Topic: DESCENT FOR WiiWare ANNOUNCED

[Matthew]

so you think linux could even be installed on it? this is a pretty new OSX. I know it doesn't tell you how old it is, but I got it this past February.

Yes, you could.  However, best that you visit some of the Mac forums to check up on the "ins and outs" of doing that with your model first.

What he said. Except for ancient iMacs, the hardware inside is exactly the same as a PC ...

Not true, but you can go ahead with that belief if you wish.  I won't stop you.  I'll just wait for you to learn better.

I thought that was the whole point of Apple switching to Intel processors was to make it work like a real computer?

[karx-elf-erx]

Motorola CPUs >> Intel CPUs.

[TechPro]

I thought that was the whole point of Apple switching to Intel processors was to make it work like a real computer?

The Mac had already been a real computer for many years (since the first one).  At the time Steve Jobs announced Apple would switch over to the Intel processors, the Mac was being made with the PowerPC chips (and performed quite well IMHO). The reasons Apple switched to the Intel processors were multiple, and we can mostly only speculate, and Steve Jobs himself said there were directions they wanted to take the Mac OS but at the time it was far easier (thus less expensive) if using Intel chipsets.  It also allowed the Mac to directly interact with a wider range of components. Thus there are more options than previously.  Today, it is common to be using a fine (but slightly older) Mac, but cannot run certain software or add-ons because the new software or add-on requires the Intel processors (different programming codes required).  Often necessitates upgrading to a new machine.

The current systems from Apple are very consistently great performers (equal or better than most Windows systems), excellent displays, reliable, with very little (if any) need to upgrade or change the internals.  Run multiple OS systems with ease, rock stable (in my experience), and thus a fine choice.

EDIT: The Mac hardware uses a proprietary firmware that contains a number of core/key components to the OS, removing a portion of the overhead needed to run the system.  This is a significant performance improvement, increases stability, and avoids certain problem tendencies that have always plagued the Windows architecture.  The drawback is the proprietary nature.  Take it or leave it.

Motorola CPUs >> Intel CPUs.

Quite so, though Apple did make their choice.

[Matthew]

I say leave it. Computers are meant to be interchangeable, if hardware prevents other operating systems or programs from working on it, regardless of the "benefits" (I've never seen a mac that performed noticeably better than my PC at home, not even those fancy new multi-1000$ flat-panels, but maybe school IT staff are just that bad. But the PCs at school, despite being older, ran just fine.), then I don't want it. From an IT perspective... The only way to fix something proprietary is to buy the parts at whatever price Apple thinks they can charge (I don't pretend I know what that is). And if my client decides he needs some extra power for whatever he's doing, I have to buy a whole new $1000 Mac or tell him to suck it up?

I'm not saying Windows is perfect (I'd personally like to strangle whoever can't figure out how to make windows NOT slow down over time), but at least it runs on the same hardware as everything else.

[Scyphi]

In my experience, it's not exactly fair to be making opinions about computers from what you've seen of them in use in things such as schools, because school computers get put through a whole lot of crap from their multiple users that a home computer wouldn't, and thus suffer a heck of a lot more strain. How much depends on the computer, but more on the system, how it's used, and how it's maintained. The age of the computer can also play a factor in this, and that goes two ways, better or worse.

[VANGUARD]

In my experience, it's not exactly fair to be making opinions about computers from what you've seen of them in use in things such as schools, because school computers get put through a whole lot of crap from their multiple users that a home computer wouldn't, and thus suffer a heck of a lot more strain. How much depends on the computer, but more on the system, how it's used, and how it's maintained. The age of the computer can also play a factor in this, and that goes two ways, better or worse.

I agree. it all depends on the age, and the amount of abuse. I am told, never had one myself, that rental cars get a fair share of wear and tear. they are abused way more than a car that someone owns.
and the thing is, with computers, everyone is different. 99% of what I do on a computer, can be on a windows system, mac or linux. It just varies on the actual software that one may like over the other.

Windows can't run everything Linux or Mac can
Mac can't run everything Linux or Windows can.
Linux can't run everything a Windows or mac system can.

It boils down to the person themselves, and what system suits them the best (assuming dual booting is NOT an option)

Linux suited me the most, next the iMac.

[Crash]

Mac = proprietary = greater cost + less choice.
Some people love that though. The quality is good but at a ridiculous price for what you get.
The latest versions of OS X are supposedly a bit sluggish because of the glitz and how many features are tacked on.

Windows would be fine if we could only get rid of the registry like they promised us and make every damn application portable.
A lot of problems I have when using Windows have nothing to do with Windows; bad drivers and bad support for hardware by companies, BS anti-piracy complications...
Other things are Window's fault though like "Why can't I use my own midi controller in Win7???".

[Matthew]

Mac = proprietary = greater cost + less choice.
Some people love that though. The quality is good but at a ridiculous price for what you get.
The latest versions of OS X are supposedly a bit sluggish because of the glitz and how many features are tacked on.

Windows would be fine if we could only get rid of the registry like they promised us and make every damn application portable.
A lot of problems I have when using Windows have nothing to do with Windows; bad drivers and bad support for hardware by companies, BS anti-piracy complications...
Other things are Window's fault though like "Why can't I use my own midi controller in Win7???".

Like how Windows inevitably slows itself down over time without installing anything new?

Getting rid of the registry would cause all kinds of problems, not least being how many thousands of programs there are already that rely on it. People like backwards compatibility, and removing the registry would be very un-backwards-compatible.

[SaladBadger]

Heh... I must admit to making all of my programs store config data in the working directory and never in the registry.

In retrospect I should tweak it so it stores to your user application data folder in case it can't write to the working directory

[TechPro]

That's very true (about getting rid of the registry would be a step backwards).  Early versions of Windows (like ver. 2 and 3) didn't have the 'Registry' as you know it, and programs used "ini files" to detail  their needs and settings.  VERY problematic, slow performance, limited abilities, poor integration, incessant disk buffering, blah, blah.

No one, and I mean no one, wants to go back to that.  It is worthwhile to note that the other OS contenders (like Mac and Linux) also use a 'system database' in much the same way as the registry.  Why?  It has been the right choice.

[Scyphi]

Like how Windows inevitably slows itself down over time without installing anything new?

That may not necessarily be the OS's fault, but the computer's. Sometimes a computer just needs a good cleanup and/or defrag, and it'll preform remarkably better on that alone. It's hard to say sometimes.

[VANGUARD]

I got the .iso image of Mandriva, but I can't burn the image. I thought I did it right the first time for a friend, but now all I get on the DVD is the single ISO file.

[NUMBERZero]

When did this thing go off topic?

[VANGUARD]

probably 2-3 pages ago, and my fault probably.

let's end this win-mac-linux conversation.

[DarkWing]

So... What is the current status of Descent for Wii-ware? (as far as we know)