely wide spectrum.

Posted: 2002-07-10 08:08pm
by His Divine Shadow
I've not reformatted one of my drives since 1999-2000, and it's still running windows NT 4.

Posted: 2002-07-10 08:35pm
by Mr Bean
Eh I like 2k Better 14 Months and Counting Near contiuius operation(Only Driver restarts and occsional software restarts have keep it off) and Nary a Crash
Thats with a Computer, Emailing, Websuring, playing games and Rendering 3d Images