#before I buy

[girl4music]

Thinking about switching to Apple Mac… what do I need to know as a lifetime Microsoft Windows user?

So my fully spec’d out Dell XPS 15 9500 packed it in recently after almost 2 years of use (horrific, right? 😲) due to a Windows 11 BIOS update wiping my service tag and making my OS nearly non-functional. It will not let me reprogram the service tag through the BIOS settings so my £2, 500 laptop is now virtually useless since I cannot access the features of the OS within manufacturing mode. Instead of calling up Dell Support (warranty has expired - go figure 🙄) and getting it fixed or even getting it replaced, I’ve been considering switching to an Apple Mac. There’s a couple of reasons why I want to make the switch:

1. Quite frankly, the main reason is I just don’t want to deal with Microsoft Windows anymore. It’s just gotten so bad lately with the constant updates and “upgrades” to Windows 11 that I feel like any Windows PC/laptop I buy no matter how high-end it might be… Windows 11 will just ruin it. And downgrading the OS is going backwards. I don’t want to do that. I like the latest and should-be greatest. But there’s nothing great about Windows 11. Navigating around the OS itself is buggy and laggy as fuck because there’s so many problems that come with “upgrading” to Windows 11. And I know if I buy another Windows PC/laptop, the operating system will either be installed with Windows 11 out-of-the-box or Windows 10 will eventually force me to upgrade to Windows 11. I don’t want to deal. Yes, there will be things I’ll miss about using the Windows OS which are in my comfort zone… but at this point I’ll take the kicks for the ticks because there’s just too many restrictions/limitations as it is so it makes even the familiar and enjoyable parts of Windows frustrating and many of the Windows-only compatible programs/applications I love to use like Microsoft Word and Windows Media Player are bound to these restrictions/limitations. In a nut-shell: Windows is not user-friendly for me anymore. So making a switch is necessary for me.

2. Another reason is I own an iPhone 13 Pro Max so going into the Apple ecosystem should be a seamless transition as far as it’s compatibility with another Apple device goes (please let me know if this is not the case as I don’t know) and that will save me so much time and energy because working an iPhone with Windows is a hassle. It is not easy transferring back and forth from an Apple iPhone to Windows PC/laptop with Microsoft and Apple being rival companies since forever. Suffice to say, I did a system restore on my laptop about a month ago to try and fix some of the bugs Windows 11 has given it, so I’ve lost all my programs/applications and settings. Specifically my 200+ iTunes library playlists which would be massively time-consuming to recreate every single one over again when I could just plug in my iPhone to my laptop and easily transfer them to it. I do have my music, video, photo and document files backed-up to a Seagate external hard-drive, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac, so it’s not an issue for me that I cannot access my files on the laptop anymore due to it constantly being in manufacturing mode because I can still access them on my smart phone and my smart TV. All I would need the laptop for is to download, sync and upload those files to those other devices and to the internet. Plus I also own an external CD/DVD drive which is also compatible with both Windows and Mac just in case I want to do some more TV show ripping. I still have the 3 final seasons of Charmed to store on my external hard-drive and to eventually sync to my iPhone along with Xena and Buffy. Yes, I am that kind of person that likes my favourite TV shows on every device at once because I can’t stand streaming and projecting. It’s slow and a pain in my pocket. I’d rather just have all the video files on all my devices to watch and edit whenever and wherever. That is convenient for me.

3. I’ve been researching about Final Cut Pro because I’ve wanted to get back into video editing my favourite TV shows again and making gifs for them to upload to Tumblr. The way that Final Cut Pro functions so simplistically seems to be right up my alley because I’ve always found it a struggle learning the complicated process of working Adobe Premiere and Photoshop beyond the basics. So I feel like Final Cut Pro would be much more suitable to my needs as a video editor and gif maker and the improvements in speed and efficiency (Adobe programs are crash beasts) will certainly be a great deal more worth it than Premiere and Photoshop ever were to me. Plus - you buy Final Cut Pro once and you have it for always VS monthly payouts to Adobe to keep Premiere/Photoshop and you can do both video editing and gif making on Final Cut Pro so no need for 2 separate programs to do 2 different essentially similar things.

