Poll of the Day > Macs are shit and people need to stop trying to use this in office settings.

(+) Yeah! (+)

New Employee: Can you tell me why I can't print in color?
Me: *looks for 5 minutes on where the color box options should be in her print dialogue for her Mac laptop* Not sure why, the color box to check is missing
Regular employee: She probably needs the printer driver
Me: *sigh* Windows autodetects and downloads drivers, but OK. The vendor left a flashdrive with the drivers on it.
New employee: I don't have a USB port, only USB C.
Me: God fucking dammit.

These machines are incompatible with most work settings. Stop using these damn things. They cost $3000 to have less features and connectivity compared to machines made 20 years ago.

/end work place rant.

I remember when the breakdown used to be that PCs were best for business and gaming while Macs were better for graphic design and desktop publishing.

Then PCs got much better at graphic design and desktop publishing while Apple mostly just stayed the same and got better at marketing to hipsters.

Why would color not be an option by default

I have had a Macbook for the last 7 years and I can say without a doubt it is the most frustrating 7 years having to deal with driver issues, incompatible programs, and just overall idiocy from the Apple R&D department. Can't wait to go back to a windows laptop the first chance I get.

Edit: And it is always funny how the people who insist beyond all reason they need a Mac for work are the ones that have to spend over half of their work hours trying to figure out how to do the stuff that everyone takes for granted on a Windows machine.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I remember when the breakdown used to be that PCs were best for business and gaming while Macs were better for graphic design and desktop publishing.

Then PCs got much better at graphic design and desktop publishing while Apple mostly just stayed the same and got better at marketing to hipsters.

Pretty much. There's virtually no reason to have one, since anything "high end" needed for work, art, etc. is going to be a 3rd party program that you'll have to buy for either OS, anyways. So it's basically x2-x3 the cost to have less functionality and compatibility. If not for their hipster marketing, Macs as computers would have been dead. They nearly were.

This wouldn't have been a problem if Jobs/Apple don't insist on everything about their products being "different", just because (or because they can charge people more for their brand-specific devices and attachments). So now we are stuck in a world where over 90% of the world's computers us Windows, and trying to adapt the shitty Mac OS and design to comply with this reality.

Metalsonic66 posted...

Why would color not be an option by default

Likely due to missing drivers. It could also be due to opening with Preview, and Not Adobe...which brings me to the point that no ones uses Apple based apps. Adobe, Google Maps, MS Office, Google Sheets/Doc...everything that is inherently useful that everyone knows how to use is non-Apple. And the Apple versions of Office are by design inferior.

BoomerKuwanger posted...

The USB C thing is definitely the kind of shit Apple loves to do that I can't get behind. Then they have the audacity to market it to consumers like they know what's best for us, as if having the laptop be a half centimeter thinner is a good tradeoff for buying their overpriced dongles.

Thankfully, the EU forced them to drop their lightning bolt cord nonsense and adopt USBC, so at least some form of standardization can be doable.

Dikitain posted...

Edit: And it is always funny how the people who insist beyond all reason they need a Mac for work are the ones that have to spend over half of their work hours trying to figure out how to do the stuff that everyone takes for granted on a Windows machine.

In my experience, they don't figure it out - I have to figure it out for them. And I'm not even in IT (my line of work doesn't have IT departments). They literally couldn't do their jobs if someone like me wasn't here to assist.

I asked our normal printer vendor once, when we were using my PC to do a ping test via the command prompt, to locate the correct open port, how this would be done on a Mac.
"It wouldn't" was his simple response.

BoomerKuwanger posted...

I was talking about their laptops using only USB C, meaning you had to either buy dongles or new cables/peripherals if you didn't already have them.

