I can remember, and you probably can too, when no engineer would be caught dead using a Mac, let alone singing its praises. Good to see that times have changed.
I was one of those die-hard Windows users. My lab has Win XP computers for engineering and design software, but for everyday work, the Mac does the job.
I know there are things you can't do on a Mac, due to the lack of engineering and design app software. But when it comes to basic functions and tasks than can drive a user nuts--or not--and waste time--or not--Mac wins hands down. I've even been told this by some (pleasantly surprised)die-hard Windows users after they bought a Mac for their kids.
I bought a USB audio adapter so I could use a standard computer headset with my Mac for Skype calls. The Mac audio input expects an active audio signal rather than just a microphone. I plugged in the adapter and had a headset up and running within about 3 minutes. Glad I didn't try that on my Windows PC. But wait, I did...
I wanted to use the PC for Skype, but it has three sound-card options (it came that way) and I could not get the microphone AND the earphones to both work on the same device. I used the system tools for Win XP without success and tried troubleshooting on my own. The small plug-in adapter cost about $20 and was worth every bit of it. The Mac is a gem.
Your description of Windows' typical cluelessness about drivers was very funny. According to programmers who worked on kernels for the pre-X Mac OS (back in the PC Paleolithic), due to its mouse-based GUI, among other things, the Mac OS was originally designed to recognize peripherals as an integral part of the system, instead of treating them like alien invaders.
I'm not sure that tool comes for free. When I looked into Windows 7, I found only the "Professional" version at $US 199 includes the capability to run in XP mode. If you know another source of such a program, let us know. Thanks.
FWIW you might try Windows 7 "XP Mode", a free tool from MS to run XP stuff under Win7. I was able to get an old HP USB scanner driver to work by doing so.
I might switch to Windows 7 when I need a new PC, but I don't want the hassle of getting replacement software that will run under Win 7. I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and many of my programs will run, but according to the Advisor, I would need to reinstall them again. That's too much of a pain. The Freescale Robot caused the only USB-driver problem in some time and I believe the problem stems more from a lack of follow-up and information from Freescale than anything else. So for now, it's Windows XP.
I have upgraded the OS on my Mac several times without any problems and USB devices install without any difficulty. I discovered recently that the audio input on Macs requires a signal input rather than a microphone connection. For about $7 I bought a USB headset adapter that Mac OS immediately recognized and worked with. If I could find all the engineering and design software I use in Mac versions, I'd dump Windows immediately.
I'll continue to look into the problems with the robot and expect to try it with two other Win XP PCs in my lab. But this effort has a low priority for now.
Hi, Beth. The Freescale robot serves mainly as a teaching tool, but because it uses the Tower-family boards, engineers can "graduate" and learn more about these boards and how to use them in an embedded system. The Tower board in the robot provides eight servo outputs, so students can do more than make the robot walk.
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