4. Mac’s are quick and quiet simultaneously. They use just as much processing power as a Windows PC/laptop does but the machine is practically silent no matter what you do with or on it. I can’t count how many times I’ve opened up my Dell XPS and just messed around in the OS without opening any programs/applications and the fans on it revved like they were in a monster truck rally. Then I would open internet tabs on websites that automatically played videos and gifs like Tumblr and it would start crashing and self-closing on the application or sometimes even shutting down the machine itself. It was getting beyond aggravating to keep using it when it’s power functionality just wasn’t up to what I paid for it. With a Mac, not only will the compatibility with my iPhone be unrestricted and unlimited straight away… but it will also be extremely quick and quiet straight away.

5. Safari VS Windows Explorer/Google Chrome/Mozilla Firefox or any other Windows-based internet browser is night and day difference. Using Safari on my iPhone is a breeze like the fucking wind. It is so fast and efficient and useful and attractive… it absolutely floors any other kind of internet browser I have ever used on it. Which makes me really excited for how it’s going to work on a Mac laptop. If it’s this great to use on an iPhone with an 8th the processing power of a Windows PC/laptop - then I’m sure it’s out of this world to use it on a Mac. Having a really great internet browser matters to me because I am on the internet for all sorts of reasons. Yes, I primarily use the official social media apps for interacting with social media but there are times when I want to use the browser-based version. The actual website. And trying to do that with Chrome or Firefox, or at the very least, Explorer… is horrendous. It is so slow, the tabs and bookmarks are messy, and things just don’t work the way I want them to work. Then I use Safari to do all of that on my iPhone and it’s fantastic. It keeps up with all the browsing I do on the internet no matter how many tabs or bookmarks I have open on it. It’s significantly better than Chrome which is my default browser on my laptop. That’s always been the speediest and most efficient internet browser to use on a Windows PC/laptop but it still doesn’t compare to the ease-of-use Safari gives me on my iPhone. Moving to Mac from Windows will give me Safari immediately. No need to download it. No need to do any updates (I’m guessing - please tell me if I’m wrong) and I really would love to use it on my laptop.

So given these are the reasons why I would want to make the switch from Microsoft to Apple and Windows to Mac… what do I need to know having only ever used the former before aside from with my iPhone? What will I miss? What won’t have a Mac OS replacement? Do the programs/applications and settings function so differently that I won’t get used to them at all? Please let me know what I need to consider before I buy and get rid of the trash I have.

[badolmen]

People against piracy fail to realize that no, I can’t just ‘buy it.’ They stopped making DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’re barely offering digital copies for download. I am not spending money I could use for food or bills to pay for a subscription service just so I can always have access to a beloved piece of media. Especially not when the service will remove media on a whim without concern for how the loss of access to that piece will make its artistic conservation nigh impossible.

For example, I recently learned that Disney+ had an original film called Crater. It’s scifi, family friendly, and seems cool - I would love to buy it as a holiday gift for my little brother! But: it’s exclusive to D+ and THEY REMOVED IT LITERALLY MONTHS AFTER ITS RELEASE.

The ONLY way I can directly access this film is through piracy. The ONLY available ‘copies’ of this film are hosted on piracy websites. Disney will NEVER release it in theaters, or as something to buy, and it may NEVER return to the streaming service. It will be LOST because we aren’t allowed to purchase it for personal viewing. If I can’t pay to own it, I won’t pay for the privilege of losing it when corporate decides to put it in a vault.

So yes, I’m going to pirate and support piracy.

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[esr10]

DEVASTATING! Woman does task she's been putting off for weeks, finds out it's pretty easy

[dkettchen]

cursed construction core hi vis bra that came to me in a dream

In the dream I saw it in the window display of a hardware/DIY/trade shop, implying it was meant to be a practical garment designed for actual female constructions workers in a Female Armour level missed-the-brief attempt at gender inclusion

The practical support from the visible underwire combined with the hi vis implying it’s not meant to be worn as an undergarment, I just-

I blame my binge-reading ND Stevenson’s gender comics talking abt masculinity and femininity incl the one abt Victoria’s Secret lingerie yesterday for this monstrosity x’D

