Switch From Microsoft to Apple?

[5thwheeleroldma]

We've been using MS computers for 18 years now, but I'm thinking of switching to Apple. The reason is I get so many confusing software updates & problems. For instance, MS recently wanted to install a new IE Explorer. We said yes, then it said some other computer was using our address, to resolve it with our administrator. From past experience, I know this will mean hours on the phone and probably I'll still be confused. Seems like they can't leave us in peace.

My question is; do you get all this kind of bothersome******from Apple?
I suppose it would not be too difficult to learn how to use an Apple, and to transfer all my files?

[bwanshoom]

cleo43 wrote:

bwanshoom wrote:
Are you referring to the patent licensing deals that Microsoft has with Samsung, HTC, etc.? If so, that does not impact Linux and has nothing at all to do with wintersun's post.

Let set aside Android. TomTom (does use Linux) capitulated and paid.
Including in the settlement was a non-disclosure agreement, so nobody knew what the involved patents were, but they believe one of them involved the long file name which was developed by MS, but never patented until recently. MS used the same tactic against several small companies that rather paid than fought, because that is cheaper.

It's long been rumored but never proven that Microsoft has patents affecting Linux.

It seems the name of the game for all the big players these days is patent trolling. It wasn't that long ago that Samsung & Apple were getting each other's products banned in various countries with their trolling. They all do it and in the end the consumers foot the bill via higher prices to pay for all the lawyers. Most, if not all, software patents should be banned.

[cleo43]

bwanshoom wrote:
Are you referring to the patent licensing deals that Microsoft has with Samsung, HTC, etc.? If so, that does not impact Linux and has nothing at all to do with wintersun's post.

Let set aside Android. TomTom (does use Linux) capitulated and paid.
Including in the settlement was a non-disclosure agreement, so nobody knew what the involved patents were, but they believe one of them involved the long file name which was developed by MS, but never patented until recently. MS used the same tactic against several small companies that rather paid than fought, because that is cheaper.

[burlmart]

Back to the concerns of the OP, I have always been uneasy w/ wireless, even simple stuff like a wifi router to 3 different computers setup – hardly even a network.

Someone said ‘wireless is supposed to be fun’…it ain’t. It is the most poorly explicated-to-user aspect of IT yet it affects all users. Windows says it different than Linksys, than Realtek, and I am loathe to venture to a new router/software lingo by D-Link, or Netgear, etc.

I’ll bet Apple is no better than MS on network setup for a prospective double newbie (OP would be new to OS X AND Apple network menu lingo).

Unable to understand even the simplest workings of a router w/ lots of opinions here on the Tech Corner
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27220501.cfm
…if I had need to share files to another printer or computer, I’d use USB cables and memory sticks and stay w/ the MS menu system I know.

I feel like his students who are saying "I know it's easy for him..."

[pulsar]

bwanshoom wrote:

pulsar wrote:

I believe the reference is to Microsoft's early 90's practice of requiring vendors to buy a windows license for every computer they sold, regardless of what operating system the computer shipped with.

From the Justice Department's complaint

Virtually all major PC manufacturers find it necessary to offer Microsoft operating systems on most of their PCs. Microsoft's monopoly power allows it to induce these manu- facturers to enter into anticompetitive, long-term licenses under which they must pay royalties to Microsoft not only when they sell PCs containing Microsoft's operating systems, but also when they sell PCs containing non-Microsoft operating systems.

Tom

I don't think so, he specifically said Linux, HTC and Android so I don't think it's a reference to something that happened in the early '90s.

Yes, you are right. I mistakingly was referring back to the last paragraph of wintersun's post.

Tom

[bwanshoom]

pulsar wrote:

I believe the reference is to Microsoft's early 90's practice of requiring vendors to buy a windows license for every computer they sold, regardless of what operating system the computer shipped with.

