switching to Apple?

[Nidas]

First off is DoubleKiller, a duplicate file search utility that finds duplicate files through crc32. Cos I rip pics so much from imageboards I use this a hell of a lot. Anyone know of a replacement on Apple?

Probably the closest would be TidyUp. It's on Apple's Website and works pretty well, but it does cost $. See here for more details.

well after playing around with TidyUp for a while... I have no idea how to get it to what I want. It seems to be geared more towards finding duplicate music tracks and applications than it does duplicate pictures. However, with my fearsome Google-jutsu, I found dupeGuru, which does a pretty good job of replacing DoubleKiller. Its a hell of a lot slower but it also has a nicer interface and basically does the same thing, so its all cool (edit: it also seems lighter, DoubleKiller had a nasty habit of taking available resources on startup, to make the process as fast as possible I guess, leaving the system vulnerable to slowdown if usage spiked elsewhere, Fox for instance. dupeGuru doesn't seem to do the same ;010)

Still haven't found a music player that I particularly like but iTunes is fine I guess. I seem to remember reading somewhere that a mac port of Winamp is in the works anyway, so I can wait :p

[Nidas]

*cough* BUMP *cough*

Currently looking for an image editor. It doesn't have to be particularly advanced, just crop, sharpen and touch-up was all I used on Paint Shop Pro really. I tried Photoshop but don't really need all the functionality. Also tried GIMP but I'm not really a fan for some reason. So any ideas?

[Tsubashi]

Tried Seashore yet?

Added after 1 minutes:

Or Pixen?

[C-Chan]

GIMPShop for Mac OSX.

Presumably it irons out a lot of what you might have found unruly with The GIMP.

I so want to recommend Krita, but that's not cross-platform yet.  : <

[Nidas]

Well my mac has died =/ Seems to be a HD related problem. I’ll be taking it down to the local Apple tech goons to see what can be done when the weather here clears up a bit. After my murderous rage had burnt itself out to mere seething rage, I turned my mind to the problems at hand.

First off, theres a lot of stuff on there that I'd rather not lose. yeah yeah I know, I should back stuff up more regularly, but that would have meant buying ANOTHER external HD, which I was loath to do cos I need that money for food (lol student budget) :p http://prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php looks like a possibility since I doubt my warranty will extend to file recovery. Anyone had any success with recovery software like this?

But files can be replaced, one way or another. My more pressing concern is do I stay with Apple? I know this is probably just bad luck on my part, so I'm tempted to just replace the mac with another mac. I DO like the feel of the OS after all. The upside of this is that I get a free repair/replacement/refund thanks to it dying in record time, comfortably within my warranty. On the other hand, for all Window’s other myriad failings, I never had this level of problems with non-Mac comps. I still think Vista is a no-go, leaving Linux as the only other real option. Well I guess I COULD go back to XP but I would still need a new comp because my XP-based laptop, which I’m using right now, lacks a decent HD. blarg

[Tsubashi]

Well, do you know what specifically went wrong with the HD? If it is physical damage to the disk, you'd need to be a specialist to retrieve the data. If it's the logic board, well, just pop it open and transplant the drive, assuming you have another computer that can read HFS+. If it's just your boot areas that are corrupted, try booting into single-user mode (⌘-s at startup). Of course familiarity with CLI would be advised.
If you can, try Target Disk Mode to retrieve files. Who knows, might work.

As for staying with Apple, the answer is yes. As you said, it's within warranty, so it doesn't cost you anything, and from my experience HD failures aren't very common (except in the earlier Mac minis ^^')

Hope that helps!