Oh, right. Getting rid of USBA was just silly and stupid - far too many devices simply use USBA, and forcing people to buy those peripherals just to be able to use simple, current devices is ass.

outlook is the worst mail app Ive ever used

I have to use a Mac for xcode. I really hate working on this thing.
Why is everything combined always in the app bar? Why do I have to every fucking time click play in Android studio, then right click the studio icon and choose the emulator window? Why can't it just be there always? Why does it not have one for my second screen? Why can it not expand properly when the dock is open on that screen? Why does closing a window, like brave, mean lose your entire session, but app ->quit does not? Why does it take hours, fucking hours to do updates? And then more hours to update xcode? Why in 2023 does mac not have clipboard history?
On and on, how do people work on these pieces of junk? Mac is so garbage you can't even change the speed of your mouse. It's not an option. All you can change is the acceleration. It's incorrectly labeled as speed but it's acceleration. You can't change the speed of scrolling either so you flick your scroll wheel to go one line and it shoots to the bottom of the page because you scrolled one click too fast.

However I can't complain about printers and Mac. Windows has that shit show for the last 30 years.
To the point that all my windows desktops still can't figure out my printer. My Mac, click add printer, it finds it wirelessly and works. Android? Same, finds it wirelessly and works. My nix laptop? Wirelessly and works. Only windows can't figure out printers.

BoomerKuwanger posted...

For example when they started making USB keyboards and mice, at least for a while computers would also still include PS/2

More than that, most USB mice/keyboards also included a USB-PS/2 adapter for a very long time after USB started becoming the norm. If anything, it got annoying having to throw one out every time I got a new peripheral, but I'd still prefer that over having to buy a dongle for compatibility with a standard that's still everywhere.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


USB-C is great, and new devices having USB-C compatibility makes sense, but not at the expense of USB-A compatibility when so, so many devices (including ones that are currently for sale, not just legacy stuff) still use it. I also can't say I've ever really felt limited by "only" being able to transfer 10 Gb/s, particularly where the only place that might really matter for me is transferring to/from an external hard drive with a write speed slower than that and whose entire 3 TB capacity would take about 40 minutes to fill even if I could maintain the full 10 Gb/s, but I do recognize the potential the higher speed offers for things like USB-C monitors.

CyborgSage00x0 posted...

Windows autodetects and downloads drivers

lol not printer drivers it sure as fuck doesnt

Metalsonic66 posted...

Why would color not be an option by default

When you are printing a lot of documents or images, and you accidentally print in color, that costs a lot. Colored ink isnt cheap.

_____Cait posted...

When you are printing a lot of documents or images, and you accidentally print in color, that costs a lot. Colored ink isnt cheap.

Not saying it should be on by default...

BoomerKuwanger posted...

This is of no benefit for things like mice or keyboards, of which there are probably hundreds of millions of functioning USB A devices out there, and are still widely sold with USB A.

This. Data speeds only really matter for stuff like flashdrives, and even then, that speed is going to be useless for 90% of the people using them for simple file copying. Not that USBC for drives shouldn't become the norms, but not at the expense of killing USBA.

The MacBook design also took out ports that weren't traditionally USB, like Ethernet and monitor ports.

Christ, this. Dropping HDMI (you know, the current standard) is utterly baffling, and then having no ports at all is just hilarious. Again, $3000 for laptops that have less functionality than 20 years ago. The Apple cult may rival Trump's.

SinisterSlay posted...

To the point that all my windows desktops still can't figure out my printer. My Mac, click add printer, it finds it wirelessly and works. Android? Same, finds it wirelessly and works. My nix laptop? Wirelessly and works. Only windows can't figure out printers.

The biggest problem is, Windows can search through a MASSIVE driver data base with a click of a button to find your driver, should you not have it. Mac lacks this ability. The other big problem I have when it comes to industrial photocopiers (like the Kyoceras), is Mac's default to IPP. If you don't switch to JetDirect Socket, it simply doesn't interact to the copier, and approximately 0 Mac users are aware of this. Which results me having to delete the printer (since you simply can't edit the properties like a PC), re-add it, and select the correct protocol. It's just astounding how poorly they work with anything but Mac products...which is by design.

The MacBook design also took out ports that weren't traditionally USB, like Ethernet and monitor ports.

