Yep.

I recently acquired an iMac mid-2011 21.5. As a gaming rig, it isn't what I had on Windows because the software catalog just doesn't exist. But it just plain works. I don't have anywhere near the persistent tiny issues that plague Windows.

I don't have a problem with Macs, except for cost. For the gaming machine I built a year ago which rounded out to about $600 (Windows machine), a comparable Mac in terms of horsepower would be over $2k. I'm willing to put up with Windows annoyances and much larger game selection for the $1400 trade-off to get a Mac and fewer bugs...

I have both Macs and PCs. I don't have any problem with Windows 7 at all.

My gaming rig is a Mac Pro running Windows 7. I've added a nice beefy Radeon card and games look amazing.

For mixing my music and stuff, the Mac can do more with much less CPU.

And despite the lack of a gaming catalog, the games that I do have run much better natively on Mac than they ever did on Windows (I've done some benchmarking of Rome Total War, which was released in 2005 and isn't a high-end graphics beast).

I didn't have PROBLEMS. But there are certain "annoyances" there, it's just not as stable as my Mac, most likely due to the uncoupling of the hardware and OS.

Yes, Mac's are expensive and that's because the hardware options are much more scrutinized and limited. The result is a better-running system.

Unfortunately, the only Win 7 license I had left was already locked to a different set of hardware. I couldn't justify paying for another license just to play a few games.

Their app store has gotten much better .. more than enough coverage for the casual user. Someone more serious should be looking at switching it to CM anyway so it's academic.

There really isn't anything wrong with Fire OS 3.0.. yes, it's a bit dumbed down from vanilla Android but it's really not much more dumbed down than iOS is. Which is why I recommend it to anyone looking at the iPad Air. The ONLY disadvantage is the smaller app store but 90% of the users out there wouldn't care or even notice.

I will say.. the MAYDAY button seems a bit creepy to me. I'm all for 24/7 instant support but I don't want some weirdo looking at me while it happens.

You and I normally agree, but not here. Comparing iOS to Fire OS, I can't even... And that's not to take anything away from Amazon, but iOS is miles ahead.

And the Mayday button doesn't allow them to see you, just for you to see them.

I have no problem recommending the Nexus, iPad, or Fire lines. It really all comes down to the person and what ecosystem they want to be invested in. These last holidays, my family all had a mix of the three and I don't think anyone would have been happier with a different one. People just need to buy what they use. They're all pretty mature at this point.

Actually, for my kids, the Kindle vs. Android debate came down to the same issue that appears with Windows vs. OSX/Linux - games.

The Android can do pretty much everything the Kindle OS can do (there are some limits on Kindle services like cloud music and books with Android, so there's that) but the catalog of quality time wasters isn't even closely comparable.

I agree with you though. For most people, it won't matter. We bought my MIL a Fire for Christmas. She'll love it, it's easy and reliable.

It's also worth noting that Google is making it harder and harder for forks to survive in the "android" ecosystem. There is an increasing amount of proprietary code that app developers rely on.

I've been making a conscious effort to use the Nexus 7 (first gen) that Google gave me. Overall it's okay…but it falls short in a few key ways.

- Battery life, especially when on standby, is terrible. I've gotten used to being able to leave a device (whether it's my MacBook Air or one of the iPads) around for days without a significant drop in battery. Now I just power the Nexus down when I'm not using it.
- The typography looks cheap and sloppy. Maybe there are some browsers other than Chrome that are a little better.
- The quality of software in the Play store doesn't even come close to what exists in the iOS ecosystem.

I've rooted it and have tried some of the alternative UIs, but they're still just launching the same sub-standard set of apps.

That said, I like the 7" form factor more than I thought that I would. I like widgets in concept, but a lot of them are kind of ugly. The Gmail app is pretty slick and the swipe keyboards are super cool.

Overall if people ask I'm still recommending iOS devices, but these are good enough to keep if you get them for free with Fiber or at a trade show.

And since this had moved into desktop discussion for a little bit, I'm going to pick up a 27" iMac in the next few weeks with a Fusion drive. Looking forward to seeing how the PCIe based SSD storage stacks up to the SATA SSDs that I've got in my Mac Pro.

heh

Pulled the trigger on an iPad Air this past week. The responsiveness especially when typing seems to be improved and just a better\easier experience. os7 design looks great on there and app wise I continue to find stuff I use daily. Thing is a lot lighter. Wish I could AirDrop between ios7 and osx but no biggie.

For what it's worth...

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/03/g...s-ios-tablets/