What is so wrong with a Mac? [Archive]

Mr Slugger

03-03-2008, 01:11 AM

Last year I made the decision to convert. I bought a mac for my main computer :D
It took some time and effort in making it the main computer, but I must say it's the best thing I've ever done. The only thing of course is there's some things that a mac can't do that windows can, at least in the native environment. (I'm trying to leave the mac as Microsoft free as possible) I mean there's some things like programs that can't be ran, games that can't be played, that suck. But then I don't miss the crashing, blue screen, hardware conflicts. I'm sure I could go on all day.

Anyway I was looking into a cheap phone service for the house and I decided to look into magic jack because a local station had a story on it blah blah blah. Anyway they interested me because they supposedly worked on macs so I figured I'd give it a try. Needless to say the only way it works on a mac is to install it on a windows machine install the mac software and then plug it into the mac. So I went to my daughters pc and it couldn't download the software. Took out my notebook same thing. It just gives errors. So I ended up with tech support and their response was pretty much well how did it work on your windows machine? You can just use it on that.

Needless to say this is after the other owner of the liquor store repeated bitches because I can't help him on new windows tech because I went mac and don't care about researching why an ipod doesn't work on windows. Or why I can't watch store videos at home (mind you I can it's just a good excuse not too)

But it seems like people around me like to pick on my Mac. I mean sure it can't play "windows" games without installing windows, and it has a little bit of a learning curve, but hell. I mean I attached two printers, 7 drives, several blue tooth devices, and 2 apple tvs, and a itunes with roughly 2.5 TB worth of crap in it and this thing doesn't even flinch. Not bad for a out of the box system

Any other mac lovers out there?

chops

03-03-2008, 02:00 AM

I've been a Mac guy since high school...they had Macs there when I was attending. They're so much less hassle to use than Windows. Sure, Apple controls the hardware and you don't really have the kind of room for customization that you do with a PC, but on the same token everything just works.

And Mac OS X is still small-scale enough to keep it a relatively undesirable target for malware authors.

RetailWorkhorse

03-03-2008, 02:32 AM

And Mac OS X is still small-scale enough to keep it a relatively undesirable target for malware authors.

Agreed, my friend Apocalypse is a hardcore Mac user and he swears by the things.

I heard that using a Mac was better for Graphics and such, but since I don't use the typical programs everyone else uses I wouldn't know for sure.

fma_fanatic

03-03-2008, 02:49 AM

There's nothing wrong with Macs. In fact, I'm posting from my G3 iBook that I've had for about 6 years now.

I gave my sister my G3 computer as her computer that's almost 10 years old. They have a long life. I'm not sure if I'll get another one, but if I do, I'll probably get an iBook as I don't need all the bells and whistles that the newer ones have. And honestly, the AirBook scares me. I'm afraid I'll break the darn thing.

My main computer is a PC, but I do some work from home, so I have to have the same platform at work as I do at home.

Congrats on making the change. Don't let people get to you if they make fun. They're just jealous of your eliteness :D

Acolyte

03-03-2008, 03:03 AM

I love Macs, but hate Apple. Their advertising, at any rate.

Amethyst Hunter

03-03-2008, 03:41 AM

I don't get the whole "my computer is better than your computer" deal. If it works for you, great. Who cares if it's "elite" or not, as long as it works for your purposes, right?

The Gatekeeper

03-03-2008, 04:16 AM

Been a Mac person for about 15 years. Work on Windows machines all day long. My 6 year old eMac could use more RAM but meh it works just fine. Have newish HP printer, Epson Scanner, LaCie DVD writer, and Western Digital My Book connected through various hubs. Have a network set up through Airport Express and my step-sis' HP Laptop.

No problems, 99% of the time. Figure I can get another 2-3 years out of my eMac. Btw new it cost me under $1000. Yeah right....Mac's are overpriced (a major falsehood that critiques use).

I've even sold them, and I work part-time selling HP computers now. I'm not a gamer, so I can do absolutely everything else on them. Hell if I got a newer one most games I could still play for Mac versions anyway.

The no virus thing isn't completely accurate but since OS X came around there haven't been any major threats. It is correct partially due to the market percentage and also because the OS is Unix based which is (from what I've been told) is a more secure language. Apparently hackers would have to write an extra 300 lines of code to write one for us.

