[Big Mac]

I say it proudly - I have never owned a single PC. How about you?

[ghporter]

I can't vote-my response isn't part of the poll. I've owned nearly a dozen Windows/DOS computers on purpose. Why? I simply couldn't afford ANY Apple computer until relatively recently, while I could afford prebuilt and home-built PCs. Sad but true. There's also college, which used PCs as terminals for a VAX, as well as basing all our programming assignments on PC compilers. Apple has always been a specialty market in the past, focusing on people with the cash to pay for innovative and interesting products. Unfortunately, I haven't been in that demographic for very long.

[Big Mac]

Just to clarify, I am not criticizing anyone for owning PCs. I was just curious to see how many of us fall into this category.

[ghporter]

Your poll responses don't look quite as "accepting of diversity" as your second post.

And to clarify my own post, I'm pretty sad that my first privately owned computer couldn't be the Mac I drooled over (was that in '87 or '88?). I wound up waiting three or four more years to buy a computer of my own, and wound up with a PC because of school requirements.

Ok, my diversion is over. Sorry to interrupt. Carry on!

[wdlove]

Yes, I have owned one PC. My wife thought that she needed it for school.

[cjrivera]

Never owned one.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

I say it proudly - I have never owned a single PC. How about you?

I owned a 486 notebook, a P3 notebook and a 486 tower, all three not unfortunately. I use a pentium m thinkpad at work (linux).

If you don't know the other side you cannot talk about good or bad.

[Big Mac]

Note: the question is not "never used a single PC" but rather owned one. I know PCs relatively well.

[ort888]

I took my parents old 286 with me to college, but I almost never used it.

My parents have always owned PCs and I've had several roommates who have as well. That said, at one point in my life I was very good on both platforms, but I haven't really had to use a PC since the Windows 98 era. I honestly haven't touched one in anything more then a very casual manner in over 6 or 7 years. It's kind of bad actually. I should get back up to speed.

[production_coordinator]

I have never owned one... forced to use one at work... parents had one... my school used them... my fiance uses one (but is forced to use my iBook at home because it has wireless network issues)

[tooki]

My PC ownership cherry has never been popped. That may change in the future, though, as I may need to get a PC to test websites and practice Mac-Win networking.

tooki

[Big Mac]

But don't you think the hackers are going to figure out Mactel Windows booting sometime in the near future?

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by Big Mac

But don't you think the hackers are going to figure out Mactel Windows booting sometime in the near future?

I'm guessing they will... but will the average person bother? Also, the real trick to Windows on Mactel is that XP doesn't support some of the new technologies that Vista will. I think it will be somewhat easy and straightforward to boot Vista on the Mactel and I welcome that.

I don't buy Macs for the fantastic hardware... I buy it for the OS. If it weren't for the OS, I wouldn't buy from Apple.

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by Dr.Michael

I owned a 486 notebook, a P3 notebook and a 486 tower, all three not unfortunately. I use a pentium m thinkpad at work (linux).

If you don't know the other side you cannot talk about good or bad.

You DO NOT need to own a Windows box to complain about them. Most here are forced to use Windows on a regular basis. I'm using XP at work, and our IT guy is VERY cool. My system is virus free and runs well, but it's still clunky, unpolished, and graphically inferior to OS X 10.2 (let alone 10.3 or 10.4). The GUI is poor at best, and I'm not sure how they can fix it with Microsoft's "design by committee" approach to the GUI.

[Dork.]

Wow, this is a tough one. Does Linux count?

I own PC hardware, but none of my pieces of PC hardware have ever had windows loaded on it. (and FWIW, I dismantled my last Linux box for parts a year or two ago.)

I also own a few licecsed copies of windows, but they are all tied to various versions of VPC or other emulators, and have all run (slowly) on Macs.

My head hurts now.

[Stradlater]

Use PCs frequently (currently, in fact), but have never owned or paid for one.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

You DO NOT need to own a Windows box to complain about them. Most here are forced to use Windows on a regular basis. I'm using XP at work, and our IT guy is VERY cool. My system is virus free and runs well, but it's still clunky, unpolished, and graphically inferior to OS X 10.2 (let alone 10.3 or 10.4). The GUI is poor at best, and I'm not sure how they can fix it with Microsoft's "design by committee" approach to the GUI.

I have a Dell laptop assigned by my employer, running XP. In fact, I'm typing on it right now.

