I officially hate Apple ~.~

For the record, I've been using Macs since I was a kid. I currently own 3 Macs and one iPhone, and since OS X was released I've been using Macs regularly and WAS an advocate of Apple hardware and software until very recently.

My experiences with Apple hardware and software over the last year have convinced me that Apple is no longer about quality, but is now just pure hype and marketing.

What changed my mind? Simple... Apple products are unreliable.

I don't know when this happened... sometime between the change from PowerPC to Intel processors, something went wrong with Apple's QA department. Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is the only operating system that I've seen that can go from working perfectly fine on one day to having weird malfunctions for absolutely no reason at all.

Cases I've experienced so far:

- Mac Mini suddenly deciding that it will not display 1920x1080. I have a Mac Mini hooked up to my HDTV acting as my PVR. Using EyeTV hardware & software, it worked just fine as a media PC, turning on automatically to record shows, playing back late. That's ALL I used it for. Most of the time it sits idle. Then one day, it prompts me to install some Apple software updates... looks harmless enough, just some security patches. After a simple reboot, I discover that it will not display in 1080p, just a semi-functional 1080i -.- Major wtf. There's nothing in their release notes about changing display drivers, and a Google search shows tons of other people with the same issue, on Apple forums and elsewhere, with no solution at all from Apple's technicians. Talking to the Genius Bar shows me nothing but barely trained (but polite) monkeys who tell me that this was never a supported option and that I am to be blamed for even thinking that it could do 1080p. I must be lying. Wasted 8 hours before I found a really, REALLY obscure post somewhere on page 10 of Google Search results that suggested trying an off-the-wall display changer software... which worked, though I had to buy this 3rd party driver.

- Today my Macbook Pro suddenly decided that it no longer liked it's sound card and stopped playing sounds at all. It's not a hardware problem, the hardware works just fine since I'm able to reboot into Windows and use the sound. System Profiler shows that it's there, and I haven't changed anything at all in Mac OS X. I booted it up yesterday, checked mail, then shut it down. Booting it up today shows me... no fucking sound. There is no "restore" function, no way of reinstalling drivers, and calling up Apple support leads me to go through the same debugging steps I did before (yes, please do it again... please let me give you the exact steps you have to do even though you just told me what I'm about to say word for fucking word). Escalating it up two levels of support gives me to a genius who says "well, I'm out of ideas... reinstall the OS." In ANY other operating system, you'd be able to pinpoint the problem and if necessary, reinstall the specific driver. Oh, and his genius advise lead to a system that is unbootable in Mac OS X so now I have to do a full wipe and reinstall. I just hope their so-called "Time Machine" actually works as that's what I've been relying on for data -.-;

So... I assert that Apple products are shiny, pretty to look at and play with, but simply fail on you for no apparent reason with NO reasonable way of fixing it. In any other computer, you'd be able to fix it or use it as you see fit. Apple stuff is so locked up and inflexible that you don't even need to sneeze for it to break. Either Apple will break it for you, or it'll break for absolutely no reason whatsoever. The iPhone is so stupid locked up that Jailbreaking it is the only way to make it as useful and customizable as the average Windows Mobile phone.

I also assert that this is a recent development. I have a Powerbook G4 that I purchased when it was first released in 2003 which is still functioning perfectly even after 6 years. It's running 10.4, and has been pretty much rock solid except for it's HDD failing, a hardware failure that is understandable. Everything that I have running Intel processors, and 10.5 has had some sort of completely unexplained, out of the blue failure that results in hours of wasted time and absolutely no help from Apple support.

And before you say that I'm just a dumb girl who doesn't know computers, I'll have to say that my early career is in IT. I've been using computers since I was a kid, been using the Internet since before the WWW, and know more operating systems than most people can name! I can take a crippled Windows or any Unix-based system and repair it. Mac OS X is just that crappy.

/wrist

So... even now, my stupid Macbook is getting it's OS reinstalled. I'm looking immediately into buying a high-end, gaming capable but still quiet desktop computer running Windows, and will be getting rid of all Apple crap in my life in the next few months. Definitely not upgrading my iPhone, and am keeping a close eye out on that new Droid phone coming out next week. If anyone has any suggestions on the best graphics card/motherboard/quiet case, do let me know.