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  • UpsetAtDell - Saturday, December 19, 2009 - link

    Beware ordering a Dell system! I ordered one for my mom for Christmas on Nov 20th with a delivery date of Dec 9th. On the 17th of Dec I was notified that it wouldn't be delivered until Dec 31st, too late for me to set it up for her. After a very difficult time getting through to a customer service representative, I was told that they would not rush the order or rush shipping for me. I had to cancel and buy from a retail store instead. Beware Dell!
  • strikeback03 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    Would it kill either of these to have USB ports somewhere more accessible than the back of the device? I plug stuff into my front ports daily. Maybe on a side or behind a door or something? The single-cable look goes away if you have a USB extension hanging out full-time to get a port in a more useful location.

    Maybe someone here can answer this - how do you make OSX play all the photos in a folder on a USB drive as a slideshow? I brought some photos from an event at work into the main office, and we decided to show them on the head administrator's 24" iMac as it was the largest display around. We could get a slideshow to launch but not play, we ended up launching XP in Parallels to see the photos. Later that night I IMed a friend who uses a Mac, and she didn't know either. Can this really be that hard?
  • ffakr - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link

    Apple's keyboard has an un-powered USB port on each side. It'll run most things.. but it doesn't have the current to run a bus powered 2.5" drive or the like.
    However, I agree.. the iMac needs to have a more convenient way to access USB. I use a MacBook Pro docked to a Dell 24" and I'm very happy to have 2 USB ports on the right side (and a flash reader!!, come on Apple).

    OS X doesn't integrate a slideshow viewer into the Finder like Windows does in Explorer. Apple wants you to import them into iPhoto.
    There are several easy ways to view pictures though.. This is generally fine for the owners of a machine but I understand that you just wanted to look at the pics on someone else's computer.

    - There is a finder view called CoverFlow. You might be familiar with this in iTunes for Windows. It's also a Finder view and you can scroll the previews as large as you want and flip through the pics like you were shuffling photos on a desktop. You can switch between finder views from the top border of a Finder window.
    - Select all the files and open them. Unless you've set .jpgs to open with another app, they should all open in Preview.app which will show you one picture per page (It's the same interface used to render PDFs in OS X).
    - Pretty similar.. you can drag the volume (flash drive) or folder full of images onto an app like Preview and it'll open them up. It actually does something cool.. it'll open up photos in sub-folders together in the same window. This is a good reason to have common apps in your Dock.

    It's a Mac.. there's probably a half dozen other ways to do this that I can't think of or that I'm not aware of.

    As for the Dock argument. There are some cool things you can do with the Dock that you can't do with a task bar, at least I don't think you can do them in Windows. I'm still a 95/98/2000/xp guy.. i've mostly avoided Vista.

    - I can drop a folder onto a task bar and access the content by clicking on it. The contents open up in a transparent window. I can drill down into sub directories by holding down the mouse or I can open the directory in a finder window.
    - The dock is organized. Permanent shortcuts on the top/left, running apps that aren't always on the dock to the right/bottom of your permanent icons, then a divider bar where folders, doc shortcuts and collapsed App windows go.
    - App icons can be stateful. They can give you feedback on your unread mail count (mentioned earlier)...they can have progress bars.. they can even show content including video/animation.
    - I don't recall seeing this in any Windows app.. you can right click (command-left click) on a Dock icon and perform App defined things. e.g. I can right click on Mail and select Compose an Email.

  • rudy - Sunday, November 2, 2008 - link

    In this.
  • 4wardtristan - Saturday, November 1, 2008 - link

    yes a SSD would be a huge improvement over a traditional HDD, but are you (or any one else) ready to fork up the cash to pay for 750GB of SSD space??? (with todays prices)
  • nubie - Sunday, November 2, 2008 - link

    I have been running my PCs off of scavenged Tivo HDDs for about 2 years, it doesn't need to be SSD to be unobtrusive.

    The HDD just needs to not sound like a rock crusher and/or jet engine, not really difficult. But it does require attention and maybe a couple $$.
  • Ofish - Saturday, November 1, 2008 - link

    "...I settled on the latter and simply drug the desktop icon to the Internet menu in the Dock."

    I couldn't pick up my couch, so instead I simply drug it across the room. lol

    I think you mean dragged
  • nubie - Saturday, November 1, 2008 - link

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drug%5B3...">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drug%5B3...

    I don't know, Merriam-Webster has a listing for it, maybe it is best not to complain before checking a dictionary.

    I thought this was an interesting review, but I still don't see why they can't put a real PCI-E card in these systems, the Dell is huge (and heavy) with plenty of room for a full-size video card.

    Dell needs to pick a quiet hard drive too, this is an area where manufacturers really need to run quality control.
  • TA152H - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Citing the PS/2 Model 25 as an example of an "all in one" computer is about 10 years late to the party. There were many before that, including the TRS-80 Model II, Model III, and Model 4. The Lisa was essentially like that too, unless you count the keyboard, and so was the original Mac.

    I have all these vintage machines at home, and the PS/2 Model 25 is kind of crappy. PS/2's as a rule were far better made than the rubbish that is sold today, but the Model 25 is the bottom feeder of the line, and is rather inelegant. If you really want a laugh, get your hands on a Model 4P. This monster was supposed to be portable, but it's a real beast. I don't have one though :( .
  • xyster - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Windows vs OSX debate aside, the XPS 24 seems to me like it was designed to be a media center PC, not a gaming machine. The premium speakers, the media center controls on the machine, the trackpad on the keyboard, the choice of a quad-core processor and the choice to use a low-heat producing graphics solution-- its pretty obvious.

    The iMac on the otherhand, being one of the few desktop choices from Apple, was designed to be more open-ended, for gamers and general use included.

    I think the Dell excels at what it was created for, and in that regard it beats out the iMac. With all the other alternatives in the PC market, if someone was looking for a gaming machine, I wouldnt suggest the Dell, but something else, which would excel as a gaming machine. Unlike the Mac market, the PC market has plenty of alternatives.

    As a general computing device though, the iMac is a nice computer. I just dont think comparing these two computers to see which is 'best' is correct. Using the Apple as a reference system makes sense, but treat the Dell in the regards for which it was designed for.

    Good article overall though. Thanks for posting it.
  • croc - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    I personally don't like wireless mousies, keyboards, nor do I like batteries or charging stations... In fact, I actually hate all of the above. So I'd hope that Dell's devices have a 'remove' function so I could easily use my preferred wired devices.

    For both of these all-in-ones, the average user will get similar functionality. They will also get less cluttered workplaces. And if the user is moving from XP, then the learning curve of moving to either OS-X or Vista should be similar, so no advantage there, really. If my Mum's PC died, I'd let her look at both and be happy with whichever she chose. And understand that I will be the first port-of-call if she has issues...

  • Ptaltaica - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    The best part about your laptop articles is seeing the machines disassembled. It's important, at least for me, to see what they're doing with the cooling systems in the machines because I consider it an indicator of how well engineered the machine is. I really wish you'd done that with these machines as well; I realize that most people will never take them apart, but as I said, I think it's an important indicator of quality.
  • sxr7171 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link

    I'm sure it's designed just fine. Dell doesn't mess around with premium products like they do with their low end. You just want to see XPS porn.
  • Xavitar - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    The implementation of the monitor's panel controls looks fantastic. I just got a new 24" Samsung LCD, and the display is killer -- but the design of the panel controls is very frustrating. Switching between input sources (HDMI -> DVI) in the dark is near impossible because there is absolutely no visual indicator or tactile feedback on the touch controls. Since this LCD model functions well as a small HDTV but does not include a remote control, this becomes almost unbearable. Especially when you accidentally hit the wrong button, which changes the "Input Source" button to some other function depending on the option you are in. Argh.
  • chef24 - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    thanks Anand, this is the review i've been waiting for. all-in-one's have come a long way and manufacturer willing, could go even futher.

    i'd like to see these two match up against sony's latest LV line being introduced next week.
  • Spivonious - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    12 seconds on Vista? Really? My machine at home resumes from sleep in under 5 seconds. That's complete mouse-moving/application accessing awake.
  • croc - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    So I guess you have a new Dell XPS? Because that was what was being measured, NOT your home PC.
  • Wolfpup - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    -Most monitors do NOT use LED backlighting. I'm only aware of a SINGLE consumer level panel that does, from Viewsonic.

    -The iTunes control issue has NOTHING to do with Dell. That's EXACTLY the behavior you get with the current version of iTunes using ANY keyboard based media controls...and IMO it's a good thing. Apple briefly changed that behavior so that iTunes would respond to input from media controls even in the background-which means you can't use the media controls for playing back a Blu Ray disc or whatever while iTunes is open. Hit play, and both the movie and iTunes start in (or if one's playing, it stops and the other goes). It was extremely annoying, and I'm glad they switched it back to only responding in the foreground.

    At any rate, that has NOTHING to do with Dell.
  • CSMR - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Why does the article claim that the OS advantage, if any, goes to Apple? That needs an article in itself but suffice to say that Windows is the favoured OS among ordinary consumers, businesses and power users, such as frequent AnandTech. Especially businesses and power users are not so price-sensitive that they are picking Windows over Apple despite thinking Apple has the better OS.

    And regarding Dell's "improvements" to Vista: to non-technical style-conscious users they may be an advantage, but in Vista you can arrange program startup any way you want:
    -you can put programs in the Start menu
    -you can find them in start menu->programs
    -you can use a combination of start menu main programs, frequently used programs, and the full programs list
    -you can put them in the task bar for one-click access
    -You can put them on the desktop
    ...

    Look, you are not going to get Anandtech users saying: "wonderful, with Dell's new software I can now get at my programs".
  • preslove - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    I want to see what's inside. That's why I read your reviews, Anand :p.

    Also, the fact that the hard drive has not been user replaceable in the iMac since the switch to intel has been a serious reason for my reluctance to get one.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    I saw a post saying it is replaceable, it just requires disassembling the entire computer FROM THE FRONT.
  • Griswold - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    My vista box takes ~8s to get from suspend to RAM back to login when keyboard and mouse works again. Must be the jobs distortion field delaying things around your desk. :p

    Oh and one more thing, the "dock" was not invented by apple. No need for a patronizing tone towards Dell for making their own dock for vista.
  • Zebo - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Really things like 750 GB and quad core mean nothing top this crowd. Why not talk about the quality of screens? Apples uses an expensive IPS technology while Dell uses a VA and suffers from it's color shifting. How about input lag while gaming? How about noise?

  • sxr7171 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link

    I think its unfortunate how sometimes people will compare specs of laptops as if they were a desktop of some sort. Every form factor has a purpose and a market and that has to be considered. Every buyer has a different needs. Personally I couldn't care less how much hard drive space this thing has. If I ever bought one, it would sit in a kitchen or some little alcove. I have a home server that has all my data and it gets shared amongst all my machines. Nobody with 3 or more computers should live without NAS or a home server. Then you can have nice 64GB SSDs in each machine and have them be responsive.


    I'm very disappointed that neither has an HDMI input or something for an auxiliary digital source. Some people might want to hook up a cable box to it.

    Also I wish the Dell's speakers were optional or removable. They look ugly on an otherwise beautiful machine.
  • strikeback03 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link

    Rather large for a kitchen. I'd rather a smaller touchscreen and have the system in a miniITX or smaller case, or just build it into the screen yourself. One of the grad students I work with is doing that - built a custom case with a 19" LCD at the front and the motherboard of a Eee 4G behind.
  • Zebo - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    top = to
  • Pirks - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    What an irony
  • Griswold - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Hard to believe your brainsize exceeds that of a peanut. Its been spelled out for you: the GPU does the trick, numbuts.
  • JarredWalton - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    I think the point is that it's surprising that Apple is the company using the higher spec GPU. What's in the MacBook Pro? Yeah, a 9600M GT. What's in the Mac Pro desktop these days? Top-end choice is an 8800 GT, with the default being an HD 2600 XT. So yes, it's surprising that their new iMac has a GPU that's actually not pathetic for gaming, whereas Dell's XPS One 24 is exactly that.
  • Pirks - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Who are you talking to? Braindead PC/Windoze worshipping zombie named Griswold? What a waste of time :)
  • Eidorian - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    It's not that hard.

    8800M GTS > 9600M GT
  • HanSolo71 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    thanks for the top gear reference i wish more people in america would actually get that
  • sxr7171 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link

    Well we have BBC America. But people don't watch it much.
  • Jovec - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    Well, that is the behavior of the MS Intellitype software - it will only control iTunes if it is in the foreground. By contrast, Logitech's Setpoint will control iTunes in the background. I have no idea if Logitech does something extra to make this work, or if MS is purposely limiting their keyboards. Had this exact same issue that encouraged me to move back to a Logitech KB.
  • mfed3 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    this has to do with the keypresses binding to windows commands. they will all work in media player, media center, and all windows programs.

    it has to do with itunes controls not mapping directly to the same commands.

    logitech's software must look at the media process running and send the correct command
  • epyon96 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    Not sure why the author insists on having a Mac OSX bias. I see nothing wrong with the Start menu nor do I find it outdated. Usually, it's 3 clicks max to get to a program with minimal mouse movement. I am not saying Mac OSX has a bad interface but I see nothing wrong with the Start menu unless you are a devoted OSX fan.

    I am slightly annoyed why Apple still insists on a single button mouse. For some strange reason, Jobs still insists that computer users are too stupid to learn to effectively use a two button mouse. So what does he give us? A one button mouse that tries to emulate two-button mouse behaviour. Sure it looks cool and has that novelty effect but it wears off after the showroom. It begs the question why?

    What does the article mean when it says that the 24" inch flat panel monitors have trouble with 24 FPS 1080 Non-interlaced Blu ray playback? Is it trying to say that 24 FPS refresh rate is not possible on the flat panel without ghosting?

  • CMcK - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Apple haven't shipped a single button mouse with desktops or laptops for a few years now. The Mighty Mouse has four buttons - left, right, side (squeeze) and centre (press the trackball). Very useful. I have mine set for left click, right click, Expose and show desktop.

    Even the single, or indeed no button, Apple laptops have a left and right click. Just place a second finger on the trackpad and press the button or pad and you have a right click.

    I don't find that I actually need to right click often while using OS X.
  • mikeepu - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Frankly I don't really sense a bias in the article. If anything the author is critical of both systems and just states his (keyword alert) 'personal' preference at the end of the article.
    But I do agree with you that there is nothing wrong with the Start Menu, its just that the Apple Dock is simpler in that only one click is required to start a program located on the dock or just two clicks if you have the Applications folder (the equivalent of the Programs folder in the Windows Start menu) attached to the Dock. But then again, where’s the harm in a few extra clicks to get to a program?

    But man Do i want that Dell all-in-one for a Desktop media center :)
  • MrDiSante - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    I am also surprised at the obvious pro-Mac OS X bias in the article. Usually Anand is far more impartial, but this is more than a bit on the Engadget side. Pretty as Mac OS X is, I find that Vista actually offers the more practical solutions to task management problems.

    The taskbar is far better at showing the user what is and isn't running than the dock (something that Microsoft is mistakenly changing with Windows 7 and will hopefully reconsider). As the fact that there is text with the icons allows me to efficiently differentiate between the numerous windows I have open (again, something Microsoft should not change; OS X looks prettier, but Vista takes the usability prize here).

    The start menu still makes more sense than Apple's solution since there is in fact a central place to go for all of your programs (although I personally think Linux does a better job of that).

    Alt+tab scales far better than expose does. They both work fine if you're running 5 or fewer programs, but expose just gets messy really fast if you exceed that. If you have 10 or more programs open, with stickies gadgets/widgets etc, then Expose gets downright unusable.

    Finally, Windows tends to be far more shortcut friendly. Start + number, and start + 3-4 characters + enter usually launch just about any application I need. Alt+tab switches to just about any program I need. Expose and the dock both struggle with shortcut-friendliness.
  • DCstewieG - Sunday, November 2, 2008 - link

    Actually Apple was first on the shortcuts you're talking about. Pressing Apple+Space brings up Spotlight which lets you type the first few characters of the app to find it and Enter to run it.

    As for Anand's Mac bias, it's a very interesting story. Here you have a devoted editor of a PC hardware site who decided to give a Mac a spin for a month to write an article about it. What happens? He becomes a huge fan in the process.

    You see a lot of comments saying that people use Macs because Steve Jobs put them in a trance or because they look nice or something, but here's a guy who came in fresh and decided he liked it a lot by actually using it.

    If you haven't read it: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232">http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232 (though it is a bit outdated now)
  • nitrous9200 - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    There will be an option to show the text next to the program icons in 7, but obviously it will be turned off by default. Of course it's really quite easy to differentiate between programs by the icon since they're usually so different.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    Yeah, but if you have several instances of the same program open (for example, I have 2 firefox right now, and multiple Explorer windows is common) then icons won't cut it. I couldn't care less how pretty the interface looks, so long as it is effective at conveying what is going on and allowing me to interact with it.
  • sxr7171 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link

    No big deal. You will get a choice which is the downside of Macs. It's either "our way" or the "highway" in the Mac universe which is my big issue with Mac.
  • Wolfpup - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    I've long felt Windows' interface is considerably superior to OS X. Honestly I'd take 98's interface over 10.5, let alone XP or Vistas. It's really customizable, and...well I could go on and on about the things I prefer.

    (Two huge ones off the top of my head, you can edit files and folders from a save dialog box, and create new documents where you want them in the file system rather than having to open a program and navigate that way.)

    Certainly I vastly prefer the quick launch bar and start menu to the dock.

    Expose is the only interface element I wouldn't mind ripped off and put in Windows (though even there there's sort of a version of it in Vista).
  • slashbinslashbash - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Hmmm... how long have you been reading AnandTech? I've been here a good 7-8 years now, and I have grown to have an almost personal relationship with Anand's reviews. I know his thought processes, and he has kept a consistent POV over the years. Look back to 2004-2005 when he got his first Macs and somewhat reluctantly concluded (after all, he had built his site's reputation as a PC hardware review site) that he liked OS X better than Windows. Ever since then, the push has been on. Anand has grown to be more and more of a "Mac guy" and AFAIK largely uses Macs to conduct his day-to-day work. It's to the point now that I think of Anand as my go-to guy for Mac reviews and analysis (as he and his site have always been my go-to site for PC hardware reviews), if only because his voice has been so consistent and I know that he will tell me what he really thinks, and more importantly, that I know how he thinks and I know that he usually thinks like I do. Editorial consistency is so important and usually overlooked.

    In any case, being surprised at the "obvious pro-Mac OS X bias" shows you to be a pretty non-observant AnandTech reader, IMO. It is no surprise to me at all, and in fact I felt that Anand gave pretty fair shakes to the Dell, which copied the iMac and OS X to an embarrassing degree (the Dock is such a blatant ripoff! And the "Eject" graphic! Even the input/output ports are totally Mac-like.).

    As for your criticisms of OS X, "knowing what is running" is far less important on OS X than on Windows anyway. To quote from Anand's 4/13/06 review of the original MacBook Pro: "When I started using OS X I initially hated the idea that closing all the windows of an application wouldn't actually close the application itself. However the more I used OS X, the more I realized that I didn't want to close the applications I used a lot; I wanted their windows out of the way but I wanted the ability to switch to them without waiting on the hard drive to load up that program again. Leaving just about every application I use open all the time and not having to worry about my system getting slow over time was a bit of a new experience for me, but it was a welcome one." I am the same way. I pretty much never quit programs completely on my Macs. It just doesn't make any difference in performance. When they are running in the background, the memory is managed well enough by OS X that they do not intrude on what I am doing.

    "Differentiating between the numerous windows I have open" -- nothing does this better than Exposé.

    "a central place to go for all your programs" -- OS X does a much better job of this with the Applications folder and the way that Applications themselves are folders in a sense. You click on them to open the application, but all the files and components that actually make up the application are enclosed in the folder that is the visible manifestation of the application in the Applications folder. To give a concrete example: I have an application called "Firefox" in my Applications folder. To open Firefox, I double-click on it. But if I right-click (I have a MS wireless mouse and keyboard -- I'm not a bigot) and select "View Package Contents", I see that this Firefox application is really just a container with a bunch of files and folders within it; chrome, extensions, dictionaries, etc. All of the confusing files and folders that seem to spread their way across multiple locations on Windows confine themselves nicely to that one pseudo-folder on OS X. No .dll files in strange places! No configuration settings hidden in the Registry! Just one place, and if you want to get rid of the program, there's no need for a complicated "Uninstall" process that scours your hard drive for odd remnants, you just drag the whole thing to the trash and be done with it! Wow, what a concept!

    As for Linux's "central place to go for all your programs" -- don't get me started on the multitudinous locations of various ./bin folders (/usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, ~/bin, /bin, here a /bin, there a /bin, everywhere a /bin /bin.... I've got a $PATH that is several lines long, and different on every machine that I log into).
  • sxr7171 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    Huh. I used to ask Mac users why they did thought Mac was better in some ways and I many would mention the whole process of installing and uninstalling apps as a drag and drop thing. I never understood why they made such a big deal out of that because I thought dragging and dropping was analogous to clicking the install file.

    Not until you explained did I realize why they always bring that point up. Honestly now that I understand it, that is pretty darn amazing. It just makes sense. I hate hunting through local settings, application settings, the registry etc.
  • xeutonmojukai - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Um, I'm writing this on my MacBook right now, and trust me, this thing has a much more in-depth task manager than any Windows computer I've ever seen, and even allows you to restart the Finder program (or Main UI, basically) without restarting the computer.

    I find that my computer can go plowing into the great unknown reaches of the internet and come out clean, without using a firewall or any sort of protection program. It runs as fast as it did four years ago when I bought it.

    I also use 10.4, and I've seen a lot of the new things from Leopard in my install of Ubuntu, and I don't need them, honestly. I'm fine with what Tiger has to offer.
  • Wolfpup - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    How is Window's task manager less in depth...

    and you've been able to restart Explorer (ie Finder) separately from the computer in Windows since at LEAST Windows 98, if not earlier.
  • michael2k - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Windows taskbar doesn't give you a progress bar update per application?
    Windows taskbar doesn't tell you how many emails, IMs, or activity status in the taskbar?

    All the Windows taskbar does is tell you which apps are open, which apps want your attention, and how many windows each app has open.
  • sxr7171 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    Not even liking Macs, I have to agree. Even Firefox tabs are easier to navigate and more informative with the right extensions. How many times have I wished for mouse gestures in Windows explorer? I really think Windows 7 will be fixing some of these issues. They seem to be standardizing the ways in which applications interact with the user. The fact that are are working to standardized where and how drivers are updated centrally and even use manufacturer input to build in sync and device management directly into the OS is going to make Windows 7 very easy to use and a much more consistent "mac-like" experience. Only with far more choices in hardware, software, and peripherals. The task they are undertaking is huge, but the results, if implemented correctly will be worth it.
  • TheFace - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    As far as the programs running in OSX, they do about the same as far as being able to tell which are running. Either the programs have a small 'light spot' under them (OSX 10.5), or they're in your taskbar (XP, Vista).
    Exposé is not the only way to switch between your programs on a mac. You can use command + tab as well, which is exactly like alt + tab in windows. So what is the big deal?
    I would tend to argue that both OS's are as usable as the other, and

    I use both every day. I like how everything works on my mac. I like how there are more software options and more hardware options with my PC.
  • MrDiSante - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    I didn't realize that command + tab was an option, I guess they're about even there. However, I still think that not separating running programs and shortcuts is a big mistake, both on the part of the designers of Mac OS X and Windows 7. I think that it is important to just glance and see the approximate amount/type of programs running instead of actually having to look through it. As well, I feel that the text also brings more to the table than it takes away by looking worse.
  • michael2k - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    Um, Apple has had a solution for that problem for years.

    A triangle/dot indicator that tells you whether the icon is a shortcut (no instance running) or a reference (application is running).

    In other words:
    > Icon == Application is up
    Icon == Application is not up
  • sxr7171 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link

    Similar on S60 phones. Very useful in a phone OS.
  • Eidorian - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    You might want to take a look at the iMac's GPU again in GPU-Z. It should be an 8800M GTS.
  • fyleow - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    I skimmed the article so apologies if this is covered.

    The iMac 24" uses an H-IPS panel. Any idea if the Dell uses the same? That could make or break the pricing IMO. IPS screens do not come cheap and the most affordable 24 inch IPS is the HP lp2475w which is a $650 monitor.
  • n00bxqb - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    The 24" iMac most certainly does not use an H-IPS panel. It's an S-PVA panel.

    As for the Dell, I'm not sure what it uses.
  • andreschmidt - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link

    The 24" iMac does use an H-IPS panel...
  • fyleow - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    The new 24" iMac uses the LG LM240WU2 panel which is an IPS panel.
  • n00bxqb - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link

    Based on the specs here:
    http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail...">http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr...;cs=19&a...

    I would guess the Dell also uses a *VA panel.

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