Okay -- I see what you're saying.

Doesn't seem like much to gripe about though since it's only needed the very first time.
Typing a password twice seems to be in every Web sign-up page these days, so it's not like this is a unique problem (if tha't what you want to call it).

I don't mind losing the extra 4 seconds it took me to do that. :P

For one thing it is inacurate and Vasic yes a new installation witll bring up the UAC in Vista, that is because most software installations think they need to have higher user rights than is really necessary. This usually disappears completely after a week as the system learns your habits. The Apple ad is referring to the firewall and is inaccurate because it only questions once about allowing applications access the internet. All good firewalls do the same thing, once trained most people can forget about it as they quietly go to work protecting you. Apple would never let users know about vulnerabilities if it wasn't that some of their programs like iTunes and Quicktime also operate on Windows and that those type of occurances would hurt a lot more people than Apple owners.

The authors also have an error in their statement that no viruses and exploits were ever released into the wild, there have been several viruses but OSX is such a small target that not much damage was done. When you go after an OS where there are hundreds of millions of users versus one that only has a few million users, well you can see which one will make you notorious.

Apple ads are innovative, they have taken all the Truth in Advertising rules and said that by tongue in cheek comparison we can deceive the public into believing their product is more hip and cool than the stodgy PC. But if I want to play games, I am going to need the ability to run Windows, if I am going to want to do the widest range of business applications, I am going to need Windows. I am not musical so I don't need Garageband, Windows movie maker is sufficient for my needs, Vista's media centre supplements my PVR which is superior to TiVo in the US and is offered directly from my cable company here in Canada. It even supports HDTV and so does my PC. So when I acquire Microsofts new Home Server, I will have all the components found in your Apple computer and still have a few dollars in the bank to buy a few more games.

Sorry... I don't like plastic anything... cars, phones, watches, nothing.... gotta have my metal... Aluminum, Titanium, Silver, Platinum..

Polycarbonate is a stretch but I have learned to live with it.

I wish Apple would make an aluminum keyboard to go with the Mac Pro

Again, nitpicking here, but since I'm not the first one, I'll go ahead.

There is a difference between entering a password twice when registering, and entering password when logging in. If you mistype your password when registering, you wouldn't know it, since it's hidden. Subsequently, you wouldn't be able to log in, since the system recorded a mistyped password. Therefore, they have to ask you twice, to make sure you didn't mistype. When you log into Windows, you don't have to type it twice. If you mistype, it will just ask you again (and again, and again) until you get it right (or exceed the max number of attempts). This should be the case with wireless network settings as well. There is absolutely no valid reason for having to type it twice.

Here's another example where Windows just gives you too much information (unnecessarily), and Mac just does its thing. When you plug in a USB memory device, Mac mounts it on your desktop. Icon shows up and you're ready to use. Windows will actually give you a prompt (something like 'USB storage device found...', etc). It will do the same thing (map a drive letter to it), and you will be able to use it; it just pops up this unnecessary message. I know at least three (elderly) people that always get confused by this 'error' message they're getting on their screen; they cannot connect the two events (sticking in the USB memory, message popping up 5 seconds later). This is obviously a minute nuance, but it shows the essence of these subtle differences between a system that reports dutifully on anything it does, and a system that quietly does its thing and steps out of the way.

Again, bigger point here is, all these arbitrary, unintuitive and illogical inconsistencies continue to drive home the same point of usability of a system.

I think the real debate here is why there is this big PC vs Mac fight. Or for that fact PC vs Mac vs Linux.

Like I said. It is all a personal preference and what brand you are loyal too. Mac users are so touchy about a PC user banging on a Mac or even if a Mac is talked about negatively from another Mac user.....My God! It is not like we are talking about your Mom here. There are positives to a Mac and there are negatives, just as there are to PC's....just as the article states.

The facts are that Apple has a long way to go to reach the level Windows is at....and I can guarantee that at that point, Apple will have the same problems Windows has. So in reality, Mac users should just stay quiet so this doesn't happen....because then it will be Windows users claiming how little viruses they have and blah, blah, blah.

I will say it again....It is all relative.

Wow!

Wait a second, my friend, I don't understand something here: if you choose the password yourself, at the moment of the setup, how does your Mac know WHICH router to connect to?

What if there is another, same type of router in your house/apartment, or even more dangerous - in your neighbors house/apartment?

It is very interesting for me to find how is this whole thing set up.

From the manual available publicly on Apple's support site (a few clicks away), one can find out that when you initiate your 'Airport Utility' software (Available for Windows, too), it will search for all available Airport Extreme or Airport Express (or just plain old Airport) access points/routers. You will know which to select to configure by the default network name which will be the last six hex values of your router's MAC address. (label on the bottom) If you accidentally select an already configured SSID, it won't let you in without a password (makes sense, doesn't it?). On a Mac, the 'Airport Utility' will guide you through the process and, when you choose a password (WEP/WPA/WPA2), the utility will automatically save this password into your Mac's network settings, so you don't have to put it separately.

Now, I don't have Airport base station (D-link was all I could afford). It took me all of 120 seconds to find this information online. Aren't we all becoming a bit too lazy...?

...commenting about this as a serious security issue...??? As opposed to other brands of routers?? When you take any wireless router out of the box, it is broadcasting its SSID in plain sight to everyone, until you go in and change its security settings. How is this any different from Apple? That the SSID contains a few characters from its MAC address is the only difference (as opposed to 'Linksys', or 'Netgear'). I cannot see how some seemingly random hex string can be a security issue. Once you set the password (and change your network's name), you're pretty much locked down (as much as the underlying technology allows). Not to mention that in order to configure Apple's Airport products, you need to have that Airport Utility (and you'll need know that you need it in order to do this); other brands can be configured using web browser. Their 'Admin' passwords are usually 'admin', 'password' or blank!

I live in a Manhattan high-rise. At any given time, I can see anywhere between 15 and 25 WiFi networks on my MacBook. A good third of them is usually unprotected. You can always easily spot them by their names: Linksys, Netgear, D-link, Default... I could have easily hijacked all those in minutes, if not seconds. Implying that there is some serious security issue with a brand that pretty much does the same as others makes little sense.