"I can't get no.....Satisfaction"------Mick Jagger and DeanG-------long post warning

[seti]

JC, I know what you mean I had to quit playing games because my hands and wrists would go numb and tingle. It just wasn't worth it but how I miss Unreal Tournament.

Al K, I completely understand as if it were not for windows and the high maintenance factors I would not have a job : )... The new macs now boot windows and OS X so if you actually wanted to do both it would be easy. I think there is even software out there that doesn't require that you boot into windows but runs the windows apps from OS X. I guess from a developers point of view you really need the full windows experience to develop properly.

DrWho, Let us know what linux software they use. Dude I have read tons of your posts some that make my head spin and I can safely say linux would not be that hard for you to wrap your head around.

I have been using linux since 1.0 and that was a difficult install now they are easy and it takes less than a few minutes to get up and running. I use linux when someone needs a free OS or I need a cheap home server that will run on older hardware. I have installed linux on many friends pcs when their windows computers had so much spyware they could hardly function and out of 7 of those only one went back to windows. Every OS has its place windows in the dumpster or work applications, linux for appliances, home servers, inexpensive home desktops, and OS X for everyone.... It really is that good.

[jwc]

OMG. Seti. Unreal Tournament was my favorite game (second to Unreal).

Man, I have tons of server software programs I made to run the server to host matches. If you ever want a time to go old school, I'll set up a server and we could go head to head.

I'm sure our skills are rusty...but man that would be fun.

jc

[DrWho]

Well it's not that the linux is "difficult"...it just takes a crap load

of time to memorize all these new keystrokes and shortcuts, etc

etc...when you're already pulling all-nighters to finish a project the

last thing you want to do is read manuals on basic command line prompt.

Anyways, I'll go to the linux labs sometime later this week and see

what software I can find. Most of it is geared towards digital circuits

which means not much application to filter designers. The other

annoying thing is that the software I have access to is dependant on

the classes I'm taking...and I'm not doing any Analog Signal Processing

this semester (or next semester).

To be honest, I've spent a lot of time with all the OS's and must

confess I prefer windows....I can't stand the way the keyboard and

mouse interfaces on Macs and Unix - theoretically it's all adjustable

but I can't figure it out. Also, I kinda like most of the stuff windows

does in the background for you - granted, it may not work well all the

time, but I suppose after a while you learn how to get it to do what

you want. Many people are always talking about how OSX and the G5 are

so much more stable and reliable, but we've got a fully decked out G5

and a mediocre PC sitting side by side in the studio and we have far

less problems with the PC - and they're both using the same software!

(all of which was originally written for mac). But it probably has to

do with the fact that I know how to make a PC work better than I do a

mac. After a while you just see each "topology" as a different tool in

the toolbag and just use the system that makes the most sense for the

application you're running. And one thing that can't be denied is that

windows has far more software available...

[seti]

JC, I'll let you know when I get that PC out of the closet!

DrWho, I know what you mena about being in a time crunch situation. Command line is great if you know all the key strokes but I prefer monkey buttons for everything else . I have had my mac laptop for over two years and have never reinstalled the operating system or encountered a virus or spyware. I had a pop up once. I have also never been at a loss to find software for what I need to do. I would say the Mac takes a couple months of use to get used to but it really needs to be yours and not the labs . It mostly depends on the SysAdmin if it is in a lab. It sounds like your school has a cool IT department. If I were in school and my grades depended on it I would use what I was most familiar with and what I knew I could get my work done the fastest on even if it was a Commodore 64. How far along are you in school?

[Al Klappenberger]

Guys,

Well, like I say, I would like to go Linux, but when I do I never want to look at a "window" again! I don't want to fiddle with both. As long as I have to maintain and develop software for windoze I will keep using it, and keep hating it! One of my hang-ups is having too much crap going on in the same computer at the same time. Adding Linux is just more stuff to maintain. In the years I have been selling filter design software I have only had one inquirey for a Linus version of PCFILT. Some effort was expended by Dr. Szentirmai on a Mac version of his S/FILSYN program, but it went nowhere!

Al K.

[DrWho]

I've got another 3 semesters left after this one. The EE program here is technically 5 years, but many do it in 4. I transferred in my Junior year and basically set out to complete it in 2 years, but I just don't have the aptitude for pulling on average two all-niters a week for 2 years straight so I'm taking an extra year to finish college. Combine that with taking a year off to work and ya....I guess I'm just "taking my time".

For what it's worth, the G5 I referenced was for a studio I was managing at the time. The computer came pre-installed with the OS and would randomly crash before isntalling anything. After crap loads of hours on the phone with Apple Support we finally got it stable - and then after installing a single program built for the OS, it went back to crazy crap fest. I think it took me 2 months to get that machine up and running and stable enough to do live recordings. Needless to say, I learned a lot about troubleshooting macs right off the bat - which is so much different than the windows world I'm accustomed to. I'm sure it's plausible to blaim it on user error though...but you can't blaim hardware failures on the user. We've been through 2 harddrives, a monitor, and I believe a stick of RAM within 2 years. Maybe we just got a lemon machine [6] Since then I've worked on half a dozen macs all with their own wierd quirks - and these were managed by people that were hardcore mac fanatics.

I definetly agree that they do a lot of other things better, but they aren't perfect either. Like I mentioned earlier, I do different things on each machine because they each have their own advantages. The downside is you don't always get to have a mac, windows, and unix machine in your office all at the same time - unless you're extremely hardcore and have a lot of cash to throw around.