I could tell stories about some people I know who have been some of the biggest Mac critiques, but once they started using them converted. One of them is even an IT tech. My experience has been that the biggest detractors have not used one for any length of time, especially since OS X first hit the market. To me those people have very little validity in their criticism because they really don't have the experience. What I don't get is why they are so angry when they criticize Macs.

Just my experience.

Broomjockey

03-03-2008, 04:36 AM

As the only non-Mac person in the room, apparently, I will tell you exactly what's wrong with a Mac.

I use my computer for 4 things now.
1) Internet. I don't use IE, I use Opera, so that's not a big thing, but having used Safari, I'm not fond of it, and I don't know how compatable Opera is with a Mac.
2) Word Processing. I write my school papers on my computer, and having used Office for Mac, I was unimpressed.
3) Watching DVDs or listening to music. No real difference there, other than the difficulty of finding a combo Blu-Ray HD-DVD drive that I can put in any machine
4) Gaming. I don't think I need to expand on that point, as it's pretty cliched by now.

Now, any one of those could probably be over-come with time/effort/research. But frankly, I'm more likely to go use Unix/Linux/BSD/whatever, as that way I'm not overpaying for image :p
/me runs and hides

Gravekeeper

03-03-2008, 04:56 AM

Good if you're running a dedicated graphics workstation ( If you're working on Maya 3D or some such. ). Other then that, meh. Good if you want an idiot proof happy box I guess but the bleak gaming scene + lack of hardware flexibility vs a PC keeps me away from em. I use to work on them a lot in high school ( We had no PCs at school. So it was PC at home, Mac at school. ). Use to be a pain finding Mac versions of things when I was trying to work at school.

I'd say the problem with Mac is Apple itself. Feels like you're paying more for the metro-hip image they've created then the machine itself. Like they're the Starbucks of home computing now.

That said I can't knock iPods. I'll knock the iPhone though. ;p

( Also its very easy to get an iPod working on a PC. ;p The iPod iself is a slut, it doesn't care what you plug into it. )

CancelMyService

03-03-2008, 05:43 AM

The gaming argument is pretty weak since you need to have a PC on steroids to play any of the new games out now. Consoles have bypassed computer gaming at this point since you don't need to buy a $400 graphics card for a Xbox every time a new hot game is out.

With freeware/open source stuff out there's little problem finding multi-platform apps, people just need to look beyond the default offerings. I just got a new PC a few months back and other than XP, there's no Microsoft software installed on it. I use FireFox/Thunderbird for the web and email and OpenOffice for Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Access files. Both have Mac versions as well.

One thing about Macs is that they definately age better. My wife's iBook was purchased almost 3 years ago and it's still running as fast as the day it came out of the box and runs all the latest Mac software. The only problem she's ran into is the battery is starting to not hold a charge and needs replaced soon. How many 3 year old PCs can make that claim?

I'm kind of the Switerland of the Mac-PC debate, as I said I bought a Dell and I'm happy with it (mainly because I didn't want to spend $1000 on a Mac), but a lot of the reasons people list to not buy a Mac are either stuck in 1999 or just plain BS. Truth is, most people who are overwhelmed by doing anything more than the basic computing tasks would be better off on a Mac.

lordlundar

03-03-2008, 05:50 AM

Apart from the original iMac (the one that's been pressed into service as a boat anchor) and the new iBook Air (it's selling point is that it's thin, apart from that, it has nothing going for it) I have no issues with Macs. Easy to use, relatively stable, and a OSX nowhere near the bloatware that XP is.

So why do I have a PC as opposed to a Mac? Because I have a selection of over 50 games that I still play with a total of maybe 5 that can be installed onto a Mac. Nothing that a Mac excels in is something I need it for. Simple as that.

CancelMyService

03-03-2008, 06:04 AM

Speaking of bloatware, Vista makes XP look like a barebones Linux distro by comparison. That's the reason I bought the computer I did from Dell, they gave me an option to have XP. The moment Microsoft succeeds in strong arming everyone into Vista is when I become Mac-exclusive. I'm not a big PC gamer, and everything I run on my PC has a Mac equivalent.

powerboy

03-03-2008, 06:18 AM

I have Windows. It works for me. I have used a mac back in high school and it worked fine for me then. I just need to be able to get online and check my emails. As long as I have a word pad it is all good.

gbm85

03-03-2008, 06:44 AM

Again we run into the age-old problem of getting the whole "Mac vs. PC" thing wrong.