My work laptop has been relatively stable. Then again, all that I've installed on it that were not part of the Official Corporate Image are iTunes, Konfabulator, and the Official Engineering Applications that I am supposed to use as part of my job. Plus, Someone Else has the job of keeping the patches and virus definitions up to date.

Windows is perfectly usable if you have an IT staff on call to care for it 24/7.
All the same, though, the first two things I did upon receipt were:
1) move the taskbar to the top of the screen, "Where It Belongs"
2) put an old-school rainbow Apple logo over the Dell logo on the laptop cover. (I checked, it will come off without marring the finish!)

[BlueSky]

Didn't know better, bought one, returned it after 10 days.

[Kerrigan]

PCs aren't so bad. In fact, as a student I prefer to use windows because I find it less distracting than osx. In my free time I prefer osx hands down, but windows is better for getting work done.

[Salty]

Parents owned a 486 when I was in grade 5... later bought me an iMac, then bought themselves a compaq. I've had to use the compaq for several things before, when we first got broadband we only put it on the compaq, and a couple months later I got it on my iMac, probably cause the rents were sick of me playing on their machine surfing this new thing called the internet haha... ICQ was great...
Anyway, yah I've never actually owned one... and I switched the rents this year.

[Stradlater]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Your poll responses don't look quite as "accepting of diversity" as your second post.

And to clarify my own post, I'm pretty sad that my first privately owned computer couldn't be the Mac I drooled over (was that in '87 or '88?). I wound up waiting three or four more years to buy a computer of my own, and wound up with a PC because of school requirements.

Ok, my diversion is over. Sorry to interrupt. Carry on!

Wouldn't "[y]es, but I bought it against my will" qualify?

[PacHead]

I've never owned a PC ever ! I've even turned down a few decent paying gigs because they would had to have been done using a pc, I told them to bugger off !

[christ]

Owned, or bought?

I have never bought a PC for personal use, only a steady stream of Apple machines (some of which may not count as macs, I still haven't figured if a Powerbook is a mac or not), but I have accepted them as gifts on behalf of my game-playing children.

I can't figure out which option to click.

[only120xs]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

PCs aren't so bad. In fact, as a student I prefer to use windows because I find it less distracting than osx. In my free time I prefer osx hands down, but windows is better for getting work done.

You're kidding, right??

I have far far less down time/ yelling at my computer time when I'm at home using OS X than when I'm at work using Windows XP, even though I have an IT staff at work to fix my problems.

The difference is, at home I never have any problems that need fixing.

[ReggieX]

Originally Posted by ghporter

I can't vote-my response isn't part of the poll. I've owned nearly a dozen Windows/DOS computers on purpose.

I've owned 2, so voted "unfortunately" because my Macs kicked their butts.

[turbopants]

Owned a few PC's in my lifetime. Never had one that I liked, though.

[ambush]

I've thought about it a couple of times but Windows is way too frustrating to use on a daily basis.

[Sijmen]

I owned a 286, went from a 386 to a PIII 450 and onto a AMD 1400(built from scratch).

That's when I got smart and bought a PB last summer.

The AMD 1400 is still running at the other end of the desk at the moment. It'll probably will until I can afford a Powermac.

[euphras]

Since the Commodore C 64 does certainly not count as a PC: No, never owned a PC.

[Salty]

Originally Posted by christ

Owned, or bought?

I have never bought a PC for personal use, only a steady stream of Apple machines (some of which may not count as macs, I still haven't figured if a Powerbook is a mac or not), but I have accepted them as gifts on behalf of my game-playing children.

I can't figure out which option to click.

Mac = Computer that runs Mac OS X, I think we can even include the clones in this one.

PC = Windows box

Linux box = Linux box

A PowerBook is a Mac, an iPod however is not.

[only120xs]

Originally Posted by Salty

Mac = Computer that runs Mac OS X, I think we can even include the clones in this one.

PC = Windows box

Linux box = Linux box

A PowerBook is a Mac, an iPod however is not.

so a Mac Classic isn't a Mac?

Mac = any computer that can run/ran any Apple OS ?

[SirCastor]

A HP e-Vectra became my first PC. It was free. The company that a friend worked for was selling them for $20. He gave me the box. I still need to pay him for it.

I took it because of cost, and occasionally I need to see how things look from a windows perspective.

Mac = Any Computer that was/is Licensed legally to run a Macintosh Operating system.

