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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > what a mac really can't do, or can't do well?

what a mac really can't do, or can't do well? (Page 2)
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seen_xu  (op)
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Jun 20, 2006, 04:18 PM
 
dup
( Last edited by seen_xu; Jun 21, 2006 at 03:00 AM. )
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seen_xu  (op)
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Jun 21, 2006, 02:45 AM
 
read a article somewhere, but can't remember it clearly anymore, maybe the big problem behind the scene is mac using Mach kernel which runs slow comparing to the performance of other kernel like linux and BSD are using, under the same hardware enviroment, mac os x is even the slowest choice. and some rumors said, maybe Apple would switch their kernel on 10.5 or 10.6 ?! not sure, but whatever...
( Last edited by seen_xu; Jun 21, 2006 at 03:01 AM. )
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ism
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Jun 21, 2006, 03:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by j3tang
Greetings from Fellow Mech Eng!
A rare breed: mac using mech eng

I knew I'd missed one (ABAQUS).

I've used Matlab, for personal use I use Octave.

Mathcad isn't the fastest thing or best thing for doing complicated maths, but it is really good at documenting your calcs nicely whilst doing them at the same time. Perhaps PTC will get in running on other OSs now they've bought it. I don't hold out much hope for it though.

I did forget Mathmatica CalcCenter, that's running on OSX now so should be a decent replacement for Mathcad.
     
Gavin
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Jun 21, 2006, 06:59 AM
 
Most of the things mentioned here really are 3rd party issues, not a problem or shortcoming in Macs.

windows software that needs porting. cad, games, business software.
performance tuning for ppc - macromedia, ms, games, etc. this should improve with the intel switch.
lack of / mediocre drivers and utilities for add-on cards and peripherals. tv/graphics cards, scanners, etc.

These things are needed but you can't really blame apple.

I can think of a few things the mac itself can be blamed for.

non-destructive disk re-partitioning in disk utility. although boot camp seems to hint that it will be there in 10.5. I can do this in windows and linux.

better previews

windows' wizards really can be helpful if you don't know what you are doing. they just need to get out of your way if you DO know what your doing. os x could have a dummies/learning mode or something that did more hand holding for beginners.

With linux you can fine tune the performance. os x is geared for general purpose. It would be nice if I could tweak my media server for better threading and disk throughput.

have a mid-range mode that is expandable. iMac level performance in a case that allows drive bays, pci card slots, etc. An office / hobbyist mac.

It could posture itself better as an office/ business platform. windows has ways for companies to lock employees into a sandbox on their company issued machine. For example you can only use these 3 applications, can't install anything or fiddle with settings, etc. OS X has restricted user types but it doesn't feel as serious, more like something to safeguard your kids; business exec types aren't cool with that. It's a perception thing.

Macs also are not suited for appliance type activities. Like being a cash register, turning the lights off at a warehouse or driving a couple of elevators. I don't know that you would want one for that anyway.
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Simon
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Jun 21, 2006, 07:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by Gavin
non-destructive disk re-partitioning in disk utility. although boot camp seems to hint that it will be there in 10.5. I can do this in windows and linux.
Quoted for emphasis. I've been asking for this ever since OS X PB.

I've done this on Windows (Partition Magic) and Linux w/o any problems. I'm really hoping Boot Camps's live repartitioner is just a teaser for a real and flexible repartitioner in Leopard.
     
ism
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Jun 21, 2006, 10:24 AM
 
     
nickw311
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Jun 21, 2006, 11:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by msuper69
With the move to Intel, OS X is finally just as fast as Windows in most areas as far as I can tell. I always found it to be just a tad slow (UI-wise) prior to Intel. I find it ironic that the most powerful Mac I have owned over the past 8 years is also the one that cost the least. (Black MacBook).
I agree completely. I am now finally satisfied with the UI performance and I have moved entirely over to Macs with the switch to Intel. I just now need to get more Ram in my 'Book.
27" iMac C2D
     
seen_xu  (op)
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Jun 21, 2006, 04:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gavin
Most of the things mentioned here really are 3rd party issues, not a problem or shortcoming in Macs.

windows software that needs porting. cad, games, business software.
performance tuning for ppc - macromedia, ms, games, etc. this should improve with the intel switch.
lack of / mediocre drivers and utilities for add-on cards and peripherals. tv/graphics cards, scanners, etc.