A Mac is a computer. And by all definitions, it is a PC.

What's really being debated is OS X vs. Windows.

I can run Fedora or Gentoo on a Mac and it will be exactly the same as running it on a "PC" with identical hardware.

I can run out and buy an HP and put OS X on it. And since I know what I'm doing, I can get the drivers and everything else set up to where it's as stable as OS X on Mac hardware. I can also install Windows on a Mac. See how it gets hazy fast?

Is OS X pretty? Yes. Does it have software that is easy to use and integrates well with the rest of the system? Yes.

The thing about Apple that frustrates me actually has nothing to do with the company itself, but rather its competitors. Any of their competitors could come out with devices and software that are just as easy to use and make them cheaper. But for some reason, they don't. That means lack of competition, which means Apple gets to sell their wares at a premium.

$499 for a 1 terabyte "Time Capsule"? I got an 802.11n router for $30 at Fry's, and they had a 1 terabyte gigabit NAS for around $329. So I could have made my own "Time Capsule" for $359. At his keynote, Jobs said "We want people to have backups, so we're pricing these affordably." I literally laughed out loud.

Some people like their computer to just do what it does and not ask what's going on behind the scenes. That's understandable, and they will be more than happy with OS X.

I like to know exactly what my computer is doing and why. That's why I use Linux. But to each his own.

Broomjockey

03-03-2008, 06:47 AM

How many 3 year old PCs can make that claim?

*raises hand on behalf of every PC he's owned* And that's without upgrading much at all. The only thing I upgraded on my desktop was adding RAM. My laptop ran unaltered. And I can do all the work on my PC myself, including replacing any parts. Which is a lot cheaper than just shelling out for a new system every time it gets outdated.

Now, don't get me wrong. A Mac's good if you're doing a lot of graphics work, but since I don't, I'd never switch. A couple of my friends are trying to get me to try linux, and I probably will at some point, but I am fond of the ability to upgrade my system as I want, so Macs make little sense for me. And for about $1500, I was able to put together a system that can run Crysis on High settings, at ~40fps, so it isn't like I'm breaking the bank, as my last PC was purchased in 2004. :p

Mr. Rager!

03-03-2008, 06:57 AM

I have to agree with gbm on every point he made.

I am a fan of Vista, I do like OS Leopard, but I'm really starting to get into Linux as well. I find that overall, Linux gives me more room for customizing my system. When I get my wireless (works sometimes) and my sound (hasn't worked yet) I doubt I'll be using Vista as much as I do.

As far as bloatware in Vista, clean out the registry and marvel at the beauty of Vista. It's not Microsoft that puts the bloat on, it's the company that made your computer. Thank you, Toshiba, HP, Dell, Sony, Asus and anyone else that got a kickback from Vonage, AOL, Napster... yadda yadda.

Oh, and another thing. My computer is virus and spyware free, I do not run an anti-virus nor do I run any anti-spyware. Of course it helps that I don't look at porn, or do anything with email, really. And if I do try and download something, my computer pops up with the UAC and asks me if I want to allow or deny what's trying to install. As long as I read it, I'm good. I do love the Vista's User Access Control.

Edit***

The reason why Macs have a harder time getting a virus than windows does is because Macs are built on the Unix Kernel, not a registry like Windows. When a virus gets on a Windows machine, it tends to multiply. It won't do that on a Unix based OS. Also, just be aware that a Mac can be used as a host for a virus. It may not infect the mac, but if the mac sends like an email attachment to a windows machine, it could infect the windows machine. So cover your mouth when you sneeze. :-P

CancelMyService

03-03-2008, 07:25 AM

How do you know you're virus and spyware free if you don't have any anti-virus/spyware software? Just because you don't look at porn doesn't mean you're free of it. That does eliminate the largest source, but the biggest spyware infestation I ever got wasn't from a porn site, it was from a game site that had popups galore, and one installed a spyware program behind the scenes.