----Edit----

Oh! I just remembered. You might try TestDisk. It's a nice open source utility for data recovery and fixing partition tables. Might help ^__^

[C-Chan]

GYAAAH!!!  WHY OH WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?!!!  ^0^

But that is record time, so I would definitely log that in as just really bad luck.  Hard drives are sadly unpredictable little things,... I've had some last me 10 years and counting, others last me no more than a year.  One of the reasons I'm trying to help usher in the golden age of flash-based mass storage.  ^___^

I would definitely follow Tsubashi-dono's advice, given he manages half-a-million Macs plus other computer systems.  Plus you did PAY for help so you might as well make use of it.  I'm going to accompany a friend of mine to the Mac Store tomorrow to meet one of the Genius Bar gurus who can help us with Garageband -- I'll determine who competent he is, although from what I've seen on my own they seem fairly competent.  If you think about it, it's really easy to get help for Macs compared to PCs, if anything due to the smaller hardware diversity.  Your Mac is exactly the same as all the half-billion other Macs in the market, so it's easier for them to know what's wrong with it.  

However, your hypothetical PC has hard drive XYZ, connected to motherboard GHI, and shares the try with DVD/CD combo and writers drives ABC, utilizing graphics card TUV, connected to the internet via wireleass card DEF, and powered by powerbox LMN.... And the PC right next to has completely different components, that create a completely new set of compatibility, accessibility and heating issues.

On the other hand, your best defense is always diversity, and if you do consider trying Linux as well, I'll ofter 24/7 (more like 14/3.5... fufufu... ^.^) support if you do.  ^__^
With expertise in both Mac and Linux, you will be invincible (although I think I've said this before), and will no longer have to fear data loss ever again because you'll get used to a baker's dozen ways to take care of your data.  ^___^

If this were a PC, for example, I would recommend booting up a Linux diagnostic LiveCD (such as Knoppix or Helix) and see if it can read and/or extract data from your HD.  If so, then that would at least discount HD hardware failure as a possible problem.  Macs can run LiveCDs as well, but since I've never tried this before I won't personally recommend this.  ^^

As for your laptop, what are its specs?
Even if it's old, there are plenty of Linux distros that can give it some pretty respectable mileage.  For example, if you love the look and feel of MacOSX, you might want to give DreamLinux a try:


http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/english/index.html

It's SO Mac-like, it's almost plagiaristic.  ^.^'
Plus it's FAST and works beautifully on really old hardware (tested it on an old PII 600Mhz celeron with 192MB of RAM and an 8GB hard drive, and runs like a charm!).

It's only drawback is that it uses the Debian Stable repository which isn't exactly cutting-edge software, but at least it's (as the name says) "stable".  ^____^

[Bella]

^ Golly...I've seen tons of Windows dopplegangers, now a Mac...?

Sorry about the computer : \ I guess hardware failure can happen to just about any machine...maybe not a good time to mention I'm sitting next to an Apple right now...?

[C-Chan]

*C-chan beams with happiness*  *v*

Would.... that.... be..... YOUR.... Mac....?  'v'

Or your Aunt's?  Or one of the millions of Macs you say inhabit the region?  ^^

I myself will get to go to the Mac Store tomorrow with my friend to check out said Genius Bar.  If it'll be anything like my last discussion with a store "Mac Guru", it'll be very fun for me and educational for them.  ^.^

*hums a random Linux tune*

[Bella]

Or your Aunt's?

Affirmative Cute little iBook, too...with a one-button Hocky Puck mouse! My Lord, I thought those only existed in legend ^_^

Wouldn't be one of our countless native Macs, cause currently I'm several hundred miles from my "homeland"....

[NejinOniwa]

Just where are you?
And also, the "Puck" variant mouses are the MOST DISTURBING THING EVER INVENTED. They're totally unusable!!!
*mac bash*

[Tsubashi]

...
*bites his tongue*
.
.
.
I think they're cute

maybe not a good time to mention I'm sitting next to an Apple right now...?

The only reason it would be bad is if you were so close and still not using it! ^.^

[CaptBrenden]

oh come on! you have to admit they are the most useless mice ever, even as a mac user T_T

[Tsubashi]

True, they are different from most mice, but hardly useless.

This is a useless mouse

[NejinOniwa]

Ugh, that's not a mouse, it's a white plastic blob with too many buttons and a very ugly cord. Please take it away.