RANT ALERT II:
I sometimes run across articles with references to Mac “Fanboys,” the people who prefer Macs to Windows. The pejorative is hogwash, bunk, poppycock, horsefeathers, hooey, twattle, a shibboleth of those with Mac envy.
If it wasn’t just a more pleasant experience working on a Mac, I’d still have to keep one around to find information on how to avoid being sideswiped by Microsft little features.
Today for example. I fired up the PC to see how the notoriously buggy IE would render the CSS for a new page I had just authored. Unlike Apple, which sends its painless updates four, maybe five times a year. I was greeted by yet another Win-Vista update alert, which plodded along for serveral minutes after launch. I don’t want malware, so I usually follow the Win prompt to get the critical patches.
First it downloaded, then it labored to install, then it has to do something else after shutdown. Today it stalled at 94% complete. The computer restarted and re-ran the install back to 94%, where upon it restarted and re-ran back to 94% three times; four times; five times looping to 94% then restarting, all the time warning me not to shutdown. Ha, like I could shutdown this infernal machine! There is no manual off switch to kill the never-ending loop. After trying “F8″ then “Control,” then “Esc,” I went to my Mac and looked up “Safe Mode.”
A sticker note I had pasted on the face of my laptop was correct after all. I needed to use “F8″ (and we all know what that “F” stands for), but I couldn’t just hold down F8 during restart. I had to tap it like a fool during startup or watch it keep cycling through its stupid little loop. Finally, after minutes of nonsense, I was able to select reset to a prior install, and then wait.
Minutes later, I was back where I started, and had to to ask myself, Should I go through this obnoxious routine again just to possibly get a security update, or should I ignore it and take the risk? Easy. Ignore; forget it! Perhaps I’m leaving the machine open to some botnet attack, but what do I care? At least this Frisbee runs for now. A tragedy of the commons perhaps, but so be it. I’d wasted enough time.
Macs are about twice the price of pc laptops, but they’re worth every pinching penny and then some. Worth it in time saved, in frustration avoided, in repairs bills dodged, and better security.
So I also must ask, who’s the Fanboy? The people who know how much better the Mac works, or the die-hard Win fanatics, who wish to inflict their sorry software angst on everyone else?
Maybe I’ll check that CSS tomorrow.