Also, I'd assume everyone here is at a moderate to advanced level of computing ability. That would mean that we're not in Apple's target demo, but you have to remember at least 60-70% (and that's being conservative) of computer users just do the most basic tasks and don't need or know how to use all the bells and whistles. That's how Apple went from nearly bankrupt and dying to a multi billion dollar company again: marketing to the n00bs as the easy way to use computer. That always rubs us experts the wrong way as it's viewed as an affront to computing to not be able to control every nook and cranny of your rig from a command prompt level.

If that's your bag, by all means knock yourself out. Anyone who's had to play tech support to a clueless customer/family member/friend can bear witness to the fact that sometimes easier is better. I guess what I'm saying is both sides have their niche market and will never switch teams. Acknowledging the fact that there are people who would probably benefit from going to the dark side isn't the worst thing in the world.

ArenaBoy

03-03-2008, 07:31 AM

But the bleak gaming scene

Not anymore. There's a program called Bootcamp and another called Parallels that lets you run Windows on a Mac and thus lets you play Windows games. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_%28software%29

The reason why I have a Mac is a combination of things. One, I had experience with using a G5 in high school for film and music producing. Loved it. Two, after my Windows based machine froze on me for the 5,493,293rd time on me in a span of three hours I told myself enough was enough. Three, I don't care much for gaming on computers. I don't even play as much games as I used to anymore and it wasn't an important factor for me. Only game I'd get is Football Manager.

I don't get the whole "my computer is better than your computer" deal. If it works for you, great. Who cares if it's "elite" or not, as long as it works for your purposes, right?

It's a case of "Anything you can do I can do better" combined with penis envy. It's common amongst enthusiasts of various things. Be it sports, cars, computers, or guitars.

My experience has been that the biggest detractors have not used one for any length of time, especially since OS X first hit the market. To me those people have very little validity in their criticism because they really don't have the experience.

Exactly. Most of these people from what I've noticed who blast Macs usually base their experience from ages ago back when Power Rangers was popular and that SEGA Genesis was one of the most popular gaming systems. Heck, I remember one person on here saying that he/she was "traumatized" :rolleyes: when he/she used a Mac in elementary school and I think she was in his/her mid 20s too which makes these things rather hilarious.

What I don't get is why they are so angry when they criticize Macs.

Usually it's a case of jealously when they see known and respected computer reviewers give high marks to a Mac. They also seem to forget that Microsoft has been stealing ideas from Apple for years (Heck, even Vista is similar to OS X) and that at one point, Bill Gates was actually praising a Macintosh computer back in the 80s. The heathen. (http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/Gates-Praising-the-Macintosh.mov)

My dad is the perfect example of the user you mentioned Gatekeeper. He's incredibly biased when it comes to some things and computers is one of them. He was a little frustrated when he learned that I was going for a Mac.

I love Macs, but hate Apple. Their advertising, at any rate.

Ah but their marketing is doing what it achieves. Getting people to discuss their ads.

Mr Slugger

03-03-2008, 11:02 AM

You know the game thing gets brought up alot, but I mean that's what a Playstation is for honestly. Like I said I try to keep the mac as windows free as possible because I believe that if I install too much Microsoft stuff it will screw it up.

But I mean the computer I had all through my time with cs was 7 years old. It had been rebuilt hardware wise 4 times, had to replace key components (like video card) 6 times. Just to keep up with games. This system crashed beyond repair like 20 times. I was forever doing scan disks, defrags, virus clean outs, and after 3 months of a fresh install the thing ran like crap.

The mac a year later it's still running like I just pulled it out of the box. And the only thing I bought exclusively for the computer is leopard, and I'm probably going to have to buy another 1 TB drive :D cause I'm running out of room.

Mr. Rager!

03-03-2008, 02:28 PM

How do you know you're virus and spyware free if you don't have any anti-virus/spyware software? Just because you don't look at porn doesn't mean you're free of it.

I was curious one day, not too long ago (just this last Saturday) I brought my laptop into have the keyboard completely cleaned out (living with cats) and I asked my friends (that work in our computer repair) to just run a virus and spyware scan. It came back with 0 instances of a virus and 0 instances of spyware. That's how I know. :p

Mr. Rager!

