If you’ve ever heard a normal geek talk about Mac OS, I’m sure you haven’t heard positive things. The most common negative feedback toward Mac OS is that it’s limited in software and it’s not compatible with Windows computers. I’m here today to tell you that Mac OS X (notice the latest operating system, OS X, not previous Apple OSes) is not limited in application choices. Now the compatibility myth is also false, but we’ll save that for another time.
This application myth has been around for quite some time, and although it’s not true nowadays, that thought has always stuck in people’s minds. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that when visiting stores that sell software, you almost never see software for the Mac. Or, the myth could have come from the pre-Jobs era when this myth really was true. Whatever the reason, this myth is false.
There is a plethora of software available for the Mac, it’s just not in the common places you’d find Windows software. The majority of Mac applications live online, either on a third-party websites or in Apple’s store. Just because you can’t physically go out and buy them (which isn’t 100% true if you live near an Apple store), doesn’t mean the software isn’t out there. If fact most of the software you would never see in a store due to the fact that it’s free.
Most of time you even have several choices for a particular application. Take IM applications for example. There is iChat (which comes with OS X), Adium X, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messanger, and AIM. Office suites are another example. You have Microsoft Office 2004, OpenOSX: Office, and OpenOffice. So, for just about any given application task you have at least two options. And, what’s even better is the majority of the time those application choices are better than their Windows counterparts.
On top of the application choices, there are several applications which aren’t even on Windows (at least in a similar form). There is a free application called Quicksilver which is an application launcher. The program allows you to quickly launch applications and perform tasks all with a quick key combo and a few letters. Another application called SubEthaEdit is a collaborative text editor, allowing multiple people to work on the same project simultaneously.
Now gaming is still limited on a Mac, but that’s a minor thing for most of us. You’ll still find miniature games such as Solitaire or even Bejeweled; you just won’t be seeing Battlefield 2 anytime soon. If you’re into older games such as World or Warcraft, those games are available for Mac, and most popular games do eventually make it over to Mac; just several years later than their Windows release.
As you can see, how ever this myth of limited application choices started, it’s not a reality now. Throw any task at me and I can get it done using Mac; most of time even better than a Windows machine. As long as you’re not trying to use your Mac for gaming, you’ll survive in this Windows-centric world. You might even enjoy doing the task on a Mac, since often the task is much easier.
9 Comments
good article
You mention that more Mac software is available online rather than on the shelves … but I submit that the same is true for the PC.
I’ve been a PC user for 15 years, and I can honestly say that the amount of software that I’ve ever actually purchased in a store would fit on a modest CD rack. This goes all the way back to when I had an XT 8086 … granted, software came on 5.25″ floppies back then.
For as long as you’ve been ABLE to go online, I’ve been downloading software for my PC’s. And now, whenever I need to do “X” on my PC … I spend a few minutes on google and 9 times out of 10 I’ll find some freeware app for the PC to do exactly what I need … and probably never end up on a website that has my solution … but ONLY for the Mac.
I’m sorry, but the Apple world has a Loooooong way to go to catch up to the amount of software that is available for the PC … especially if you figure linux into the mix in addition to Windows. I don’t think Mac World will ever truly catch up either.
Why? Well, I think the issue comes down to user base. Most “geeky developer” types are PC users … these are the folks that are writing software, and they’re writing it for the platform they use. The Mac userbase is primarly “artsy types”, as well as neophyte users who buy a Mac because they perceive it to be more user friendly. The artsy-types produce lots of pretty pictures, great media, and nice looking webistes … but they’re not developing software. The neophytes … well, they’re not getting any viruses I guess.
Also, don’t expect to see a whole lot of gaming coming to the Mac platform either … not until Apple starts allowing 3rd party hardware manufacturers build things like high-horsepower video cards. Gaming developers are always pushing the bleeding edge of technology, and franky Macs tend to lag behind PCs in brute horsepower. (This may change SOME now that they’re going Intel Inside.)
There you have it in a nutshell. Don’t buy a Mac if you want access to lots of software, because it won’t be forthcoming.
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
The previous poster is uninformed.
“Apple world has a Loooooong way to go to catch up to the amount of software that is available for the PC … especially if you figure linux into the mix”
OS X is unix. A lot of linux programs compile and run in OSX. Google “Fink” or “darwinports”. Gentoo even ported their portage system to OS X.
“Well, I think the issue comes down to user base. Most “geeky developerâ€Â? types are PC users … these are the folks that are writing software, and they’re writing it for the platform they use. The Mac userbase is primarly “artsy typesâ€Â?, as well as neophyte users who buy a Mac because they perceive it to be more user friendly”
Not to mention scientists and Unix geeks everywhere. Being able to run Photoshop, Office and unix apps on the same box is a huge benefit. 5 years ago Slashdot was an Apple Bash-O-rama. Now Steve Jobs is their savior.