[pokeberry5]

the classic body builder physique jiménez gives dick is SO funny to me because it makes him look so female love interest coded, complete with unreasonable hour glass figure and booty-out poses

like ok i'm gonna start with a comparison between how he draws dick vs how he draws selina

there's that same!! exaggerated curve at the waist

the rest under the cut bc this is gonna be long—i'm pulling mostly from batman (2016) #137-138 (i've been keeping up with gotham war lmao)

he gives them the same sort of broad shoulders that taper down into a tiny waist

FURTHER, this is technically where dick's pecs are in comparison to selina's curves:

HOWEVER something about the way jiménez draws dick's lats also creates a curve lower down his torso that mimics the shape of selina's tits:

this exaggerated tiny waist is even more striking in comparison to how he draws other male characters

like don't get me wrong, he definitely favors a broad shoulder to slimmer waist sort of build, but never to the extent he goes with dick

take bruce and tim from the same chapters:

their shoulder to waist to hip ration is a lot more equal, they've got much more of an rectangular build, the curve in at the waist/hips is gentle

and i swear jiménez chooses poses to exaggerate dick's tiny waist (not quite booty-out poses but the same sort of vibe)

like????

SIR??????

this sort of twisted side pose to show off the tiny waist is extremely reminiscent of the contorted poses comic artists put female love interests in

take this side by side comparison with a panel from nightwing (1995) #1 (i read it recently so it was on my mind):

there's even!!! the drawn back arm highlighting that inward curve!!

AND THEN

the booty out poses!!!

rip his back honestly

like i'm pretty sure the design choice was actually to emphasize he broad shoulders and show off his nightwing symbol, but imo all it does is makes his waist look tiny

tldr: strong female character dick grayson ig

Ok as thanks for getting to the end, gratuitous batcooch:

and a tiny dick sketch

[riggedtrap]

depop is good sometimes

[cemeterything]

changing my name to Viola and telling people it's short for Hays Code Violation

[expelliarmus]

[theartofmadeline]

“hell is real” felt patch sewn onto an upcycled flannel. inspired by the ohio billboard

[ixoren]

Family style? Two tops, booths. Danish design. Tasting menu at the bar..

[ruporas]

i made a digital vw zine, there's a bunch of stuff on here that hasn't been shared elsewhere! if you're looking for a barrage of vw being really clingy and all, look no further :]

LINK

[percyjacksonfan3]

Let's not forget that until this Stede has only had sex with Mary (that we know of) so now he's losing Ed not only the day after they first have sex but the day after he first has sex with anyone he's actually attracted to, not to mention in love with

Like, the man was flying so high and then lost it all (and had his lover call their night a mistake to his face) in under 24 hours, I think it's impossible to overstate how much he's really going through it at the moment

[satans-knitwear]

okay, i think im ready to go now. ✨

Treat me ~ Tip me ~ More of me

[stealingpotatoes]

hands you all this cal to announce i’ve FINALLY finished fallen order (by which i mean i finally picked it up again after those couple hours i played a few months ago and then finished the whole game in 2 days lol)

[yharnamsnewslug]

The RuPaulication of being gay. The TikTokification of being gay. Both are the same, in a way that it also feels like capitalism taking over, where you've to buy certain accessories, like certain music, watch certain shows, dress a certain way to be Gay EnoughTM, and if you do not, then you're absolutely out of the loop and are not considered gay.

There's a lot I could say about it, especially about how it's very fucking American above all and based around English second of all, and third of all, I just can't stand a lot of pop music and I'm goddamn tired of every Cis Gay Over 30 either gasping at me for not listening to Cher/Beyonce/Insert Pop Artist or Cis Gay Under 30 gasping at me for not listening to Taylor fucking Jet Fuel Swift.

I'm so tired of "gay icons" being cis women that make music videos with huge rainbows and says performative shit that has Feminism 101 written all over it. I hate that being gay is an AestheticTM now. I hate that every queer has to have a common fucking vocabulary that's native only to English-speaking, online-dwelling, TikTok-addict people. It's so infuriating to be giggled at by people because you just don't fucking care about wearing certain clothes that THEY consider gay enough.

Seriously, I fucking hate it.