03-03-2008, 02:39 PM

Usually it's a case of jealously when they see known and respected computer reviewers give high marks to a Mac. They also seem to forget that Microsoft has been stealing ideas from Apple for years (Heck, even Vista is similar to OS X) and that at one point, Bill Gates was actually praising a Macintosh computer back in the 80s. The heathen. (http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/Gates-Praising-the-Macintosh.mov)

There was a time when a lot of the software written for Mac was actually written by Microsoft. In the mid to late 90s, Microsoft actually saved Apple by sinking somewhere towards $150 million into Apple when Apple's stock had fallen more than 50%.

Just think, if it weren't for that big, mean, evil Microsoft in the 90s, you might not have your soft, warm and fuzzy Apple today.

Why don't I own a Mac? I dislike any company that's so proprietary with all their hardware and software. Microsoft will let anyone put their OS on anything, really. Apple would have a fit if I threw Leopard onto my Toshiba.

Dreamstalker

03-03-2008, 02:41 PM

Sure, Apple controls the hardware and you don't really have the kind of room for customization that you do with a PC
That's why I don't really like them personally; I'm an overclocker and like tweaking stuff (something died? pop in a new one). I'll work on them, but am not a fan of the proprietary stuff (that one-button mouse still seems wrong to me).

Most people I know have PCs simply due to the ease of fixing stuff (RAM kills itself? call Dreamstalker, offer her food and it's a 10-minute fix) and overall compatibility with third-party hardware/drivers/programs/etc.

My shrink uses a mac with Opera...not that compatible from what I've seen (at least Thunderbird will display things wrong on my end and I know it's not a TB problem).
that way I'm not overpaying for image :p
If I'm overpaying for image, I'd rather it be a casemod I did myself so I get exactly what I want. The trendy Mac design bugs me as a hacker for some unknown reason (the oldschool tan boxes? Now that was an Apple computer I liked).

protege

03-03-2008, 02:59 PM

Most people I know have PCs simply due to the ease of fixing stuff (RAM kills itself? call Dreamstalker, offer her food and it's a 10-minute fix) and overall compatibility with third-party hardware/drivers/programs/etc.

That's why I'm probably not going to switch either. I don't like the idea of being forced into buying parts from one place. I rather enjoy being able to 'borrow' things from either the junkers at work, or the parts inventory I've built up at home. I also enjoy, that if something *does* go wrong, I can get it running again myself, and it doesn't involve a trip across town (to the nearest Apple store).

FuzzyKitten99

03-03-2008, 03:03 PM

I would like to enter my thoughts into this.

Mr. Slugger says that gaming is what a Playstation is for. Well, sure, if you want to buy the whole overpriced console and then the games, and don't mind that it can't do anything else BUT games. A PC can play games, movies, burn CDs/DVD's, internet, and other communication. I don't play a lot of games, but my husband does. He bought a custom-built machine from Dell in September. He plays Medal of Honor, Call of Duty 4 (and the prev versions), and a couple other games that Macs just can't handle.

I personally like PC's because of their versatility. No need to worry about software compatibility. Parts are easy to find because like auto parts, other manufacturers make them too. I don't like how you gotta be happy with what Apple gives you. I like that I can customize my machine to my needs.

I even gave the Macbook an honest go, at the mall the other day. There is an apple store there. The one thing that I hated, was there is no option to 'right click' shortcut. I use that option on a PC for everything I can. Then I couldn't figure out how to get to programs and controls. The little icons at the bottom annoyed me, because I couldn't move them to a part of the screen that I wanted. I still don't know what the menu at the top of the screen was for, but it seemed to serve no other purpose other than shutting the machine down. I found the machine very difficult to use and frustrating to say the least.

digilight

03-03-2008, 04:27 PM

Ahh Mac versus "PC". My Mac experience is limited to about 10 years ago in college. We had some awsome computer labs for the time. Everything was top of the line including highend macs and PC's. Remember this was when Windows 95 was the highend of the PC World. We also had a mix of Sun workstations. At the time most of what I was doing was on the Macs (Graphics and Multimedia) working with programs like Director and the such.

I can't and won't say anything bad about Macs. My reason for not owning one is simple. I have 3 Windows based systems at home and about 6 or 7 windows based systems at the office. I have some peripherial hardware that is only windows compatible. The simple fact is that it would cost to much to try and replace some of the stuff I need to go to mac.

