IBM PC you've lost my heart

[zraver]

I've been an IBM guy for decades, always thought macs were kind of foo-fooed. Then I saw the newest macs in action- why can't I do that with my lap top and why is my lap top so freaking heavy.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, I wrote a 25 page paper, I always write in Times New Roman or Calibri- so that was 25 pages in Times new Roman. The professor was very specific 25 pages no more no less in Courier New Font.

I didn't think anything of it, simple change... My paper exploded to 33 pages from that giant assed font. If I'd learned that as a Freshman it might be different. But as a senior do you have any idea how constrained 25 pages is....

I feel like my old digital mistress got fat and lazy and then I find out she's been feeding me scraps all these years... I want a mac...

[USSWisconsin]

I've got both, I use the PC mostly - the mac is a backup for internet. The mac is different, after years of pc, the mac is a whole different thing. Another thing that really helped me was going to OpenOffice - Microsoft Office is a pig, and its ridculously expensive if you don't get a student discount. Sun/Oracle Open Office is free.

Did you try to change the point size? perhaps you can reduce 12 pt to 10 pt to get back to 25 pages?

[Parihaka]

I want a mac...

Welcome to the dark side.....

[Gun Grape]

I've been an IBM guy for decades, always thought macs were kind of foo-fooed. Then I saw the newest macs in action- why can't I do that with my lap top and why is my lap top so freaking heavy.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, I wrote a 25 page paper, I always write in Times New Roman or Calibri- so that was 25 pages in Times new Roman. The professor was very specific 25 pages no more no less in Courier New Font.

I didn't think anything of it, simple change... My paper exploded to 33 pages from that giant assed font. If I'd learned that as a Freshman it might be different. But as a senior do you have any idea how constrained 25 pages is....

I feel like my old digital mistress got fat and lazy and then I find out she's been feeding me scraps all these years... I want a mac...

So you wrote a paper in a font not specified by the professor. Then you changed it to the correct font and the paper was too big.

And that is the computers fault? ROFLMAO

Personal responsibility. You need a big dose.

[zraver]

So you wrote a paper in a font not specified by the professor. Then you changed it to the correct font and the paper was too big.

And that is the computers fault? ROFLMAO

Personal responsibility. You need a big dose.

It was a list of things that I find to be a failing of IBM... Their platforms have become clumsy. The font size was simply the final straw,`12pt should be 12 pt 400 ish words per double spaced page using Calibri and 450ish using TNR- NOT 300-50% more words per page using TNR. In fact TNR 14pt font uses the same space as Courier's 12pt.

[zraver]

I've got both, I use the PC mostly - the mac is a backup for internet. The mac is different, after years of pc, the mac is a whole different thing. Another thing that really helped me was going to OpenOffice - Microsoft Office is a pig, and its ridculously expensive if you don't get a student discount. Sun/Oracle Open Office is free.

Did you try to change the point size? perhaps you can reduce 12 pt to 10 pt to get back to 25 pages?

12pt required.

As for Open Office, I stopped buying Word in 2007. Without so much as a by your leave MS bent word users over a barrel and told us to like the new word or else-I chose else.

[citanon]

The new ivy bridge processor from Intel is out, new Mac book and air book will be out in a few weeks. Perfect time to upgrade!

[JAD_333]

I've got both, I use the PC mostly - the mac is a backup for internet. The mac is different, after years of pc, the mac is a whole different thing.

Ain't that the truth. I'm PC, but one of my elderly clients is Mac and always asking me to 'fix' this or that. So, I've kind of learned how it runs. Not at all sure I like it as much as PC.

Another thing that really helped me was going to OpenOffice - Microsoft Office is a pig, and its ridculously expensive... if you don't get a student discount. Sun/Oracle Open Office is free.

Amen, brother. I use Open mostly for word processing, and it's every bit as good as MS Word.

Did you try to change the point size? perhaps you can reduce 12 pt to 10 pt to get back to 25 pages?

My first thought, but to cut back 8 pages, font size will end up looking like the warning label on a bottle of asperin.

[bonehead]

Zraver,
First, let me welcome you to the light. I am not fond of some of Apples business practices but there is no denying their computers are first rate. Shek made the switch about a year ago so he might be able to share some insight with you.

Secondly, It might be possible to put your work on a thumb drive and down load the paper on a different computer, school computer lab, a friend or library perhaps. Then see if you can condense it. Might have to type it all over again but it might be worth it to get it on a different program. If changing the font size/different software doesn't work try to find someone who can edit.

[Double Edge]

I've been an IBM guy for decades, always thought macs were kind of foo-fooed. Then I saw the newest macs in action- why can't I do that with my lap top and why is my lap top so freaking heavy.

Do what ?

Software wise the best apps in any field are on a PC because its got the biggest software market. If its hardware there's any number of 'thin' PC's you can get. Get a notebook instead of a laptop.

Prefer thinkpads as they used to be std issue for road warriors.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, I wrote a 25 page paper, I always write in Times New Roman or Calibri- so that was 25 pages in Times new Roman. The professor was very specific 25 pages no more no less in Courier New Font.

I didn't think anything of it, simple change... My paper exploded to 33 pages from that giant assed font. If I'd learned that as a Freshman it might be different. But as a senior do you have any idea how constrained 25 pages is....