Hell, My 13 year-old gaming computer (that I had turned into a work computer 3 years ago) died for good, so I bought some basic Lenovo desktop to replace it for like $550. It STILL has a VGA hookup in addition to just 1 HDMI.

Shrek posted...

lol not printer drivers it sure as fuck doesnt

"Add Printer Driver Wizard" my guy. Virtually any driver that exists can be gained this way,

CyborgSage00x0 posted...

"Add Printer Driver Wizard" my guy. Virtually any driver that exists can be gained this way,

yeah that doesn't do shit to printers these days my homiedog

microsoft is also planning to just flat out remove it, as well lmao

https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/11/go_native_or_go_home/

the idea behind it is good, since it's supposed to allow for no drivers needed, period.

you think that's gonna stop hp? the company that has drm cartridges? no. they're a founder of mophria, too, but that has never actually stopped them from not supporting it.

same with canon, though there are a few mophria-allowed current canon printers out there.

I have a MacBook specifically so I don't get distracted by extras. It's my writing device.

of course Windows has its own BS.

but yes, I've never understood paying more for compatibility issues. at least I can fix Windows.

BoomerKuwanger posted...

This is of no benefit for things like mice or keyboards, of which there are probably hundreds of millions of functioning USB A devices out there, and are still widely sold with USB A.

The MacBook design also took out ports that weren't traditionally USB, like Ethernet and monitor ports. Although my newerish one did put in an HDMI, in contrast to one I used years ago that was only USB C. And again, this was like a 2015 laptop but they are still making USB A stuff today

I just got a Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio at work and it only has 2 USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and Microsoft's proprietary Surface Connect port. If you want Ethernet or USB-A, you need a dock. You want to connect a monitor? Too bad, even the dock doesn't have any video ports, you have to buy a USB-C adapter.

Luckily our old Dell D6000 docks work just fine through the USB port and they support 3 monitors at once (two DP and 1 HDMI).

ConfusedTorchic posted...

you think that's gonna stop hp? the company that has drm cartridges? no. they're a founder of mophria, too, but that has never actually stopped them from not supporting it.

I've got a cheap HP printer, and one day the driver updated to require me to create an account and log in to use the scanner. I rolled that back faster than you can say "nope." HP can eat a bag of recycled dicks.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

yeah that doesn't do shit to printers these days my homiedog

Considering I just set up a whole office using this method primarily, I'm inclined to disagree.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

microsoft is also planning to just flat out remove it, as well lmao

Well, that's just plane damn annoying. But at least with Mopria, it'll cover a huge swath of printers made. Annoying, it doesn't have Kyocera, the ones I primarily deal with, but I'd imagine they would have to get on board. But hey, at least the USBA dongle still works.

I just got a Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio at work and it only has 2 USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and Microsoft's proprietary Surface Connect port. If you want Ethernet or USB-A, you need a dock. You want to connect a monitor? Too bad, even the dock doesn't have any video ports, you have to buy a USB-C adapter.

Yeah, that's hella annoying, which I'm also going to blame Apple for: they proved that certain consumers will shell out for less.

That said, the Surface isn't quite a laptop per se, and that models is a highly specific one as-is. This won't appear widely in normal laptops for years and years yet.

Macs are for people with clean desks, blank white walls, horn-rimmed glasses, and too much money.

Let us laugh at Macs together.

Justin Long told me Macs are for cool dudez

DirtBasedSoap posted...

outlook is the worst mail app Ive ever used

Really? LOL!! You must not have used many.

M1 air is a nice laptop for the price. can just chill in your living room or something and you almost never have to charge it. and yet it can handle big workload if you need it to.

I think the only remaining use case for Windows in a home setting is for gaming.

I love my MacBook and cant imagine going back to a windows laptop. But its really annoying using it with Citrix for work. Everything else though

acesxhigh posted...

I think the only remaining use case for Windows in a home setting is for gaming.

Besides doing everything a Mac can do and more for a fraction of the price? The better question is what the use cade for a Mac?

acesxhigh posted...

I think the only remaining use case for Windows in a home setting is for gaming.

lol what? There is no case for mac.