Any tips on using Ubuntu?

Also consider this from Engadget “And just think — last year you were singing Dino Dai Zovi’s praises for taking control of a MacBook Pro in nine whole hours. This year, the PWN 2 OWN hacking competition at CanSecWest was over nearly as quickly as the second day started, as famed iPhone hacker Charlie Miller showed the MacBook Air on display who its father really was. Apparently Mr. Miller visited a website which contained his exploit code (presumably via a crossover cable connected to a nearby MacBook), which then “allowed him to seize control of the computer, as about 20 onlookers [read: unashamed nerds] cheered him on.” Of note, contestants could only use software that came pre-loaded on the OS, so obviously it was Safari that fell victim here. Nevertheless, he was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement that’ll keep him quiet until “TippingPoint can notify the vendor,” but at least he’ll have $10,000 and a new laptop to cuddle with during his silent spell.”(engadget)

I think you just need an Iphone Bret, then you wont feel the need to turn to the Mac anymore. Also I have been looking for a steal on eaby for a Mac mini, if I can secure one for a very “very” cheap price I will let you use it for a few months. ….. but you might be waiting for a while.

Also the people who hate vista are like the people who hate the Iphone, usually most of the people that had problems with vista fit in to these categories:

1. They bought a cheap machine with XP and got the upgrade to vista and now their machine sucks because the hardware is actually not Vista compatible but for some reason they got the sticker stuck on there.
2. They are trying to use a windows 98 printer or device that is over two or three years old. It wont work and its not vista’s problem it’s the devices manufacturer because they wont write a current driver.
3. They changed the layout a tad with vista (which is really nice in my opinion I love being able to search for something I will never use menu’s again!). So many people get lost and confused because they don’t have there little green button to click anymore. Lets face it people hate change and they hate having to learn TECH, well i guess i cant blame them.

I guess I should end this comment before it becomes a blog post all its own lol. Sorry I just get slightly fired up about these subjects. : – )

The Mac world is enticing. There is the ‘coolness’ factor that is tempting. The thought of a more stable environment has me thinking. However, my Toshiba is running very smoothly (about two years now-knock on wood), as long as I don’t load it up with a ton of RAM draining stuff.

I suppose I’m looking for the ultimate compelling reason to make a switch. Mac’s are very pricey compared to the PC world and most of what I live in and work with each and every day are PC based programs – which would cost a bit more to make a Mac truly effective in how I operate.

As one pastor told me who recently made the switch, “Using a Mac is simply an entirely different way of doing things and it takes some time to get used to.”

I’m not sure I’m ready to live in two computing worlds.

However, the greatest drawback – which could be quite compelling – in staying with my PC world is Vista. The tech guys my church is working with don’t recommend it (and they are a Microsoft certified group). Now Microsoft does not sell XP unless you pay extra for it.

Perhaps what would help best is for someone out there in the web-world to give/loan me a Mac to use for a month comparing the two environments from a ministry standpoint and let me blog on it – any takers?

OS X is particularly useful if you stick with Apple solutions. For example, if you use iPhoto and .Mac (or Mobile Me now) it is pretty easy to do stuff like, pull pictures or video off a camera and put it online to share with friends. This isn’t a trivial process for a non technical person on Windows.

The other thing to consider is that with a Mac you can run OS X, Linux, or Windows. With a Dell, you can run Windows and Linux. Now if you primarily want to run Windows, I think I’d still go with a Dell or IBM, but the Apple hardware gives you more options of operating systems.

Another thing to consider is the release cycle. Apple comes out with a new version of the OS X every 18 months or so. Most of the time these have significant features that make things work better and easier. This is in addition to security and stability updates. Windows Vista was released 5 years after Windows XP. Windows release cycle isn’t necessarily a bad thing and in some ways the releases reflect the type of customers using each platform. However, if you will probably have new features sooner with OS X than you will with Windows.

On the hardware side of things, one of the downsides of a Mac laptop is the fact that you have to send it in for repair. If something goes wrong you are down for at least 3 days. I have had Dell’s in the past where something broke and they showed up the next day with a part to fix it.

I would be interested to know why some of the pastors at GCC are switching and the benefits, drawbacks to their pastoral ministry. Any general thoughts?

Stephen: I still call them Macintrash. I’m just now ready to the call the PCs trash too. Compatibility and expense has been a key issue with me as well in making any switch. I’m still quite undecided.