[teknopimp]

i've never owned a pc, but almost purchased a vaio until i got into graphics. got my first mac (imac g3 333) in '99, on my seventh now. i could probably get a free pc from an IT friend to use as a test mule if i ever needed one.

[mduell]

I've only owned x86 PCs running Windows... too much software just doesn't run and doesn't have a close substitute on OS X.

It's sad when an app runs on at least 3 OSs (combinations of Windows, Linux, AIX, IRIX, Solaris, HP-UX) but not OS X.

[demibob]

Iv been given old pc's from relatives but the only computer iv ever bought myself were macs

[Kerrigan]

Do you think perhaps people who are frustrated by Windows are just too dumb to use it? Has Apple's emphasis on simplicity made us incapable of using normal computers? /sarcasm

[christ]

Originally Posted by SirCastor

A HP e-Vectra became my first PC. It was free. The company that a friend worked for was selling them for $20. He gave me the box. I still need to pay him for it.

I took it because of cost, and occasionally I need to see how things look from a windows perspective.

Mac = Any Computer that was/is Licensed legally to run a Macintosh Operating system.

Even before it was called a Macintosh Operating system? Does that make Apple II a mac? Or Lisa?

[christ]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Do you think perhaps people who are frustrated by Windows are just too dumb to use it?

Nope.

Adware and Spyware are an issue even for those of us that aren't dumb. Even if we are not affected by them, we still waste hours and hours taking precautions and defending against them.

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Has Apple's emphasis on simplicity made us incapable of using normal computers?

Normal? Define 'normal'.

[Kerrigan]

sorry I forgot to put my sarcasm tags on that post.

[christ]

Ooops - missed it.

Sorry - my bad. I must spend too long in the company of PC users.

[andreas_g4]

I'd really love to get one of those sweet sub-notebooks. Only if Windows didn't suck so much, especially on such a small res screen. I can't live without my Mac OS X.

[slugslugslug]

Salty: I'd call a Linux box a PC as long as it's capable of running a Microsoft OS. I would use PC to mean recent box capable of running Windows or older box that would've been called "IBM Compatible" in its day. I'd call not-PC stuff that was designed to run and shipped with a specific non-Microsoft OS. So, any Apple, Commodore/Amiga, Mac clones, and all those custom-Unix-variant workstations that used to be so common..

But I say all that just so I can claim that while I've owned a non-Mac (an Apple IIGS (well, my parents bought it when I was a kid, but I was its main user)), I've never owned a PC. On my 4th Mac now.

mduell: all x86 boxes so far? Have you been such a prolific poster here because you're planning on getting a Mac, or do you just love to talk about them?

[SVass]

I may be in a special category. I started with an Apple II. A friend of mine and I built Z-80 cards and installed them in our Apples. My memory is that I ran a special version of DOS as well as Z-80 assembly. I still have both the card and the Apple as well although they haven't been turned on for many years. sam

[The Godfather]

In my line of work, not owning a PC would be stupid. So, I have always had a PC available, either mine, or the school's. I don't regret my 2 PCs.

[olePigeon]

I bought a PC just to play games I couldn't on my Mac (Counter-Strike, Infantry)

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by SVass

I may be in a special category. I started with an Apple II. A friend of mine and I built Z-80 cards and installed them in our Apples. My memory is that I ran a special version of DOS as well as Z-80 assembly. I still have both the card and the Apple as well although they haven't been turned on for many years. sam

I've always wondered. Assuming you had the software, could you play the older arcade games that ran on Z-80s if you had the Z-80 card?

[OldManMac]

In order;
Commodore 64
Atari 800
Radio Shack something or other (mid 1980s)
Amiga
Zenith 8088
Packard Bell 286
Packard Bell 386
ZEOS 486
NEC Pentium 100Mhz
Quadra 660AV
B&W G3 350
B&W G3 400
Graphite G4 (don't remember speed)
iMac G4 800 17" LCD (still have and use daily)
iBook G4 1.2Ghz (bought new last summer, still have and use)

Do I regret owning PCs? Nope. Do I like Macs better? Absolutely. Would I buy another PC? Nope.

[SVass]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I've always wondered. Assuming you had the software, could you play the older arcade games that ran on Z-80s if you had the Z-80 card?

I remember nothing! sorry, Sam

[storer]

I'm using one now

But the only machine I ever bought myself was an iMac.

[Sage]

Nope. Never a PC hath set foot in this household.