“There you have it in a nutshell. Don’t buy a Mac if you want access to lots of software, because it won’t be forthcoming.”
Do buy a Mac if you want lots of well designed software, excellent unix compatability, and the inability to run the myriad of windows viruses.
I know you’re feeling a bit of buyers remorse for having bought a mac but trying to lure other sheep into the same marketing line that you fell for is just shameful.
first box, I actually haven’t payed a dime for my OS X box. I’m using OSx86, so throw that idea out the window. However, from my testing of OSx86, I do plan to buy a real Mac once the consumer Intel Macs are released.
I do believe once the intel boxes are indeed out, there will be a lot more development for it. I currently develop for Linux in Qt, and it was a fun experience. I am far from professional, just for learning purposes only. However, I am ever so excited to learn Cocoa with Objective-C.
With linux, u have the über-geeks (and most of them are the slashdot fags anyways) where you have so many damn distrubtions out there. and each one is loyal to their distro and developing for it can be nightmarish bc of all the window managers and libraries and dependencies is so annoying.
Windows has the dll hell. i have developed for it, and its annoying. the vs.net ide is pretty good actually, and i do like c# but its too windows centric and the entire .net is changing c++ and visual basic; for the worse i think.
with mac, i think not only does it mean good things for the artsy types, but for the übergeek and their mom to use as well. i dont own a mac yet (just osx86 on a different partition) and i love it already. i used to be a mac basher, but to me, system 9 and its prior developments seemed very bland. and i used it in school so i wanted to use something different. now windows is getting bland and so many fucking problems i am so sick of it–i just want something that works, which is the mac.
yea i can use linux and love it, but it has too many problems to be a desktop pc–rather use it for a server, and use mac as my os and for windows, screw it, i dont play games anyways.
hardran -
[OS X is unix. A lot of linux programs compile and run in OSX. Google “Fink� or “darwinports�. Gentoo even ported their portage system to OS X.]
However, with Cygwin, I can compile and run most *nix apps on my windows box without rebooting. Granted support isn’t 100%, but most of the popualar apps are ported to deliver 99% of functionality under Cygwin. I can also dual-boot my PC with both *nix and Windows and have full support of either operating system any time I want it.
["Not to mention scientists and Unix geeks everywhere. Being able to run Photoshop, Office and unix apps on the same box is a huge benefit. 5 years ago Slashdot was an Apple Bash-O-rama. Now Steve Jobs is their savior."]
Hmmm … when I was working in biotech (Biogen, inc - 1995 - 2000) everybody had PC’s on thier desks. Most of the Unix geeks I know have home-built PC boxes … My point is that there are outliers in every demographic. For instance, I know plenty of designers and even two video editors who prefer the PC platform. Ask them why, and they’ll say first because it was cheaper for the same performance, and they wanted the ability to custom configure thier machines, not just take what the manufacturer wants to put inside the box.
[Do buy a Mac if you want lots of well designed software, excellent unix compatability, and the inability to run the myriad of windows viruses.]
There is a ton of well designed software for the PC too, don’t fool yourself into thinking that the Mac has the market cornered on things that are well designed. The PC platform has “high” *nix compatability under Cygwin, and 100% *nix compatibility if you just install the OS.
I can’t dispute that windows users have more to worry about from viruses, but I can say that viruses are fairly easy to avoid if you just take a few common-snese steps. In all my years of working on the PC … I have NEVER been infected by a virus.
But … let’s think for a moment why all the viruses hit the PC. It’s because a virus writer wants to hit the largest number of computers possible. As such, he writes his virus for the PC platform and Windows OS. Once someone decides to write a Mac virus, you’re all going down, because you all think you’re impervious and take no steps to protect yourselves from infection.
You said over on Digg that I was a “Flaming windows fanboy”. I don’t know what exactly I said that you thought was a flame. I also don’t know what I said that would make you think I’m a “Windows fanboy”. It is possible to write an opinion about your preferred platform without wearing the “fanboy” label. By extraction of your own logic, you are a flame-feeding Mac fanboy. Ok … that’s out of my system, let’s just stick to the subject at hand instead of resorting to personal attacks.
Gnascher:
“However, with Cygwin, I can compile and run most *nix apps on my windows box without rebooting. Granted support isn’t 100%, but most of the popualar apps are ported to deliver 99% of functionality under Cygwin.”
In a Mac you can do this without rebooting, and Hardran never even mentioned rebooting at this point in his post. And Cygwin is EMULATING a Linux environment, while OS X is RUNNING ON a linux variant, it’s worlds apart.