These things are needed but you can't really blame apple.
yeah, you absolutely right, maybe I should correct the titile of the thread, or say it clearly "we need more decent 3rd party appz on mac", my intention is not only want to pointing out what end-user are really annoying about their product (like heating issue of powerbook) or over-all system performance (slow UI), but also hope mac to be more perfect as it could do.
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johndcurtis
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Jun 23, 2006, 01:52 AM
 
Mac can't run any training software for Heart Rate Monitors or other endurance training gadgets. This is not really a shortcomming of Apple, but the manufacturers of the devices. I've talked to reps at Timex and Polar and they have no plans to port their software -- ah well, I kinda like having a PC around that I use for exactly one thing.
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seen_xu  (op)
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Jun 23, 2006, 07:17 PM
 
maybe install windows on mac seems to be a good choice to avoid all these problems.
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iPond317
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Jul 21, 2006, 10:51 AM
 
My biggest problem is Windows Media on Intel. Before on PPC it would work with a majority of sites, and some it would tell me the file path was invalid or did not exist. Now, with Intel, I can watch some stuff in WMP, but I can't view anything in the browser since Flip4Mac isn't a UB yet. GRR!

I do like that a lot of sites are now converting video to Flash - this I have no problem with!
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mitchell_pgh
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Jul 21, 2006, 11:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by johndcurtis
Mac can't run any training software for Heart Rate Monitors or other endurance training gadgets. This is not really a shortcomming of Apple, but the manufacturers of the devices. I've talked to reps at Timex and Polar and they have no plans to port their software -- ah well, I kinda like having a PC around that I use for exactly one thing.
I know the feeling. I've run into many situations where I'll get a "Oh, it's easy... just run this program, and it will do everything for you easy-setup.exe.

It's far and few between, but it can be annoying. Usually the software isn't even all that great.
     
hemant
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Jul 21, 2006, 05:08 PM
 
Not sure if anyone earlier has mentioned MATLAB. The intel machines are not yet supported (atleast gui is not) and on the earlier macs they require X11. I would love it if it were to have a more mac like interface.
     
wadesworld
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Jul 21, 2006, 10:27 PM
 
read a article somewhere, but can't remember it clearly anymore, maybe the big problem behind the scene is mac using Mach kernel which runs slow comparing to the performance of other kernel like linux and BSD are using, under the same hardware enviroment, mac os x is even the slowest choice.
This is completely wrong and is an explanation put forth by some testers with incredibly poor testing methodology and absolutely no basis for their conclusions. Stop repeating it.
     
sushiism
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Jul 23, 2006, 01:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by xe0
XP even previews 3ds max files damn it - and XP renders file previews with blazing speed compared to OSX. When are we going to get improved file previews!
Thats 3DS MAX doing that not windows (I think it saves it like a JPG thumbnail), it would be even easier to do this on a mac because macs have brilliant custom icon support which windows can't do per file really. Look at Omni Graffle that assigns documents a custom icon with a preview of the diagram on it. If 3DS MAX was on a mac they could do this just as easily.


Mac OS X sometimes can be sluggish but its very rare the whole thing locks up, if an app is going slow like safari then the rest of the os is still very fast. Unlike this brand new PC sat next to me where one application can bring the entire system to a grinding halt. If anything my 800 mhz G4 is more responsive and smooth because of this.
     
mrcorwin
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Jul 23, 2006, 01:44 PM
 
CAM (Computer Aided Machining) is also non existent. I have to use a PC to design 3-d reliefs using art cam and then run my CNC mill from the PC too. I would kill to have a version of Artcam run on a Mac under OSX.
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Brass
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Jul 23, 2006, 06:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Simon
Quoted for emphasis. I've been asking for this ever since OS X PB.

I've done this on Windows (Partition Magic) and Linux w/o any problems. I'm really hoping Boot Camps's live repartitioner is just a teaser for a real and flexible repartitioner in Leopard.
Non-destructive re-partitioning of disks has been built into Mac OS X for some time, but currently requires using a command line tool. It would be very good if they included it in the GUI Disk Utility.
     
mduell
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Jul 23, 2006, 07:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by wadesworld
This is completely wrong and is an explanation put forth by some testers with incredibly poor testing methodology and absolutely no basis for their conclusions. Stop repeating it.
Here's the article he was refering to.

