Novell/Linux Parody on Apple's Mac vs PC Ads 324
xtaski writes "Wired's 'Cult of Mac' blog offers up video of Novell's spin on the Apple Mac vs. PC ads. The twist: a young lady portraying that winsome third party, Linux. There are two ads available for perusal, and the second is definitely the better of the two."
Yes, and each of these has a point (Score:4, Interesting)
2nd ad: Linux changes to suit the times. There's no waiting around for years for a new version.
3rd ad: Linux can do the things that Mac and Windows can. And can do it on any hardware.
Re:Option #3 - SELinux (Score:4, Interesting)
PC is easy. Have the Man in Black doing the routine from the regular commercials.
MiB: "Message inbound, it says it's from Mom."
PC: "Mom? Great! Let me read it."
PC then switches voice and gestures (like in the "identity theft" commercials).
Mac: "Wow, that was weird. His security guy didn't save him."
Linux appears as cute woman in normal attire.
Linux's clothes morph into Agent clothes from The Matrix.
Mac: "How did you do that?"
Linux: "External security is not sufficient. You must become the security."
Re:Option #2 - stripped down or bulked up. (Score:5, Interesting)
Mac and PC shuffle uncomfortably and look away.
"Hi mac, Hi PC."
"Oh, hi Linux" they mumble.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Oh, I, Errrr..." they mumble for a few seconds.
"What's wrong?"
"Look" says Windows "I've got 97,467 viruses."
OSX and Linux both back away from Windows. "That's terrible" says Mac "How did that happen?"
"Years of old code, the rush to the market, some fast programming, you know. Aren't you here for the same?"
"Symantec said I should come get checked out. They think it's just a matter of time before I'm sick as a dog. Shouldn't you get tested too, Linux."
Linux, now seriously creeped out and edging away. "I've got thousands of people around the world checking me out and making sure I'm well built and healthy. And I'm gonna stay that way. So if you don't mind, I'll see you later."
They watch her go. Windows lifts his head to Mac "That could have gone better."
"Shut up."
Re:Right over their heads (Score:4, Interesting)
They more accurately portray Linux as a uber-dork wearing a backpack, and *BSD as someone who looks almost the same (but is pissy about being confused with Linux).
My version (Score:2, Interesting)
PC: And I'm a PC.
Linux: (played by stereotypical nerd) Hi, I'm Linux. I don't like anyone. Go away.
Ubuntu: And I'm Linux too.
Mac: You're just the other Linux with a dress and some concealer. It's rather disturbing, actually.
PC: PCs can dual boot Linux and Windows too, you know. Come, Ubuntu, let me extend an embrace to you.
Mac: Are you going to put down the fire extinguisher first?
PC: No. No I am not.
With that, BSD walks in and kicks everyone in the crotch. Fin.
Re:How about a link to the downloadable videos? (Score:1, Interesting)
The only way I'll use a Mac without confusing the heck out of myself is in the shell, and that requires first confusing myself by hunting through the GUI going "bash, bash, where's bash? need bash...bash....where is it...oh, bash!" And Macs need to get right-click.
Funny thing about my dislike of the Mac UI is that I started out on an Apple ][
Re:How about a link to the downloadable videos? (Score:4, Interesting)
Worse still, the menu for an app running on your secondary screen is on the primary screen! It can be a mile away, and if you're like me and have a laptop with a small screen (i.e. something moved around frequently) and a large external monitor, it can be very difficult working out where you need to exit the screen to get to the menu. You mention it but I just have to re-iterate how hard the menu makes multi-tasking. I usually switch between windows/apps frequently; on my computer, I just move my mouse (and I can access the menu trivially), but with a Mac you need to keep remembering to switch windows before you do something in the menu. (I can't count the number of times I've got really confused because I've wound up in the preferences dialog for the wrong program.)
(I also find the dock very irritating; on a small screen, the fixed menu and dock make a wide screen even shorter because the entire space next to the dock, no matter how much, can't be used without a very contorted moving/resizing process. The dock also has a nasty habit of grouping currently running and not-running apps, and documents with minimised windows and the trash (of all things).)
