One thing I have difficulty understanding is the devotion of some creative people to the Microsoft Windows operating system.
I’ve never been a Mac warrior. If you’re happy with Windows, fine. I have friends and coworkers who love their Windows PCs. The problem arrises because so many people who use Windows have problems with their computers, while I have very few problems with my Macs.
Sometimes when people ask me what computer they should get, I recommend an Apple computers, and people tell me yes, that would be a great choice. The next time I see them, they have a Windows PC. The time after that, they are usually asking me to fix it.
A friend of mine recently sent me an email message because he was having problems copying image files to his hard drive. Nothing else, just copying files. The error he got was:
Error 0x80070718: Not enough quota is available to process this command.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve never seen an error message even remotely as arcane and ridiculous on my Mac. The explanation, which I found on the internet, was even more complex and undecipherable:
Windows cannot unload your registry file. The memory used by the registry has not been freed. This is often caused by services running as a user account. Try configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account. If this problem persists, contact your administrator.
DETAIL – Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Find the correct event in the first place, and then open the Link, like the one above, in the Event Log (double-click the corresponding event), and you will now be browsing the Help and Support Centre (which might require Internet connection). Read the solution, and you will find the resolution to the technical issue under User Action.
This type of events requires the user to download and install the Microsoft User Profile Hive Cleanup Service (UPHClean), a tool produced by Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=6676.
Open this web page, and you will find the corresponding information and other possible solutions, if this tool fails to solve your problem.
Holy crap! Do we need to take a C++ class just to copy a photo to our PC?
This isn’t an “all Microsoft is crap” speech, but rather an advocacy for the elegance and simplicity of the Macintosh operating system. Some creative minds very close to me have explained that they stay with Windows out of habit or comfort. Quite honestly, I don’t see how the absurd complexities of the problems encountered by Windows users is comforting. Okay, maybe that last sentence was sort of “all Microsoft is crap”-ish. But I am here to testify that Macintosh just works, and once you get switched over from Windows, it works more intuitively.
So if you are of a mind to buy a new computer or even a used one, give Mac a chance. You won’t be sorry.
bill hicks used to have a routine where he’d ask how many non-smokers were in the audience. after the applause, he’d put a cigarette in his mouth and say, “What a bunch of sniveling maggots. I’d quit smoking if I thought I wouldn’t turn into one of you people.”
i’d buy a mac but i’m afraid i’d turn into one of those “this is our woodstock” assholes who camp out to buy the new mac product. not that you’re that person, richard. you’ve never been one to flaunt material possessions.
that’s a pretty terrible reason but it makes me chuckle. the real reason is that my workplace does not pay me enough for me to be able to afford a mac.
From the first line: “…devotion … to the Microsoft Windows operating system.”
In my experience, the word “devotion” could be more aptly applied to the other side. I have rarely come across a Windows user who tries to convert a Mac user. On the other hand, a good-size percentage of Mac users do try to proselytize. ;-)
“The problem arrises because so many people who use Windows have problems with their computers, while I have very few problems with my Macs.”
This could certainly be because the Mac operating systems are better. I won’t quibble with that. But it could also be because Windows users are less likely to know what they’re doing.
As for the specific example mentioned in your entry, I’ve never come across that error in 20 years of Windows usage. I copy and paste files daily, sometimes hundreds (occasionally thousands) of files at once. From one spot to another on the same hard drive. From one hard drive to another. From memory cards and discs to the hard drive, and vice versa. From the internet to a hard drive and vice versa.
Make no mistake; I’ve had trouble with Windows (you’ve read about them in my blog in years past). I don’t think I’ve ever said I stay with Windows because I’m “devoted” to it, or because of “habit or comfort” (as you said above about some Windows users).
I can only speak for me, but I stay with Windows because of the cost. Plain and simple. My current computer cost about $400 a few years ago, and would cost about the same to replace it. Yet the cheapest Mac I could find is the Mac Mini, at $599, which has similar specs to my computer except it doesn’t come with a disc drive or a keyboard or a mouse…
(Same reason I used Rebel-series cameras for years, instead of a Canon 1-series. The 1-series cameras are certainly better; no one will argue; I just didn’t/don’t have that kind of money…)
I had no doubt you would reply, Wil. I know you are happy with your gear. I wasn’t really addressing you, as much as I was talking about the people who throw up their arms helplessly, asking me to fix it. Instead of two clicks and a smile, it takes me 20 minutes just to figure out what the error message meant, then another 30 to wade through obtuse menus trying to fix it.
I also know a couple of artistic types who should be devoting their time to art, not system diagnostics. The price of a Mac would pay for itself the first time their Acer laptop was in the shop.
“I was talking about the people who throw up their arms helplessly, asking me to fix it”
I also run into these people. :-/
Thank you for clarifying.
(For other Windows users, I’ll add this: In my experience, 95% or more of these problems have arisen because of user error. I know; I’ve done it myself. I spend much of my free time helping other people troubleshoot computer and camera issues; it almost always turns out to be something they did: software they installed, disabling anti-virus software, tweaking the registry or other system settings that Windows warns them not to tweak.)
Can I also add that I don’t like Windows either? ;-)