Cross-platform Relationships?

[Msterbeau]

http://www.sexerati.com/2007/01/22/cross-p...m-relationship/

This is kinda funny... although you extend it to other hobbies or purchasing preferences and ask - Does it really something about the person, or does it really matter?

[BrassFusion]

And on some level, this kind of brand loyalty makes sense. In certain circles, your OS of choice is used as shorthand for the type of person you are. Mac users are the style conscious hipsters who value streamlined design. Linux users are community-oriented, socially conscious, and often more than a bit idealistic, with a dedication to free software that sometimes trumps practicality. Windows users are often middle of the road: far more concerned with daily life than the nuances of computers, they just want something that’ll get their work done and get them through the day (or else they’re dedicated gamers whose devotion to all the latest games necessitates a Windows box – but those people are usually too busy playing World of Warcraft to actually get out and date.)

I dunno. Maybe the author's just shallow.

[pomba gira]

I dunno. Maybe the author's just shallow.

I would say so... "in certain circles, blah blah blah..." gawd, I'm glad I don't move in those kinds of circles.

Guess I'm about to find out if it really matters tho... my new sweetie is a hardcore Macboy... he keeps making comments about "the dark side" every time I can't find something on his 'puter.

[Msterbeau]

I would say so... "in certain circles, blah blah blah..." gawd, I'm glad I don't move in those kinds of circles.

Guess I'm about to find out if it really matters tho... my new sweetie is a hardcore Macboy... he keeps making comments about "the dark side" every time I can't find something on his 'puter.

Microsoft is evil... *Whispers*

[Rayne]

Microsoft is evil... *Whispers*

I'll never buy another windows based computer ...

I will note though, I also said I'd never buy a red car ....

[Fierce Critter]

I have used both systems. And I genuinely prefer Windows.

I really don't understand what's so "difficult" about the interface. Granted, I'm a slightly above average user, with some training, and have always had good people available to tutor me in things tecchie. So maybe I have an advantage others don't.

I actually ended up not caring for some of the so-called "simplicity" of the Mac interface once I got proficient on Windows.

I really don't get the rancor between users, either. Of course, I think people who buy Fords need to question their sanity, and get pissed off when I see those "piss on Chevy" Calvin stickers on Ford windows. So maybe I do get it a little.

[Rayne]

I have used both systems. And I genuinely prefer Windows.

I really don't understand what's so "difficult" about the interface. Granted, I'm a slightly above average user, with some training, and have always had good people available to tutor me in things tecchie. So maybe I have an advantage others don't.

I actually ended up not caring for some of the so-called "simplicity" of the Mac interface once I got proficient on Windows.

I really don't get the rancor between users, either. Of course, I think people who buy Fords need to question their sanity, and get pissed off when I see those "piss on Chevy" Calvin stickers on Ford windows. So maybe I do get it a little.

I am more versed in Windows ... and I prefer my Mac.

... I agree on the Ford thing, btw.

[Vampyro]

Well, to be fair, i do enjoy the computer, and in high school i have used macs. I've noticed that overall they are better. Less bugs, better picture and sound quality, an operating system that can't really be compared with windows, they're just different in their own ways. But unfortunately, I've never had the $$ to be able to get a mac, and have grown very acustomed to windows. Windows however, is NOT the same as internet explorer. (though ie i do favor considerably a great deal over netscape, but that's a whole new can of worms) But to say what OS i use dictates what type of person i am... yeah sounds like the author never got out of high school phase. Windows - stoners (sorry mates) Mac - artistics people, Linux - geeks, and a spill and spell for all the jock itches out there. Yep.. same old same old, only this time the geeks are segmenting their own clicks amongst eachother... mouse clicks that is.

[Fierce Critter]

I am more versed in Windows ... and I prefer my Mac.

... I agree on the Ford thing, btw.

Hee hee. I wondered if you, in particular, were going to flame me for that one.

