On 10/10/2011 5:17 AM, Rob wrote:
Michael wrote:
It's 100 percent true. An Apple costs more than a Windows computer -
although not all that much when comparable performance is taken into
account, because the Apple mentality does not sell computers that are
ready to be obsolete, such as the horribly underpowered Vista basic
machines.

I'm not that sure about that. At work we still have Windows XP machines
bought in 2001, and while they are very slow they still work and can
be used e.g. as Citrix terminals or for Microsoft Office 2003.

They still receive security updates from Microsoft.

Apple machines from that era are long obsolete and receive no support
at all.


Don't think I was arguing about that. If you can run XP on the computer,
M$ will send updates. Be careful though. I had a HP Pavilion, bought in
2005, and at one particular point in the update process, it gets hosed.
I ended up having to take it offline after the third time it happened.

My G5 machines still get updates.

Look, if you want, use the Windows machines. I don't really care. I do
have in depth personal experience with both, and if my job was to
support the Mac's I'd be out of a job. With the Windows machines, there
is a lot of job security. Believe or do not believe.

My favorite part of working with the Windows fans is when I talk about
someone getting a virus, or an update hosing their machine, the first
thing they say is "Oh, I've never gotten a virus, then they go on to
describe "there was this one time" and tell about how they got some
virus that they had to wipe the drive to cure (or somesuch)

If you are happy with Windows, and it never gives you any problems, then
by all means use and enjoy.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On 10/9/2011 9:39 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:00:38 -0400, Michael
wrote:
In in the professional world, no one seems to add the labor cost of the
armies of support personnel needed to keep the Windows machines running.
Adds a tad to the price.

I don't have much contact with IT except when they get into trouble.
As far as I can determine, most of IT consists of supporting users,
not machines. As near as I can determine, the level of user support
is about equal, whether Windoze, Mac, or Linux.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -


The support costs I've noticed, starting with IBM 360/65 (1973), are
people followed by people followed by people. Somewhere below the
people is hardware.

Been in the middle of it since 1975 starting as a programming assistant
in a college data center. Where we presented decks to the priests.

As a programming assistant the most frequent things I saw were questions
from the grad students like - "How do I make it fit?", "How do I make it
fast?", "Why doesn't it work?". Users who would spend 18 hours a day
dug into the math of what they were trying to solve, but refused to
spend 4 hours once learning the tool they used to solve the simulations.

I knew nothing of what they were trying to prove. But I always managed
to get the programs to fit, run fast as possible, and not "doesn't work".

Some things never change.

tom
K0TAR

Disclaimer - this comment is about academics and offices, not data centers.