or, another plug for Apple!
So I saw this delightful number this morning at Gerard Vanderleun's American Digest:
Last night I had one of the most frightening dreams a man can have. I dreamt that someone, who hated me very deeply, got me a new computer for Christmas. I woke up screaming, but the dream persisted. The horror! The horror!
...
This Christmas puppy came loaded with Fritterware. It had Pantless OS, BrokenWindows 2010, HomelessOffice 2004, Internet Destroyer, Fretscape, Opensource Godzilla, iEverthingEverywhere and Pong. The Paperclip was back as the host of a computer training program aptly named RageMaker. When I opened the box in my nightmare my first impulse was to rip open all my other presents in hopes that someone had given me a gun so I could just shoot myself.
Nothing is worse than life itself than a fully loaded new computer, and I've been using them for nearly 20 years. Setting up a new computer is like getting ready to French Kiss an elephant; you know it will be a new experience, but you know it won't taste like veal cordon blue.
*snerk* When I got home from the Apple Store in Houston with my MacBook, you know what I did? Turned it on, plugged in my Ethernet cord and off I went. And so it has gone since I've had it. As far as I remember there weren't any drivers to install or anything like that. In any event it was arguably a hell of a lot better deal than was a comparably-equipped Windows laptop, even with the higher price. The only things I've installed on it besides AOL Desktop was Microsoft Office for Mac, the Flip4Mac Windows Media adapter and ShapeShifter, and the machine runs just as smoothly as it did when I got it out of the box. The only issues I've run into with the Mac OS are with third-party programs that have certain issues with the Mac OS and reputations for shitty tech support anyway. I don't know if there's as much freeware and such on something like a Dell that you'd order direct instead of going to Walmart, Best Buy or wherever, but either way I think a Mac is still a better deal, even (and in Microsoft's case, especially) with the computer manufacturers drafting of customers as their guinea pigs. I've been using Mac OS X Leopard for a little bit and so far it seems to be just as reliable and stable as Tiger. For those in the market for a new desktop OR laptop, I honestly can do nothing but recommend the Mac if you're looking for a low-frustration experience.
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