(No offense, Ford buyers, I was mostly kidding. Mostly. )

Does seem to be a family-bred thing, though, this car-make preference. I know I'm threadjacking (NO! Not Critter ) but I wonder if others experience it the same way. My dad has ALWAYS bought Chevy's. In more recent years, he's jumped the road over to Chrysler a few times (RAM truck, Dodge Voyager minivan), but I don't think I'll ever see the day he buys a Ford. Myself as well.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I have always felt that Mac's were computers for people too stupid to use a real computer... but thats just me. Now that Macs are exactly the same thing as PCs (hardware wise) I dont see the big beneifit in using a Mac that you cant get software for and cant do everythign you want it to. Mac used to have niche markets were it was better at doing certian things than PCs... that was 10 years ago. Sicne that time.. PCs can those things just as well if not better... Page Layout and audio creations... Print Houses used to prefer Macs... they could do page layout and color matching far better than pcs... but only because you could not get the same software for a PC (Quark Express and Photoshop). You can now... have been able to for 6 years or so. Audi creation? Back int he day... a sound card was an add-on for a PC.. so ofcourse tha Mac was better... but those days are long past...

Ford and Chevy...

PC or Mac...

your choice

Same thing either way.

[Msterbeau]

One of the things I've found about OS's is that once you get used to one, switching can be a pain if the other OS doesn't have a way of doing a particular function in a similar way. There are certain things in WinXP that I like more then on OSX. There are certain things I like better on OSX then Win XP. But I have to disagree with both the "Mac''s are good for creative work" stance and the "Macs are no better then PC's" stance. Both Macs and PCs these days have largely the same sorts of software available to them. They both can produce gorgeous results with the right operator at the mouse/keyboard. Experts may be able to tell you that certain functionality (Like how one handles color.. or whatever) might be better... I don't see it in day to day use. On the other hand, I think the out of the box experience on a Mac is far better. There's more stuff included so that you can be productive right away. Macs are always at the top of the quality ratings too. And then there's overall usability. Macs flat out cause less headaches. I've used them both over the past few years... and the Mac experience was just plain less painful. No registry bullshit. No virus bullshit. No spyware bull shit. No crashing every other day bullshit. No Outlook doesn't work because I installed SP2 bullshit. As for real computers... for every person that knows their PC in and out... knows what to type at the command line.. and downloads shareware on a regular basis... there are probably 1000 users who don't give a shit about that and they just want the thing to work.

[Rayne]

Hee hee. I wondered if you, in particular, were going to flame me for that one.

(No offense, Ford buyers, I was mostly kidding. Mostly. )

Does seem to be a family-bred thing, though, this car-make preference. I know I'm threadjacking (NO! Not Critter ) but I wonder if others experience it the same way. My dad has ALWAYS bought Chevy's. In more recent years, he's jumped the road over to Chrysler a few times (RAM truck, Dodge Voyager minivan), but I don't think I'll ever see the day he buys a Ford. Myself as well.

I know I'm threadjacking ... but I have to reply.

My parents owned mainly Pontiac's and Dodge's when I was growing up. I learned to drive in a 1982 Pontiac Firebird (my mom's) then later a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix. The first car I bought (I was 15) was a Chevrolet Beretta that the engine had blown in. It would take me nearly two years to rip it apart and find the money and the time to put the new engine in and get it on the road ... but I did it.

In the meantime my parents had a Dodge full-size conversion van and a Ford F-250 conversion pick-up truck (as far as trucks go ... this thing was NICE ... and I was impressed ... it was a brand new Ford). My parents later declared bankruptcy and had the Ford truck taken from them - 6 months after they got it.

I got the Beretta on the road in early 1999. It was a 1988. It would run with minour repairs until 2005 when I gave it to my little brother so he could sell it to pay his rent. It had a minour linkage issue with the transmission at the time where it wouldn't recognize it was fully in Park and wouldn't start. You'd have to throw it in Neutral to start it. I'm pretty sure my brother must have told the new owner ... but three months after he sold it I got a letter from the city of Wayne saying it had been abandoned and the title traced back to me. I went to see the car ... I still had a master key, threw it in neutral and it started right up. I debated then and there if it was worth the money to bail it out of impound (I had another car then ... so it would have one again become my "toy" ... but I decided to file the paperwork to shift claim to my brother instead, then he filed the purchaser's agreement and had the fees served on the "rightful owner" instead).