From the Justice Department's complaint

Virtually all major PC manufacturers find it necessary to offer Microsoft operating systems on most of their PCs. Microsoft's monopoly power allows it to induce these manu- facturers to enter into anticompetitive, long-term licenses under which they must pay royalties to Microsoft not only when they sell PCs containing Microsoft's operating systems, but also when they sell PCs containing non-Microsoft operating systems.

Tom

I don't think so, he specifically said Linux, HTC and Android so I don't think it's a reference to something that happened in the early '90s.

[pulsar]

bwanshoom wrote:

cleo43 wrote:

That whole post is a mess.

Not exactly.
Had you followed the lawsuits that Microsoft launched against companies that use Linux and Android (a form of Linux), like TomTom, HTC...

Are you referring to the patent licensing deals that Microsoft has with Samsung, HTC, etc.? If so, that does not impact Linux and has nothing at all to do with wintersun's post.

I believe the reference is to Microsoft's early 90's practice of requiring vendors to buy a windows license for every computer they sold, regardless of what operating system the computer shipped with.

From the Justice Department's complaint

Virtually all major PC manufacturers find it necessary to offer Microsoft operating systems on most of their PCs. Microsoft's monopoly power allows it to induce these manu- facturers to enter into anticompetitive, long-term licenses under which they must pay royalties to Microsoft not only when they sell PCs containing Microsoft's operating systems, but also when they sell PCs containing non-Microsoft operating systems.

Tom

[bwanshoom]

cleo43 wrote:

That whole post is a mess.

Not exactly.
Had you followed the lawsuits that Microsoft launched against companies that use Linux and Android (a form of Linux), like TomTom, HTC...

Are you referring to the patent licensing deals that Microsoft has with Samsung, HTC, etc.? If so, that does not impact Linux and has nothing at all to do with wintersun's post.

[FlatBroke]

I just bought my first Apple product. An I pad 4. This thing kicks butt on any Microsoft product I have ever had.

[cleo43]

That whole post is a mess.

Not exactly.
Had you followed the lawsuits that Microsoft launched against companies that use Linux and Android (a form of Linux), like TomTom, HTC...

[strollin]

Yeah, I'd put it in the same category as his previous post where he claimed the NeXt OS (from which OS X is derived) was written from scratch (it wasn't).

[fj12ryder]

Wow, that post is so far from reality that a person wouldn't even know where to start to rebut. 🙂 But really, "gains in functionality have come at the expense of reliability"? You're saying that Windows 7 is less reliable than Windows 95? On what planet would that be?

"Microsoft's pricing is based on the monopoly it enjoys." What monopoly would that be exactly? One definition of monopoly: "the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service..."

That whole post is a mess. 🙂

[wintersun]

I have been using Micrsofts operating systems since DOS 1.0 in 1982 and over the years any gains in functionality have come at the expense of reliability. Microsoft's operating systems are so easy to hack that the company stayed with Linux servers for its own corporate email for many years. They did not trust their own software.

Windows is defective at its core and so Microsoft has over the years added layer after layer to preserve the core and this has added a great deal of unnecessary complexity that makes corporate IT support a nightmare. But like the Stokholm effective for captives of kidnappers, people who have spend years dealing with Microsoft's products and becoming expert and "gurus" in some cases, are reluctant to give up their status and will protect their baby even if it is ugly.

Microsoft's pricing is based on the monoploy it enjoys. Microsoft was charging IBM and Dell for Windows licenses even on machines that they shipped with Linux or OS/2 installed instead. This is not a company whose upper management has any sense of ethics.

[fj12ryder]

mlts22 wrote:
...that's a lot better than one SATA connection to my PC's hard disk.

There's people that will disagree with that. 🙂 Including me. LOL I'm of the old school: "My data is my data. Keep your lousy hands off." 🙂

[mlts22]

I use iTunes to force-feed my iDevices a new iOS rev, and that's it. Other than that, my devices tend to use iCloud for everything. Probably dumb via a security standpoint because if something happened to Apple's servers, I'll be SOL, but they have redundant servers, cooling, RAID arrays, Teradata servers, VNX machines with redundant paths, and that's a lot better than one SATA connection to my PC's hard disk.