Desktops forum: Who has the overall best out of the box desktop design?

Who cares what it looks like!!!

Apple - OS X.

The rest - Windows.

How much CPU time does Sony's "GUI" take? PLUS the other crap ( antivirus, spamblockers, etc ) you need to run to make this half a$$@d OS work - somewhat reliably?

Windows has been flawed since Micro$oft and IBM parted ways - going back to the OS/2 days. OS/2 had it right. Windows 2.0 and further just keeps digging the hole bigger and bigger.

Who cares what the compute looks like? I spend my time looking at the stuff on the screen, not the design of the computer. Of the 4 computers around me at the moment, my feet are propped on one of them, a second has piles of paper laying on it, the other two are stuck in a corner and I remote desktop to the, I dont even know what color they are. I feel sorry for the fools who spend time staring at their box.

My computers are hidden under a desk, in a corner or mounted in a rack. I want a good keyboard, a mouse that fits my hand and a monitor that is large enough to read with a sharp display.

Not true. There are stil thing that can't be done on a Mac, and software that is not available for the Mac. These are the only reasons I have both a Mac and a PC. And, I have at least 100 times more trouble with the three PCs we have than with the one Mac that never seems to have problems.

So, it's obvious you don't take care of things so why would you care what it looks like. Some of us do care, and like things to look orderly and ascetic.

Apple got it soo right in the design. I mean I never owned a mac, but their design is so nice that I was looking for a mac looking case when I was building my pc. It's just that mac's cases look simple, not like these extreme mods cases with all the LED lights that you can fit inside that will blind you at night if you look at them. And for pc manufactures, their cases aren't that good looking (Dell's cases used to be almost a box with the hardware inside). I think HP comes after Apple because of the functionality of their design.

You said that right buddy.

"I think Apple makes some very attractive designs--but--I want performance, ease of operation..."

Someone hasn't tried to make a movie on his Windows machine yet. Compared to the iLife experience, making a movie in Windows XP is a test in patience, and Vista doesn't make it that much better; even 3rd party basic video applications don't do what iLife does at the same price.

As for your comment "Today, computer are so good, it's had to go wrong if you know much at all", I would beg to differ. Many people will buy a cheap machine (like a low-end Dell or HP) and expect it to be able to do what a mid-range (Apple, Sony) or high-end (Alienware) machine can do. And those are people that claim they have IT degrees and certifications in most anything related to the field. With so many choices out there, it's easy to make a mistake that you'll need to upgrade (or possibly fix) within the next 6 months.

What are you talking about!?!? iUse the iMac for all of my iOffice iWork! And when i'M done iPlay the huge iLibrary of iGames for my iMac .. although it only consists of that stupid iChess game. Hmm..

iCrap!

I think if I want to continue playing actual games and not the crap on the crapple, I'll stick with my Windows machine. Oh wait.. for the iFanBoys out there that's Windoze or Window$. Yeah, directx 10 pwns you tree hugging iNuts.

Let me get the iDiaper so we can change you.

AMEN!!!!

...as in, of my point. Since I did take the time to cite them, I'm well aware of some of the differences between Mac and Windows boxes. I simply disbelieve the proposition put forward by the iZealots (like yourself?) that the iLife apps are SO compelling and useful to so many folks as to make the Mac their platform of choice. Then again, since the Mac has, what, 5% of the market, maybe everyone who's boat is thusly floated have already gone Mac. My mistake!

My further point about substituting iWork for iLife is to give potential Mac buyers some freedom of choice. If you don't want/need the iLife stuff, why not have the choice of getting iWork if it gives you more of what you need, and for no extra charge? Again, just me sayin', but that could be a nice chip-away at the value proposition of Windows boxes versus Macs. I didn't say anything about included software on Windows boxes, which is nowadays more shovel/crap-ware than good productivity apps. Back when I got my first Dell in 2001, it came with Microsoft Works and a FULL version of Word. As you say, that don't come for free anymore regardless of which company you buy from.

...and we just live in it, regardless of platform/box choice. As I said earlier, 'Doze boxes aren't inherently better than any other choice, and at least in the malware arena are demonstrably not the best choice, especially for the inexperienced or casual user. The Macs are clearly more secure in that respect, and of course if you're a video or music professional, the high-end tools are mostly if not entirely on that platform as well.

My decision came down to flexibility and overall ease of use, including expandability. Having come from what became a niche platform (the Amiga), I had no intention of hooking up with another small-market brand, as Apple was and still is, though it has expanded its reach in recent years. I had huge misgivings about being assimilated by the Borg of Redmond, but I'm more than okay with it now. My 'puter does what I want and as I want it to, and I can modify it to fit my future needs and even whims with little effort. Then again, I'm a power user/hobbyist, so things like popping in new hard drives or swapping out video cards are all but trivial to me. Sure, you can do the same with the Macs, but it ain't so easy to do with the iMacs and you're stuck with the video card what brung ya. Even with the Mac Pro, you can have whatever c0ck-of-the-walk video card you want, but if you don't have a driver for it, it's little more than a hunk of wires and chips on a resin board for all the use you'll get out of it. This also limits your gaming on the Mac, at least in the FPS/envelope-pushing arena, and my fave-rave CoX has yet to make an appearance there, if it ever will. And as I note elsewhere on this thread, I personally think my Dell XPS 710 aesthetically cleans the clock of any other box out there!

Ultimately (and obviously!), you choose what works for you, and if it does what you want/need, then rock on wit yo bad self! It's the zealotry that gets one down, which I note (perhaps predictably) most often from Mac enthusiasts. Dunno how it starts, whether it's market-share envy or there's a gang of snotty Windows users out there trolling on Mac forums, but from whatever source the iZealots come, their rhetoric gets enormously tiresome real effin' quick! One tries not to egg them on by returning fire, but you can only take so much before you gots ta open up your own self, y'know?

The real question should have bee - who has the worst design --
Realy, I agree with all the who cares, except for this oversized pill box of Sony
For a game box - may be - cool sells there, but for a computer on my desk ( under / next to / in my desk ) Round wastes space - its that simple. -----

(The new business exuse for billing / payment bproblems "My computer roled off the desk - :=) LOL :=)

I agree that HP makes the best lookin PCs on the market, but I would rather have a Mac if I weren't forced to work on a PC. Macs don't go down like PCs. PCs are a technician's dream.