Please, for the benefit of all of us, explain why you don't think their methodology is valid.
     
tylerlg
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Jul 23, 2006, 10:09 PM
 
Hm , 1 thing a mac can't do ? Right Click !

I used to work with the system admin at my school for a few hours a day , and when we installed bootcamp on his MBP we could not figure out how to right click.

This is without a USB mouse of course.

Of course that's after we figured out of to CTRL + ALT + DLT just to log in.

Ah , windows.
     
Hinson
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Jul 23, 2006, 11:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by seen_xu
...
9. no good native dictionary applications like babylon on pc, stardict in linux world.
...
Not sure what you looking for here, but have you checked out SpellCatcher? I like its dictionary and thesaurus capability (though I haven't tried their non-English dictionaries), and it checks your spelling no matter what app your using. Also, unlike Word, the thesaurus will take a word of any case or tense and offer you its synonyms modified to fit that case or tense.

Just thought I'd share.


-Jay
     
Brass
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Jul 24, 2006, 01:26 AM
 
Originally Posted by tylerlg
Hm , 1 thing a mac can't do ? Right Click !

I used to work with the system admin at my school for a few hours a day , and when we installed bootcamp on his MBP we could not figure out how to right click.

This is without a USB mouse of course.

Of course that's after we figured out of to CTRL + ALT + DLT just to log in.

Ah , windows.
Right-Click on a MacBook (and I'm sure Mac Book Pro too) is simple. Go to System Preferences, Mouse settings, and turn on the feature to two finger tap, for second mouse button. Works very well, and feels very natural. Much like two finger scrolling.

This also works in Windows in Parallels just fine. If you want to use it in Windows under BootCamp, you'll have to wait until someone writes a Windows driver that fully utilises the Apple trackpad (or use a mouse).
     
Simon
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Jul 24, 2006, 02:30 AM
 
Originally Posted by Brass
If you want to use it in Windows under BootCamp, you'll have to wait until someone writes a Windows driver that fully utilises the Apple trackpad (or use a mouse).
Or just get Apple Mouse Utility and stay happy.
     
macwebcam
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Jul 24, 2006, 07:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by siMac
Strange, I've had nothing but problems. Quicktime Player quits unexpectedly every launch and Safari quits when loading any page with embedded WMV. Seems to be a known problem, the only suggested 'workaround' is to uninstall Flip4Mac. Uninstalled, still waiting for a fix...
One thing that makes this happen is if you have MindVision folder locked or with wrong privilages.
Flip4Mac installes/creates/.. stuff in this folder (Flip4Mac eSellerate_Engine protection). If it can not create files there it will crash.

Unlock and make read/write this folder and it might stop crashing.
/Library/Application Support/MindVision/
     
kirkrr
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Jul 24, 2006, 10:00 AM
 
For those foks that are not aware of the OS X based CAD/CAM stuff....

* CENON - http://www.vhf-camfacture.de/cenon_gb.html Full CAD (free) /CAM ($$)
* Concepts 2D - (real life mechanical CAD, not a drawing program that thinks it is CAD. You enter object parameters and get a drawn object, with positional and referential accuracy)
* Mayka - http://www.picasoft.com/english/intro.php
* SketchUp Pro - http://architosh.com/
* qCAD -http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html and they have a CAM module as well.
* CADintish - http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/cadintosh.htm
* VectorWorks - http://www.nemetschek.net/
* DesignCAD - http://www.imsisoft.com/faminfo.asp?fam=2 After a few years out of the MAC market, they have returned for OS X.
* http://www.adx-online.com/realcadd/realcadd.htm
More technical illustration than CAD, but has CAD capabilities .....
* CANVAS X - http://www.deneba.com/ - CAD - vector - bit maps - GIS; no CAM

There are a few more, but this should get one started......

OS X Robotics Controller
http://www.perfsci.com/hardware.htm

Cross-Platform Video Conferencing - www.sightspeed.com

http://www.crossoss.com/list-all/ is a web site the is working on listing Cross Platform applications.
     
