as the topic goes, i think nigerians need the macintosh more than they use the windows. i think Apple computers are far more better than microsoft, technology wise.

i used to work in a cybercafe where all the computers used there were macOS X 10.3s (panthers). they also had a macmini, man! it was kinda fun working there. they now use a powerbook G4 as the server. i just wish nigerians wouldn't cling so much to windows. when i was working there, naija people would readily condemn the OS because it was different than windows.

just wish they would become more open-minded

@ gbade: I dont see the advantage for Nigerians to cling on to mac. For all you know, If Nigerians should be more open minded, then there is no reason to cling onto a closed-minded platform like mac...compared to windows, mac is sooo closed-up.

pros and cons - Windows apps are easy to come by, windows is easily pirated (and applications), windows pcs are dead cheap compared to macs, also you dont get much mac support in Nigeria compared with windows.

--- as such, I see no value in your reco.

I agree with Bibi. If we are moving away from Windows, we should be moving to systems based on Linux because they are inexpensive, secure, highly configurable, and have an abundance of free software. Afterall, we live in a country where price matters.

As a former Apple Macintosh PC user, gbade.x is in the best position to let us know its advantages. We're listening .

well i fink gbade.x as a point, some part if not all, should adopt mac, especially the brand agencies and guys into multimedia, web inclusive. MAc applications give better results as regards quality.. why do you think an MTN or Glo would take their projects down south(R.S.A) its cos their quality of production is/are better.. i just made moves for an ipac from an aunt in Yankee and i can wait to knock out top quality jobs.. i know nija very well, if people adopt mac, apple would be forced to open customer centers around an the almighty 'otigba' boys would make applications available, trust me on this, they would

Bibi:

@ gbade: I don't see the advantage for Nigerians to cling on to mac. For all you know, If Nigerians should be more open minded, then there is no reason to cling onto a closed-minded platform like mac...compared to windows, mac is sooo closed-up.

I don't know where you get the myth that Mac is a closed-minded platform. Mac OS X is actually [i]waaay [/i]opener that Windows will ever be. It's basically BSD Unix with a nifty UI and some cool technologies on top. You could make that point on a harware level, but certainly not concerning the OS.

@nferyn; you just agreed with me that Its a closed platform. Openness is not only about software, but hardware. Which is why Windows or Linux comes top.

nferyn:

........You could make that point on a harware level, but certainly not concerning the OS.

Bibi:

@nferyn; you just agreed with me that Its a closed platform. Openness is not only about software, but hardware. Which is why Windows or Linux comes top.

Still, as far as the OS goes, Mac OS tops Windows by a big margin. If it's about both hardware and software Windows and Mac are in a tie. If it's about hardware, then Mac is definitely the least open.

Anyway, religious OS wars have never been very fruitful.

i thank timmy and nyfern fro their support and in seeing that the mac platform is much more openminded than the windows. as i said earlier on, technology wise- the mac wins.\
take for example the macOS X 10.3. it's build-up is probably what windows would bethinking of doing 5-7 years from now. i mean, on the mac you have your hard drive, cd drive, virtually anything you can think of on the CPu of the windows XP on the freakin' monitor! with also speakers!!!

in terms of components, that's the only setback i can think of. mac does not release its components into the market like windows does.

also, the windows Xp is far more porous to virus attacks than either linux or mac .both are quite strong OS's that dont get easily permeated by viruses just like the windows.

having saaid all this, ponder on it and reply back plz. thanks

well, not sure there is need for discussions. The answer is out there...its about ease of accessibility and affordability. We are talking about Nigeria (indeed the world) and as Seun says, price is the breaker. Tell me how many macs (new) you can get for 40,000.00 naira ($295) bundled with complete PC, OS, applications, etc. Coupled with that, its easier to be maintained.

So please base your arguements on Nigeria, that was what you started with. Mac may look more sleek than windows, less porous to attacks (I think its because of its low penetration, there is more fun cracking windows and better spread of impact). However, the killer is the cost (purchase and ongoing maintenance) to an average Nigerian. virus or not, hacking or not, bad or not, its the popular choice.

::

I tend to agree.

Macs are expensive hardware wise. You might just end up ordering parts. I'ts like using a Buick or Corvette in a country where Toyota's nad Honda's reign!

