[BJungNan]

I merely called it what other Mac users call it. They call it the “beach ball of death.” I’m not making that up.

I find it odd that a Mac can’t bring itself to show a hour glass so it puts up a spinning beach ball, this while PC users have not seen anything functionally like it on a PC in years.

The beachball means the Mac machine can not process the information quickly enough, please wait.

[Petronski]

...this while PC users have not seen anything functionally like it on a PC in years.

Who do you think you're kidding?

[blu]

What is this “beachball of death” you keep talking about? In our little world, it’s called the “Lifesaver”. That’s it. All it means is the computer is saying “I’m thinkin’ here, gimmee a minute!” It always goes away by itself, no reboot, no calls to the tech center needed. Is that what you’re having such a problem with? If you are constantly having this problem with your Mac, I suggest you defrag the hard drive, and repair your permissions.

And if you don’t have a Mac, my above suggestion tells you why you should have one. That’s all you need to know to fix 90% of the problems you MIGHT encounter with a Mac. Of course, you should repair your permissions once a month, just to be smart. All the cool snobs do.

[Galena Nevada]

Just because PCs don’t show you the hourglass icon anymore doesn’t mean that the system is making you wait while it processes information. Ever had a “stall” on your PC? The PC is making you wait while it processes, but it is not showing you an icon letting you know what it is doing. At least the Mac shows you the icon and it lasts for maybe one or two seconds. I have not been irritated with the pinwheel.

[Swordmaker]

I find it odd that a Mac can’t bring itself to show a hour glass so it puts up a spinning beach ball, this while PC users have not seen anything functionally like it on a PC in years.

Why, what's so especially correct about an hourglass? The Mac used to use a little watch with a spinning hand on its old system... so what?