I like OS X a lot. It runs well on the modest hardware I have for it (a G4/450 Cube), and it’s been very stable. I love having the ability to pop open a UNIX command line while still getting usable versions of Office. There are still some features OS X doesn’t have that Windows XP does (including offline files and 802.11 auto-discovery), but on the other hand X has some features missing from XP (like Rendezvous). However, there is one thing I’m very unhappy about in OS X.
I want to buy a DVD burner. This is easy. However, Apple’s iDVD only works with internal Apple DVD burners. I can’t fit one in the Cube. So, my choices are:
- Buy a new Mac with an internal burner. While I’d love to, this a) costs a packet and b) makes it hard to burn data DVDs from my Windows machines.
- Buy an external burner and some Windows DVD software. This is much cheaper than buying a new Mac, and preserves some flexibility at the cost of possibly-crappy Windows DVD software.
- Buy the external burner and a copy of DVD Studio Pro for the Mac. This has two disadvantages: the software is $1000 (OK, OK: it’s really $999) and I can’t figure out how to use it.
Now, I understand why Apple doesn’t sell iDVD separately: they want people to buy $2000 computers, not $100 software packages. In this case, though, they’re missing the opportunity to keep my eyes and hands on a Mac when I’m making my DVDs. If I have to burn from Windows, I may as well start thinking about moving my video editing off iMovie, too.
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