That and I am comfortable on a Windows machine. Something breaks on a windows box and I can fix it. I've been building and fixing them for years. Now I did make my last system a laptop simply for the fact that I can't upgrade it myself. I didn't want something that I would be tempted to open up the case and stuff it full of goodies. I've never opened up a laptop before and wouldn't feel comfortable doing so. A desktop, piece of cake.

Would I argue with a Mac if it fell in my lap, hell no. I'd toss that puppy on one of my networks and start playing with it.

But to the arguement that Macs are better for graphics. I believe that fact died years ago. With RAM being so cheap, and hard drives being cheap as hell the two are pretty comparible as far as being able to do graphics and multimedia. It's simply what the user is trained on and knows. You may like Mac, I may like Windows, and someone else may like Linix or Ubuntu or someother distibution. They all do the same job in the end.

ArenaBoy

03-03-2008, 07:25 PM

There was a time when a lot of the software written for Mac was actually written by Microsoft. In the mid to late 90s, Microsoft actually saved Apple by sinking somewhere towards $150 million into Apple when Apple's stock had fallen more than 50%.

Just think, if it weren't for that big, mean, evil Microsoft in the 90s, you might not have your soft, warm and fuzzy Apple today.

True, but keep in mind (And I never said Microsoft was evil) that all I mentioned was that Microsoft has been stealing ideas from Apple for ages. Never said Microsoft was *gasp* evil.

gunsage

03-03-2008, 07:29 PM

What is so wrong with a Mac?
I heard some apples have worms. :p Actually, with me, I've used Windows/DOS throughout my entire "computing experience." The truth is, I'm sure Apples are better. They're certainly prettier. However, I'm not going to bother learning a WHOLE NEW OS unless it's job-related. Screw that. And on a side note, technically I have had to learn about Macs as we do do some troubleshooting for them, just not a whole lot. ;)

crazylegs

03-03-2008, 07:32 PM

Being equally at home on both systems (when I was a sillylegs we ran both PC and Mac at home) I like Mac for the simplicity and the PC for the addable on ness (yes its bad grammer but you know exactly what I mean :lol:)

FuzzyKitten99

03-03-2008, 07:52 PM

True, but keep in mind (And I never said Microsoft was evil) that all I mentioned was that Microsoft has been stealing ideas from Apple for ages. Never said Microsoft was *gasp* evil.

Gotta be careful about making blanket accusations like that. Maybe Apple had a good idea, but couldn't excute it effectively. So, Microsoft took the idea and ran with it, and were just better about all aspects of it.

Kind of like accusing all other auto manufacturers of 'stealing' the assembly line idea that Henry Ford had already implemented. Modern automobiles might not be where they are now, if it weren't for his initial idea and lack of patent on it.

ArenaBoy

03-03-2008, 08:03 PM

Gotta be careful about making blanket accusations like that. Maybe Apple had a good idea, but couldn't excute it effectively. So, Microsoft took the idea and ran with it, and were just better about all aspects of it.

Kind of like accusing all other auto manufacturers of 'stealing' the assembly line idea that Henry Ford had already implemented. Modern automobiles might not be where they are now, if it weren't for his initial idea and lack of patent on it.

*cough* http://fratching.com/showthread.php?t=120 * cough*

(In the interest of keeping this thread civil.

chops

03-03-2008, 10:17 PM

I even gave the Macbook an honest go, at the mall the other day. There is an apple store there. The one thing that I hated, was there is no option to 'right click' shortcut.
The Mac equivalent is to hold the CTRL key and click; alternatively, you could get a Mighty Mouse (or, for that matter, any two-button mouse) and right-click to your heart's content.
The little icons at the bottom annoyed me, because I couldn't move them to a part of the screen that I wanted.
In the Apple menu (top left of the screen), there's a submenu called "Dock." That gives you the option to alternatively place the Dock (those icons of which you speak) on the left or right as well as on the bottom.
I still don't know what the menu at the top of the screen was for, but it seemed to serve no other purpose other than shutting the machine down. I found the machine very difficult to use and frustrating to say the least.
That's the major difference between the Mac OS and Windows; Macs always put the menu bar at the top of the screen. The menus aren't attached to the windows. When you click on another window, the menu bar changes to reflect the program you just clicked in. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it'll become second nature.

I can understand how it's confusing at first. If you do revisit the Apple Store, keep those in mind when next you try it out. Plus, I'd think the store employees would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Of course, if you don't, that's cool too. :)