That Beretta had been my toy for YEARS. We got bored one day and clamped the springs. Later that winter, the clamps managed to come off, so we cut the springs. My little brother and his best friend asked me one day when they were bored if they could play with the interior. Little did I know, they would take half the dash and any other parts that would come off on the interior, off paint them gloss white then splatter them with blue. My headliner started to fall, so I hand painted 45 headliner tacks blue and tacked it back up. The windshield was smashed out of it once ... my brother got mad at me and took a hammer to it.

The windshield was replaced, then poor padding on a cracked body seam caused it to crack up the center a day later. Replaced it once more ... two days later a rock hit it on the freeway and left a chip square in the middle of the driver's side.

The last winter I had it ... the doors froze shut a lot. I had no choice but to dethaw them, as it was my only car for about 6 months until I got the one I had before the Mazda's. I had to get my daughter to school ... and even then she missed a lot of school because I couldn't unfreeze the doors. One day my ex (whom I was still sharing a house with when he was home on the weekends he actually came home (OTR trucker) ) had to get back to his truck for a load. The doors were frozen. It was very cold. He actually BROKE the driver's side door handle off trying to get in it. I would deal with no driver's side door handle until I got my Malibu.

That car and I went through a lot ... but you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, driving a 2 door car was kind of rough with 1, 2, 3, and later 4 kids. But I didn't complain, not once. Sure, the heat didn't work by the time I got rid of it ... but I didn't complain. The a/c had went out a few years before ... but I never said a word. It had roll down windows that eventually started to rust inside and were hard for me to crank with my carpal tunnel ... but I lived.

I have since owned two more Chevy's. One wasn't mine (it was in the ex's name) so I had no claim when we separated ... the other I totalled on Michigan Avenue in April of 2006.

If I EVER buy another American car ... it will be a Chevrolet.

Right now though, I'm sold on my imports.

(( I know this is WAYYYYY off topic but it's a subject quite dear to me, so I had to add this ))

[Rayne]

One of the things I've found about OS's is that once you get used to one, switching can be a pain if the other OS doesn't have a way of doing a particular function in a similar way. There are certain things in WinXP that I like more then on OSX. There are certain things I like better on OSX then Win XP.

I am in no way more used to my Mac than I am my Toshiba. I could probably do 500 more things on my Toshiba than I could on my Mac at this moment ... but I still prefer to use my Mac ... I can't even remember the last time I turned on my Toshiba to tell you the truth.

... Although I need to because it's not working properly when Phee tries to use it for music.

[Msterbeau]

*Snort*

[Msterbeau]

[Fierce Critter]

As to the cartoons, I had been thinking the other day that Windows is absurd for having so many different versions of the same OS - and I was just thinking specifically of XP, with it's Pro, Home, etc.

Then again, maybe by having so many different versions of the same OS (as illustrated by the cartoon above), they're catering to all the people out there who say, "this is good, but I wish it also did this..."

Double-edged sword.

And Rayne? You completely rock. The things you've done to cars. I'm truly impressed. The most I ever did was take a power stripper to my rusting '85 (I think) Celebrity, prime the holes without filling them in, paint them badly, and then do it all again when the rust came through a year later.

I'll say this - our '99 S-10 is completely falling apart piece by piece. Started with the interior (handles on seats, etc.), then the door (saggy hingepins, destroyed latch, etc), and the suspension is a joke. But you absolutely can NOT kill that Vortex engine.

[Rayne]

And Rayne? You completely rock. The things you've done to cars. I'm truly impressed.

Thank you.

You should see the work my little brother has done. He was just as good as I. He and I did a lot of "projects" together growing up in the same house.

My dad even offered to pay for his schooling in the automotive field. Offered to ship him anywhere he wanted to go (he didn't offer that to me!). My brother declined his offer.

He now has no job. Sells his blood for diaper money and is married to the most controlling person you've ever seen (and I have been married to controlling!) ...

It's very sad.

[Msterbeau]

But you absolutely can NOT kill that Vortex engine.

Give me 5 minutes with that thing, dear....