BurpetheadX
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Jul 24, 2006, 10:17 AM
 
Originally Posted by seen_xu
2. As I think there are not a single piece of appz can handel internet streaming TV programs on Mac, comparing to the pc world, they have tons of them... like ppstream and pplive

4. Mac is lack of CAD software, but we still have some alternative: (LightWave3D with LWCAD plugin, google sketchup, and Vectorworks)


10. lack of Mechanical Engineering software
These are true

Originally Posted by seen_xu
6. BAD playback of windows media files
This is Microsoft's fault - not Apple's. It's a way of Microsoft wanting you to buy a PC - so you can play media files well.

Everything else you said is officially crap.
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JBracy
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Jul 24, 2006, 10:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by Gavin
non-destructive disk re-partitioning in disk utility. although boot camp seems to hint that it will be there in 10.5. I can do this in windows and linux.
Can you do this in Windows WITHOUT 3rd party software? There are several utilities for the Mac that can do this, as far as I'm aware in Linux you need to use the command line, in Windows you need to purchase 3rd party software, and in Mac OSX you have the option of command line or 3rd party. I've listed a few options:

SubrosaSoft VolumeWorks - http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftwa...index&cPath=32

MicroMat DiskStudio - http://www.micromat.com/index.php?op...d=33&Itemid=54

Coriolis iPartition - http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iPartition.php

Jason
     
SM0 A9F4
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Jul 24, 2006, 08:32 PM
 
The Macs generally don't do databases very well, but they don't Business Intelligence (BI) either.

BI is the industry buzzword for metrics and charts generated from data stored in business databases. The 2 main software companies in this field are Cognos Corporation and Business Objects, Inc.. Both have mature application suites in this area, but only on the PC. They don't do Mac software even though there is no one developing anything. So the Mac could really use a player in this area.
     
Brass
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Jul 24, 2006, 09:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by SM0 A9F4
The Macs generally don't do databases very well, but they don't Business Intelligence (BI) either.
Which databases are you talking about apart from "BI"?

PostgreSQL? MySQL? Oracle? SQLite?

Sure does well with all of these.
     
bigpoppa206
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Jul 25, 2006, 03:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by clebin
Emulation software can be better on Windows - Amiga Forever with WinUAE for instance.
You ARE kidding, right? WinUAE blows away the speed of my original Amigas including one A3000 that had a 68060 CPU in it. Something must be wrong with your settings. I suggest looking at the JIT options.
     
Gee4orce
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Jul 25, 2006, 06:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by Brass
Which databases are you talking about apart from "BI"?

PostgreSQL? MySQL? Oracle? SQLite?

Sure does well with all of these.
He's probably referring to 'desktop' databases, such as MS Access - in which case he's even more wrong because hands down the best DB of this kind is available on the Mac, and started off on the Mac - FileMaker Pro.
     
dmpmax
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Jul 25, 2006, 07:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by wataru
People keep saying AIM 5.9 works fine with iChat for audio/video chat, but that is not an option for people who don't speak English. I had a hell of a time getting anything to work with a Japanese friend of mine, as the latest localized version of AIM does not work with iChat at all.
I made successful video chats with a Japanese friend who is uisng AOL and I am using iChat AV - worked well very clear picture and audio...

Sightspeed also works Mac to PC for video chat...

cheers
dmp
     
markybigred
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Jul 25, 2006, 04:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by j3tang
Greetings from Fellow Mech Eng!

I find not having the CAD packages as mentioned above quite inconvenient.
ABAQUS for FEA was planned for porting to mac, but then it got dumped ...

MathCAD was useful when i was in school .. but I've since started to use MatLab and it is an excellent software, which has a mac version. I occasionally still find MatCAD very convenient and easy to use for simple things (which i have to do so on a PC). Maybe MatLab might be an option for you on the mac.
Electrical Engineering is also a challenge on Macs. I use MatLab and MathCAD extensively, and MatLab is the only one that works on Macs (with some quarks).

PSPICE or any other circuit modeling program simply isn't made for a Mac. I'm banking that OS X 10.5 will bring a stable version of bootcamp because unfortunetly I still need Windows for school.

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seen_xu  (op)
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Jul 26, 2006, 01:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by dmpmax
I made successful video chats with a Japanese friend who is uisng AOL and I am using iChat AV - worked well very clear picture and audio...

Sightspeed also works Mac to PC for video chat...

cheers
dmp
it should work in normal situation, but when your mac are heavily protect from some firewall, the connection is hard to establish or can not establish! To some point we should blame our ISP or school Net. but Apple could make it quite better than what it is now.
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