What computer system do you use?

I wonder if anyone has done research correlating computer operating systems and personality factors (Meyer-Briggs, MMPI, whatever).

I was on a book promotion tour in 1984, for Computer Wimp, and was asked everywhere what I used. Answer then: Epson QX-10 with the ValDocs operating system. Got a phone call at my hotel in Detroit or Minneapolis or somewhere from an Apple VP who said, in effect, "If we gave you one of our new Macintoshes, would you consider using it, and telling people if you do?" Sure. A Mac 128 was waiting at my next destination. There have been a few other models between the 128 and the current eMac, but they've all been Apple.

John

 

Apple Computers are allied with the forces of darkness. See here.

 

The site purports,

"Hypnotically encased iMacs trick unsuspecting computer users into accepting Darwinism."

It sounds like Apple has invented a technique that even Microsoft doesn't have, Cyber-indoctrination.

 

The number of linux users seems to be right. Don't care for linux myself, but I will never doubt its validity as an operating system. Most serious linux users i know of still use w2k for all desktop applications.


I have to admit I miss DOS

 

I am a physician - and I have been using MACS since the Mac 512. Over the years I have purchased probably 15-20 Macs - some new and others refurbished or used for myself, my office staff and their children, my godchildren. Currently using a G5

 

I thought that Mac users did not have opposable thumbs... (only kidding). Did you know that the girls on Sex and the City use a Mac.....

PC users unite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I absolutely love the concept of open sourcing that Linux uses. I must admit, however, that I use Windows XP.

Cy

 

Now I'm intrigued by the three "other" responses. What else is there? Altair? Commodore PET?

 

For the past several years, PC/Windows has enjoyed a market share consistently in the low 90s percent. Macintosh OS-based computers tend to hover at the 3-6% range, while the remaining utilize another operating system (Linux, Solaris, etc.)

Apple has always had an extremely loyal following. It continues to put out very high quality products (both hardware and software) and there are enough artists, video production and multimedia/web developers (not to mention Bill Gates haters) to keep Apple as a viable option (at least apart from mainstream business). Apple's market share in education has dropped markedly from its dominance in the 80s and early 90s.

Apple has had its share of

...BRILLANCE (e.g. making Xerox's graphical user interface, mouse operation and ethernet available in mass market**, seamlessly integrating hardware and software with minimum conflicts and being the first to offer true plug-and-play)

...and STUPIDITY (e.g. making the Macintosh incompatible with the Apple II, thus cutting off their huge installed base; creating and then pullng the plug on the Mac-clone market; never releasing a MAC-OS for PC).

Both PCs and Macs have their advantages and disadvantages. I use whatever is used at my place of employment (colleges and universities). Currently, they are Windows-based PCs.

Tony Piña
Faculty, Instructional Technology
Cal State U. San Bernardino



** when Xerox executives were too narrow-minded to see what they had. We might all be using Xerox computers if Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had been at Xerox.

 

My last empoyer used both macs and wintel operating system computers. According to security it was much harder to hack into, or create a virus, for Mac computers.

 

What is totally amazing...

to me anyway. The fact that Linux users almost outnumber Mac users. Wow.

 

Re: What is totally amazing...

According to an article I read earlier this year, Mac had a 3.5% share of desktop market, Linux had 2%.

I am one of the Linux users (at home -- at work I have Win XP and concomitant daily crashes.)

 

I'm entering this post on a Linux system which I was exposed to in a course I had in my UMass Lowell IT program. From which I can now say I'm an alum. The instructor assigned some compelling literature about the merits of open source code. I started with Red Hat but I've recently migrated to SuSE. I still use XP at times; some of the apps can be difficult to master and the documentation isn't always helpful. But I'm sufficiently proficient that I don't think I'm going to bother purchasing any 2004 Symantec products.

 

Yes, that is interesting. FreeBSD?

 

I'm one of them, so I'll fess up to Solaris 5.9 on a Sun Ultra 5 at work.

Angela

 

Ewwww. No thanks. I never really got on with Xerox Lisp machines, despite the really pretty interface.

Angela

 

The graphical user interface popularized by the Macintosh was invented at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). While the Xerox executives virtually ignored what their brilliant researchers were doing, a very bright young man (Steve Jobs) toured the facility, returned excitedly to his compatriots and changed the face of personal computing.

Tony

 

1 Ghz eMac G4. (I've been using Macs since late 1987, when I trained on an old Mac Plus with two floppy drives and no hard drive.) Have to use a PC at work, but wouldn't buy one for myself.

anne

 

I failed to answer the original question (well, you know about us absent-minded professors)...I have used many different PCs and Macs over the years and currently have a 2.2 GHz Toshiba notebook with a nice wireless card, so I can move around and stay connected.

Tony
Faculty, CSU San Bernardino

 

Xerox (and PARC) is an interesting example of a company with lots of brilliant ideas, but terrible management.

I've been a Windows user, for better or worse, all my life, since that's the OS used by all my employers.

A couple of years ago, my eighty year old mother decided she wanted to enter the digital age and get a computer. I bought her an IMac, thinking it would be easier for her to learn.

We had nothing but problems with it. It failed to boot up about 50% of the time (a blinking ? was the result). Reloaded the OS a few times under the advice of Apple tech support etc. After a few months of frustration, Apple acknowledged it was a hardware problem. Got it serviced, and that fixed the problem for awhile; however, it's failing to boot up again.

My mother gave up in frustration, as she concluded that all computers must be this unreliable (how can you blame her?)

When the computer did work, I was totally unimpressed by the OS. I thought the interface was fairly clunky.

I'm often frustrated by Windows, and MS software in general, but I have to say that I think Windows has surpassed the Apple interface. Unless your niche is digital movie editing, I don't see much compelling evidence for an Apple.