If we remove the pirated software angle from the windows platform, they are both at par. OEM software is costly. Photoshop CS2 is about $600 (compared to N150 in Otigba!!!!!!) 3DS Max is anything from $2500. But since we are talking in the Nigerian context, I guess we cant rule out the pirated software angle.

Trying to get the Mac o proliferate in Nigeria will be a daunting task. There is a learning curve and a general phobia for people not to leave what they are accustomed to. The Mac OS is more intuitive than the XP though and graphically XP cant hold a flame to OS X.

Hmm i was surprise when a friend got an iMac for 4500 naira (fairly used). He just went to an electronics shop but those guys there thought it was just a TV set so they sold it for that low price. He took the advantage because he knew about macs.

Now warez problem.. he's been asking me where he can get the softwares.

Window have ground in Nigeria and may continue to. Mac is too expense (hardware & software) . If u have a special purpose u want to use it for then go for it.

else Windows

skima:

Hmm i was surprise when a friend got an iMac for 4500 naira (fairly used). He just went to an electronics shop but those guys there thought it was just a TV set so they sold it for that low price. He took the advantage because he knew about macs.

Now warez problem.. he's been asking me where he can get the softwares.

Window have ground in Nigeria and may continue to. Mac is too expense (hardware & software) . If u have a special purpose u want to use it for then go for it.

else Windows

It all depends on what you exactly want to do with your computer. If you're into digital media production, there's nothing that beats a Mac, but they come at a price. You should make a cost-benefit assessment and see if the extra initial cost is justified by your productivity gains.

The most important thing that sets Macs apart from Windows PC's (apart from the GUI and the overall ease of use) is colour accuracy (real WYSIWYG for print) and typeface accuracy (also very important for print). If you want to get a printjob done correctly without going through a bunch of colour proofs, get a Mac.

For what its worth, the mac OS is a pioneer OS and most OSes always tend to play catch up. The Vista is playing catch up to loadsa featrues already in the Mac OS. The mac OS is built on the Unix platform and hence is secure and a safe platform compared to the M$ windoze.

Designwise, the macs are just unbeatable. Personally,there is no xmas gift I would like more than a powerbook or Ibook. Dual booting the mac OS with Suse Linux will surely be heaven. Now, this is just a wish, I can surely imagine better things to spend money on than more than £1000 on a laptop. The problem macs have in my view is that for the same amount of money, you can get a much better equiped computer or laptop.

Software wise, there are loads of open source software which will run equally well on a Mac or Linux or windows.

Now, can you get macs to proliferate in NIgeria? No. Reason being, Nigerians are averse to change, and they are just too expensive. Jobs made a mistake removing the Mac OS port from the PC platform and I think thats what he is trying to correct by allowing the Mac OS to be available on the PC platform.

Thats my 2 cents worth.

Please wot's d difference between d mac and windows?

Its kinda funny people holding sides as to which platform would be most advantageous to people that are just beginning to appreciate the imprtance of computing. Well, teach people first about computers and let them decide. I started out with Macs, its was cool moved on to windows, very easy and relatively useless product based on the number of problems associated, then i have now working on Fedora.
It all depends on an individual's knowledge about computer. Least knowledgeable will surely go for windows are it is easily supported.

i can see that manny nigerians have been led by the misconception that macs are expensive. quite on the contrary, they are affordable. the fact that they don't come in parts doesn't mean they are expensive.

did you know that you could get a macmini for 30-something thousand?

If you use your computer in a business setting, your TCO (total cost of ownership) will be lower if you choose a Mac. Apple tightly controls it's hardware and that results in [i]waaay [/i]less hardware problems. The OS is much cleaner and less prone to clutter than Windows, which will lead to less time spent in troubleshooting the OS/software.

The overall productivity that you can reach with the OS (here I'm talking about mac OS 9 and before, haven't used OSX is a productive environment yet), is way higher than with windows. It's easier to automate and the context sensitive, spatial OS allows fine control over file management tasks.

I used to do high volume html authoring on an OS9 machine with BBEdit (which has got unix-like grep functionalities) in tandem with some graphics jobs using Photoshop. You are really highly efficient using a Mac setup. Using a Windows PC with Allaire Homesite and Photoshop didn't even come close in terms of productivity.