“I can also dual-boot my PC with both *nix and Windows and have full support of either operating system any time I want it.”
As well as in a Mac… but you posted in January, and Boot Camp was released in April, so, fine.
“Hmmm … when I was working in biotech (Biogen, inc - 1995 - 2000) everybody had PC’s on thier desks.”
Welcome to 2006/2007…
“My point is that there are outliers in every demographic. For instance, I know plenty of designers and even two video editors who prefer the PC platform.”
Hardran wasn’t talking about outliers: there a LOT of Unix geeks and scientist using Macs for work, they’re not that rare. Macs are used anywhere from molecular and medical imaging, to medium size super computers for data crunching.
“There is a ton of well designed software for the PC too, don’t fool yourself into thinking that the Mac has the market cornered on things that are well designed.”
Good point, but I have my doubts… by the same logic of your posts: for the last 15 years, I have seen much better applications for the same objectives as in PC’s, but designed much better in a Mac. Who knows? Maybe it does have the market cornered on things well designed.
“The PC platform has “highâ€? *nix compatability under Cygwin, and 100% *nix compatibility if you just install the OS.”
Stupid comment… Cygwin is not a way to have high compatibility wih Unix in Windows, is like saying a PowerPC Mac has 100% compatibility with Windows because you installed VirtualPC. And the PC platform isn’t in question here, Windows is, so if you install Unix to have high compatibility, well it isn’t Windows anymore, now is it?
“I can’t dispute that windows users have more to worry about from viruses, but I can say that viruses are fairly easy to avoid if you just take a few common-snese steps. In all my years of working on the PC … I have NEVER been infected by a virus.”
Right, and because YOU have never been infected by a virus, I should believe you have good common-sense. If there someone out there that wants to get you, they will get you: you just been lucky… or non-important.
“But … let’s think for a moment why all the viruses hit the PC. It’s because a virus writer wants to hit the largest number of computers possible. As such, he writes his virus for the PC platform and Windows OS. Once someone decides to write a Mac virus, you’re all going down, because you all think you’re impervious and take no steps to protect yourselves from infection.”
Oh please… that argument has been played over and over, and it’s just plain dumb. “Don’t shit where you eat”, Gnascher, a very important motto in the hacker arena. And the Mac virus has been tried, over and over, with small success. You think that a virus having potential for a wide audience is incentive enough for a real virus writer? I would assume that they would want a challenge. Most of the “virus writers” that you’re thinking of are posers who leech from others’ work. A variety of viruses were written for a Symbian-based mobile phone with only a couple of thousands sold. This argument is only a probable reason of the Windows virus; the fact of the matter is that we don’t know what drives a person to write a virus, so don’t make believe you do.
“You said over on Digg that I was a “Flaming windows fanboyâ€?. I don’t know what exactly I said that you thought was a flame.”
I don’t know, maybe the stupid classification of mac users to the sort of “artsy-types [who] produce lots of pretty pictures”, denigrating the labor of phographers, and neophytes. And in, the same paragraph: “Once someone decides to write a Mac virus, you’re all going down.”
“I also don’t know what I said that would make you think I’m a “Windows fanboyâ€?.”
You can usually spot them when they begin shouting the “quantity beats quality” argument… oooh, the Plague back in the mid-15th century must’ve been awesome since it had like a 85% market share in Europe.
“It is possible to write an opinion about your preferred platform without wearing the “fanboyâ€? label. By extraction of your own logic, you are a flame-feeding Mac fanboy. Ok … that’s out of my system, let’s just stick to the subject at hand instead of resorting to personal attacks.”
So you resort to a personal attack as a way to start sticking to the subject at hand. Dick… no wonder this page hasn’t been commented on in more than a year.
Gentlemen, please stick to the virtues and woes of the hardware/software. Personal bickering over who is right/wrong is irrelevant and does not advance the discussion. Despite apparent personal agendas, you managed to slip in some useful information and I thank you for it.
I logged on to look at differences and availability/compatibility. I started with an IBM PC in 1982 running DOS 1.1 and Wordstar 1.0, and have worked on the PC ever since. I just got a huge scare with fatal flaws on a new DELL running Vista (at first it couldn ‘t find my router, and after shutdown to do the power-off with computer, router and cable modem, Windows Vista wouldn’t boot. I am a musician and write all of my arrangements in Finale (originally written for the Mac and distributed on a disk that contains versions for both OSs. I schedule events and create billing payroll and tax information on Exel, and want to know if my files and records are transferable. All of my material for my web site and for contracts is generated with PageMaker (also written initially for the Mac).
Questions to floor sales reps made it clear their assurances were based more on the need to sell than on quality data and knowledge.
If any reader has and can share information on my question it would be appreciated.
Don C.
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