The Mac: I've given it a chance. I even gave it a second chance. But they weren't made for me. That's why this box is also known as Linux imac 2.6.18-4-powerpc64 #1 SMP Wed Feb 21 13:52:06 CET 2007 ppc64 GNU/Linux.
Re:How about a link to the downloadable videos? (Score:2, Interesting)
And yes, I am generally working in small windows all over the screen. It's called instant messaging and having lots of terminals open.
Also, as the other repliers said, if you have multiple windows open at once, you have to go over and click on the one for which you want the menu before you go to the top. That's an extra step.
But why don't the laptops actually have a right click *button*? I don't want one button. I want two. And I don't want an external mouse, because that requires moving my hands rather far from the keyboard. With a trackpad below the keyboard, I can operate the mouse with my thumbs.
Oh, uh, I also really dislike Photoshop. I've used Paintshop Pro for so long that Photoshop just seems convoluted. It has too many steps to do simple things. It was in the process of learning to use Photoshop that I used a Mac the most though. I had a web design apprenticeship where we had to use Photoshop to make our graphics and then Dreamweaver for the site (omg I hate WYSIWYG...ticked off the instructor dude that I switched it to text mode, but honestly, it's like knowing C and being given Visual Basic), and it was all on OSX. There's a lot of kids here with Macs, but there's just a lot of "little things" that are annoying.
Re:How about a link to the downloadable videos? (Score:4, Interesting)
Going into some of the points thrown around here: I'm surprised that setting preferences would be among the most common menu actions for so many people. Sounds like a lot of tinkering. But anyway, for most common actions on the Mac (including preferences), there are standard keyboard shortcuts. This makes the position of the menubar less important. When I want to edit or save a particular document on the Mac, I just use Cmd-Tab to get there, then start typing or use Cmd-S to save. Alternatively, I could click on the relevant window with the mouse, then use one of these keyboard shortcuts. I don't see how these could be any faster in Linux. If I need to use the menu for a particular document, I'm in the habit of Cmd-Tabbing to it (without moving the mouse), then throwing the mouse pointer up to the menu bar. This may be slower than just hitting a menubar within the relevant window, but it isn't too painful. (One thing I would like is an intuitive keyboard-based window-switcher instead of application-switcher; Witch gets close, but takes a while to popup the window list at first, sorts Carbon windows unreliably, and requires System Preferences that are incompatible with Parallels.)
Also, the dock need not take up vertical space on the screen. I keep mine along the left edge. All the windows know it's there, so they usually end up filling the screen vertically without any trouble.
I can see the case for a built-in right-click function, but I mostly notice this when I am working with Windows programs (e.g., pasting at a Command Prompt, using the Send To -> Notepad option in Explorer, or creating a new folder in Explorer). Arguably, the Mac alternatives to these actions are better than right-click anyway (Cmd-V in Terminal, or drag a document to the TextEdit icon in the dock, or Shift-Cmd-N to make a new folder in Finder [I can't stand waiting for Explorer to dig up icons for every possible new document template when I just want a new folder!]). The point being, you need right-click much more if the interface is designed to use it, and Macs work fine most of the time without it (and that may be why Apple doesn't build in a right-click button -- so developers won't force people to use it). I find myself getting a lot of phantom right-clicks if I use the two-fingered tap option, so I disable that and just ctrl-click when I need it; a real right-click built in to the laptop would be easier. Maybe someday Apple will make the trackpad button work like the Mighty Mouse -- power users could set the left and right sides of the (single) button to work differently.
And I agree, something could be done to improve application finding and launching. My Applications folder winds up full of a mixture of individual applications, and folders containing applications and support files. By default, if I want anything other than what I've put in the Dock, I have to open up Finder and dig into this mess. I could create custom categorized folders full of aliases, but that would take some time and upkeep. I have put my Applications and Utilities folders in the Dock, but I have to either ctrl-click or click-and-hold to get them to popup, and they take a few seconds extra if they haven't been used for a while. All these little delays make that approach unappealing. In the end, I now just use Spotlight most of the time to get to applications that aren't in the Dock. Cmd-Spacebar, "disk in", down-arrow, return, will launch "Disk Inventory X", wherever it is.