I got me a slot loading Imac G3 last week. Specs are 400MHZ, 288 MB ram. This is my first time of using a mac and I can tell you, it aint going to be the last. Its running OSX and I was lucky to get it with the Mac OS CD. I tried reinstalling it and it was a breeze. I see that a lot of the features in Linux come from the mac OS.

Apart from the design, its really easy to use and really a breeze. Am going to be saving up so as to get an Apple note book specifically the Ibook Dual USB G3.

I find that this machines tend to hold their value compared to a PC and since I can run Suse or (K)ubuntu on the mac platform, there is no need for me to hold on to my 4 laptops and so those will be going on ebay or sold off at a sunday market.

Having said that, they are still too expensive for the average Nigerian to buy.

@ jogego
Why would you need to use a Linux distribution if you've got BSD under the hood of your Mac?

In simple terms, am not a geek and I find Linux much more user friendly than BSD

jogego:

In simple terms, am not a geek and I find Linux much more user friendly than BSD

That I can understand. BSD is for the hardcore geeks - something like Linux 10 years ago

and I dont have time to know about my computer, all I want is just switch it on and it works....

He who wants Mac software can contact me and we can arrange a transfer...

BSD isn't that bad. Try Slackware. Its the closest to BSD.

Problem with macs is plenty:
MAC = OS+Software+Hardware+Support = very expensive
PC = Many available OSes (some free)
+ Billions of software for x86 (and diffrent platforms - think of the Linksys WRT!)
+ different Hardware vendors!
+ more users to support u, many of them 4 free.

I think the PC gives me more choices. Have you noticed that all the mac vendors/support people are outside the country? Try making an order, haha.

The biggest difference is that you don't need that much support for macs. The total cost of ownership of a mac is lower that that of a windows PC.

Good discussion. If you guys were given the option to own a band new car from one manufacturer that made everything and supported everything and another car that had it doors made by one manufacturer, it's engine by another, it tires by another, it's seat by another which would you choose? Simply put, windows is a whorish software - different components made by different manufacturers and alot of problems. Apple is one company that makes everything and it does it with style and class.

We shouldn't even compare MACs and microsh*t - Apple beats windows in every aspect hands down. Concerning prices, it is the system in Nigeria we should blame. In the states, you can buy an iBook G4 and pay $25 monthly, check www.apple.com/store. If we have a credit system in Nigeria, why can't people afford MACs. How many Nigerians can afford 45,000 naira to get a PC system, not many.

We shouldn't be happy because we can't get pirated MAC OS, it shows you that the guys at Apple are doing their job well. If we can get windows illegally - it doesn't make it a better choice, it just makes it our only choice.

I use windows to test my asp apps and other windows related project. Windows work in certain environments, I don't deny that but compared to MAC and Unix, guys - plzzzzz! Windows can't swim where the Unix sharks venture.

I have seen a sneak-peek at longhorn, I will tell you this much, whenever Bill Gates runs out of ideas, he always consults Steve Jobs at apple and the new Vista from microsoft is no different.

Simply put, Apple is the best OS I have everred use. I am running a mac-mini as an email, web and dns server for an ISP, can you beleive that? with the same hardware specs, windows will DIE!.

I forgot, speaking about apps on MAC - check out http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/index.shtml/. You will be amased the apps that you can run on mac.

What's the point of using a Macintosh PC if one is not using the highly-rated OS that comes with it? Why should I pay so much money for a designer PC and then turn around to use it as a Linux box?

You will be able to compile about anything that runs on linux to work on Mac OS X. The real advantage lies in the combo OS-hardware-software, not in one of these separate pieces. With mac OS, your time spent on maintaining your system will decrease considerably, but of course, some people just love playing with their system

Guys - face it, MAC is a far superior OS compared to Windows - if i had enough money I would get the new MAC that runs on Intel and dual boot with Windows and test both out.

Seun - There are apps for MACs that will amaze you and when compared to windows, doesn't even come close to functionalities and performance. FYI - I use a apple shark UHF decoder to watch local TV stations on my MAC, this is not a TV card my friend - with Windows you can't dream of such functionality.

Haven't you noticed that most apps written for windows has a MAC version as well? No wonder Bill wants to stop Windows Media Player and Office for MAC platform soon.

Open source is the future, MAC & Unix makes a perfect combination. People will always wants windows around because they need their jobs that comes with windows wahala, viruses, windows has crashed, buying expensive software licenses etc.