I feel like my old digital mistress got fat and lazy and then I find out she's been feeding me scraps all these years... I want a mac...

Am not sure how changing the font and keeping the point size the same results in an increase of 30% pages wise. Suppose you will have to go through the paper page by page and see whether the new page marker got bumped up to the next and correct accordingly.

As for Open Office, I stopped buying Word in 2007. Without so much as a by your leave MS bent word users over a barrel and told us to like the new word or else-I chose else.

Erm, Z, Apple is notorious for not allowing their products to play well with other non-apple products. If you go apple you're going to have to switch to their acessories as well.

M$ has been very good with backwards compatibility software wise, thats how they built their empire.

[Doktor]

From my personal experience, there is no way on Earth to convert TNR to Courier, by simple 2pt size reduction, and keep the page count - unless of course the moon is in your seventh house, . Reason: Courier is monospaced font, meaning each letter, capital or small takes exactly same width, you need same space for i, or l as well as O or D. That's why your page count exploded.

What you can do is be witty and put the page format from Letter to Legal :whome:, delete some of your paragraphs, or hire a pro that will fix it for you in InDesign or QuarkXPress by manipulating font sizes, kerning and paragraphs (not recommended as it will cost and you will still need some editing).

Anyway, nothing of this has anything with your platform being PC or Mac, unless you visit Starbucks often and want to look cool in front of females (and geeks) there.

BTW, your professor should have asked for character/word count instead of this page count.
Think he took a shortcut to explain and students to understand how much 7,500 words is.

[Parihaka]

Do what ?

Software wise the best apps in any field are on a PC because its got the biggest software market. If its hardware there's any number of 'thin' PC's you can get. Get a notebook instead of a laptop.

Nope. Even MS Word for Mac runs better because it was re-engineered from the ground up for Mac. Still clunky but better. I know because I regularly use both. Virtually all image manipulation software was and is written for Mac first and is native to it. The only edge windows pc's have is in gaming and they've just lost an entire generation with no response to gaming apps on Iphone and Ipad.

Erm, Z, Apple is notorious for not allowing their products to play well with other non-apple products. If you go apple you're going to have to switch to their acessories as well.

Open Office runs just fine on Mac.

[DOR]

I just check and my TNR page has 526 words, but when I switch to Calbri it fell to 482. But, at 11 point, rather than 12, the TNR goes up to 640 with no obvious difference to the reader.

[Double Edge]

Nope. Even MS Word for Mac runs better because it was re-engineered from the ground up for Mac. Still clunky but better. I know because I regularly use both.

What does 'runs better' mean. The functionality is std, either it works or it doesn't.

Virtually all image manipulation software was and is written for Mac first and is native to it.

What if you want more than imaging ?

Apple had a legacy niche in this area but you find the major apps on a PC.

The only edge windows pc's have is in gaming and they've just lost an entire generation with no response to gaming apps on Iphone and Ipad.

I'd say consoles had a bigger role in taking gaming off PCs. You think iPhone & iPad can beat consoles ?

The major edge PC's have is customisation, that will remain.

Take best of breed when it comes to apps. You use apps, that's what ties you to the platform, nobody gives a fig about the OS it runs on. You want to avoid vendor lock in. Using apple only apps ties you to Apple. The market share is such that Apple will never replace a PC, so tying yourself to a PC is less of a risk.

Next, the selection of apps on a PC is a great deal more than it is on the mac. More specialisation. The same applies to hardware as well, lots of different vendors run windows. In theory you can run OSX on any intel platform but don't hold your breath on driver support. Your hardware choice is de facto apple if not de jure. That comes for a 20% premium.

I was looking for an app to manage media some time back and found an excellent solution from a firm in MN. The Mac equivalent is iTunes which just isn't in the same league. Now to try & get their app to talk to an iPhone and the dev's found they were dealing with encrypted databases. You can try and jailbreak but that isn't legal and invites lawsuits.

Clearly apple wants you to use their apps only. You can get basic stuff done but try to go more specialised and you will find Apple has locks in place to prevent interaction with a non-apple ecosystem.

So people asked for a Mac port, this firm kept running polls to see what the demand would be and it never made sense to do one. This is a question every firm that makes software faces. if you're big you can do it, if you're niche then not. If you're on a mac you face a Hobson's choice.

This sort of lock-in is common. Take the IM world, few years back i had friends on different networks and i did not want to run 5 apps just to keep in touch with them. I stuck with one app that would talk to all of them and in the end it just got too difficult to keep up. Told'em to use email. One more virus vector elliminated i thought.

Put it this way, if you're on a mac, you can get by. But the switching cost ain't worth it if you're on a PC. It does not make sense for an individual let alone corporate. If you're not tied to your apps then you can switch to anything.

Turtle neck's talent laid in spiining a reality distortion field with great presentation to get you to switch to a platform with fewer options. He had the best toys and he had them first before anyone else. All i did was wait for his competition to catch up :)

[FJV]

I like PC's more, because I can do with a PC stuff much more easily than a MAC.

For instance connecting and using that USB interface kit that I've soldered together myself.

Apple will not let you do stuff like that.:pari: