I bought the one year .Mac service with my iMac 24″ extreme, but will not renew it after it expires.

BTW my iMac is a far better computer than a windows vista based machine.
I installed Ubuntu Linux on my PC instead of vista since buying the iMac and it is better than windows vista as well.

The Microsoft software experience is like being slowly pecked to death by chickens,……..

1) Go work for apple / don’t use their sub-par products.

2) Apple will never drop prices for you… or your mom. Which is why you should move out of her basement. That’s how economics works.

3) Get a real job.

4) ACTUALLY move out of your mom’s basement.

5) If Apple could manifest itself into human form, you would have sex with it. Admit it.

6) Disregard this post.

For me the key benefit of .Mac would be Backup and I’ve not heard good things about it. I’ve now found software called iBackup which does the same thing, doesn’t require registration or passwords to remember, and it’s FREE!

In The Netherlands (where I live) the shops can’t sell their Full-HD screens fast enough and practically everyone I know has these tiny speakers behind their couch that indicate a full home cinema sound system is in use.

And now Apple expects to sell a device that will not do more than 1280×720 at 24 frames/sec, does not support Dolby Digital or DTS and will not play DVDs off a network? Conversion is possible; you just lose all menus, multiple audio tracks, switchable subtitles and multiple angles. Nah.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the iTMS doesn’t offer serious video content here in Europe.

Exactly. Once you get past the whizz-bang hardware spec list and sit down at your computer to actually use it - that’s when you find out how much money those intangible things are worth.

Especially for older people that expect a computer to ‘just work’ and ‘be friendly’, a Mac is far superior. Just try some basic scenarios with both platforms, like working with pictures from a digital camera or burning an audio CD for use in the car. You’ll find that the Mac experience is easier and more coherent.

I work with both platforms. It always amazes me that a PC tends to draw attention to the hardware or the OS and its inner workings, whereas a Mac just sits there and invites me to go and do something useful or creative.

What happened to the affordability of the original iBook? (it was one of the most affordable notebooks when it was released). PC manufacturers produce more affordable and are more powerful than Mac notebooks. Same goes for the iMac, and Apple has sacrifice too much performance to achieve the iMac form factor.

we really need a tablet computer. one that can be read and carried. one that can run apps and browse the web comfortably.

seems now that apple has broken into the touch screen technology, also the solid state hard disk technology, this is now brightly possible.

ddelwood